Thief Emperor

Chapter 944 Murderous

Late at night, Li Hao finally woke up.

He first drank a sip of water. After knowing that Su Sheng had arrived in Guanzhong in person, Li Yu became much more sober and immediately asked someone to invite Su Sheng over.

At this time, Li Hao was no longer sleeping in the tent, but was recuperating in a manor near Xiaoguan. Soon, someone invited Su Sheng to this manor.

When General Su arrived, he crouched down and entered Li Hao's room. Seeing Li Hao, who was wrapped tightly, even General Su shook his head and sighed, saying, "Brother, you really impressed me this time."

Li Yu was much more sober at this time. He looked at Su Sheng and forced a smile on his face.

"Brother Shi, Brother Shi..."

He said it twice before finally saying a complete sentence: "In my heart, brother Shi, I have always been...always been a coward, right?"

"Can't talk about it."

Su Sheng looked at him and shook his head slightly: "It's just that there are few generals who fight so hard, whether it's Zhou Chang of the Pinglu Army, Wei Yao of the Shuofang Army, or even me."

“It’s hard to fight like this.”

He looked at Li Hao and said, "I have been in Xiaoguan for more than half a day. I have also asked some people from your Hedong Army. To be fair, in all these years, I have only seen one person who is as brave as you, Brother Li, in fighting."

"Who?"

Li Hao's face turned pale, but he still couldn't hide his curiosity. He looked at Su Sheng and asked, "Is it General Meng Qingmeng from Jiangdong?"

Su Sheng shook his head slightly and replied, "Your Majesty."

Li Hao was startled, and then stopped talking.

Su Sheng looked at him and continued, "Your Majesty, in his early years, always led the troops in battle. In a battle, he often killed dozens of enemies with his own hands."

He paused, and continued, "It's just that your majesty is so powerful, like a god on the battlefield, charging into battle for several years without any serious injuries."

At this point, Su Sheng smiled and said, "It's a pity, Brother Li, you don't have the chance to see that kind of scene."

He said with some longing: "At that time, in the entire Jiangdong army, anyone who had seen Your Majesty on the battlefield regarded Your Majesty as a god."

Li Hao frowned and said nothing.

Obviously, he didn't quite believe it.

Throughout the ages, anyone who has achieved success in his or her career will be exaggerated and deified.

In his opinion, Su Sheng's words were also true.

Seeing his expression, General Su smiled and said, "When you get better, I will take you to see His Majesty. I will ask His Majesty to fight with you, and then you will know."

He recalled what happened back then, and said leisurely, "At the beginning, Your Majesty was in my father's army. On the day he joined the army, he had a conflict with my father. The two of them started fighting that day. My father..."

At that time, General Su suffered a great loss.

Su Sheng stopped talking here. He looked at Li Hao and said with a smile, "Okay, while you're still awake, let's talk about serious matters."

After Su Sheng coughed, he said, "Now, my troops have joined forces with Chen Da's troops. The main force of the Shuofang Army has nowhere to escape."

"The Hedong Army has made great contributions in getting here, but they have also suffered heavy casualties. From now on, the Hedong Army can withdraw from the battlefield and rest on the spot. As for the subsequent arrangements, it will depend on your majesty's will."

Li Yu widened his eyes and looked at Su Sheng. He was a little excited and even wanted to sit up from the bed.

"Brother Shi, Brother Shi!"

He stared at Su Sheng and gritted his teeth, "The court said at the beginning that our Hedong Army would be treated equally with the Jiangdong Army in this battle. Now that the battle has been fought till now and we have finally surrounded them, it is time to gain credit. How can you let our Hedong Army withdraw from the battlefield, brother?"

"We, the Hedong Army, are also the imperial army and the Tang army!"

In his excitement, the wound was torn a little, and he immediately grimaced in pain.

Su Sheng looked at him, shook his head slightly and said, "In this battle, the Hedong Army has made the greatest contribution. The credit should go to you. I will not take away any of it and will report it to Your Majesty. You can rest assured about this."

"Since the establishment of the Jiangdong Army, the most important thing we have emphasized is clear rewards and punishments. This is the foundation of our army."

Li Yu gasped for breath and finally recovered. His forehead was already covered with sweat. "Brother Shi, this won't do."

"On the battlefield, every head counts."

He said word by word: "Even if I recover from this injury, it will cost me at least ten years of my life."

