Thief Emperor

Chapter 913 The Emperor Is Not Omniscient
No matter what happens in the future, at least at this moment, Li Zhen is truly convinced.

There is no way to accept it, the general trend of the world is here. Now Li Tang has at least obtained eight out of ten of the world. If everything goes well in Guanzhong, it will only take one or two years. If not, it will only take three to five years.

The Hedong Li family's ambitions are far less than those of the Fanyang Xiao family. In the past ten years, especially after the departure of General Li Tong, the Hedong Li family did have some conflicts with Li Yun over the years, but fundamentally, they were all for self-preservation.

Over the years, the ultimate goal of the Hedong Li family has been to continue to maintain the old vassal state and continue to rule one side.

Of course, if the situation evolves to the point where no one can do anything to anyone else and the world is divided into many parts, the Hedong Li family might also carve out a territory and establish themselves as a kingdom.

But now, the cold reality is here. Not only the Hedong Li family, but also the Qingzhou Zhou family, must honestly hand over their lives and property to Li Yun with both hands.

They can only gamble that Li Yun will not destroy the bridge after crossing it.

Even if Mr. Li really turns against them in the future, these people will actually have no way to deal with it and can only blame themselves for making a wrong bet.

This means that situations are stronger than people.

These former local princes could only lower their status and allow themselves to be slaughtered by Li at this time.

Of course, these local emperors who once ruled a region and did whatever they wanted would be bound by various rules and regulations after entering the new dynasty and would have to live cautiously. A large number of them would not be able to stand these constraints and would rebel once again.

And, often within a short time after surrender.

Because if the time is too long, the original army may not listen to them.

Li Yun was very clear about this situation. Not only was he not afraid, he even looked forward to it. He was expecting these old vassal states that had already surrendered to him to suddenly rebel at some point in the future.

That way, he could suppress them and carry out a well-deserved purge. Otherwise...

Li Yun looked at Li Zhen who was kneeling respectfully in front of him and shook his head slightly.

Otherwise, it would be a bit embarrassing to take action.

He helped Li Zhen up and said with a smile: "General Li, the past is all in the past. Now that the dynasty has changed and the legal system has been passed down, the general will submit to the new dynasty and can be regarded as a loyal person."

"When a country is founded, the most important thing is loyalty."

He looked at Li Zhen and said with a smile: "There are many vacancies in my court. If General Li doesn't mind, you can stay in Luoyang and serve as an official. I have already thought of a position for you."

Li Zhen was a little surprised and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that my ability is limited..."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and smiled, "At this time, most people in the court are learning how to be an official while serving as an official. Everyone is like this. I plan to let General Li take the position of the Minister of War. If General Li agrees to stay in the Ministry of War for half a month or a month, I will let the Secretariat draft a document to grant you the official position."

"If General Li is unwilling to serve in the court, I will not force him. General Li led the Hedong Army to abandon the dark and join the light, and his contribution is very great. I will remember it in my heart."

"I have also read the memorial sent by General Su, and will proceed in accordance with what General Su and General Li discussed."

He smiled at Li Zhen and said, "If you return to Hedong Road, I will grant you the hereditary title of Marquis of Jinyang."

"When the Guanzhong matter is completed, if the Hedong Army has made meritorious service, I will grant you the title of Duke."

Li Zhen thought about it seriously and said, "Your Majesty, I... I just came to the Holy Dynasty and I am worried that I am not talented enough and will ruin your Majesty's business. I want to... I want to go to the Ministry of War first and wait a few days before reporting back to your Majesty."

"it is good."

Li Yun was very happy and said calmly: "Just do as General Li said. General Li will stay in Luoyang first. In a few days, I will have someone take you to the Ministry of War."

"Speaking of which, my current Minister of War is also a former general. If General Li meets him, they might have a lot to talk about."

Li Zhen bowed his head respectfully: "Yes, your Majesty..."

He knelt on the ground and bowed his head.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

…………

After Li Zhen left, Li Yun returned to his position to do his job.

His current job has changed a lot from his previous one. When he was the King of Wu, although major events in Jiangdong would still be sent to his desk, at that time, he only dealt with these major matters.

But now that he is the emperor, he has to deal with some etiquette matters and do some things that an emperor must do.

For example, sacrifices, meeting with officials, and other miscellaneous matters.

Although it is troublesome, you have to do it. As the saying goes,

Only names and implements, don’t fake people.

