The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 89 Review of the Imperial Guards

December, the first year of Xian De.

After a heavy snowfall, the entire city of Tokyo was covered in white. The black boots stepped on the snow, leaving marks that covered the ankles.

The training ground for the inner palace guards.

Li Yi stood on a high platform, wearing an iron armor with animal heads and shoulders. Under the sunlight of the clear winter sky, the brand new armor pieces reflected fine silver light.

His face was solemn, his handsome features were slightly resolute, and the crimson cloak he was wearing danced wildly in the biting cold wind.

Beneath the high platform, thousands of infantry and cavalry were lined up in full gear. At first glance, they looked like a forest of swords and spears, and the awe-inspiring momentum was overwhelming.

"All the inner palace guards have been summoned!"

"Please ask the commander-in-chief to review the situation!"

Ma Renyu inspected the queue, then rode his horse a few quick steps to the foot of the platform, dismounted, saluted, and reported.

Li Yi nodded, and Ma Renyu immediately stepped aside.

"Tomorrow, Your Majesty will offer sacrifices to heaven at the Circular Mound in the western suburbs and enshrine the tablets of Emperor Taizu. Afterwards, Your Majesty will conduct a grand review of the troops."

Li Yi's brows slightly tightened, his eyes swept across the thousands of soldiers below the stage, and his voice resounded like a loud bell.

"You will be the vanguard of the parade and will serve as role models for all the Imperial Guards. I hope you will not bring shame to the envoy and disappoint His Majesty."

"If anyone dares to make the slightest mistake in front of the emperor—"

"I will kill him without mercy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the training ground was filled with deafening, unisoned shouts of "Yes."

"very good!"

Li Yi nodded with satisfaction.

Looking at the group of people in front of him that he had trained himself, he couldn't help but feel a great sense of accomplishment in his heart.

After nearly four months, the work of reorganizing the imperial guards was finally completed before the emperor's New Year's sacrifice.

Tomorrow is the time to fully demonstrate the results to the emperor.

"Gather at the training grounds at 3:00 AM tomorrow. Everyone, please disperse now!"

Following an order, the soldiers, led by their respective officers, evacuated the training ground in an orderly manner.

During this reorganization of the imperial guards, the number of the Inner Palace Guards was expanded to 5,000, divided into left and right groups, each with five commanders, for a total of 2,500 people.

The left and right Ban are equivalent to the ordinary army level, and the chief general is the left and right Ban Duzhi, who has the status and treatment of a military commander.

As a result, the status of Li Yi, the commander-in-chief of the inner palace, also rose rapidly.

Originally, his position was equivalent to that of Xiangdu Yuhou, but now he is a formal Xiangdu commander.

It can be regarded as officially stepping into the ranks of senior generals.

In addition, some other generals of the Inner Palace Guard were also redeployed.

Among them, the left-hand commander was Liu Yuanmao, who had been in the inner palace for many years. He previously served as the commander of the fourth squad of the small team, which was equivalent to the first level of commander.

The right commander was Zhang Maochang, Li Yi's former superior. He served as the left and right commanders of the flag and ceremonial guards. His rank was the same as Liu Yuanmao, only a commander.

These two people were promoted because Li Yi recommended them to the emperor.

As for Li Yi's sworn brothers Zhang Jiangong and Li Hanchao.

Naturally, the two of them were promoted.

Zhang Jiangong served as Zuoban Du Yuhou and was promoted to Jun Du Yuhou after joining the army.

However, as a military envoy, he was originally the captain of Li Yi's personal guards, in charge of more than 200 people, twice as many as an ordinary military envoy.

Although he is nominally a military envoy, his actual status is no lower than that of a commander.

Li Hanchao replaced Zhang Jiangong and became the captain of Li Yi's personal guards, and was promoted from a general to a military envoy.

It has to be said that Li Hanchao is the luckiest among them.

From the time he joined the Imperial Guards to now, in just a few months, he has been promoted all the way.

He started out as a general and now has been promoted to a military envoy, and his status is equivalent to that of a commander.

Maybe this is what they often say: it is better to follow the right person than to do a good job...

……

Li Yi divided the specific process of rectifying the imperial guards into three stages.

The first stage is to eliminate the old and weak and select the elite.

