Thief Emperor

Chapter 896 The Night Before
On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, there was only one day left before the abdication ceremony and the enthronement ceremony.

On that day, Li Yun did not go anywhere and did not meet any outsiders. He just called Li Zheng, Meng Qing and Su Sheng to his home and had a drink together.

After finishing the drink, Li Yun called them to the study as usual. After they sat down, they all drank some tea to sober up.

Li Yun looked at Su Sheng and said with a smile: "Brother is from the Central Plains, what title do you want?"

"Duke Yu, what do you think, brother?"

Su Sheng looked up at Li Yun and was about to refuse when he heard him continue, "Brother is at least a Duke, he can't run away."

Su Sheng then nodded in agreement, and said, "My ancestral home is in Weizhou, so I'll ask you for the character Wei."

"Well."

Li Yun smiled and said, "That brother is the Duke of Weiguo."

"In the future, my brother will also be worthy of being enshrined in the Li family's imperial temple."

Su Sheng knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Thank you, my Lord!"

Li Yun stood up and helped him up. Just as he was about to continue speaking, Su Sheng hesitated and said, "Your Highness, Minister Zhao... Minister Zhao."

"I have already proposed his title."

Li Yun said slowly: "He is from Yuezhou, so he should be made Duke of Yue."

Su Sheng sighed and whispered: "Master, you know I am not..."

He wanted to ask why Zhao Cheng was not invited to today's meeting.

"The Ministry of War has a lot of things to do, especially during this period, he is very busy."

Li Yun looked calm: "When there is a need to ask him, I will send someone to ask him."

Su Sheng sighed and said nothing more.

He also knew that the war in the southwest had made Li Yun somewhat angry, and he had not yet calmed down, and Zhao Cheng had also been somewhat neglected because of this.

Without waiting for Su Sheng to answer, Li Yun continued, "Meng Qing, what title do you want?"

Meng Qing shook his head and said, "I want to wait until I have accomplished something before asking for a title."

"Then I will give you a title of Marquis for the time being."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Your hometown, Shidai, is really not a nice place to call it. I rescued you in Qingyang County, so I will make you the Marquis of Qingyang first."

Li Zheng, who was standing by, heard this, patted Meng Qing on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Little Meng is now also a marquis."

Meng Qing half-knelt on the ground and bowed his head deeply: "Thank you very much, my Lord!"

Li Zheng looked up at Li Yun and said with a smile: "If you are in power, will you also make me a Duke? We are from Xuanzhou, so I will be... Duke of Xuanzhou?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "You can't be made a Duke."

Li Zheng was startled, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Mr. Li slowly say, "This time, I plan to confer titles on two kings."

"You are one of them."

Li Yun looked at him and smiled, "I want to make you the King of Jin."

"how do you feel?"

When Li Zheng heard this, he was stunned. He looked at Li Yun and then at Su Sheng.

Even though he was mentally prepared, he had originally thought that it would be good enough for him to be granted the title of a prince. He didn't expect... he didn't expect his second brother to be so generous.

Li Zheng let out a long breath and said, "Second brother, this... I..."

He was speechless for a long time, and looked at Su Sheng, only to see that Su Sheng looked calm and said with a smile: "It should be so."

When the new dynasty was first established, the most important priority was to elevate the status of the Li family, and the way to elevate it was naturally to issue imperial decrees.

This is something that must be done at the beginning of every dynasty, to raise the status. After one or two generations, the status of the royal family will become tall and sacred in the eyes of outsiders.

Li Zheng looked at Li Yun for a long time before asking, "Second brother, who is the other prince..."

"King Wu Yuanyou of Chu."

Li Yun looked calm: "I plan to change his title to King of Chenliu."

Two words, and it's Prince.

Li Zheng blinked his eyes, a little curious: "Then the two nephews from my second brother's family..."

There is a high probability that Li Yun's eldest son, Li Yuan, will be directly appointed as the crown prince, because the new dynasty needs to have a foreseeable future and does not allow any uncertainty.

In addition to Li Yuan, Li Yun also has two sons, Li Zheng and Li Cang. The ones Li Zheng was talking about were Li Yun's two sons.

"They're too young."

Li Yun shook his head: "Wait until you reach adulthood before you can be conferred the title, and..."

Mr. Li said seriously, "I'd like to see more about their character."

In another world, a man named Zhu had many sons, many of whom were typical beasts.

Li Yun would not allow this to happen. If he really had a beastly son, he would most likely keep him by his side and not allow him to go out and be crowned a king and build a mansion.

"Okay, let's continue."

Li Yun looked at everyone and asked, "Needless to say, Zhou Liang was also conferred the title of Duke."

