Thief Emperor

Chapter 220: Cool operation!
Zhao Cheng personally went to Yuezhou to take a look, and it is very likely that he had secretly observed the situation in Yuezhou Camp with his own eyes near the camp.

In other words, he had some basic understanding of the current situation of Yuezhou and Yuezhou Camp.

He now has only about two thousand men under his command. With the combat effectiveness of Li Yun's troops, even if they cannot defeat him head-on, they will have no problem defending Yuezhou City.

Even if it was Su Sheng, who had much more troops than Qiu Dian, it took him several months to lay siege to Yuezhou before he took action. Even if Zhao Cheng was a god, it was impossible for him to seize Yuezhou from Li Yun when the number difference was not so big.

Moreover, if he attacked Yuezhou by force, Li Yun could defend it for a while and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, and it would be very likely that he would be able to find his weakness and defeat him.

Zhao Cheng probably also saw this.

Therefore, he chose not to attack Yuezhou for the time being and instead attacked Wuzhou next to Yuezhou.

The reason is simple. If he conquers a state, it will definitely cause a shock to the imperial court. At this time, the imperial court will be unable to spare any effort and can only order local troops to suppress the rebellion.

Wuzhou and Yuezhou both belong to the East Road of Jiangnan and are under the jurisdiction of Zheng Yu, the governor of Jiangdong. Once Wuzhou was in chaos, the court ordered Zheng Yu to quell the rebellion. When Zheng Yu mobilized troops from Jiangdong, he would definitely mobilize troops from Li Yun.

This is a conspiracy.

He did not want to be the one attacking the city, but wanted Li Yun's troops to be the one attacking the city, while Zhao Cheng would defend the city. In this way, the strength of Li Yun's troops and the entire Jiangdong local army could be consumed on a large scale.

Another more important reason is that after the Yuezhou Rebellion was quelled, Zhao Cheng led his troops to flee Jiangdong in a panic. They did not have a good life during this period, otherwise there would not be only about two thousand people left, instead of three or four thousand.

Zhao Cheng also urgently needed a victory to consolidate the morale of his troops, and he needed a decent city to provide himself with some supplies. In comparison, Wuzhou naturally became a better choice.

After all, given the current mental state of his subordinates, if they attack Yuezhou by force, even if they suffer only a minor defeat, I'm afraid his subordinates will be dispersed.

He could lead troops, but that didn't mean he could fully control the army, especially an army like Zhao Cheng's that was on the verge of collapse.

Zhou Liang read the letter sent by Li Zheng. After thinking for a while, he roughly understood the cause and effect of this matter. He stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then looked up at Li Yun and whispered: "This Zhao Cheng is very powerful. He attacked Wuzhou, and we were forced to rescue Wuzhou under the order of the court. We were immediately in a passive position."

“That’s the normal situation.”

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "But our Yuezhou Army is a little different. If the imperial court's order is unreasonable..."

Mr. Li did not continue speaking.

He had met Zheng Kui, who was very polite to him and even wanted to introduce him to his niece. However, although he was polite, when it came to something that touched upon Li Yun's core interests, it was impossible for Li Yun to completely follow Zheng Kui's orders.

Besides, the soldiers of Yuezhou only need to guard Yuezhou. If something happens in Wuzhou, it should be Zheng Yu in Wujun who should worry about it, not him, Li Yun.

When the time really came for Zheng Wei to give the order and order Li Yun to attack Wuzhou, he could just send some people there to make a show. After all, the existing military forces in other prefectures and counties in Jiangdong might not be a fraction of that of the Yuezhou army.

"Don't worry, Uncle San."

Li Yun put away the letter sent by Li Zheng and said with a smile: "They are only attacking Wuzhou, they haven't occupied it yet, and Zhao Cheng is not the previous Zhao Cheng. Even if he takes Wuzhou, it will probably be Wuzhou City, not the entire territory of Wuzhou."

"Let's wait and see."

The cities of this era were not as large as the cities in the other world that Li Yun had experienced. A county town might only have a few streets and low city walls, and although the state capital was larger, it was not much bigger.

Therefore, there is a world of difference between conquering a state and conquering a state capital.

Zhao Cheng is certainly a capable person, but in Li Yun's opinion, he lacks a clear goal, especially after Qiu Dian's death, he now seems even more confused.

Given Zhao Cheng's current situation, it is impossible for him to develop steadily in Jiangdong like Li Yun did.

If Li Yun was in Zhao Cheng's position, he would have fled to the Central Plains by now and devoted himself to the vigorous rebellion. Why would he run back to Jiangdong, which is currently relatively stable?

Still thinking of starting an uprising from Yuezhou?
Even if it succeeds, it is too inefficient.

