Thief Emperor

Chapter 939: Being short-handed
After hastily writing a military report and sending it to Luoyang, Chen Dacai looked up at the "scholars" from the capital in front of him.

What is certain is that these people must have had some family background in the old Zhou Dynasty, and that they were able to survive after several purges by Wei Quanzhong. And after Wei Quanzhong left the capital, they were able to control the city gates of the capital.

This means that these people must be sitting on the fence.

When Wei Quanzhong was around, they must have been very flattering to him.

Looking at these people, Chen Da felt angry.

Originally, even if the Shuofang Army had left the Guanzhong capital, he would have led his troops straight into the city and occupied the ancient capital, which would still be a contribution of some magnitude. But now, because of these fence-sitters, his contribution and the contributions of his subordinates might have to be discounted.

If the general was more ruthless, he might have killed these troublesome guys at this time, pretended that he had never seen them, and then put the blame on the Shuofang army.

But Chen Da is an honest man after all.

Moreover, these scholars were also very smart. They reported the name of Prime Minister Du in advance, which means that Prime Minister Du already knew about this matter.

Du Qian knew that Chen Da would not be able to do anything dirty again. Otherwise, even if he could cover it up on the surface, Mr. Du might pretend that he didn't know, but after all, they would still be enemies in secret.

Who would have known that Du Qian's position in the entire Jiangdong Group was second only to Li Yun, and this ranking was not only in the civil official sequence, but also in the military general sequence.

Yao Zhong and Zhuo Guangrui can be said to be prime ministers, but if we exaggerate a little, Du Qian can be called "Prime Minister".

The so-called prime minister is the one who oversees all officials.

No one wants to offend such a person.

Moreover, when Du Qian first arrived in Jiangdong, Chen Da was nearby. He was also very respectful to Prime Minister Du. Even for Prime Minister Du's face, he had to tolerate these people.

Thinking of this, Chen Da took a deep breath, looked at these people, and said slowly: "What is the situation in Guanzhong Capital now?"

These people looked at each other, and finally a middle-aged man in green stepped forward and sighed: "General, when the Wei thief occupied Guanzhong, we, who have lived in Guanzhong for generations, had no choice but to succumb to the tyranny of Wei thief and pretend to be submissive."

"Secretly, we have been contacting Shiyilang with the intention of joining the Holy Dynasty."

"Now, Wei the Thief has finally..."

"All right."

Chen Da stood up and looked at the middle-aged man in front of him. He frowned and shouted, "Prime Minister Du is now at the center of government, the Prime Minister of the government, and you still keep calling him Shiyilang! How dare you!"

"This is so disrespectful to Prime Minister Du, you thought it was the old Zhou Dynasty, didn't you?"

Chen Da finally caught the man's weakness, scolded him severely, and then shouted: "Come here, take him down and beat him with ten military sticks!"

Seeing this, someone nearby hurried forward, bowed his head and saluted, saying: "General Chen, General Chen, this Mr. Xun is indeed an old acquaintance of Mr. Du... When we were in the capital in our early years, we were very good friends..."

"You shut up too!"

Chen Da glared at the man angrily and shouted, "The capital city today is in the Central Plains, in Luoyang. Where is the capital city you are talking about?"

"Calling him like this, are you missing the old dynasty?"

He glanced at the man and snorted, "Take him down too and beat him with ten sticks!"

The soldiers on the side were as ferocious as wolves and tigers and also took the man away.

For a moment, no one in the general's tent dared to speak, and everyone was trembling with fear.

After venting his anger, Chen Da sat in the main seat, lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, and his mood finally became better.

He narrowed his eyes, then raised his head to look at the people in front of him and said calmly, "Listen carefully, this general does not want to know who you are or what you have been doing in the past few years. Your Majesty and Prime Minister Du will ask about these matters. This general only wants to know what the current situation is in the capital of Guanzhong."

"My Royal Master, when can we enter the capital of Guanzhong?"

At this time, there were still about ten people in the general's tent. After a while, a middle-aged man in his thirties stepped forward and bowed his head to Chen Da and said, "Lord Chen, there are no more Shuofang troops in Guanzhong Capital. The royal army can enter at any time... enter Guanzhong Capital."

"Finally, someone who can speak human language."

Chen Da glanced at the man and said with a sigh, "What's your name? I'm in Guanzhong, so I have good ears and eyes. I even know that I've been conferred a title of nobility."

The middle-aged man bowed quickly and said, "My surname is Yang Tong, and I am from Jing... Guanzhong. I have heard about the general's military conquest of Jiannan and his title of nobility and general since a long time ago. The general's name has long been known to everyone."

Chen Da looked at him and asked, "Then what's my name?"

"The Marquis's surname is Chen, and his courtesy name is Bozhong."

The man answered calmly.

Chen Da looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled and said, "Okay, you are really smart."

This man was trapped in the capital of Guanzhong and was unlikely to be well-informed, but he knew exactly who he was and even knew his title. This meant that he not only sent a letter to Prime Minister Du, but the Prime Minister Du in Luoyang City also most likely wrote back to him.

