Thief Emperor

Chapter 152: Old and cunning
The situation in Dongyang is not difficult to control.

In fact, with Su Jing's documents and Li Yun's troops, the entire situation in Wuzhou was under his control. The only difference was whether he was strong or not.

After resolving the issues with the government, the only thing left was the issue of military training. Li Yun spent several days dividing his men into two groups.

One group was led by Zhou Liang, who served as a temporary captain, and the other group was led by Li Zheng, who served as a temporary captain, with Deng Yang as his assistant.

At the same time, some of the "team leaders" previously appointed in the anti-theft team now have their own positions in accordance with military rules, such as team leaders.

However, within the anti-theft team, they still use the original titles, calling them squad leader and captain.

After all, this is easier to understand. This group of people came from bandits and don't have much culture.

After the basic construction of the army was completed, Li Yun no longer had to gather everyone in an open space to hold meetings as he did before. That was too inefficient, and even if he shouted loudly, most people would not be able to hear clearly.

He called all the junior officers in the army to the door of his tent and asked them to sit down where they were.

He himself spoke while standing.

"Most of you here have followed me since Xuanzhou, that is, you came from the Anti-Theft Team. I won't say much about what the Anti-Theft Team is like."

"Now, we have more manpower, and we will do things differently than before. As you know, we have divided into two battalions, led by Zhou Liang and Li Zheng respectively."

"From today on, the two battalions will act separately and take turns to suppress bandits in Dongyang County according to my orders."

"Um…"

Li Yun pondered for a while and said, "It rotates every half a month."

"Then, each of you will be rewarded according to the number of bandits you have suppressed."

Li Yun looked around and said in a deep voice: "Starting from next month, the meat rations of the losing battalion will be halved and all will be given to the winning battalion!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the captains who had been quiet before couldn't help but widen their eyes and start talking.

Li Yun shouted, "If you want to eat meat, then fight for it!"

"do you understand!"

Everyone was convinced by Li Yun and responded, "I understand!"

"Alright, let's go our separate ways."

The captains then stood up and left one by one.

Zhou Liang and others stayed, including Deng Yang who wanted to leave, and were kept by Li Yun.

Li warned: "When it comes to suppressing bandits, the people below can be anxious, but we, the commanders, must not be anxious. We must be careful and try not to lose manpower."

The three of them looked at Li Yun, clasped their fists and said, "As you command!"

Zhou Liang thought for a moment, then looked at Li Zheng and said, "Shouhou, should you go first to suppress the bandits, or should I go first?"

"I'll go first, Uncle San."

Li Zheng gritted his teeth and said, "You stay here in the county for the time being."

"it is good."

Zhou Liang patted Li Zheng on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Be careful. Without the village leader in front, it will be more difficult to break into the village."

Li Zheng said with a smile: "Hu Zi is still with me. With Hu Zi around, I can at least be half the second brother."

Zhou Liang smiled and said a few more words to Li Zheng. After Li Zheng and Deng Yang left, he walked back to Li Yun and said softly, "Old men like my second brother are still in the Cangshan stronghold. If they saw the current leader of the stronghold and the people under our command, I wonder how surprised they would be."

Cangshan is too small, and Cangshan Dazhai is also too small.

After Li Yun occupied Lingyang Mountain, he arranged for the young people in the village to go to the Ten Kings Village in Lingyang Mountain.

The Shiwangzhai managed by Liu Bo now has about one or two hundred people, which is much larger than the Cangshan Village. The only people left in the Cangshan Village are the second in command, Yuan Zhengming, and some old people from the previous generation.

Li Yun, who now has thousands of people under his command, is no longer comparable to the original Cangshan Village.

Li Yun smiled and didn't respond.

Zhou Liang continued, "The village chief can invite Lao Wu to join the army. He is a good doctor and is especially good at preparing medicine for injuries."

The fifth leader, who is also Li Yun’s previous generation, is a local doctor in Cangshan Village.

As a doctor in a bandit's den, what he is best at is naturally preparing medicine for wounds. It is common for these bandits to get injured and bleed.

Li Yun thought about it and nodded, "Then Third Uncle should write a letter to Fifth Uncle. If he is willing to come, let him come quickly."

