LFHYB -Chapter 80 Li Xuanba’s First Scheme

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba saw off the Emperor and their father. A few days later, letters from friends and relatives in the Central Plains arrived.

They had originally thought that when their father came, he would bring the letters along. They didn’t expect the letters to arrive only after such a long time.

When they saw the “letters,” they understood why it had taken so long.

Li Shimin: “Five full carts… all letters?”

Li Xuanba: “Obviously, it can’t all be letters.”

The five horse-drawn carts were packed with boxes of all sizes. Li Xuanba felt the same thrill as opening packages in his previous life.

But after opening the boxes from the first cart, both Li Shimin and Li Xuanba wore grim faces.

How could the teachers possibly fill an entire cart with assignments? What was worse, this cart, full of schoolwork, was only the first one!

Li Shimin stared down at the books expressionlessly: “Every single book comes with notes? Isn’t that a bit much?”

Li Xuanba: “And there are essays and maps to draw… I regret becoming Changsun Uncle’s student.”

Li Shimin: “At least Teacher Xue’s poetry assignments feel like a break.”

Li Xuanba: “Teacher Yu is better; he only said he would randomly check other homework to see if our handwriting was neat.”

Li Shimin: “Great… that just turns all other subjects into calligraphy assignments!”

Nearly eleven-year-old Li Shimin clutched his head and shook it violently, just like a silly rainbow cartoon character shaking its head in frustration.

Li Xuanba abandoned the “love” from the first cart of teachers and moved on to the second.

When encountering something frustrating, he would put it aside and look at something that brought happiness.

From the second cart onward, there were daily necessities sent by family, teachers, and friends.

Lady Dou, Lady Wan, and several sisters—both married and unmarried—sent hand-sewn clothing, hats, and shoes, along with bedding made by the household servants. These filled two large carts.

The fourth cart carried medicinal herbs, while the fifth contained gold, silver, jewels, and other valuable items, along with everyone’s letters.

Li Shimin first looked at his mother’s letter, then teased a little about the typos in Li Zhiyun’s letter before immediately reaching for Changsun Xiao Mei’s letter.

Li Xuanba shot his older brother a disdainful glance.

Li Shimin grinned mischievously, holding up a letter: “Little Lady Yuwen wrote this for you. Want it? Beg me!”

Li Xuanba’s hair stood on end: “When did you sneak that? Give it back!”

Li Shimin ran around the cart laughing, holding the letter. Li Xuanba chased him, legs spinning like wheels of fire.

Perhaps even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch Li Shimin bully others. He kicked a raised section of the ground, stumbling, and only barely managed not to fall.

Li Xuanba caught up, snatched back his letter, and kicked his brother, who was still trying to keep his balance, to the ground.

“Ouch!” Li Shimin fell first, then quickly got up, dusted himself off, and acted as if nothing had happened. “What did my sister-in-law write? Let me see. I’ll trade with you.”

Li Xuanba pushed his older brother aside.

Li Shimin had an extremely thick skin and loved to show off the closeness with his fiancée, but he was not shameless enough to do so here.

“Ah, you’re still shy,” Li Shimin sighed, ceasing to tease his brother further and resumed carefully reading his fiancée’s letter.

Li Xuanba moved to a spot a little farther away to open his letter.

As always, Yuwen Zhu’s letter was “rational.” Aside from the usual greetings, she only inquired about Li Xuanba’s health and whether the tonic remedies she had sent were effective.

For some reason, Li Xuanba felt slightly downcast.

He opened the next sheet of paper.

It was a large piece of folded paper.

Unfolding the square folds revealed a springtime painting. Vivid greens, blues, and fiery reds flowed across the paper, as if the brilliance of spring had been captured within this little painting.

“The scenery beyond the frontier is magnificent. The spring in Daxing City is overly luxurious and refined, somewhat artificial. But it is still hometown scenery, which the Third Young Master shouldn’t mind, right?”

Li Xuanba ran his fingers over the signature on the painting.

“What are you laughing at?” His older brother’s big head tilted over.

Li Xuanba’s lips twitched upward as he quickly closed the painting.

But Li Shimin had already seen it and teased: “Your fiancée drew you a painting and you’re laughing like this? I bet she even embroidered something for you, you’ll probably be overjoyed. Hehe, Guanyin did one for me too.”

