Although Fangu City was merely a small border town in the northwesternmost part of the Sui Dynasty, no more than three and a half li long and three li wide, its boundaries clearly visible, it was undeniably an extremely sturdy fortress. It was the outpost of the northwestern frontier; beyond the Langru Mountains lay the territory of the Mandu Banner of the Mongol Yuan Empire.
Beyond the Langru Mountains lay the equally sturdy Nirvana City.
Nirvana City was a stone city, as solid as a natural mountain.
Fangu was not a stone city, but it was arguably even more formidable than Nirvana City. This small city was built under the personal supervision of Yuwen Zhongshu, the Minister of Works of the Sui Dynasty at the time, and it is said that its construction techniques were identical to those used in building the Sui capital, Chang'an. When Mongol Yuan spies first saw this small city—built with earthen walls and then covered with bricks—they even laughed mockingly. Decades later, the Mongol Yuan people realized how naive and ridiculous their initial ridicule had been.
Sturdy.
As solid as the hardest diamond.
In the seventh year of the Jianye era of the Sui Dynasty, during the reign of the previous Sui emperor, a small-scale but far-reaching war broke out between the Mongol Yuan Empire and the Sui Dynasty. In that battle, 40,000 Mongol cavalry crossed the Wolf Milk Mountain valleys, heading straight for Fangu. Fangu City at the time only had 800 border troops, and the nearest reinforcements were at Zuoyu Guard in Jibei County, 450 li away. However, Zuoyu Guard consisted mostly of heavily armored infantry, and it was clear they wouldn't arrive in time.
In that battle, the 40,000 dismounted cavalry used hundreds of catapults to bombard Fangu City in waves. Hundreds of kilograms of boulders transported from Wolf Milk Mountain rained down, completely stripping away the two layers of blue bricks cladding the outer walls of Fangu City. The border troops on the walls were completely suppressed, forced to hide behind the battlements.
Mandulang, the banner chief of the Mongol Yuan Empire's Mandu Banner, laughed loudly, "No need to attack the city! Just keep bombarding it like this, and this dilapidated earthen city will collapse within a day. Then, our wolf cavalry can easily ride into the city and slaughter everyone inside."
Shockingly, after a day of relentless bombardment, Fangu City resembled a boiled egg, its shell shattered, revealing the pitiful egg white inside. But no one could have imagined that their perception of its fragility was completely wrong. What happened next left the Mongol Yuan Empire utterly astonished.
The seemingly fragile earthen wall stood as firm as a mountain!
Hundreds of pounds of heavy boulders could only leave a white mark on the wall. After the first day, one section of Fangu City's wall had its bricks neatly stripped away. The seemingly fragile earthen wall was as solid as a single, naturally formed rock; stones hitting it didn't even leave a crack.
Mandulang was enraged and ordered the catapults to continue their relentless attack the next day. Another full day passed before the supply lines from the Wolf Milk Mountains finally gave way. Unfortunately, the seemingly fragile walls of Fangu City, which appeared as if a gust of wind could topple them, still stood proudly.
Furious, Mandulang ordered an attack on the city. Tens of thousands of dismounted wolf cavalrymen charged. This was the first time since the founding of the Sui Dynasty that the Mongol Empire's forces had attacked a Han Chinese city. The war between the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty and the Mongol Empire had shattered the myth of the Mongol Empire's invincibility on the plains. This time, the small city of Fangu showed the Mongol soldiers what true invincibility meant.
The dismounted wolf cavalry were far less formidable than their mounted counterparts.
The wolf cavalrymen, clad in leather armor, clumsily charged forward carrying hastily constructed ladders, completely unaware of how to dodge or defend against the arrows raining down from the walls. But what terrified them most were the powerful heavy crossbows mounted on the walls. Heavy crossbows, as thick as a calf, rained down like a thunderous rage, capable of tearing a strong steppe warhorse in two.
After suffering over a thousand casualties, the wolf cavalry finally approached the city walls, then clumsily erected siege ladders and awkwardly began their ascent. They wielded their horses with ease, but this siege warfare was undoubtedly a nightmare for them. Having enjoyed too much comfort for too many years, the wolf cavalry had long forgotten that their ancestors had once been invincible across the Central Plains.
