Thief Emperor

Chapter 254 Su Jing's Tears

After sending the letter, Li Yun sat silently on the chair in his study, looked up at the sky, and did not speak for a long time.

He knew that with his current abilities, he would not be able to help Su Jing in any way. If he overestimated his own capabilities and tried to intervene, he might even get himself into trouble.

He had no intention of getting involved, but after all, because of their old friendship, he still had to let Liu Bo go and take a look.

After closing his eyes and thinking for a long time, Li Yun opened his eyes and his gaze became firm again.

Time and again, he underestimated the speed at which the order of the times was collapsing.

The speed of growing ourselves must be faster and faster, otherwise we may not be able to keep up with the trend of the times and be ruthlessly left behind by this history!

He stood up, walked out of the study, went to see Xue Yun'er, and said, "Madam and Dong'er are living in the city. I have to go out of the city and stay in the military camp for a while."

Xue Yun'er nodded gently without saying anything more, while Dong'er on the side said coquettishly, "Son-in-law, you are newlyweds, so why don't you stay in the city and accompany Miss for a few more days."

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "I will spend more time with my wife after I finish my work. This is an important time. I have to go to the army."

Xue Yun'er looked at Dong'er and blamed her, "Official business is important. You can't stop your husband from handling official business."

"My husband, just go ahead."

Xue Yuner smiled and said, "When my husband comes back to the city, I will definitely decorate this house for him to feel like a home."

Li Yun nodded, said goodbye to Xue Yun'er, and rode out of Yuezhou City. He soon arrived outside the city and rode straight into Yuezhou Camp.

After arriving at Yuezhou Camp, he only rested for a short while before calling Zhou Liang and Deng Yang into the big tent.

After the two sat down, Li Yun smiled and said, "Before I got married, I wanted to hold a Cuju competition in the army. Now that my wedding is over, let's implement this matter as soon as possible."

Cuju is not something new. It was a method of training soldiers in previous dynasties. Now in the Yuezhou army, people play it for fun from time to time.

However, it has not yet been formalized or officialized.

Li Yun knocked on the table and said, "From now on, each brigade will hold a Cuju competition regularly as long as there is no war. Each round will last for half a year. The winning brigade in each round will receive 1,000 strings of money, which will be distributed among the brigade itself."

Li Yun thought for a moment and added, "The other two to five will all receive rewards."

Zhou Liang was startled, looked at Li Yun, and said, "General, if this happens, I'm afraid many people will try their best to practice Cuju. Will it affect normal training?"

"Normal training is normal training, and they can practice however they want during their spare time."

Li Yun looked at Zhou Liang and said with a smile: "Our newly recruited soldiers have grown fat in less than two months. This is also a way to strengthen the body. But you two must restrain yourself and not overtrain."

"If your legs and feet are injured, you won't be able to go to the battlefield."

"From now on, this will become a regular practice. We will start doing it next month. You can start preparing tomorrow. There is one more thing..."

Li Yun knocked on the table and said, "I want to continue recruiting soldiers."

Deng Yang just nodded without saying anything, but Zhou Liang looked at Li Yun and whispered: "General, we are now..."

He looked at Li Yun and didn't continue speaking.

The prize money alone for hosting a competition is a considerable expense, and if new soldiers are recruited, the monthly expenses will be much higher.

Li Yun saw his expression and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the imperial envoy will come soon. Even if I am not promoted to governor, I will definitely receive some other rewards, plus some other income."

Mr. Li said calmly, "It won't be a problem if we support it for a while. I know what I'm doing."

Before leaving the city, Li Yun made a simple calculation himself.

If the military strength under his command doubles, that is, to about 5,000 people, then based on all the money and materials on his account now, according to current standards, it can probably last about two years.

And if he can get the position of governor of Wuzhou, taking into account the financial and grain income of Yuezhou and Wuzhou next year, he should be able to maintain it for three years, or even longer.

That…is enough.

The current situation in the world is changing day by day. Who knows what the situation will be like in three years?
Instead of calculating carefully, it is better to spend all the money that needs to be spent! When the order is completely broken down, you guys store food and I store troops! Let's see who gets to eat the food in the end!

Zhou Liang immediately lowered his head and said, "Yes!"

Li Yun took a deep breath and continued, "Just do as I say. Uncle San, is the military staff officer I arranged to work with you a few days ago in the army now?"

"exist."

Although Zhou Liang was not sure that the man was Zhao Cheng, he could vaguely guess. After hearing what Li Yun said, he quickly said, "In the past few days, I have learned a lot from this staff officer."

