The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 67 Return to Tokyo
“Gee!” “Gee!”

"Uu——"

A group of more than twenty riders arrived outside Chenqiao Gate, exhausted.

"What do you do?"

The lieutenant guarding the city gate felt as if he was facing a great enemy. He called out to his left and right, and immediately dozens of soldiers with spears surrounded him.

"You blind bastard!"

Ma Renyu whipped the officer at the city gate with his horsewhip. The officer's face changed and he immediately tried to draw his sword.

Just then, a fish talisman was thrown over and the lieutenant subconsciously reached out to catch it.

At first glance, there were a few words engraved on the silver fish token: Commander-in-Chief of the Inner Palace.

There is another name below - Li Yi.

The lieutenant was startled and quickly looked up at the person who threw the fish talisman.

He saw that the other person was a handsome young man, riding on a horse and looking at him expressionlessly.

"Can you let me in?"

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant was startled and finally reacted. He quickly held the fish token in both hands, walked quickly to the front of the horse, and handed it back to the young man who spoke.

"This general pays homage to Envoy Li." The lieutenant bowed respectfully, then said nervously, "This general didn't know it was Envoy Li..."

Before he could finish his apology, Li Yi interrupted with a smile, "It's okay. It's your duty. It's your duty to perform your duties conscientiously."

Seeing that the young officer was quite sensible, and guarding the city gate was his duty, there was nothing wrong with his behavior.

Naturally, Li Yi would not make things difficult for him.

Instead, he encouraged her, saying, "You've done a great job. Don't let personal interests override public interests. Just do what needs to be done."

In fact, with Li Yi's current status and position, there is no need for him to be polite to the guarding officer, and he doesn't even need to pay attention to him.

Naturally, he has someone under his command who can handle these small matters.

But Li Yi has always felt that the higher the status, the more cautious one should be in doing things, and one should learn to be humble when dealing with others, and even pretend to be friendly.

Perhaps at a critical moment, an inconspicuous soldier or general can play an unexpected role.

This was especially true during the chaotic Five Dynasties period, when countless figures were killed by small soldiers.

Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, is the biggest negative example.

"I will respect the instructions of Li Dushi and will never slack off in my duties."

The young officer at the city gate was immediately flattered and said yes.

As he spoke, he saw that all his soldiers were standing there in confusion, not moving.

The lieutenant quickly shouted, "You idiots, what are you doing blocking Li Dushi's way? Get the hell out of the way!"

The soldiers finally came to their senses and immediately put away their spears and weapons, and retreated to the side like birds and beasts.

"let's go."

Li Yi squeezed his legs together, urged his horse, and was the first to enter the city gate.

Ma Renyu and others hurriedly followed in an orderly manner.

"Envoy Li is truly a hero, a true man should be like this!"

Gazing at the backs of Li Yi and his group as they left, the young officer at the city gate suddenly couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

If Li Yi heard this, he would probably be in tears and laughter. He actually thought that there would be a day when he would be described as "a real man should be like this".

Fortunately, the lieutenant did not add, "He can be replaced."

"Boss, that general just now was Li Yi, the Li Dushi who made great contributions in the battles of Gaoping and Xinkou?"

A soldier behind the lieutenant colonel asked cautiously.

"Who else could it be?"

The soldiers naturally expressed their admiration and envy upon hearing this...

……

"drive!"

Li Yi and his entourage rode across the street and headed straight for the Inner Palace Guard's station.

The peddlers and hawkers passing by, upon encountering such a group of awe-inspiring knights, all tried to avoid them as much as possible and hid far away on both sides of the road.

"Why would Chai Rong have health problems so early?"

Li Yi frowned, feeling confused and uncertain.

Ever since I learned the message brought by Zhang Jiangong on the way yesterday.

Li Yi then temporarily arranged for himself and Ma Renyu's relatives to live in Chenqiaoyi, dozens of miles away from Tokyo City.

Then he took his personal soldiers and rushed back overnight.

Finally made it back to Tokyo this morning.

"God, please don't let Chai Rong die so early."

Li Yi prayed silently in his heart.

Among the Later Zhou imperial guards today, Li Yi is perhaps the one who is most reluctant to see Chai Rong die young.

After all, his current foundation is too shallow, and he still needs Chai Rong's appreciation to climb up step by step.

Speaking of which, Chai Rong was considered to be the more enlightened among the Five Dynasties emperors.

As long as one can fight and make achievements, he will not be stingy with promotion and rewards.

Look at the brothers, big and small, who helped Zhao Kuangyin ascend the throne.

Nearly half of the personnel started their careers in the Battle of Gaoping.

Most of the remaining ones were promoted during Chai Rong's reign.

Moreover, most of these people in the imperial guards are young and strong, and they basically rely on Chai Rong's appreciation to climb up.

Although in the end it all helped Zhao Da.

But it should not be denied that young generals like Li Yi can more easily stand out under Chai Rong.

Therefore, before Li Yi became more powerful, he thought it would be best to maintain the status quo of Chai Rong's reign.

Otherwise, at this critical juncture, Chai Rong suddenly died, and Li Yi was not qualified to fight for power.

"You all should go home and have a good rest."

After returning to the Inner Palace Guard station, Li Yi first dismissed his personal guards. Then he led Ma Renyu, Zhang Jiangong, and Li Hanchao into the main tent barracks.

"Zhang Jiangong, tell me what's going on?"

After sitting in the main seat, Li Yi asked the three to sit down and then asked.

