LFHYB -Chapter 178 The Front Wave Dies on the Shore

Shu Commandery had been developed for several hundred years, so there was no need to fight in Bashu—just entering Shu through the Jianmen Pass was sufficient. The march wasn’t overly difficult.

Although Sun Simiao was already quite old, he was still vigorous, even more robust in appearance than Li Xuanba. Li Xuanba, confident in his own health, suggested Sun Simiao rest in Daxing, but the old doctor firmly refused, happily continuing with the army.

During private talks, Sun Simiao spoke candidly to Li Xuanba—if he didn’t march with the army, where would all the “dissection students” come from?

“Dissection students” was Li Xuanba’s term. Sun Simiao liked it, thinking it a fine title to pass on to his disciples.

Li Xuanba nodded but then remembered that his own wife was Sun Simiao’s disciple.

Could it be that his wife would also go to the camp to both treat patients and perform dissections?

Li Xuanba sighed and instructed the other army doctors to take good care of Sun Simiao.

After entering Shu, Sun Simiao prepared some herbs for Li Xuanba and the others to repel insects and prevent heatstroke. They set out in autumn, so the weather wasn’t very hot—though occasional autumn rains made the mountain paths slippery.

Li Xuanba and Li Shimin did not rush the march. Whenever the roads were difficult, they camped on the spot, prioritizing safety.

After two months of walking and resting, Li Xuanba and Li Shimin finally arrived in Chengdu.

Along the way, Li Shimin had beaten bandits, cleared a few mountain strongholds, and helped restore order in Shu Commandery.

Upon arrival in Chengdu, the region’s notable local powers lined up at the city gates, all kneeling to welcome the Prince of Longxi.

Most of the Sui literati did not kneel; they would simply clasp their hands in respect to their superiors. Seeing the local powers kneel, Li Shimin was puzzled.

He nudged Li Xuanba with his elbow. “A-Xuan, why are they kneeling? Do they have some grievance?”

Li Shimin was so startled that the speed of his horse slowed, hesitant to move forward.

Li Xuanba explained: “It’s probably because many of the bandits and mountain thieves you previously suppressed were supported by these people. They think you’re punishing them personally.”

Li Shimin: “Oh, I see.”

He did know the bandits had supporters, but hadn’t he and A-Xuan also backed Wang Bo and Zhai Rang? As long as no extreme cruelty was done, he didn’t care.

Now it seemed that even if he didn’t care, the Shu local powers certainly did.

Li Shimin rubbed his chin and laughed: “True, though they only supported the bandits to protect themselves during chaos, in other words, they secretly kept arms—which is high treason. I am now the Prince of Longxi of Great Sui; if I want to make trouble for them, I just pin the label of treason on them, and their families will be ruined.”

Li Xuanba glanced at his older brother, unwilling to comment on the mischievous smile on Second Brother’s face.

He had no idea what mischief his brother would get into this time—but as long as he wasn’t dragged in, it was fine. He had enough on his plate already.

Li Shimin had no real intention to be malicious. He simply used their fear to get them to cooperate with Li Xuanba in re-counting the households and lands.

The Sui Dynasty’s basic land policy inherited the Northern Wei’s equal-field system. But Emperor Wen of Sui loved exaggeration, counting one acre as five or even ten times more—so the official farmland statistics of Sui exceeded even the newly founded modern China’s fully developed northeast, Liangguang, Fujian, and Xinjiang.

Bashu was no different. The central archives’ household records were nearly unusable.

Li Shimin planned to stay in Chengdu for a while, re-organize the household registration in Bashu, and then leave.

Now that Bashu was his territory, it was separated from the chaos. People who needed land distribution got it, those who needed to farm and weave did so, and society returned to normal operation.

Changsun Wuji and Li Shou remained in Chengdu, having already carried out some administrative replacements of local officials.

During the feudal era, imperial power rarely extended to rural areas. Local officials still needed local people. Li Shimin’s unintentional scare of the Shu local powers led them to cooperate fully.

Changsun Wuji couldn’t help complaining: “If I had known, I would have gone with Li Shentong to suppress the bandits first, then discuss things with them.”

Li Shou nodded repeatedly. These local powers! If given face, they refused to cooperate—better to beat them first next time!

Li Shimin didn’t console his uncle and brother-in-law, instead laughing loudly, so much so that both Changsun Wuji and Li Shou wanted to punch him.

Li Xuanba shook his head, hands behind his back, telling their cousin Li Xiaogong, who accompanied them: “Second Brother is like this—if he teases you, don’t get angry. If you just ignore him, he’ll lose interest.”

Li Xiaogong replied: “He’s not teasing, just joking. His behavior shows closeness—I’m glad, not angry.”

After entering Western Capital, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba arranged for all Li clan members stranded there. Some Li family members who had fled also returned to join the two young princes.

Li Xiaogong’s grandfather and the grandfather of Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were brothers; his father, Li An, and Li Yuan were cousins. So even though Li Xiaogong was their cousin, the relation was somewhat distant.

Originally, after Li Yuan ascended the throne in this timeline, he had granted princely titles to relatives across several branches of the family. Even fathers and sons were casually made princes together. As soon as Li Shimin took the throne, he started stripping titles left and right, puffing and sweating all over. However, Li Xiaogong’s future title as a commandery prince was genuinely well-earned—he was one of the rare members of the Li clan with true talent in both military and leadership.

When Li Xuanba was selecting talents among the Li clan, he personally invited the hesitant Li Xiaogong to step forward.

Li Xuanba also found Li Daoxuan, though Li Daoxuan was only a thirteen-year-old boy at the time.

Li Daoxuan’s family was poor. When he heard that his cousin had been made a commandery prince, he wanted to join the army immediately, with his hair tied into two small braids, but his mother pulled him back.

