Chapter 444 Why bother in the first place
After moving into the palace, Li Si moved his home inside the palace. In fact, he was also telling the people of Luoyang and tens of thousands of soldiers: I have no intention of leaving. Even if Liu Xuanji attacks me, I will fight him to the end.

At the same time, he was also declaring his control over Luoyang City. He was also telling his second brother in Chang'an that this place was his, so he should stop thinking about it.

At the end of October, the two sides began to hand over prisoners and food in batches. The handover took place in Liyang. Li Yuanhui directly handed the matter over to the newly appointed Yanzhou governor, Huaiyang Prince Li Xuandao.

At the same time, he also asked Yuchi Jingde, Han Quan and others to select elite troops to supplement the guards.

Apart from this matter, Li Yuanhui was also thinking about military issues.

The main force of Jianghuai had not yet moved north, and the left and right guards were all in Huaibei and Huaibei. Only the five Zhechongfu commanded by Xu Qiande were mainly from the Central Plains and Luoyang, so they were not transferred. Now the forces in Luoyang that could be mobilized were the twenty Zhechongfu of the left and right guards, his own soldiers, and Xu Qiande's more than 5,000 men.

It would be difficult to defend Luoyang with such a small number of troops, and it would be very dangerous to send them out to fight Liu Xuanji.

Li Yuanhui did not dare to use the people he had brought back. Did he know if there were any problems with these people? In addition, there were hidden agents from Northern Yan among them. If they turned against him at a critical moment, things would be very exciting.

Therefore, all the surrendered soldiers that Li Yuanhui had exchanged for were packed up and sent back to their hometowns.

However, there were quite a few young scions from the aristocratic families in Luoyang who joined the army with their troops. Li Yuanhui granted them military positions and formed a separate army named "Shenwu".

Duan Wuxuan and Lou Jun were the left and right commanders. Like the Beiwei Army, they were the personal troops commanded by the Tiance Mansion of King Qi, rather than the Weifu Army system.

The position of guard vacated by Duan Wuxuan was taken over by Duan Wuda.

Huaiyang Prince Li Xuandao was transferred to be the Governor of Yanzhou, and the vacant post of General of the Right Guard was given to Zhang Jian who was in Jianghuai.

Zhang Jian was the most senior follower of Li Yuanhui and the elder brother of Concubine Zhang in the Prince of Qi's Palace. They had a close relationship and had made many military achievements, but his official position was never high.

You have to know that the Zhang family contributed manpower, money and even married their two daughters to the Prince of Qi's Palace.

This time, I appointed Zhang Jian as the General of the Right Guard, which also represents another attitude, that is, I remember all your efforts. Don't worry, there will be rewards for your contributions.

Later, Li Yuanhui asked Li Yuan to issue an imperial edict to confer the title of Duke of Wu on Zhang Lin. Except for Zhang Gonglie, who was conferred the title of Duke of Guangling for his military merit, all the other sons were also conferred the title of marquis.

Shisiniang, who entered the palace later, was respectfully called Madam Xiao Zhang by Zhang Chuchen in the Prince of Qi's palace and was also conferred the title of Princess of Danyang.

The Zhang family immediately became a prominent family.

But this kind of prominence is something that others cannot envy. Zhang Jian's prestige in the Jianghuai Army is no less than that of Zhu Deyu. In his early years, he joined the army with Zhang's troops and provided a lot of military supplies.

Zhang Jian's fifth uncle Zhang Gonglie even mobilized tens of thousands of people to join the army and provided countless military supplies.

In addition, the Zhang family also controlled the purse strings of the Prince of Qi's mansion and was in charge of trade with Jiangdong.

Therefore, after Li Yuanhui officially gained independent power in the Prince of Qi's Mansion, he rewarded the Zhang family.

This immense wealth is also earned through one's own efforts.

However, some people did not notice the huge amount of manpower and material resources that the Zhang family had previously invested, as well as their initial following.

I only saw two Madam Zhangs in the Prince of Qi's Mansion, one of whom was a concubine and was quite favored.

In addition, there is the Duan family. The two brothers Duan Wuda and Duan Wuxuan both hold important positions. Could it have nothing to do with the fact that Madam Duan is favored in the Prince of Qi's mansion?

So, while Li Yuanhui was inspecting all the passes and citadels around Luoyang, urging them to repair and restore military equipment, he was also strengthening the training and ideological construction of the Luoyang troops.

However, many of the aristocratic families in Luoyang have already begun to think about selecting a beautiful girl from their own family and sending her to the Prince of Qi's palace.

After all, the Golden Casket Alliance has been signed. Although the Tang Dynasty suffered a defeat in Hebei, it still occupies the largest territory in the world. The King of Qi, who may become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in the future, has not made a bet even though it is so obvious? What is he waiting for? In other words, it is too late to make a bet at this time, but if he doesn't make a bet now, he will have no chance at all.

