The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 324 Alienation

The encirclement of Yizhou was initially completed. The outermost ditches were finished, and at the same time, the troops carried out the defensive formation and fully prepared to trap the enemies and defend.

About 400,000 imperial troops were attacking Hedong. Apart from the defense army of Qinzhou and Liu Dazheng’s west army, about 250,000 soldiers of the east army were now gathering in Yizhou.

There were about 300,000 in total in the Hedong Army. After the battle of Qinzhou, there were over 10,000 casualties. And there were also a lot of casualties in the battle of Fenzhou. Apart from the non-mobile forces of each county and the northern border defending army, Li Keyong could only mobilize more than 200,000 soldiers at will.

Among 200,000 mobile troops, there were 70,000 under Li Cunxiao’s command in Yizhou. Li Keyong had returned to Taiyuan and he could send reinforcements at any time. From the current situation, the odds were against the Imperial Army’s attack on Yizhou. If Li Keyong sent reinforcements to come, then the situation would be more adverse to the Imperial Army.

But Li Ye wasn’t worried about the reinforcements from Taiyuan. The Imperial Army dug many curving ditches in all directions to surround the city outside Yizhou, so a large number of troops couldn’t spread out. In other words, even if the reinforcements from Taiyuan arrived, it was difficult to enter the city, and the defending troops of Yizhou were also hard to get out of the city to meet them and attack inside and out.

Under the circumstances, Li Ye sent Kang Chengqian to attack Yushe County in the west, Pingcheng County in the northwest, and Heshun County in the north with the Zhaoyi Army. He was to cut off all the communication channels between Yizhou and Taiyuan, turning Yizhou into a caged beast and trapping it to death.

For the defending side, they wouldn’t defend the city anymore under two circumstances. The first one was the lack of strict defense, including a few defending soldiers, being short of supplies, people’s disloyalty, and so on. The other one was the lack of reinforcements. A besieged city without reinforcements was called a city of death, and it would be captured sooner or later.

Under normal circumstances, once the ditches, which were used to blockade the city, were finished, it was enough to trap Yizhou to death. It was just a matter of time to win, since Li Ye made them unable to attack or defend.

But now facing Li Cunxiao, Li Ye was unwilling to take it lightly.

The current arrangements were to minimize the power that Li Cunxiao could exert and to stabilize the battle situation. He couldn’t guarantee that Li Cunxiao would have no way, especially in the case of Li Keyong’s cooperation.

Therefore, Li Ye immediately began to implement the strategy of sowing discord.

First, he came before the city alone and invited Li Cunxiao out for a meeting.

In order to protect Li Cunxiao and support the battle of defending the city, there were many immortals in the Land Buddhism inside Yizhou. It was hard to tell if there were masters in the Sky Immortal Realm among them. But Li Ye left the troops openly, came before Yizhou in the air, faced the city alone, and invited Li Cunxiao out for a meeting.

Li Ye came alone and went straight to 300 meters before the gate tower. Of course, this distance was very dangerous. For a cultivator in the Immortal Realm, the 300-meter distance was no different from one meter. Moreover, as Li Ye swung his sleeves, a small table with a wine pot and two wine cups on it appeared.

“Hedong Li Cunxiao, the first general in the world, I admire you for a long time. It is a great pleasure to meet with you before the formation and fight against you on the battlefield today. Would you like to drink with me?” Li Ye asked politely, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

In front of the gate tower, a brave and dignified young general with an elegant bearing was surrounded by several generals. That was Li Cunxiao. Beside him, two arhats stood close to protect him. They were the River-crossing Arhat and the Lion-smiling Arhat.

Seeing Li Ye so arrogant, the River-crossing Arhat felt being ignored and snorted with dissatisfaction. “How dare he! He killed many of my fellows, but now, he shows up openly. Isn’t he afraid of our revenge?”

The Lion-smiling Arhat’s eyes were full of murderous intents. “This guy is so proud and arrogant that he will die in our hands sooner or later!”

The two people scolded Li Ye several times in turns. But they kept their voices low lest Li Ye could hear them.

Li Cunxiao was calm and didn’t comment casually, but a general with a masculine face beside him sneered.

The River-crossing Arhat noticed that, so he turned to glare at that general. “What are you laughing at?”

The general wasn’t afraid of this master in the Ground Immortal Realm. Instead, he squinted at the other side and said, “Obviously, Li Ye is not afraid of your revenge, because you can’t defeat him.”

This general was Li Siben, one of the Thirteen Grand Guardians in Hedong.

Li Siben was telling the truth, but because it was true, it hurt their self-esteem. The River-crossing Arhat was furious because of embarrassment. He almost wanted to fight and slap Li Siben to death.