Thinking of this, Chen Da smiled at him.

"You will lead the royal division into the capital of Guanzhong."

Yang Tong quickly bowed his head, replied with a "yes", and said respectfully: "I am willing to lead the way for the general!"

…………

Ten days later, in Luoyang City, the emperor was in the palace, watching several great scholars teaching the princes to read.

Now, among Li Yun's three sons, the youngest son Li Cang is still too young and has not yet started school, while the eldest son Li Yuan and the second son Li Zheng are already old enough to go to school.

Crown Prince Li Yuan was educated by his grandfather Xue Song since he was a child, and he was actually quite good at studying. However, the second son, Li Zheng, liked to wield swords and guns since he was a child. Now he is six or seven years old, but he has not made any progress in his studies. He likes to chase and beat palace maids with wooden swords and guns.

Now, he was studying in the same room with the prince, but he could not sit still no matter what. Only when he occasionally saw his father supervising outside would he calm down and sit in his seat obediently.

Li Yun looked at his two sons, then turned his head to look at the old man standing next to him, shook his head slightly and said, "There's really nothing we can do."

At this time, the person standing next to Li Yun was none other than Xue Song, the Dali Temple Minister of the imperial court. Xue Song looked at Li Yun, then at the two princes in the palace, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the second prince is very similar to you. He may also be a brave general in the future."

Li Yun looked at the second man in the hall, shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know if it's true or if someone told him something."

Xue Song was startled, then shook his head and said, "Your Highness, you shouldn't be of this nature."

"She won't."

Li Yun withdrew his gaze from his two sons, then turned back to look at Xue Song, shook his head and smiled, "It's just that the second son has been strong since he was young, so naturally someone will lead him to my path."

"No matter if it looks like me or not."

Li Yun touched his chin and said, "Let's see if he is good enough for war in the future."

Xue Song also retracted his gaze and said with a smile: "The Crown Prince's position is stable. If the Second Prince is really a warrior, it may not be a bad thing."

"Your Majesty, please think positively."

"I didn't think badly of it."

Li Yun took Xue Song and sat down under a pavilion. Then he looked at Master Xue and said with a smile, "I invited my father-in-law to the palace today not to discuss these two children."

"I've received a letter from Guanzhong. A few days ago, Chen Da's troops entered the capital of the old Zhou Kingdom and took control of the entire city. So, I plan to go to Guanzhong in person in a few days."

"Take your father-in-law with you as well."

Master Xue was somewhat stunned. He looked around and whispered, "Erlang, I have only been appointed as the Dali Temple Chief for a short time. The Dali Temple has not even been built yet. How can I leave Luoyang at this time?"

"We can put the matter of Dali Temple aside for now."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "Anyway, there aren't many things that need to go through the Dali Temple right now. The Ministry of Justice is already enough to handle most things. For us, the affairs of Guanzhong are more important."

"My father-in-law already knows about the Sansi Yamen in Jiangdong Road. I plan to establish the Sansi Yamen in Guanzhong Road as well. You can keep your position as the Dali Temple Minister and replace me as the Governor of Guanzhong Road first."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Maybe, he will also serve as the Censor."

"After the affairs in Guanzhong are finished, I will come back to Luoyang. What do you think?"

Master Xue was startled, then blinked his eyes and said with a wry smile: "I haven't even sat on the position of the Nine Ministers yet, why am I going to Guanzhong? Is Erlang demoting me?"

"It's not a demotion. It's Du Shouyi who recommended my father-in-law to be the chief judge of Guanzhong Road."

Emperor Li said slowly: "The court is short of people now. After conquering Guanzhong Road, most of the officials in Guanzhong Road are still from Guanzhong. Du Shouyi also wanted to avoid suspicion, so he let his father-in-law be the chief judge."

"Otherwise, there would be... too many people from Guanzhong in Guanzhong Road."

Xue Song looked up at Li Yun and coughed, "Erlang, I'm really getting old."

Li Yun looked at him and smiled, "My father-in-law has inherited a hereditary dukedom from me. There are not many families in the entire court who have such a dukedom."

Mr. Xue was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"It's true that you are too soft-hearted to accept someone's help."

"Forget it, let's do something while we can."

He looked up at Li Yun and sighed.

"I'll go with Jiro."

Emperor Li looked at him and smiled.

"This time, my mother-in-law may not go with me. We will wait until we reach the capital city in Guanzhong."

Having said that, Emperor Li squinted his eyes.

"I'll have someone arrange a few more maids for my father-in-law."

He smiled and said, "Now, there are many noble ladies in the capital whose families have fallen on hard times. Maybe we can find a few daughters of the old Zhou royal family to serve my father-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xue first stared at Li Yun with wide eyes, then turned his face away.

"Nonsense, nonsense..."

"How could I, this old man, be the kind of person who covets such things!"

(End of this chapter)