Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 204

As for the issue of exchanging horses for riders, that's even more absurd. While it's true that Sichuan lacks fine steeds, it also lacks terrain suitable for cavalry to roam freely. For traversing mountainous terrain, the locally produced, smaller Sichuan horses are more suitable. Furthermore, horses from Guanzhong are extremely susceptible to heat; transporting them to the humid and hot Sichuan region would easily lead to disease, significantly increasing maintenance costs—it's simply not worthwhile.

Even if Cui Ning were to use his influence to buy some warhorses, it would only be for himself and his generals to ride and show off their power; a thousand horses would be the maximum!

Although somewhat disappointed, Li Ji also found some new inspiration from Lu Lun's unreliable advice.

Therefore, it was finally decided to hire Lu Lun as secretary to assist in drafting daily official documents and memorials. The chief secretary of Hexi Town was originally Lü Xiqian, who was brought from Shuofang. However, in recent years, that guy had become addicted to writing legends and transcribing stories, and instead often delegated serious documents to his subordinates. He also promised to seek an eighth-rank official salary for him.

After Lu Lun left, Li Ji called Bao Zitian and said, "Could you make a trip to Chengdu for me? Select three hundred fine horses and transport them to Xichuan to present to the military governor Cui Ning..."

Chapter 44, The Distant Flow of the River West

Following the agreed-upon rules, Yu Ling selected ten members of his family and sent them to Guzang. After Li Ji examined them, he accepted six of them into his staff, including Bao Zitian, whom he had often dealt with since the Wei Bo era.

In addition, Li Ji had two other candidates in mind. One was Jian Dao, originally from Yingzhou, who had been engaged in business in Hengzhou for many years after being recruited by Yu Ling. He was said to have Xi ethnic ancestry, though the veracity was unknown. He could indeed speak a Dongfan language, though no one could testify to this, and it was unclear whether it was Khitan or Xi. Because of his honesty and diligence, Yu Ling married him to a woman from his own clan, thus introducing him into the family—after all, Jian Dao was an orphan, and it was said that all his relatives had died.

Another was Cao Zhilin from Tanzhou, whose courtesy name was Xiangjiao. He had studied for a few years and was quite literate. He even claimed to have studied archery and was skilled in shooting. He was also a distant relative of Yu Ling. Because of his family's poverty, he could not take the imperial examinations and was forced to follow Yu Ling to Henan at a young age to work as an accountant.

Li Ji had promised at the beginning of the year that if they fought another battle, he would promote half of the six Yu family members to the seventh or eighth rank, thus rewarding these three for their achievements—all of whom were relatives by marriage. On the contrary, Li Ji did not think much of the other three who were actually surnamed Yu.

Meanwhile, Jian Dao and Cao Zhilin remained in Liangzhou to handle financial and commercial matters, while Bao Zitian was summoned by Li Ji, who had brought him to Ganzhou, and asked to send three hundred fine horses to Chengdu as a gift to Cui Ning.

Lu Lun suggested that Li Ji trade people with Cui Ning for fine horses. This idea was unreliable, but it made Li Ji realize that Shu was rich, and if a trade route could be opened between Hexi and Xichuan, it would definitely benefit him. Moreover, if Cui Ning could launch an offensive in Xichuan to contain the barbarian army, it would also benefit his own battles in Hexi.

Therefore, the first step is to further strengthen the relationship between the two families. Three hundred fine horses will be selected and presented to Cui Ning—I believe Cui Ning will not dare to refuse a reciprocation. At the same time, I will instruct Bao Zitian to thoroughly investigate the products of Xichuan and assess the feasibility of trade. Although the journey is long, we can also bring in a town in Guanzhong to serve as a transit point.

As Lu Lun said, Li Ji had acquired Gansu and Liangzhou, so there was no shortage of warhorses. The Hexi Garrison originally commanded 73,000 soldiers and had 19,400 horses, which could provide more than 30% cavalry, making it second to none among the garrisons. Moreover, these 19,400 were only the registered warhorses; the officers had kept and released countless more privately. Although the past warhorse farms had been destroyed by the barbarians, there were many Qiang and Hu people in the territory, so they could both levy horses from them and allow them to graze and breed the horses.

