The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 103 Initial Force

As a leader, what was the most important thing for competing for the hegemony of the world? Obviously, the answer was talents.

Li Ye smiled with a gentle expression. He looked at Master Mo and General Zhao up and down as a money-grubber looked at his treasures.

Everyone would cherish his life, especially masters. After Li Ye had asked them, Master Mo didn’t refuse. But he looked at Li Ye and asked very seriously, “Your Highness, don’t you mind our offense just now?”

Li Ye waved his hand and said magnanimously, “Everyone works for his own master, and there is nothing to quarrel about. Besides, I have nothing to lose.”

He really had nothing to lose. At most, Liu Dazheng was injured... Liu Dazheng just surrendered to him today.

Master Mo looked a bit embarrassed as he heard the second half of Li Ye’s words. He coughed and cupped his hands. “If so...”

Master Mo’s expression showed that he was ready to say yes. Unless he wanted to die, there was no reason for him to say no. Song Jiao’s cultivation was so outstanding that Monk Huiming, the most powerful person among them, couldn’t deal with her, therefore, he had no possibility to resist. In addition, he had no strength left, so resistance meant death.

Before Master Mo could finish his words, General Zhao walked over angrily. Although he was injured seriously, his gaze was firm. He shouted at Master Mo in a low voice, “Master Mo, Commissioner treats you well, so how can you be ungrateful and turn to his enemy? You’re so fickle. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at by others?!”

General Zhao looked at Li Ye and lifted his head, in a fearless look. “I will never surrender. Your Highness, you can kill me if you want.”

Li Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. Surely, cultivators in Jianghu and members of the army had differences in moral integrity, because of their different identities. Cultivators in Jianghu, who turned to dignitaries, was to depend on them, while members of the army were loyal because they identified with the Commissioner. What was more, the passionate and righteous men in the army were not so afraid of death.

Li Ye remained smiling. “General Zhao, you’re wrong. How could Commissioner Li and I be enemies? We’re not enemies, on the contrary, we’re colleagues because we both are the ministers of the imperial court.”

General Zhao wasn’t swayed. “In this case, please let go of me and let me return to the Zhenwu Army!”

At this time, Li Ye didn’t speak, but Wang Li was furious. “How dare you! It’s a great gift for the vice magistrate to take pity on your skills and give you a living chance. You should be thankful! Since you attacked the vice magistrate today, if you are unrepentant, I will put you in jail when I bring you back to Chang’an. You will be in pain and suffering at that time!”

General Zhao remained fearless. “I’m not afraid of death, so why do you use it to frighten me? Kill me or not as you please!”

General Zhao was so stubborn that any ordinary person would have been furious, but Li Ye didn’t feel angry. He had a deep memory of his last life, so he knew the importance of gathering talents. In addition, it was a good thing for a general to be passionate and righteous.

Li Ye said slowly, “I admire that you’re not afraid of death. Although you’re fearless, don’t you think about it for your parents, your wife, and your children?”

“You... what do you mean?” General Zhao’s expression changed.

Li Ye sighed. “Today, you have attacked the Grand Prince of the empire and the vice magistrate of the Chang’an Office, which can regard as a rebellion. You and all your relatives will be killed for the crime. If I make the matter public, you may not have to bear the name of disloyalty to Commissioner Li, but your loved ones and relatives will all die with bad reputations.”

Li Ye looked at General Zhao as he said this, his gaze as sharp as a knife. “Is it your loyalty or your family’s life and reputation that matters?”

General Zhao stood stunned, his face bloodless.

After quite a while, he mumbled, “Commissioner Li...”

“Li Guochang won’t protect your parents, your wife and your children, because he hasn’t intended to rebel yet!” Li Ye’s tone was firm and powerful.

General Zhao was speechless.

Master Mo sighed and came forward to persuade General Zhao. “I know that you’re loyal, but you can’t live your whole life thinking only of yourself. Fame and wealth won’t last forever. Only your loved ones are the most precious!”

The reason that he tried to persuade General Zhao, on the one hand, was that the other side was too loyal to surrender while he surrendered flatly, which showed that he had no moral integrity, so that his reputation would be damaged. He felt embarrassed; on the other hand, it was that he had already decided to turn to Li Ye, so he had to make contributions quickly in order to gain a firm foothold in front of Li Ye in the future. Persuading General Zhao to surrender was obviously a good start.

Li Ye was very satisfied with Master Mo’s behavior, so he said to General Zhao with both kindness and majesty, “I admire your loyalty and bravery. With your skills, you should realize your ambition, make achievements, and gain good reputations for your wife and your children. How could you die so easily? If you are willing to help me, I will treat you well. When we return back, you could start with an Inspector in the Manor.”

Speaking of this, he paused. “In addition, although Li Keyong has escaped, Li Kerang is still in Chang’an. The imperial court intends to appoint Li Kerang as a general and let him stay in Chang’an as leverage of Li Guochang. As long as Li Kerang is in Chang’an, Li Guochang won’t spite your wife and your children.”

At present, the imperial court had no intention of letting Li Kerang stay in Chang’an, but it wasn’t difficult for Li Ye to accomplish the mater as long as he gave notice to Wang Duo and Lu Yan. After all, it wasn’t a big deal, and it was justified. In his last life, Li Kerang had stayed in Chang’an after he entered the capital.

After listening to Li Ye’s words, General Zhao kept silent for a long time, and his expression changed a lot.

After quite a while, he sighed. He cupped his hands and bowed. “I, Zhao Polu, would like to serve you!”

Seeing Zhao Polu showing his loyalty, Master Mo followed to bow without hesitation. “I, Mo Dongli, would like to follow you. I will never flinch from any difficulty and danger!”

