LFHYB -Chapter 190 Li Jing’s Use of Strategic Momentum

Although Changsun Wuji intended to keep it hidden, Chen Ling soon learned of Luoyang’s fall.

The reason was simple: after Xue Shou asked Changsun Wuji about affairs in the Central Plains and persuaded him, he told Chen Ling about it.

“Luoyang has fallen. Our lord is now Prince of Qin, and Li Sanlang has been enfeoffed as Prince of Jin,” Xue Shou said jokingly. “Fourth Young Master Changsun worried that you might still be devoted to the Sui and would be devastated by this news. I think he worried too much.”

A mocking smile rose at the corner of Chen Ling’s mouth. “When the late emperor was killed, the Sui had already perished. The small court at Luoyang was merely clinging to life—whether it was saved or not, what difference did it make?”

Chen Ling understood Xue Shou’s tactful subtext and knew that Changsun Wuji was more concerned that he might criticize their lord for not rescuing Luoyang. But Changsun Wuji truly had overthought it.

In the original course of history, Chen Ling had indeed been relatively loyal to the Sui. For merits earned in suppressing Yang Xuangan and peasant uprisings, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xin’an.

After Yuwen Huaji left Jiangdu, Chen Ling reburied Yang Guang. When the bandit leader Li Zitong captured Jiangdu, Chen Ling fled to another bandit leader, Du Fuwei, who grew wary of him and soon had him killed.

But in this lifetime, Chen Ling did not feel deeply attached to Yang Guang.

First, he had been trapped on Tsukushi Island for several years—he chalked that up to bad luck, not the Sui’s fault.

But just after he returned to the Central Plains, Yang Guang clapped his forehead and decided that continuing to station troops on Tsukushi Island would be beneficial for attacking Goguryeo, and promptly sent Chen Ling back to the island to face the sea winds again.

Who would want to live like a wild man on an island? Resentment was inevitable.

More importantly, prolonged deployment on a remote island had “cut him off” from the Central Plains court.

When he first went to sea, the Sui was at its peak; when he returned the first time, the Sui was already tottering; when he returned the second time, Yang Guang was gone.

He once had many friends at court. Now, the only person he trusted was Xue Shou, with whom he had spent years digging clams on the beach. And Xue Shou’s lord happened to be the man most likely to seize the realm. If Chen Ling hesitated even one more second, he would be betraying both his intelligence and the many years of sea wind he had endured on Tsukushi Island.

“When we meet our lord, I’ll introduce you properly, so there’s no need to worry,” Xue Shou said. “Li Erlang and Li Sanlang are both very easy to get along with.”

Chen Ling joked, “Our lord and His Highness the Prince of Jin may be easy to deal with, but our lord’s subordinates don’t seem so accommodating. It looks like I should still seek an external posting in the future and continue blowing sea winds on Tsukushi Island.”

Xue Shou laughed. “Next time you go to Tsukushi Island, I’ll go with you. Perhaps Li Sanlang will want to come along too.”

Li Sanlang had once said that Tsukushi Island had gold and silver deposits. Once Li Erlang unified the realm, Li Sanlang would surely go there.

Chen Ling asked curiously, “What would His Highness the Prince of Jin go to Tsukushi Island for?”

Xue Shou casually found an excuse—though it wasn’t merely an excuse. “Goguryeo harbors rebellious intentions. Sooner or later, it will have to be dealt with.”

Chen Ling sighed. “Indeed.”

The late emperor’s campaign against Goguryeo itself wasn’t wrong; his mistake was conscripting the people mercilessly and disregarding their lives.

Xue Shou’s candor eased several more of Chen Ling’s misgivings about joining Li Shimin. He threw himself into preparing for battle, hoping to earn some merit before meeting his lord. Otherwise, given his former standing in the Sui, even with Xue Shou’s recommendation, it would be hard for him to occupy a high position.

