Thief Emperor

Chapter 120 A time of great strife!

Born into the Green Forest Sect, Li Yun has seen many evil people, including those who killed people without warning and were extremely vicious. He has even killed many of them with his own hands.

However, Li Yun did not have any emotional fluctuations when killing those people. However, facing the leader of Tianmu Mountain, he felt disgust from the bottom of his heart.

After beating him up, Li Yun handed him over to his anti-theft team, who had also passed through Xiaao Village.

People like them who came from bandits might be even more disgusted by Bai Qi's behavior.

Therefore, Li Yun specifically instructed that they should not beat the man to death directly, because he wanted to keep his word and tie the man surnamed Bai to a tree in Xiaao Village so that the villagers could seek revenge for their grievances.

However, compared to Bai Qi, those soldiers from Yuezhou, or the subordinates of the King of Yue, were more important to Li Yun. He specifically asked Li Zheng to tie them up and find a way to pry open their mouths.

Li came to a separate room in person. After seeing the big man being helped in the room, he sat down by himself, cleared his throat, and asked, "Are you Qiu Dian's men?"

This big man had already suffered a lot. After seeing Li Yun, he shrank back a little, then nodded: "Yes..."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of hot water, then continued to ask, "How many people are there under Qiu Dian's command now?"

The big man hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "I...I don't know."

"Your Majesty, there are two armies under your command. One is led by General Zhao, who fights for your Majesty against the imperial court, while the other is stationed in Yuezhou, responsible for protecting your Majesty and the safety of Yuezhou."

Li Yun said calmly: "Are you based in Yuezhou?"

"Yes."

Li Yun continued to ask: "How many people do you have in Yuezhou?"

The man lowered his head. After a while, he looked up at Li Yun and said, "Boss, I'm telling you, can you... let me go?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "As long as you are willing to tell the truth, everything will be easy to talk about."

The man then lowered his head and said, "We announced to the public that there are more than 10,000 people guarding the city of Yuezhou, but in fact there are only about 2,000 people, including..."

"Most of them are from the same hometown as the king."

"As for General Zhao..."

He shook his head and said, "When General Zhao first conquered Yuezhou, he had about 2,000 men under his command. However, General Zhao often surrendered the enemy. I... I don't know how many men he has now."

Li Yun thought for a moment and asked, "Is it this General Zhao who is attacking Qiantang now?"

"Yes."

Mr. Li asked again: "What is his name?"

"Zhao Cheng."

Mr. Li lowered his head to drink tea and continued to ask, "What's your background?"

The man gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know the details, but I heard that General Zhao was born in an official family. He offended the court in his early years, and all the men in his family were killed, and the women were sent to the Jiaofang Bureau. His family was destroyed..."

"He has always hated the imperial court. After the king raised the banner of rebellion and captured two counties, General Zhao took the initiative to surrender and became a member of the king's army."

"General Zhao was very brave. Later, all the counties in Yuezhou, including Yuezhou City, were conquered by General Zhao."

Li Yun touched his chin, thinking about it. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Is he from a military family?"

The man scratched his head.

"General... I only know this much, I don't know anything else."

Li Yun looked at him.

The murderous aura made the man tremble all over, but he couldn't utter a word.

Obviously, he didn't know much more.

Li Yun did not make things difficult for him, but walked out on his own.

At this moment, it was already dark, and Zhou Liang was waiting for Li Yun outside. When he saw Li Yun coming out, Zhou Liang came up to him and asked, "Village leader, is there any result?"

Li Yun was still thinking about General Zhao. Zhou Liang called him and he came back to his senses. He asked with a smile, "Uncle San, do you know that there was a general named Zhao in the Great Zhou Dynasty whose hometown was near Yuezhou and was executed by the court?" Zhou Liang shook his head, "I'm not in the court, so I don't know."

Li Yun nodded silently and said with a smile: "Then he should not be a very famous general."

Zhou Liang thought for a moment and asked, "What did the village chief find out?"

"These are just some basic information, not much useful."

Li Yun stretched and said, "The only useful thing is to know why King Qiu was able to go smoothly."

He muttered, "It's not because he's so powerful, but because the Great Zhou court has too many enemies in the dark."

Zhou Liang wanted to ask more, but was interrupted by Li Yun. The village chief Li looked at Zhou Liang and said, "Uncle San will go and take a look later. Don't let Bai Qi be beaten to death by them. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, Uncle San will take Bai Qi and tie him up at the entrance of Xiaao Village."

"It's a relief for the local villagers."

Zhou Liang responded and nodded in agreement.

He looked at Li Yun and asked, "Captain, what should we do next? Should we kill all the people from Yuezhou to prevent them from coming to attack us..."

Li Yun thought for a while, then said, "They are not guilty of a crime worthy of death. I plan to release one or two of them and see if I can attract some of the Yue King's troops."

Zhou Liang took a deep breath and said, "The village chief wants to rely on Tianmu Mountain to deal with the people of Yuezhou?"

"I have this idea, but I haven't made up my mind yet."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I mainly want to try to see what kind of quality these rebels have. However, judging from today's situation, those who follow Qiu Dian are definitely not very capable."

"I just don't know what the troops that General Zhao brought with him look like."

Zhou Liang lowered his head and thought for a while, then slowly said, "Village leader, I think this matter is a bit dangerous."

"Don't worry, Uncle San."

Li Yun smiled and said, "How long has it been? Even if the court is slow to react, it will definitely respond to the Yuezhou Rebellion. Otherwise, it would be too incompetent."

"We can't face the rebels in Yuezhou on our own."

Li Yun touched his chin and said slowly: "However, I am concerned about this General Zhao..."

"very interested."

…………

The imperial edict was finally issued to the local areas, ordering Xuanzhou, Raozhou, Mingzhou, Wuzhou and more than a dozen other prefectures and counties near Yuezhou to recruit troops on the spot.

Because the candidate for commanding the troops in the capital has not yet been decided, the troops recruited from the local areas are on standby where they are. The imperial court will soon send a general to lead these troops.

At the same time as the imperial edict, a private letter from his cousin Cui Yuan was also sent to Cui Shao, the governor of Xuanzhou.

After seeing the documents from the court and the letters from his uncle, Envoy Cui, who had lived in peace for a long time, immediately became active again.

He first called several subordinates in the government and then began to give orders.

"Pass on my order, have the county magistrates of Xuanzhou leave immediately and come to Xuanzhou to discuss matters. There should be no delay!"

After issuing this order, Cui Shijun frowned, thought for a while, and continued, "Post a notice saying that the court wants to recruit soldiers to suppress bandits. It would be great if every family could volunteer young and strong men. If the conscription is not complete within a month, we will recruit from every village, one in ten men."

Although Cui Shao didn't know the local area well, he had basic administrative skills, and soon, orders were issued one after another.

After the order was issued, he suddenly remembered Li Yun who had already formed a team, and became excited again.

"Also, go check where Li Zhao from Qingyang has gone!"

"Once you find out, send him a message immediately and tell his anti-theft team not to move and stay where they are!"

"Ask him to rush back to Xuanzhou immediately. I have something important to discuss with him!"

(End of this chapter)