The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 411 The Prince An’s Intentions

The first rays of the morning sun spilled over the ancient city of Taiyuan, and the cold left by the long night had not yet dissipated, but the rows of neighborhoods was awake. People opened their doors and walked into the courtyard. The breakfast carts in the streets and alleys were sporadically steaming, gathering groups of early customers.

Li Ye, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes on the low couch and saw the golden sunlight seeping through the windowsill. As the sun rays spread on the carpet, a smile appeared on his face.

Hedong had settled down for some time now, and the Pinglu Army had already stationed troops in the four prefectures of Daizhou, Shuozhou, Yunzhou, and Weizhou. They were now steadily progressing with the follow-up matters. As Li Ye had totally taken control over Hedong, he now had absolute military and political power over these eleven vassal states.

What followed was the Luck of the people who gathered here from all around.

Although Li Ye had just pacified Hedong, fortunately, the Pinglu army had the strict discipline and rarely harassed the people after taking the city. The Zhaoyi, Henghai, and Tianping Armies dared not to make any trouble either, and they only split up the money and grain. Plus initially, they took proper measures to placate the people, so the people of Hedong was already beginning to trust them.

Prince An’s reputation had already spread throughout the world, and everyone knew that the Prince An was kind and compassionate. Although the four major religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism and the various feudal princes did not believe that Li Ye could resurrect the Tang Dynasty, so they didn’t care much for him. The people however, were much simpler: they only cared about who could give them a peaceful life.

When the Pinglu army entered Hedong, although the people did not wine and dine them with a huge welcoming party, however, the people of Hedong were happier to be under the jurisdiction of the Prince An after the war.

Although only a part of the people trusted Li Ye, less than half to be more precise, fortunately, Hedong was fast with a dense population. So Li Ye had gained quite a lot.

By now, Li Ye had already reached the latter stage of the Yang Spiritual Master realm, he was only one step away from breaking through to the Immortal Realm.

Li Ye thought that when Li Zhen’s early civil policy was fully implemented and Hedong restored peace and order, the people who were still observing would then be at ease. By then he would have more than enough Luck.

This wouldn’t take too long, somewhere in the range of 2 to 12 weeks.

When the time was ripe, it would then depend on the assist from the heavens for Li Ye to break through the Immortal Realm.

In the morning, the Zhaoyi Army commissioner Kang Chengqian, the Tianping Army commissioner Xue Wei, and the Henghai Army commissioner Liu Jingsi came to see Li Ye. Li Ye received them in the hall.

Of the three armies, the Zhaoyi Army had the strongest combat power, and Kang Chengqian’s cultivation was the highest. But the first one to speak was Liu Jingsi because he was the oldest—The Henghai army had been friends with Li Ye since he first took over the Pinglu army.

Liu Jingsi clasped his fist in salute and said, “We owe this victory to Your Highness’ brilliant deployment strategy. We all have great admiration for Your Highness. Now that Hedong is settled, plus we’ve been out for a few months now, we’re here to ask when can we return?”

The post-war rewards for merit and performance had already been awarded and the spoils of Hedong Manor had been divided up. Liu Jingsi and others had all gained quite a lot, plus the merit-petition to the imperial court had already been presented. Theoretically, Liu Jingsi and others would be ranked and promoted soon.

Yet, Chang’an city was now surrounded by the Feng Xiang army.

The received news from a couple of days ago that the Fengxiang army had begun to siege the city and there were a large number of warriors among them. It looked like Chang’an City would soon be breached.

Once Chang’an was breached, the emperor would move west to Fengxiang and fall into the hands of Li Maozhen. By then, there would be little hope of their promotion because it would then be dependent on Li Maozhen’s mood.

Unless they befriended Li Maozhen. Then Li Maozhen might show them some love.

So Liu Jingsi and others all wanted to go back and make other arrangements.

After all, if they stayed in Hedong, Li Ye might decide to kill Liu Jingsi and other cultivators who had not yet reached the Immortal Realm. By then all their troops would be in Li Ye’s hands and their vassal states would become Li Ye’s.

Of course, Li ye knew what they were thinking.

The world was in chaos and the situation was changing rapidly. Now that Chang’an was under attack, the orthodox imperial force could no longer hold on, plus the Pinglu was also under attack by Xuanwu army. Li Ye’s status and power were being challenged.

When even the righteousness emperor was fragile, the title of Prince An was no longer effective. And it would be difficult for the people to bow down and follow him.

