Thief Emperor

Chapter 879 Things are coming
Outside the city of Chengdu, in the tent of the Jiangdong army commander.

Li Zheng and Zhao Cheng were discussing something. At this time, Li Zheng was not sitting in the main seat, but Zhao Cheng was not sitting in the main seat either.

As the commanding general, General Zhao has already given Li Zheng enough face.

"General Zhao, He Jun's food and grass should arrive in three or four days. Once the food and grass arrive, you don't have to worry. No matter how long the siege of Chengdu lasts, just slowly waste time with them."

Zhao Cheng lowered his head slightly and said, "I understand this, but the king's coronation ceremony is imminent..."

"Brother Wang said so."

Li Zheng said solemnly: "The so-called abdication is just a polite remark. The world was taken, not given by the Wu family."

“So there’s no need to rush, and besides, it’s not even October yet.”

Li Zheng said solemnly: "The Jiannan Army has surrendered. I don't think the Wu Zhou small court in Chengdu will last long."

"Maybe, we can catch up with the big event in the first month of next year."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Zhao Cheng could respond, Chen Da walked in, clasped his fists towards the two men and said, "Generals, Pei Huang has come out of Chengdu and wants to see the commander-in-chief."

Li Zheng and Zhao Cheng looked at each other, then smiled and said, "General Zhao, look, it's a natural progression."

Zhao Cheng also forced a smile on his face.

At this moment, he was naturally feeling a little depressed.

Because of a slight change in his previous thoughts, the situation in Jiannan Road was once quite bad. Now, although he is still the main general of Jiannan Road, the situation in Jiannan Road has changed for the better only after Li Zheng arrived.

Now, even if he could escort the emperor back to Luoyang by the end of the year, it is likely that only a small half of the credit for Jiannan Road would fall into his hands.

Most of this small half is due to the contribution of Jiameng Pass.

But at this point, regret was useless. He could only look at Li Zheng, take a deep breath, and say, "I'm not very good at talking, so you can go meet Pei Huang, Sanlang."

Li Zheng shook his head slightly and said, "General, you are the commander-in-chief, so it is natural that you should come to see him. When we take over Chengdu later, you will also lead the soldiers to take over."

"The merits of the soldiers in the army should be counted as they should be. Although I have arrived in Jiannan, my position is still in Luoyang."

Li Zheng said calmly: "As for the things here, I am just here to lend a hand. It has nothing to do with me."

"I want all these credits, but they are actually useless."

What Li Zheng said was not nonsense. Theoretically speaking, he was no longer serving in the army, so his military merits were of little use.

As for his position as the Yin of Luoyang, Li Yun has already told him that there may not be any changes within ten years. In other words, he will remain in the position of Yin of Luoyang for the next ten years.

After all, this position is important. When the new dynasty is just established, it needs someone who Li Yun can completely trust and who can keep the situation under control to sit in this position.

And the candidate must naturally be Li Zheng.

More importantly, although Zhao Cheng made some mistakes when he led the Jiangdong Army to Chengdu Prefecture, the soldiers under him and the middle-level generals were not at fault.

Credit should still be given where it is due.

After saying this, Li Zheng looked at Chen Da and said with a smile: "Go find Zhang Han and ask him to welcome Mr. Pei in to meet our commander."

Chen Da was stunned for a moment, then he understood what Li Zheng meant.

He wanted the Wu Zhou court to see clearly that the Jiannan Army had surrendered.

This will make subsequent negotiations go much more smoothly.

Thinking of this, Chen Da also smiled and nodded. After looking at Zhao Cheng, he quietly retreated.

Li Zheng pointed to the main seat and said with a smile: "General, please sit here. I will be your companion."

Zhao Cheng did not refuse too much. He said yes and sat down in the main seat.

Not long after, Zhang Han led Pei Huang all the way into the general's tent.

Pei Huang's eyes were fixed on Zhang Han until he entered the general's tent, but Zhang Han seemed unaware of it. He clasped his fists and saluted Zhao Cheng, saying, "General, Mr. Pei is here."

Zhao Cheng looked at him and said slowly, "General Zhang has worked hard. Bo Zhong, take General Zhang down to rest."

Bo Zhong is calling Chen Da.

Chen Da was from Qingyang County. His family had been yamen runners for generations. As he had no education, he was only given a rather vulgar nickname when he was born. Later, after he inherited his father's position as a yamen runner, he also had no proper name. People in the yamen called him Chen Da according to his seniority.

Chen Da has been following Li Yun for these years and has seen a lot of the world. In the past two years, he asked someone to give him a proper courtesy name, called Bo Zhong.

Bo is his generational level, and the word "loyalty" naturally expresses loyalty to the superior.

