The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 95: The King of Wei's Invitation (4K)

"Congratulations, big brother, on your promotion! Let's all give him a toast!"

In the main hall of Li Yi's house, several of his brothers from the Yishe Society were present. Ma Renyu was the first to stand up, raise his bowl to toast, and shouted something.

The other people naturally stood up as well, and voices of congratulations rang out one after another.

Li Yi raised his hand and pressed it down. After everyone was seated, he spoke again, "We are all brothers, so let's not say these polite words."

"Come on, let's do it together."

After drinking a bowl of wine, Li Yi looked around at the others and said encouragingly, "After this reorganization of the Imperial Guards, all of you brothers have been promoted. I hope you can work harder in the future."

"Although I now have some status and can speak with some influence in the Imperial Guards, and can look after you a little, but if you don't have real ability to convince others, I can't promote you for no reason."

Everyone quickly said in unison: "We will definitely not bring shame to Big Brother."

After this reorganization of the imperial guards, Li Yi's brothers in the righteous society were all promoted in military rank.

The second son, Ma Renyu, was transferred to become the chief general of the inner palace guards and became a formal commander of the wing capital, and has entered the ranks of senior military generals of the imperial guards.

The third brother Zhang Jiangong was promoted to the Left Guard of the Inner Palace, and the fifth brother Zhao Yanwu became the First Army of the Left Wing of the Iron Cavalry. Both of them reached the level of Army Commander.

As for the fourth brother Li Hanchao, the sixth brother Xia Renhui, and the seventh brother Xu Kuangrong, they were a little worse.

Li Hanchao was the captain of Li Yi's personal guards, Xia Renhui was the commander of the first command of Long Jie's Left Second Army, and Xu Kuangrong was the chief of the left and right squads of the outer palace guards.

All three of them are only at the commander level.

But at least he has entered the ranks of mid-level generals.

At this time, Li Hanchao said: "Now, my elder brother is the second most important person in the Palace Front Department, except for Prince Consort Zhang."

"With Big Brother here, we brothers just have to work hard. If we make a contribution, Big Brother will naturally ask for rewards for us. We don't have to worry about anyone daring to take advantage of us."

Li Hanchao's words actually expressed the common feelings of several brothers in the Yishe Society.

Big brother Li Yi has been rising rapidly, and his brothers must be proud of him. Moreover, with their big brother in charge, everyone does not have to worry about not having opportunities to develop.

After all, many times, choice is more important than hard work, and following the right people is far more important than working hard.

Otherwise, they will only become cannon fodder and take the blame... The imperial guards formed gangs and factions and swore ties to each other, all for the purpose of keeping each other warm.

While they were talking, Ma Renyu interrupted, "Fourth brother, what you said is not right, right? Isn't there still that fellow Shi Yanchao in the Palace Front Office?"

"Oh, it's so unlucky just thinking about it. If it weren't for big brother risking his life to save him at Xinkou, that guy would be dead now. I didn't expect that he would share the credit for big brother's work and become the commander of the palace infantry, which actually puts him above big brother."

"Nonsence!"

It seems that Ma Renyu is still thinking about the fact that after repelling the Liao army in the Battle of Xinkou, Shi Yanchao boasted about his achievements everywhere.

After hearing this, Li Yi remembered what Shi Yanchao said in Xinzhou: "You and I should both be credited with the greatest contribution."

He had no complaints about this, because the credit was not earned by himself. Everyone knew who had made the greater contribution in that battle.

But when these words came out of Shi Yanchao's mouth, it was always funny to think about them.

Li Yi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Second brother is right, but not entirely." Li Hanchao shook his head and said, "On the surface, Shi Yanchao's military rank is indeed higher than that of eldest brother."

"But he had been transferred from the Imperial Guard Department since the previous dynasty, from the Longjie Army to the Hujie Army, and then from the Hujie Army back to the Longjie Army. It was not until Your Majesty returned from the personal expedition that he was transferred from the Longjie Right Wing Commander to the Imperial Guard Cavalry Commander."

