Thief Emperor

Chapter 445: Sect and the Court

After thanking Li Yun, Chen Da was very excited. He bowed his head and said to Li Yun: "Sir, I will go and prepare!"

Li Yun nodded first, then smiled and said: "Just make some preparations yourself, don't spread the news. There may be spies secretly surrendered to the Pinglu Army among the thousands of Luzhou defenders."

Chen Da responded with a "yes", lowered his head and walked away.

Looking at his leaving back, Su Sheng sighed: "Erlang is really kind to this brother Chen."

Su Sheng was also a very rule-abiding person. Now, like Du Qian, he would address Li Yun by his seniority when they were alone. However, once there was any outsider, even an acquaintance like Chen Da, he would address Li Yun as "Envoy".

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and said slowly: "First, he has been with me for a long time, so I have to give him some opportunities. Second, Jiangdong is in great need of generals who can lead troops in battle."

After drinking a sip of tea, he looked at Su Sheng and said with a smile: "This time, if we can defeat the Pinglu Army, we have to find a way to recruit a few generals from the Pinglu Army."

In the Jiangdong military group, there are actually not many generals who can currently act independently. Even among the four generals, there are only two and a half who can currently act independently. The two are naturally Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng, and the half is Li Zheng.

As for Zhou Liang.

Zhou Liang had no problem recruiting and training soldiers, and he had enough experience, but in fact, he had hardly ever independently commanded any battle up to now. He had no problem commanding troops, but whether he could independently complete the command of a battle of tens of thousands of people remained in doubt.

Now, Li Yun's business is mainly in Jiangdong, so the generals who can lead troops independently are barely enough. But if his power expands further in the future, Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng alone will definitely not be enough.

Apart from anything else, Li Yun’s next goal is to occupy Huainan Road and Jiangnan West Road and take the entire southeast into his own hands. With Jiangnan West Road alone, the territory under Li Yun’s control will double again.

Therefore, he is now consciously training several capable talents from among the captains below. Meng Qing, Chen Da, Deng Yang, and even Yang Xi are all in Li Yun's training plan.

This time, for Chen Da, it is a good opportunity. If he can lead these 3,000 people well and complete this surprise attack well, then this little brother who has followed Li Yun in Qingyang, even if he has caught up with the team, will be further reused by Li Yun later.

If he fails, Li Yun has no choice but to arrange some jobs for Chen Da that he is more suitable for, such as being a local military officer.

It’s not that Li Yun doesn’t remember the old times. In fact, the fact that he is willing to give him this opportunity to lead the troops, or to train himself, shows that he remembers the old times very much.

Throughout history, how many talented young people have been blocked from achieving success due to the lack of such an opportunity, and have been depressed all their lives without being able to advance.

Su Sheng stroked his chin and suggested, "If we really persuade the generals of the Pinglu Army to surrender, let them lead the surrendered soldiers. If we let them lead our Jiangdong soldiers, I'm afraid our Jiangdong soldiers will feel uncomfortable."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "I was just giving an analogy. The fight hasn't even started yet, but Brother Su is already thinking about such a long-term issue."

"I just said it casually, but in my opinion."

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Erlang has never suffered any loss, and he will probably not suffer any loss this time."

"That's not a good idea."

Li Yun stood up, stretched his muscles, and said slowly: "If you hold on to this idea, you may fall flat on your face at any time."

He looked into the distance and exhaled: "We can't afford to fall flat on our faces right now."

Su Sheng nodded slowly, uttered an "hmm", and said, "Only after we occupy Jianghuai will we be qualified to fall. In Jiangdong now, after a big fall, it will not be easy to get up again."

"That's right, Jiro."

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and said, "I have two younger brothers, both fifteen or sixteen years old. You have seen them. They also want to do something for Jiangdong."

General Su was unemployed in his hometown for nearly twenty years in his early years. He had nothing to do, so he gave birth to several children. However, these children were more than ten years older than Su Sheng.

After all, Su Sheng is already over 30 years old this year, and he and these younger brothers and sisters are almost two generations apart.

Now, the Su family has gradually stabilized in Jiangdong, and Su Sheng also wants to find a job for his two brothers.

Li Yun nodded happily.

"Brother Su's brothers are my brothers. Since they want to join the army, let them follow Brother Su temporarily."

"After they have been familiar with the military for a year or two, I will assign them proper jobs."

Su Sheng bowed his head, thanked him, then clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said with a smile: "I am a little tired after traveling all the way here. I will find a place to sleep first. If Erlang needs anything, please send someone to call me."

Li Yun clasped his fists in return: "Brother Su, take a good rest."

The two of them clasped their fists in farewell. Li Yun looked at Su Sheng's receding back and narrowed his eyes slightly.

As the power of the Jiangdong Group expanded, the several generals who were separated from Li Yun seemed to have their own little ideas.

