The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 39 Solid Foundation
"News arrived from the Liao capital: the Liao minister, Yelu Dilu, came to the rescue of the Northern Han at Xinkou, but died from his wounds."

On the third day of July, the news of the death of Yelu Dilu, the Liao Dynasty's political official, reached Tokyo. At this time, a month had passed since the Battle of Xinkou.

It is said that Yelu Dilu was seriously injured in the Battle of Xinkou. He was sent back to Shangjing, the capital of Liao, with only his last breath left. He lingered on for half a month but eventually died.

Speaking of which, during the Battle of Xinkou, Li Yi used the Khitan general as a human sandbag and dragged him away. No one knew who the other party was.

All we know is that it should be one of the two people, Yelu Dilu, the Liao Dynasty's political affairs minister, or Yelu Talu, the Liao Dynasty's Southern Court King.

Moreover, in the tense state at that time, Li Yi had no time to confirm whether the opponent was dead or alive, let alone to finish him off.

If the momentum of the charge weakens, they will be faced with a frenzied siege by the Liao army, and there will be no escape.

However, we have now received accurate information that the person who died was Yelu Dilu. This has been officially certified by the enemy, and the value of his contribution is self-evident.

"Haha, good thing you died!"

Upon hearing the news during the court meeting, Chai Rong was overjoyed and praised Li Yi highly, saying, "It is said that the Liao Emperor, Yelü Jing, was furious about this. Li Qing fought well in the battle of Xinkou!"

"I rely on your majesty's divine power and the soldiers' loyalty. I dare not take any credit for it!"

Li Yi behaved very modestly. He said that others would praise your achievements, and you just had to play the role of a humble person.

In fact, in his own opinion, the death of Yelu Dilu was not the point. What made Chai Rong happy was that the Liao emperor was unhappy.

Many times, the size of one’s achievements is not evaluated by one’s own people, but is highlighted by the reaction of the enemy.

As the saying goes, the more unhappy and frustrated the enemy is, the more it shows that you have hit their sore spot, and the greater your contribution will be.

Why is it considered a great achievement to kill an enemy general on the battlefield?
It is not only because the other party has a high status, but also because it can undermine the enemy's morale, make the enemy feel fearful and thus turn the tide of the battle.

It just so happened that Li Yi's two meritorious deeds were both related to this aspect, so his contribution naturally became more prominent.

Speaking of this, Li Yi also had to thank Shi Yanchao for his recklessness, which created an opportunity for him to kill Yelu Dilu.

Of course, he also seized the opportunity with his own ability.

Chai Rong nodded in approval, then looked around at his ministers and said, "I heard that a few years ago, Yelu Chage of Liao rebelled and murdered Emperor Shizong of Liao, Yelu Ruan. It was Yelu Dilu who persuaded Yelu Jing to raise an army to quell the rebellion."

"Furthermore, Yelu Dilu led troops to the Liao capital to act as an internal support, and made great contributions to Yelu Jing's seizure of the throne. Yelu Jing highly valued him and appointed him as the Minister of State Affairs and the Northern Xuanhui Envoy."

"This time, cutting off Yelu Jing's arm has truly relieved me of my anger."

It is no wonder that Chai Rong was in such a good mood. Ever since Taizu Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, the Liao Kingdom had repeatedly allied with the Northern Han to invade the Later Zhou Dynasty. It was like a thorn in the tarsal bone, both disgusting and difficult to deal with.

This time, Chai Rong had just ascended the throne, and the Liao Kingdom came to stir up trouble again. Anyone would be furious.

Not to mention that as the emperor, how could he tolerate such behavior of not taking himself seriously?
Therefore, when Chai Rong heard that the Liao emperor had suffered a setback, he was naturally very happy.

Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, the ministers naturally flattered him again.

"Mr. Li, the house the Queen gave you." Chai Rong looked at Li Yi again and said with a smile, "I wonder if you are satisfied with it, my dear."

Li Yi immediately bowed and said, "I have been born in humble circumstances and have lived a hard life. Seeing such a magnificent house, I suddenly feel the emperor's great grace."

"Your Majesty, I am deeply terrified."

……

After the court meeting, everyone looked at Li Yi differently.

If you really count, the emperor personally led the army to fight three battles in total... one in Gaoping, one in Jinyang and one in Xinkou.

The battle of Jinyang was a pure siege. Not only did they fail to capture it, but they also suffered heavy losses. It would be a stretch to say that they won.