When the River-crossing Arhat was getting angrier and angrier and ready to fight, Li Siben sneered and squinted at him with no fear.

Li Siben had the cultivation of the military warrior of Militarism and was outstanding in the Hedong Army. As one of the Thirteen Grand Guardians, he possessed the military power. In daily times, he was proud and arrogant and even thought a little highly of himself, so he wouldn’t be obedient to the monks in the Land Buddhism.

The two sides were in tension and ready to fight. At this moment, Li Cunxiao spoke.

But he didn’t talk to the arhats and the general but answered Li Ye’s invitation. Slightly cupping his fists, he said loudly, “Prince An, thank you for your invitation, but I can’t accept it since the battle is coming.”

Li Cunxiao called Li Ye Prince An and called himself a general. He seemed to quite respect Li Ye. Both of them were the ministers of the Tang Empire in the name. Li Ye had noble status, so Li Cunxiao should respect him.

But now, their troops were at war, and they were enemies. Li Cunxiao could be so polite not only because of his good manners and his respecting Li Ye’s identity.

Not only did he respect Li Ye’s identity, but he also respected Li Ye.

However, Li Cunxiao’s meaning was also very clear. He wouldn’t come out of the city lest there would be problems.

Li Ye didn’t mind Li Cunxiao’s refusal. He smiled gently. “General, you’re a hero of the world, and you chose to become one of the Thirteen Grand Guardians. Although you and I are not in the subordination relation, I always want to make friends with you. I’m unwilling to fight against you, and I’m forced by the situation. Li Keyong doesn’t listen to the imperial court, makes the imperial court lose prestige, and becomes the world’s enemy, which makes me sad. I have no choice but to suppress Hedong and fight you on the battlefield!”

While saying this, Li Ye picked up the wine pot and poured two cups of wine. He raised one cup with both hands toward Li Cunxiao from afar. The other one was sent to Li Cunxiao through the air by him.

Li Ye said in a low voice, full of helplessness, “I always respect you. I’m happy to know that you have become the senior general of Militarism. I wish I could know you and make friends with you earlier. At this moment, I can’t congratulate you like an old friend, and I can only drink a toast to you and express my congratulations!”

Then, Li Ye finished his wine first before Li Cunxiao responded.

When Li Cunxiao heard Li Ye’s words, he was very surprised and delighted. Seeing Li Ye finish his wine first, he was moved.

Who was Li Ye?

He suppressed the Huang Chao Uprising and saved the country from danger. He was the pillar of the Tang Empire and the hope of the Tang Empire’s revival. All those who had ambition respected him.

The two generations of Prince An had the literary talent and martial arts. They sacrificed their lives for the country and supported the Tang Empire with their full strength. All those who had ambition praised them.

With Li Ye’s age, the battles he experienced, the achievements, and the prestige he enjoyed in the world made him become a legend. He was the idol of all those who had ambition, and his achievement was the goal of all people.

Li Keyong and Zhu Wen were far behind him.

Li Ye said that he always respected Li Cunxiao, which was half true and half false. But Li Cunxiao respected Li Ye, which was 100% true.

Li Cunxiao fought Li Ye on the battlefield because they belonged to different groups and were forced by the general situation. They had no personal enmity and deep hatred. Therefore, Li Cunxiao still respected Li Ye at present.

Li Cunxiao was sincere and straightforward. As the military general, he was pure in thought. He was excited about being praised by his idol.

“I’m too ashamed to bear your compliment. Thank you, Prince An!” Li Cunxiao raised the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Ye appreciated him more. Putting away the wine cup, he suddenly sighed and said with pity, “General, you’re the minister of the Tang Empire. With the opportunity and your ability, you should make contributions to the country. Now the world is full of internal strife and border trouble. With your talent, you can gain the noble title within three or five years, and it’s just a matter of time for you to be granted a title of Prince of the different surname!”

“Now that you’re following Li Keyong, you can’t get the most out of your talent. If you’re willing to surrender and be loyal to the imperial court in name of righteousness, I promise that I will let bygones be bygones and recommend you to be the commissioner!”

After talking for so long, Li Ye finally said the most important thing he had to say. With the previous foreshadowing, what he said was certainly much more believable and weighty. But before he finished, Li Cunxiao’s expression changed.

“Prince An, stop!” Li Cunxiao shouted. His face darkened, and his attitude was extremely decisive. “If this was what you wanted to say, my answer is that please attack the city at once!”

Although he respected Li Ye, that was just his personal feelings. When it came to the big picture of the battle and the matter of principle, he immediately turned his mind back to his identity of the general. He stopped Li Ye from talking more lest others would be suspicious and it would disturb the morale of the army.

At this moment, Li Cunxiao was ready to fight at any time, like a knife out of its sheath. If Li Ye continued to persuade him to surrender, he would definitely rush out and kill Li Ye.

