Thief Emperor

Chapter 125 You can go now!
Hearing the word "famous general", Li Yun became interested and asked with a smile: "If he is a famous general, how can he be unemployed? Hasn't the court been engaged in frequent wars in recent years?"

Master Xue glanced at Li Yun and said slowly: "Isn't it obvious that you can ask this question?"

Li Dutou blinked and asked, "Is it because he doesn't know how to be an official, or has he offended someone?"

"It's a bit of both, but the main reason is that I offended someone."

Mr. Xue said, with his hands behind his back, "More than a decade ago, General Su dared to speak out against His Majesty, which angered His Majesty. He was sent back home and has not led troops in more than a decade."

Li Yun sighed and asked, "What did you say that made the emperor hold a grudge against you for so long?"

"At that time, I wasn't even a county magistrate. How could I know about this kind of thing?"

Master Xue glanced at Li Yun and said unhappily, "If you have a chance to meet General Su, just go and ask him yourself."

"besides."

Magistrate Xue whispered, "You should address me as Your Majesty."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I only lead the soldiers of Qingyang. I am at most a lieutenant. How can I possibly meet the general?"

According to the military system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the commander of a hundred men was called a brigade commander. Above the brigade commander was a colonel, and the number of men under his command ranged from two hundred to five hundred.

Master Xue led Li Yun into his study, poured two cups of tea, drank one himself, looked at Li Yun, and said, "The imperial army commander is coming soon, so put your bandit suppression work aside for now. According to the documents from the state, we in Qingyang are going to recruit 240 new soldiers."

"How many people are there in your anti-theft team?"

Li Yun thought for a moment and replied, "There are more than 150 people."

"Then we still need eighty or ninety people."

Master Xue stroked his beard and said, "Eighty or ninety people are not difficult to recruit. I will gather them as soon as possible in the next few days and hand them over to you. You will lead them to the place designated by General Su."

At this point, he continued, "This is a big deal. You must seize the opportunity. If you make a contribution, you may become a regular lieutenant in the court in the future, with a high rank."

This kind of local, targeted temporary recruitment of soldiers, once the target is taken, not many organizations can be preserved, and most ordinary soldiers will go wherever they are supposed to go. Therefore, even if Li Yun became a captain, it was only temporary, and it was impossible for him to really be a military officer of the court.

This is because the imperial court only parachuted in a commander without any troops. If General Su was allowed to bring his old subordinates with him, Li Yun might not even be able to get the rank of captain.

Of course, if he made meritorious service, General Su would recommend him to the imperial court, and rewarding him would make him a military officer, which would not be a big problem.

Li Yun looked at Master Xue, patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, County Master, I will definitely win honor for our Qingyang."

Mr. Xue looked at Li Yun and continued, "How are you going to deal with He Gang?"

"Cui Shao asked me to send him to Xuanzhou. I'm afraid that if I send him there, his promise to me will be in vain. So I'll leave him with the county magistrate for now. If Cui Shao goes to Qingyang, you, the county magistrate, will have to negotiate with him."

Magistrate Xue closed his eyes, thought for a while, and said, "Well, if he comes over, I'll talk to him about this. What has he promised you?"

Li Yun repeated the two conditions to Mr. Xue, who shook his head repeatedly.

"You handled this matter too roughly. What a young man from an aristocratic family like him lacks the most when he comes to the local government is dazzling achievements. This He Gang can at least let him directly write a letter to recommend you for an official position."

"As long as I give you the credit for capturing He Gang, it won't be difficult for him, the governor, to recommend you as the brigade commander."

Li Yun thought about it, then said with a smile: "Forget it, forget it, I don't want to accept his favor."

Mr. Li has no good feelings towards these young men from aristocratic families, and he doesn't want to use them to become an official. After all, he will most likely fall out with them in the future.

If I become an official through Cui Shao, I will inevitably be branded as ungrateful when Cui Shao turns against me in the future.

The two talked for a while before Li Yun stood up to say goodbye. However, he left Mr. Xue's study and did not leave the county government office.

After arriving at the back hall, he talked with Miss Xue for a long time. It was not until it got dark that Li Yun got up and left.

Xue Yun'er walked him to the back door of the county government office and waved to Li Yun, saying, "You...you should be careful."

Li waved his hand and said with a smile: "Yun'er, you should be careful too."

This unconscious change of address made Miss Xue blush and she turned away.

Li Yun hummed a little tune and went back to his courtyard to rest.

…………

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

During these three days, Li Yun spent most of his time in the county government office, occasionally going to talk to Miss Xue. The rest of his time was mostly in the county school, reading some important books.

On the fourth day, Cui Shao, the envoy, finally couldn't bear it anymore and went to Qingyang. However, after arriving in Qingyang, he did not communicate much with Li Yun. Instead, he had a secret discussion with Magistrate Xue for most of an hour in the back hall of the county government, and finally left with He Gang.

After Cui Shao left, Li Yun came to Master Xue's study room with some curiosity and asked with a smile, "County Master, how did your conversation go?"