It can be said that the most valuable product of Hexi is its fine horses, which can be supplied to Guanzhong and generate huge profits. Previously, when Liangzhou was not yet secured and Ganzhou was still unclaimed, and the horse administration was only just beginning to be organized, Li Ji dared not engage in large-scale trading. Now, however, he could begin to act. However, Yu Ling had already given the order, saying he wanted horses from your town, and would buy as many as you offered, so Li Ji couldn't refuse him.

Therefore, it was considered that Yu Ling or his family members under his command could sell fine horses to Guanzhong, then purchase goods from Guanzhong and transport them to Shu, exchanging Shu goods for Guanzhong goods, and then transporting Guanzhong goods to Liangzhou… Although Shu had also experienced many wars, it had never been ravaged by the An Lushan Rebellion, and its wealth was second only to Jianghuai. Li Ji was sometimes envious of Cui Ning. If it weren't for issues like expelling the barbarians and recovering the Western Regions, and simply focusing on building a strong foundation and living a life of luxury, Xichuan would be far superior to Hexi!

After Baozi Tian left, Li Ji summoned Lü Xiqian again and said, "Please write a memorial for me."

Although Lü Xiqian often delegated formal official documents to his subordinates, Li Ji would still order him to draft important memorials personally. This was because Lü Xiqian had been in the capital for a long time and was quite familiar with the court's situation. No other secretary could match him in how to impress the emperor and the authorities with his memorials—including the newly appointed Lu Lun, there were a total of seven secretaries, all of whom were poor scholars who had never held office. Secondly, Lü Xiqian was Li Shi's personal confidant, so his drafted memorials were more likely to receive Li Shi's secret assistance.

Li Ji's memorial was simple: he lamented poverty, saying that Hexi was barren and especially lacking in manpower, which was not only unfavorable for a prolonged defense but also hindered the reorganization of the army for continued warfare. He hoped that the court could exile a group of prisoners to distant lands and that the original exiles should not be sent to the malarial and malaria-ridden areas of Lingnan and Jiannan, but instead be sent to Hexi.

The Tang Code stipulated that exile was second only to the death penalty, and it was divided into three levels: two thousand li, two thousand five hundred li, and three thousand li. The places of exile mainly included four major regions: Qianzhong, Lingnan, Jiannan, and Qixi. Qixi was the Western Regions, but now it was isolated by foreign bandits, so only three places of exile remained.

Li Ji requested that the criminals be exiled to Hexi, and most of them were willing—because Zhangye and Chang'an were only about two thousand li apart, and it was only the lowest level of exile, not even the second-highest—and it wouldn't be troublesome for the court. The key was that, according to the law, after arriving at their place of exile, the criminals had to serve a year of hard labor before being allowed to settle down, and they were forbidden from returning to the Central Plains for life. Once Li Ji obtained these people, he only needed to screen them. The most vicious ones would be sent to build cities, and they would probably die of exhaustion within a year; those who were not too wicked—for example, those who had committed manslaughter—would be used for civilian settlements; and those who were relatively brave could be made to serve in the army to atone for their crimes.

This inspiration came from Lu Lun's suggestion, which was much more reliable than requesting Sichuan to supply prisoners.

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Li Ji's request was quickly approved; the court had no objection to exiling him to Hexi. Thus, Li Ziyi was forced to embark on the journey to Guzang…

After the Battle of Hengshui, Li Ziyi, nicknamed "Fifth Red Flag Officer," hurriedly crossed the Zhang River, but dared not flee to Xindu like his comrade, nor return to Wushun Army. He could only seize a horse, split up, and head west, sneaking through the territory of Zhaoyi Army and escaping into Hedong Road. However, at that time, the country was in chaos, and Wushun Army was quickly annexed by Weibo. Qin Rui was put in a prison cart and sent to Chang'an. No one investigated in detail the culprit who had clamored to flee before the battle that day. Otherwise, if a warrant had been issued for his arrest, he probably wouldn't have gone very far.

On the road, he was sometimes hungry and sometimes full. He was even forced to become a thief to steal some travel money. After passing through Hedong Road, he entered Jingji Road and searched everywhere for a town to raise a flag and recruit soldiers so that he could join his ranks. Because he had spent half his life as a soldier, apart from getting paid and risking his life, he really had no skills and no way to make a living.