Changsun Wuji observed Chen Ling’s attitude and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, Chen Ling had brought back only a small number of soldiers; most of them remained on Tsukushi Island to farm. But even so, his forces far outnumbered the few dozen guards Changsun Wuji had brought. With Chen Ling’s troops, the Jiangdu garrison would be more diligent in defending the city. Since Chen Ling was willing to give his all to defend the city, Changsun Wuji could let him take all the credit.

Chen Ling still needed military achievements to earn noble titles, while Changsun Wuji, by doing nothing, was already a Duke; his rank was at the top, and he no longer needed to vie for power.

Thinking of Li Xuanba’s constant nagging, Changsun Wuji felt that letting go of ambition and focusing his energy on recommending talented people might not be such a bad idea.

By the time Jiangdu was ready to defend the city, Li Jing had already mobilized his troops and set off.

Before Changsun Wuji could call for reinforcements, Li Jing had already gathered large ships and was persuading each city along the Yangtze River to surrender.

After learning of Yang Guang’s assassination, various local powers rose up in the south, and many county officials were killed.

The governor and deputy governor of Jiangxia Commandery had not yet been killed by local strongmen. Seeing Li Jing’s persuasion, they quickly offered the city to save themselves.

The officials of Jiangxia said, “Li Shimin is a Prince of the Great Sui. Delivering Jiangxia Commandery to him is not surrendering—it is simply our duty as officials!”

The city of Jiangxia corresponds to modern Wuhan. After taking Jiangxia, Li Jing secured the junction of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, connecting their waterways.

With the commanderies Li Shimin had already captured, such as Xiangyang and Nanyang, now linked by the Han River and the plains of Bashu and Dongting Lake, the three major grain-producing regions—the Chengdu Plain, the Jianghan Plain, and the Dongting Lake Plain—were all connected through a single logistics network. Li Jing now faced no supply issues in his campaign southward.

After a brief rest, Li Jing continued south along the Yangtze, attempting to persuade the Nine Rivers Commandery to surrender.

However, the rebel commander Lin Shihong had risen in Poyang. The surrounding commanderies, including Nine Rivers, were already under his control. Lin Shihong had declared himself emperor, founding the state of Chu. Li Jing’s attempt to persuade Nine Rivers was blocked by Lin Shihong’s subordinates.

Technically, Li Jing should have laid siege to Nine Rivers Commandery. But instead, he sent soldiers who had just surrendered under Xiao Xian to feign an attack while continuing southward.

Although Lin Shihong had controlled the Poyang Lake Plain for two years, he shared a common flaw with most rebel leaders—he didn’t know how to govern.

The commanderies he captured were simply garrisoned with soldiers; local governance was left to local strongmen, and he only took the money.

As for promoting agriculture, issuing proper policies, or encouraging education—what use were those to a rough, illiterate man? He didn’t understand them at all.

So when it came to new military reforms, Lin Shihong was equally clueless, simply squandering the weapons in the Sui armory.

Although Lin Shihong called himself the Emperor of Chu, he had neither established a full bureaucratic system nor issued enforceable decrees. Despite claiming the throne, he was still essentially a warlord. Thus, even though he occupied the Poyang Lake Plain, a strategic area for naval operations, he had very few warships at his disposal.

Li Jing passed through Nine Rivers Commandery along the Yangtze without encountering any resistance.

Although the counties along the Yangtze nominally submitted to Lin Shihong, he had not established a solid political system, so his actual control over the counties was weak. Most counties were only nominally under him, with real power in the hands of local strongmen.

Li Jing passed Nine Rivers Commandery, where Lin Shihong had stationed his elite troops, and reached Liyang Commandery, sending emissaries to persuade them to surrender.

The commander of Liyang, seeing Li Jing advancing downstream, assumed Nine Rivers had already been taken and the Yangtze connected in one continuous line. He immediately offered the city in surrender.

Li Jing accepted Liyang, rested briefly, replaced the local commander with his own men, and then sailed back upstream to Nine Rivers Commandery. With the reinforcements from Liyang, he intimidated the Nine Rivers commander and attempted to persuade him to surrender again.

