The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 76 Brothers of Yishe (1)

Leave the government office.

Li Yi rode his horse straight to the Inner Palace Guard’s station.

"Go and call Ma Du Yu Hou, Zhang Junshi, and the newcomer Li Hanchao to my barracks."

After giving an order to his personal soldiers, Li Yi went into the barracks to wait.

After a while, Zhang Jiangong and Li Hanchao hurried over, but they did not see Ma Renyu.

Li Yi asked the two, "Isn't Ma Du Yu Hou with you?"

Zhang Jiangong said, "Yesterday afternoon, after we brought the people back, we heard that Li Dushi went to Prince Consort Zhang's house to drink, so we all went our separate ways."

"But Madu Yuhou mentioned that he was planning to take a day off and take his relatives to look at houses. He must be considering purchasing a property."

"Purchase a property?" Li Yi was stunned when he heard that.

Only then did he remember that he had indeed not seen Ma Renyu, his parents, wife and children in the morning.

Yesterday, when he asked Ma Renyu and the other two to pick up his relatives, he specifically instructed them to take them directly to his house in Zhengyangfang.

It was just that he was distracted by the court meeting, and he went to Zhang Yongde's house to drink at noon and drank until dusk. He was sent home drunk and slept until dawn.

I forgot about it when I woke up in the morning.

Li Yi couldn't help but say, "Didn't I tell him that he and his family could stay in my house temporarily... Never mind, I'll ask him about this when he comes back."

At this point, he turned and said, "I asked you to come here because I have something to tell you."

After hearing this, Zhang Jiangong and Li Hanchao both waited respectfully for what was to come.

Li Yi pondered and said, "Yesterday at the court, I submitted a petition to His Majesty regarding the reorganization of the Imperial Guards. Today, the Privy Council has finalized the matter."

He did not mention in detail what happened at the court meeting, but simply told the two of them the final result.

Li Yi wanted to see the two people's reactions first.

Li Hanchao glanced at Zhang Jiangong and then spoke first, "This is a good thing, but don't blame me for being nosy, Li Dushi. Although you made this suggestion and His Majesty agreed, the person specifically responsible..."

Sure enough, just as Li Yi had thought, Li Hanchao hit the nail on the head at the first opportunity.

However, Zhang Jiangong might not have thought of this. Perhaps he was a beat slow to react, or perhaps it was due to his personality. He was more stable and not too fond of showing off.

But Li Hanchao is different. He is quite lively and has just been with Li Yi for a short time, so he is eager to show his abilities.

Li Yi smiled and said, "The task of reorganizing the Imperial Guards is naturally the responsibility of the two commanders of the Palace Guards and the Imperial Guards, but His Majesty has given me the task of inspecting the appearance of the troops in front of the Palace."

"Come and assist Zhang and Li in eliminating the old and weak, and selecting the elite."

Li Hanchao was immediately overjoyed and said, "Congratulations to Envoy Li Du. Now you have the power to select the imperial guards. That's a huge benefit!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that he had lost his composure and that his words were too blunt, so he quickly apologized to Li Yi in fear and trepidation.

"That's fine." Li Yi didn't blame him, but he still reminded him, "We can just talk about these things in private. After all, we're only serving His Majesty. Personal gains and losses are not worth mentioning."

The two of them immediately said, "Envoy Li is absolutely right!"

Li Yi nodded slightly: "It will take time to rectify the Imperial Guards. In the early stages, we need to conduct internal selection and elimination, and then divide the officers and soldiers into three levels: upper, middle and lower."

"At the same time, Your Majesty will also order the local vassal states to select elite troops to Kaifeng, and recruit bandits and strongmen who have fled to the mountains and wilderness to serve as imperial guards."

"Finally, reorganizing and training the various divisions of the Imperial Guard will take at least three to five months."

Zhang Jiangong and Li Hanchao both listened quietly. At the end, Li Yi promised, "Your Majesty trusts me and allows me to help reorganize the imperial guards, but these tasks cannot be accomplished by two or three people."

"You two will definitely need to contribute and help me take care of some things. If you do a good job, I will commend you to His Majesty on your behalf."

