Thief Emperor

Chapter 950: Swords Reach Liaodong
Starting from the third year of Zhangwu, Emperor Li began to change the military system and no longer used the old Zhou military system.

In addition to the defense envoys and soldiers in each route, the imperial court also stationed troops in some important places and established generals.

The number of people ranges from 5,000 to 20,000.

These generals only had the power to train troops and garrison local areas, and could not mobilize soldiers privately. Moreover, they only had military power but not political power and needed financial support from the court. Therefore, it was impossible for them to develop into the Jiedushi of the old Zhou Dynasty.

As for the generals in some of these key places, the selection is self-evident.

Except for a small number of Su Sheng, Zhao Cheng and other former subordinates, most of the rest were old brothers from Emperor Li’s old anti-theft team.

These old brothers were basically at the rank of captain in the original Jiangdong Army, and some had even become deputy generals. It was actually reasonable to let them go to the local area to serve as a general.

The generals are rotated every two to three years and have to report to the court. Now is the time for rotation. Some of these local generals have already arrived in Luoyang to meet the emperor. While reporting on their work, they are also accepting the arrangements for their next assignment.

Today, the court has been founded for seven or eight years, and those brothers who were born as bandits and robbers in the anti-theft team have shed their rusticity and become real masters.

Human desires are endless. Once you become a master and live a good life, you will naturally want to live a great life, build a house and buy land, repair a house and keep a woman.

Moreover, these generals who have arrived at the local areas and hold military power can easily become tyrannical.

Over the past five years, Li Yun had met almost every one of these anti-theft teams who were sent out to serve as generals before they took office, and had given instructions to each of them.

Sometimes, even if it was just a minor act of greed and usurpation, Emperor Li would just turn a blind eye.

After all, it's hard to be a father-in-law if you are neither deaf nor dumb.

If he takes everything too seriously, he won't be able to continue to run the family, and people will really blame him for being stingy as a leader.

We fought together for the empire back then, and now you're the emperor, the supreme ruler. You're so petty when your old brothers take some benefits.

What Emperor Li could not tolerate was those people who became brutal and brutal when they arrived at the local level, and even took human lives lightly.

After being asked by Li Yun, the general named Lu Hong stared at Li Yun with wide eyes. After a while, he lowered his head and knelt on the ground with a plop. He lowered his head deeply and dared not speak.

"Nothing to say?"

Emperor Li also glared at him and said angrily: "How dare you challenge me, you bastard!"

General Lu lowered his head, knelt on the ground, and gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, I was drunk that day and didn't know what was going on, so I got into a conflict with someone..."

"Afterwards, the family was willing to reconcile..."

Li Yun looked at him coldly: "You drank too much, why didn't you report it after you sobered up? Are you still trying to hide it?"

"You have been in Lingnan Road for three years, and there have been more than one murders."

"Besides the accidental murder you committed, there are at least three or four other cases that could be related to you and your subordinates!"

"Is this how I let you serve as the generals when I let you go out to serve as the generals?"

Li Yun walked up to him, looked at him viciously, and said angrily: "I have been the emperor for more than seven years, and I don't think I have killed anyone in vain."

"You f*cking call me stingy. Before you went to Lingnan Road, you were the general of Jiangdong Road. During your time in Jiangdong, you built a house and took in concubines."

The Emperor kicked General Lu on the shoulder and said angrily, "Have I ever gotten mad at you?"

General Lu dared not speak any more. He lowered his head and trembled, knelt down and said: "Your Excellency, Your Excellency..."

“I have teenagers at home…”

Li Yun looked at him silently, closed his eyes, and said, "Since you did kill someone by mistake and paid compensation afterwards, I will give you a lighter sentence."

"All your duties are dismissed. You are to go to the Ministry of War and receive fifty military sticks. Then pack up your things and either go back to your hometown or join Meng Qing's army in Hebei Province and start as a private!"

Hearing this, General Lu suddenly looked up at Li Yun with a look of shock. At this moment, Li Yun was also looking at him and said coldly, "For the sake of our old friendship, I haven't taken you to task for yelling at the palace ban."

"Otherwise, just for this one reason, your whole family, young and old, will have to go on the road with you."

General Lu lowered his head, tears streaming down his eyes. He kowtowed to Li Yun, wiped his tears with his sleeves, and said, "Thank you very much, my Lord. Thank you very much, my Lord..."

"I...I am willing to join General Meng's army."

He lowered his head and choked up, "If I never come back, please take my place..."

Li Yun didn't look at him, but said calmly: "Your child will be taken care of by someone else."

General Lu kowtowed to Li Yun and retreated cautiously.

After he left, Emperor Li looked up at his back. After a moment of silence, he stood up again and said in a deep voice, "Go, invite Mr. Pei to the Imperial Garden."

At this time, the palace servants had been divided into different levels, and Emperor Li also had one or two useful palace servants by his side. Upon hearing this, the palace servant immediately nodded his head and replied "yes", and went downstairs to pass the message.

Li Yun stayed in Ganlu Palace for a while, looked through some documents, then got up, changed into casual clothes, and walked to the Imperial Garden.

In the Imperial Garden, Pei Zhuang had been waiting for him for a while. When he saw Li Yun coming, he hurried forward, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty."