It was time to speak on strength alone.

Fortunately, Li Ye was not lacking in the strength department.

Be it the strength of cultivation or the strength of his army.

So he smiled and said to the crowd, “Setting aside the vassal states of Pinglu and Tianping, after settling the battle of Hedong, the north of the Yellow River, the east of Lvliang Mountain, and the most important Tang Empire’s northern territories are all in our hands. The only vassal states left are the Zhenzhou Chengde, Dingzhou Yiwu and Youzhou Lulong. In other words, as long as we take these vassal states, the whole of the north is in my hands!”

After hearing these words, Liu Jingsi, Kang Chengqian, Xue Wei, and others were all shocked, and all felt uneasy like they were sitting on a carpet of spikes.

The so-called Lvliang Mountain was on the east side of the Yellow River’s U-shaped bend, in other words as long as Li Ye took Chengde, Yiwu, and Lulong Towns, the east of the Yellow River’s U-shaped bend, and the north of the Central Plains would all be in his jurisdiction.

Not to mention the vassal states of Tianping and Pinglu.

And from Li Ye’s words, it was apparent he intended to do so!

That was what they were most concerned about.

When Li Ye attacked Hedong, he set out from Pinglu, crossed the Yellow River, and headed westward. He then took Weibo and conquered Zhaoyi along the way. He had long united Hedong and Pinglu. Thus there were no longer any obstacles in between.

Since Li Ye had won Hedong, naturally he wouldn’t just let it go. But Zhaoyi Army’s territory just happened to lie between Hedong and Weibo. In the case that Li Ye took Weibo, if he wanted to hold on tight to Hedong, then Zhaoyi’s position was very awkward.

He couldn’t just sit and watch Zhaoyi get stuck in his throat, right?

For Li Ye, how could Li Ye let anyone sleep on his couch as it were?

Kang Chengqian could neither sleep nor eat well the fast few days. He was afraid that when LI Ye returned to Pinglu, Li Ye would take his Zhaoyi Army in passing.

Kang Chengqian was worried about this situation before Li Ye attacked Hedong. The Zhaoyi Army had argued internally about the situation.

Only in the end, between Li Keyong and Li Ye, Kang Chengqian chose the latter. Li Ye was the Tang Empire’s minister after all, so as long as Li Ye did not have anything on the Zhaoyi Army, he would not attack them for no reason right?

Who would have thought that Chang’an would be under attack and the imperial court was danger. So naturally, Li Ye had lost the support of the righteousness, but from another way of looking at it, he was no longer bound either.

“The world is in chaos and even the emperor had been coerced. I, Li Ye, as a minister of the Tang empire and a part of the Imperial Li Clan, it is my duty as the Prince An to settle all the land of the Tang Empire. I must give the great Tang Empire a bright future and continue its greatness—There’s nothing wrong with that is there?

In the last two days, Kang Chengqian had cursed Li Maozhen’s eighteen generations of ancestors over a hundred times. If he saw Li Maozhen now, he would surely grab his collar and ask with anger, “Why are you intent on screwing me over?”

When Li Ye saw that everyone was restless, and sweat beads dripped down Kang Chengqian’s face like rain, he found it quite funny..com

He continued to add, “Li Maozhen is attacking Chang’an, and the imperial court is at risk. As a part of the Imperial Clan, I must consider the state. If the emperor falls into the enemy’s hand and the state falls, I, the solitary king must think long-term for the Tang Empire. I can’t just sit and watch the Tang Empire fall.”

Everyone shivered.

His words were very clear.

Since ancient times, once an emperor fell into the adversary’s hands, it meant the end of a dynasty. If the ministers wanted to preserve the state and continue the dynasty, they had to support an Heir Prince to take the throne—another emperor would then rebuild the imperial court.

Obviously, Li Ye planned to do the same.

And he wouldn’t need the support of others. He himself was a descendant of Tang Empire’s bloodline. He held the position of the Grand Prince. When the emperor really fell into the enemy’s hands, no one would say anything if he made himself the emperor.

Li Ye had the imperial court presiding over him in the past, and thus he had to report to the imperial court before making any decisions. Even though Li Yan had trusted him and he held the military and political power of Shandong, he was still just a minister and had many constraints.

Well, now everything was different.

Following Li Maozhen’s attack of Chang’an and the emperor falling into the enemy’s hands, the imperial court was in serious danger of falling. As long as Li Ye was ruthless and acted decisively, he could completely shake off the shackles of the imperial court.

