Thief Emperor

Chapter 951 King's Death
At first, Li Yun planned to recuperate for two or three years, or at most three to five years, before he would start to recover Youyan and then advance to Liaodong.

But many things cannot be planned so far ahead. For a full seven years, Li Yun was basically busy with the court structure and dynasty building.

Every year, there are so many things to do.

For example, his military reform, tax reform, and imperial examination system reform.

Each one is actually fraught with difficulties.

In particular, the tax reform and the imperial examination reform offended too many wealthy families. In seven years, not counting the minor local disturbances, there were more than a dozen rebellions that had to be suppressed by the army.

In addition, some places suffered from drought or floods in the past two years, so time has been delayed until now.

Last year, which was the seventh year of Zhangwu, the weather was good and most parts of the country had a good harvest. In addition to the money and grain accumulated in previous years, Li's pockets were finally full.

Given his temperament, if he had not been hindered by various things in recent years, he would have been unable to hold back long ago. Now, the time is finally ripe. Emperor Li’s goal is certainly not only to capture the Youyan pass, but also to completely defeat the Khitans and take Liaodong into his own hands!

Hearing this, Li Zheng looked up at the Emperor and said with a smile, "Since the King of Yue left the capital, I'm afraid everyone in the court and the country knows what my second brother is thinking."

Li Yun is now a mature emperor. He no longer says everything openly like he did before.

Such as this time.

He did not tell anyone directly about the attack on Liaodong. However, at the beginning of the year, he sent his second son, King of Yue Li Zheng, to serve under General Meng Qingmeng in Hebei Province.

Apart from this, the emperor himself did not say anything more.

However, after the King of Yue left the capital, dozens of memorials have been submitted in the past month, requesting the emperor to send troops to conquer the Khitan and retake Youyan.

This is the Sacred Heart.

In seven years, the new Tang court had basically matured and had become a smoothly functioning court. His Majesty the Emperor no longer needed to speak, bang the table or glare. He only needed to send out some signs, and the court and the people would naturally push things forward according to his wishes.

After all, this is the dynasty created by him, Li. He can lead this dynasty in any direction and no one can stop him.

Hearing Li Zheng's words, Emperor Li also smiled and said, "It has been delayed for too long. I have not moved for many years. It is so stuffy living in this palace. Sometimes I want to go out for a walk and take a look."

Li Zheng looked at Li Yun and asked, "Second brother, do you want to go to Hebei Road?"

"I haven't thought about it yet."

Emperor Li stood up, stretched and said, "Zheng'er has already arrived at Meng Qing's army. The corresponding money and grain were fully prepared by the court after the autumn grain was collected last year. If we want to fight, we can prepare to start in one or two months."

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at the memorial handed over by Li Zheng and said with a smile: "The Ministry of Revenue has done a good job in recent years. The money and grain are all true, and there has been no deception to the court."

Li Zheng smiled and said, "Who dares to deceive His Majesty?"

"I don't know how to eat people."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "Besides, there are so many people who deceived me, but I didn't know about some of them, and I didn't care about the others."

As he said this, he sat back in his seat, flipped through the document again, shook his head and said, "Du He is capable enough to be appointed as a prime minister, but it's a pity..."

It’s a pity that there was already a prime minister named Du in the Secretariat.

Because it was the early years of the dynasty, officials generally had not yet grown up, so the three prime ministers of the Secretariat were still the three prime ministers decided in the first year of Zhangwu, and no new members were added.

If Du He was appointed as prime minister again, two of the four prime ministers in the Secretariat would have the surname Du.

Even if one more prime minister is added, it would not be appropriate if two of the five prime ministers were from the Du family.

Li Zheng at the side said with a smile: "If he can't be appointed as prime minister, he can be given an official title. Give him a second-rank civil official title, and Old Du will wake up with a smile in his sleep."

During this period, Li Zhengchang took people to the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts. After a few visits, he and Du He became quite familiar with each other.

Li Yun glanced at him and said nothing. Instead, he sat back in his seat and said, "I want to recognize the two nephews of my eldest brother's family after a while. You are now the head of the Li family, so you can take care of this matter."

Li Yun has two nephews, both of whom are in their twenties this year.

In this era, the difference between nephews and biological sons is actually not that big. In the early years of the country, he should have recognized these two nephews and made them kings, so as to strengthen the power of the royal family. However, due to a series of considerations, Li Yun put this matter on hold.

Now, the crown prince has come of age, the second son in Li Yun's family has been crowned king, and the political system of the new dynasty has become relatively stable. The time is ripe.

