This night was destined to be an eventful one.
However, ordinary people had no way of knowing the inside story. Only the history books and Longxi County Annals recorded: "In the ninth year of Wude, Li Yuan arrived at Longxi County at night. With the might of a True Dragon, he intimidated five thousand soldiers and forced them to kneel.”
"The thousand-year-old clan of Longxi County, the Longxi Li Clan, has been wiped out!”The people of the future generations passed on the praises for thousands of years. Of course, these were all stories in the future.
In front of the Li Residence.
Li Yuan stood there with his hands behind his back and slowly walked forward. The kneeling soldiers in front of him stopped in front of Li Xuanbing and Li Yuan said,"The Great Tang does not kneel.”
"Colluding with the Turks is a crime of treason. You'll serve me with your sins and make up for your mistakes.”
Li Xuanbing stood up in fear.
He did not dare to look at Li Yuan.
With his status, he had never seen Li Yuan before. At this moment, he also said in fear,"Your Majesty, this general doesn't know that my clan has connections with the Turks.”
"Your Majesty, please investigate."
Li Yuan smiled and said with interest,""General?"
Li Xuanbing subconsciously trembled. These were only private soldiers, and the laws of the Great Tang did not allow even the Duke to have so many private soldiers.
As a general, how could he dare to call himself a lowly general in front of Li Yuan?
Li Xuanbing thought of this and quickly said,""Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Li Yuan didn't say anything else. He turned to Guan Yu and said,""Zilong, organize them all and let the Dragon Cavalry lead them.”
"Investigate the matter of colluding with the enemy thoroughly.”
"The rest will be incorporated into the army!”Guan Yu stepped forward and bowed respectfully."Yes, General."
Li Yuan left with Eunuch Lin and the eighteen riders of Yanyun. Guan Yu summoned the 300 Dragon Cavalry and ordered them to regroup the 5,000 soldiers. Li Xuanbing followed beside Guan Yu in a daze, not daring to say a word. None of the soldiers knew what their future held.
As for Li Xu and Li Xunfeng's corpses on the ground, no one cared about them at this moment. They were high and mighty when they were alive, but after their heads fell to the ground, they were worlds apart.
In the main hall of the Li Residence, Guan Yu sat at the head of the table while Li Xuanbing, who had already reached 50, stood below him. It didn't seem too crowded.
One could imagine. The Li family was so prominent and rich.
The Li family's private army was not like a regular army. They only had a general, a deputy general, and a few other generals. Then, they had a sergeant, each of whom was in charge of 100 people.
He said that they were private soldiers.
In fact, they were no different from bandits, but these 5,000 people were in Guan Yu's hands.
However, it could turn something rotten into something magical.
Li Yuan went back to rest, but Guan Yu had to settle the rest of the matters here. He couldn't let Li Yuan worry about this.
This was also one of the benefits of being a superior.
Otherwise, why would he need subordinates to do everything himself?
Guan Yu sat there and said with a dignified tone,""The Turkic trading company has been operating in Longxi County for many years.”
"The shopkeeper of the trading company has been captured.”
"This person is a Turkic wolf guard and an envoy of the Jie Li Khan. He should be executed for treason.”
"There must be someone involved among you. If you take the initiative to admit it now, I will be benevolent and only kill one person.”"Let your wives and children be buried together.”
Guan Yu was a peerless general who was dedicated to the country. He hated traitors the most. These people were not innocent at all. Because perhaps it was just a sentence from them.
Many soldiers would die. Therefore, there was no mercy in Guan Yu's words. The entire main hall was silent. If one was not forced to the last moment, one would have a fluke mentality, just like Ashina.
"Informant, 100 taels of silver.”At this moment, there was a commotion in the main hall.
If the Li Residence was still around, they would be worried about revenge. But now, Li Jiu was dead. If they reported him, it would be a hundred taels of silver. Moreover, they were all Tang, and they had a deep hatred for the Turkic book.
Suddenly, someone raised his hand and said,""General, I know that Li Chunsheng and Li Chengge are very close to the money-gathering merchants.”
"Especially Li Chunsheng. He even drank with the manager of the Gathering Wealth Trading Company recently.”
"I saw it with my own eyes." Guan Yu listened to his words and nodded slightly.""Very good, capture Li Chunsheng and Li Chengge. If you find out, you will be rewarded with two hundred taels of silver.”
"If you falsely accuse me for no reason, I will give you the death penalty.”Hearing the murderous intent in Guan Yu's words, the man trembled and said,""I understand, I understand."
" I'm reporting…"" I know…"
"General, there's one more…"
With one person starting, the rest would be tempted out of greed. This was human nature.
What surprised Guan Yu was that the leader of the private army, Li Xuanbing, had no dealings with the Turks. He looked at Li Xuanbing and said,"You actually didn't participate."
Li Xuanbing smiled awkwardly and said righteously,"General, I am a Great Tang citizen and have a blood feud with the Turks.”
"Now that the war is about to begin, how can I betray the country and be like them?”
Guan Yu didn't care if his words were true or false. He stood up and walked out.
Li Xuanbing sent Guan Yu off respectfully. Until Guan Yu and his men left the mansion.