The commander of Liyang: ???

But he had no choice—having already surrendered, he had to follow through.

Coincidentally, Lin Shihong had originally established his capital at Yuzhang Commandery (modern Nanchang, Jiangxi), which was connected via the Poyang Lake water system to Nine Rivers.

At the end of last year, during Li Xuanba’s battle with Xiao Xian, the rebel leader Zhang Shanan had captured Lujiang Commandery (Hefei) and moved south to join Lin Shihong.

Although Lin Shihong declared himself emperor, he had no trace of the demeanor of a capable ruler. Seeing someone slightly stronger, he did not welcome them but treated them with suspicion. Historically, Chen Ling had been killed because of Lin Shihong’s narrow-mindedness.

Lin Shihong was also wary of Zhang Shanan and did not allow him into the city.

Zhang Shanan, with his hot temper, attacked Yuzhang Commandery, burned its outer city, and then fled.

After claiming the throne, Lin Shihong not only lacked vision and governance skills but also lost the courage to act boldly. When provoked by Zhang Shanan, he did not pursue him; instead, he retreated with his subordinates and harem to Nankang Commandery (modern Ganzhou, Jiangxi) to continue living as a carefree “emperor.”

Such behavior demoralized his subordinates and caused their morale to plummet.

Historically, this allowed Xiao Xian to seize Nine Rivers and Yuzhang Commanderies.

Now, with Xiao Xian yet to rise, he was already defeated by Li Xuanba. Li Jing seized this opportunity.

After slightly consolidating intelligence, he devised this “double deception” strategy.

Having sighed over Li Xuanba’s rear logistics for a long time, Li Jing tried his best not to consume his own troops, minimizing logistical strain.

Since Lin Shihong’s subordinates were already dissatisfied with their indulgent emperor, Li Jing did not need to launch an assault; he only had to use the threat of force to compel the garrison to surrender.

But when news from Luoyang arrived, Li Jing’s use of “threat and pressure” became even more effective.

Li Jing sent someone to inform the Nine Rivers commander of events in the Central Plains. To the commander, whose city he had surrounded without attacking, he said:

“Lin Shihong is merely a rebel commander, and by birth, he is inferior to you. He has no heroic spirit. Retreating to Nankang and sealing the city, he already treats you as expendable. What is there in him worth following? The Sui dynasty is gone, and my lord, Li Shimin, is a rare hero in the world. Surrendering to my lord is not surrendering to Sui. Following a hero, rather than a petty warlord, is the correct choice. A general should make the right decision.”

Hearing this, the commander of Nine Rivers realized that although Li Shimin had been promoted to Prince of Qin under the Sui, the Sui dynasty was already finished. Finally free of doubts, he obediently surrendered.

After surrendering, the commander of Jiujiang Commandery actively volunteered to go to Yuzhang Commandery to persuade its governor to surrender as well.

The commander who had previously handed over his city sensed a crisis and immediately requested permission from Li Jing to go persuade the nearby commanderies—Anlu, Yong’an, and Tong’an—to submit.

Li Jing encouraged them and bestowed upon them gold and silver treasures that could neither be eaten nor drunk, then sent them off with their own men to carry out the surrender negotiations.

In less than ten days, along the stretch of the Yangtze River from Jiangxia Commandery (Wuhan) to Liyang Commandery (Wujiang), the commanderies and counties north of the river successively surrendered to Prince Qin, Li Shimin. South of the river, Yuzhang and Xuancheng also submitted.

Without losing a single soldier, Li Jing had taken over dozens of commanderies and counties.

When Changsun Wuji asked for reinforcements, Li Jing was already stationed at Wujiang in Liyang Commandery.

After Emperor Wen of Sui destroyed Jianye City (Nanjing), its former territory was divided into several parts, with the western portion assigned to Liyang Commandery. In later times, Wujiang belonged to Ma’anshan City, located along the border between Ma’anshan and Nanjing.