But sending someone to the palace is not an easy task.

Following Li Yuanhui back from outside the city, Zheng Shandao was about to say hello to his father and go to rest, but he saw his uncle Zheng Yan coming and talking to his father Zheng Guo in the hall.

Zheng Shandao knew that there must be something important to discuss: "Greetings to uncle, greetings to Aye."

Zheng Yan said: "You don't have to be so polite, Liu Lang. You must have had a hard time on this bumpy journey."

Zheng Shandao replied: "The King of Qi is a prince, but he still has to work hard day and night. How can I, as a subordinate of the King of Qi, say that I am fortunate to have such a hard time?"

Zheng Yan nodded, but Zheng Guo asked, "Liu Lang, in your opinion, can Luoyang be defended?"

"Luoyang is surrounded by the Yellow River to the north, Xiaohan Pass to the west, and Hulao Pass to the east. If Northern Yan wants to march into Luoyang, if it goes through Henei, it will have to face harassment from our Yanzhou army. If it attacks Yanzhou first, it will have to attack Hulao Pass if it wants to enter Luoyang. With the King of Qi's style of doing things, it should be safe for him to hold on to Luoyang."

Zheng Shandao also considered it carefully before replying.

Zheng Guo continued to ask: "In your opinion, then, Beiyan will not be able to capture Luoyang?"

"No, if Liu Xuanji had continued his great victory after the Battle of Baigou and pursued all the way, it would have been difficult for him to defend Luoyang. However, because Li Qingzhou harassed them from behind and burned their food supplies, the Yan army was unable to move south. Therefore, the longer the delay, the smaller the chance of Northern Yan taking Luoyang. The King of Qi is good at soothing people's hearts. By winter or the beginning of next spring, the situation may be that the Northern Yan army is approaching, but I think Luoyang will definitely not be lost."

After hearing this, Zheng Guo was very satisfied, but did not express anything.

Uncle Zheng said, "When Crown Princess Zhaode suggested a marriage for the King of Qi, you looked down on him, saying that Li's son Silang was the most mischievous, and that even though he was the legitimate son, he would not achieve anything. You even complained that the Crown Princess ignored the Zheng family. After the battle of Mangshan, I went to Your Majesty to propose a marriage, but I was embarrassed. What do you think now?"

After hearing what his brother said, Zheng Guo's face turned black and he had nothing to say.

What could he say? He had complained to his brother, and then his brother complained to the Crown Princess.

What do we think now? If he had agreed to the marriage, the Princess of Qi would have been named Zheng. It would not be impossible to have another Queen Zheng.

But now I can only say that I was wrong.

The fourth son of the Li family is currently the most powerful one in the Tang Dynasty, controlling more territory and troops than the crown prince and the Prince of Jin.

With the Golden Casket Alliance, they may even become the supreme ruler of the world in the future. Who knows what the Zheng family of Xingyang missed?

Zheng Guo said helplessly: "Why are you talking about this now?"

Zheng Yan said, "I don't have to talk about these old stories. After the death of Crown Prince Zhaode, Prince Zhao Cheng'an originally had no chance to inherit the throne, but the Golden Casket Alliance made things better. My Xingyang Zheng family is a Shandong gentry family, and we are the crowned family of the Central Plains. Now the King of Qi has been in charge of the Eastern Shaanxi Road for several years, but only Liu Lang is serving in the Tiance Mansion because of the past relationship. The rest of the children are in the court. You and I are also unemployed now. Don't you want to think about your descendants?"

Zheng Guo's face turned serious when he heard that. The Zheng family of Xingyang is a top family that has been passed down for hundreds of years and has a profound foundation. However, family inheritance requires each generation of the clan to seize the opportunity and work hard.

Otherwise, since the end of the Han Dynasty, have there been many cases of aristocratic families becoming ordinary people, or even being exterminated? What kind of family status do the Yuan family of Runan and the Xun family of Yingchuan have now?

And now, it's time for them to make a choice.

The distribution of the Xingyang Zheng family in the court and the army has been somewhat broken. Zheng Guo and Zheng Yan were generals and one of the nine ministers in the previous dynasty. But now they are all empty positions in the Tang Dynasty. Because their in-laws are the deceased prince, even Li Yuan will not use the Zheng family.

The most influential person at present is Zheng Shandao in Tiance Mansion. Therefore, if Zheng Clan of Xingyang wants to expand its influence, it must bet on the future.

And King of Qi Li Yuanhui is undoubtedly their best choice at the moment.

So much so that Zheng Guo himself was sighing in his heart, if he had known this would happen, he would not have done it in the first place.
(End of this chapter)