The Li royal family is too small and should be expanded.

Hearing this, Li Zheng nodded first, then said: "We have too few family members, we should have more people, but second brother..." He looked at Li Yun and asked: "Where is the eldest brother?"

Li Yun was silent for a while, then said, "I will go find him one day and discuss it with him. If he is willing to help, you can let him take over the position of Zongzheng in the future and let him manage the Zongfu."

Now that the imperial court has become wealthy, it won’t be noticeable if we support a few more members of the royal family.

Moreover, there is no hereditary succession system among the Li Tang royal family, which means that they will basically pass on their power to each other, and will not be too much of a burden on the court and the finances in the future.

Among all the kings at present, the only one who has the chance to inherit the throne is Prince of Jin Li Zheng.

Hearing this, Li Zheng heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "My eldest brother is a scholar, and this job should have been given to him a long time ago. I will go to his house with my second brother to look for him later."

Li Yun looked at the time and nodded, saying, "I have to meet with several officials from the Ministry of War and General Su in a while. After I meet with them, let's go visit some friends together."

Li Zheng was startled, then waved his hands and said with a wry smile: "Second brother, I was just joking. With your current status, why don't you summon my eldest brother and his family to the palace to see the emperor?"

"I've been stuck in the palace for too long."

Emperor Li shook his head and said, "I want to move around, too."

Li Zheng then nodded and said yes. After speaking a few words to Li Yun, he bowed his head, said goodbye and left.

Not long after Li Zheng left, the Minister of War Zhao Cheng, accompanied by the Vice Minister of War Li Hao and other officials from the Ministry of War, entered the Ganlu Hall, knelt down and saluted Li Yun, calling him "Your Majesty".

After the Battle of Guanzhong that year, Li Yun fulfilled his promise and conferred the title of Duke of Zhao on Li Zhen, the former governor of Hedong. After Li Gao recovered from his injury, the court changed Li Zhen's original title of marquis to him, and he was conferred the title of Marquis of Jinyang.

Later, Li Zhen retired due to illness, and his position as Vice Minister of War was transferred to Li Gao by Li Yun. Now, Li Gao has been in the position of Vice Minister of War for nearly four years.

Of course, after Duke Zhao Li Zhen retired, he did not return to Taiyuan. Instead, his family took the initiative to request to stay in Luoyang and lived happily together.

However, this Duke has been excluded from the core of power in the court and has only a position but no real power.

Not long after the officials from the Ministry of War arrived, General Su Shengsu, who was now the Privy Councilor in the Privy Council, also hurried to the scene. After entering the Ganlu Hall, he bowed his head respectfully to Li Yun.

"My lord, I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Li Yun looked at everyone, a smile appeared on his face, and he said, "Let's sit down and talk about today's affairs."

Everyone bowed their heads in thanks and found a stool to sit down.

Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng, each sitting in the first row, looked at each other and said nothing.

After everyone was seated, Emperor Li coughed and said, "I asked you all to come here today to discuss something. You should all know what it is."

"It has been ten years since Youyan fell into the hands of the enemy chieftain. During these ten years, the people of Youyan have suffered terribly and are in great pain."

His Majesty the Emperor said in a deep voice: "Since the beginning of this year, court officials have repeatedly written to the court, asking me to send troops to recover Youyan. Today, I have decided to use military force against Youyan."

"How to fight and who to send, let's discuss it today."

Everyone had almost guessed the topic of today's meeting. After hearing Li Yun's words, Su Sheng was the first to stand up, clasped his fists and saluted Li Yun, then said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, General Meng has been stationed in Hebei for many years and has rich experience. He has also been confronting and fighting with the Khitans for many years."

"I think that this time we should appoint General Meng as the commander."

Su Sheng stood up and talked nonstop for a while, which took him a cup of tea. It was obvious that he had thought about Youyan for a long time and had a plan in mind.

After Su Sheng, Minister Zhao of the Ministry of War also stood up and spoke.

Finally, Li Yun looked at Li Hao and said with a smile, "Minister Li, are you willing to go to Hebei Province and be a deputy commander?"

Li Hao quickly stood up and was about to speak when a palace servant walked in cautiously, came to Li Yun's side, and handed a document to the table.

Emperor Li remained calm, unfolded the document and took a look at it. After just one glance, he was stunned.

The document was sent by Jiusi. Its content was extremely simple and only consisted of a few words.

King Jiangdu died.

Li Yun was silent for a few breaths before he retracted his gaze and looked up at Li Hao in front of him.

"Minister Li continued."

(End of this chapter)