—A thief might be acceptable if pushed to the limit, but ultimately it shouldn't be a lifelong profession or even a career.

Nearly a year later, he finally got the chance to rejoin the army—under Liu Qia, the military commissioner of Shangzhou. In the fourth year of the Dali era, Liu Qia, due to a feud with Yin Zhongqing, the defense commissioner of Jinshang, launched an attack and killed him. The court was furious and immediately mobilized part of the Northern Army and ordered Liang Chongyi, the military governor of Shannan East Circuit, to send troops to jointly annihilate Liu Qia.

As for who was right and who was wrong, and the cause and effect, Li Ziyi was just a lowly squad leader at the time, so naturally he had no way of knowing—he was simply following orders from his superiors, attacking whomever he was told to attack. After Liu Qia's defeat and death, his troops scattered, and more than two thousand people were taken prisoner by the Shannan East Circuit Army and taken to Xiangyang; Li Ziyi was also wounded and captured, and fortunately or unfortunately, he fell into the hands of the Imperial Guards.

Shence Army captured over a thousand enemy soldiers under Hao Tingyu's command and ordered the execution of all the common soldiers, leaving only Li Ziyi and over sixty other officers and soldiers of various ranks to be escorted to Chang'an as prisoners. Li Yu believed that these rebel troops should be executed, but Chancellor Li Qiyun and Cui Youfu argued that they were merely collaborators and should not be sentenced to death—according to the law, they should be exiled.

Originally, they were to be exiled to Guizhou and handed over to the Guizhou Military Governor for disposal. However, Li Ji's memorial arrived just in time, so Li Qijun gave face to his nephew and ordered a team of imperial guards to escort the prisoners to Guzang—including Li Ziyi and other captured soldiers from Shangzhou, totaling more than two hundred people.

Upon hearing this news, Li Ziyi was terrified—he had originally betrayed Li Ji of Weibo. If he went to Liangzhou and ran into an acquaintance who exposed his identity, would he have any chance of survival? So he looked for an opportunity along the way and tried to escape several times.

However, the Imperial Guards were very strict in their supervision, because their superior, Lieutenant Huo (Huo Xianming), had instructed them: "Be careful on the road. If even one person escapes, I will not look good in front of the Grand Commandant, and you will be punished according to military law!" Thus, Li Ziyi could never find a suitable opportunity until he passed through Xiaoguan. Only then, taking advantage of the opportunity to relieve himself, did he dart into the bushes...

He was immediately caught up by the Imperial Guards on horseback, bound hand and foot, dragged back, and given a severe beating. After the beating, the Imperial Guard commander comforted him, saying, "You deserve to die, but although you are exiled, you will eventually live. Would you rather die than serve hard labor? It will only be a year, just endure it. If you dare to escape again, you will be executed without mercy. Think it over carefully."

Given Li Ziyi's previous offense, the soldiers kept a tighter watch on him, leaving him no chance to escape. He could only console himself: after so many years, Li Ji might not even recognize him anymore. Apart from a few trusted guards, most of his men were from Shuofang and Liangzhou, and few of them had ever dealt with him in Weibo. So as long as he was careful, he wouldn't expose his whereabouts.

Why is my life so miserable? I possess immense strength and superb martial arts skills, yet not only can I not achieve glory on the battlefield, nor secure a good future for my family, but I face constant setbacks and have even become an exile… Just as that general said, if I run again, I'll surely face execution. Surviving the defeat at Shangzhou is already a stroke of luck; I'd better keep a low profile and live as long as I can…

Actually, living like this is worse than being dead, but I just can't bring myself to die!

After traveling for more than a day, they finally arrived at Guzang City, where they were greeted by officials and soldiers from Hexi. They checked the names against the official documents and records. Li Ziyi was not using his real name. He had changed his name when he escaped from Weibo and joined the Wushun Army. When he defected from the Wushun Army, he naturally changed it to a third name. They then temporarily imprisoned the more than two hundred people in the hay storage area and told them that the judge would come tomorrow to assign them labor. Today would be their last meal, and they would be given a full meal.

