hsntnovel Chapter 2243: The Allegiance of Three People
Chapter 2243: The Allegiance of Three People
"Glow-in-the-dark cup of fine grape wine. If you want to drink, play the pipa immediately. Lord Don't laugh while lying drunk on the battlefield. How many times have you fought in ancient times?"
In the villa of Prince Ji's Mansion in Xizhou, Li Shen held a glass cup in his hand, looked at the blood-red wine in the cup, and couldn't help but recite a poem.
The three people kneeling in front of him were the three leaders who had been escorted back not long ago.
Li Shen was half lying on the recliner, shaking the wine glass in his hand. For some reason, after arriving in the Tang Dynasty, he became very fond of poetry and songs.
In his previous life, he didn’t think much of ancient poetry when he saw it in school or other places, especially when he had to recite it at school, which made him even more bored.
But after arriving in the Tang Dynasty, he suddenly understood completely the state of mind of the poet at that time.
Once you leave the border, you don’t know how many soldiers will die on the frontier, and how many of them will be able to come back.
Just like the people in front of him, according to Zhao Tiejun, only more than 2,000 of the 6,000 people survived in the end, and the rest were buried in foreign lands.
It is said that a general's success is built on the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers, but I haven't achieved success yet, and more than ten thousand people have died directly and indirectly at my hands.
The three leaders knelt there, secretly checking the expression of Prince Ji, the famous prince of the Tang Dynasty.
After arriving here, before they could even pay their respects, they were asked to keep quiet and not disturb King Ji from his deep thoughts.
The hundred or so guards and a dozen eunuchs and maids around were completely silent.
This shocked Ren San. Are the princes of the Tang Dynasty so grand?
"You guys..." After Li Shen sighed, he looked at the three people.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, I am Zhang..." The first leader was about to speak, but was interrupted by Li Shen.
“Don’t mention your names, I can’t remember them.
I just want to ask you one question: are you willing to follow me?" He didn't even look at them.
"I am willing to follow His Royal Highness Prince Ji and be loyal to him."
The three men immediately kowtowed to show their loyalty. They could see that if they said no, they would lose their heads today.
After hearing what the three people said, Li Shen took his eyes off the wine glass and looked at the three people.
A professional smile appeared on his face:
"Haha, very good, you have made the best choice. Follow me and do your work well. I will not treat you unfairly.
Wealth, success, and promotion are just around the corner.
As long as you do well, this king will never be stingy with rewards."
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji. Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji."
When the three heard the words "promotion", they were overjoyed and expressed their gratitude immediately.
Aren't they becoming rebel leaders just to be rich and prosperous and continue to be nobles?
If Prince Ji can achieve what they want, wouldn't it make any difference who they hang out with?
"Get up. Take a seat."
Li Shen waved his hand. A servant brought over three chairs. The three men thanked him again and sat down, their joy evident in words.
"Don't be too happy too soon. I can reward you with wealth and give you official positions and titles.
But you have to do it to satisfy this king.
As rebels, you should know what the court’s punishment for rebels is?
I have not executed you. You should let me see the value of your lives and whether you are worthy of me doing this.
understand? "
Li Shen twirled the glass cup in his hand and spoke in a calm tone, but the three of them could hear a hint of indifference in it.
"I understand. Please give your instructions, Your Highness Prince Ji." The three nodded repeatedly.
They already knew that the Tang army that attacked them this time was the private army of the young prince in front of them, and its strength was frightening.
Thousands of them were defeated in a short period of time with zero casualties. Their weapons were simply unable to penetrate the enemy's full body armor.
In the end, they all felt despair.
"What I want you to do is very simple. I will build a village here, and you will lead the rebels to defend it.
Of course, you belong to this Zhuangzi, and you serve as Zhuangzi's guards to prevent attacks from rebels.
The focus is to protect the workshop in Prince Ji’s Mansion from being attacked by thieves.
The king will pay your guards, and in the future this place will become a town, and the three of you will be officials of this town.
I can promise you that I will ask His Majesty for a title for you.
I can't say for a higher title, but a marquis should not be difficult. After all, you were also nobles of Gaochang before.
What do you think? "
Looking at the three people, Li Shen spoke.
It is impossible to have a guard team under the Prince Ji's Mansion. He already has more people than the quota.
The normal configuration is 3,000 people, and now he has more than 3,600 people under his command, including the guards of Prince Ji's Mansion.
They could only use this roundabout method to recruit them in the name of protecting Zhuangzi. On the surface, this was a spontaneous civil organization of the people.
Since the imperial court cannot protect them, it makes sense for them to form a guard team to protect themselves.
After all, this is not inside the Great Wall, and the situation outside the Great Wall is not that stable yet.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness Prince Ji. We are willing to serve you."
The three of them were ecstatic. A Marquis, that was considered an upper-class noble.
All the foreigners who were granted the title of duke in the Tang Dynasty were royals. They all had their own tribes, and they had to fight for the Tang Dynasty to get the title of duke.
They only have a few hundred people in total, and more than 2,000 people in total. They are not royal family, so it is very good to be able to be conferred the title of marquis.
What's more, there is a salary.
"Okay, as long as you do your job well, Anxi will build many cities and divide many prefectures in the future, and it won't be impossible for you to become a governor.
It depends on your performance.
The first thing I ask you to do now is to subdue the surrendered rebels and station them there waiting for my orders.
You must protect those supplies, and this will be a great achievement for you.
When we return here, everyone will be generously rewarded."
Li Shen raised the price again and promised huge profits.
"We will obey the orders of His Royal Highness Prince Ji. We are willing to die for His Royal Highness Prince Ji." The three of them quickly got into the role and turned themselves into Li Shen's subordinates.
A provincial governor is a high-ranking official of the Tang Dynasty. Look at Qu Zhiping, he is just a prefect, but he is in charge of more than 100,000 people.
If he became a governor, he would at least be able to hold a ceremony to crown hundreds of thousands of people.
This was a lucrative job. With so many merchants passing through here, there was naturally a lot of profit. Even if they didn't kill or rob, the food they received was enough to make them rich for generations.
Li Shen saw that the time was almost right and waved to the others:
"Go down and rest. I'll have someone take you back later. You must not disappoint me.
I will also immediately send someone to deliver a letter to His Majesty, asking His Majesty to issue an edict to confer titles on you.
By then, you will also be nobles of the Tang Dynasty."
"We thank His Royal Highness Prince Ji for his grace."
(I had some urgent matters yesterday and took a day off. Even if I were to finish the update, it would take the afternoon, so I took a day off.
Sorry (sorry)