Thief Emperor

Chapter 428 Are you willing to help me?

Li Yun currently has over 40,000 troops under his command. For now, if Li Yun wants to expand the army, he can continue to do so, but it will be more difficult financially.

However, within the Jiangdong Army, the four former captains will be promoted to generals one after another, and many of their subordinates will also be promoted as well.

However, there are limited places after all. It is impossible for everyone to move up one level. Some people will always be left behind.

This is a complex and huge task, and it is also a power that Li Yun must grasp in his own hands.

Theoretically, there should be about forty people promoted to captain in each army under his command. However, the current organization of the Jiangdong soldiers is not strictly based on one captain camp for every thousand people, because a captain sometimes commands three or even four captain camps.

In other words, this time, there will be about twenty to thirty people from Jiangdong who will be promoted to the rank of captain. Although these captains are still candidates recommended by several generals, Li Yun will personally review each one of them and make the final decision.

Otherwise, power will fall into the wrong hands, and in this era of turbulent order, big problems may arise.

As for the selection of the next lieutenants, Li Yun does not necessarily need to make the decision himself, but the list must be sent to him for his review.

This is a fundamental matter and must be held firmly in hand.

Therefore, during the period of great internal changes in the Jiangdong army, it is not advisable to expand the army for the time being. It will take at least a long time for Li Yun to digest the surge in military strength during this period, train them to maturity, and then complete a round of territorial expansion before Li Yun will consider expanding the army.

But now, he often does not have enough troops, so the militia becomes a good choice.

In fact, this is not a rare thing. Since ancient times, the government has had corvée labor, including labor service and military service. The government conscripted civilians free of charge to do things that the government needed them to do.

In other words, as the ruler of Jiangdong, Li Yun could have recruited a large number of young and strong men to serve in his army free of charge, and could even require them to bring their own dry food and go to battle.

In the era of cold weapons, the imperial court could recruit hundreds of thousands of troops at the order of a single decree, a large portion of whom were the civilians who served in the army.

What makes Li Yun different from the imperial court is that he also needs the people to participate in defending the city or building fortifications, but he provides them with meals.

Moreover, he would not let these militiamen serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield. In fact, he would not actually send these militiamen to the front battlefield unless he had no other choice.

After all, he did not have enough weapons and equipment. If a real fight broke out, these militiamen could help move things and guard the city walls, but if they were asked to fight the enemy head-on, it would be a definite request for them to die.

Originally, Li Yun did not write the word "compulsory" in the notice for this military service. In his estimation, it would not be easy to recruit two to three thousand voluntary militiamen for training.

With these two to three thousand people, the pressure on defending Jinling City will be suddenly reduced. Li Yun can send more troops in Jinling to other places for support, so that the troops will not be stretched to the limit.

If Nanjing is doing well, Yangzhou and Qiantang County can follow suit and recruit some militia to serve as "auxiliary troops". This will greatly reduce the cost of using troops.

What Li Yun never expected was that the people of Jinling Prefecture were so enthusiastic.

According to this situation, it seems that there won't be any big problem in recruiting 5,000 militiamen within a month.

As Du Qian said.

It's all set off by peers.

Among the many officials in today's world, or among the many local actual controllers, Mr. Li can be said to be a breath of fresh air in this turbid world!

"Next."

Mr. Li looked at the people gathered in front of the notice and felt touched.

It is undeniable that there are good people and bad people in every class, but the emotions of most people are quite simple. Being an official and being able to make people live a good life and to gain the love and support of the people under your rule is a very fulfilling thing.

This sense of accomplishment is quite intense.

In fact, when most officials first entered the officialdom, they did not necessarily intend to become corrupt officials. However, after serving as officials for a few years, they were corrupted by the officialdom and became the people they hated when they were young.

Li Yun paused and continued, "Next, I will spend a long time reorganizing the Jiangdong soldiers and placing officers of all levels."

“Through this, a major reorganization was completed.”

At this point, he looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "At this stage, I will inevitably have to travel around and see everywhere. It is unlikely that I will stay in Jinling forever. The affairs of Jinling will be left to Brother Shouyi."

"Brother Shouyi, please manage Jinling well. At the same time, we will work together to improve the civil service as soon as possible."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun, nodded and smiled: "If this is accomplished, Jiangdong will become a country of its own, and Erlang can be called the ruler."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "I am not Qiu Dian, let alone Wang Junping. We still have a long way to go."