Li Shimin handed a box to Li Xuanba.

The embroidery from their fiancées had arrived in the same box. Li Shimin had grabbed it first.

Li Xuanba opened the small package sent by Yuwen Zhu inside the box, which also contained a letter.

After reading it, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Li Shimin peeked over and laughed so hard he bent over: “Haha, who told you to mention Hangu and Wudi to your fiancée? I knew those young ladies would love Hangu and Wudi, and deliberately didn’t tell Guanyin.”

Yuwen Zhu had sent two large scarves, embroidered with cloud patterns and the names Hangu and Wudi. She had seen someone tie a scarf around a hawk’s neck and wanted to tie these scarves on Hangu and Wudi.

There was also an embroidered item for Li Xuanba: a handkerchief, smaller than the scarf and without names.

In her letter, Yuwen Zhu asked many questions about Hangu and Wudi, clearly curious about the two clever eaglets. She also listed tonic herbs that she had heard eagles could eat, reminding Li Xuanba not to neglect them.

Thinking of Yuwen Zhu’s super-rational letter to him, and then seeing her lively and vivid letter asking about the eaglets, Li Xuanba’s feelings became a bit complicated.

Li Shimin laughed so hard his stomach hurt.

Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, he said: “Who told you not to secretly meet your fiancée when you were both in Luoyang? Look at me—after Guanyin met me, she couldn’t stop thinking about me. To your fiancée, you’re still a stranger, a boring stranger who sent medicinal books with your first letter. Even the eaglets are more interesting than you. Hahaha!”

Li Xuanba felt his pride take a hit.

Sweet talk was all just lies anyway. He chose the most practical gifts based on Yuwen Zhu’s preferences, and his letters never rambled on with greasy, flowery nonsense—how was that “dull and boring”? Did he have to be like his second brother, writing “I miss you, I think of you” ten times over to his sister‑in‑law?

He didn’t even write poetry—just cheesy, tacky love lines. From what Li Xuanba had seen online, women didn’t like cringey sweet talk at all; they liked things that were practical.

Yes. That had to be it.

In a muffled voice he said, “Aren’t we going to read Fang Xuanling and the others’ letters and gifts?”

Seeing that his little brother was on the verge of exploding with embarrassment, Li Shimin wisely put away his teasing smile and changed the subject. “Of course. Let’s read them.”

The letters from Fang Qiao and the others, besides greetings, carefully described what had happened in Luoyang since the brothers had left—events worth noting.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba went through all these seemingly trivial matters, piecing together the current state of the Luoyang court.

After Yang Guang left Luoyang, the city no longer had any reason to keep up its façade of prosperity. Ragged refugees began to appear in the streets and alleys. Fang Qiao and the others guessed that after the war against Tuyuhun, even more people could no longer survive.

Fang Qiao had already accepted a court appointment to serve as a county magistrate in Jiangnan.

This was the post Li Xuanba had chosen for him.

Most of his second brother’s future right‑hand men would come from the north and be unfamiliar with Jiangnan.

Emperor Wen of Sui had destroyed several major southern cities—especially Jiankang. As a result, the Jiangnan region, which had been relatively well developed during the Southern Dynasties, suffered economic and cultural decline.

After Yang Guang built the Grand Canal, Jiangnan revived. In the future, when the Tang dynasty was founded, the north would be ravaged by war and recovery would be difficult. Strengthening development in the south would help deal with the successive natural disasters of the early Tang. So Li Xuanba and Fang Qiao had discussed letting him learn more about Jiangnan.

After Fang Yanqian, Fang Qiao’s father, returned to Luoyang, Fang Qiao once thought about staying to accompany him.

But Fang Yanqian scolded him.

Though he didn’t know that Fang Qiao was preparing for a prophecy that would be fulfilled years later, as a father he could sense that his son was involved in something important with his friends.

Fang Yanqian rebuked him: “If you hadn’t promised your friends, that would be one thing. But once you’ve given your word, one of the most important virtues is keeping it. I have servants to take care of me—why do I need you acting like a child at my side? Go and finish what you set out to do.”

Ashamed and enlightened, Fang Qiao went south to Jiangnan with his wife.

