Thief Emperor

Chapter 993 The Emperor's Enemy

When Li Yun went down the mountain, Zhou Liang was already in his forties. Now, more than ten or twenty years have passed, and the third in command of Cangshan Village is nearly sixty years old. Most of his hair has turned white, and his face is full of wrinkles.

When Zhou Liang stood up from the ground, his body shook and he was a little unsteady on his feet.

Thinking of what Zhou Bi had said before, Emperor Li helped him sit down and sighed, "Zhou Bi told me before that Third Uncle has not been in good health in recent years. Since he is not in good health, there is no need to rush over. I am going to Nanjing anyway."

Zhou Liang lowered his head slightly and said, "I am not in a hurry. I came here by car. Since Your Majesty has arrived in the southeast, I should come to greet you."

Zhou Liang stationed his troops in Jinling, guarding the base camp where Li Yun made his fortune, which was the three regions of Jiangnan. It can be said that the three regions of Jiangnan were all his military jurisdiction. When Li Yun arrived in his territory, he would of course come to greet him.

"and."

Zhou Liang looked up at Li Yun and sighed, "Your Majesty, I will not be returning to Jinling after this trip back to Qingyang."

Li Yun was stunned for a moment, then realized that he wanted to retire.

Zhou Liang's age was already quite old in that era, and he did not have a good life in his early years, so he still had many injuries.

You should also retire and recuperate for a few years.

His Majesty the Emperor thought about it seriously, then sat down next to Zhou Liang and sighed, "Uncle San has done a lot for me over the years. Since you've asked, I won't force you."

"If you take off this job, who will be suitable to be stationed in Nanjing?"

"Deng Yang."

Zhou Liang had obviously thought about this question, and answered without hesitation. He said, "Deng Yang was once the general of Jinling. Although he has not made any great contributions in these years, he is very stable and has sufficient qualifications."

At this point, Zhou Liang paused and continued, "If Deng Yang is unable to leave on the battlefield, I have another candidate."

Li Yun looked at him: "Uncle San, just say it directly."

"Zhou Chang from Yangzhou."

Zhou Liang lowered his head and said, "I have considered it. The Zhou family is now unlikely to have any other thoughts. Moreover, none of the soldiers in Jinling were led by him. Even if he has any thoughts, he can't use them."

"With Zhou Chang's qualifications and abilities, there will be no problem for him to serve one or two terms."

Li Yun was also a little surprised when he heard this. He touched his chin and thought for a while, then said with a smile: "Uncle San is much braver than me. I didn't even dare to think of letting an outsider do this job."

Zhou Liang looked at Li Yun and reminded him, "Your Majesty, this is something that needs to be done in advance."

"The world is so big, we don't have enough people on our own. The most important thing is to establish a reasonable system to ensure that no matter who they are or what they are thinking, they will not be able to oppose the court."

Li Yun thought about Zhou Liang's words seriously, then nodded and said, "Third Uncle, what you said makes sense. After the Qingzhou Army lets Zhou Chang's son Zhou Luo take over, Zhou Chang can be sent to other places for use, but he is still in mourning now."

The emperor said silently: "Let Deng Yang handle the job in Jinling. Uncle San will work hard for a few more months. After this year's New Year, I will transfer Deng Yang from the position of General Taiyuan to Jinling next year."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Next month, I will ask the court to confer the title of Grand General on Third Uncle, and he will return home as a Grand General."

By now, in Li Tang’s army, general or great general was more like an honorary title and had little to do with the actual position.

For example, Meng Qing, who is now leading more than 100,000 people to fight against the Khitans in the north, is still a general, but his real position is the chief of the Hebei Road Army. He has countless generals under him and is the commander-in-chief on the front line.

For another example, the chief officers of the twelve imperial guards were not even a general. Their real positions were General of the Yulin Guard and General of the Yingyang Guard.

The Taiyuan General, Chengdu General, Jinling General, etc. stationed in various places, those with a prefix before the general are considered positions.

The word "general" alone can only be considered a title.

Now, there is only one real general in the entire court, and that is General Su Shengsu. This general is also an honorary title, and his real position is the Privy Councilor of the Privy Council.

Zhou Liang quickly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have not made any great achievements. I have only worked hard over the years. I am already shamelessly accepting the title of Duke..."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Uncle San, don't underestimate yourself. Back then, the Jiangdong Army was led by you. Senior Brother Su and the others came later."

"It's settled. You don't have to refuse. We old family members also need to be more vocal."