"Furthermore, since Taizu founded the country, he has spent most of his time on garrison duty. Even within the Imperial Guard Division, Shi Yanchao's foundation is not very deep."

"What's more, he has an unstable personality and is not well-liked. Now that he has been transferred to our Palace Front Department, how many people can be close to him?"

Li Yi listened quietly to Li Hanchao's analysis, while his eyes swept over several brothers.

To be honest, among his brothers, Li Hanchao and Zhang Jiangong are the most intelligent, but they have completely different personalities.

Li Hanchao is an extrovert with a strong desire to express himself.

Just like when Li Yi took Ma Renyu to visit Wei Wang Fu Yanqing, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation in the wine shop of the post station and chatted with the two about Wei Wang's daughter.

Moreover, Li Hanchao is a very opinionated person, otherwise he would not have been able to find out all the details about Shi Yanchao after only a few months in the Imperial Guards. It can be seen that he has put in a lot of effort.

At the same time, Li Hanchao also knows the limits. He knows exactly what to do and what not to do.

Of course, a capable person like him also has a rebellious side. If you want to use him, you can, but you must be able to suppress him.

Just like when Li Hanchao was a captain in the yamen, he just turned around and left because he was dissatisfied with his immediate superior.

There is a saying that goes, I'm not afraid of my subordinates being capable, I'm just afraid of my leaders being useless.

Fortunately, Li Yi was confident that he could suppress him, and they also had the relationship of sworn brothers.

Now that Li Yi is in a high position and has great power, these brothers have no better choice than to follow him wholeheartedly.

Compared with Li Hanchao, Zhang Jiangong is a little more introverted.

However, Zhang Jiangong's brain is no worse than Li Hanchao's. Most of the time he either keeps silent or speaks to the point.

More importantly, Zhang Jiangong is steady and successful enough. He says less and does more, and people can trust him when he gets things done.

As for Ma Renyu and the other playmates who came from Li Yi’s hometown in Xiajin.

The second son, Ma Renyu, is not stupid, but perhaps because of the influence of Li Yi, he has deviated from the historical records. Many times he doesn't like to use his brain and is used to listening to Li Yi's orders in everything he does.

As for Zhao Yanwu and the other two, their brains might not be as sharp as Li Hanchao and the other two, but they can still handle things on their own.

Of course, whether one's brain is flexible enough is secondary. When it comes to absolute loyalty to Li Yi, Xia Jin's playmates are definitely the best.

At the same time, Ma Renyu was stunned by what Li Hanchao said and couldn't help but say, "If that's the case, then Shi Yanchao is just a decoration in our Dianqian Division, isn't he?"

"How could it be a decoration..." Li Yi suddenly spoke, and several people turned their eyes to him.

"Shi Yanchao has been in the army for over ten years. Even if his foundation in the Imperial Guard is limited, he definitely has more experience than you and me."

"And your Majesty promoted him to be the commander of the imperial guards. Isn't this also a way to create checks and balances?"

"It's precisely because he doesn't have good relationships with many generals that he doesn't care about anyone's face when doing things, and no one can order him around."

Speaking of this, Li Yi couldn't help but think of Han Tong in history, known as "Han Cangmu". It is said that he is similar to Shi Yanchao. Both have a tough character but are brave but not wise. Moreover, they have low emotional intelligence and a bad temper, and they offend people as soon as they open their mouths.

Before his death, Chai Rong promoted him to replace Li Chongjin in the Imperial Guard Department to check and balance Zhao Kuangyin. He probably took a fancy to his character and thought that he would not be held hostage by Zhao Kuangyin.

However, Han Tong did not play any role and was killed by Zhao Da's younger brother Wang Yansheng.

All we can say is that man proposes, God disposes. No matter how perfect the power structure and checks and balances are, they cannot withstand unexpected situations.

After a pause, Li Yi continued, "Although Shi Yanchao is difficult to get along with, I did rescue him at Xinkou, so we fought side by side."