Six days—a full six days from the start to the end of the war. Mandu Wolf left over four thousand corpses outside Fangu City in a disarray as he retreated in disarray. Yu Sheng, whenever he spoke of this battle, would beat his chest, stamp his feet, and curse incessantly in the direction of Fangu. The reason they retreated was that the elite troops of the Sui Dynasty's Left Guard, hundreds of miles away, had finally arrived.
This battle made Fangu City famous throughout the land.
This battle showed the world that the city of the Sui Dynasty was indestructible.
This battle made Li Luan, the then General of the Left Guard, famous throughout the land. The reason was simple: the force that arrived at Fangu City to rescue the border troops consisted only of Li Luan and his personal guard of 900 cavalry. With just 900 cavalry and a thousand banners, Li Luan terrified the Mandulang army, which numbered tens of thousands, forcing them to flee back west to the Langru Mountains, never daring to look back.
The Left Guard consisted mostly of heavily armored infantry, making it impossible for them to arrive in time. Li Luan had no other choice but to feign an army of 100,000. This reflected the predicament of the Sui Dynasty's border troops; the Left Guard, with its 50,000 soldiers, could only muster 900 cavalry. The Sui Dynasty's shortage of warhorses was evident.
After this battle, Emperor Yang Yun of the Jianye Emperor of the Sui Dynasty announced that all border troops stationed at Fangu City would be promoted to the rank of colonel, each awarded 30 mu of land as a reward, and exempted from taxes. The residents of Fangu City would be exempt from taxes for ten years, and the Ministry of Revenue would allocate 50,000 taels of silver to repair houses and reward loyalty and bravery.
Li Luan, the Left General of the Imperial Guard, was promoted from Duke of the Commandery to Duke of the State, and granted the title of Grand General of the Three Excellencies.
During that battle, a young boy remained by Li Luan's side the entire time. Even knowing that they might be surrounded by tens of thousands of elite Mongol cavalry and face certain death, the boy, barely ten years old, still did not flee. This boy was Li Luan's eldest son, who later inherited his title of Duke of Tang, and was now Li Yuanshan, the Right General of the Valiant Guard, also serving as the northwestern bulwark of the Sui Dynasty.
The Right Valiant Guard was also stationed in Jibei Commandery, but not in Jibei City, the commandery capital.
The Right Valiant Guard's 50,000 elite troops were stationed at Woxian Mountain, sixty li (approximately 30 kilometers) from Jibei City.
…
"Lord Tang, you are too kind. This is my first time traveling outside the capital, so please forgive any shortcomings. You know, if my men hadn't angered His Majesty, why would he have ordered the officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of War to conduct a thorough investigation? I know how hard the border troops have worked, so this is just a formality. Don't worry, Lord Tang."
The speaker was a eunuch in his mid-thirties, wearing a light blue sixth-rank official robe. His face was covered in a thick layer of white powder, and his lips were painted an unusually bright red, making him look repulsive. Although this eunuch was only a sixth-rank official, it was important to know that… once a eunuch had a rank, it meant he was favored in the palace.
The eunuch's official robe was different from that of other officials; it was blue, with the color darker as the rank increased. Furthermore, they did not have insignia on their chests and could not wear a Liang crown. The Imperial Guards, on the other hand, wore flying fish robes, with insignia on their chests depicting a mythical beast described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. A flying fish, about ten feet long, with a dragon's head, cicada wings, and a fish's tail.
This eunuch was Wu Peisheng, the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Study, a truly influential figure in the palace. This time, he was ordered by Emperor Yang Yi of the Sui Dynasty to inspect the four circuits of Hebei, Hexi, Shanbei, and Shandong, along with officials from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of War. Jibei Prefecture belonged to the Shandong Circuit and was the last stop on this inspection.
Upon arriving in Jibei Prefecture, his first act was not to enter the city but to visit Li Yuanshan at Woxian Mountain. As the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Study, he naturally knew the weight this Right Valiant Guard General held in His Majesty's heart. Therefore, he had uttered those flattering words earlier. Along the way, apart from being humble and polite before the governors of the various circuits, he had never been so courteous even before a prefect of the third rank.
"What are you saying, Eunuch Wu?"