Zhou Liang nodded, and then continued: "Also, the village chief is still short of a scholar. Even if he is on the march, he still needs a few clerks."

"I know this."

Li rubbed his brows and said, "But this person is very important, we can't be impatient." "It depends on fate."

For a complete team, it is not enough to just be able to fight. Someone is also needed to handle some internal affairs.

Li Yun is not in great need of advisers now, because at the current stage, he can think through many things by himself. What he lacks is a talent like Wu Hou Ling Jun who is good at internal affairs.

However, this candidate is basically equivalent to the "prime minister" within Li Yun Group. It is not easy to find someone who is both qualified and loyal.

After seeing Zhou Liang off, Li sat in his tent, muttering to himself.

"Mr. Xue is a suitable candidate. I wonder when he will finish his term as magistrate..."

Thinking of this, he shook his head slightly again.

Mr. Xue was probably unwilling to come. No matter how unsuccessful his career was, he was a county magistrate after all. It was impossible for him to come to the army and work as a clerk for Li Yun.

Don't be impatient. Don't be impatient.

Mr. Li picked up the military book beside him and started reading it.

If there is no other choice, I can only call Liu Bo over first.

………………

While Mr. Li was launching a campaign to suppress bandits in Dongyang and using warfare as training, the more than 20,000 troops in Linshui finally completed their initial training.

General Su did not hesitate any longer and quickly assembled his troops and began to attack the rebels.

There were only seven or eight thousand rebels left in Qiantang City when the city was captured. But now, more than a month has passed, and some civilians in the city have joined in. It is estimated that there are more than ten thousand rebels in total.

The morale of these tens of thousands of people is still good.

After all, many of them were in the city, and had "enjoyed" the pleasure of reaping spoils after breaking into the city, so they were now full of fighting spirit.

General Zhao Cheng stood on the tall city wall of Qiantang, looking at the imperial army coming towards him, and sneered in his heart.

The difference in military strength between the two sides is not too great, and he has made preparations for the defense in Qiantang in the past month. He is confident that no one can capture Qiantang in a short period of time.

Su Jing can’t do it either!
And the 10,000 men in Qiantang are enough to tie up Su Jing's main force of more than 20,000 in Qiantang. In this way, the King of Yue in the rear will have ample time to develop!
Now, what I need most is time. After a year or so, when the army under my command will have exceeded 50,000 people, I will be able to make great strides in the southeast. It may be possible for me to march into Beijing and take revenge in the future!

Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng was excited and said in a deep voice: "Send someone out to keep a close eye on the movements of these government troops. If there is any movement, report it to me immediately!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate left respectfully.

Zhao Cheng continued to stay on the city wall, and memories of General Su Jingsu emerged in his mind.

The appearance is already very blurry.

But in my memory, I was still good to myself.

Zhao Cheng closed his eyes and then slowly opened them again.

Those are not important anymore. What is important is that he has to do well in the task at hand, even if... even if he cannot overthrow the Wu Zhou Dynasty this time, he must make the foundation of Wu Zhou tremble!
If we could march into the capital...

Zhao Cheng clenched his fists and his eyes turned red.

Just when he was full of confidence, someone else hurried up to the tower, half-knelt on the ground, bowed his head deeply and said, "General!"

Zhao Cheng came back to his senses, looked back, frowned and asked, "What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Scouts report that Su Jing has divided his troops!"

"Split the troops?"

Zhao Cheng was a little confused at first, then frowned and said, "He only has so many troops, where should they be divided?"

The messenger bowed his head again and said, "General, the scouts reported that Su Jing left 7,000 to 8,000 men to garrison in the southeast of Qiantang City, and the rest went straight to the southeast!"

"Southeast, southeast..."

Zhao Cheng's face suddenly changed and he stood there in a daze.

The southeast of Qiantang is none other than Yuezhou!

This old guy bypassed Qiantang and went straight to Yuezhou!
Although Yuezhou has a large number of troops, now there are about 10,000 to 20,000 people, but Yuezhou does not have a qualified general like Zhao Cheng, and its training level is far inferior to that of Zhao Cheng's subordinates!
Zhao Cheng stood where he was, looking at Su Jing's army still moving outside the city, and was stunned for a moment.

These veterans...

What a cunning old man.

(End of this chapter)