Thief Emperor

Chapter 923 The Emperor's Footsteps

When it comes to the level of Zhou Xu and Gongsun Hao, they often become accustomed to speaking only half of what they want to say when facing outsiders.

But hiding things is often because of interests involved.

At this time, there was no longer any interest involved between the two old friends, because after Gongsun Hao's achievements in Lingnan, he completely got rid of his Pinglu Army origin with Li Yun and had little relationship with the Pinglu Army.

The future direction of the Pinglu Army and the fate of its generals and soldiers have nothing to do with him and have nothing to do with him.

Precisely because there was no involvement, Gongsun Hao's words at this time were particularly sincere. He looked at Zhou Xu with a very sincere expression.

Zhou Xu was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then he looked at Gongsun Hao and said, "We have already given your Majesty everything he wants, and we will split up the Pinglu Army for him soon."

"Even I am about to move to Yangzhou. I would like to contribute, but how can I do so?"

Gongsun Hao sat opposite Zhou Xu and said, "General, the Pinglu army may not understand, so we need the general and the lieutenant general to talk to them."

"In addition, if we can assign a general to General Meng, let him lead them north. If these old brothers can make contributions in Youyan, they will at least have a place to stay and a place to eat in the future."

"General."

Gongsun Hao whispered, "The new dynasty is now unifying, and now there are only two of us. I am going to say something extremely treasonous. Your Majesty is still young. Even if it is just the Zhangwu Dynasty, it is at least thirty years."

“Thirty years is two generations.”

He continued: "As long as the rulers of later generations are competent, it will be the livelihood of more than a dozen generations."

"General, at least let the emperor see the Zhou family's sincerity."

Seeing Zhou Xu's expression change, Gongsun Hao sighed and whispered, "General, I have been in Jiangdong for many years and have no major relationship with the Pinglu Army. I say this simply because of our old friendship."

"I know."

General Zhou patted Gongsun Hao on the shoulder and sighed: "In your situation, you don't have to travel thousands of miles to Qingzhou."

As he spoke, Zhou Xu smiled and said, "Now, you are a duke, and you are much more powerful than a mere prince. In the future, the Zhou family may need your help in the court."

A title only represents honor and political significance, but it does not represent real power and sometimes it cannot represent status.

For example, Gongsun Hao, the Duke of Lai, had a much lower status in the Jiangdong Army than Meng Qing, the Marquis of Qingyang, or even Chen Da.

The actual authority is not that great.

But in comparison, King Jiangdu Zhou Xu and Zhou Chang, who may be granted the title of Duke of Yang in the future, have even less status and power in the new dynasty than Gongsun Hao, and they may really need Gongsun Hao's care.

Gongsun Hao shook his head and sighed, "General, if I were not disabled, I might be able to help you a little, but in my current condition, I am not sure if I can go to Hebei Province with you this time."

"Right now, there is a better opportunity before the general."

Zhou Xu said silently: "You mean Meng Qing."

"Ah."

Gongsun Hao whispered, "General Xiao Meng is as close to your majesty as your own brother. He is so young, yet he is already a commander. He will definitely be the leader of the entire army in the future."

"This time, the general must not only show his attitude to His Majesty, but also try his best to help General Meng wherever he can."

Gongsun Hao said solemnly: "General, the future of the Zhou family..."

"On Zhou Luo."

Hearing this, Zhou Xu, who had been expressionless, finally changed color. He looked up at Gongsun Hao and smiled bitterly: "You old man, you are such a jerk..."

"It really pokes my lungs."

Zhou Xu sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled: "I hope, I hope Li Er is a trustworthy person."

Gongsun Hao patted his chest with one hand and said, "General, I will guarantee your majesty. If the Zhou family does not end well, my Gongsun family will also sever ties with the new dynasty!"

"No, not really."

Zhou Xu looked up at Gongsun Hao and smiled: "You old man, you have already got out of the quagmire. You are now a new noble in the court and a noble of the new Tang Dynasty. There is no need for you to get involved with our Zhou family."

"In the future, if the Zhou family really disappears inexplicably."

He looked at Gongsun Hao and said softly, "Old brother, please leave some incense for me."

Gongsun Hao was silent for a while, nodded slowly, and said only one word.

"it is good."

...

The next day, Meng Qing was invited to Zhou's mansion to pay a visit to Prince Zhou.

Meng Qing, dressed in casual clothes, was very capable. Accompanied by Zhou Chang, he strode into the main hall and saluted Zhou Xu with his fists clasped: "Meng Qing greets the prince."