Li Xuanbing sat down and panted heavily."Damn it, luckily I didn't participate in it before. Otherwise, I really might not have been able to get out alive today.”
"Damn it, I thought it was something good.”
"I didn't expect it to be a head-losing job."
The deputy general also took the opportunity to sneak over and said,"General, what do you mean? The silver and jewelry that Second Master asked us to prepare previously was just to participate in this?”
Pa--
Li Xuanbing slapped the deputy general's head and said,""Shut up. I don't want to die even if you want to.”
"The past is the past. There's no second master now, and there's no master.”
"Only Your Majesty!"
As Li Xuanbing spoke, something called ambition appeared in his eyes.
Although he was the leader of the private army, to the Li family, whether it was armor, horses, or weapons, these were all things that could not be put on the surface.
Including his identity.
Therefore, if he wanted to participate in the family's major affairs, he still needed to build a good relationship with the direct descendants of the main family. He was in charge of so many private soldiers, and Ashina and the others had made such a big move.
How could he not know some clues? However, he only thought that the clan was using the trading company to sell some prohibited items. Naturally, the price was high.
He had wanted to participate, so he had collected some treasures and prepared to ask the Second Master of Longxi's Li Clan, who was also Li Jiu's younger brother, to put in a few words for him. However, he hadn't expected that Li Jiu would be dead before he could deliver the gift.
Li Xuanbing only felt that he had survived a calamity.
" General," the deputy general said, gasping for breath," His Majesty has come personally. Those soldiers have been taken over. There will definitely be nothing for us in the future."”
"Why don't we take the treasure and go to Chang 'an?”
"It's definitely safe there."
"No matter how bad it is, it's better to run.”
Li Xuanbing slowly shook his head. He looked at the deputy general with a burning gaze and said,"No, I'm not leaving. Your Majesty's visit this time is a crisis for us, but it's also an opportunity.”
"If it weren't for this moment, do you think we would have caught His Majesty's eye?”
"We've been with these soldiers day and night. Those who betrayed the country and colluded with the Turks deserve to die, but as for the remaining brothers, although General Zhao is powerful, he isn't as familiar as we are.”
"As long as I stay, I might be able to make a name for myself.”
"Of course, if you leave, I will give you enough money to live in Chang 'an. Anyway, I won't leave.”
"Your Majesty is right in front of me. If I still can't make it, I might as well die.”As Li Xuanbing spoke, he felt his blood boil.
He was still thinking about the scene of 5,000 people kneeling before Li Yuan. Why did he feel his knees go weak at that time?
Was that the smell of power?
It was really fascinating. Although he couldn't be like Li Yuan, could he still climb up?
The deputy general squatted at the side. His expression changed very quickly. No one knew what he was thinking. In the entire main hall, a few people surrounded a small group.
They were all discussing their plans. The deputy general clenched his fists and said,""General, you saved my life. If you don't leave, I won't leave either.”
"If you're dead, go ball." Li Xuanbing smiled and said,"Kaiyuan, good job. Then we'll stay."”
"Give those silver and jewelry to their families as a settling fee. If they can come back, they will return triumphantly. If they can't come back, those things will be enough for them to live on.”
Li Xuanbing and Li Kaiyuan clapped their hands together, their eyes filled with hope for the future.
heroes emerge in troubled times.
But no one would remember their names.
Li Kaiyuan looked at Li Xuanbing. He had been saved by Li Xuanbing and had been following Li Xuanbing ever since. He knew that Li Xuanbing was his lackey.
Li Xuanbing treated him like a brother.
Li Kaiyuan swallowed his saliva and said," Big brother, if we want to show our faces in front of His Majesty, we must make contributions. His Majesty has come personally this time."”
"It's definitely not for the sake of our Li family.”
Li Xuanbing blinked and patted Li Kaiyuan's head.""Be careful with your words in the future.”
"However, you're right. His Majesty is a man of ten thousand gold. How can he come over for such a small matter?”
"We only need to send someone over, unless there's something big.”
Li Xuanbing and Li Kaiyuan thought for a long time.
He couldn't think of a reason.
In the end, someone beside him said,"Don't you think the Li family of Zhao County has always been at odds with us?
Why had their patriarch come to Longxi County as well?”
"How strange!"
The speaker was not serious, but the listener was serious.
Li Xuanbing's eyes suddenly lit up. He straightened his body and said,""I understand. Your Majesty wants to capture all five surnames and seven Wangs in one go.”
Li Xuanbing blinked and patted Li Kaiyuan's head.""Be careful with your words in the future.”
"However, you're right. His Majesty is a man of ten thousand gold. How can he come over for such a small matter?”
"We only need to send someone over, unless there's something big.”
Li Xuanbing and Li Kaiyuan thought for a long time.
He couldn't think of a reason.
In the end, someone beside him said,"Don't you think the Li family of Zhao County has always been at odds with us? Why had their patriarch come to Longxi County as well?”
"How strange!"
The speaker was not serious, but the listener was serious.
Li Xuanbing's eyes suddenly lit up. He straightened his body and said,""I understand. Your Majesty wants to capture all five surnames and seven Wangs in one go.”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。