Li Yun was busy until the evening, and he did not leave Ganlu Palace. He just had a simple meal in the palace and then looked at the list of beauties sent up from below.

Among them, Emperor Wu's daughter Wu Qingying was confirmed to enter the palace to serve the Holy Emperor. The rest were sent to the palace by various noble families and places. Li Yun just took a look at them and put them aside.

These would eventually be sent to Empress Xue for her to deal with. Except for one or two women that Li Yun liked, all the others had to pass through Empress Xue. In Li Yun's reign, Empress Xue's position was destined to be unshakable. After all, she was not only the first wife in law, but was also taken back by Li Yun to be his wife. Apart from anything else, the relationship between the two of them destined her position to be as stable as Mount Tai.

When it got dark, Li Yun stood up and stretched. He was about to go out for a walk. When he reached the door, a palace servant approached him, bowed his head and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, the Duke of England requests to see you."

When this name was mentioned, Li Yun was stunned at first, then he realized that it was Liu Bo.

The title of Duke of Yingzhou was once conferred by the old Zhou Dynasty. After General Su Jingsu died in battle, the court of the old Zhou Dynasty posthumously conferred him the title of Duke of Yingzhou. In the last reward, Li Yun gave this title to Liu Bo.

He glanced at the palace attendant standing in front of him and ordered, "Next time the Duke of England comes, take him directly to the side hall to wait for an audience. There is no need to inform him."

"Bring him in immediately."

"Yes."

The palace maid lowered her head quickly and went down in a hurry.

A moment later, Liu Bo arrived at Ganlu Palace. After seeing Li Yun, he bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Li Yun glanced at him and said with a smile: "Why don't you come during the day, but come to my place at night?"

"I know your majesty has been very busy recently, and I didn't have anything important to do, so I didn't come here during the day."

Li Yun rolled his eyes at him and said dumbly, "Find a place to sit."

"Yes."

After Liu Bo sat down, he looked up at Li Yun, then looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, he smiled and said, "How have you felt in the past few months, second brother?"

Liu Bo had a good sense of how to address him. Li Yun felt very friendly when he called him "Second Brother". He shook his head and said helplessly, "There are too many things to do."

"Sometimes I think it would be more fun to lead the troops to war."

Liu Bo smiled and said, "That won't work. Second brother needs to stay in the capital for at least three to five years before the new dynasty can be completely stabilized."

He looked up at Li Yun and continued, "I came here today to report two things."

"First of all, I have re-organized the past few months. Nothing major will happen in the short term, so I am going to leave Luoyang again and go outside the Great Wall to take a look."

Li Yun looked at him, frowned and said, "You still want to go out?"

Liu Bo smiled bitterly and said, "If I don't go out, all the hard work of the past two years will go to waste. Besides, my son outside the Great Wall will probably have a hard time surviving."

"No matter if I succeed or fail, I will go and take a look. This time, I want to go out with your Majesty's imperial edict. When I meet the people of the Khitan tribe, my words will carry more weight."

Li Yun thought about it and nodded, "Okay, that's no problem. I'll have someone write it to you later."

He looked at Liu Bo and said seriously, "No matter what, it is important to save your life. If you are caught by Yelu Yi by accident, don't try to hold on. Just reveal your identity. He probably won't kill you."

"When the time comes, I'll send someone to get it back for you."

Liu Bo smiled and said, "Okay, then I will raise my hands in surrender and will never show off my strength."

Li Yun poured him a glass of water, handed it to him personally, and asked, "What's the second thing?"

Liu Bo took the tea with both hands, then looked up at Li Yun and said silently: "The second thing is about the anti-theft team."

Liu Bo took a deep breath and said, "To date, there are still ninety-three former members of the Anti-Theft Team who are still working in the court."

"Most of these people have already changed."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and continued, "Most of the remaining people were honest before, but after the second brother took the throne..."

"Some of them became restless and did a lot of excessive things."

Li Yun was stunned when he heard this.

"How come I don't know anything about what you said?"

Liu Bo stood up, drank a sip of tea, looked at Li Yun, and said with a wry smile: "My dear second brother, those people have followed you through thick and thin. Everyone knows that they are your most direct descendants."

"Even the Inspection Department doesn't want to get into trouble with this kind of thing."

"except me."

Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and sighed.

"Who will tell you?"

(End of this chapter)