Thief Emperor

Chapter 225 The Du Family's Qilin Son

Upon hearing this, Du Qian was stunned.

Because Li Yun's performance today seemed... different from what the two people had agreed upon earlier.

When Li Yun met him privately before, he asked him to help block the imperial court and everything would focus on Yuezhou. But now, Li Yun agreed to this matter with a smile.

If it were an ordinary time and with an ordinary person, Du Qian would have suspected that the Sima of Yuezhou under his command wanted to bypass his superior and curry favor with Zheng Yu.

But through his understanding of Li Yun over the past few months, he knew very well that Li Yun had absolutely no interest in doing such a thing.

At this time, Governor Du certainly didn't know that if Yuezhou had sent out a thousand men a month ago, it would mean that about 70% of Li Yun's forces would have to be sent out. But now, sending out another thousand men would only mean about 40% of Li Yun's forces!

More importantly, Li Yun had not originally planned to face Zhao Cheng of Wuzhou with Yuezhou alone, but now Zheng Wei has transferred 5,000 troops from various states and counties!
In terms of numbers, they crushed Zhao Cheng from Wuzhou!

If Li Yun could get the command, he would be fully confident that he could have another head-on confrontation with Zhao Cheng!
Once Zhao Cheng is defeated, there will be no armed forces in the entire Jiangdong that can compete with Li Yun.

Hearing Li Yun's words, Zheng Wei frowned.

This is a "joint operation" of the entire Jiangdong. No matter from which angle, it should be him, the observation and disposal envoy, who should be in charge of command and coordination. But now, Li Yun actually wants to take over the command from him?
Zheng Guancha looked up at the smiling Li Yun, and his face darkened. He looked back at Du Qian, and gave Du Qian a chance to save face. He did not get angry directly, but patiently asked, "Does Sima Li have experience in commanding thousands of troops?"

This statement was still a bit tactful. In fact, it was asking Li Yun whether he had the ability to command thousands of people.

Li Yun shook his head and said, "No."

"Mr. Zheng, you have to try things. If you have to experience something before doing anything, then you won't be able to do anything."

"But this is a matter of great importance to the safety of the entire Jiangdong!"

Zheng Wei said in a low voice: "Can you try this?"

Li Yun narrowed his eyes, murderous intent surged in his heart.

However, he still held back and said slowly: "Since the Lord of the Mansion said so, then this humble official has nothing to say. I will do whatever the two superiors arrange."

After that, he turned around and left.

But thinking that this was his own yard, he stopped again, turned around and looked at Zheng Wei and Du Qian quietly.

If the Sima from other states and counties saw their superiors such as Du Qian and Zheng Wei, they would definitely regard these two people as high and mighty and insurmountable in their hearts.

But Li Yun is different.

If it wasn't for smoother development in the future, he wouldn't even have to endure anything at this time and could just turn against Zheng Wei!
He knew very well what level Zheng Wei was at.

When Qiu Dian was plotting rebellion, he won several battles against the Duke of Zheng Mansion, which gradually increased his influence. Later, the situation became out of control. If it weren't for the fact that the Zheng family was powerful in the court, he would have been imprisoned and questioned by now. How could he still show off in front of Li Yun? !

After hearing what Li Yun said, Zheng Wei became even more annoyed!
Although he once showed an attitude of winning over Li Yun at the beginning, from beginning to end, he never put Li Yun on an equal footing with himself. Even if he really married a distant niece to him, in essence he was "taking her in as a dog" instead of having any cooperation with Li Yun!
Who is Zheng Yu? He is the inspector of nearly 20 counties in Jiangdong! He is a frontier official. If he is transferred back to the capital, he can at least be the assistant minister of six ministries!

A Sima who was born as a dutou, actually...!
He stood up and was about to get angry, but Du Qian, who was standing beside him, had already stood up with a smile on his face and said, "The matter in Wuzhou is not a small matter, and it is impossible to settle it in a few words. Lord, let's go back to the governor's office first."

After that, he helped Zheng Yu stand up. After walking all the way to the door of Li Yun's house, he sent Zheng Yu to the carriage and said with a smile: "Sir, please go back to the governor's office first. I will treat you to dinner in the evening and apologize to you."

Zheng Wei glanced at Du Qian and said in a muffled voice: "If it weren't for your nephew's sake..."

After saying that, he snorted, got in the car and left.

After he left, Du Qian turned around and went back to Li Yun's house. Seeing Li Yun flipping through some manuscripts, he shook his head slightly: "Zheng Yu is still the governor of Jiangdong. It's too blunt to ask him for the command right in front of him."

"He is a very proud person, he will definitely not agree."

At this point, Du Qian looked at Li Yun, took a deep breath and said, "Sima Li, I'll leave it to you to command. Will Wuzhou be able to be taken?"

Li Yun carefully placed the manuscript in his hand on the table, stood up and looked at Du Qian, and exhaled: "I am always 70% sure. I don't want to be angry with anyone. My lord, tell me, who was the most responsible for the rebellion of Qiu Dian, besides Qiu Dian and other traitors?"

