But no matter how surprised they were, they had to take Li Ren to meet Li Sigong. Li Ren's clothes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that he was chased all the way and had to risk his life to escape to Chang'an.
Here we have to talk about Gao Su's attack on Hetao. It is rumored that Gao Changgong was a person who liked to make friends with chivalrous men and righteous men. There are even records that he adopted a killer who assassinated him as his adopted son, and he had an elusive ghost army under his command.
As the reincarnation of Gao Changgong, Gao Su in this life still did not change his previous habits. When he was in Yinshan, he selected some agile soldiers who were good at fighting in the rivers and lakes from the horse bandits and trained them into the dark department. They were named Ghost Warriors and were specifically responsible for spying on the Khitans, assassinating Khitan nobles, and destroying some important Khitan bases.
Since he led his troops into Shengzhou, he has had more and more guards under his command, and the team of ghost warriors has continued to grow. But he is loyal to Zhu Li after all, and it is obviously inappropriate to continue allowing these people to work under him.
He heard that Guo Qizuo was training spies, so he handed the team over to Guo Qizuo. Guo Qizuo gladly accepted it and let these people specialize in intelligence gathering, blasting behind enemy lines and other tasks. They were also responsible for hunting down people like Li Ren.
When Gao Su captured Youzhou, Li Ren led the most elite warriors of the Dangxiang, took advantage of Gao Su's unpreparedness, and broke out of the siege. When Gao Su wanted to pursue, it was too late. In desperation, Gao Su had to report the situation to Guo Qizuo.
When Guo Qizuo received the intelligence, he realized that Li Ren's escape might put Zhu Li in danger, so he immediately sent several teams of ghost warriors to hunt down, intercept, assassinate and capture Li Ren. However, Li Ren risked the life of the last Dangxiang warrior to rush into Guanzhong, and finally he was allowed to enter Chang'an.
Not long after Li Ren was brought into Li Sigong's residence by the guards, Li Sigong's shrill roar that tore through the sky could be heard from the residence: "Zhu Li, I, Li Sigong, will not be a human being if I don't kill you."
Many people heard this roar. Those who had ulterior motives against Zhu Li, such as Li Keyong from the Shatuo tribe who had suffered losses from Zhu Li, and Li Xiaochang who had always looked down on Zhu Li but was repeatedly slapped in the face by Zhu Li, immediately took action.
These people were quite capable and they soon found out that Zhu Li had angered Tian Lingzi in the Taiji Hall, so a small gathering targeting Zhu Li was arranged that evening.
Those attending the meeting included the great eunuch Tian Lingzi, the Hedong Jiedushi Li Keyong, the Prince's Tutor Li Sigong, the Inspector of the Chancellor of the Imperial Palace Li Xiaochang and others. In a side hall inside the imperial palace, Tian Lingzi sat at the head with a grim look on his face, while Li Keyong and the other three sat on both sides.
"Zhu Li is Zheng Ting and Li Tao's man." Tian Lingzi said sinisterly. Of course, this was just what he thought. "We wanted to adopt him as our adopted son and use him for our own purposes, but he rejected us on the spot without giving us any face. He is so ignorant and deserves to die. I want to get rid of him. I think you all have the same idea."
Hearing this, the muscles on Li Sigong's face twitched continuously, and he said grimly: "Zhu Li claimed to be going south to defend the king, but secretly crossed Chencang and plotted against me in Youzhou. As for the man called Gao Su, I am not sure if he is really Zhu Li's man, but what about Cao Shixiong and Li Chongba? These two brave generals of the Yuancao Army, everyone knows that they were captured by Zhu Li, but this
These two people suddenly appeared in the battle to capture Youzhou. What does this mean? Zhu Li must be the thief who killed my people and occupied my fiefdom. If I don’t kill Zhu Li, I, Li Sigong, will not be a human being. "
Li Sigong obviously hated Zhu Li to his core. Among the four, he was the one who wanted to kill Zhu Li the most. Although he was now appointed as the Prince's Tutor and Duke of Xia, his actual power was just the one centered in Youzhou. Now, he was destroyed by Zhu Li's subordinates. How could he not hate him
"Zhu Li once killed several of my Shatuo generals. I, Li Keyong, will never forget this grudge. I swear to kill Zhu Li." Li Keyong echoed, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes, as if he had other intentions.
Li Keyong's purpose in dealing with Zhu Li was not just what he said verbally, he actually had a bigger purpose. Although he was now appointed as the Jiedushi of Hedong, all the prefectures and counties in Hedong would depend on him to conquer them bit by bit with his own strength in the future.
The territory he now actually owns is only Daizhou, and Daizhou is adjacent to Shuozhou. Because Yanmen Pass is occupied by Zhang Guiba, it is like driving a nail behind the Shatuo's lair, making the Shatuo people feel like a thorn in their throat.
If Zhu Li is eliminated, Shuozhou will become leaderless, and it will probably be much easier to remove this thorn in the north of Daizhou. As long as Yanmen is in Zhu Li's hands, Shatuo cannot and dare not go all out no matter how far it wants to expand in any direction.
Li Xiaochang was the only one present who had no great hatred towards Zhu Li, but this man had always disliked Zhu Li. Zhu Li first fought hard against Xue Atan in Weizhou, causing him to lose face.