Zhou Xu stood up and clasped his fists in return, with a helpless smile on his face: "What prince? He's just an old man."

"General Meng, please take a seat."

Meng Qing bowed his head and thanked him. After Zhou Xu pulled him to sit down, he glanced at his son Zhou Chang.

"You sit down too."

"Yes."

After the three of them sat down, Prince Zhou took out a list from his sleeve and placed it on the table. Then he looked at Meng Qing and said, "General Meng, I don't know how you are going to deal with the Pinglu Army, but General Gongsun came to see me yesterday and told me about the current situation."

"The court should still use our Pinglu Army, otherwise they wouldn't have asked General Meng to make such a trip."

"I no longer want to ask about the arrangements for the Pinglu Army. During this time, the general can deal with the Pinglu Army together with my son and General Gongsun."

"General Meng, we still need some reliable generals."

Zhou Xu looked at the list in front of him and said silently: "Last night, I sorted out some of them overnight. These are still useful people. It would be a pity to send them back home."

At this point, he stood up, clasped his fists towards Meng Qing, bowed his head and saluted, saying: "General Meng, please keep him for your use."

Meng Qing quickly stood up, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty and your Majesty are brothers, you must not do this."

After returning the greeting, he helped Zhou Xu sit down, and then said, "I came here for this very reason. Although I have been in the army for nearly ten years, I am still too young after all, and I need some experienced generals."

"Your Majesty is willing to help me with this. I am very grateful."

"It's not really a favor to the general."

General Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "Those people have been with our family for half their lives. Now that our Zhou family is no longer doing business, we have to find a way out for them, right?"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhou Chang and said, "According to your majesty's wishes, only 10,000 Pinglu troops will remain, and then join the 10,000 royal troops brought by General Meng and station them in Qingzhou."

"For the rest, help General Meng to make proper arrangements."

Zhou Xu said slowly: "Get this done as soon as possible and give an explanation to the court."

Zhou Chang stood up, lowered his head and said, "Yes, father."

Zhou Xu looked at Meng Qing, then at Zhou Chang, and sighed, "I will stay in Qingzhou for another month. If there are any soldiers who are confused, let them come to see me during this month."

"A month later, I went to Yangzhou to be a vassal."

His sigh was filled with homesickness.

Although the Zhou family had the best outcome among the military governors in the late Wu Dynasty, he was still very sad to leave Qingzhou, where he had lived for almost his entire life, at this age.

Meng Qing clasped his fists and saluted: "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty!"

Zhou Chang glanced at his old father, and after a moment of silence, he asked Meng Qing, "General Meng, is my son in your army?"

Meng Qing shook his head slightly: "Before leaving Beijing, I met Master Ling. He wanted to join our army, but His Majesty did not approve it. Now Master Ling should still be serving in the Yulin Army."

Zhou Chang nodded, said he understood, then clasped his fists towards Meng Qing and said, "After welcoming the general at noon today, in the afternoon..."

"I will take the general to the Pinglu Army to take a look at the situation first."

The reorganization and processing of tens of thousands of people would take at least two or three months. This was something that could not be rushed. Meng Qing could understand this and immediately saluted after hearing this: "Thank you, General."

"We serve in the same dynasty."

Zhou Chang forced a smile on his face.

"It should."

…………

In July, in Ganlu Hall of the Luoyang Imperial Palace, Li Yun, Du Qian, and Zhao Cheng were looking at the news from Hebei Province.

At this time, the Hedong Army had already obediently followed Su Sheng's orders and marched north to station troops at Xiaoguan. They did not have any additional conditions. The only condition might be that the court provided them with food and fodder for combat.

There is naturally no problem with this. After all, the Hedong Army is basically considered as Mr. Li's employees now, so it is only right that they provide food and drink.

At this time, Su Sheng was already gathering troops and preparing for war against Guanzhong.

Du Qian and the Minister of War Zhao Cheng, after reading the news from Hedong Road, Du Qian did not speak, but just looked at Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng thought for a long time before finally speaking: "Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, I feel that the time is ripe to attack Guanzhong."

"At least it's mature militarily."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian. Du Qian was waiting for this sentence. He quickly whispered, "Your Majesty, the autumn harvest is still two or three months away. After the autumn harvest, the military pay may not be sufficient, but the military rations will be supplied."

"As long as Hebei Province remains unchanged, there will be absolutely no problem on the Guanzhong battlefield."

Emperor Li nodded and knocked on the table with his hand.

"Well, the Ministry of War will meet with the Ministry of Revenue."

He looked outside the hall, his voice calm.

"It's time to start preparing."

(End of this chapter)