All the unusable personnel in the imperial guards were eliminated, and the remaining personnel were divided into three grades of soldiers: upper, middle and lower grades.

Among them, the senior soldiers are the country's field troops and foreign combat forces.

Responsible for directly participating in front-line hand-to-hand combat.

The middle-ranking soldiers assisted the upper-ranking soldiers in combat, and performed defensive tasks such as guarding the city and providing security.

As for the lower-ranking soldiers, it’s not that they can’t fight, but their combat effectiveness is slightly weaker.

Therefore, it is mainly responsible for engineering transportation and logistics support.

But they also have to go into battle when necessary... For example, in a battle involving huge casualties such as attacking a city or capturing a stronghold, the elite troops must not be allowed to go up and be wasted in vain, so usually the auxiliary soldiers are allowed to go up first.

Although it sounds cruel, this is the naked reality.

And some of the old and weak who were eliminated were selected to serve as soldiers on the battlefield.

This part has basically no combat effectiveness, which is equivalent to auxiliary soldiers among auxiliary soldiers.

But it is enough to raise horses, do laundry, and do some daily chores.

Speaking of which, the first phase of reorganizing the imperial guards was the most energy-consuming, and it took nearly three months.

After all, the Later Zhou imperial guards had accumulated problems for a long time, and the selection of more than 100,000 personnel would definitely not be fast. This is already considered relatively fast.

The second stage is to accept new recruits sent from all over the place.

This matter can be carried out at the same time as the first stage, and it is actually the easiest. A group of people can be sent in and immediately assigned to various departments.

However, the second stage lasted the longest, and it can be said that it has not yet completely ended.

Because the Imperial Guards needed to supplement tens of thousands of personnel, and they also required a certain quality, so they would definitely not be of poor quality, so they could not all be in place at once.

The newcomers will first be added to the four main forces: Longjie, Hujie, Tieqi and Konghe.

So far, the four main forces are basically fully staffed.

The rest of the troops that have not yet been fully staffed are also sending people in one after another, and they should be able to fill the manpower soon.

At the same time, the inner palace guards under Li Yi also enjoyed priority. His 5,000 troops were quickly replenished and have even been almost fully trained.

Finally, the third phase was about training the army. Each unit had been supplemented with new personnel, and they needed to be trained and integrated before they could become fully combat-ready.

But this matter does not affect anything. The original skeletons of the various imperial guards are still there, and they can be trained step by step with the old leading the new.

All in all, the task of reorganizing the imperial guards has been completed.

The only difference is the actual combat test.

……

at dusk.

Zhao Kuangyin hurried over to the inner palace guards.

As soon as he entered the barracks, he saluted respectfully and said, "Envoy Li, I have completed my inspection of all the imperial guards."

Li Yi was looking through the roster. When he heard Zhao Da's voice, he looked up and said with a smile, "Zhao Du Yu Hou, you've worked hard. Come and sit down and rest."

Hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin hesitated for a moment, then walked to the position where Li Yi was taking action and sat upright.

Seeing Zhao Kuangyin's performance, Li Yi couldn't help but feel emotional.

Think about the time at the beginning of the year, after a heavy snowfall, I accidentally killed Zhao Da’s cousin at the door of the breakfast shop.

At that time, Li Yi was worried and anxious about this, and even became discouraged at one point.

Especially after learning that Zhao Da's aunt had also committed suicide by jumping into a well, he had even thought about how he would die in the future.

But what about now?

The future Emperor Taizu of Song did not seem to be scary in front of him. Instead, he had to salute him respectfully.

After the veil of mystery is lifted, the heroes in history appear more real.

After all, Zhao Kuangyin was just a mortal. Historically, his success in becoming emperor was due to both his own efforts and luck.

But it is obvious that this fortune has now been transferred to someone.

As he spoke, Li Yi called in the guards outside the barracks and ordered, "Go and pour a cup of tea for Zhao Du Yu Hou."

Zhao Kuangyin quickly said: "I am not thirsty!"

"Ugh--"

Li Yi put down the list in his hand, sighed softly, and looked at Zhao Kuangyin, "Brother Zhao, you and I have been together day and night for several months. We should be closer, but why do we feel so distant?"

