The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 85 Killing the chicken to scare the monkey

The camps of the six armies and guards were scattered throughout the inner city.

It is called a camp, but in fact it is just an enclosed open space with barracks and living areas mixed together, and the training ground for horse racing is overgrown with weeds.

It can also be seen from the above that the six armies and guards are just a name, and the emperor does not expect this group of people to have any combat effectiveness.

In fact, the six armies, including the Left and Right Dragon Army, the Left and Right Yulin Army, and the Left and Right Shenwu Army, have only two to three thousand people in total, and basically do not need to go to the battlefield to fight.

The commanders of the six armies were not responsible for combat matters at all, and basically they all took on various other miscellaneous tasks.

For example, General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards was only responsible for collecting fodder taxes from the army, and his men were reduced to tax collectors.

As for the Sixteen Guards, they were even worse.

The Left and Right Gate Guards and the Left and Right Thousand Oxen Guards were mainly responsible for guarding the inner gardens of the imperial city in the Tang Dynasty, but now this job has been replaced by the Palace Guards.

The remaining twelve guards commanded the entire country's troops during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, but now the system of troops has long since collapsed, so they are naturally just in name only.

The Sixteen Guards had long since completely become honorary titles.

During the Later Liang and Later Tang dynasties, there was also a position of judge of the six armies and guards, who was responsible for controlling the military power of the six armies and guards.

However, after the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty and until the Later Zhou Dynasty, the position of judge of the six armies and guards remained vacant and no actual appointments were made.

This also shows the evolution and decline of the six armies and guards.

……

When Li Yi led his men to the camp of Zuo Yulin Army.

Ma Renyu and several others were leading the officers and soldiers to confront Zuo Yulin's soldiers.

"Surround this place. Don't let anyone escape. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot!"

At Li Yi's command, hundreds of fully armed imperial guards immediately surrounded Zuo Yulin's soldiers.

When he came, he specifically went to the Deputy Privy Councilor Wei Renpu to ask for military orders and dispatched four or five hundred soldiers to assist.

Normally, mobilizing more than fifty troops in Tokyo would require reporting to the Privy Council, which would then require the emperor's approval.

However, the emperor granted Li Yi special permission to mobilize no more than one thousand soldiers during the period of reorganizing the imperial guards without reporting to the emperor. He only needed to report to the Privy Council and issue military orders.

Of course, Li Yi was not able to use these thousand people without limit. Every time he mobilized them for work, the Privy Council would send an imperial edict to accompany and supervise.

After all, military power is a matter of great importance. The emperor's trust is one thing, but necessary checks and balances and supervision are also indispensable.

at the same time.

He saw a large group of ferocious elite imperial guards surrounding him and his men.

Hundreds of soldiers of the Zuo Yulin Army suddenly lost their confidence and their faces turned pale.

Li Yi rode forward and shouted, "I heard that someone is dissatisfied with me, the emperor's appointed inspector of the military appearance, and wants to teach Bendu a lesson, right?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, a big hat was put on him. To put it mildly, it was called disobedience to superiors, and to put it seriously, it was called disrespecting the emperor and having the intention of rebellion.

No matter what the crime is, the punishment can be beheading at the lightest and confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family at the worst.

The warriors of the Five Dynasties period were indeed arrogant, but not everyone had the qualifications. The group of Zuo Yulin's men in front of them were obviously not among them.

Not to mention that it is now the Later Zhou Dynasty. After the gradual transformation of the Jin, Han and Zhou dynasties, the emperor has already had a deep control over the imperial guards.

To imagine that it would be much more difficult to easily allow troops to cause chaos in the capital like Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, did.

"Injustice!"

"We have no intention of disobeying Li Dushi."

"Envoy Li, spare my life..."

The soldiers of the Zuo Yulin Army immediately fell to their knees.

The leading lieutenant burst into tears, knelt down and took a few steps forward, then hugged the legs of the horse that Li Yi was riding.

They cried out, "Please, Li Dushi, please understand. We were confused for a moment and have absolutely no… absolutely no ulterior motives…"

If Li Yi hadn't been so skilled in horse-controlling, this guy would have been hit on the head by the warhorse's hoof.

"You're fucking seeking death!"

Ma Renyu walked over quickly and kicked the lieutenant away. The lieutenant rolled on the ground for a few times, but did not dare to complain. He quickly got up and knelt again, with his head pressed tightly against the ground.

Li Yi ignored him and looked at Ma Renyu and asked, "Which bastard injured our people?"

"Pull him out for me!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Renyu immediately led his men to the group of kneeling Zuo Yulin soldiers and pulled out a strong man.

The man looked fierce and his beard was even thicker than Ma Renyu's.

When he was dragged out, his face was pale and his calves were trembling, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Li Yi shouted again: "Who was injured by him?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a man with a bruised face and nose walked out from the ranks of officers and said dejectedly, "I am incompetent."

It's no wonder that he felt ashamed. After all, he was selected into the officers' team, but he was beaten by a small soldier from the miscellaneous army. It was so embarrassing.

Li Yi frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Upon hearing this, the ten generals who were beaten immediately explained the whole story.

Originally, the officers' team came to check whether the number of people was true, but they happened to meet Zuo Yulin's group who went to collect fodder tax. The officers' team thought that since they were already there, they might as well check the tax collection accounts.

The so-called fodder tax is actually the collection of fodder in kind for feeding war horses.