At Weishui, Zhu Li, as a minor governor, captured Meng Juehai alive and broke through the Dongwei Bridge without bloodshed, while he, as a military governor, was defeated by Zhu Wen. What's even more ridiculous is that he was the one who promoted the arrangement of this battle, which made him feel ashamed.
Of course, the above are all Zhu Li's suppression of his abilities. Even if he is jealous, he can do nothing about it and he will not kill Zhu Li.
But in Yiting City, at the gate of Wang's family, Zhu Li, with the strength of two horses, forcibly separated the three armies and destroyed his plan to fish in troubled waters and seize the beauty.
Later, he wanted to use his assassins to secretly capture Wang Yueyao, but he couldn't find her. After much inquiry, Li Xiaochang finally found clues. He discovered that Wang Yueyao was most likely secretly sent to Shuozhou by Zhu Li. This discovery made him completely furious. From then on, he secretly decided that he would not give up until he killed Zhu Li in this life.
However, he could not make these reasons known to others, otherwise he would be looked down upon or even despised, so he could only say: "If Zhu Li does not give face to Mr. Tian, then he is not giving face to me, Li Xiaochang. I am willing to go all out to help Mr. Tian get rid of Zhu Li, the arrogant farm slave."
Several people expressed their opinions one after another. Although their reasons were different, their determination to kill Zhu Li was obvious.
"Zhu Li is both civil and martial, cunning and deceitful, and extremely brave. I am not worried about the miscellaneous soldiers under him who were gathered together from all over the place, but I am not completely sure if I can kill Zhu Li." When Li Sigong saw that several people had expressed their determination, he still spoke with a sad face.
The scene in front of the Yiting Wang family, where Zhu Li slapped him and his horse away with a spear, made him shudder every time he thought of it. Even now, he still found it hard to believe.
, there are actually such fierce people in this world.
Compared with Zhu Li's bravery, those among his Dangxiang people who are usually praised as brave generals and fierce generals are really not worth mentioning. Li Sigong really has no confidence in killing such a person who is as brave as Guan and Zhang.
"Don't worry, Duke Li. You must know that there are always people better than you. I have an adopted son named Li Cunxiao, who can be called the tiger of the world. As long as Cunxiao takes action and unites with Xue Atan and An Xiuxiu under his command, killing Zhu Li will certainly not be a difficult task." Li Keyong looked around at everyone and said very conservatively.
He actually didn't know how strong Li Cunxiao was or whether he could defeat Zhu Li, because the two had never fought each other. However, Li Cunxiao's bravery was enough to shock him, so he was so conservative. He didn't know that even if there were ten more Zhu Lis, they would not be a match for Li Cunxiao.
Li Cunxiao had never let him down in a head-on challenge, and he admired and loved this adopted son very much. Not only was Li Cunxiao born with supernatural powers, but he had also cultivated his martial arts and riding skills to the pinnacle of martial arts, with almost no room for improvement. He didn't believe that Li Cunxiao, with his countless brave generals under his command, could not kill a mere Zhu Li.
"Are you serious, Governor Li?" Li Xiaochang's eyes lit up at Li Keyong's words, and he quickly confirmed.
Li Keyong glanced at him and said, "Whether I am boasting or not, you can ask Yang Fuguang, the general manager of the army, and you will know. General Yang has witnessed my son's might with his own eyes."
Among the local officials currently in Chang'an, only Yang Fuguang can prove that Li Keyong was not bragging, because only Yang Fuguang had witnessed Li Cunxiao's battle scenes with his own eyes.
However, when he mentioned Yang Fuguang, Tian Lingzi frowned slightly. After all, when this eunuch was in Chengdu, he also took away a share of the credit from all the warlords who went south to support the emperor.
Yang Fuguang was the adopted son of the old powerful eunuch Yang Xuanjia, and also belonged to the powerful eunuch lineage. He had made considerable military achievements in the process of suppressing the Cao army and recovering Chang'an. The emergence of such a figure among the eunuchs made them believe that Yang Fuguang must be rewarded, and that he must be rewarded generously.
Furthermore, although Yang Fuguang was a powerful eunuch and a eunuch, it must be said that this man was loyal to the Tang court. He did his best to suppress the Cao army and protect the Tang royal family, and was appreciated and supported by many powerful eunuchs.
According to the usual practice of powerful eunuchs, it would have been a good idea to implement this reward while Yang Fuguang had made new achievements. However, Tian Lingzi was afraid that Yang Fuguang's official position was too high and would pose a threat to him, so he immediately instigated the prime minister and the local governors under his control to exaggerate his own achievements.
Under his instructions, the prime minister of the Tang court and the local vassal states immediately made up a variety of excuses and wrote to Emperor Xizong, claiming that Tian Lingzi had foresight and that it was the old eunuch who suggested that Emperor Xizong flee to Shu to avoid disaster after Chang'an was captured, which allowed the emperor to escape disaster and that he made an indelible contribution.
They then wrote another letter claiming that in order to recapture Chang'an, the old eunuch spent all his family wealth, made plans, and single-handedly facilitated the army to recapture Chang'an, and his contribution was great.
At the same time, he persuaded Emperor Xizong to reward the old eunuch, claiming that the main credit for the coalition's recapture of Chang'an should go to Tian Lingzi. He tricked Emperor Xizong into conferring on Tian Lingzi the high position of Commander of Ten Armies and Twelve Guards, which was far higher than Yang Fuguang's reward.