The so-called "full meal" consisted of nothing more than two coarse black wheat cakes and a bowl of vegetable soup devoid of any oil. Li Ziyi mingled among the crowd, tossing and turning all night, unable to fall asleep. The next day, the military governor's office indeed sent someone, who was addressed as "Judge Luo".

The magistrate sat high above, calling out names again and questioning each person about the reasons for their offenses—in fact, they were all written in the case files; the main thing was whether they accepted the charges and what their attitude was towards the imperial law. Li Ziyi dared not protest his innocence and simply followed the crowd and told the truth. Magistrate Luo gestured with his pen, and soon assigned the cases.

He mainly divided the people into three groups: a dozen or so old and weak people, or those who had been to school, would probably be given some light work; over a hundred people were ordered to be sent to build the city walls—that would naturally be hard and tiring work; but Li Ziyi and his group of more than sixty former Shangzhou military officers, and two or three others, were ordered to be sent to the drill ground.

Li Ziyi was filled with anxiety. He was forced to lower his head, shrink his arms, and hide among his companions, hoping not to attract attention. He guessed that these former soldiers would be assigned to manual labor, such as carrying provisions and equipment, washing horses and armor, and so on. The work was familiar and not necessarily very strenuous, but being supervised by the generally rough and violent soldiers would likely result in humiliation and frequent whippings... The coming year was going to be tough.

Before long, he was escorted to the drill ground and led to a high platform. Li Ziyi mustered his courage and looked up. He saw an official in purple robes sitting proudly. Who else could it be but Li Ji? Li Ziyi's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "I heard on the way here that Grand Commandant Li was still in Zhangye. When did he return to Guzang?"

In truth, Li Ji had only been back in Guzang for two or three days when he heard from the magistrate Luo Yiping that the imperial court had escorted over two hundred prisoners from distant exiles, many of whom were former generals from Shangzhou. Li Ji had naturally heard of Liu Qia's rebellion, and he figured that only Liu Qia and a few of his cronies would dare to plot against their superior; most of the soldiers were merely following orders and were quite wronged. Since this was a time when he needed capable men, he thought it best to carefully select and appoint them to the army.

According to the dossier, those brought in were not ordinary soldiers; the highest-ranking were deputy generals, and the lowest were captains. Therefore, Li Ji planned to personally interrogate and select them.

So he called out names one by one again. Li Ziyi shrank his head and dared not look Li Ji in the eye. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a soldier who looked vaguely familiar run up and whisper something in Li Ji's ear. Immediately, Li Ji's eyes widened, he slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Take him down!"

These prisoners were all tied together with ropes as they walked along the road to prevent escape—as for Li Ziyi, after his failed escape attempt, he was even chained—but when they arrived in Guzang, they were all untied and now free, only being held at gunpoint by soldiers with swords and spears. Suddenly, Li Ji shouted, and six or seven soldiers rushed out from the crowd, tackled Li Ziyi to the ground, and dragged him to Li Ji by the arm.

Li Ziyi thought to herself, "Oh no, I've been recognized..."

His prediction was wrong. Li Ji brought not just a few hundred soldiers from Weibo, but two thousand troops who had gone to Shuofang. Among them were inevitably a few with good memories who would recognize the man who had shouted and threatened Yan Sima in front of the Weibo government office.

Li Ziyi was immediately forced to the ground, his hair pulled back, forcing him to raise his head and face Li Ji. Li Ji stared at him intently and sneered, "Li Qi? You are clearly called Li Ziyi! Although you changed your name, you still remember your ancestors—you caused trouble in Weibo back then, and after returning to Shangzhou, you joined the rebellion again. How come the court only sentenced you to exile?"

Li Ji was pondering how to incorporate and reorganize these disgraced soldiers when he suddenly received a report that Li Ziyi was among them. Upon closer inspection, the resemblance was indeed striking—if no one had pointed it out, he wouldn't have recognized him even face to face; now that it was pointed out, the resemblance only grew stronger. Perfect! Regardless of whether it was a mistake or not, he should execute him first to intimidate the rest and establish his authority!

"Take him out and chop him up, hang his head at the gate!"