Du Ruhui was also chosen to be a county magistrate. He originally looked down on such a petty office and was unwilling to go.

But Fang Qiao persuaded him: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Only by governing a county and having direct contact with the common people would he be truly at ease when he later held high office.

Before Li Shimin and Li Xuanba left, they often spoke to their friends about getting close to the people.

Influenced by this, Du Ruhui began to seriously consider taking up the post.

If he was really going to be a magistrate, Du Ruhui wanted a frontier region. Since he was going there to suffer hardships and gain experience, he hoped to go all the way.

Seeing both friends willing to go out to serve as county magistrates, Xue Shou also found himself wavering from the path of being a pure, refined scholar. He wrote to ask Li Shimin and Li Xuanba for their opinions.

Li Shimin said, “Since you’re already tempted, then go. Broadening your horizons is never a bad thing.”

Li Xuanba added, “Write that back to him.”

Although they had opened their family’s and fiancées’ letters first, the brothers replied to their friends before anyone else.

Letters to family and fiancées required careful wording and emotions. Letters to friends could be full of nonsense and typos—it didn’t matter—so they wrote them at lightning speed.

After several days spent replying to letters and preparing gifts, just as Li Shimin and Li Xuanba sent everything off, the long‑awaited Yu Hu finally brought good news.

“Fuyun really has secretly moved toward the Hequ grasslands!” Yu Hu said excitedly. “Li San! You really are protected by the gods! You even guessed this! When I got the news, Fuyun had only just decided to head for Hequ!”

Li Shimin was smug. “My little brother is amazing! A‑Xuan, I need to set off right away. You stay in Zhangye and take good care of yourself.”

After hearing Yu Hu’s news, Li Xuanba let out a breath of relief. “As long as he’s going to Hequ, it’s fine. I’m going too.”

Li Shimin’s face instantly changed. “A‑Xuan—!”

Li Xuanba waved him off. “I’ve made some little things that can greatly reduce the difficulty of this battle. Without me, you won’t know how to use them. And I need to keep an eye on you, so you don’t get hot‑blooded and charge in too hard.”

Li Shimin frowned. “Can your body handle it?”

Li Xuanba replied, “I’m in decent shape right now. As long as I’m just riding and traveling, not fighting on the front lines, it’ll be fine.”

Li Shimin said solemnly, “I’ll trust you this time. But if you get hurt or sick this time, you will never be allowed on the battlefield again.”

Li Xuanba hadn’t expected his second brother to be so easy to persuade. He froze for a moment before answering, “Alright.”

Yu Hu was shocked. “Both of you are going? Th‑that’s dangerous! My tribe’s warriors are very strong. If we set up an ambush in advance, we’re sure to win!”

Li Shimin said, “We don’t just want to win—we want a decisive victory and to take Fuyun’s head. There can be no mistakes. If he escapes this time, it will be hard to find another chance to kill him.”

Li Xuanba added, “Don’t worry. We’ll bring our private troops.”

Yu Hu gave a wry smile. “Since you insist, fine. I’ve persuaded our chief to send five hundred cavalry. Though they’re fewer than Fuyun’s men, they’re all the bravest warriors of the tribe. The chief values this merit highly. If this ambush succeeds, he also hopes to invite you as guests.”

Li Xuanba said, “If we win, we’ll immediately return to the Central Plains to present the enemy’s head to His Majesty, so others won’t steal the credit. Next time, when there’s a chance, we’ll drink with your chief.”

Li Shimin smiled. “There will be plenty of opportunities. Securing this great merit is what matters now.”

Yu Hu sighed. “Listening to you two, you really think you can kill Fuyun? The chief’s orders were only to seize as much of Fuyun’s supplies as possible…”

Li Shimin said, “Trust me and A-Xuan. When have we ever let you down?”

Ye Hu smiled and said, “Indeed, you haven’t. Li Erlang and Li Sanlang have personally gone to the battlefield; I can’t back down either. I will bring a hundred slaves with me. I won’t lead troops, so this hundred slaves will be under your command. Let me see how Li Erlang and Li Sanlang handle troops.”

Li Shimin patted Ye Hu’s arm and said, “You trust A-Xuan and me so much, we certainly won’t let you down. Just wait and claim a great merit.”