"The person has been handed over to him."

Mr. Xue lowered his head to drink tea and said calmly, "He promised to mention your name in the memorial to the court."

"When General Su arrives at the local area, he will also write to ask for your position as a lieutenant, so that you can continue to lead the Qingyang troops."

Li Yun poured himself a cup of tea and asked, "County Master, how do you officials trust each other?"

“There is no mutual trust.”

Master Xue pointed to a document on the table and said, "He wrote the memorial here, stamped it and signed it, and left a copy with me."

At this point, Magistrate Xue shook his head slightly and said, "Of course, this is not very useful. His family is too powerful, and he has an uncle who is the prime minister. He will definitely take away your credit, and no one can stop him. With this document, at most his private reputation will be damaged."

"But for a descendant of a thousand-year-old family, this is enough. He shouldn't let the family's reputation be damaged because of you." Li Yun gave a thumbs up.

"The county lord is wise."

Master Xue groaned and continued, "Cui Shao said that General Su's letter has been sent to Xuanzhou, requiring our new recruits in Xuanzhou to meet up in Ningguo County before the end of this month."

"Anyone who violates the deadline will be executed immediately."

Li Yun thought about it and asked with a smile: "Should our Xuanzhou soldiers go to Ningguo County, or should all the troops from various states go to Ningguo?"

"I don't know either."

He lowered his head and drank his tea.

"I don't know anything about military affairs."

Li Yun lowered his head and thought about it.

"There are still ten days left. General Su arrived pretty quickly."

Master Xue said, "We have already recruited all the soldiers in Qingyang. You should take them to Ningguo in a few days. Don't waste time."

Li Yun smiled and nodded.

"Yes."

…………

Two days later, Li said goodbye to Miss Xue and took more than 200 Qingyang soldiers, to be precise, 90 Qingyang soldiers and more than 100 bandits, and rushed to Ningguo.

Because the distance was not too close, it took them five or six days to reach the outskirts of Ningguo County. At this time, a large area of ​​​​open space had been cleared outside Ningguo County.

Luo Sheng, the magistrate of Ningguo, personally directed the officials and some civilians of Ningguo to set up tents outside the city.

Li Yun asked Chen Da to take a group of Qingyang soldiers to rest on the spot, and he walked in front of County Magistrate Luo and saluted: "County Magistrate Luo, it's been a while since we last met."

Magistrate Luo was still very polite and said with a smile: "Captain Li is here. Captain Li is not going to suppress the bandits anymore?"

"Fighting against the thieves is more important, so suppressing the bandits can only be put on hold for now."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I heard that the county lord was kind-hearted. After we left, he still raised donations for the suppression of bandits in Ningguo. It has been nearly a month. I wonder how much money the county lord raised?"

"Where's the money?"

"Don't mention it."

County Magistrate Luo patted his thigh and sighed: "Captain Li, you don't know that the people in Ningguo are all unruly. In order to suppress the bandits, this county has tried its best to persuade them, but in the end, they only raised 100 or 200 strings of money. In this way, when the rebellion in Yuezhou is quelled, Captain Li will go to Ningguo to suppress the bandits."

"I have two hundred strings of cash, not a penny less, I will give it all."

Li Yun looked at him with a half-smile, then smiled slightly: "Then I will listen to you, County Master."

County Magistrate Luo laughed and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Captain Li, there are still many things to do in this county. See you later."

Li Yun clasped his fists and said with a smile, "See you later."

…………

Two days later, the conscripted soldiers from all over the country arrived in Ningguo. Li Yun then discovered that not only the conscripted soldiers from Xuanzhou gathered in Ningguo, but soldiers from other states also gathered in Ningguo.

Li Yun and Qingyang's 200 people lived together in several connected tents.

On this day, he was leading Qingyang's brothers to make a fire and cook, and they were planning on getting some meat for a snack in the evening. Suddenly, a horse came running through the tents, and on the horse came a tall and thin man with a very loud noise.

"Has Qingyang Li Zhao arrived?"

"Has Qingyang Li Zhao arrived?"

Li Yun stood up, frowned slightly, but still raised his hand: "Qingyang Li Zhao is here!"

The messenger rode towards Li Yun, looked him up and down, then jumped off his horse and said, "The commander wants to see you, follow me!"

Li Yun raised his eyebrows slightly, a little surprised.

Is the Cui family so powerful? It seems that the general just arrived today and wants to see me right away?
He didn't have time to think about it, and followed the messenger and walked for a long time before arriving at the door of the general's tent. After entering the tent, he saw a tall general with half white hair, who was still majestic, sitting on the main seat in the tent.

"Qingyang Li Zhao, greetings to the Marshal!"

He bowed his head and clasped his fists in salute.

General Su looked up at Li Zhao and frowned slightly.

"Are you the Li Zhao who started to use the back door before I even arrived in Xuanzhou?"

General Su looked dignified.

"you can go now."

Li Yun was stunned and asked, "Where does the general want me to go?"

General Su frowned.

"Where you come from, there you go."

(End of this chapter)