Thief Emperor

Chapter 605: Worries!

War could break out in Jingxiang at any time, and mobilizing the army would take time. Pei Huang did not dare to stay at all. After leaving Qingzhou, he took a few followers and rushed to Taiyuan on horseback.

Hedong is the ancestral home of the Hedong Pei family, but the Hedong Pei family is not in Taiyuan, but in Hedong Wenxi, so they are also called the Wenxi Pei family.

Wenxi is basically located between Taiyuan and the capital, but over the years, countless descendants of the Hedong Pei family have spread out. There is a Pei family in the capital, so naturally there is also a Pei family in Taiyuan.

As soon as Pei Huang arrived in Taiyuan City, he was taken to the Pei Mansion by the Pei family to rest. That night, several elders of the Pei family took Pei Huang aside and questioned him for half the night before letting him rest.

The next morning, Pei Huang, after taking a bath and changing his clothes, came to General Li's residence and asked to see General Li. When he entered the residence, he found out that General Li was ill and had not seen guests for more than half a month.

Because Pei Huang was the emperor's envoy, someone from the Li family came to meet Pei Huang.

Li Tao, the eldest son of General Li, met Pei Huang in the main hall of the Li family. After the two met, they were very polite and saluted each other.

"Meet General Lee."

Pei Huang bowed his head slightly.

General Li Tong is already over sixty years old, so his eldest son is naturally not any younger. In fact, this eldest son, Li Tao, is already forty-five years old this year, which can even be considered an old man in this era.

The Major General Li Gao, who was taken to Guanzhong by General Li Tong and is still stationed in Tongguan, is just a son that General Li likes more. He is not Li Tong's eldest son, nor the heir to the Hedong Jiedushi.

However, considering Li Tao's age, it would be a little inappropriate to call him Major General.

After sitting down, Pei Huang looked at the eldest son of General Li, bowed his head slightly, and said, "General Li, is the general... okay?"

Li Tao was silent for a while, then he sighed and said, "At his age, how can he be healthy if he gets sick? To be honest, when he was in the capital, he was not feeling well. After returning to Taiyuan, he was not able to recover for more than a year."

"If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have gone to the king's rescue."

Pei Huang said quickly, "You can't say that. General Li was loyal and upright at the beginning. He defeated Wang Junping and his rebels and recovered the capital. He was the first to retire. It can be said that he made great contributions. If it weren't for the general, the court would be in a different state now."

Pei Huang paused for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty has always remembered the great general's contributions."

Li Tao bowed his head silently, sighed again, and asked: "My brother Li Hao is still in Tongguan and has not escaped. I heard that His Majesty is not happy because of this. Master Pei, is this true? If it is true, I will write a letter to my brother and ask him to take his people back to Taiyuan immediately. There is no need for him to guard Tongguan for the court anymore."

"Nothing like that. Nothing like that."

Pei Huang waved his hands and said, "These are people with bad intentions who are stirring up trouble. When the three military governors restored the court, Your Majesty has always been grateful to General Li. When the court was in danger, the Hedong Army was able to help the court defend Tongguan. Your Majesty was more than happy about it. How could he not be happy?"

Li Tao stroked his beard and said silently, "That's good, that's good. If the court can handle it, just give me a call and I will immediately let my brother lead the troops back to avoid any misunderstandings about our Li family."

Pei Huang exchanged a few polite words with him, then asked, "General, I am here on the orders of the Emperor. Can you allow me to meet General Li?"

Li Tao thought for a moment and asked, "I can make decisions on most matters in Hedong, Master Pei, just tell me what you want."

Pei Huang did not say much, but just said a few words to Li Tao. The eldest son of the Hedong Jiedushi stood up and said slowly: "I will go ask my father."

He clasped his fists towards Pei Huang, then turned and left.

About half an hour later, Li Tao came back and bowed to Pei Huang, saying, "Master Pei, please follow me."

Pei Huang nodded silently and said, "Okay."

After walking with Li Tao for about a cup of tea, they finally arrived at the door of a bedroom. After Li Tao opened the door, he turned sideways and looked at Pei Huang.

"Please, Master Pei."

Pei Huang straightened his clothes and walked in slowly. Soon he saw General Li sitting on a recliner in the room.

This great general now has gray hair and looks much older than he was two years ago.

It's the same for everyone. Sometimes they suddenly age at a certain point in time.

Pei Huang bowed and saluted: "General."

