Chapter 39: Crazy Fan Li Daoxuan

  Li Yuanba met a person on his way back, Li Daoxuan! To say that Li Daoxuan may not be familiar to everyone, but it is said that the prototype of Li Yuanba was actually him!

  Li Daoxuan's grandfather was the fifth son of Li Hu, so he was a younger cousin of Li Shimin. The Prince of Huaiyang, Li Daoxuan, as recorded in historical books, was a gentle and kind-hearted young man with good martial arts skills and elegant manners. At the age of 15, he followed Li Shimin to battle and was the first to climb onto the city wall of Jizhou during the famous Battle of Songjin Gang, raising the victory flag over the "General's Mansion". The future general Li Daozong also participated in this war against Liu Wuzhou at the age of 17.

  Li Daoxuan, according to the Book of Tang, was said to be "progressive and elegant", a young man who was normally quiet and unassuming but when on the battlefield would become extremely brave, charging forward like a madman, often getting shot like a porcupine yet growing stronger with each battle.

  This Li Daoxuan is quite capable. Liu Wuzhou sent his general Song Jingang to attack Li Yuan's old nest, Pingzhou (now Taiyuan, Shanxi), and Qi Wang Li Yuanji fled without a fight. Qin Wang Li Shimin strongly requested to send troops and defeated Song Jingang at Jizhou (now Jiexiu, Shanxi). At that time, Li Daoxuan was only 15 years old, and it is estimated that this was his first battle, and he was the first to kill on the city wall, making a great contribution. Later, he followed Li Shimin to conquer Luoyang Wang Shichong, fought in Henan, besieged Luoyang, and made many military achievements. Dou Jiande sent troops to support Wang Shichong, and Li Shimin confronted him at the strategic military town of Huiluo Pass northeast of Luoyang. Li Shimin had always liked to bring a small team of light cavalry scouts to investigate enemy situations, and had encountered danger several times because of this. This time, he encountered Dou Jiande's large army again. Li Shimin ordered Li Daoxuan to ambush on the side of the road, and when the enemy arrived, they killed them, and actually repelled the enemy.

  Li Daoxuan's style of warfare was very similar to that of Li Shimin. Li Shimin had an elite light cavalry unit, and when engaging in battle, he would often personally lead this unit into the fray, charging headlong into the enemy lines with unstoppable ferocity, usually managing to penetrate all the way to the rear of the enemy formation before turning back and launching repeated assaults until the enemy's formation was thrown into chaos and their morale collapsed. This tactic was almost always successful. In Huang Yi's "The Legend of the Tang Dynasty's Twin Dragons", this tactic is highly praised and even given a name, "Chuanchuan" (literally "piercing through") tactics. Kou Zhong repeatedly used this tactic, but in reality it was purely imitated from Li Shimin. When Li Daoxuan followed Li Shimin on his campaigns along the Si River, he often served as one of the mainstays of this elite unit. The New Book of Tang says that Li Daoxuan "penetrated deep into the enemy formation and emerged at their rear, then turned back again, causing the enemy to be thrown into disarray." Undertaking such combat missions required the highest level of martial prowess, requiring each individual soldier to be a mighty warrior capable of taking on a hundred enemies alone. It can be imagined that Li Daoxuan's martial abilities were at least above 95. The New Book of Tang also says that "whenever he engaged the enemy, arrows would stick to his body like a hedgehog, and his aura would become even more fierce."

  Li Daoxuan, as the commander-in-chief, did not sit still in the middle army, but instead led the vanguard. This was also the root of his downfall. A commander should be like Takeda Shingen in the movie "Shadow Warriors": "The mountain does not move!" Li Daoxuan was clearly influenced by Li Shimin. Li Shimin liked to lead the charge into enemy lines. After Li Daoxuan's death, Li Shimin sorrowfully blamed himself: "Since we started the rebellion, Daoxuan has always followed me on campaigns. Every time he saw me penetrate deep into enemy territory and emerge victorious, he would admire me and try to emulate me. Unfortunately, he died so young!" Li Daoxuan was only 19 years old when he died in battle.

  With the arrival of Li Yuanba, the 19-year-old Li Daoxuan did not die... Of course, he also didn't follow Li Shimin, until now when his father Li Ze let him out to build merit. Young people love heroes, and if their favorite hero is an invincible figure, they will be fanatically worshiped!

  Li Yuanba looked at Li Daoxuan, who claimed to be his cousin, and was stared back by his scorching gaze, taking several steps back. Was this the iron-clad fan?!

  "Brother, do you know how much I admire you? You absolutely have no idea! From the time you annihilated the 60,000-strong army for Eldest Sister, I've liked...!" Li Daoxuan said this, and Li Yuanba hastily interrupted: "Enough! Admiration is fine, don't use the word 'like', it's hard to listen to!"

  "Oh, I idolize you! You don't know, when I heard the news, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. It's simply too cool! Hmm, what's wrong with Big Brother?" Li Daoxuan said, noticing that his idol seemed unhappy.

  "Hehe, I'd rather it hadn't happened back then, maybe your third aunt wouldn't have left..."