"Even if he didn't say anything, he'll at least remember it in his heart. Even if he's not close to us, I don't think he'll deliberately make things difficult for us."

At this time, Zhang Jiangong, who had been silent the whole time, said, "In my opinion, even if Shi Yanchao wants to go against us, as long as my elder brother is in the Palace Front Division, he won't be able to cause any trouble."

As expected, Zhang Jiangong either didn't speak at all, or always pointed out the key points when he spoke.

Just as Zhang Jiangong said, Li Yi himself also felt that Shi Yanchao's connections in the Palace Front Office were no match for his own.

Not to mention that Li Yi had been a lieutenant in the Palace Army for several years and Shi Yanchao had just been transferred here.

Let’s just talk about the selection of generals for each department in the Palace Front Department.

Wang Shenqi, Han Chongyun, Zhao Kuangyin, Shi Shouxin, and Ma Renyu, these important generals were all close to Li Yi.

As for the middle and lower-level officers, they were all selected by Li Yi. Although they were nominally promoted by the emperor, who dares to say that these people did not care about Li Yi's good deeds?
If Li Yi wanted to rebel now, these people would definitely not follow him and risk their lives.

But if they were asked to choose between Shi Yanchao and Li Yi, they would definitely prefer Li Yi.

Thinking of this, Li Yi suddenly realized that his position in the imperial guards seemed to be extremely important.

Needless to say, Li Yi hadn't yet won over the generals of the Imperial Guards, but he also participated in the selection of mid-level and lower-level officers.

Moreover, most of the people who came from Feiyingdu were arranged by Li Yi to the Guard Department.

These middle and lower-level officers may not be able to influence the decision-making of the top leaders of the Imperial Guards on a normal day, but once the critical moment comes, they can play an unexpected role.

For example, when everyone needs to take sides... Thinking of this, Li Yi picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

Then he shook his head and said, "Forget it, we brothers are having a party today, so we won't talk about business..."

As he spoke, he raised his wine bowl, and everyone followed suit and raised their bowls.

Li Yi smiled and said, "Brothers, you have all worked hard over the past few months. Let's drink as much as we can today. Don't leave until you are drunk."

"Okay, toast to Big Brother!"

Afterwards, everyone raised their glasses and drank together, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more and more lively.

But as they drank and chatted, everyone couldn't help but mention the Queen's promise to be a matchmaker for Li Yi.

Ma Renyu had drunk too much and spoke boldly. He said bluntly, "I don't think the Queen needs to bother finding a good family for Big Brother. Are the two daughters of the Prince of Wei not worthy of Big Brother?"

"Ah, no, it's my elder brother. Isn't he worthy of the two daughters of the King of Wei?"

"With Big Brother's physique, appearance, and current status, what would it matter if he married two daughters, let alone one?"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Li Yi scolded with a smile, but he was not angry. However, he was indeed unhappy about getting married.

It is obvious that the Fu family has two suitable candidates, but the queen is ambiguous and has not given a definite answer.

Li Yi didn't believe it. Could the Fu family still object after the Queen issued an imperial decree?

As for whether he was qualified to marry the King of Wei's daughter... Fu Erniang was the Queen's full sister, so it was understandable that she said she was not qualified.

But Fu Liumei was just a concubine's daughter. In history, when she married Zhao Kuangyi, the Donkey Cart God of War was nothing.

Even his brother Zhao Kuangyin had not yet become the Palace Guard Inspector at that time. In terms of status and position, he was not much higher than himself now.

Isn’t it more than enough for me to marry Fu Liumei?
Thinking of this, Li Yi couldn't help feeling unhappy, and under the influence of alcohol, he slammed the bowl heavily on the table.

A loud "bang" startled everyone present.

Seeing several of his fellow brothers looking at him in astonishment.

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "I drank too much and was a little tipsy. I couldn't hold the bowl for a moment."

But it is obvious that his explanation is not convincing at all.

Li Hanchao glanced at Li Yi's face and guessed some of the reasons.

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "In my opinion, the Queen's promise to act as a matchmaker for my brother is certainly not empty talk."