Zhang and Li were naturally grateful again.

Training the imperial guards may seem like a stressful job, but participating in it is of great help in expanding your network of contacts.

After all, Li Yi, the Inspector General of the Armies, was appointed by the emperor. When it comes to reorganizing the imperial guards, his power is second only to the two main generals of the Palace Army and the Imperial Guard.

Perhaps Li Yi couldn't do anything to the mid- and high-ranking generals, but everyone had to give him some respect. More importantly, the lower-level officers, those below the rank of commander, would definitely come and vie to curry favor with Li Yi.

At the same time, Li Yi could also take the opportunity to place low-level officers he trusted in various departments of the imperial guards.

Although the generals are high and mighty and have the power over the lives of their soldiers, many facts since the Five Dynasties have proved that they lack the support of these lower-class warriors.

No matter how respected you are as an emperor, if you offend the warriors, you will be doomed.

Furthermore, when it comes to fighting on the battlefield, it is the middle and lower-level officers who rely on, and the basic combat unit is mainly based on the command level.

It can be seen that these unknown middle and lower-level officers are actually the real cornerstone of the Five Dynasties army.

As Zhang Jiangong and Li Hanchao were leaving, Li Yi stopped them and said, "Come to my house tonight. I'll treat everyone to a drink."

"By the way, Han Chao, stop calling yourself a villain."

"Your appointment as the Tenth General has been finalized. The military appointment will be completed in the next two days. I plan to let you adapt to the Royal Guard for a period of time."

"Yes, my lord...I obey your command!" Li Hanchao could not hide the excitement on his face.

It is said that if you follow the right person, you will have a bright future. He now deeply believes it. Not only did he become a general as soon as he joined the Imperial Guard, but he can now also participate in the reorganization of the Imperial Guard.

Just thinking about it makes me feel that I will have a bright future.

Watching the two of them leave, Li Yi leaned back in his chair.

He couldn't help but think to himself: It seems that Chai Rong was indeed greatly stimulated in the Battle of Gaoping, and he no longer trusts the original team of the imperial guards in his heart.

So yesterday I just proposed a plan to reorganize the imperial guards at the court meeting.

Chai Rong began to prepare for implementation today with great vigor and determination.

But think about it, no emperor would tolerate being betrayed by his own troops on the battlefield.

For the emperor, the combat effectiveness of the army is important, but loyalty is more important.

Otherwise, the "Wanyan Gou" of the old Zhao family would not have issued twelve golden medals in one day to recall Yue Fei.

Then, Li Yi thought about the temporary assignment he was assigned.

The people nominally in charge of the reorganization of the imperial guards were Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin.

But the one who actually did the work was him, the inspector of the military appearance in front of the palace.

After all, it was he who made the suggestion, and the specific regulations issued by the Privy Council were also improved based on his suggestions.

According to what Deputy Privy Councilor Wei Renpu told Li Yi, Li Chongjin was in charge of reorganizing the Imperial Guard, and Zhang Yongde was in charge of reorganizing the Palace Army.

The two do not interfere with each other... Chai Rong's approach was probably for the purpose of checks and balances, so that neither side could interfere with the other's troops.

But the Imperial Guards are still a whole after all, and the Palace Army and the Imperial Guards certainly cannot act independently.

Li Yi's assignment is to balance the two sides.

It seems that he is just assisting on both sides and does not have the final say.

But there is a lot of room for maneuver.

Besides, as long as he can deal with the main generals on both sides, Li Yi can still take charge of all the tasks.

Zhang Yongde is easy to deal with. Now he has taken the initiative to get close to Li Yi, and he is a person who is willing to give up power.

Historically, Zhao Kuangyin's palace guard was actually just an assistant, and the person in charge of reorganizing the imperial guards was Zhang Yongde.

And the emperor himself was in charge of it.

Didn't Zhao Da take advantage of the loophole after all?
As for Li Chongjin... although this guy seems to be unhappy with me, he is now worried about arousing the emperor's suspicion, so he probably doesn't dare to trip me up.

Thinking of this, Li Yi suddenly felt that there was great potential.

(End of this chapter)