Thief Emperor

Chapter 975 Behemoth
Su Zhan is the fifth among General Su's many sons.

Needless to say, Su Sheng is the eldest. Besides Su Sheng, he has three older brothers. But there is no doubt that among all the brothers in the Su family, Su Zhan is undoubtedly the most promising one besides Su Sheng.

After all, he was the third follower of the emperor when he started his business, and it could also be said that he was the last follower.

Because after him, Xue Gui and Zhou Luo, who served as Li Yun's "followers", did not work for long before Emperor Li no longer needed followers, so his two successors did not stay in this position for too long.

His two predecessors, Meng Hai and Zhou Bi, were already in very important positions. Meng Hai was the director of the Jingzhao Division of the Nine Departments. If it weren't for the fact that Duke Ying was still very young, Meng Hai would most likely take over the Nine Departments in the future.

Even now, he could be vaguely considered the second-in-command of Jiusi.

As for Zhou Bi, he has already taken over the Inspection Department of the Privy Council and has become the "Grand Censor" of the military.

Although Su Zhan serves in the Imperial Guards, it is foreseeable that his future will not be too bad.

The official position may not be particularly high, but it will definitely be very important.

It is also for this reason that Su Zhan is quite close to the royal family, and is also quite familiar with the second prince who often goes out of the palace to practice martial arts.

That’s why he was called “Uncle Wu”.

Su Zhan stood up and looked up and down at the Second Prince, who was only wearing ordinary soldier's clothes. He then looked at his somewhat worn clothes, a little surprised, and then turned to look at Meng Qing.

Meng Qing sighed and said, "Your Highness, I have already taken a huge risk by letting you be a scout. You must not think about other things, and I will never let you go to the front line."

“The front line is dangerous.”

The second prince found a bench and sat down, saying nonchalantly, "Didn't my father go through the same thing back then?"

Hearing this, Meng Qing's eyelids twitched. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "How can this be the same?"

Li Zheng had already sat down at this time, looking at the meat on the table with shining eyes. He reached out, tore off a chicken leg, and took a big bite.

On weekdays, when the Tang army was stationed in a fixed place, the food was quite good, and they could basically see meat every few days. But at this time they were marching and fighting, and it was unlikely that the food would be so particular. It was not easy to get a bite of hot food.

During this period, Li Zheng ate and lived with his soldiers, and he was really a little greedy.

"Uncle Meng, this is no different. I don't have to be a hero. I just came out of nowhere and wanted to earn some face for my father."

As he said that, he turned his head to look at Su Zhan and said in a careless manner: "Uncle Wu, why are you here too? Did the court call in the imperial guards?"

Su Zhan did not answer, but looked at his nephew beside him and said with a smile: "This is my Silang, do you recognize him, Your Highness?"

Li Zheng looked Su Zhan up and down for a few times, thought for a while, and nodded: "He looks familiar, I must have seen him before."

Su Zhan took a deep breath, lowered his head slightly and said, "Greetings, Second Prince."

Li Zheng nodded at him first, then smiled at Su Zhan and said, "Uncle Wu, why did you bring your nephew here? You wanted to bring him here to gain some military merits on the battlefield, right?"

Su Zhan shook his head quickly. He coughed, stood up, pulled Li Zheng aside, and whispered something in his ear. The second prince widened his eyes and turned his head to look at Su Zhan: "What, my sister..."

The second prince is actually the same age as the eldest princess, but the eldest princess was born a few months earlier. Because they are the same age and their mothers are close, the two siblings have a good relationship.

His Royal Highness the King of Yue strode up to Su Silang, looked up and down at this fellow who was half a head shorter than him, and said in a tut-tut-tut voice: "Really amazing."

After saying this, he snorted, turned his head to look at Meng Qing, and said, "Uncle Meng, since you don't want me to go to the front line, I won't go. Now I am the team leader of the scout battalion, and I am short of people."

"Just assign Su Silang to my team."

Meng Qing frowned and hesitated when he heard this.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard Li Zheng say, "I joined the army and started as a soldier. Does Uncle Meng want to give him preferential treatment?"

Hearing this, Meng Qing sighed helplessly and looked at Su Zhan.

Su Zhan smiled and said, "Brother, you are the commander-in-chief. We will all follow your arrangements. You are the one who makes the decision on this matter."

Meng Qing thought about it carefully, then looked at Su Zhan and said, "Your Highness the King of Yue is right. Although you are the son of a general, you have never been to the front line. Since you are joining the army, you should follow His Highness the King of Yue and gain some experience."

