Thief Emperor

Chapter 1049 Differentiation
Chen Da had only been away from Luoyang for a little over a month, and his army had not yet reached the Northwest battlefield.

However, his departure from the city was quite a spectacle, and given the imperial court's suppression of the northwest, it wasn't exactly a big secret. Even the people in Luoyang were likely discussing it, so it wasn't surprising that the news got out.

However, the Khitans have been fighting the Tang army for the past year or two. Some of their troops have been driven out of the pass, while the troops inside the pass are trapped in Youzhou and can hardly move.

The fact that they were able to obtain information about the Luoyang court so promptly under these circumstances indicates that there were people within the Guanzhong Plain, or more precisely, in the Central Plains, who were tipping them off and relaying messages.

After all, at this point, the Khitans no longer had any intelligence capabilities outside of the battlefield.

Yelü Hong bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, the Celestial Empire is the central state, so of course we should have some understanding of it."

Emperor Li gave him a half-smile, but didn't reply.

The Central Plains dynasties have always viewed themselves as the center of the world, as have neighboring countries viewed this vast dynasty.

It is precisely for this reason that countless eyes are watching this dynasty. When it is strong, all the foreign tribes naturally submit to it. When it is weak, there will naturally be people who want to come and get a share of the spoils.

Now, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty seems unstoppable. From this perspective, it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with the Khitans keeping an eye on the Luoyang court.

"All right."

His Majesty the Emperor said calmly, "Since you know the court, you probably know me too. You should know that I am not the type to be long-winded and nagging. You are Yelü Yi's own brother. Do you think what you say here today counts?"

Yelü Hong knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Your word is your bond."

"Well."

His Majesty the Emperor remained calm and said indifferently, "You asked me to appoint Yelü Yi as the Khan of the Khitan. I agree to that."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "The Secretariat can draft it immediately. After you return from Luoyang, you can take the imperial edict bestowed upon him by the court back with you."

Of course, it's possible to bestow the title of Khitan Khan, but no one has ever stipulated that there can only be one Khitan Khan. We can make some changes and change Yelü Yi's title of Khitan Khan to Yelü Khan, while those two boys from the Wugu tribe can be bestowed the title of Wugu Khan in the future.

These are all feasible, and there's nothing to hesitate about.

"As for the 20,000 Khitans in Youzhou, as long as you lay down your weapons, come out of the city and surrender, I can promise you that I will not kill them and will properly settle them."

Upon hearing this, Yelü Hong was overjoyed and knelt down, kowtowing, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Wait a moment."

Li Yun remained calm and continued, "I haven't finished speaking yet."

He looked at Yelü Hong and continued, "These 20,000 people can live as my subjects in the new dynasty, but they must not live in groups; they must live separately."

His Majesty the Emperor narrowed his eyes and continued, "Moreover, they must relocate inland, to the south."

Currently, Youzhou, Jizhou, and the entire northern region are severely lacking in manpower. If a piece of land were allocated in the north for these Khitan people to live in, it would be perfectly feasible.

However, if this is done, there may be no problem for the Zhangwu Dynasty, but problems will inevitably arise in the future.

Yelü Hong stood there stunned, looking up at Li Yun. He frowned and said, "Your Majesty, most of my people do not speak Chinese. If they are scattered in different places, I'm afraid they will be bullied by others and cause trouble in the future."

Emperor Li said calmly, "You can rest assured, I will make proper arrangements."

"Now that the chaos in the world has been quelled, it has only been a little over ten years. The population lost in that great chaos has not yet recovered. Many villages have become deserted. I can have people set aside one or two hundred villages across the country to provide them with places to live and multiply."

Yelü Hong lowered his head and said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, the vast majority of these 20,000 people in Youzhou are men, and their families are all outside the Great Wall. If these 20,000 people are scattered to different places, without women, they will have no way to reproduce..."

“When I was in Youyan, I had some Khitan prisoners, including women. Or your brother, send the families of these 20,000 people to the interior.”

"Even if another 20,000 come, I can still accommodate them."