Chapter 45, Tattooed Face and Joining the Army

Li Ji wanted to kill Li Ziyi. At this critical moment of life and death, Li Ziyi dared not deny it—if he said he was Li Qi and not Li Ziyi, would the other side believe him? It was one thing for a military officer to pass on the message, but how could the dignified Grand Commandant Li admit to the wrong person?

He could only struggle and shout, "Grand Commandant, you are about to defend against the barbarians, why are you killing brave men?!"

Li Ji sneered: "Even if you have the courage of Ben Yu, since you have violated military orders, you shall be executed!"

Li Ziyi continued to shout, "Whether I die or not, why won't the Grand Commandant listen to a sinner's words?"

Li Ji said, "Fine, drag it back. I'll give you one minute... half an incense stick's time. Let me hear what you have to deny."

Li Ziyi had only been dragged two zhang away when he was pulled back and forced to kneel before the high platform again. After catching his breath, he kowtowed and said, "This sinner did not know the majesty of the Grand Commandant and has offended me in the past... However, it is not that this sinner is audacious enough to cause trouble, but that wicked thief Yang Shigu incited his soldiers to coerce me. I beg the Grand Commandant to investigate thoroughly."

Li Ji thought to himself, "I guessed it long ago. Yan Zhenqing also had similar suspicions, but he just couldn't find any real evidence against Yang Shigu. But the past is the past, and there's no point in bringing up old cases again. Not to mention that what Li Ziyi said might not be credible, and a single piece of evidence is hard to establish, even if what he said was true, Yang Shigu had followed him in the fierce battle in Zhangbei and made great contributions, which could at least offset the evidence."

"When judging a crime, we should not ask about the mind, but about the actions. Regardless of whether you were coerced or not, you did instigate a rebellion and coerce your superiors. Shouldn't you be executed? And if you were wronged, why didn't you appeal to Weibo in the past, instead of fleeing in panic?"

"Yang Shigu first instigated a mutiny, then led troops to suppress it, seeing it as a chance to gain merit. Yan Sima didn't investigate further. With him in Weizhou, how could the criminal dare to show his face? Once his whereabouts were exposed, he would surely be killed by that dog! He had no choice but to flee to Shangzhou..."

Li Ziyi thought to himself, "Since you didn't ask about Wu Shunjun, I'd better leave it at that and not say anything." He continued, "I deeply regret my past actions. If I had continued to follow the Grand Commandant, even if he were to become Commander Yan today, he would be better than Liu Qia. As for Liu Qia's rebellion, I was just a lowly captain and couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Although I am guilty, my crime does not warrant death."

Li Ji curled his lip: "Although the court has sentenced you to exile, the decision of whether to kill you or not is in my hands—give me a reason not to kill you first!"

Li Ziyi hurriedly said, "I have heard that the Grand Commandant is stationed in Hexi, and rumors are spreading throughout the Central Plains that he is loyal to the emperor and loves his people, and is determined to drive out the barbarians and restore the glorious rivers and mountains of our Tang Dynasty. The army is in dire need of capable men, so I beg you to give me a chance. I can ride a bad horse and wield a broadsword. If I am used on the battlefield, I will surely die for the Grand Commandant. If the Grand Commandant kills me today, it will only stain my sword. If I can fight the barbarian bandits and die together with them, I will have no regrets. It will also benefit the Grand Commandant..."

Although he tried to comfort himself along the way, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he were discovered. So he had already prepared a few words of explanation. Otherwise, given his eloquence, even in a life-or-death situation, he certainly wouldn't have been able to come up with so many words on the spot. He would probably only be able to stammer out a few words before losing his head.

"Furthermore, the Grand Commandant is known throughout the land for his magnanimity. I, a sinner, am fond of listening to folk tales, and I once heard that a general in the army, while drunk, harassed the Grand Commandant's beloved concubine. The Grand Commandant did not punish him severely, and as a result, the general fought desperately on the battlefield and defeated the barbarian bandits. Such a tale has been passed down far and wide, and I, the sinner, have heard it and admire it greatly. I also deeply regret my past betrayal of the Grand Commandant. I humbly beg the Grand Commandant to spare my life, and I will surely repay him with my life!"

In an instant, Li Ji's expression became incredibly complex.