Chen Dalian responded quickly and led Zhang Han away.

After Zhang Han left the tent, Zhao Cheng's eyes fell on Pei Huang. He looked at Pei Sanlang in front of him, who looked a little haggard but still had a graceful demeanor, and then slowly said: "Mr. Pei, the two armies are fighting, and you just ran into my camp like this. Are you going to abandon the dark and join the light?"

Pei Huang bowed his head, saluted and said, "General Zhao."

After saying that, he glanced at Li Zheng again, and bowed to Li Zheng as well: "Lord Li."

"After breaking through Jiameng Pass, Pei went to Luoyang and met with the King of Wu. I also told Your Majesty what the King of Wu said to me." "Pei persuaded Your Majesty many times and finally convinced Your Majesty that Your Majesty was willing to open the city and surrender and submit to the new dynasty."

"I am also willing to rush to Luoyang to meet the King of Wu."

Zhao Cheng narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

Li Zheng at the side thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Mr. Pei is really eloquent. It has been more than a month since you came back from Luoyang. If you have been trying to persuade them, why didn't you persuade them before? Now that the Jiannan Army has surrendered, you have persuaded them?"

Pei Huang looked calm and said, "Lord Li, the Great Zhou has been in power for more than 200 years. Your Majesty will certainly not let it go for a while. I have been trying to persuade you for more than a month..."

Hearing this, even Zhao Cheng couldn't bear to listen anymore. He shook his head and frowned, saying, "Master Pei, stop talking nonsense. Just tell me when the gates of Chengdu will be opened."

Pei Huang looked up at Li Zheng, who looked calm and said nothing. Then he looked at Zhao Cheng and whispered, "General, as long as you make a promise, Chengdu City will open its gates to welcome you tomorrow morning..."

"Welcome the general into the city."

Zhao Cheng did not speak, but looked at Li Zheng. Li Zheng said without hesitation: "Mr. Pei, our Jiangdong Army has its own rules no matter where we go. I can assure you."

“First, we will not harm the people.”

"Second, we will not kill innocent people indiscriminately."

Having said this, Li Zheng's words stopped abruptly and there was no follow-up.

Pei Huang clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Mr. Li, I have one last question."

Li Zheng looked at him: "You say."

Pei Huang's voice was trembling: "My wife and children...are they innocent?"

Hearing this, Li Zheng glanced at Zhao Cheng, and Zhao Cheng was also looking at him.

The two looked at each other, both filled with emotion.

No matter how loyal a person may seem, when the time comes, they will often still think about their own family. This...

No one is an exception.

Zhao Cheng lowered his head and drank tea without saying anything.

Li Zheng thought for a moment, then slowly said: "After my Royal Division enters the city, I just need the Pei family to cooperate well."

"Master Wang will not kill innocent people indiscriminately."

"Cooperate, cooperate."

Pei Huang let out a long breath: "We, the Pei family, will definitely cooperate."

Li Zheng was about to speak when he suddenly remembered something. He stood up and walked to Pei Huang, pulled Pei Huang's sleeve, and said with a smile: "Brother Wang also told me something, I almost forgot, it happens that Mr. Pei can help with this matter."

Pei Huang looked at Li Zheng, feeling a little worried.

"What's the matter, Lord Li?"

“Stabilize the southwest.”

Li Zheng looked at him and said with a smile: "Jiannan Road is not small, there are many prefectures and counties. It is impossible to not use any of these local officials. Most of them must be retained. Mr. Pei has been the prime minister in Xichuan for several years. Who can be used here and who can't be used."

"I still need Mr. Pei to give me some advice."

No matter where it is, as long as there is drastic unrest among officials, problems will arise. Therefore, the new dynasty's takeover of Jiannan Road must also be a gradual process.

The first step, naturally, was to let the grass-roots officials of Jiannan Road change their flags on the city walls, switch to the new dynasty, and then continue to use them to manage the area.

Then, after one or two years, or two or three years, we will slowly replace them and completely control the southwest.

Pei Huang breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Li Zheng and whispered, "Mr. Li, if I can help, I will definitely help. My family members..."

"How much power does the entire Pei family have in the southwest, and how many people do they have?"

Li Zheng looked at him and shook his head: "I don't know."

"But as long as Mr. Pei tries his best to cooperate with me, I can guarantee that Mr. Pei's family will be safe and sound in the future..."

"We may even be able to work together."

Pei Huang lowered his head and smiled bitterly.

"Pei only hopes to return to his hometown with his family and live out the rest of his life in peace."

Li Zheng patted his shoulder and said with a smile.

"Cooperate well, this day will definitely come, my brother."

"He's a very good man."

(End of this chapter)