Thief Emperor

Chapter 209 A time of great strife!

In fact, for Li Yun, it didn't make much difference whether there was a conscription document from the government or not. After all, whether the governor Du Qian agreed or not, he had to do it.

However, with Du Qian's document, it would always be more legitimate and he would be more confident in doing things. Thinking about it further, if he really starts an uprising in Yuezhou in the future and uses this conscription document as an excuse, Li would have another trump card to hold up.

There is profit and no harm.

More importantly, Li Yun can use this incident to test whether his immediate superior is the same kind of person as him. If he is unwilling to issue even this document, then there will be no possibility of cooperation in the future.

Now that Envoy Du is cooperating, Li Yun can make friends with him. As for whether they can start a business together in the future, it depends on Envoy Du's performance in the future.

After signing the document, Li Yun did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Du Qian and asked, "Envoy, I heard that there is a great chaos in the Central Plains, but I don't have any channels to know the news there. Do you have any news from the Central Plains?"

Du Qian heard this, looked up at Li Yun, pretended to be calm, and said with a smile: "Brother Li is the Sima of Yuezhou, why are you asking about the affairs of the Central Plains?"

"General Su has done me a favor."

Li Yun sighed: "Now he has been ordered to go to the Central Plains to quell the rebellion. His future is uncertain. If things in the Central Plains get out of control, I'm worried that he will be implicated."

"Besides, as the saying goes, even though one is in a low position, one must still worry about the country. I am also worried about the current situation, so I want to ask you about the news in the Central Plains."

Du Qian was startled, then looked at Li Yun, smacked his lips, and said, "I dare not forget my worries for the country even though I am in a low position... This is interesting, like a poem that I have never read before."

"Sima Li, where does this sentence come from?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "When I was a captain in Qingyang, I heard this on the roadside. I don't know if it was a poem, I only heard one or two fragments."

Du Qian said: "Can you tell me about it?"

"Even though I am in a low position, I still dare not forget to worry about the country. I have to wait until I die to settle things."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I only heard these two sentences. Please forgive me for making fun of you, Your Excellency."

Du Qian didn't doubt it, after all, he had never read this poem. Hearing this, he just murmured, "The person who said this must be a loyal and righteous man."

Having said that, he looked up at Li Yun, his eyes becoming more complicated.

He knew very well that this sentence definitely did not come from the mouth of Sima Li in front of him, because no matter from which angle, he could not see that this colleague in front of him was a loyal and righteous man.

After a pause, he held out his hand and said, "Sima Li, sit down, let's talk slowly."

Li Yun nodded and sat opposite Du Qian. Envoy Du took a piece of white paper from his desk and drew a rough map with a brush. He pointed to the largest circle on the map and said, "It's hard to explain it in a few words. Let me draw a map. This is Luoyang. The rebels are now entrenched here."

Du Qian pointed to the west of Luoyang and said in a deep voice: "This is the capital."

He pointed to the east again: "General Su, this should be here now."

"Before the end of the year, I heard that the imperial court was preparing to launch a joint attack on Luoyang."

Du Qian pointed to the west of Luoyang and said slowly, "The Imperial Army should have already left Tongguan and will soon engage in battle with the rebels. However, this place is too far from Jiangdong. It will take at least ten days or half a month for the news to arrive. I don't know what the situation is on the front line now."

At this point, Du Qian also showed a worried look on his face and sighed: "After all, the Imperial Guards are the elite of the court. I hope we can wipe out the rebellion as soon as possible and bring peace to the world."

Hearing this, Li Yun's eyes fell on this extremely simple map and he fell into deep thought.

While the two men in Jiangdong were discussing the war in the Central Plains, in Shan County west of Luoyang City, the 30,000 imperial troops who had just left Tongguan to the east had already engaged in a head-on confrontation with the rebels.

The Imperial Army General Wu Zhong, leading the Imperial Army, had just left Tongguan and arrived in Shan County when they were ambushed by rebels who had been lying in wait in Shan County. The sudden contact and the large number of rebels meant that the Imperial Army suffered a great loss. After several days of fierce fighting, nearly 30% of them were killed or wounded, and they were chased by the rebels all the way to the gate of Tongguan.