He understood that the bianwen (narrative poems) that Li Ziyi mentioned must have been created and spread far and wide under the guidance of Lü Xiqian. At first, he was quite interested in Lü Xiqian's legends and bianwen, and read every single one. However, he soon found himself too busy with official duties to have the time for that. Besides, they were all old-fashioned and far inferior to the online novels of later generations. Who would have the patience to collect and subscribe to them all?

The tale of a general harassing his superior's concubine—no doubt, it's a fabrication from King Zhuang of Chu's "Feast of Severed Tassels"—Li Ji thought to himself, "Lu, that's all you've got, yet you think you're some kind of legendary figure. The problem is, if I had a harem of wives and concubines, to the point where I can't even recognize myself, that would be one thing. But I only have two concubines; which one are you trying to fabricate? If Qingluan is uneducated, fine, but if Hongxian knew about this, she'd hate you to death!"

But Li Ziyi had already said so much, and Li Ji couldn't help but hesitate. After all, it had happened many years ago, and he wasn't that vengeful. Besides, he had only gathered a crowd to make a commotion that day, and it hadn't caused any major harm before Yang Shigu had quelled it. Even if he had captured Li Ziyi that day, whether to kill him or not was up to him. Judging from the other party's current state, the punishment and lesson he had received were not small.

The saying goes, "It's better to use someone's faults than their merits." If this person truly repents, turns away from evil and does good, and is willing to fight to the death for me, he can still be of some use. However, "empty words are no proof. You say you'd die on the battlefield, how can I believe you?"

Li Ziyi said, "The sinner is willing to swear a poisonous oath."

Li Ji curled his lip: "Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs. Why would they care about oaths made in the mortal world?"

Li Ziyi frowned, still racking his brains, wondering how he could gain the trust of Grand Commandant Li. Suddenly, a scholar beside Li Ji leaned closer and whispered a few words in his ear. Li Ji immediately frowned and asked, "Is this appropriate?" The scholar smiled and said, "It's entirely up to the Grand Commandant."

Li Ji thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said to Li Ziyi, "I have a plan now, but I don't know if you would be willing to follow it?"

"But the Grand Commandant gave me the opportunity to go into battle and kill the barbarians to atone for my past sins, and no sinner could refuse."

Li Ji said in a deep voice, "I intend to tattoo your forehead with the words to mark your identity as a criminal. If you dare to cause trouble or escape again, anyone who sees you will be killed! But if you can truly kill the barbarians on the battlefield and achieve merit, I will help you to have the words tattooed off. With this as proof, I might trust you to some extent."

Tattooing, also known as ink punishment or branding punishment, was one of the five ancient punishments. The five punishments included tattooing, nose amputation, knee amputation, castration, and death penalty, all of which were corporal punishments. After the Han Dynasty, their use gradually decreased, and most were replaced by caning or exile. However, by the Tang Dynasty, only nose amputation and knee amputation were completely abolished. For certain special crimes, tattooing or castration was still occasionally used—as for death penalty, beheading, it was naturally never abolished throughout history.

Logically speaking, since Li Ziyi had already been exiled, it wouldn't be appropriate to tattoo his face. Li Ji, as the official in charge of the exile area, had the right to find fault with him and behead him, but not the right to tattoo his face—that was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, Yan Zhuang suggested that he could get a tattoo to redeem himself from death. Li Ji was initially reluctant, asking, "Is this appropriate?"

But he also understood Yan Zhuang's intention. Although the other party was a criminal, he could be unrecognizable if he changed his clothes. Especially if he was sent to the army, who would remember his criminal status? Only with a tattooed face could he be recognized at a glance. With countless eyes watching, even if Li Ziyi wanted to cause trouble or escape, he would have a hard time finding an opportunity.

In particular, tattooing the face is not too painful, but it is shameful enough. If Li Ziyi is willing to endure such a great humiliation, it means that he has truly repented for his past sins. His words are somewhat credible. Otherwise... it would be cleaner to just cut him off.

Therefore, Li Ji asked Li Ziyi, "Are you willing to have your name tattooed on your back?" Li Ziyi hesitated for a moment and asked, "I am not afraid of being tattooed, but I fear that even if I die defending the barbarians, I will have no face to face my late father in the afterlife... Is it true that the Grand Commandant said it can be washed off?"