“Good!” Li Ye smiled and helped them up quickly.

At this time, Li Ye mobilized his Dragon Qi in his body. He could see a wisp of red Luck converge towards him over Zhao Polu’s head.

Li Ye was excited as his cultivation enhanced immediately. His cultivation of Level 5 Qi-refining had reached the middle level.

Li Ye could also see Mo Dongli’s Luck, but there was nothing happened.

This was the difference between officials and cultivators in Jianghu. To get the loyalty of the former, you only needed to get their commitments, while it wasn’t an easy task to gain the latter’s loyalty, which could show that Zhao Polu had no different thoughts.

Li Ye was in a good mood, so he let everyone gather together and know each other.

Song Jiao went to Li Ye’s side and smiled. “In this way, you now have Li Zhen and Wang Li to help with civil affairs, Liu Dazheng and Zhao Polu to help with military affairs, as well as Mo Dongli and me to help with Jianghu affairs. Your initial force has already formed.”

Li Ye cupped his hands towards Song Jiao. “Aunt Song, thanks to you. But for your great efforts, I couldn’t have had such a good situation so soon.

Song Jiao rolled her eyes at Li Ye, seductive and charming. “You little pervert has a conscience.”

Li Ye blinked innocently, but he said in his heart how it had something to do with the little pervert again.

Song Jiao looked at Mo Dongli who was holding Liu Dazheng’s hands happily to say that their fighting made them friends. She said slowly, “It only takes you half a year from having nothing to possess the initial force. You make progress so quickly. Is it because you are powerful or because you are lucky?”

Li Ye smiled and said with no modesty, “Both of them are indispensable.”

Then he stopped smiling. “Currently, the most important thing is to bring the members of the Changhe Gang, Chen Jianghe and the others back to Chang’an City safely.”

...

Their way back to Chang’an was unexpectedly smooth.

Wang Duo and Lu Yan didn’t disappoint Li Ye. They had sent masters to coordinate with Li Ye. Moreover, there were not a few masters, including several masters of high-level Qi-refining and ten more masters of middle-level Qi-refining, which made Li Ye have the force to preserve the witness without fearing Wei Baoheng’s interception.

The cultivators belonged to Wang Duo and Lu Yan, and it was a joint action of them.

Obviously, after they knew the truth of the matter in Huangli County from Li Ye, Wang Duo and Lu Yan understood the importance of the matter and that the witness was the important bargaining chips in dealing with Wei Baoheng, so they sent out all their masters with no reservation.

At the same time, the Chang’an Office also quickly dispatched more than a hundred officials to follow and go out of the city on horseback in a hurry. But because of their lower cultivation, they were a little slower on the way. Moreover, the Regal Guards were also called on. Five hundred outstanding cavalries were dispatched as the third wave of force to coordinate with Li Ye and the others.

Li Ye was very satisfied with the arrangement. After all, no matter how powerful the opponent was, teammates should not be weak.

In the situation of the officials of the Chang’an Office and the outstanding cavalries of the Regal Guards being dispatched, though Wei Baoheng was very powerful and had many followers, he couldn’t rob or assassinate the witness.

If the Chang’an Office had only dispatched a few officials, he could have killed them all, but how dare he kill more than a hundred officials?

In addition, there were five hundred outstanding cavalries of the Regal Guards.

The Regal Guards were controlled by the eunuchs so that Wei Baoheng couldn’t interfere. Even if Wei Baoheng was angry about the Regal Guards, he could do nothing. Could he confront Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue face to face?

Wei Baoheng only had great influences on leading officials and presiding over political affairs, and he was just a powerful minister in the court. He was nowhere near as powerful as Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue on the control of the Chang’an City, the constraints on the imperial palace, and the influences on the emperor.

Li Ye wasn’t surprised that the Regal Guards would come out. Naturally, only Prince Pu Li Yan could dispatch the Regal Guards, because he had already united with the Left and the Right Lieutenant of the Regal Guards through asking Tian Lingzi to recognize Liu Xingshen, the Lieutenant of the Regal Guards, as his adopted father.

From the decisive action of the Regal Guards, it could tell that Han Wenyue and Liu Xingshen had begun to formally deal with Wei Baoheng. Eunuchs and ministers had a contradiction with each other originally. Now that there was a conflict among the princes, they were as incompatible as fire and water.

Li Ye was protected by masters in the dark. There were more than a hundred officials of the Chang’an Office by his side, and the outstanding cavalries of the Regal Guards followed him far behind. He escorted the members of the Changhe Gang and the bodies of Chen Jianghe and other attackers to arrive at the Kaiyuan Gate on the west side of the Chang’an City in the afternoon.

Xu Shaomu, the magistrate of the Chang’an Office, was waiting in the gate with others.

“Magistrate.” Li Ye dismounted and saluted to Xu Shaomu with Wang Li and the others.

“Vice magistrate Li, thank you for your hard work along the way.” Xu Shaomu saluted back. He looked at the busy and tiring procession, his eyes dignified and his face full of emotion. He knew very well how difficult it was for the team to make it back to Chang’an safely and how dangerous their way back was. “Vice magistrate Li, you make great contributions on this trip. The people you brought back are bound to affect the situation of the court. I admire you more and more!”

Li Ye smiled and said, “I couldn’t make any contribution without your help.”

Li Ye had made such an achievement, but he didn’t claim credit for himself and become arrogant, therefore, Xu Shaomu had a higher evaluation of Li Ye in his heart. “Duke Wang and Duke Lu have been waiting for you. Come with me into the city quickly.”