Thief Emperor

Chapter 1007: Enfeoffment
His Royal Highness the King of Yue was very powerful on the battlefield. This time in Liaodong, he had at least double-digit lives in his hands. Compared with the past, he was even more murderous.

But that was in front of other people.

His father was a founding monarch who swept across the world. Nowadays, no matter whether they were overseas rulers or a thousand-year-old family, as long as they were human beings in the world, when they arrived in the territory of Li Tang, they had to be cautious and trembling in fear when facing His Majesty the Emperor.

As the son of the founding monarch, His Royal Highness the King of Yue was like a mouse seeing a cat in front of his father. He knelt respectfully with his head lowered. Suddenly, when he heard the three words "Captain Li", his body could not help but tremble. He lowered his head and called out cautiously.

"father…"

The Emperor glanced at his son. After hearing the word "Dad", his anger subsided a little. He was silent for a while, then stepped forward and helped Su Zhan, who was kneeling behind Li Zheng, up. Then he looked Su Zhan up and down and asked, "How are your injuries? Are you okay?"

Su Zhan quickly lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, my injury has healed."

The emperor hummed and patted him on the shoulder: "This trip was not bad. I didn't embarrass your father."

"Where's your fifth uncle?"

Su Zhan lowered his head quickly and said, "Your Majesty, my uncle is going to assist Commander Meng and lead the 5,000 imperial cavalry to Liaodong. He is still in Liaodong. He will probably have to wait until the battle in Liaodong is over before he can come to see Your Majesty and submit his orders."

The emperor nodded, turned around and returned to his seat. He did not let His Royal Highness the King of Yue who was still kneeling get up. Instead, he looked at Liu Bo and began to ask about the current situation in Liaodong.

Su Zhan hesitated for a moment, but mustered up his courage and took advantage of the moment when the emperor was speaking. He clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, although His Royal Highness the King of Yue was a little impulsive in Liaodong this time, his overall merits outweigh his faults. Some time ago, His Royal Highness the King of Yue led us to wipe out a group of Khitans and obtained important intelligence."

"General Meng therefore led his troops to annihilate thousands of Khitans and successfully took over the Wugu tribe and relocated them to the vicinity of Yuguan Pass."

The emperor was originally talking to the Duke of England. After hearing Su Zhan's voice, he smiled and said to Liu Bo, "This kid from the Su family is quite righteous."

Duke Ying looked at Su Zhan and smiled as well: "According to what is said in Liaodong, Su Silang is a man with silver wings."

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled. Then the Emperor raised his hand and said, "Get up."

His Royal Highness the Prince of Yue rolled his eyes and quickly got up from the ground. He brushed the dust off his body, walked to the Emperor's desk with a grin on his face, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured a cup of tea for Li Yun and Liu Bo respectively.

"Uncle Jiu, you don't even say a word for me."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue handed over the tea and complained, "You are not a just person."

The Duke of England smiled dumbly: "If His Majesty is really angry with Your Highness, I will definitely speak for Your Highness."

His Majesty the Emperor also took a sip of tea, then glanced at his second son and said in a muffled voice: "You are so grown up, but you have no calmness at all, just like a monkey."

The Duke of England, who was standing by, almost spit out his tea when he heard this.

His Royal Highness the King of Yue is only sixteen years old this year, but when His Majesty the Emperor was sixteen years old, he was not just a monkey, he was like a mountain king!

Now, more than 20 years have passed, and when Liu Bo heard his second brother say these words in a serious manner, he almost couldn't hold back his tears.

He tried for a long time before he swallowed the tea. He quickly put down the teacup and wiped it with his sleeve to hide his embarrassment.

The emperor glanced at him, and the Duke of England coughed and pretended nothing had happened.

Emperor Li acted calmly and reprimanded His Royal Highness the King of Yue: "As a scout on the battlefield, you must obey the orders of your superiors. You must do whatever your superiors tell you to do. If everyone tries to be a hero, where is the military discipline?"

His Royal Highness the King of Yue lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "Father, if I follow the rules, I will probably be a low-level scout for half a year, not to mention becoming a lieutenant. When I go out, I will definitely bring honor to you, right?"

"Moreover."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue said in a low voice: "The child did not violate military regulations. At most, he was just advancing recklessly. There were so many Khitans on the Liaodong battlefield, and they were also advancing recklessly. If they hadn't been advancing recklessly, the scout camp would not have been able to detect their movements at all."

The emperor looked up at the King of Yue. The King of Yue did not dare to look him in the eye and quickly lowered his head: "If it were not for your special status, the central army might not be able to rescue in time. How do you know that the first ones to arrive would not be the Khitans?"