Ye Hu nodded, “The future of our tribe depends on you.”

Li Xuanba had tasked Ye Hu with reconnaissance—the matter recorded in history as “the Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun fleeing north to the Tangut.”

Because many of Yang Guang’s soldiers froze to death while crossing the Dadu Valley, and Yang Zhao and Yang Lihua died from illness as a result, the Sui dynasty stopped pursuing Fuyun further.

Originally, Yang Guang insisted on leading the Sui troops through the Dadu Valley to personally command an expedition and pursue Fuyun.

Historically, even more guards died from freezing on this expedition, which is why the pursuit of Fuyun was halted.

However, by then the majority of Fuyun’s forces in Tuyuhun had already been wiped out. While the Sui dynasty could not fully control Tuyuhun territory, Fuyun could no longer return to his former lands.

The tribes and warriors around Fuyun were struggling to survive, so they moved north in search of the Tangut Qiang, residing among them as guest nomads.

In actual history, Fuyun would eventually return from the Tangut Qiang to Tuyuhun to restore his kingdom near the end of the Sui dynasty.

Tuyuhun was a branch of the ancient Qiang people and had relatively frequent contact with Central Plains civilization, so they were fairly advanced. The Tangut Qiang, on the other hand, lived a primitive nomadic life, without written language or agriculture.

The Tangut Qiang were spread across many branches, from the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Qinghai to west of Songpan in Sichuan.

Before departure, Li Xuanba, knowing that Fuyun would flee to the Tangut Qiang, inquired with Changsun Sheng about them.

Upon arriving in Zhangye, Li Xuanba collected detailed information about the Tangut Qiang and, based on the Sui–Fuyun war situation, continually simulated the route Fuyun would take fleeing north to the Tangut Qiang.

Ye Hu was a member of the Huihe, but “Huihe” was just the name the Sui gave to the tribal alliance he belonged to.

In reality, the Huihe were part of the Tiele. The Tiele contacted by Pei Shiju for the campaign against Tuyuhun was another, stronger branch of the Tiele.

Most people in the Central Plains tended to lump foreign tribes together under one label—like the Turks or the Tiele.

In truth, these “labels” were largely a Central Plains habit of classification. Within one “group” were many tribes, many of which were enemies of each other and certainly didn’t see themselves as one people.

Changsun Sheng’s administration of the Western Regions relied on understanding these tribes in detail, much like the strategists of the Warring States, exploiting their internal conflicts and divisions.

The Huihe were a branch of the Tiele known as the Yuanhe, allied with the Pugu, Tongluo, and Bayegu—other non-Tiele tribes oppressed by the Turks. They were not originally powerful among the Tiele, and even after forming an alliance, they were still slightly weaker than the Xueyantuo.

The Xueyantuo were the Tiele branch most closely connected to both the Sui and the Turks. Their status in the Sui court represented the “Tiele.”

The Huihe wanted to replace the Xueyantuo in the Sui court and become the representative of the Tiele themselves, in order to receive more support from the Sui.

This time, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba gave the Huihe the chance to appear before Yang Guang. Although they were rewarded, Yang Guang still didn’t regard them highly, treating them merely as subordinates of the Xueyantuo or even the Turks.

From the Sui emperor’s perspective, the Western tribes weren’t clearly distinguished; he had no idea who the Huihe were.

Pei Shiju, relying on secondhand information, understood the West less precisely than Changsun Sheng, who had conducted on-site investigations, and didn’t realize that the Tiele, like the Turks, were internally divided.

Under Ye Hu’s guidance, Li Xuanba gathered much information from Huihe nobles, confirming that the Huihe were growing stronger. The Turks and other Tiele tribes had not yet noticed that this seemingly weak tribe was secretly amassing power.

The Huihe leaders now wanted to show their strength but feared being attacked by the Turks or other Tiele tribes.

Li Xuanba took the opportunity to extend an invitation for cooperation.

The Huihe’s nomadic territory was vast, reaching as far as the foot of the Hang’ai Mountains—later known as the Yanzhi Mountains of the “Yanran Stele.”

Their grazing lands covered exactly the route Fuyun would take fleeing north.

Fuyun was now a prime target. Not only was the Sui watching him, but the Turks and Tiele also wanted a piece. His northbound route to the Tangut Qiang didn’t have many options.