Seeing that the enemy was coming in full force, the commander of Tongguan refused to open the gate and locked Wu Zhong's troops outside Tongguan. General Wu Zhong was so angry that he cursed loudly and had no choice but to return to fight the rebels once again.

The two sides fought fiercely for more than ten days. Wu Zhong was escorted by his family and escaped from the battlefield. Except for a few who fled in all directions, the rest of his 30,000 troops were almost wiped out. At the same time, Su Jing's troops, who were fighting the rebels together with the imperial guards, had just entered Henan Prefecture when they heard the news that the imperial guards on the western front were almost wiped out.

This news was like a bucket of cold water poured on Su Jing's head. General Su no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the withdrawal of troops from Henan Prefecture to Xingyang County, switching from offense to defense.

In the central army tent of Xingyang County, Major General Su Sheng's face was extremely ugly, even a little pale. He sat on the ground in the tent and muttered, "Thirty thousand imperial guards, thirty thousand imperial guards!"

"We only have 30,000 people. Is Wu Zhong a pig? He defeated all 30,000 imperial guards in just half a month!"

In comparison, although Su Jing's expression was not good, he was much calmer than his son. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said slowly: "We all underestimated Wang Junping."

"I originally thought that after he took over Henan Prefecture, he would choose to stay put and slowly recover some of his energy. I didn't expect that he never had the idea of ​​staying put. This time, the battle..."

"When facing our army, they chose to defend, but when facing the Imperial Guards, they attacked with all their might."

Su Jing closed his eyes and said slowly, "I estimate that Wang Junping probably invested most of his troops in the battle of Shan County, and the number of troops must be more than 100,000. Otherwise, no matter how stupid Wu Zhong was, he would not be defeated in three days."

Su Sheng clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "Even if there are more than 100,000 people, they are just a group of refugees. They don't even have complete armor and soldiers. Wu Zhong is leading the imperial army!"

"The best-equipped and most expensive imperial guards!"

Seeing his son so angry, Su Jing sighed silently and said, "Defeat is defeat. There is no point in saying these things. You should leave now and find a way to go to the capital to ask the court for the next move of my troops."

At this point, Su Jing sighed silently, his voice hoarse: "Although it was a great defeat, as long as Tongguan is not breached, it is not a big deal. What I am worried about now is that once this matter spreads throughout the world, I am afraid that people from all over the country will rise up in response to Wang Junping."

"When the time comes, war will break out everywhere, and the world will be in chaos."

Su Sheng took a deep breath, stood up, bowed his head and clasped his fists: "My son obeys your command!"

He looked up at his old father and gritted his teeth and said, "Dad, I'm not here, you must take care of yourself. The rebels are numerous and powerful, so don't confront them head-on for now!"

Su Sheng was thinking about something at the moment. He nodded subconsciously and said slowly, "Father knows, don't worry."

As he spoke, he looked up at Su Sheng and warned him, "His Majesty is very suspicious, especially at this time, he is probably the most suspicious. When you arrive in the capital, don't go to see anyone, go directly to see His Majesty."

Su Sheng sighed: "I'm afraid I may not be able to see it."

"Being able to see someone is one thing, going to see him is another."

"Just do as your father says."

General Su stood up and said in a hoarse voice: "If Wu Zhong escapes back to the capital, he will definitely discredit our army in order to save his life. My son must fight for his rights and not let that good-for-nothing confuse right and wrong!"

Su Sheng bowed his head, clasped his fists, answered yes, then turned around and strode away.

After Su Sheng left, General Su walked out of the tent alone, looked up at the sky, and muttered to himself: "Imperial Guards, Imperial Guards..."

He was a soldier who had joined the army since childhood and had spent a long time in the border troops in his early years. For a long time, in the minds of these border troops, the imperial army meant strength, eliteness, and invincibility.

And now, the myth of the Imperial Guards has been shattered.

Su Jing was born a frontier general, and he knew the thoughts of frontier generals very well.

The weakness of the imperial guards had been fully exposed. He could see it, and the generals and military governors of the border troops could naturally see it as well.

General Su clasped his hands in the sleeves in front of him. His hands were trembling slightly under his sleeves. After a long while, he exhaled and muttered.

"The era of great strife is coming again..."

(End of this chapter)