Li Xuanba had explained Li Daoxuan’s original circumstances to Li Shimin, and Li Shimin took a particular interest in him.

Li Shimin gave Li Daoxuan a short sword, telling him that when he turned fifteen, he would definitely lead him into battle.

“Until then, you must study well and train in martial arts.”

Li Daoxuan clutched the short sword and nodded eagerly, his eyes shining with admiration for Li Shimin.

Li Shimin felt the pressure.

What if Li Daoxuan ended up learning his style of leading troops from the front?

Li Xuanba spoke earnestly: “So you need to change. You can’t set a bad example for the boy, you…”

Before he could finish, Li Shimin had flipped up and darted away, leaving his younger brother grinding his teeth in frustration.

Thinking of this gave Li Xuanba a headache, and he again reminded Li Xiaogong: “No ordinary person can imitate your brother’s way of leading troops. You absolutely must not try. And if you both end up in the vanguard, remember to restrain him—don’t let him always charge ahead.”

Li Xuanba usually handled logistics and rear defense, so he couldn’t always supervise Li Shimin.

At this point, Li Xiaogong didn’t yet know Li Shimin’s battle methods, but he was confident: “I will make sure to advise my lord properly.”

Li Xuanba nodded, having found a “supervisor” for his brother.

Li Xiaogong not only was well-versed in military strategy but also competent in administrative affairs.

Li Xuanba then sent Li Xiaogong to work under Changsun Wuji, dealing with the powerful families of Shu Commandery.

Changsun Wuji and Li Xiaogong, one playing the “stern face” and the other the “gentle face,” managed to subdue the local elites completely.

They reopened official schools in Chengdu, requiring the sons of the local powerful families to attend. Ostensibly, this was a way to hold these young men as hostages, yet the elites were extremely pleased and grateful, believing that Changsun Wuji and Li Xiaogong were promoting their families.

After serving some time as the prefect of Shu Commandery and settling administrative matters, Changsun Wuji handed over responsibilities to Chai Shao.

In the future, Chai Shao would be stationed in Shu Commandery and accompany Li Shimin when he left.

Li Shimin had originally planned for Li Shou to co-guard Shu Commandery with Chai Shao, but seeing that Li Shou couldn’t keep up with Changsun Wuji and Li Xiaogong, he sighed.

Li Shou felt embarrassed as well.

He was a generation senior to Li Xiaogong, yet a junior had outshone him.

In the end, Li Shimin had to swap Li Shou and Li Xiaogong’s positions, sending Li Xiaogong to co-guard Shu Commandery with Chai Shao and restore order. Once that was done, they would move on to Ba Commandery, which was nominally submissive but acted like a small independent state, and ensure they behaved as obedient local officials.

Shu Commandery wasn’t limited to the Chengdu Plain; the western and southern mountainous regions were often disturbed by barbarians. Li Xiaogong and Chai Shao had to lead troops in battle, essentially commanding a full army independently.

Li Shimin left them only five thousand soldiers; the rest they had to recruit from former Sui dynasty troops of the Yingyang garrison.

Chai Shao and Li Xiaogong had learned some skills in drilling and leading troops while accompanying Li Shimin into Shu. Now, tasked with leading soldiers on their own, they were nervous but excited.

Chai Shao and Li Xiaogong were similar in age and had both lived in Daxing, though their previous interactions had been minimal. But the circle of noble families in Daxing wasn’t large, so they already knew each other.

Now that they were colleagues, they naturally became close friends.

Chai Shao even brought Li Jing into the fold.

Li Jing, after some thought, visited Li Shou several times and brought him along as well.

All of them were subordinates of the Prince of Longxi. Age differences, whether forty or twenty, didn’t matter—they could all become friends.

Li Shimin had initially worried, while whispering with Li Xuanba, that his clumsy uncle might be isolated. Unexpectedly, Li Jing was very socially adept, and Li Shimin relaxed.

Li Xuanba glanced at his brother: [Although the uncle led troops first, he never fought on the front line himself. Shandong unsettled, assigned to suppress rebellion, Jiande invaded from the south, entire army defeated; when Liu Heita rebelled, the uncle fled at the first sight of the enemy.]

Li Shimin: “Huh? What did you say?”

Li Xuanba: [This is what you would say to Li Shentong after becoming emperor. I don’t believe you’re worried about him—you just want to see him embarrassed.]

Li Shimin: “…”

Li Shimin laughed heartily: “Hahaha! My mouth really is vicious!”

Li Xuanba sighed: “You don’t have to be so cruel. You might not fear offending him, but others still have to respect his royal status.”

Li Shimin folded his arms: “I’m the emperor. No matter how unhappy he is, can he really succeed in accusing me?”

Li Xuanba: “…Makes sense.”

Li Shimin lifted his head proudly. For once, he had rendered A-Xuan speechless—how satisfying!

After sending Chai Shao and Li Xiaogong to Chengdu, with the Lunar New Year approaching, Li Shimin once again broke camp and set out, following the Yangtze River out of Shu toward Ba Commandery, then moving south along the river.

During the months in Shu, Li Shimin had gathered enough warships. Although these ships were mainly for transporting troops and supplies and couldn’t be used for direct naval combat, they were sufficient for leaving Shu.

Even though the Sui dynasty’s Yangtze commercial routes were already bustling, with ships from Jiangnan arriving in Chengdu every few days, Li Xuanba still worried about the rapid currents of the Three Gorges.

His brother had never fought a naval battle before—would he get seasick?

Then Li Xuanba saw his brother standing at the prow, arms outstretched facing the rushing Yangtze, shouting “Ah!” and leading a group of officers to do the same, leaving even Li Jing and Li Shou dumbfounded.

He quietly turned back toward the cabin and made a swift escape.