Thief Emperor

Chapter 882 The king meets the emperor

Five days later, Zhao Cheng, with part of his troops, escorted the Wu Zhou royal family and a group of Wu Zhou captives, and set out from Chengdu back to Luoyang.

Li Zheng accompanied him all the way for more than twenty miles before returning to Chengdu City to deal with the follow-up matters of the entire Jiannan Road.

Xichuan was very busy at this time.

Not only were the states and counties not recovered, but personnel arrangements and a myriad of other issues were also not completely resolved.

If there had been no special circumstances in Xichuan, and Zhao Cheng had taken Chengdu and conquered the entire Jiannan Road, then the entire Jiannan Road would have been marked by Zhao Cheng himself.

The influence that Zhao Cheng brings to Xichuan will last for decades or even hundreds of years.

Even Li Yun would not interfere too much with this kind of influence, because this was originally part of the "harvest" after taking over Jiannan Road, and Li Yun allowed his subordinates to obtain this kind of harvest.

Just like Hebei Road.

After becoming the governor of Hebei Province, he would be more or less influenced by Su Sheng. After all, all aspects of post-war work were presided over by Su Sheng.

Some people were also arranged by him.

At this time, even if he wanted to appoint a general under his command to be the Sima of a certain state, as long as he reported to Li Yun, Li Yun would definitely agree.

Won't even hesitate.

But now, on the one hand, capturing the emperor was a huge achievement, and Zhao Cheng needed to personally escort the emperor to Luoyang.

Secondly, he did make some mistakes in Xichuan, so he lost the opportunity to leave his mark on Xichuan.

Now, Li Zheng and Chen Da do these things on his behalf.

In fact, the subsequent work was taken over by Li Yun’s direct subordinates, which could be regarded as a punishment for Zhao Cheng.

After Zhao Cheng left, Li Zheng first went to take a look at the imperial mausoleum. After being stunned for a long time, he returned to Chengdu and continued his work.

Over the course of several days, he discussed matters with Chen Da, Yu Ye, He Jun and others many times, and then asked them to dispatch troops and prepare to take over the entire Jiannan Road.

At the same time, documents were sent to Luoyang through various channels and delivered to Mr. Li.

…………

The days passed by.

Soon, it was the end of the eighth year of Zhaoding and the coldest time of winter had arrived.

In Luoyang City, various tasks are being carried out in full swing, including the customization of the emperor's ceremonial robes and various etiquette issues.

The original small court in Jiangdong actually did not have enough staff, especially the ceremonial officials, who were not very professional. Later, officials from the Ministry of Rites even visited King Wu Yuanyou of Chu to ask about some issues regarding the ritual system.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu also had a good temper and cooperated very actively with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. He answered every question and told them everything he knew.

While the entire court was busy, Su Sheng, who had been in charge of Hebei Province for nearly a year, rushed to Luoyang, exhausted.

After entering Luoyang, he had just arrived home and had not rested for an hour when he was invited to Li Yun's mansion by the palace servants there.

After he arrived, he waited in a side hall for a while before being brought to the door of Li Yun's study. The palace servant knocked on the door and said with his head down, "Your Majesty, General Su is here."

Not long after, the door opened. Li Yun, who was dressed in casual clothes, opened the door himself, looked at Su Sheng outside the door, then stepped forward, grabbed Su Sheng's sleeve, and said with a smile: "Brother is back, please come in, please come in."

Before Su Sheng had time to salute, he was pulled in by Li Yun. As soon as he entered the study, he felt a warm feeling coming towards him.

Looking around, I saw that the stove had been lit in the room and it was as warm as spring.

Li Yun noticed Su Sheng's gaze and said helplessly, "There are too many words to write every day. When the weather gets cold, my fingers become stiff from the cold. There is nothing I can do."

After that, he pulled Su Sheng to sit down and shook his head, saying, "Originally, I was waiting for my brother to come over and talk, but someone from the Ninth Division came over to report, which delayed us for a while."

Su Sheng smiled and said, "The superior is busy, it's okay for me to wait for a while."

After the two sat down, Li Yun poured him some tea and asked seriously, "What's the situation in Hebei Province now?"

Su Sheng took the tea with both hands and said, "Generally speaking, there are no more problems. In the past year, officials sent by the higher authorities have gradually taken over the administration of various prefectures and counties in Hebei Province. At most, Hebei Province will return to normal in two to three years."

Li Yun nodded silently and asked again: "Where are the Khitans?"

Su Sheng was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "It's not easy."

"After we controlled the Zhang River and Yizhou, I sent people across the Zhang River several times to the border of Youzhou."