Li Ji smiled and said, "Although it can't be washed away, if you perform a meritorious service, regardless of life or death, I can order someone to add a stroke to the painting."

The custom of tattooing has existed since ancient times. Initially popular only in the south, it gradually spread to all directions. However, most people get tattoos of designs, not words; those who get tattoos of words are always criminals. Li Ji said, "I can change the words into designs for you later, then you won't be ashamed, and you'll have the face to meet your ancestors in the underworld, right?"

Li Ziyi hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Since that's the case, this sinner is willing to have the words tattooed on my back. I beg to fight to the death for the Grand Commandant with my life as a prisoner!"

Li Ji took the opportunity to scan the remaining sixty or seventy men: "What do you say? If you are willing to have your names tattooed, you can be ranked alongside Li Ziyi and become soldiers under my command. In the future, if you perform meritorious service in defending against the barbarians, you can hope to atone for your sins and be exempted from exile and return to your hometown. If you are not willing, you will have to serve hard labor in the army for a year."

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances and whispered amongst themselves. Ultimately, unlike Li Ziyi, who had offended the Grand Commandant and was now facing execution, they weren't simply better off doing hard labor than having their faces tattooed… However, many former soldiers from Shangzhou had no other skills besides military service and knew that hard labor in the army was difficult; the coming year would likely be unbearable. Especially as the Grand Commandant had said, tattooing one's face to join the army meant that if one survived, one could earn merit and potentially return home, even possibly becoming an official; while doing a year of hard labor would mean being forced to settle in Hexi, never to return home again, and what would they rely on to survive after that?

Ultimately, about 70% of the prisoners expressed their willingness to have their faces tattooed and join the army. Li Ji did not go too far, only ordering that the words "Sinner Soldier" be tattooed on the center of each of their foreheads—if too many were tattooed, it might be difficult to change them in the future.

The same treatment was applied to all the prisoners brought in from other places, as well as those who had broken the law in the army, giving them a chance to redeem themselves through meritorious service. Li Ji ordered Bai Yu, a general he had brought from Shuofang, to take command of these soldiers, intending to use them as daredevils on the battlefield.

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In May of that year, Jian Dao, a man from Yingzhou, was ordered by Li Ji to secretly travel to Beiting to make contact.

Previously, Li Ji had sent Ma Meng to Beiting to deliver a message to Li Yuanzhong. At that time, Ma Meng detoured through Uyghur territory, taking a long detour and returning after nearly a year, which was a huge delay. Therefore, Li Ji planned to send someone to secretly pass through Su and Gua prefectures, which were still occupied by the Tubo, and then through Yizhou to Beiting.

On the one hand, Yin Shen, Chang Heng, and others had already achieved considerable success in colluding with the forces of Su and Gua to resist the Tibetans, and could provide support from various places; on the other hand, although the conflict between the two countries had led to the severing of the Silk Road, there were still caravans risking their lives to sell smuggled goods. Therefore, Jian Dao was ordered to pretend to be a silk merchant and escort a small caravan to purchase a route westward.

The reason for appointing Jian Dao was twofold: firstly, he was originally employed by Yu Ling's household and often engaged in the trade of horses and silk, making him easy to impersonate; secondly, he was said to have Xi ethnicity, and his appearance differed somewhat from that of people from the Central Plains, making him suitable to impersonate a Hu merchant—if he were a Tang merchant, the Tibetans would surely be more vigilant.

Jian was extremely cautious on the road. Even when he encountered barbarian troops, he spared no expense to clear the way if he could. Thus, after spending more than half a month, he finally passed through Su and Gua prefectures and then headed north to Yi prefecture.

Yizhou was under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Jiedushi, but now the Tubo were pressing in with increasing force, and their cavalry often appeared in the area of ​​Puleihai and Zheluomanshan. It was even unclear whether the prefecture's capital, Yiwu, was still holding out. Therefore, Jian Dao dared not be careless at all and continued to lead his troops cautiously toward Yiwu.

According to the guide, they were only thirty miles from Yiwu City. Could they finally take a breather, or must they continue their perilous journey westward to uncover the mystery? Suddenly, a thousand horsemen surged forward from all directions, surrounding the small caravan.