This was a tax levied to support the army. However, in practice, not all those who were taxed could hand over the goods, and the army still relied mainly on purchases for fodder.

Therefore, the fodder tax was nominally a tax in kind, but it was usually paid in money or goods.

If the officers want to check the accounts, they naturally need the account book.

Who knew that Zuo Yulin's people would say that the account books were missing? Now even a fool would know that there must be something wrong with the accounts.

Naturally, both sides started arguing, which then turned into a conflict. During the pushing and shoving, it was unclear whether the sturdy man who was hitting the other person had lost his mind or was relying on his height and strength to act without any scruples.

He raised his hand and punched the officers' team several times, all of which landed right on the face of the unlucky guy.

As the deputy envoy of the Inspectorate of All Armies, Zhao Kuangyin was originally leading people to investigate the Left and Right Longwu Armies. After learning about the situation, he immediately rushed to find Li Yi.

After all, there was a problem with the fodder tax, and it would be unreasonable to say that General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards was unaware of it.

It is very likely that the superiors take the big portion, while the subordinates get the small portion, and everyone from top to bottom is deceiving the accounts.

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Drag him away and chop him up!"

On ordinary days, he might have shown his benevolence and righteousness and given the other party a chance to redeem himself for his crime.

But now he just needs to borrow the other person's head!
"promise!"

Ma Renyu is ready to fight. He will obey any decision of Li Yi unconditionally. If you ask who is the most loyal to Li Yi in the future, if he says he is not the first, no one dares to claim to be second.

After receiving the order, Ma Renyu waved his hand and the strong man was dragged away.

At this point, the man could no longer pretend to be tough and cried for mercy. Unfortunately, no one would pity him. One could only hope that he would be more careful in his next life.

Zhao Kuangyin looked hesitant. He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

He subconsciously glanced at Li Yi a few times, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a while, a bloody head was brought to Li Yi.

"Deal with the body and hand it over to the Privy Council."

Li Yi gave an order.

Having seen so much blood and flesh flying on the battlefield, he no longer feels much about killing.

He didn't think it was cruel.

At the beginning of the first month of the year, Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, killed hundreds of people in a few days just because of rumors in the army.

In comparison, Li Yi felt that he was still kind.

As long as no one stands in his way, he doesn't mind showing enough leniency.

Li Yi glanced at Zhao Kuangyin vaguely, and the other party was obviously absent-minded.

At this moment, several knights rushed into the camp of the Zuo Yulin Army at full speed.

It immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

Zhao Kuangyin whispered, "The one leading them is General Meng Hanqing of the Left Winged Guards."

Li Yi nodded.

The leading knight was in his early fifties, wearing a brocade robe with embroidered edges and a goldfish bag hanging around his waist, symbolizing his high rank of third grade.

"Envoy Li!"

Meng Hanqing came closer and, without getting off his horse, casually bowed to Li Yi.

Li Yi returned the greeting from his horse and said, "General, you have arrived just in time. Someone in the Zuo Yu Lin army was trying to rebel, but I have already led my men to quell the rebellion."

His tone seemed very polite. Although the other party's title was just an honorary one and had no influence over him, the commander of the inner palace, he still called himself a subordinate.

However, the meaning of his words was very scary. He directly avoided the important issue and did not mention the fodder tax, but instead said it was a rebellion against the superiors.

Meng Hanqing, who had been maintaining his composure, was startled upon hearing this and quickly said, "Envoy Li, please don't say such nonsense. My men are just tax collectors. How could they dare to rebel against the emperor?"

If it was just embezzlement of fodder tax, there would still be room for improvement. At most, he would be demoted.

This was not without precedent in the dynasties before the Later Zhou Dynasty. When military generals embezzled money, the emperor would rarely kill them in order to stabilize the morale of the army.

But if it involves rebellion, even if he, the General of the Left Winged Guards, is unaware of it, the emperor may not let him go.

Li Yi pointed his whip at the headless corpse not far away and said, "I've already chopped off one man. Whether this is treason or not is beyond my control. Your Majesty must make the final decision."

As he spoke, he grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, but when Meng Hanqing saw it, he couldn't help but shudder secretly.

He had heard of this newly promoted young general of the Imperial Guards a long time ago. The other party was now very famous and was deeply trusted by His Majesty. He assisted the two main generals of the Palace Army and the Guard Department and was responsible for the reorganization of the Imperial Guards.

However, Meng Hanqing didn't care much about this matter.

The six armies and guards are called one of the imperial guards, but in reality they are nothing. How can the reorganization of the imperial guards affect themselves?
Meng Hanqing considered himself a veteran of several dynasties. Although he did not have much real power now, no matter which emperor it was, he would be worshipped highly and treated as a mascot.

To show the emperor's kindness and grace.

He can do whatever he wants on his own little piece of land. As long as he doesn't go too far, it won't be a big deal.

But now it seems that this Inner Palace Commander-in-Chief wants to show off his power.

Meng Hanqing coughed lightly and lowered his voice, "I will personally explain this matter to His Majesty..."

But before he could finish his words, Li Yi interrupted him, saying, "I, your Majesty, also have something to report. Why don't you come with me to see Your Majesty? It would be best if we could discuss this in person."

As he spoke, Li Yi waved his hand, and a small half of the men he brought with him surrounded Meng Hanqing and his companions.

Meng Hanqing's expression changed several times, but he finally gave in and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Li Dushi to come with me."

(End of this chapter)