The Battle of Gaoping was a great victory, and Li Yi took the credit for killing the enemy in battle and protecting the emperor.

As for the Battle of Xinkou, it was actually a case of both sides suffering losses at most, but it did block the Liao reinforcements and achieved the established goal, so it can naturally be promoted as a victory.

In this battle, Li Yi also took the credit for rescuing General Shi Yanchao and killing the Liao Dynasty's political official Yelu Dilu.

In this way, both victories were related to Li Yi, and he played a crucial role in both.

Tsk tsk... Li Yi himself was a little surprised.

My contribution was so great! Li Yi returned to the Palace Army's office with excitement.

As the chief commander of the Inner Palace Guard, he does not need to stay in the military camp all day and usually works in the office.

The small offices of the Palace Guards and the Imperial Guards were all within the large office of the Privy Council, making it convenient for the Privy Councilor to summon the heads of various departments to discuss matters.

Since the imperial guards who had returned from the expedition were still recuperating and had no daily affairs to deal with, the commanders of each department did not come to the office to take up duty.

On the contrary, Zhang Yongde would come to the government office almost every day and stay for half a day before leaving. He was very self-disciplined.

Not only is he trusted by the emperor, but his dedication is worthy of praise.

Of course, there is another possibility.

That is, Zhang Yongde was not dedicated to his work, but because he had a princess wife, and perhaps he was uncomfortable staying at home, so he came to the government office to avoid any leisure time?

But this is someone else's family affair and has nothing to do with him.

Li Yi sat in the office for a while, feeling the pleasure brought by his improved status.

Then he left the office and prepared to return to the breakfast shop.

Although I have the key to the house that the queen gave me as a reward, the house deeds and land deeds have not been completed yet. In addition, the previous owner moved out not long ago, so the whole house still needs some tidying up.

So Li Yi hasn't moved there yet, but continues to live in the breakfast shop with Guo.

After leaving Zuoye Gate, Li Yi suddenly remembered something.

Then he turned around and headed towards the inner palace military camp.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the Inner Palace Guard’s residence, Li Yi saw Ma Renyu walking out with three people.

He recognized the identities of the three people at a glance. They were all playmates who had joined the army with him from his hometown of Xiajin.

The three people are Zhao Yanwu, Xia Renhui and Xu Kuangrong.

Li Yi quickly stepped forward and said, "I originally wanted to invite you guys to get together today, but I just went to the government office and forgot about it."

Among the three, Zhao Yanwu and Ma Renyu are the same age, Xia Renhui is one year younger than the two, and Xu Kuangrong is the same age as Li Yi.

But if calculated by months, Li Yi is the youngest among them, but now he has the highest status.

"Congratulations, Brother Yi, on your promotion!" the three of them congratulated together.

When he was in Xiajin, Li Yi was the leader of a group of people, and now everyone follows his lead.

Li Yi smiled and said, "We are all brothers, there is no need for such formalities."

Ma Renyu continued, "We've been waiting for you here. We haven't seen you for a long time, and we thought you went back to the breakfast shop, so we wanted to go look for you."

Apart from the civil officials of the fifth rank and above, the only ones qualified to attend this court meeting were the chief generals of each department. Ma Renyu, the Du Yuhou, did not have this treatment.

Not only him, but even Zhao Kuangyin did not go, because the other party was now just a scattered member of the Du Yuhou.

As he spoke, he glanced behind Li Yi and asked, "Didn't His Majesty give you anything?"

"What else do you want to reward me with?" Li Yi asked, "Your Majesty promoted me to the position of Chief of the Inner Palace Guard and rewarded me with so much wealth. The Queen even gave me a mansion as a reward."

"Isn't greed enough?"

No matter how great the contribution is, there must be a limit. Too much is as bad as too little. If Li Yi is really rewarded with something, he will feel uneasy.

What Li Yi needs to do now is to lay a solid foundation, rather than greedily seeking more. Otherwise, the higher he climbs, the harder he will fall.

He remembered the words that Prince Wei Fu Yanqing had praised him in Xinzhou: In ancient times, Gan Luo became prime minister at the age of twelve...

At first glance, it sounds like bragging about yourself.

But Gan Luo died early!
Li Yi seriously suspected that this was Prince Wei Fu Yanqing giving him some advice.

Only if you can remain steady and hold on can you have the last laugh.

(End of this chapter)