"Deng Yang..."

Li Yun looked at Su Sheng, who lowered his head and said nothing. Li Yun understood what he meant and said, "Let's make them marquises as well." "Chen Da, Yu Ye, and Qian Zhong."

"They were all made marquises."

At this point, Li Yun knocked on the table and said, "There is another person, Gongsun Hao."

"Gongsun Hao will return to Luoyang in a few months. How can we confer a title on him?"

Su Sheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's make him a Duke as well. It would be appropriate to give him the title for life."

The so-called lifelong title is not passed down from generation to generation. After his death, his descendants will not inherit it.

There wasn't even a downgrade, it just disappeared.

Li Yun nodded and said, "Okay, after he's gone, let his son inherit the title of Marquis."

Li Yun went on talking one by one, mentioning more than a dozen names. Some of them could be conferred the title of marquis, while some could not. Those who could not were also rejected by them.

At the end, Li Yun stood up, stretched, and said with a smile: "The last one is Yang Xi. Yang Xi has protected me all these years and has made great contributions. I mean, I want to make him a marquis as well."

Yang Xi saved Li Yun's life, so the title of Marquis must be given to him.

Moreover, he is Li Yun's future commander of the imperial guards. Even in terms of position, he has surpassed many marquises in the army.

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "General Yang has made enough contributions and has enough qualifications. I think he is more than worthy of being named a Duke."

"Forget it, Duke."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "Let's make him a marquis first."

In the early years of every dynasty, titles were relatively valuable, and at this time, they needed to be conferred with caution.

After all, we need to leave a little room for future generations to operate. If too much is blocked at this time, this thing will be worthless.

The emperors of later generations will have fewer chips in their hands.

After going through the list, Li Yun stood up, looked at Su Sheng, and said, "Brother, the army only grants titles of marquis, not earl. If some of those who haven't been granted the title of marquis get upset, you have to go and talk to them."

"Don't let them cause trouble. Tell them that there will be more battles to come and they all still have a chance."

Su Sheng stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Yes, I obey your command."

Li Yun thought about it carefully, and after making sure that there was nothing missing, he was about to speak when he heard Su Sheng stand up, clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Master, this set of titles and the military merit titles in the army..."

“It doesn’t conflict with that.”

Li Yun had been prepared for this matter. He answered directly: "Military merit is a military merit. If someone really becomes a military marquis through military merit, I will recognize him and give him a marquisate as well."

Su Sheng bowed his head deeply and clasped his fists.

"I understand."

Li Yun stood up, patted Meng Qing on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "While Brother Su is in Luoyang, ask Brother Su for advice more often, and don't slack off."

Meng Qing immediately bowed his head and clasped his fists.

"I obey my orders!"

"All right."

Li Yun stood up, looked at everyone, and said slowly: "Let's stop here today. If there are any different opinions or ideas in the army."

"Brother, just come to me directly."

Su Sheng looked at Meng Qing and said with a smile: "Now that Xiao Meng has been conferred the title of Marquis, those who have been conferred the title of Marquis have nothing to say. As for those who have not been conferred the title of Marquis..."

"He Jun has not been granted a title of nobility, so they have nothing to say. If I have a chance to meet He Jun later, I will talk to him."

"There won't be any big problems."

"it is good."

Li Yun clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I have something to do tomorrow, so I won't keep you all here. Everyone go away."

"When I'm done with my work these few days, let's find a chance to have a drink together."

Su Sheng stood up and saluted Li Yun with a complicated look on his face: "After tomorrow, Erlang will be the emperor."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "After listening to it, I still feel comfortable with this name Erlang. From now on, don't worry about my identity in public, but in private."

"That's still what I call you, brother."

Su Sheng smiled and said okay.

Li Yun personally escorted them out of the study, and then said to Li Zheng: "See them off for me."

Li Zheng responded and sent Su Sheng and Meng Qing away. When the three of them walked to the gate of the Li family compound, Su Sheng looked back at the mansion and said with emotion: "The one who came to power is really patient. There is only one day left, and he still lives here."

Li Zheng also looked back at the house and said with a smile: "General, you don't know that in a while, my second brother and his family will move to the palace. After all, they will be busy in the palace early tomorrow morning."

Su Sheng looked at Li Zheng, then at Meng Qing, and said with a smile: "When you were in Jiangdong, did you two ever think of this day?"

Li Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "At that time, I could never have imagined what would happen today. I even dreamed that I would be caught by the imperial court, beheaded and convicted."

Meng Qing thought about it and suddenly spoke.

"I've thought about it."

He looked at Su Sheng and Li Zheng with a serious expression.

"The higher position is not like ordinary people."

(End of this chapter)