With his cultivation of the senior general of Militarism, his personal fighting ability also reached the level of the Spiritual Master Realm.

Li Ye wasn’t angry about Li Cunxiao’s vigilance and decisive attitude but appreciated him more. He said in his heart, “How rare such a good general is! What a pity! Why could he be so loyal to Li Keyong?”

But Li Ye had already said what he wanted to say, and the purpose of the trip had been achieved, so he stopped pestering Li Cunxiao.

Li Ye said goodbye with cupped fists, “In this case, I will say no more. But I can tell you that as long as I’m still Prince An of the Tang Empire, I will recommend you to be commissioner whenever you’re willing to surrender!”

After saying that, Li Ye turned and left.

Seeing Li Ye leaving, Li Cunxiao remained silent with a solemn look for a long time. The atmosphere was heavy. A long time later, he turned to look at Li Siben and found that the other side looked at him oddly with an inexplicable meaning in his eyes.

Li Cunxiao frowned and said, “You have something to say?”

Li Siben chuckled. He feared nothing and always said what he wanted to say. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ridiculed the River-crossing Arhat. “I didn’t expect that Prince An would think so highly of you. He even promised to give you the position of the commissioner, the noble title, and even the title of Prince of the different surname, to win you over. I really envy you!”

Li Cunxiao frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Prince An just made fun of me. How could you take it seriously?”

Li Siben had a clear point. “Prince An came alone and prepared fine wine just to make fun of you?”

Li Cunxiao became angry. “Even if what Prince An said was true, so what? Do you think I’m a traitor who will betray our master?”

Li Siben smiled. “I was just joking. Don’t get angry.”

Li Cunxiao snorted.

Back in the camp, Li Ye wasn’t idle but began to write a letter.

Of course, he wrote it to Li Cunxiao. The content was to persuade Li Cunxiao to surrender, and the focus was on righteousness. He promised Li Cunxiao rich conditions and highlighted his personal respect for Li Cunxiao.

With the investigation into Li Cunxiao by the Black Office and Li Ye’s knowledge of Li Cunxiao, he certainly knew that no matter how many letters he wrote, Li Cunxiao would not surrender.

He didn’t expect Li Cunxiao would surrender.

After writing the letter to persuade Li Cunxiao to surrender, Li Ye began to write a letter to persuade the Yizhou defending soldiers to surrender. After he finished the two letters, Li Ye asked the Holy-child King, Red Boy, to come and passed the letter which he wrote to Li Cunxiao to him. “You arrange someone to give this letter to Li Cunxiao at a hidden time and place.”

“It’s a piece of cake. I’ll do it myself.” Red Boy took the letter and promised, patting his chest. After he thought for a while, he had a question. “But even if the letter is given to Li Cunxiao, is it really useful?”

Li Ye smiled with confidence. “Of course.”

After Red Boy left, Li Ye called Li Zhen and gave him the second letter. “You immediately arrange people to copy it, 10,000 copies per day. Then, shoot them into the city with bows and arrows.”

Li Zhen took the letter without asking anything. With his wisdom, of course, he understood Li Ye’s purpose.

In the following days, the Imperial Army sent people to the front of the city regularly every day and shot the letters into the city in batches. The letters were so many that the Yizhou defending soldiers kept some of them privately, even though Li Cunxiao asked to hand in all. The content was soon spread.

Actually, the content was nothing more than that the Imperial Army would certainly win and the Hedong Army would certainly lose. Li Ye listed ten reasons why the Imperial Army would certainly win, which was called “Ten Wins”. And he also listed ten reasons why the Hedong Army would certainly lose, which was called “Ten Defeats.”

On this basis, Li Ye taught those misguided soldiers patiently in the letter. And with Prince An’s identity and prestige, he called on them to surrender and promised to forgive their past misdeeds. If they surrendered early, they would be rewarded with money. All in all, the terms were favorable.

Soon, Li Ye’s letter blew a storm in Yizhou, and people’s hearts were obviously affected.

That day, Li Cunxiao returned to his mansion. After dinner, he returned to his study and sat down. Before he started to read the art of war, the table rippled like a wave, and a letter floated on it slowly. That was exactly the letter Li Ye gave to him.

When Li Cunxiao opened it and saw Li Ye’s signature, he immediately got up without reading the content. He was ready to give it to Li Keyong to show his loyalty and honesty.

But at this moment, a curly-haired monk in a kasaya, bedecked with jewels, suddenly appeared in front of him. As he moved his finger, the letter reached his hand.

Looking at Li Cunxiao suspiciously, the monk asked, “As the general of Yizhou, you exchange letters with the commander-in-chief of the enemy troops privately. What is your intention?”