Of course, with Li Yan still alive, he didn’t need to tell the feudal princes that he would make himself emperor and build another imperial court in Shandong. Doing so would give the feudal princes the perception that he was a rebel and dishonored the righteousness. He could however, act on his own accord and put up his own flag in the name of doing right by the Tang Empire.

With this in mind, Kang Chengqian cursed Li Maozhen’s eighteen generations of ancestors again, “Are you supposed to be screwing the Prince An over or helping him with your attack of the Chang’an city and capturing the emperor?”

Of course, Kang Chengqian knew that Li Maozhen’s purpose of attacking Chang’an was to threaten the feudal princes. These ‘feudal princes’ of course, included the Prince An.

But the thing was that Li Ye was not threatened at all. He could say that Li Maozhen, as a Tang minister, was being insubordinate, and turned against the Tang Empire. He then could use the excuse of cleaning house for the emperor to take Li Maozhen out.

Although he would do so just yet, it was a good idea to set up the flag early and gather power. He would then draw a boundary line between himself and Li Maozhen to avoid Li Maozhen ordering him around in the name of the emperor.

Others might not be able to act in such a way, but Li Ye definitely could because he was a part of the Imperial Clan, and the world-renowned Prince An.

Furthermore, after the end of the Han Dynasty, everyone was familiar with the act of threatening the feudal princes by capturing the emperor. And a few would still fall for it.

Not to say that Li Maozhen holding the emperor hostage was completely useless, just that the effectiveness was not as good as before.

Seeing everyone’s eyes changing, trying the hardest to figure out the meaning of Li Ye’s words and his intentions had made him laugh. Especially when some of them would suddenly seem like they understood Li Ye’s intentions.

He really thought that Kang Chengqian and others trying to figure out his intentions was useless.

He was not the kind of ambitious ruler where he’d be cautious with everything he did and repeatedly express his false loyalty. He was the Prince An of the Tang Empire, and didn’t need to make a fuss about setting up his own flag and doing right for the state.

Just that this series of actions would bring some suffering to Kang Chengqian and others.

He bluntly said, “You all know what kind of person I am. What I want to do is just protect the authority of the Tang Empire。 Ensure the smooth flow of law and order. All of you are Tang loyalists, and the battle of Hedong has already proved it. We are of the same mind, which makes things easier. You all just continue to be commissioners. Even if the imperial court does not reward you for the battle, I hold the military and political power of Shandong. So I will give you what you deserve.”

As he said those words, he sighed. “I know that you are loyal to the Tang Empire and will not disobey my commands. But who knows how Chengde, Yiwu and Lulong think? What I want to do is just to confirm their loyalty. Of course, if something unpleasant happened in the process and it was necessary to use force, presumably, you three would continue to support me, the solitary king?”

Li Ye’s meaning was very clear, “You all have to listen to me in the future. You must do whatever I ask of you, and treat my commands as the commands of the imperial court.”

It meant that Li Ye was the master and everyone else were subordinates. Or it could be understood as Li Ye was the emperor and everyone else was a minister.

If Kang Chengqian and others obeyed, then in the future, they would have played the same roles as that of Li Zhen and Liu Dazheng.

Kang Chengqian, Liu Jingsi, and Xue Wei were all speechless as they looked at each other.

Of course they were speechless, what else could they say?

Perhaps say that, “Prince An, how dare you try and coalesce us?” Or say that, “Prince an, we helped you take Hedong, and you are now trying to engulf us, where’s your loyalty?”

Wouldn’t that be asking for a quick death? After all, the Prince An’s cultivation was not just for show.

If they followed Li Ye, they’d still be commissioners. It meant that their status would not decline, and they would receive a lot of rewards. As long as Li Ye had a good future, they too were set.

The only disadvantage was that they would have to be under Li Ye’s control forever.

But it was better to be controlled than to die.

They knew clearly that Li Ye could kill them as easily as squashing an ant. And he wouldn’t even need to bother to bury their corpses afterwards.

There were plenty of people in their respective vassal states who would love the opportunity to kiss up to the Prince An and get promoted in the process.

In troubled times, people’s hearts were hard to predict. Everyone had a force of 100,000 troops, so it would not be surprising to find a few ambitious wolves.

Kang Chengqian and others looked at each other, and finally decided to get up and knelt down before Li Ye, who was sitting in the Host’s Seat, and said, “It is our honor to serve Your Highness the rightful emperor. We are at yours to command!”

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