It’s not that they had any ill intentions towards Li Yun, but they all had some selfish motives.

The four armies have a size of nearly 10,000 people each. As Jiangdong gradually stabilizes, many people now see the future prospects of Jiangdong.

Zhou Liang might have wanted to bring the people from Cangshan Village into the army out of personal feelings or out of selfish motives, while Su Sheng had no ill intentions and just wanted to find a job for his two brothers.

This shows that some factions are slowly forming within the Jiangdong Group. At the same time, it also shows that Li Yun is currently developing very well. At least, Su Sheng and others are quite optimistic about the prospects of Jiangdong.

Thinking of this, Li Yun shook his head slightly and sighed.

"It is true that wherever there are people, there is a martial arts world. The more people there are, the more martial arts schools there are."

…………

While Li Yun was preparing his troops in Luzhou and sending out a large number of spies and scouts to investigate the Pinglu Army and prepare to launch a surprise attack on it at any time, a big happy event was taking place in the capital of Guanzhong.

The Emperor's younger sister, Princess Ningguo, married Wei Mao, the second son of General Wei Quanzhong, the governor of Shuofang.

This marriage was not forced by General Wei. The court had issued an edict to grant this marriage long before the rebels entered the pass and the Shuofang Army was ordered to march south to quell the rebellion. However, there was a period of time afterwards when the war continued and the court was not at peace.

So I kept putting it off.

At the moment, no matter what the situation was in other places outside Guanzhong, at least Guanzhong was relatively stable. Therefore, General Wei found a time to arrange this marriage and formally married Princess Ningguo into the Wei family and made her his second daughter-in-law.

Judging from this marriage, General Wei is already one generation older than the current emperor and has become the emperor's uncle.

For the sake of grandeur, General Wei held a three-day banquet in his own general's mansion to entertain the guests.

This lively wedding attracted almost all the civil and military officials in the capital, and even the Emperor gave face to General Wei and personally went out of the palace to attend the wedding at the General's residence.

For a time, the name of Lingwu King Wei Quanzhong was unrivaled in the capital.

After the banquet was over, several civil officials sat together quietly. Prime Minister Cui Yuan looked at Prime Minister Yu Fang and the civil and military officials sitting at the same table.

Finally, he set his eyes on the Minister of Rites Du Ting and said in a deep voice: "Brother Du, you are the Minister of Rites, and you can also be called the world's literary master. Please take a look at this document."

Du Ting took it, read it once, then looked up at Cui Yuan and said slowly: "Prime Minister Cui, at the court meeting tomorrow, this document..."

"Let me pass it on."

All the officials present were curious when they heard this. They took the document, read it, shook their heads, and handed the document back to Du Ting.

Everyone looked at Cui Yuan and asked, "Prime Minister Cui, is this document authentic?"

"Of course it is true."

Cui Yuan said calmly, "In the past few months, I have traveled to various military governorates and finally got this document."

Everyone praised him again, except for Minister Du Ting, who quietly put the document into his sleeve without saying a word.

The next day was the day of the grand court meeting. Everyone got up early to attend the regular court meeting.

The three generals also arrived on time and stood silently in the first row to the right of the emperor, all without saying a word.

Since entering the pass and the capital, these three have attended almost every court meeting. In addition to wanting to understand the court more clearly, they also want to know if anyone is saying bad things about them.

Soon, His Majesty the Emperor arrived and everyone bowed down in worship. The three generals had received the emperor's grace and were allowed to enter the court without bowing, so the three of them just stood there, not moving a muscle.

After everyone bowed and saluted and stood up, the emperor looked around at everyone and said to General Wei with a smile: "The wedding banquet these days has been very well organized. The general is thoughtful."

Wei Quanzhong bowed his head slightly: "It is what I should do."

Before the emperor could speak, Du Ting knelt in the court with the document in his hand and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the Jiedushi of Beiting, Jiedushi of Hexi, and Jiedushi of Longyou have jointly written to the court."

"These military governors unanimously suggested that the Shuofang Army, Fanyang Army, and Hedong Army should not stay here since they have already put down the rebellion."

"What these Jiedushis meant was that the three generals should immediately send their respective generals back to their hometowns."

Then Du Ting continued, "What do the three generals think?"

The three military governors remained silent and turned a deaf ear to the question.

His Majesty the Emperor did not speak, nor did he express his opinion.

The Golden Palace fell into an eerie silence, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Seeing this, Du Shangshu couldn't help but look at Wei Quanzhong and said through gritted teeth: "General Wei, I have another question for you."

"You ask."

Wei Quanzhong looked clear-headed.

Du Ting raised his head and looked at Wei Quanzhong, gritting his teeth and said, "Prime Minister Wang, how did he die?"

(End of this chapter)