After thinking for a while in the military camp, Li Yun stood up, stretched and said, "I'm going to the city to see Envoy Du. Uncle, please tell my brothers to give everyone an extra 1 guan of salary this month."

Zhou Liang had already nodded, but when he heard this, he suddenly looked up at Li Yun and scratched his head again: "General, this..."

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "I made a small fortune. There's no point in keeping the money. I have to spend it when I have time."

Whether it is paper money, copper coins, or gold and silver, they are essentially just a symbol of transaction and cannot represent wealth itself.

Real wealth is land, houses, and the necessities of life.

In times of peace, money can buy these things, and both sides can draw a rough equality sign, but now that chaos is brewing everywhere, cash is not of much use and must be spent.

This time, the five hundred people who followed Li Yun on the business trip were given two more strings of money each, but there was still a lot left, so they simply gave everyone a little more. In this way, the new recruits could truly see the benefits of the Yuezhou Camp and truly follow Li Yun to do business in the future.

"Just do as I say."

Li Yun thought about it, and then said, "Besides, the price of grain is getting higher and higher now. Uncle San told the brothers below that if they don't want cash, they can get grain and rice from me on a monthly basis in the future. One guan of money can be exchanged for one stone and five dou of rice."

Most of the things Li Yun got during this trip to Xiangshan County were not copper coins. There were quite a few gold, silver, jewelry, and some rare curios, but the most common were two things.

Salt, and food.

These big salt companies are also frantically storing grain.

Originally, the imperial court should have sold these difficult-to-transport items on the spot, which would have allowed the local personnel to make a profit. However, Li Yun had enough manpower, and under the pretext of sealing stolen goods, he used dozens of trucks to bring all these items back.

But... ahem... most of them haven't arrived in Yuezhou yet and are still on the way back. Deng Yang is still watching from behind. It is estimated that it will take ten days, half a month, or even longer, to bring all of them back to Yuezhou.

Once you get something good, of course you have to share some with the people below you. If you don’t benefit the grassroots, who will start a business with you?
After making a few brief arrangements with Zhou Liang, Li Yun rode his horse all the way into Yuezhou City. After strolling around the city and seeing nothing wrong, Li Yun went all the way to the governor's office and asked to see Governor Du.

This clever governor Du knew very well who was in charge of Yuezhou, so he met Li Yun immediately and asked Li Yun to sit down in his study. He even poured tea for Li Yun himself and said with a smile: "Sima Li has opened my eyes again. The rebellion in Mingzhou was put to an end by you."

At this point, Du Qian paused and said, "Mingzhou Governor Zhu sent someone to deliver a letter, saying that in order to thank me for sending people to support Mingzhou, he was going to send a batch of grain from the Mingzhou granary to help Yuezhou recover from Qiu Dian's rebellion as soon as possible."

These words made Li Yun stunned. His breathing stagnated for a moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "Envoy, what did you say?"

Du Qian didn't know why Li Yun reacted so strongly. He was also startled, and then he said cautiously: "Sima Li, is there anything wrong with what Du said just now?"

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Li Yun clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Great! Do two favors for one thing. This Governor Zhu really opened my eyes."

After hearing what Li Yun said, Du Qian seemed to understand something and said with a smile: "This kind of thing is not uncommon in the officialdom. Some people use the same thing to do countless favors."

Li Yun sneered, "But the food that Governor Zhu wants to send is what he owes me!"

Du Qian was stunned and a little confused.

There was no mention of this matter in the letter sent by Zhu Tong. Even Du Qian thought that the governor of the neighboring state was expressing his gratitude to him because of the support from Yuezhou.

At the same time, he tried to curry favor with the son of the Minister of Rites.

Li Yun did not dwell on this matter for too long. He took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face: "Forget it. The envoy is from a prominent family in the capital. It is normal for him to curry favor with the envoy."

"Let's not talk about this first."

Having said this, Li Yun looked up at Du Qian and asked, "I just came back and I rushed into the city to see you. I have something to ask you."

Du Qian handed the poured tea to Li Yun.

"Du knows everything."

Li Yun nodded and asked, "I heard that the court has imprisoned General Su's son Su Sheng in the Ministry of Justice."

"What's this for?"

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and asked, "Do you want to remove General Su from his position as the general who suppressed the rebellion, or do you want to use General Su Sheng as a threat to force General Su to defeat the rebels as soon as possible?"

This question gave Du Qian a headache. He sat down and was silent for a moment before he looked up at Li Yun and smiled bitterly.

"To be honest with you, Sima Li, I can't tell..."

"What on earth does the court want to do?"

He sighed and continued, "But there is one thing I can confirm."

"The governor of Shuofang in the north is preparing to send troops south..."

"The rebellion has been quelled."

(End of this chapter)