Thief Emperor

Chapter 167 The Beauty of Power

It was not until the next morning that Li Yun met Su Sheng.

After seeing Li Yun, Su Sheng stepped forward and saluted, then said, "I was very busy yesterday, and I didn't know that Brother Li woke up until the night. It was too late, so I didn't come. Please don't blame me."

In the past two days, the major general has been dealing with the remnants in Qiantang City and maintaining public order in Qiantang City. He has been very busy for two days.

At this time, Li Yun's body was no longer in pain when he moved normally. He was reading a book. When he saw Su Sheng coming, he put down the book and stood up to greet him. He smiled and said, "Young General, just go and do your work. It doesn't matter whether you come to see me or not."

Su Sheng looked at the book next to Li Yun and laughed, "Brother Li, are you interested in these things? I get a headache when I see these. I am only interested in wielding spears and sticks, military books, and battle formations."

"I'm free anyway, so I might as well kill some time."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Ordinary people may not be able to appreciate it even if they want to see it."

Su Sheng curled his lips and did not continue the topic. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Brother Li, you are the first contributor to the conquest of Qiantang. I have already reported this matter to the general, and the general has also reported your contribution in detail."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Yun, patted his chest and said, "This time, if the court attributes your achievements to me again, I will no longer be an official in the court, but will be a follower to Brother Li!"

Li Yun smiled silently.

"How can I afford an attendant like the Major General?"

He thought for a moment and asked, "I didn't wake up until yesterday evening. Does the Major General know the result of the blocking battle the day before yesterday?"

On that day, after Jiang Yan took over the battle, Li Zheng withdrew with Li Yun and hundreds of people under Li Yun's command. They did not ask about the subsequent battlefield anymore.

"Brother Li, you have killed more than 600 enemies."

"You captured more than 300 prisoners, which means you have at least won more than 1,000 men. With this achievement, I will make you a fifth-rank military officer without any problem!"

Su Sheng smiled and continued, "Later, Vice Admiral Jiang continued to pursue, leaving at least 1,000 or 2,000 rebels behind. Although Zhao Cheng's troops escaped from the circle, there were at most 3,000 people left, and their morale was low, so they could mutiny at any time."

"It's no longer going to be anything great."

Su Sheng thought for a moment and continued, "According to intelligence, Zhao Cheng's troops have already fled to the southwest."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It seems that King Qiu has been ignored."

If it was a few months ago, the phrase "King Qiu" would have been somewhat taboo, but at this moment, the three words "King Qiu" are already full of ridicule and mockery.

Even Su Sheng laughed: "That's not the case. Zhao Cheng shouldn't be able to run too far, but that Qiu Tianwang can't run away even if he wants to."

Although Zhao Cheng did achieve some results in rescuing Yuezhou this time, such as consuming a lot of Su Jing's troops and temporarily slowing down Su Jing's pace of attacking Yuezhou, he was eventually defeated and fled. This meant that even if Su Jing could not attack Yuezhou again in a short period of time, he could still take the absolute initiative on the battlefield.

At this time, General Su's main force was at the foot of Yuezhou City, with a steady supply of supplies. He could attack Yuezhou whenever he wanted.

It is foreseeable that Qiu Dian’s downfall is not far away.

On the contrary, Zhao Cheng, who escapes from the circle, will become a hidden danger to the court.

After talking about the battle situation for a while, Su Sheng patted Li Yun on the shoulder and said, "At this point, this battle has nothing to do with you, Brother Li, and your subordinates. You should rest here."

"As for your lost troops..."

Su Sheng scratched his head and said, "If Brother Li continues to follow the general to fight in the Central Plains, then you will naturally be replaced. If Brother Li is unwilling to continue to go to the Central Plains to quell the rebellion, sooner or later, seven or eight out of ten of you will be gone, so it won't make any difference whether you are replaced or not."

Li Yun stroked his chin, thought for a while, and then said, "I will go to Yuezhou in a few days to discuss this matter with the general."

"My brothers will stay in Qiantang to recuperate for the time being."

Su Sheng nodded and said with a smile: "Since Brother Li is fine now, I will not stay in Qiantang for long. I will leave Qiantang to Brother Li to garrison."

He paused and said, "It's called garrison, but Zhao Cheng won't be back. Yuezhou has a general watching over it, so I'm just letting you recuperate here."

Li Yun nodded and said, "I understand."

Su Sheng looked at the sky and said, "I will go back to Yuezhou camp now. Qiantang will be left to you."