Li Tong sat on the recliner and looked at Pei Huang silently. He did not speak for a long time. After a long time, General Li asked, "Did His Majesty ask you to come?"

Pei Huang bowed his head and said, "Yes."

"General, Li Yun from Jiangdong has evil intentions and is now eyeing Jingxiang. If he takes Jingxiang, he will be eyeing the Central Plains. General, Your Majesty..."

Li Tong shook his head slightly, signaling him not to continue.

The general fell silent again. He held up two fingers and said, "Since it is... since it is your majesty's wish, our Hedong Army will send out 20,000 men."

"Assist... assist the imperial court in suppressing the rebellion."

Pei Huang frowned slightly.

General Li had already closed his eyes and sighed silently: "You can see that I can't even leave the General's Mansion now."

"In my heart... I am thinking about the court, but those people under me may not be thinking about the court." "Sending 20,000 people to assist the court is already..."

He said silently: "This is the last bit of strength I, Zhou Chen, have left."

He looked at Pei Huang and said, "I will evacuate the 20,000 people in Tongguan as soon as possible, and then...then what will happen to the Great Zhou Dynasty will be up to me..."

Li Tong closed his eyes, no longer having much strength left: "It doesn't matter anymore."

He coughed twice and said nothing more.

Pei Huang stood up silently and bowed deeply to Li Tong: "General's loyalty is witnessed by the sun and the moon."

"I will tell your majesty the general's words truthfully."

"It doesn't matter whether you tell me or not."

General Li closed his eyes and said silently: "I do these things only to follow my heart."

He said slowly: "If you have any more problems, go find Li Tao. If you can persuade him to send out all the Hedong troops, I will not stop you."

"Yes."

Pei Huang bowed his head deeply.

"On behalf of the court and His Majesty, I would like to thank the General!"

…………

In Jinling City, documents from the Nine Departments were delivered to Li Yun's desk.

In front of his desk, Meng Hai lowered his head and handed a recent document to Li Yun's desk, and said with his head down: "Sir, it should be confirmed that Pei Huang appeared in Taiyuan City."

"But we don't have enough manpower in Taiyuan to know where he went and what he said."

"Taiyuan..."

Mr. Li muttered in a low voice.

It was another hometown of his.

After thinking for a while, Li Yun looked at Meng Hai and said, "I understand. Go ahead and get busy. The Nine Departments' personnel will continue to be deployed eastward. In Taiyuan... just keep an eye on the Hedong Army as much as possible."

Meng Hai lowered his head, answered yes, and then retreated cautiously.

Shortly after Meng Hai left, Su Zhan's voice came from outside the door: "Sir, Mr. Du is here."

Li Yun came back to his senses and said without hesitation: "Please come in, please come in."

Soon, Du Qian was brought to Li Yun's study by Su Zhan. He also held a document in his hand and handed it to Li Yun's desk. He smiled and said, "Sir, the three hundred people selected for this year's literary meeting have now been settled. This is the detailed record that Brother Juzhong and I spent a few days compiling."

"The superior will take a look at it. If there is no problem, I will issue the appointment in the name of the superior."

Li Yun took the document, glanced at it briefly, and put it aside.

This kind of thing cannot be finished in a short period of time. He has to read it carefully bit by bit, and only after a period of time can he give Du Qian a reply.

He handed the document that Jiusi handed over to Du Qian and said with a smile, "Brother Du, take a look at this."

Du Qian took it with both hands and quickly glanced over it. He frowned slightly and said, "This Pei San is very active. First he went to Qingzhou, and now he went to Taiyuan."

He looked at Li Yun and said slowly, "I guess he went to meet those two."

Li Yun nodded and said with a smile: "It seems that the ability of my Ninth Division is still not as good as that of the Imperial City Division for the time being. I am just mobilizing troops and have not yet seriously attacked Jingxiang, but the court has given such a big reaction."

"Even Hezong was used."

He looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "What do you think, Brother Du?"

Du Qian thought for a moment and said with a smile, "I'm really not very proficient in military affairs, so I won't embarrass myself. Judging from the way the superior is, he should be confident."

Li Yun said softly: "I can't say I'm fully prepared, but I'm probably prepared in my heart."

"Just right."

Mr. Li looked outside and said slowly, "I am also worried about the Pinglu Army."

"If he comes this time, I'll see who's better."

"No more worries."

(End of this chapter)