Changsun Wuji was extremely anxious, afraid that help would not arrive in time. Only after Chen Ling began active defensive preparations did he finally relax.

In fact, he had no need to worry. If Li Jing truly intended to rescue him, he could have sailed downstream and arrived outside Jiangdu within a single day.

However, after learning that Chen Ling had reached Jiangdu, Li Jing concealed the fact that his main army had already arrived in Liyang and did not immediately move to provide support.

He was audacious to the extreme—using his lord’s brother-in-law as bait to lure the enemy into relief operations and then destroy them.

Li Jing’s maneuver left Li Shentong somewhat bewildered.

With nothing more than persuasion, Li Jing had pushed their territory from Dongting Lake almost all the way to the mouth of the Yangtze River. He displayed no obvious martial prowess, making people feel as if “I could do that too.”

Though Li Shentong was not particularly skilled at commanding armies, he was no fool either. He had read military treatises and histories.

It was obvious that Li Jing’s seemingly casual persuasion tactics were something he himself truly could not replicate.

Li Jing did not hide his strategy or orders from Li Shentong. Li Shentong tried hard to understand the deeper thinking behind these apparently effortless actions.

But he simply could not figure it out.

Li Shentong asked tactfully, “Since so many commanderies can be persuaded to surrender, why doesn’t General go persuade Lujiang Commandery as well? Hefei has always been easy to defend and hard to attack. If we can take it without bloodshed, our forces will move unimpeded through the Jiang–Huai region.”

Li Jing smiled and said, “The commanderies I’m persuading now either lean toward Xiao Xian, belong to Lin Shihong whose courage is already broken, or are still in the hands of former Sui officials. Only in these cases can I use ‘momentum’ to pressure them into surrender.

“But Zhang Shan’an is different. He’s a cunning and brutal bandit with no vision. He won’t surrender easily, and even if he does, he’ll rebel again soon. ‘Momentum’ can’t suppress him, and he doesn’t understand it either. He can only be dealt with by force.

“I see that Dou Jiande seems to be heading toward Hefei, so I’ll let the two of them clash first.”

Li Shentong nodded. “So that’s how it is.” He seemed to understand.

He then asked, “Why don’t we go rescue Jiangdu? Even if we intend to besiege and attack reinforcements, we could inform Jiangdu first.”

Li Jing replied, “Although we appear strong, in reality we don’t have many troops directly under our command. The number of surrendered soldiers already far exceeds our original forces.

“They fear us now, so we can barely control them. But if we face a major battle and casualties occur, we may not be able to prevent mutiny.”

Li Jing smiled again, with a trace of bitterness, yet without losing confidence.

“On the surface, I claim to be preparing to besiege and ambush relief forces. In truth, I just want rebel kings like Du Fuwei and Shen Faxing to believe that I’ve hidden my main army and am planning such an attack, so that they’ll withdraw on their own.”

Li Shentong thought, “So that’s how it is…” Is that really so? So we look strong, but actually can’t fight?

He was confused.

With emotion, Li Shentong said, “General, your way of fighting is completely different from our lord’s.”

Li Jing thought for a moment and sighed.

“If our lord and the Prince of Taiyuan were here, the Prince of Taiyuan might ask our lord to personally persuade Du Fuwei and Shen Faxing. There’d be no need for me to force them back.

“The ‘momentum’ I can control is far inferior to the momentum our lord brings when he personally takes the field.”

Li Shentong still didn’t understand. “Aren’t we our lord’s subordinates? When we persuade them, isn’t that the same as our lord doing it himself?”

Li Jing laughed.

“How could it be the same? Without seeing our lord, they still harbor illusions. But once they see him, who would dare hope to defeat him?

“Our lord is ‘invincible in battle.’”

Li Shentong nodded again.

“So that’s it… That’s what ‘momentum’ is!” He finally understood!

Once again, he felt that maybe he could do it too.

Should he ask to lead a campaign next time?

Seeing Li Shentong’s sudden enlightenment and growing confidence, Li Jing stroked his beard and smiled.