The Prince of Yue was about to speak, but Liu Bo stretched out his hand and pulled his sleeve. The Prince of Yue stopped talking immediately. After a while, he could not help but say, "Father, in that case, even if the Khitans arrived first and I died on the battlefield, the news would have been delivered back."

“It’s always worth it.”

The emperor frowned.

The Duke of Ying coughed, pulled the sleeve of His Royal Highness the King of Yue, and whispered, "Erlang, don't be stubborn."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue finally woke up from his dream and bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "Father, your son... your son did not disobey your wishes."

His Majesty the Emperor waved his hand and said nothing more. Instead, he looked at Su Zhan and said silently, "Silang, the Su family also has a mansion in Jinling. It's rare for you to come back, so go back and take a look. I will hold a banquet in the palace tomorrow, and you can come to the palace to attend the banquet then." Su Zhan hurriedly lowered his head and said, "I obey your command."

The emperor looked at him and warned him again: "You are not allowed to see Lujiang before tomorrow."

Su Zhan bowed his head again, retreated respectfully and cautiously.

After he left, Emperor Li looked at Liu Bo, then at his second son, and asked, "What do you think of the fourth son of the Su family?"

Liu Bo looked at the King of Yue, then at Li Yun, and said with a smile: "His skills are a little lacking, and he is not suitable for the battlefield, but he is smart and sensible."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue also heard what his father was asking, and quickly said, "Dad, do you really want to marry my sister to him?"

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at him and groaned, "Is this what my father promised him?"

At this point, Emperor Li felt a little annoyed again. He waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let Concubine Shu see him tomorrow. If she has no objection, I won't say anything more."

After talking about Su Jia Silang for a while, the emperor looked at Li Zheng, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't know how many people noticed your trip to Liaodong. From now on, I'm afraid you won't be able to go around anymore."

"During this time, accompany your father in Jinling, spend the New Year well, and think about where you plan to be next year."

When it comes to managing the royal family, especially the princes, the precedents of the two worlds have given Li Yun a lot of experience and lessons.

We cannot learn the ways of Zhu Taizu, otherwise we will create a bunch of frontier kings, which will eventually lead to wars and internal strife.

However, if he followed the Qing Dynasty's example and kept all the royal family members in the capital, it seemed a little inappropriate, so Li Yun planned to combine the two systems.

Anyone who is favored and has the potential to inherit the throne can be granted an appropriate fiefdom after he comes of age, but it must be clearly stipulated that the fiefdom king has no military or political power in the fiefdom. However, under special circumstances, he can accept an official position appointed by the court.

Moreover, without any great achievements, one cannot inherit the throne.

In this way, by the middle and late stages of the dynasty, the royal family and princes would not become a major burden to the court.

As for the King of Yue, he would probably be granted a fiefdom. Li Yun had previously considered granting him a fiefdom in Nanjing, but after a little consideration, he still felt it was inappropriate.

Nanjing is too good a place and too high a level to be used as a vassal state for a vassal king.

His Royal Highness the King of Yue was stunned, then looked up at his father.

Emperor Li looked calm, but he did not question it: "You should have thought of this when you went to the military camp at the beginning of the year. If you are mediocre in the army, then it's nothing."

His Majesty the Emperor stopped talking here, but it is not difficult to guess what he meant.

In the imperial court, the party of the Crown Prince has already taken shape and will surely grow stronger.

If there is a second prince who is capable of leading troops and has fought in the battlefield, but he delays in taking up his fiefdom in the capital, then King Yue Li Zheng will definitely be automatically targeted by these people in the future.

This is not what Li Yun wants to see. At least now, the power of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still very weak, so weak that the Emperor does not need to support any force to check and balance the Crown Prince.

In order to maintain stability in the court, he planned to send Li Zheng to become a vassal.

His Royal Highness the King of Yue opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopped.

The Duke of England at the side smiled and said, "Now that the world has just begun to settle down, many places are unstable. Your Majesty also has many places that need your help."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue paused, bowed his head and said to the Emperor: "Father, I have no other requests, I only want to say one thing..."

"My son, I do not want to be a vassal in Yuezhou."

Yuezhou is one of the places where the emperor started his career, and it is also one of the important cities in Jiangdong today. It can be said that it is a peaceful and trouble-free place.

Given Li Zheng's personality, he naturally didn't want to be a vassal in such a place.

His Majesty the Emperor thought about it and nodded silently.

"Okay, I'll remember this for you."

(End of this chapter)