Judging from their banners, they were neither Tibetan nor Tang soldiers—the banners had no writing on them, only pictures of wild beasts. They must be a non-Tibetan tribe. But which tribe was it? Did they ally with Tibet or Tang? You couldn't tell just by looking at the banners.

Out of caution, Jian Dao sent a Tibetan interpreter ahead to speak with the other party, who indeed replied in broken Tibetan—they must be a Hu tribe that had submitted to the Tibetans; judging from the situation, Yiwu is likely not defended. When asked about their purpose, Jian Dao fabricated a story that they were going to the Yinshan Prefecture Governor's Office, to the Karluk people—the route through Beiting was the shortest—and showed them a travel document he had purchased from the Tibetan general.

Unfortunately, it was obvious that the other party not only did not recognize the Tibetan script, but also had some misunderstanding about the style of the official document. He ignored it and instead used his spear to lift the cover on the carriage. Upon seeing that it was silk, his eyes immediately flashed with a sharp light.

After Jian Daoxin finished speaking, it was clear that they intended to rob them by force... Since we weren't far from Beiting, if they wanted to rob us, we had no choice but to let them. We just hoped that after they robbed us, they would let us leave and not rush back to the East, or even harbor murderous intentions...

Thinking about this, my legs couldn't help but tremble.

The other party looked him up and down a few times, then shouted—the interpreter said: "You want to take us to see your elders."

Although Jian Dao was afraid, he dared not disobey. If he met the noble chieftain, he might be able to plead for mercy and pretend to help carry the goods, thus escaping with his life. But if he resisted now or tried to escape, he would surely be killed!

With a bitter expression, Jian Dao followed the group to a camp in the east. Looking around, he saw cattle and horses covering the mountains and tents stretching to the clouds; this tribe was indeed quite large. Immediately, the enemy general pulled Jian Dao into a large tent, while the interpreter followed behind.

Seated in the tent was a young man, who looked to be around thirty years old. He had shoulder-length, slightly curly hair and a yellowish beard. He exchanged a few words with the general in a language he couldn't understand at all, and then stared at Jian Dao from head to toe for a long time, making Jian Dao feel very uneasy.

With great difficulty, the young man finally looked away, but immediately gave an order. Several guards came over, firmly pinned Jian Dao down, and searched his entire body. Jian Dao cried out for mercy, but no one paid any attention. After searching him thoroughly and finding nothing, the young man shouted again, and soldiers removed Jian Dao's turban and then untied his hair...

In an instant, Jian Dao's face turned ashen, like that of a dead man.

Sure enough, the guards found a small wax pellet in his hair and presented it to the young man. The young man skillfully crushed the wax pellet, took out a thin silk cloth covered in writing, unfolded it, and burst into laughter…

Chapter 46, Trip to Tingzhou

When the secret wax pill book hidden in Jiandao was found, he turned ashen-faced and thought to himself, "I'm doomed..." I never imagined that my eagerness to make a name for myself and my refusal to disobey the Grand Commandant's orders to go west would lead to my death in a foreign land!

But I hope they'll give me a quick and easy answer, no interrogation... No need for interrogation, just tell me whatever you want to know, and I'll answer without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, after laughing, the young man stood up, waved away the guards, then helped the swaying Jian Dao to sit down, bowed to him, and said in fluent Tang language:

"I apologize for frightening you, sir. I am not a barbarian thief; I am Zhu Xiejinzhong, the governor of Jinmanzhou."

Jian Dao immediately went from shock to joy, but still couldn't believe he was really that lucky, so he hurriedly asked, "You...you...your tribe is the Shatuo?"

The Shatuo were originally a branch of the Chuyue tribe, a separate tribe of the Western Turks, who were nomadic in the area around Lake Pulei. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, when the Western Turkic Khan Ashina Helu was conquered, the Shatuo defected to the Tang army and assisted them. The Tang government then established two tributary prefectures, Jinman and Shatuo, in the area. Subsequently, the chieftain Zhu Xiejinshan was appointed to inherit the title of Governor of Jinman Prefecture and was granted the title of Duke of Zhangye.