Currently, the population of the new dynasty is just beginning to rise, but population growth takes at least twenty years to show significant results. Therefore, the current population of the new dynasty is less than that of the late Zhou dynasty.

It will be much less.

In some places, the land was truly deserted, and tens of thousands of Khitans could be easily settled.

Yelü Hong knelt on the ground, his expression shifting, and remained silent for a long time.

Emperor Li frowned, losing patience: "Whether it succeeds or fails is just a matter of a single sentence. Is it that difficult to answer?"

"If you do not agree, I will not make things difficult for you and will still let you return to Youzhou. We met on the battlefield."

Yelü Hong said in a low voice, "Your Majesty is waging war on both the east and west fronts at the same time. Aren't you afraid that your forces will be insufficient?"

Emperor Li was speechless. "You've really learned a lot of Chinese; you can even use idioms." "Won't I run out of energy?"

His Majesty the Emperor said, "You will see him on the battlefield."

He said with a smile, "You brothers may not know, but I have been saving up for many years in order to take back Youyan."

Yelü Hong lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to... consider it some more."

Li Yun readily agreed: "Okay, I'll give you time to consider, but only this once. You just said you can make the decision. Once you leave Luoyang this time, everything we discussed will be null and void."

"Su Zhan".

The emperor called out, and Su Zhan quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your subject is here."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "Take the envoy to the Ministry of Rites' guesthouse to rest. You will be in charge of entertaining the envoy for the next few days."

Su Zhan stepped forward, bowed deeply, and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Your subject obeys!"

That's all for today.

Emperor Li's gaze fell on the document before him. After glancing at it twice, he looked at Yelü Hong and added, "Envoy, I must remind you that the war on the front lines will not stop for a moment because of our conversation. We are fighting every day. If the city of Youzhou has already been captured, then what we are saying today will be meaningless."

"None of these rules apply."

Yelü Hong bowed his head deeply.

"Your subject... understands."

…………

After seeing off the Khitan envoy, Emperor Li looked down at the document in his hand, but felt that something was on his mind. He hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked out of Ganlu Hall, summoning the eunuch Gu Chang.

"Prepare the carriage, I need to leave the palace."

Gu Chang quickly responded and asked, "Where is Your Majesty going?"

"To see an old friend."

Soon, a dark black carriage slowly left the palace.

This time, Lord Yang of the Imperial Guard personally accompanied the carriage with his sword, not daring to stop for even a moment.

Gu Chang glanced at Lord Yang and understood why he was so nervous, so he simply stepped forward to bow and said nothing more.

As evening fell, the carriage stopped in front of a prince's mansion. Gu Chang, who was accompanying the carriage, looked up and saw several large, gilded characters written on it.

The Prince of Chenliu's Mansion.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Yang Xi went to knock on the door. By the time Li Yun got out of the carriage, the main gate of the Chenliu Prince's Mansion was already wide open.

Emperor Li, dressed in a gray robe, glanced back at Yang Xi, said nothing, and silently walked into the palace.

Not long after entering the palace, the pale-faced and somewhat obese Prince of Chenliu hurriedly came out to greet him, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject Wu Yuanyou pays respects to Your Majesty."

Emperor Li helped him up and shook his head, saying, "Brother Wu is a guest of the new dynasty, not my subject."

No need for formalities.

Wu Yuanyou lowered his head and repeatedly said he dared not.

Emperor Li looked at his face for a long time before sighing, "Raise your head, let me see."

Wu Yuanyou then raised his head and saw obvious scars on his left eye socket and forehead.

Li Yun glanced at it a few times, then said silently, "My son is ignorant, Brother Wu, please don't take offense."

Wu Yuanyou quickly bowed his head deeply: "Your Highness the Crown Prince was only worried about His Majesty, which is why he acted a little hastily. This is the bond between father and son in the imperial family."

"I have only a minor injury, nothing serious."

Emperor Li walked into the Chenliu Prince's Mansion with his hands behind his back, then looked back at Wu Yuanyou, who was following him closely, and sighed silently.

"It's true that he acts recklessly."

"I will make it up to Brother Wu."

(End of this chapter)