He narrowed his eyes and whispered: "We will all work hard for half a year!"…………

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, several months have passed.

Just as Li Yun, Du Qian and others were busy in Jiangdong, working overtime and constantly improving their system bit by bit, the emperor, who had been traveling for several months, finally arrived at the Sanguan Pass.

The situation that Li Yun had described before did not occur, and no military governor actually stopped the emperor and kept him out of Guanzhong.

On the one hand, the closest one is the Jiannan Jiedushi, and at most the Hexi Jiedushi and Longyou Jiedushi in the north.

The latter two would have to bypass the entire Gyeonggi Province to get to Seocheon, but the space does not support them to do so.

Secondly, even if the three Jiedushi joined forces, there were very few people willing to stand up and challenge them. One Jiedushi of Jiannan was far from enough.

Outside the Sanguan Pass, the three military governors stood on both sides of the road. After seeing the emperor's carriage from afar, all three of them bowed respectfully.

"Your servant Wei Quanzhong..."

"Your servant Li Tong..."

"Your Highness, I, Xiao Xian, pay my respects to your Majesty."

His Majesty the Emperor in the dragon chariot lifted the curtain and looked at the three people with a very complicated expression.

It can be said that it is a mixture of love and hate.

But there might be more hatred. He first looked at Wei Quanzhong, and finally his eyes fell on Li Tong, whose hair had turned mostly white.

In just a few breaths, His Majesty quickly calmed down his emotions. Looking at the three generals in front of him, a broad smile appeared on his face: "My three beloved ministers, please stand up quickly."

He personally got off the dragon chariot and helped the three generals up one by one. When the last one helped Li Tong up, he said with emotion: "I have just ascended the throne and I am still dealing with the affairs of the late queen, and the enemy has already arrived at the city. In order to protect the foundation of my ancestors, I have to take refuge in Xichuan for a while."

"Thanks to you all, you have turned the tide and restored Guanzhong. I really don't know how to thank you three."

Li Tong was being supported by him at the moment. Hearing this, he looked up at the emperor, then lowered his head and said, "I am an old minister. Two generations have received the grace of the court. At this critical moment for the country, I should do my best to repay the grace of the country."

The emperor looked at Xiao Xian again and sighed, "My dear Xiao, you have come all the way from Youzhou with your troops. You have come the longest way. I am really moved by you."

Xiao Xian also bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty is on a tour to the west, and we are ordered to fight against the enemy. Even if we are thousands of miles away and ten horses are dying, we should rush here to rescue you."

The emperor nodded, patted General Xiao on the shoulder, and said with emotion: "My dear minister, your loyalty is commendable, your loyalty is commendable."

"When I return to the capital and restore the court, I will definitely reward you handsomely, my dear Lord Xiao."

Xiao Xian bowed and said, "I thank your Majesty."

Finally, the Emperor looked at Wei Quanzhong and said in a deep voice, "General Wei made the greatest contribution this time. He was fighting the rebels almost from the beginning to the end. Every time I read the military reports, there must be reports of the Shuofang Army fighting the rebels. I always keep them in mind."

"General Wei should be regarded as the most meritorious official in suppressing the rebellion this time!"

General Wei lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "I was promoted by the late emperor to take up the post of governor of Shuofang, and was ordered by the late emperor to lead an army to suppress the rebels. Unfortunately, I was incompetent and failed to wipe out the rebels outside Tongguan, which caused trouble to the emperor and father."

"I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

His Majesty the Emperor shook his head and said, "The general has done his best. This is a well-known fact in the court. How could I not know it?"

"The rebels are fierce and stubborn. I am already satisfied if they can be wiped out within two years."

His Majesty the Emperor praised the three generals a few more times, and suddenly became excited: "At that time, Guanzhong was in danger, and I urgently issued an imperial edict, ordering all the vassal states to fight against the rebels together. As a result, only you three came!"

"The rest of the vassal states are all traitors to the country!"

His Majesty the Emperor gnashed his teeth and said angrily, "After I return to the capital, I will issue an imperial decree and write a manifesto to punish these traitors. Traitors are hateful, and these traitors are equally hateful!"

Having said that, he looked at the three Jiedushi and said in a deep voice.

"Three great generals, are you willing to help me defeat the enemy?"

(End of this chapter)