Li Yun nodded slowly, stood up and said, "I'll see the Major General off."

"No need to."

Su Sheng smiled and waved his hands, then said sincerely: "There are chaos everywhere now, and the court needs manpower. Brother Li has the ability, and it is time for him to show his skills. I still hope that Brother Li will follow the general to the Central Plains to quell the chaos."

"When the war in the Central Plains ends, Brother Li will be a full-fledged general."

Li Yun smiled and shook his head, saying, "I am considered a Jiangnan Daoist. After the war in Jiangnan Dao ended, I didn't want to move much. As for going to the Central Plains..."

"I will go to see the general in a few days and discuss this matter with him."

Su Sheng did not force it. He saluted Li Yun with his fists and turned to leave.

Li Yun sent him to the gate of the courtyard and did not see him off any further. After watching Su Sheng's back disappear, he looked at the two guards guarding the gate and asked, "Where are the wounded soldiers now?" These two people were Li Yun's own men. Hearing this, they lowered their heads and said, "I'll take you there."

A moment later, Li Yun was taken to where the wounded soldiers gathered. This was also a large courtyard, but because Qiantang had suffered a disaster, many wealthy families either fled or died at the hands of the rebels, so many large houses were left empty.

When Li Yun arrived, Chu Heng was preparing medicine. Li Yun first greeted him and then took a walk around the wounded soldiers' camp.

Most of those still lying here are seriously injured. Some have knife wounds, and some are so serious that they will inevitably become disabled.

Many people here are familiar with Li Yun, and some are from the anti-theft team. After seeing Li Yun, they called him "Du Tou" one by one.

Li Yun walked around and asked about the situation, then returned to Chu Heng and asked, "Fifth Uncle, what else is missing here? Tell me."

"What is missing?"

Chu Heng looked at Li Yun and said, "We are not short of medicinal materials. Skinny Monkey has brought a lot of them in the past two days, but we are short of manpower. Among those people under you, how many of them can make medicine?"

Seeing Li Yun thoughtful, Chu Heng said, "But you don't have to be too anxious."

He said silently: "It's been three days. Those who couldn't make it are all gone. Most of those who are still alive now will not die. They will just recover slowly."

Li Yun nodded, walked outside the yard, and said in a deep voice: "Go and call Li Zheng."

Soon, Li Zheng ran over and said, "Second brother, what's the matter?"

"Go and call all the doctors in Qiantang City, including the apprentices, and have them prepare medicine for Master Wang to heal his wounds."

"We'll pay those who are willing to come, and those who are not willing to come."

There was a fierce look in Li's eyes.

"killed!"

This is a critical time.

Li Yun was stationed in Qiantang, and there was no other force in Qiantang that could check and balance him. It could be said that Li Yun was now the "military government" of Qiantang City. With violence in his hands, he had the final say on everything.

Killing people is okay.

At most, we can blame it on the rebels.

Li Zheng quickly lowered his head: "Okay, second brother, I'll go right away!"

He turned around and ran away.

After Li Zheng ran away, Li Yun stood alone in the yard. He looked up at the sky, then looked down at his hands.

At this moment, he truly felt the beauty of power.

The lives of almost everyone in the city were in his hands, no matter whether there were princes, nobles, thousand-year-old families, or retired officials of the second or third rank in Qiantang City.

As long as he wants, everyone will die under his knife.

Some violent and evil thoughts emerged in his mind, but were then suppressed by a burst of clarity.

After a long while, he let out a long breath and murmured, "When the rebels entered the city, their thoughts were probably not much different from what I think now."

He looked down at his hands and laughed at himself: "Maybe this is the reason why human nature is evil."

If you want to achieve great things, you cannot just care about your own momentary desires, you must look long-term, long-term, and long-term.

"It's a pity that such a big city cannot be my territory."

Mr. Li stretched his muscles and murmured, "Otherwise, I can do too many things."

Just when Li Yun was lost in thought, Zhou Liang came over from afar. After seeing Li Yun, he breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Village leader, the gentry in Qiantang City want to see you."

"see me?"

Li Yun stretched himself and asked, "What do you want to see me for?"

"They said that many of their properties were seized by the rebels. Now that the royal army has recovered Qiantang, they want to tell the village chief which properties they are."

Li Yun's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he laughed.

"Yes, very good."

"I was just about to check if any of them were colluding with the rebels."

(End of this chapter)