Su Zhan quickly stood up, bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying "yes".

His Royal Highness the King of Yue then pulled Su Zhan's clothes and pulled him aside, and asked viciously: "When did you get involved with my sister?"

He was tall and had a strong pressure. In addition, he was a prince. Su Zhan hesitated for a long time and could only smile bitterly and said, "This year... Lantern Festival."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue frowned: "That was a month before I left the capital."

"No wonder I didn't see my sister much in that month." He muttered to himself, then turned his head to look at Su Zhan, then reached out and grabbed his sleeve: "Come on, follow me."

Su Zhan was far less powerful than him, and staggered when he was dragged by him. He exclaimed, "Where are you taking me, Your Highness?"

"Go change your clothes."

His Royal Highness the King of Yue said loudly: "From now on, you will be a scout under my command. I will take you to the battlefield and let you broaden your horizons!"

…………

Luoyang City, Ganlu Palace.

Xue Gui bowed his head to the emperor who was sitting on the main seat and said, "Your servant Xue Gui has come to report."

Emperor Li felt a little happy when he heard Xue Gui's voice. He put down the red brush in his hand, looked up at him, and said with a smile, "Are you back?"

Xue Gui also smiled and said, "I just arrived in Luoyang yesterday afternoon, and came to the palace to see you early this morning."

Xue Gui grew up in his home when he was twelve or thirteen years old. In a sense, he was not much different from his son.

At the beginning, adopting him as an adopted son was actually a natural thing. However, at that time, Jiangdong's future was uncertain, and Li Yun was busy running around all day, so he didn't think about it.

Even until now, the two are still very close.

"Sit, sit and talk."

Xue Gui nodded, found a chair and sat down, then looked up at Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, I followed your instructions and went to Yangzhou first to pay my respects to King Jiangdu. General Zhou Chang is still in Yangzhou at this time and has not returned to Qingzhou. What he meant is that he will mourn for King Jiangdu for three years in Yangzhou, and after three years, he will come to Luoyang to pay homage to Your Majesty."

"These three years have allowed Zhou Luo to slowly become familiar with taking over the Qingzhou Army."

Li Yun had already read the memorial. He nodded silently and said, "I agree to this. Go back and write to Zhou Luo and tell him to take over the Qingzhou Army steadily. Three years later, the court will grant him the post of Qingzhou General."

Xue Gui said yes and said with a smile, "I will write to him when I get back."

Li Yun stood up, poured a cup of tea, and then walked to Xue Gui with the tea, and handed it to him with one hand: "You are tired from the journey, have a drink of water."

Xue Gui quickly stood up and took it with both hands. After lowering his head to drink a sip, he stood next to Li Yun.

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "I asked you to go to Jinling and Jiangdong. Did you go?"

"went."

Xue Gui nodded quickly. He looked around and saw that no palace servants were present. Then he whispered, "My nephew is in a hurry to come to the palace to see you because of this matter."

"It has been eight or nine years since the imperial court left Jinling. My nephew has been living in Jinling for a while in plain clothes. Today's Jinling..."

"Compared to Jinling ten years ago, it's only slightly better, but not as great as the changes in Luoyang."

"I have been traveling around Jiangdong for a while and have seen quite a few corrupt officials. There are constant small problems in the local area, but they are not difficult to deal with."

Li Yun understood the meaning of his words and asked, "What problem is difficult to deal with?"

Xue Gui was silent for a while, then whispered: "Jiangdong, a huge monster has appeared now. I think we should deal with it a little bit, otherwise it may become a big problem in a few decades."

"giant…"

Li Yun was startled. He touched his chin, then asked thoughtfully, "Is there any evidence?"

"My nephew was in Jiangdong for only a month. As for evidence, there is definitely no solid evidence. However, Lu Bing stayed in Jiangdong and is collecting evidence in Jiangdong."

"But regardless of whether there is evidence or not, one thing I am sure of is that this behemoth has reached a point where it must be dealt with. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to deal with it in the future."

He whispered, "At this time, the farmland alone probably exceeds 100,000 acres, and other properties are countless."

Emperor Li was silent for a while, then patted Xue Gui on the shoulder and said, "You didn't spread the news everywhere, but only left Lu Bing in Jiangdong for a secret visit. This is a good thing."

"As for this huge monster..."

Emperor Li stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky outside the palace. After a long while, he sighed deeply, "Is it the Zhuo family?"

Xue Gui bowed his head deeply.

"Uncle is wise."

(End of this chapter)