Zhang Jiangong nodded. "On the third day after Li Dushi left Tokyo, news came from the palace that the civil and military officials had to endure hardships and sleep in the open during the previous expedition. His Majesty, out of sympathy for his subjects, specially issued a decree for three days of rest. Unless it was an urgent matter, they were not allowed to attend the morning court or the official residence."

"No one took it seriously at first. We, the junior officers, were just resting after returning home."

"Besides, it's not our turn to worry about the court duty. Let's just assume that His Majesty wants to give the civil officials a holiday."

"After all, we soldiers don't fight, so we naturally have some free time. Those civil servants don't have that privilege."

At this point, Zhang Jiangong paused, his expression gradually becoming serious. "But until the day before yesterday, His Majesty had not yet appeared, and he began to secretly summon several prime ministers to the palace."

"Most people don't know about this, but it's the duty of us, the Inner Palace Guards, to guard the palace halls...some soldiers saw the Prime Ministers coming in and out, and that's how they found out."

"I feel something is not right. It's time for you, Li Dushi, to return from Xiajin.

I believe that Li Dushi and Ma Duyuhou are returning to pick up their relatives and bring them to the capital, so they should take the official road and pass through various post stations."

"So I took the initiative and went along the official road to Daming Prefecture to meet Envoy Li. I wanted to let Envoy Li know about this and be prepared."

"You're not acting on your own initiative; you're being brave and resourceful. You did the right thing this time."

Li Yi looked at Zhang Jiangong deeply and expressed his appreciation for his actions.

At that time, he promoted the other party to be the captain of his personal guards.

Firstly, he remembered their old relationship. He had worked for him before and he was quite considerate of him.

Secondly, I feel that Zhang Jiangong is a very down-to-earth person who is trustworthy and reliable.

At the moment, it seems that Li Yi's vision was not wrong.

Zhang Jiangong seems to be a down-to-earth person, but he is not rigid in his thinking. He knows how to judge the situation, analyze the situation calmly at critical moments, and make decisions without hesitation.

More importantly, he is a grateful person. He is grateful for Li Yi's support and he really remembers this friendship in his heart.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have rushed to inform Li Yi as soon as he realized something was wrong.

After hearing Li Yi's praise, Zhang Jiangong quickly waved his hand and said, "It's my job."

He hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "No matter what the situation is, I am willing to obey Li Dushi's orders."

Zhang Jiangong's words were a naked expression of his loyalty.

However, he had been in the Imperial Guards for many years without much advancement in his military rank. Now that he had finally found a potential stronghold, he really had no other choice.

Hearing this, Li Yi thought to himself: It seems that winning people's hearts is still very useful.

Of course, the prerequisite is that he must be a person like Zhang Jiangong who is loyal and grateful.

Otherwise, you will meet a shameless villain with no bottom line, who will take the benefits you give and sell you out at the same time.

It doesn’t make much difference whether you bribe him or not… On the contrary, the closer you are to him, the more he will cheat you.

This thought flashed through his mind, but Li Yi shook his head slightly and said, "We still don't know what the situation is. It's too early to say anything about this now."

"Besides, no matter what the final situation is, you and I should still do what we should do. How much influence have the imperial guards suffered over the past few dynasties?"

Although he said this, Li Yi was also thinking seriously about it.

What would happen to me if something really happened to Chai Rong?
The only family that has a grudge against Li Yi is naturally the Zhao family.

But now Zhao Kuangyin was suppressed by Li Yi, and his father Zhao Hongyin could not make any big waves.

If you think about it carefully, when that time comes, he will probably not be affected at all.

In addition, in the eyes of outsiders, Li Yi has already created the impression that he is a very capable fighter.

The new people in power may continue to use him.

But…no one wants to face the unknown.

In comparison, Li Yi naturally hoped that Chai Rong could live a few more years.

"You wait here, I'll go to the Privy Council to take a look..."

After sitting for a while, Li Yi couldn't sit still any longer. After giving some instructions to a few people, he stood up and walked out.

"Forget it, you guys come with me."

However, when he reached the barracks door, he turned back and called Ma Renyu and the other two to join him.

Although the area around the palace was heavily guarded and no one dared to harm the general of the imperial guards, Li Yi still felt it would be safer to bring a few more people with him just to be on the safe side.

The four of them quickly arrived at the palace gate.

Since the Privy Council's office was located within the palace, Li Hanchao was now a commoner and was not qualified to enter.

Li Yi asked him to wait outside.

When he arrived at the Privy Council office, he found out that both the chief and deputy privy councilors were not there.

Li Yi went around the offices of the Palace Front Army and the Imperial Guards.

It was discovered that the commanders of the various imperial guards did not come to the government office to work.

Li Yi couldn't find anyone to inquire about the situation, so he had to hand over the procedures along the way.

Because he took a ten-day vacation, he has to report and cancel his leave after he comes back.

He also mobilized twenty personal soldiers to leave Tokyo City.

This matter also needs to be handled through the handover procedures.

Since both Privy Councilors were away, Li Yi could only temporarily hand over the procedures to the clerk in the yamen.

Then allow the Privy Councilor time to stamp and approve it.

"Envoy Li, are you back from visiting your relatives?"

Just as Li Yi was about to leave the Privy Council with Ma Renyu and Zhang Jiangong.

However, the three of them ran into Zhang Yongde, the commander-in-chief of the palace, at the gate.

　I didn't get home by train until around six or seven in the evening, so this chapter was posted late.

　　There is one more chapter before 12 o'clock.

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(End of this chapter)