He pulled Su Sheng's sleeve and said, "Xiaoguan, the remaining Hedong troops in Xiaoguan will be handed over to you, brother. Take them with you and have some soup."

Su Sheng looked at him, shook his head and sighed: "Is it that serious?"

"For Brother Shi, that's not the case."

Li Hao forced a smile: "We were originally outsiders, and now that we have surrendered, of course we must do our best to show our loyalty and sincerity." "Okay."

Su Sheng thought about it, nodded and agreed, and said: "If you are willing to hand over the army to me, I will lead them to continue to encircle the Shuofang Army."

He looked at Li Hao and said, "After this battle, I think you will be able to walk. Then, I will take you to Chang'an City to see His Majesty."

Li Yu nodded first, then asked, "Brother Shi, how long do you think it will take to defeat the Shuofang Army?"

"do not know."

Su Sheng said slowly: "The Wei family father and son have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Now that the encirclement has been completed, there is no need to rush for the rest."

"Let's take it step by step."

When he said this, Su Sheng thought of the envoy from the Shuofang Army who came to his army and what he said.

He sneered in his heart.

The Wei father and son have obviously lost their minds, which is why they use such crude means to sow discord.

What bullshit is that about being too successful and endangering the master.

How could they know that the person who made the greatest contribution to the entire Jiangdong, or the current Li Tang Dynasty, is not someone else.

It was the Emperor Li Tang himself!

Moreover, the army not only has nine departments, but also an inspection department. Together with the old men from the original anti-theft team, the founding emperor's control over the army has reached an unprecedented level.

This level of control was something Wei Quanzhong could never imagine.

Thinking of this, he looked at Li Hao again, and the expression on his face softened a little.

"Brother, you finally didn't take the wrong path this time."

Su Sheng looked at Li Hao and said seriously, "After this battle."

"Brother, you are one of us now."

………………

Lingnan Road, Hezhou.

Chen Xuan, the former commander of the Jiangdong Army who was ordered to station troops in Lingnan, bowed his head and saluted respectfully to the young man in front of him: "Your Excellency, the rebellion in several counties in Lingnan Road was completely suppressed by our army three days before you arrived."

He paused for a moment and continued, "The leader of the rebellion has been executed and killed by our army on the battlefield. The rest of the rebellion plotters have also been captured by our army."

This young man was none other than Meng Hai, the Chief of Jingzhao Division of the Nine Departments, who came in person with Li Yun's imperial edict to investigate the Lingnan treason case.

Meng Hai's identity as a Ninth Official was already quite intimidating, and when he personally went to the local area, he already had a bit of the flavor of an imperial envoy.

What's even more terrible is that he now holds Li Yun's imperial edict, which allows him to temporarily mobilize local garrisons.

For example, the Captain Chen in front of him is an old member of the anti-theft team. It was precisely because of his identity that Li Yun arranged him to be stationed in such a remote place, with the intention of letting him suppress the five prefectures of Lingnan.

In fact, he did a pretty good job.

This time, the rebellion in Lingnan had just started for less than ten days before he and thousands of soldiers under his command suppressed it.

The suppression was quite quick and efficient.

After all, the soldiers he led were from the Jiangdong Army, which could be said to be elite, while the "rebels" he faced were just newcomers who had just planted their flags. It was very easy to control these rebels.

Meng Hai looked at Captain Chen, flipped through the documents in his hand, and asked, "Besides the bandit leader, how many rebels have you captured?"

Captain Chen bowed his head and said, "There are more than 200 people in total. They have all been imprisoned. The envoy can bring them in for trial at any time."

Meng Hai looked at him and asked, "I heard that the rebellion in Lingnan Road quickly spread to several counties and even one or two states."

"With such a big fanfare, they only arrested two hundred people in the end?"

Captain Chen scratched his head and said, "Sir, we have checked and it is indeed only these rebels."

Meng Hai looked at him, put his hands behind his back and thought for a while, then stroked his chin and said, "Captain Chen, please don't worry about this matter. We, the Ninth Division, will officially take over."

He took out the imperial edict given to him by Li Yun and spoke slowly.

"From today on, Commandant Chen's troops will be temporarily under my command."

Meng Hai's voice was calm, yet carried a hint of murderous intent.

"Until the Lingnan Rebellion was completely solved."

(End of this chapter)