When the two first met, Li Yun was only 20 years old and Pei Zhuang was in his early 30s. Now, more than ten years have passed, Emperor Li is already in his 30s or 40s, and Pei Zhuang is already in his 50s.

He already has white hair.

At this time, Pei Zhuang was the chief instructor of all the garrisons in Jingzhao Prefecture, and he was already married, but he got married too late, and his child was only about ten years old.

Li Yun looked at Pei Zhuang, waved his hand to dismiss the palace servants around him, then stretched his body and said, "I feel very upset. Come, let's fight."

Pei Zhuang looked up at Li Yun, then looked down at his hands, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I am already over fifty years old."

Li Yun was getting a little impatient: "Just a swivel, stop when you're done, it's not a real fight." Pei Zhuang then took a deep breath, stepped back a few steps, set up his boxing stance, and threw himself at Li Yun.

Both sides were masters, and they were concentrating fully on the fight. After just a few rounds, both were sweating profusely.

The Emperor continued to punch Pei Zhuang in the face with great force. Pei Zhuang blocked with both hands, but was still overwhelmed and was knocked back five or six steps.

Li Yun took a breath, looked at Pei Zhuang, and shook his head, "It's boring, it's boring."

He found a place to sit down and looked at his hands.

"I can feel that you are holding back."

He raised his head and looked at Pei Zhuang: "When we fought before, you didn't dare to hold back."

Emperor Li frowned and asked, "Am I not as good as before?"

Pei Zhuang also wiped the sweat off his face, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is in the prime of life, how can he be worse than before? It's just that your Majesty used to be extremely strong, but now your Majesty is more mature and stable."

"You are good at saying nice things."

Emperor Li sighed and said, "I feel like I'm not as resolute as I used to be."

Pei Zhuang thought about it, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty has never given up his skills over the years, and he will never be worse than before. Maybe Your Majesty has something on his mind."

Li Yun was silent for a moment and said nothing.

After a while, he smiled at Pei Zhuang and said, "It may be that Brother Pei has made more progress over the years."

Pei Zhuang waved his hands and said he didn't dare.

Li Yun talked to him about the past, then said with a smile: "Your student should have arrived at the Hebei Road military camp now, but I don't know if he has been to the battlefield."

The emperor asked with a smile: "Brother Pei, what do you think of him compared to me back then?"

The student of Pei Zhuang mentioned by Li Yun is his second son Li Zheng.

Li Zheng liked practicing martial arts since he was a child. When he was older, Li Yun naturally asked Pei Zhuang to teach him. The two of them were almost in a master-disciple relationship, but their official status was not established.

Pei Zhuang thought about it, then shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, the King of Yue, is much weaker than Your Majesty was in the past in terms of strength."

He paused, and added: "However, throughout history, there are very few people who can have the power of your majesty. Compared with ordinary people, your highness the King of Yue is already able to fight ten people at once with his martial arts skills."

Hearing this, Li Yun smiled and said, "When he comes back, I will test him myself."

Pei Zhuang was about to speak when a eunuch approached cautiously and bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has returned to the palace."

He paused, then continued, "His Royal Highness Prince Jin is here too."

Li Yun nodded and said he understood. Then he stood up, looked at Pei Zhuang, and said with a smile, "When I feel depressed one day, I will find Brother Pei to reminisce about the past."

Pei Zhuang bowed his head deeply, replied "yes", and then retreated respectfully.

Emperor Li returned to Ganlu Palace. Crown Prince Li Yuan and Prince of Jin Li Zheng were both present. They hurried forward and bowed to Li Yun. Li Yun waved his hand and sat in the main seat. He looked at the two people and said with a smile, "Why are you together?"

Li Zheng also smiled and said, "I met him at a wedding banquet in Anrenfang, so I accompanied His Highness to the palace."

After saying this, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty."

Li Yun looked at his son, said a few words to him, and then waved his hand: "Go back and have a rest. I will talk to your uncle."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince nodded quickly, turned around to say hello to Li Zheng, and left.

After he left, Jin Wang Li Zheng looked up at Li Yun and sighed, "Outside the palace, Lu Hong found me and bowed to me."

"Second brother."

Li Zheng said, "There aren't many of our former anti-theft team members left. I think we should use them sparingly."

Li Yun glanced at him and asked, "Are you here to plead for him?"

"That's not it."

Li Zheng shook his head, took out a document from his arms, and handed it to Li Yun with both hands.

"This is the Ministry of Revenue's money and grain warehouse that my second brother asked me to count. I have already finished the count."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and said, "Second brother...are you going to resort to violence again?"

Li Yun took the document and flipped through it while saying calmly, "At first Youyan said it would take two to three years, three to five years, but in the blink of an eye it has already been seven years, isn't it?"

Li Zheng shook his head and said, "In the past seven years, many armies have gone to Youyan. I feel that if my second brother wanted to fight, he would have taken it down long ago."

Emperor Li did not respond, but silently read the Ministry of Revenue accounts in his hand.

Li Yun specially asked someone outside the Ministry of Revenue to count the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue. Li Zheng, who was the prefect of Jingzhao, was naturally a suitable candidate.

After looking at the accounts, Emperor Li looked up at Li Zheng and said with a smile.

"This time, my target is not just Youyan."

He reached out and knocked on the table.

"And the entire Liaodong."

(End of this chapter)