"Zhao Cheng is Qiu Dian's subordinate, and he was the one who defeated the Jiangdong local army several times. If we don't fight now, I'm afraid we will suffer another great defeat."

Anyone with a discerning eye can tell who is responsible for Qiu Dian's rebellion, without even having to think about it.

It must be Zheng Wei.

If Zheng Wei had been a little more capable, Qiu Dian's rebellion would not have caused such a great impact, and there would not have been the scandal of thousands of government troops being defeated by Qiu Dian's more than 200 people.

Du Qian smiled and said, "That's the thing, but I can't say it directly. Sima Li, I just want to ask you one question. Can we in Yuezhou send out a thousand people?"

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "It depends on who is in charge. If it is Lord Zheng who is in charge..."

He hummed softly and said nothing more. "As long as Sima Li is willing to send a thousand men, I will take care of the matter."

Du Qian smiled and said, "We must make Sima Li satisfied."

Li Yun thought for a moment, then nodded slowly: "Then...thank you for your help, sir."

…………

Dinner at the Governor's Office.

Li Yun was not present, only some officials from Yuezhou were present. Zheng Wei sat in the main seat, and Du Qian sat beside him. After a few glasses of wine, Envoy Du sighed and said, "Do you know, General Su's son is in prison? It's a pity that General Su has made such great contributions in Jiangdong, but he was sent to the Central Plains to put out fires. He obviously didn't make any big mistakes, but..."

Hearing this, Zheng Yu, who had already drunk a few glasses of wine, couldn't help but complain: "The court really didn't do this well..."

He didn't say the word "authentic" out loud. He just tilted his head back, took a sip of wine, groaned, and didn't say anything else.

Du Qian pretended not to notice and said in a low voice, "I just received news that General Wu was also stripped of his title of Duke, dismissed from all positions, and demoted to a commoner."

Zheng Wei really didn't know about this news. He looked at Du Qian in surprise and murmured, "General Wu is your majesty's uncle and the most trusted member of the royal family..."

Du Qian sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do. If I weren't a member of the royal family, I would have died several times after such a great defeat."

"Right now, the government is in turmoil. Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is having trouble protecting himself. Smoke of war is raging everywhere. Your Majesty..."

"I am very annoyed."

Du Qian offered Zheng Yu a glass of wine and said silently, "I'm afraid the word that people in the capital hate to hear the most right now is the word 'failure'."

Zheng Wei drank a glass of wine with Du Qian. After drinking the glass of wine, he suddenly reacted, turned his head to look at Du Qian, and the expression on his face became complicated.

Du Qian was curious when he saw him like this, and asked hurriedly, "What happened to you, Lord Fu?"

Seeing that Zheng Yu did not answer, Du Qian also understood and said with a smile: "Your Excellency has misunderstood. I meant the battlefield in the Central Plains. How many bandits are there in Wuzhou? I have already communicated with Li Sima. Our Yuezhou soldiers are willing to come out in full force to help Your Excellency."

"I believe that the turmoil in Wuzhou will be quelled soon if the Duke is in charge of suppressing the rebellion. When the time comes, we can report to the imperial court. Not only can the Duke offset the mistakes of the previous Qiu Dian Rebellion, but he may even be credited with great merit."

"If His Majesty is pleased, it is not impossible to transfer the Duke to the capital to be the prime minister. After all, the court is currently in need of a prime minister who knows military affairs."

Zheng Wei raised his head and took a sip of wine, then turned to look at Du Qian and took a deep breath: "My dear nephew just said that Yuezhou is willing to take the lead?"

“We are willing to mobilize all our manpower.”

Du Qian smiled and said, "As for whether to attack first or not, it all depends on your arrangement, Lord Fu."

"but…"

Du Qian looked around and whispered in Zheng Wei's ear: "Li Zhao, relying on his background as a subordinate of General Su, has always been a bit arrogant and doesn't take me seriously. Lord..."

"He is the only official in Jiangdong who is not considered an official of Jiangdong. He was born under the command of General Su, and he took the initiative to ask for the battle. I want to..."

"This is an opportunity for you, Lord Fu."

"If we win, it will all be thanks to the Lord of the Mansion. If we lose, hey..."

"When the time comes, I can testify for the Lord that it was Li Zhao who disrespected his superiors and took the initiative to seek a fight by relying on the soldiers under his command."

"All the sins can be put on Li Zhao's head. Not to mention that General Su is in trouble now and can't take care of him, even if General Su asks about this matter, he will have nothing to say!"

Du Qian sneered, "If he really loses, let's see if Li Zhao can still be as arrogant as he is today!"

Zheng Wei's eyes lit up when he heard this. He raised his head and took another big sip of wine. He reached out and patted Du Qian on the shoulder, with a smile on his face.

"When I was in the capital, I heard people say that my nephew was the Du family's talented child. Today, I finally got to see for myself!"

"Come."

He raised his glass and said with a smile: "I toast to Qilin'er!"

Du Qian held up the wine glass with both hands and laughed.

"I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it."

(End of this chapter)