Thief Emperor

Chapter 229 Sorry for the long wait!
In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken.

If it was a relatively normal period and the imperial court had the ability to control the states and counties, Li Yun would never do something so impulsive and outrageous as he did today, because this behavior is almost like using violence to gain command power. Once the governor Zheng Yu takes it seriously and makes a big deal out of it, he can completely accuse Li Yun of treason.

One of the most important duties of an inspector is to supervise the local area. Once he submits a letter, Li Yun's guilt may be confirmed, and Li will then have no choice but to raise the flag of rebellion.

If he rebelled now, there would be no problem in terms of objective conditions, but he would lack a legitimate status. Moreover, if he rebelled at this time, his marriage with Miss Xue would probably be over.

At least in the short term, it is unlikely to happen.

Moreover, the bonus period of rapid development by relying on the government’s cover will be gone forever.

However, now is not a normal period. The imperial court is weak, and there is no more powerful armed force in Jiangdong than Li Yun. He can completely use such tough means to gain command.

As long as he could win the Battle of Wuzhou, no one could say anything to him. Even if the imperial court knew about this afterwards, since it was completely unable to take care of Jiangdong, the imperial court would not say anything to Li Yun. It would only praise Li for his military exploits and even promote Li Yun to a higher position.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Li Yun can win.

This battle was extremely important to Li Yun. It not only determined whether he could occupy a dominant position in Jiangdong, but also determined his identity for a long time afterwards, whether he would be a king... or a bandit!

With Zheng Wei's cooperation, Li Yun successfully obtained the tokens from the dozen people present. He clasped his fists towards Zheng Wei and said in a deep voice: "My Lord, my colleagues, you should take a rest in Shan County and wait for the good news that I have defeated the thieves!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode away.

Zheng Wei looked at Li Yun's receding back with an extremely unpleasant expression. After a long while, he turned his head to look at Du Qian and said in a deep voice, "Benefit, is this something you discussed with him in advance?"

"How can it be."

Du Qian shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I had no idea about this beforehand."

Governor Du thought for a moment, then sighed and said, "However, given his current status and rank, this is the only way he can use to quickly gain control of our Jiangnan East Road soldiers."

"Otherwise, no one on the battlefield will obey him, let alone follow his command."

Zheng Wei took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice: "This Li Zhao is very dangerous!"

The Jiangdong governor narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "My dear nephew, you said that he was deliberately trying to take over the military power of Jiangdong. Was it his own idea or Su Jing's instruction?"

Du Qian was stunned and asked, "What does this have to do with General Su?"

"He is Su Jing's subordinate. Su Jing is now in a dilemma."

Zheng Wei said in a muffled voice: "Maybe he wants to take over the military power of Jiangdong and then lead the troops to help Su Jing!"

"This is impossible."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Let alone these thousands of men, which are a drop in the bucket on the battlefield in the Central Plains. Even if they are useful, General Su will not agree to such a thing because of his character."

"Sir, in my opinion, Li Zhao has no other intentions. He is just too impatient. Don't worry. Rest in Shan County for a few days."

After that, Du Qian stood up and said in a deep voice: "I will go and help transport some supplies."

Zheng Wei nodded silently.

"Just go ahead, I'll take care of these people."

Du Qian bowed and strode out. When he walked outside, he remembered what Li Yun had said to him before, that he would improve the food for these guest troops.

Envoy Du couldn't help but look into the distance and muttered softly.

"I don't know how far this improvement in food can go..."

"If we follow the food provided by Yuezhou Camp, after this battle, these foreign troops..."

Envoy Du shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Are you still willing to go back?"

…………

After dealing with those people who were in the way, Li Yun's work became much smoother. He first asked Li Zheng and the soldiers of Yuezhou Camp to take the tokens from the officials of various states and counties, and mobilize the troops of various states and rush to Dongyang County.

After arranging things, he did not wait for these slow-moving infantry, but rode on horseback to Dongyang County. After running for a whole day, Li Yun dismounted at the gate of Dongyang County. The one who greeted him was Deng Yang who was already stationed in Dongyang.

"General!"

Li Yun patted his shoulder and asked with a smile: "Have you encountered any problems in the past two days?"

"Have any rebels been captured in Dongyang County?"

Deng Yang shook his head and said, "General, our entry into Dongyang was very smooth. Dongyang County was only looted by the rebels, but the rebels did not occupy it. It's just..."

He looked at Li Yun and continued, "All the officials in the city have fled."