Li Yuanshan was thirty-three years old, a mature and composed age for a man. He was of medium height, around 1.7 meters, not particularly robust, and compared to the fierce generals of the army, he lacked some of their ruggedness and appeared rather thin. Especially compared to the seven tigers of the Right Valiant Guard behind him, he seemed quite ordinary. Those seven tiger generals were all formidable figures.
Because he was to receive an imperial decree, he had specially donned the court robes of a first-rank duke, wearing a Liang crown. The robes were dark purple, with a Qilin embroidered on the chest. A duke's Liang crown had eight beams, the same as that of a prince or a prince of the blood. This was the highest number for an official, as the number nine was not something everyone could use. First-rank officials had seven beams on their Liang crowns, second-rank officials had six, and fifth-rank officials had three. Officials below the fifth rank were not allowed to wear Liang crowns.
The clothing of military and civil officials in the Sui Dynasty also differed, the biggest difference being the insignia on the front of their robes. Military generals were depicted with fierce beasts, while civil officials were depicted with birds. Officials of ranks one through four wore purple robes, those of ranks five through seven wore blue robes, and lower-ranking officials of ranks eight and nine wore green robes. Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, there had been no first-rank military officers; the generals of the Sixteen Guards were all third-rank officials, and for over a hundred years, no military officer had risen above the third rank.
However, a Duke was a first-rank official, so Li Yuan wore an eight-beam crown and a purple robe with a qilin embroidered on his chest. Second-rank military officers wore lions, and third-rank officers wore tigers.
Civil officials of the first rank also wore purple robes, seven-beam crowns, and cranes embroidered on their chests; second-rank officials wore golden pheasants, and third-rank officials wore peacocks.
Li Yuanshan, being a Duke, could wear an eight-beam crown and a court robe embroidered with a qilin. This was the rule of the court, and it could not be violated in the slightest. Any violation would be considered a plot to rebel.
As he walked, he glanced sideways at Wu Peisheng and smiled, "Since Eunuch Wu is here on His Majesty's orders to conduct a thorough investigation, I will naturally cooperate. I have already had the accounts for money, provisions, personnel, treasury, weapons, and horses prepared. If Eunuch Wu wishes to review them, I will send them over later."
"I admire your dedication, Lord Tang."
Wu Peisheng smiled, the white powder on his face falling off, "Since Lord Tang is so serious, if I were to refuse, it would seem negligent, and I wouldn't be able to explain myself if His Majesty inquired. However… the matter of verifying the accounts is handled by officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of War; I am merely accompanying them."
Li Yuanshan glanced back; the dozen or so officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of War following behind nodded in acknowledgment. His gaze lingered on the faces of three of them for a moment longer, and almost simultaneously, the three of them trembled slightly.
"The Court of Judicial Review has really gone to great lengths by sending down three law enforcement officers at the Breaking Rank or higher. I heard... the Ministry of War also sent down a talisman master who has been at the Breaking Rank for many years, why isn't he here?"
"Where did you get this information, Lord Tang...?"
Wu Peisheng said with a forced smile, "The Ministry of War only sent down five clerks, all skilled in mathematics, just to check the accounts. There's no such thing as a Breaking Rank talisman master. We have a list of the officials who came down for this inspection. If you don't believe me, Lord Tang, you can take a look. The Ministry of War only sent one Assistant Minister and four Attendants, absolutely no talisman masters."
He lowered his voice and chuckled, "Lord Tang, you know talisman masters are all treasures."
Li Yuanshan was slightly taken aback, then laughed, "Indeed, there aren't many Breaking Rank talisman masters in the Sui army. If they send down a talisman master just to check accounts, then talisman masters would be worthless."
Wu Peisheng laughed heartily, seemingly overjoyed.
"Please!"
Li Yuanshan gestured. "This Woxian Mountain was originally called Wofo Mountain. After our Great Sui Dynasty was established, we expanded our territory year after year. In the twelfth year of Emperor Guangwu of the Great Sui Dynasty, we conquered this land. When the late emperor heard that the mountain was called Wofo Mountain, he was very displeased. So he changed it to Woxian Mountain. The late emperor said... There should be no Buddha in the Great Sui Dynasty."