"But they were soon discovered by the Khitans. After suffering a loss last time, the Khitans stopped advancing and only wanted to defend Youyan."

"It will take more than one or two years to get Youyan back."

He looked at Li Yun and said seriously, "I think it will take a long time for the stalemate to last."

Li Yun touched his chin, thoughtfully.

He was determined to take back Youyan, but the Khitans were also a group that was rising rapidly.

If you rush for success and rush too fast, I'm afraid there won't be any good consequences.

Thinking of this, Li Yun remembered Liu Bo who was outside the Great Wall.

It has been more than a year and almost two years since Liu Bo went outside the Great Wall. The news he brought back only said that he had contacted the leaders of various Khitan tribes.

But even Li Yun is not clear about the exact extent of the contact.

Now Youyan can only hope that Liu Bo will bring back some good news after his return. Thinking of this, Li Yun looked at Su Sheng again and asked, "Brother, Hedong Road..."

"What do you think?"

"Hedong Road is simple."

Su Sheng had obviously already made up his mind. He said without hesitation: "South of Youyan, only about 50,000 people are needed to completely hold back the Khitans. If we are bolder, even 20,000 or 30,000 people will be enough."

He looked at Li Yun and said seriously, "Just wait for another year or two, when the money and grain in your hands are more abundant, I can immediately march from Hengzhou and take Taiyuan Prefecture directly."

Li Yun touched his chin, thought for a while, and asked, "How long will it take to take over Hedong?"

"A year or so."

After Su Sheng finished saying this, he felt something was wrong, so he coughed and added, "Two years at most."

Li Yun said "hmm" and asked, "What about Guanzhong?"

Su Sheng took a deep breath and whispered, "Guanzhong, I'm afraid we'll have to grind a little."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and said slowly: "I know what's going on."

"Brother, it's rare for you to come back. Take a rest for a month or two. We can talk in detail after the New Year's Day ceremony."

Su Sheng stood up, clasped his fists, and answered yes.

Li Yun also stood up, looked at him, and said with a smile: "During this period, Luoyang Prefecture was counting the ownerless houses in Luoyang, and also confiscated some houses of the old Zhou dignitaries. One of them was the house of the old Zhou prince. I asked the people of Luoyang Prefecture to seize it and hand it over to the Ministry of Works for renovation."

“It will be ready next year.”

He said seriously: "When the time comes, this house will be where my brother and his family live in Luoyang."

"Brother, if you have time these days, you can go and take a look and give some suggestions to the people in the Ministry of Industry."

Su Sheng was startled, then he felt happy again. He clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much."

"It should, it should."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Brother, you have made outstanding contributions over the years."

…………

A few days later, it started snowing in Luoyang City in the twelfth lunar month. The snow was heavy, and a layer of white frost covered the ground in half a day.

Amidst the fluttering snowflakes, a middle-aged man with a bloated figure, accompanied by several palace servants, came to the warm room in Li Yun's mansion.

At this time, Li Yun had been in the warm room, waiting for him for a while.

After seeing Li Yun, the little fat man immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Li Yun shook his head, asked him to sit down, and said with a smile: "Brother Chu Wang, why are you so distant?"

Wu Yuanyou smiled and said, "Your Majesty is about to take the throne. If I were more sensible, I should address you as Your Majesty."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter what you call it. There's not much difference."

Wu Yuanyou shook his head and said, "The difference is huge. You will know when the king takes the throne."

"Even though Your Majesty is now the ruler of the world, it would feel very different if you were to change your status."

Li Yun did not continue the conversation, but asked, "Did Brother Chu get used to living in Luoyang during this period?"

"Habit, habit."

He smiled and said, "I am originally from the west. I live comfortably in Luoyang. Besides, there are no assassins chasing me now. I am in Luoyang..."

"It's more comfortable than Jinling."

Li Yun nodded and said, "As long as Brother Chu is satisfied."

"There is something I would like to trouble Brother Chu."

Wu Yuanyou was silent for a while, then he sighed and his tone became a little bitter: "My brother is coming soon, isn't he?"

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded and said slowly: "He is the emperor. It seems inappropriate for me not to go to greet him, and it is even more inappropriate to go to greet him and leave."

"I can only trouble Brother Chu to go and welcome him for me."

If he goes to welcome him, it means that Li Yun is a minister of Zhou.

If you don't go to greet them, people will still talk about you.

Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu let out a long sigh. He looked at Li Yun and asked, "When?"

"Probably in two or three days."

Wu Yuanyou raised his head and drank a sip of tea, just like drinking wine, and drank it all in one gulp. Then he looked at Li Yun, let out a long breath, and said only one word.

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)