"When the subordinates came here, they did not see any trace of the rebels."

Li Yun looked around the familiar county town. When he was working under Su Jing, he was ordered to garrison in Wuzhou. At that time, he was stationed in Dongyang County and had dealt with the county magistrate of Dongyang.

Now, several months have passed, and the "old acquaintance" has already run away.

"What a pity." Li Yun shook his head slightly and said slowly: "We failed to capture a few rebels, otherwise we could ask what the current situation is in Wuzhou."

Deng Yang lowered his head and said, "I am incompetent."

"It has nothing to do with you."

Li Yun stretched and yawned as he said, "Our Yuezhou Camp and the troops from the various states and counties in Jiangdong are already on their way. They will arrive in two or three days at most. By then, Dongyang will be our stronghold on the front line."

Li Yun took Deng Yang to the tower of Dongyang County. He first looked around the city and said with a smile, "That Zhao Cheng likes to send people to dress in the clothes of ordinary people to gather information."

Deng Yang was stunned, and quickly lowered his head and said, "I will thoroughly check the city overnight."

Li Yun smiled and waved his hand: "That's not necessary."

He leaned over to Deng Yang's ear and whispered something. Deng Yang was stunned and said, "General, tonight..."

"No need. Just like usual, it will be the same tonight."

Mr. Li stretched lazily.

"I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap first."

…………

At night, less than three miles outside the city of Dongyang County.

Zhao Cheng was riding on a horse, looking at the low-walled county town in the distance. He turned his head to look at the deputy general beside him and asked, "Are you sure Li Zhao is in this county town?"

Deputy General Min Xiong bowed his head deeply and said, "General, the news sent back by the informant cannot be false. Moreover, regardless of whether the man surnamed Li is here or not, it is absolutely true that there are several hundred Yuezhou soldiers in Dongyang County."

"In the entire Jiangdong, only the Yuezhou Army under Su Jing has some combat power."

Min Xiong whispered, "It will take at least a day or two for their follow-up troops to arrive. General, this is a great opportunity."

"Even if the Yuezhou Army in the city reacts, the wall of a county town is not much of an obstacle. General, this is a huge flaw revealed by these dog-like government troops!"

"If we eat up these Yuezhou troops, the so-called coalition forces in Jiangdong will be ineffective."

Zhao Cheng hummed, but he felt something was wrong.

However, he thought about it and found no logical problems. After thinking for a while, he looked up at the sky and said slowly: "The moon is not bright tonight."

"At midnight, we will start the night attack on Dongyang."

"We will try our best to sneak into this county town quietly."

Min Xiong lowered his head and said, "Yes, I will arrange it immediately."

Soon, an hour passed and it was midnight.

Zhao Cheng led more than a thousand people and found his way to the base of the city wall of Dongyang County. As Zhao Cheng waved his hand, more than a dozen soldiers skillfully set up ladders and successfully placed them on the city wall.

The entire process seemed to have gone completely unnoticed by the Yuezhou army. The city wall was completely quiet, without any movement at all.

Even Zhao Cheng felt relieved. He waved his hand slowly, and dozens of soldiers filed up the ladder and climbed up to the city wall.

Deputy General Min Xiong was a little excited. Seeing another ladder was set up, he couldn't wait to climb up the city wall along the ladder.

The county town's wall was low, only about ten feet high on average. If two people stacked together, they might be able to climb over it. Therefore, it didn't take long for Min Xiong to climb onto the city wall.

Just as he climbed onto the city wall and hadn't even stood firmly, Min Xiong felt a darkness before his eyes.

A tall young man who was originally sitting slowly stood up, blocking the little moonlight in front of Min Xiong's eyes.

The deputy general suddenly felt a black screen before his eyes.

When I looked up again, I saw the young man in front of me. He was wearing iron armor and holding a scary-looking mace in his hand. The mace had sharp spikes that made people shudder.

What is even more eye-catching is that there is a bright smile on the corner of the young man's mouth.

"finally come."

Mr. Li said with a smile: "It's really hard to wait for a distinguished guest."

After that, he mercilessly swung the stick in his hand and smashed it directly at Min Xiong's head. Min Xiong quickly blocked it with his knife, but how could he block it? He was knocked off the wall with the stick, and fell to the ground.

On the city wall, Li knocked down several people one by one with a stick, then he looked down at the city and smiled heartily.

"Is General Zhao here?"

"Li Zhao, I've been waiting for you for half the night!"

(End of this chapter)