Both Li Shimin and Yun Dingxing had guessed this point, but they were helpless about it. Given the current situation, they could only delay as long as possible—one day at a time.
However, no one expected that on the third day, Shibi Khan suddenly withdrew his troops. It wasn’t because Shibi Khan believed Li Shimin’s ruse, nor because reinforcements had arrived, but because of a letter. The messenger was sent by Princess Yicheng, and the letter contained only four words: “Urgent situation in the north!”
Whether or not Yanmen Pass could be taken wasn’t particularly important to Shibi Khan, but if his base camp was raided, they would be homeless. After weighing the options, Shibi Khan led his hundred thousand troops back. The crisis at Yanmen Pass was finally resolved, and Yang Guang, who had been besieged for many days, finally breathed a sigh of relief—his life was saved.
Under the escort of Yun Dingxing and Li Shimin, Yang Guang safely returned to Taiyuan and proclaimed to the realm: “Great victory at Yanmen, countless enemies annihilated!” This was followed by rewarding the three armies, fulfilling his earlier promises. As for Li Yuan, for his service in protecting the emperor, he was promoted one rank to Right Xiaowei General. Li Shimin also received praise for his strategy of deception with false troops.
The Yanmen Pass affair came to a complete end here. By all accounts, forcing back a hundred thousand Turkic troops without losing a single soldier should have been cause for great celebration, yet Li Yuanji remained consistently gloomy.
On this day, Li Jiancheng took him hunting in the mountains. After going around in a circle, they caught nothing but a few wild rabbits. Li Yuanji angrily threw his bow and arrows to the ground, saying irritably, “Even the animals are bullying me—I’m not hunting anymore!”
Li Jiancheng held him back, saying, “It’s nearly October now, the weather is getting cold, and animals have mostly hidden away to prepare for winter. It’s normal not to catch anything. Why get so angry?”
Seeing Li Yuanji’s sullen face without response, he continued, “Ever since returning from Yanmen Pass, you’ve been unhappy. What’s wrong?”
This remark immediately stirred up the resentment in Li Yuanji’s heart, and he said huffily, “Don’t even mention it! I thought going to Yanmen Pass would mean a good fight, but when we got there, Yun Dingxing was just like Second Brother—saying our forces were insufficient, saying the Turkic people were exceptionally fierce, just blocking us from fighting. Big Brother, tell me, where’s the logic in showing weakness before even fighting? Besides, if we weren’t prepared to fight, what was the point of all that traveling back and forth? We might as well have stayed in Hedong and saved some provisions.”
Li Jiancheng’s eyes flashed slightly, “The Turkic people had a hundred thousand troops, while our reinforcements numbered only ten thousand. It truly wasn’t appropriate to engage rashly.”
Li Yuanji said displeasedly, “Big Brother, why are you also speaking for them?”
Li Jiancheng smiled, “I’m not speaking for anyone, just analyzing based on the situation at the time. Fighting ten to one, direct confrontation truly wasn’t advisable. However, we could have sent a small force to secretly attack and disrupt the Turkic formation, making it even harder for them to distinguish truth from falsehood.”
Li Yuanji slapped his thigh, “That’s exactly what I was thinking, Big Brother! But Second Brother and Yun Dingxing… just wouldn’t agree. Watching them being afraid of wolves ahead and tigers behind was really unpleasant.”
Li Jiancheng smiled, “Shimin has always been cautious and meticulous in his actions, so having such thoughts isn’t strange. Besides, didn’t the Turkic people withdraw in the end? What’s there to be unhappy about?”
“Everything’s unpleasant.” Li Yuanji randomly plucked an unknown grass and said sourly, “If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have gone. Following Second Brother to do things is no fun at all.”
Li Jiancheng patted his shoulder, “Alright, stop complaining. I’ve discussed with Father about sending troops to suppress Chai Baochang before the New Year. I’ll let you fight to your heart’s content then, how about that?”
Hearing this, Li Yuanji immediately perked up and quickly said, “Really?”
“Of course! When has Big Brother ever lied to you?” His words delighted Li Yuanji, who rubbed his hands together eagerly, “Then I’ll definitely beat those people into complete defeat and see if they still dare to rebel.”
Li Jiancheng laughed, “You—others avoid war like the plague, but you get more excited about it than anything else.”
“I studied martial arts with my master for so many years just to help Father achieve merit and establish a career.” He then grinned, “I still prefer doing things with Big Brother—much more enjoyable than with Second Brother!”
“Is that so?” Li Jiancheng asked with a mysterious smile. Li Yuanji didn’t catch the deeper meaning in his words and nodded, “Of course! If it were Second Brother, he’d definitely give a long lecture. Following him to do things would suffocate a person to death.”
Li Yuanji’s words made Li Jiancheng’s smile deepen, “Then you should follow me properly from now on. Big Brother definitely won’t treat you poorly.” As he spoke, he suddenly reached back to draw an arrow from the quiver behind him, nocked it, and shot!
“Thud!” The arrow accurately pierced a sika deer’s neck, immediately felling it without even a cry. Li Jiancheng lowered his bow and said, “Did you see? As long as you’re willing to spend time waiting, you can definitely catch prey!”
Over the following months, rebellions frequently erupted throughout Hedong and Shanxi. Even Li Yuan was exhausted dealing with them—often suppressing one area only to have another flare up, leaving him no time to send troops to suppress Chai Baochang and others entrenched around Jiang Commandery. Moreover, the latter were extremely cunning and changeable, making it impossible to locate their main forces.
During this period, Jirong bore Li Jiancheng a son, named Li Chengzong. This was also Li Yuan’s first grandson, which delighted him greatly. At the child’s full-moon celebration, he hosted flowing banquets for three days and nights. Jirong also rose in status through her son, becoming the most honored person beside Li Jiancheng after his legitimate wife, Zheng Shi. Combined with her skill at pleasing Li Yuan, Wan Shi, and others, she enjoyed unparalleled prominence.
The situation of rebel armies everywhere throughout the country made Yang Guang restless. Unable to wait for Li Yuan to suppress them, on the twenty-second day of the twelfth month, he issued an edict ordering Fan Zigai, then Minister of Civil Affairs, to mobilize tens of thousands of troops from Guanzhong to attack Chai Baochang and others. After Fan Zigai arrived in the Jiang Commandery area, he completely burned down all villages and fortified settlements north of the Fen River where the rebel armies were mainly active, and launched fierce attacks. Regarding rebel armies that came to surrender, regardless of age or gender, he had them all buried alive. Such cruel suppression methods caused panic and anger among the people. Not only did Fan Zigai fail to pacify the rebellion, but he actually caused more and more people to join the volunteer armies, making the situation increasingly difficult to control. Even by early in the twelfth year of the Daye era, he still couldn’t achieve victory.
Seeing that the campaign had achieved nothing, Yang Guang issued an edict recalling Fan Zigai, still leaving the suppression of this rebellion to Li Yuan, the Shanxi Hedong Commissioner for Pacification. Li Yuan chose a strategy completely opposite to Fan Zigai’s, employing both suppression and pacification. On one hand, he ordered Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and others to lead troops in active attacks, while on the other hand, he conducted persuasion to surrender. Following Li Shimin’s suggestion, he treated surrendered volunteer armies well and even arranged for surrendered soldiers to serve beside him.