  "Hey, hey, brother don't be sad anymore, things have passed, we should look forward, right!"

  "Look ahead? What's in front of me? I'm just an ordinary person, no need to worship me!" Li Yuanba walked forward dejectedly.

  Li Daoxuan saw his idol unhappy and quietly led the horse to follow Li Yuanba.

  Li Yuanba walked for a while, then turned his head and asked: "Li Daoxuan, where are you going now?"

  Li Daoxuan exclaimed loudly, like he had been injected with chicken blood: "Big brother, I'm here to follow you! You don't know how much I admire... uh, worship you! I've been asking about your whereabouts since I came out, and unexpectedly, just by pulling someone over, I found out about you. I'm so excited!"

  "Hmm! So excited? Alright, you want to follow me then just follow me! From now on, just call me Third Brother and I'll take you to Chang'an." Li Yuanba is also a bit happy now, for the first time being someone's idol is much better than being the world's vomit image!

  "Alright! Third Brother, my friends also admire you greatly! Next time I'll bring them along too, then we can establish a super-large sect. Or we could occupy a territory instead, and with Third Brother as the leader, whoever looks down on us will be beaten to death!" Li Daoxuan's normally calm face was twisted in excitement!

  "Your ideal is really grand! Alright, let's head back to Chang'an now, I'm really not used to wandering around outside!"

  "Alright, Third Brother, why don't you ride my horse? I'll lead the way. How can we let Third Brother walk back to Chang'an? That doesn't match Third Brother's invincible status! Hey, Third Brother, wait for me, don't go so fast! Why don't we slow down and walk together? It's also very impressive to walk with Third Brother. Think about it, I, Li Daoxuan, walking slowly into Chang'an City with Third Brother, my friends will be so envious! Hehe, it feels like there's nothing more to say!" Li Daoxuan shouted, imitating Li Yuanba's gait, and was still regretful that he didn't have a big hammer in his hand.

  Li Daoxuan walked with an air of arrogance, like a proud rooster. He was so focused on his posture that he didn't even notice when his horse wandered off, carrying his luggage and weapons with it. He probably didn't care anyway! Because he had made up his mind to find someone in Chang'an to forge him a pair of large hammers. However, I heard that the silver hammer that Pei Yuanqing used was taken away by my second brother, or else I would ask my third brother to help me get it back.

  Arriving in Chang'an, Li Daoren's mouth was agape: "Third Brother, did you see? The moment we entered the city, what an imposing sight! Truly, it has the aura of a thousand armies parting to make way!"

  Arriving at Li Yuanba's mansion, Li Daoren was very dissatisfied: "Third brother, you said that the invincible general's mansion doesn't even have a single guard?! This is too shabby! No way, I'll go tell Uncle about it, and the mansion should at least arrange for tens of thousands of troops to be stationed here, patrolling day and night in shifts, with sentries every three steps and watchtowers every five steps! If my friends come and see that Third Brother's place is so deserted, they will definitely rebel!"

  Li Yuanba said with a smile: "Hehe, okay! Daoxuan, you take care of it, I'll go to the room to take a bath, and I'll leave everything in the mansion to you!" Shaking his head and walking away, Li Yuanba now feels that having a lively younger brother by his side is better than being alone.

  Li Daoxuan excitedly took his nephew to visit Li Yuan, and Li Yuan didn't ask him how he came with Li Yuanba. He warmly chatted with Li Daoxuan about family matters. Li Daoxuan didn't think much and directly complained to Li Yuan that the mansion of his third brother had no grandeur of a great general, and asked for tens of thousands of troops to fill up the mansion of his third brother! Li Yuan's face sank at the time: "Did Yuanba tell you to say this?"

  "How could Third Brother possibly look down on him?! Uncle, you don't know that Third Brother's mansion has only a few dozen people, if word gets out it would be a loss of face for the great general! Hmm? Otherwise, I'll take my leave, I still need to get a weapon, and won't disturb Uncle anymore!" Li Daoxuan was startled by Li Yuan's reaction, what's going on?! He went back to ask Third Brother about it!

  Li Yuanba heard Li Daoxuan's complaint, his mouth twitched slightly, and he said lightly: "It's okay! This mansion is just a place to sleep, it's quieter with fewer people!" Li Daoxuan immediately shouted: "What? No way! Third brother, rest assured, I'll go recruit people right now! With your skills, of course, you can't see those rustic chickens and dogs, wait for me, I'll definitely bring out the mansion's style!" He rushed out in a flurry.

  Li Yuanba stroked his smooth chin and muttered to himself: "Have I gotten old......?"

  The next day, Li Daoxuan led several thousand armed martial artists, filling the vast mansion.

  Li Yuanba didn't ask Li Daoren where he got it from, when Li Daoren came and said to Li Yuanba: "Third brother, look at me bringing people over! However, this silver... Third brother, I don't have a single penny!"

  "Hmm! Since you're here, let's go to the national treasury and get some goods. Each person will receive a stipend equivalent to that of a third-rank official." Li Yuanba stood up and headed out.