Zhou Liang thought about it seriously, then nodded and said, "Your Majesty, thank you very much."

"One family does not speak two languages."

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "How many elders are there in the old village?"

After hearing this question, Zhou Liang was silent for a while and replied, "Of the original leaders, only the second brother Yuan, and the fifth and sixth brothers are left."

"The fifth brother went to Luoyang. The only two people still in Qingyang Prefecture are the second brother Yuan and the sixth brother."

Among the elders of Cangshan Village, the ones who supported Li Yun the most at the beginning were the third in command Zhou Liang, and the fifth in command Chu Heng. Chu Heng was a doctor and had followed Li Yun to Luoyang early on. He had also helped Li Yun set up the Imperial Hospital. Now he is living out his days in Luoyang City.

As for the second in command, Yuan Zhengming, he did not get along well with Li Yun. Emperor Li recalled the past and sighed, "In the blink of an eye, almost 20 years have passed. Thinking about some of the things that happened back then, they are no longer important."

"Since Second Uncle is still alive, after Third Uncle retires, you can help him if you can. But you need to keep an eye on their family and not allow the two of them to take advantage of their position to do evil."

Zhou Liang lowered his head quickly and responded, "Your Majesty, rest assured. After I retire, I will live in Qingyang Mansion. As long as I am alive, they will not be able to do evil."

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile, "Third uncle has not been to Luoyang yet, right? When I get back, do you want to go to Luoyang with me? It doesn't matter whether you live in Luoyang or not. If you don't want to live in Luoyang, I will ask Zhou Bi to send you back."

Over the seven years since the founding of the country, as a duke and guarding the southeast, Zhou Liang had naturally been to the capital. He went there more than once just to report on his work.

Hearing this, the Duke of Zhou shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I am old and in poor health, so I will not go to Luoyang."

"Zhou Bi... Zhou Bi also has Zhou Bi's things to do."

Zhou Liang sighed and continued, "When I retire and no longer serve, I will return to the vicinity of Cangshan Mountain, build a house, and guard the ancestral tomb for Your Majesty."

Li Yun was speechless: "How can I let my uncle do this kind of thing?"

The two chatted for a while and talked about many things in the past. At the end, they finally had some small talk. Zhou Liang looked at Li Yun and asked, "Your Majesty, when will you return from Luoyang this time?"

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "I plan to spend the New Year in Jinling. I'll talk about going back after the New Year."

"so long?"

Zhou Liang was somewhat surprised and said worriedly, "Your Majesty is not in Luoyang, so there shouldn't be...something wrong in Luoyang?"

"will not."

Emperor Li looked calm and said with a smile: "If the court is in chaos right after I leave, then I have failed as emperor in the past few years."

"and."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "If I don't leave for a while, many things will become unclear this time."

He said leisurely: "It will take a lot of effort."

Although His Majesty the Emperor is not omniscient and omnipotent regarding the affairs of the court, he has nine officials and so many trusted confidants, so it is unlikely that he is unaware of many things.

Now that you know it, you should start to do it.

For the current Emperor, no matter what the matter is, the biggest difficulty is actually how to identify the enemy.

No matter what kind of enemy it is, as long as he can identify it, there is no reason why His Majesty the Emperor cannot defeat it. And this time, he wants to find out all the enemies hiding in the dark.

Even if we cannot catch them all in one fell swoop, at least we must let them see clearly what the emperor’s iron fist is.

After the Iron Fist, the entire Zhangwu Dynasty will be much quieter.

After this major event, Emperor Li will no longer have any enemies, and his biggest enemy will become time.

There is only one way to deal with this enemy, and that is...

Among all the princes, choose an heir who can truly inherit his will.

Of course, this heir can be the crown prince, but if the crown prince fails...

Thinking of this, His Majesty the Emperor couldn't help but be absent-minded.

Zhou Liang was a warrior, so he naturally didn't quite understand what Li Yun meant. He looked at Li Yun and didn't choose to respond. Instead, he asked, "How long will your majesty stay in Qingyang?"

"About ten days, and then we'll set off for Jinling."

"correct."

Li Yun remembered something and asked, "Is there anyone living in the Xue family's house in Jinling now?"

Zhou Liang shook his head slightly: "No one lives here, only some servants are here."

Li Yun nodded and said, "Let Zhou Bi go and get the title deed and land deeds of the house for me."

"Then let Zhou Bi make another trip."

His Majesty the Emperor tapped lightly on the table.

"Go to Wujun and return it to the Zhuo family."

(End of this chapter)