Thief Emperor

Chapter 233 Big Reward!

It is an open secret that local prefectures and counties are eating up the empty salaries. Take Li Yun’s hometown Xuanzhou for example. When the Shidai uprising broke out, the state could only send out 200 to 300 soldiers, and 70% of them were eaten up by local military officers!

This is the case in Xuanzhou, and other provinces and counties will be no exception.

In other words, most of the officers and soldiers in the local prefectures and counties in Jiangdong were recruited recently.

It is not as easy for military officers to make money as it is for civil servants. Now the income from empty salaries has been forced to be cut, so the treatment of these officers and soldiers will naturally not be good.

In fact, even if a state has only two or three hundred people, the treatment is far worse than that of Yuezhou Camp. After all, the money given by the court is limited, and officials at all levels need to eat and drink, so at least 40% to 50% will be deducted from you when it is sent down. Who can be like Li Yun, who not only does not take advantage of others, but also puts money into it?

From this perspective, the monthly salary of soldiers in other states and counties may not even be half of that of Yuezhou Camp, or even lower. As for food...

There is no way to compare.

Now, Du Qian is personally responsible for ensuring that all the guest troops coming to Wuzhou can eat meat. The soldiers of Yuezhou Army will take the initiative to talk to the soldiers from other states and counties. Once the conversation starts, they will inevitably talk about the treatment of soldiers.

It would be fine if there was no comparison. Once the comparison is made, the soldiers from these local states and counties may not be able to continue their service.

Although it is unlikely that they will directly switch to the Yuezhou Army, and Li Yun cannot expand the military force so directly and ostentatiously, as long as the information is conveyed, the soldiers in the entire Jiangdong will know that the Yuezhou Camp is treated well.

Not to mention whether they get paid or not, the mere fact that they can often see meat is a huge temptation for these soldiers!

More importantly, the wages of the Yuezhou Camp can be directly exchanged for grain at the market price. Seeing that the world is about to become chaotic, this condition is also a huge temptation for these Jiangdong soldiers.

Li Yun rested for three or four days in Dongyang County. His muscles were no longer sore and the swelling and pain in his arms had basically disappeared. That day, he wore a cloth robe, said goodbye to Du Qian who was buying supplies in Dongyang, and rode to Wuzhou.

In fact, there won't be much suspense in the battle of Wuzhou. The only thing that Li Yun is worried about is that if Zhao Cheng breaks out of the city under the cover of night, the Yuezhou army will be able to stop them, but Li Yun estimates that he will most likely not be able to stop the soldiers from other states and counties.

Therefore, the encirclement cannot be too large, and should be surrounded as close to Wuzhou City as possible. In this way, even if Zhao Cheng breaks out, the various armies can support each other.

Then there is the issue of casualties.

Zhao Cheng has no problem with his ability to lead troops. The people who stay by his side are definitely a qualified army. If they are forcibly wiped out and fought to the last man, even if Li Yun has an absolute advantage in numbers, there will definitely be a lot of casualties.

What Li Yun is thinking about now is whether he can...

Some of it was kept for personal use.

There is no difficulty in winning the battle of Wuzhou. The real difficulty lies in whether we can quietly convert part of Zhao Cheng's troops and make them part of the Yuezhou Army.

Dongyang County is not far from Wuzhou. When Li Yun arrived near Wuzhou City, he saw that outside Wuzhou City, there were densely packed tents.

Not long after Li Yun arrived outside the tent, Li Zheng came up to him and welcomed him into the big tent with a smile, and then hung a flag with the word "Li" on it high.

Li Zheng pulled Li Yun into the big tent and sat down, his face full of smiles. He chuckled and said, "Second brother, these few days I followed your instructions and talked to people from other states and counties. I asked around..."

"Basically the salary is less than one tael."

Li Zheng said softly: "In some places, salaries have never been paid."

Li Yun was also shocked by this. He couldn't help but ask, "It's normal to have less salary. If we don't pay you, how can the people sit still?"

"At the end of every month, these people would go into the city and collect money from shops along the street. They would take whatever money they received, and their superiors would not ask any questions."

"If the money collected is too little, we can go to the county below to continue collecting. We can always collect several hundred strings of money a month to pay the soldiers in the state."

Li Yun said "Hey", and couldn't help but said: "I really learned a lot."

Li Zheng nodded and exhaled: "I've learned a lot too. This is similar to when we were in the village before. There was work to do, and if we got money, we'd share it with everyone. If we didn't get any money, we'd just sit in the village and stare blankly."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and whispered, "Second brother, a lot of people have come to us these days, saying they want to come to Yuezhou to serve as soldiers..."

"It's not urgent."