In fact, after spending several months together, Li Yi's attitude towards Zhao Kuangyin has changed a lot.

As long as Zhao Kuangyin did not intend to be his enemy, he would not mind making peace with him completely, even if it meant absorbing him into his own righteous society. What was the harm?

As his status gradually improved, Li Yi's perspective on things became completely different.

His greatest fear of Zhao Kuangyin was once nothing more than the title of the future Emperor Taizu of Song.

But if Zhao Da didn't have the chance to reach that point, wouldn't he still be a good general with his abilities?
As the saying goes: It is easy to cultivate an enemy, but it is a real skill to be able to use a potential enemy for my own benefit.

At the same time, when Zhao Kuangyin heard Li Yi's words, he was stunned for a moment, and a hint of helplessness seemed to flash across his dark face.

After a long moment, he sighed and said, "To be honest, Brother Yi, I don't mean to distance myself from you. You've been so sincere to me over the past few months, and I've long considered you a brother in my heart."

"But my father... I've tried to persuade him many times, but he still finds it hard to let go of my aunt's matter."

"As a son, I'm caught between my brothers and my father. It's really a dilemma!"

Zhao Kuangyin's behavior did not seem fake, and he could express his father Zhao Hongyin's thoughts without reservation. It seemed that he really did not treat Li Yi as an outsider.

Otherwise, given Zhao Kuangyin's filial piety, how could he possibly speak ill of his own father in front of others?

But after hearing this, Li Yi understood.

It seems that the cousin Zhao Da who was beaten to death by his own hands was not the key, but the aunt Zhao Da who committed suicide by jumping into the well, who became the knot in Zhao Da's father's heart.

This is strange...it doesn't matter if they are beaten to death, but it's not the same if they commit suicide.

Li Yi thought this in his heart, but his expression did not show it. Instead, he comforted him, "Your father is old, and it is inevitable that he misses his family and old friends. He may not be blaming me."

"Let's put this matter aside for now. You and I are still brothers. Please don't be as estranged as before."

What Li Yi said seemed very generous.

What he meant was that he didn't mind how Zhao Da's father treated him, and he truly regarded Zhao Da as a brother.

At this time, the personal guard brought in a cup of hot tea, placed it in front of Zhao Kuangyin, and then retreated.

Taking a sip of the hot tea, Zhao Kuangyin seemed to have made up his mind and said immediately, "Brother Yi is right. My father will eventually come to his senses. We can't let this matter hurt our brotherly feelings."

"I did something wrong, I hope Brother Yi can forgive me!"

"Look here." Li Yi frowned and said, "Brother Zhao, are you saying something so awkward again?"

"Oh, no more, no more..."

Next.

The two turned the topic back to business.

Zhao Kuangyin was ordered by Li Yi to inspect the imperial guards, mainly to check the preparations for tomorrow's military review.

This time the emperor reviewed the imperial guards.

In addition to the 5,000 troops of the Inner Palace Guard, the four main armies of Longjie, Hujie, Tieqi and Konghe also each dispatched 5,000 troops to participate.

In addition, other departments of the Palace Front Department and the Guard Department will also have to select some personnel to participate in the review.

A total of nearly 40,000 troops were reviewed by the emperor this time.

It accounts for one-third of the total number of imperial guards.

However, Li Yi's assignment as the inspector of the appearance of all the troops in front of the palace has not been removed for the time being, so he is fully responsible for the dispatch and arrangement of the troops on parade.

However, he was actually in charge of the reorganization of the imperial guards, and naturally he was also responsible for inspecting the troops.

If anything goes wrong, he will definitely not be able to escape.

When leaving the Inner Palace Guard’s camp, Li Yi personally escorted Zhao Kuangyin to the camp gate. The two held each other’s arms and talked for a while before Zhao Kuangyin said goodbye and left.

Watching Zhao Kuangyin's back.

The smile on Li Yi's face gradually faded.

He couldn't help but rub his face and sighed, "The higher my status gets, the more fake my smile becomes. My head is always thinking about this and that. I really miss the happy days in my previous life when I could play League of Legends all night for ten yuan."

Of course, he was just thinking about it. If he really had to trade his current status for it, he would not be willing to do so.

People...are really mean!

……

(End of this chapter)