He feigned an intention to surrender to the Sui, leading everyone to think he would head south. Even if he escaped, they assumed he would flee to the far northwest, like the Tianshan, which seemed safer.

No one expected him to go to the primitive Tangut Qiang, which allowed him to arrive safely.

Li Xuanba now revealed Fuyun’s plan to the Huihe leaders, hoping they would send troops.

If they could ambush the Tuyuhun Khan and report the victory to the Sui, the Huihe’s status in the Sui court would rise, along with Sui support.

The Huihe had initially doubted the predictions of a mere child like Li Xuanba.

Ye Hu bet his cattle, sheep, and herders, guaranteeing Li Xuanba’s plan, persuading the Huihe leaders to investigate Fuyun along the route Li Xuanba suggested.

Ye Hu acted on impulse, and fortunately, Li Xuanba did not betray his trust.

Ye Hu didn’t tell Li Shimin and Li Xuanba about this minor matter.

They were friends. Acting honorably for a friend is not something to boast about.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba set out immediately.

They did not reveal the true reason to Pei Shiju, only saying they were going to visit Ye Hu’s tribe.

Without official positions, they were not technically Pei Shiju’s subordinates. Moreover, as nephews valued by the emperor, Pei Shiju had no authority to restrict them.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba often traveled near Zhangye, so Pei Shiju was accustomed to it. This time, he merely advised them to be careful and allowed them to leave.

Pei Shiju also gave the two of them tokens—if they encountered danger, they could present the tokens to request assistance from the guards of the Sui dynasty. The generals stationed at the frontier generally respected Pei Shiju, so in most cases, they would send troops.

After thanking Pei Shiju, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba led their escort and departed from Zhangye.

Halfway along the route, two hundred private soldiers that Li Yuan had arranged for them in the countryside were already waiting.

One hundred of these private soldiers were men from Li Shimin and Li Xuanba’s estate in Luoyang. Li Shimin had given them some basic training while in Luoyang.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba had written to Li Yuan, asking that the able-bodied men from the estate come along. Now grown up, having some private soldiers could be useful—they might be able to suppress bandits along the way and gain some battle achievements.

Seeing his two sons’ “private troops” revealed, Li Yuan’s evaluation of their talent rose another notch.

Not only did he personally provide these men with iron armor and weapons, he also left another hundred private soldiers from the Duke Tang Mansion. With the original escort Li Shimin and Li Xuanba brought and the newly purchased young slaves in Zhangye, they now had a total of four hundred strong men.

Li Yuan worried that Li Shimin and Li Xuanba might not be able to support so many able-bodied men, so he also left them a large supply of grain and valuables—where he got it from, no one knew.

Li Shimin and Li Xuanba guessed that this grain and wealth was most likely their father “borrowing” from the Sui military provisions.

Subsidizing private troops with military rations was something any capable noble who commanded troops would do. Even though it was Li Yuan’s first time commanding soldiers, he did it very proficiently.

But even if Li Yuan had not left the supplies, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba could have still managed these four hundred men.

He had underestimated Li Xuanba’s talent for business and wealth accumulation, as well as Li Shimin’s skill in making connections.

Originally, these private soldiers thought they were just “playing house” with the young masters of the family. But the moment Li Yuan left, the two young masters stopped pretending—they each assigned two new fine horses to every soldier.

One soldier, two horses—this was treatment reserved for elite cavalry! Even the veteran soldiers left behind by the Duke Tang Mansion were speechless with amazement.

When they had fought against the Tuyuhun under Duke Tang before, they had never been this well-equipped.

When they received new weapons, iron armor, and protective gear, they became completely loyal to the two young masters.

“After this battle, you belong to us,” Li Shimin told the new private soldiers. “When you return, keep your mouths shut. All these good things were obtained after subduing the Tuyuhun chief Fuyun. Understand?”

The group of seasoned soldiers led the new recruits in a shout: “Understood!”

They trembled with excitement.

Not only were there fine horses, armor, and weapons, but they could also earn great merit?

Although they already knew that their second and third young masters were extraordinary, this was simply incredible!

If they won this battle, even if Duke Tang reassigned them elsewhere, they would remain the soldiers of the second and third young masters!