Several days later, Li Wenqi led 30,000 infantrymen and Wang Taihe led 10,000 cavalrymen, and finally arrived at Shanhaiguan.
Li Qin personally went to greet them.
Upon seeing Li Qin, Li Wenqi immediately dismounted and trotted over to him, saying:
"Brother, I've brought the army with me."
"Okay, okay."
Li Qin looked at Li Wenqi in front of him with a smile, patted him on the shoulder according to the original owner's memories and habits, and then led him into Shanhaiguan.
Behind them followed countless elite soldiers and generals who had come from Liaodong.
That night, Li Qin hosted a banquet for all the generals who had come from Liaodong at his residence in Shanhaiguan.
At the banquet, Li Qin, based on the original owner's memories, did his best to disguise himself exactly as the original owner, so that they could not see anything wrong.
He then formally announced at the banquet their purpose of eliminating the treacherous officials.
The generals at the banquet all smiled and echoed his sentiments.
In reality, everyone knows what they are doing.
What about "purging the emperor's inner circle" and "eliminating treacherous officials"?
Everyone knows that the purpose of "purging the emperor's inner circle" is basically to purge the emperor himself.
As for the proclamations they issued denouncing the traitors and such...
It's basically about fooling the ignorant common people and the soldiers.
As for those generals, who didn't know what his purpose was?
It's practically impossible to fool them.
Since they all knew that Li Qin was a rebel.
Why do they still follow?
The fundamental reason is that they were all promoted by Li Qin and his son Li Chengliang over two generations.
Regardless of their own thoughts, in the eyes of others, he had already been labeled as a member of Li Qin's faction.
This is not something that can be changed by their will.
Their wealth and status were all given to them by Li Qin and his son.
Now that the court wants to eliminate Li Qin, what are you going to do with Li Qin's faction?
What will they do after Li Qin is eliminated?
To outsiders, they were all part of Li Qin's faction, as long as Li Qin was purged.
Would the imperial court allow these remnants of Li Qin's faction to remain in the army, thus creating future troubles?
Next, they will all be dismissed from their posts and imprisoned.
What's more, at this time, the crown prince of this dynasty suddenly died in their territory.
Rumors circulated both among the common people and in the imperial court that Li Qin had killed the crown prince.
This effectively drove Li Qin to a dead end, and also drove them to a dead end.
In the end, they could only join forces with Li Qin to rebel to the very end.
Because they could already deduce that if they didn't rebel, they would only be purged one by one.
If they rebelled, as long as they held their ground, they could negotiate with the court, establish their own military power in Liaodong, and continue to enjoy wealth and luxury.
If I fail, all I'll get is to be purged and imprisoned.
But if they succeed and Li Qin is put in that position, they will all be loyal ministers who have helped him rise to power.
If they rebel, they have a glimmer of hope; if they don't rebel, they face certain death.
So even if Li Qin didn't rebel, they would still incite him to do so.
It is almost certain that Li Qin will resolutely not rebel.
They might even kill Li Qin and install his younger brother, Li Wenqi, as the new leader of a rebellion.
Anyway, you just want to sit idly by and wait to be eliminated by the imperial court.
They don't want to be with you, waiting to be purged by the imperial court and die.
Therefore, when Li Qin spoke of "purging the court of corrupt officials" at the banquet, everyone echoed his sentiments.
This is because it is essentially in the interests of all members of Lee's faction.
In some corners of the banquet, some officers, though smiling, revealed a deep sadness in their eyes.
Xia Nianyong was particularly worried, especially among the generals sitting in the middle of this group, and even sighed a little.
In reality, these people were simply dragged into the rebellion.
Many of them were hereditary military officers in Liaodong and did not belong to the Li family faction at all; it was just that the Li family was powerful.
They could only bring their troops with them; otherwise, they would be eliminated immediately.
Especially now that they have followed Li Wenqi to Shanhaiguan to help Li Qin fight against the imperial court, they have also been coerced.
Most importantly, their families are still in Liaodong.
They understood perfectly what Li Qin meant by centralized protection and freedom from harassment by treacherous individuals.
It's just that we're afraid they won't obey orders on the battlefield.
Keep their family members as hostages.
Now, apart from Li Qin's 8,000 personal guards, there are 30,000 cavalry and 80,000 infantry remaining.
Except for the 30,000 cavalrymen, who were firmly controlled by Li Qin's confidants.
Although the Li family father and son replaced some of the officers among the 80,000 infantrymen, a large portion of the officers were still hereditary officers from Liaodong.
They had never received any great favors from the Li family.
Therefore, Li Qin was the one who trusted them the most.
Initially, he sent his younger brother Li Wenqi to lead them. Even when the troops were divided, he had his nephew Li Xuanshang or his confidant Zhang Hengshuo manage them.
Li Qin looked around the banquet, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present, a wine glass in hand.
Naturally, they also noticed the expressions on the faces of those hereditary officers from Liaodong.
Li Qin knew very clearly from the original owner's memories that those people were not members of their party at all.
They were forced to rebel with them.
It's inevitable to feel dissatisfied.
Li Qin sighed inwardly at their situation.
Because he was very clear that he currently had no way to appease the other party's dissatisfaction.
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