Li Yun laughed and said, "It will take at least ten days to besiege Wuzhou. During these ten days, we should treat these foreign troops with good food and drink. Then, when the war is over, we should let them go back."

"In the future, when we can recruit soldiers on a large scale, we only need to raise our arms and call for help..."

Having said that, Li Yun smiled and didn't say anything else.

Under the current circumstances, if he wants to swallow up the Jiangdong Army in one bite, there is no other way unless he turns against the court and raises the flag of rebellion.

If he really wanted to raise the flag of rebellion, there would probably not be many Jiangdong troops willing to follow him. Now was not the right time.

However, a good mass base must be built first. In the future, Li Yun will definitely start his career in Jiangdong, and these thousands of Jiangdong troops will be his "future warriors."

"Okay, beat the drum and open the tent."

Li Yun stretched and said, "Let's discuss matters. All the lieutenants and above come here."

Li Zheng chuckled, turned around and walked out, personally playing the drum for Li Yun.

However, the military discipline of these local troops was still not very strict. It was not until half an hour later that the generals and officers above the rank of captain of each camp arrived. After arriving at the tents, they all bowed their heads and clasped their fists to Li Yun.

"Meet Sima Li!"

Li Yun sat in the main seat of the big tent, looked at the unfamiliar faces below, waved his hand and said with a smile: "You're welcome, everyone sit down."

Mr. Li's official position was not very high, and it was unlikely that he could control these thousands of people. But now, people of the same level or higher level than him were drinking tea in Shan County. At this time, in the army, he, the Sima of Yuezhou, was indeed the most respected.

Li Yun looked at everyone, coughed, and said, "Wuzhou is under siege, and the rebels are already trapped. However, the rebels are fierce. What I mean is that we should surround them for a while to wear down their fighting spirit, and then make plans."

At this point, Mr. Li paused and continued, "Compared to us in Yuezhou, most of you are foreign troops who have come from far away. From today on, for the next three days, Mr. Li will be the host and invite you all to eat meat."

"Just no drinking."

Li Yun smiled and said, "After Wuzhou is captured and the war is over, we will eat big chunks of meat and drink big gulps of wine!"

At this moment, these people cannot be considered as soldiers under Li Yun's command, so they cannot be too harsh on them for the time being and must be given some sweet treats first.

Hearing that they didn't need to attack Wuzhou head-on or fight a tough battle, everyone was overjoyed and stood up and saluted Li Yun.

"Thank you, Sima Li. Sima Li is wise!"

Then there was harmony in the big tent.

After these people dispersed, Li Yun touched his chin, looked at Li Zheng who was still in the tent, and muttered: "Skinny monkey, you said..."

"How can I contact Zhao Cheng quietly?"

…………

At the end of March and the beginning of April in the fifth year of Xian De, when Li Yun was still in Wuzhou, fighting with one or two thousand rebels, Wei Quanzhong, the governor of Shuofang, led 50,000 troops south and marched into Henan Prefecture.

Not long after the Shuofang Army entered Henan Prefecture, it immediately engaged in battle with Wang Junping's rebel army. The two sides fought for several days in Zezhou. The Shuofang Army's 5,000 vanguard troops defeated tens of thousands of rebels and occupied Zezhou.

After occupying Zezhou for several days, the Shuofang army continued to move south and defeated the rebels in Jiyuan, killing more than 5,000 rebels and greatly enhancing its reputation.

At the same time, Wei Quanzhong, the governor of Shuofang, reported to the court in the name of rest and recuperation, and the entire army rested in Jiyuan and did not move any further.

The news from the front line was quickly sent from Jiyuan to the capital, all the way to the Central Government Hall. After several prime ministers received Wei Quanzhong's document, they looked at each other, and their eyes were full of helplessness.

Human nature really cannot withstand any test.

Prime Minister Cui Yuan, led by several other prime ministers, entered the palace and met the Emperor in the Chongde Hall. The prime ministers, who had never kneeled when meeting the Emperor, now all knelt before the Emperor and kowtowed respectfully.

Cui Yuan bowed his head and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, a great victory in Jiyuan."

"General Wei has sent a victory report. Your Majesty, please review it."

There was no expression on the Emperor's face. He coughed violently and his face was pale. He just glanced at the eunuch next to him. The eunuch immediately stepped forward, took the document and handed it to the Emperor.

After the emperor looked at it, he was silent for a while and asked, "How many people from the Shuofang Army entered Henan Road?"

Prime Minister Cui hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and replied, "Your Majesty, it should be that these 5,000 people, the main force of the Shuofang Army, have not arrived at Jiyuan."

"well."

The emperor coughed, his voice hoarse, then said the word "good" and then gritted his teeth.

"Heavy reward!"

(End of this chapter)