"As for what you said about marrying the King of Wei's daughter, I think it's very promising."

"Oh? What are your thoughts, Fourth Brother?"

Li Yi immediately became interested and motioned Li Hanchao to continue.

Li Hanchao pondered, "Now that the King of Wei's two daughters are getting married, looking across the entire Great Zhou, who among the young talents of the same age can match Big Brother's current status?"

"And those who can rival Big Brother's status, which one of them isn't quite old and already married?"

"So if the King of Wei wants to marry off his daughter, and if he doesn't want her to suffer any injustice, the best candidate is none other than my eldest brother!"

"The only thing to consider is which daughter to marry..."

At this point, Li Hanchao said confidently, "I don't think there's any need to rush this matter. The Lantern Festival is only a few days away. I'm afraid there will be news from the Queen before then."

Li Yi was naturally skeptical about Li Hanchao's assertion, but what he said did make some sense.

Then... let's wait and see!
however.

What Li Yi didn't expect was.

He did not wait for news from the queen, but instead received an invitation letter from Prince of Wei Fu Yanqing.

……

this day.

Li Yi sat in Zhang Yongde's official room and chatted with him.

The two were discussing the progress of the government's inspection of Buddhist temples.

"I originally thought that Li Duyuhou's talk at the court about destroying Buddhism was somewhat exaggerated, but the investigations into Buddhist temples across the country over the past few months have been truly shocking!"

Zhang Yongde sighed, "Just the temples and monasteries we've checked so far number over 48,600, with over 100,000 monks and nuns of all kinds."

"The confiscated copperware and money alone amounted to over 10 million strings of cash, and there were also countless amounts of gold, silver, and other valuables."

"What's even more infuriating is that temples in various counties and prefectures are concealing their land, underreporting tens of thousands of acres. This has infuriated His Majesty. If it weren't for the Prime Ministers' dissuasion, he would have probably started a massacre!"

Li Yi couldn't help but be shocked when he heard this. Not to mention the money and treasures, the tens of thousands of hectares of land alone amounted to more than one million acres. And according to Zhang Yongde, this was not a number that had been thoroughly counted.

Zhang Yongde couldn't help but curse, "The harm done by Buddhism is like a stubborn cancer. It would be best to destroy it!"

Li Yi nodded in agreement, then asked, "I wonder how Your Majesty will handle this matter?"

"What else can be done? Naturally, it is to demolish temples and expel the monks and nuns. To date, over 30,000 temples have been abolished, and over 70,000 monks and nuns have been expelled."

"All the confiscated property and land went into the national treasury... The money used by Li Duyuhou to reorganize the imperial guards also came from here."

Zhang Yongde chuckled.

Just then, a police officer came in quickly and told Li Yi that someone was looking for him.

Li Yi immediately apologized to Zhang Yongde.

After returning to his official room, he saw Li Hanchao waiting anxiously.

Li Yi frowned and said, "Han Chao, what happened?"

"Brother, there is a letter sent to you from Daming Prefecture."

"Daming Mansion?"

Li Yi was a little confused and reached out to take the leather envelope. Sure enough, there was the mark of Damingfu Military Post.

It seems that this letter was sent through the army's special post station.

When he opened the leather envelope, he saw the words "King of Wei" at a glance.

Li Yi hurriedly read it carefully. There was not much content in the letter, only a few dozen words, but the meaning was very clear: inviting Li Yi to go to Daming Prefecture to participate in the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Seeing a smile on Li Yi's face, Li Hanchao couldn't help but feel curious, but he didn't dare to ask directly.

At this time, Li Yi smiled and said, "Han Chao, go and get ready. We will leave for Daming Prefecture in the next two days."

"Ah?" Li Hanchao was stunned.

Li Yi didn't say much, but reached out and handed the letter to him.

After taking the letter and taking a glance at it, Li Hanchao's face showed joy.

He immediately bowed to Li Yi and said, "Congratulations, big brother. This time you are going to Daming Mansion to meet your father-in-law!"

(End of this chapter)