Thief Emperor

Chapter 148 Control the place!

Zheng Wei did not stay in Linshui for too long, not even overnight. After finishing his business, he said goodbye and left.

Although he was also born into a noble family, being born into a noble family does not mean incompetence. On the contrary, due to education issues, many children of noble families in this era are much more capable than children of poor families and common people. It's just that these children of noble families don't do good things.

Even Cui Shao, who was of mediocre ability, was able to perform well as the governor of Xuanzhou, and he did a good job, not much worse than when Tian Jing was there.

Although Zheng Yu's military ability was average, his professional ability as an inspector was not a big problem. After receiving Su Jing's arrangements, he hurried to prepare.

After Zheng Wei left, General Su wrote several letters in his tent. After sending them out one by one, Su Jing took out the map and read it over and over again before saying, "Go call Li Zhao."

The soldiers outside the tent quickly responded and went to look for Li Yun.

When Li Yun arrived at the general's tent, it was already evening and it was almost dark.

Li Yun entered the general's tent, clasped his fists towards General Su, and asked, "General, are you looking for me?"

"Sit down and talk."

Li Yun was not polite and sat down as he was told.

After Li Yun sat down, Su Jing looked at him and said, "What happened today was completely beyond my expectations. Until now, I still haven't figured out why the court arranged this."

"But since the court has made this arrangement, I can't do anything about it."

General Su said this, looked at Li Yun, and smiled: "What is even more unexpected to me is that you can hold yourself back today. I thought you would explode on the spot given your temper of daring to fight with me on the first day."

Li Yun laughed and didn't respond.

If it concerns his core interests, he does have a bad temper, but this matter did not actually have a particularly big impact on him, so naturally he would not have much of a reaction.

"I never thought of becoming a high-ranking official. It's my subordinates who have been angry about this matter all day."

Su Jing reached out and knocked on the table, saying, "Since this has happened, I will not take advantage of you. I have another errand for you now."

He paused and added, "This mission will not require you to confront the rebels head-on, so it will be much easier. Moreover, after you accomplish it, you will also get the credit. I will personally go to the capital to ask for credit for you."

Li Yun touched his chin and asked, "General, what is your mission?"

"Go to garrison Wuzhou."

Su Jing pointed to Wuzhou on the map and said, "Now, my troops have blocked the rebels' way to the west. Their way to the south will also be blocked soon. As for going north... they don't have the ability to do so yet."

"Wuzhou is the southwestern corner of the rebels. If we block this gap, we can basically say that we have trapped the rebels in a circle."

General Su paused and said, "This place is not too close to Yuezhou. The rebels are unlikely to attack here, so it is not a difficult task."

Li Yun thought for a moment and asked, "How many men will the general give me?"

"You are now a lieutenant appointed by the court. I will write you another military order to make you a captain in the army to suppress the rebellion and give you two lieutenant camps."

He looked at Li Yun and continued, "You can choose one of the current lieutenant battalions. I will allow you to pick another 500 people and take them to Wuzhou together."

"This trip to Wuzhou is said to be for defense, but the possibility of the rebels attacking Wuzhou is not high. Your final mission is to encircle and force the rebels back to Yuezhou together with the main army, and finally wipe them out in one fell swoop."

When Li Yun heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "General, can you give me the 100 cavalrymen under the command of the young general?"

Su Jing glared at Li Yun and cursed, "Those 100 riders are what I brought from home. How can I give them to you?"

Li Yun knew that those cavalrymen who were able to break into the enemy camp at night and set fire while still keeping their horses unscarred and retreating were elite troops, and he himself had no intention of getting them back. The reason he asked this question was to state his next request.

"Then the general should write me a note and ask the local government of Wuzhou to fully cooperate with my garrison mission."

Su Jing is the commander-in-chief of the army. He has every power to control the local areas and can also delegate this power to lower levels.

Hearing this, General Su looked up at Li Yun cautiously and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"What are you talking about, General?"

Li Yun frowned and said, "Of course, I want to complete the mission in Wuzhou. Wuzhou is so big, how can two battalions of lieutenants be deployed to defend it? We must cooperate with the local government offices to guard Wuzhou tightly." General Su hesitated, but because of the favors he and his son owed in the morning, and because Li Yun seemed quite reliable, he thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, I'll give you three days to pick someone. Before you leave, I'll write you a note."

"Remember one thing."

Su Jing said in a deep voice: "The people under your command have been trained, but most of the other battalions are still new recruits. After arriving in Wuzhou, they must not slack off in training."

Li Yun was very cheerful and said with a smile: "If you ask me, the general doesn't need to train too hard, as long as he can defeat the rebels. Even if the general really trains an army, he will still be sad after the rebellion is suppressed."

The court was in financial difficulties.

In other words, the national strength is no longer sufficient.

It is precisely because of this that the Yuezhou Rebellion has not been resolved until today. Instead, it has required the veteran general Su Jing to go to the local area to recruit soldiers to resolve the issue.

In other words, the imperial court might be able to maintain the existence of this army for a short period of time, but it would not be able to maintain it for a long time. Therefore, once the rebellion was suppressed, the army would be disbanded on the spot.

At most, people like Li Yun who made contributions in the war were rewarded by the court, while the other soldiers returned home with a little bit of salary.

Li Yun's words clearly touched a nerve of General Su. He looked up at Li Yun and wanted to curse him, but he forced himself to hold it back. Finally, he said in a muffled voice, "It's never a bad thing to practice more. The harder you work now, the more skills you will have in the future. Skills are always yours."

Li Yun smiled but said nothing. He looked around in the general's tent and then said, "General, do you have any military books or something like that? I would like to borrow one or two and take them back to have a look."

Hearing this, Su Jing looked at Li Yun and sneered, "Just now you said that you don't want to be an official in the court. If you don't want to be an official in the court, why are you reading military books?"

"The general just said that it's never a bad thing to gain a little more ability."

Su Jing stared at Li Yun for a few seconds, then stood up, walked to his bed, and handed Li Yun a book that was almost torn.

"This is the Art of War written by Duke Sui, a founding hero of this dynasty. It is also his marching notes. I have kept it with me over the years and have read it from time to time. Although it is not very profound, it is very suitable for young people like you who have never read a military book."

"Take it and have a look."

Li Yun took it with both hands, thanked him, clasped his hands and left.

Su Jing looked at Li Yun's leaving back and stroked his beard.

He had been unemployed for more than ten years and had done almost nothing else except concentrating on writing military books. Now, the military book, the result of his life's hard work, was only missing the last volume.

Now, seeing a young man who was studious and had some talent, he couldn't help but think of the military book he was about to write.

General Su was lost in thought for a while, then shook his head and sighed, "I wonder who can inherit my legacy."

…………

In Li Yun's own tent.

After coming back, he lit an oil lamp, took a wooden stick, and gestured on the table. Li Zheng had fallen asleep by now. In a daze, he saw Li Yun gesticulating beside the table and muttering to himself.

"Second brother, what are you doing?"

He asked dazedly.

"nothing."

Li Yun looked back at Li Zheng and yawned, "Go to sleep, don't worry about me."

Li Zheng yawned loudly, then said, "I just heard you mumbling something about land reform... What does that mean?"

"Means nothing."

Mr. Li coughed and almost spit out the tea in his mouth. After making up a lie, he looked at the simple diagram he had drawn with water on the table and sighed inwardly.

It’s a pity that he still doesn’t have a base.

Otherwise, he really had to give those gentry and noble families a little shock, to make some changes and make them equal!

(End of this chapter)