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded and said, "Then you can go down and do your work. Uncle San will ask this Staff Officer Zhao to come and see me later."

The two men stood up and responded, leaving Li Yun's tent one after the other. Li Yun didn't have to wait long. After a while, Zhao Cheng, who had changed into the military uniform of Yuezhou, opened the tent and walked in. As soon as he came in, he bowed his head and clasped his fists to Li Yun: "Subordinate Li Xiao, greetings to Sima!"

Li Yun was stunned, then looked up at him and said with a smile: "Which Xiao? Why did you change your surname to Li?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and said, "Sit down and talk. Sit down and talk."

Zhao Cheng, or rather Li Xiao, sat opposite Li Yun and said, "It's Xiao who looks similar."

He looked at Li Yun and explained, "If I still keep the surname Zhao, I'm afraid it will cause people to associate it with something, so I just temporarily share the same surname as Sima and take half a character from Zhao to give myself this name." "Li Xiao... Li Xiao..."

Li Yun looked at General Zhao and said with a smile: "This name is not bad, let's use it for now. When we have our own business in the future, you can restore your original name."

Zhao Cheng bowed his head and said, "Yes."

He looked up at Li Yun and asked, "General, why did you summon me?"

"I'm going to recruit new soldiers."

Li Yun stood up, stretched his body, and said, "According to the original regulations, you will be given 500 quotas. You can find a way to recruit soldiers. The treatment will be the same as that of the Yuezhou Army. The army you raise will be under your control."

"This is a spot for a lieutenant battalion."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Once the troops are well-organized and can fight, I will appoint you as the captain of the Yuezhou Army."

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "Can you do it?"

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath, his voice a little excited. He looked up at Li Yun and said, "Two strings of cash a month as salary, never in arrears, meat is often served in the meals, and there are four days off a month..."

"If I can't get anyone for this treatment, I will run into a wall and die in front of Sima!"

This treatment is already the best among the local troops.

Even for the imperial guards, the only specifications are probably slightly higher in terms of monthly pay and equipment, but their food may not be as good as that of the Yuezhou Army!

What is rare is that the Yuezhou Army’s current treatment is real, and they can even exchange their monthly salary directly for food!

During these few days, Zhao Cheng had been amazed more than once in the Yuezhou army.

You know, when he followed Qiu Dian to rebel before, the treatment given by Qiu Dian was far worse than the current Yuezhou Army. Even in the last few months, he had not seen any salary at all.

At that time, he could gather thousands of people, not to mention the five hundred people in Yuezhou!
It was also because of this treatment issue that Zhao Cheng's eyes when looking at Li Yun were very different from a few days ago.

A few days ago, in Zhao Cheng's eyes, Li Yun might just be an ambitious local official.

But now, the word "ambition" can no longer be used to describe Li Yun.

It should be four words.

Aim high!

Although the two words have similar meanings, they are somewhat different when you think about them carefully.

"it is good."

Li Yun took a deep breath and said, "Just go ahead and do it. If you encounter any difficulties, come to me. I should be in Yuezhou Camp in the next ten days."

"Yes!"

Zhao Cheng bowed his head, clasped his fists, and left respectfully.

Mr. Li sat alone in the big tent. He looked back to the west and touched his chin.

"King of Chu, King of Chu..."

………………

Half a month later, in Songzhou City.

Liu Bo, who was traveling for business, came to Songzhou City. After doing business for a few days, he finally found out where General Su was recuperating. After hesitating for a moment, he went straight to pay him a visit.

When he reached the gate of the heavily guarded mansion, Liu Bo smiled and bowed to the guards: "My dear brothers, does General Su live here?"

Several guards waved their hands impatiently.

"The general does not see guests, leave!"

Liu Bo was not annoyed, and still lowered his head and said: "I came from Yuezhou, under the order of Li Sima of Yuezhou, to see the general. Please pass on the message."

The guards looked at each other and then went in to report.

After another half hour, Liu Bo was finally able to enter and came to General Su's bedside.

At this time, the general's face was completely bloodless and extremely pale.

He leaned on the bed, and he had lost a lot of weight. After looking at the chubby Liu Bo for a while, General Su spoke slowly, his voice already hoarse and unpleasant: "What did he ask you to do?"

Liu Bo lowered his head, looked around, and lowered his voice.

"Sima Li asked me to ask the general, he..."

"Does he have anything that can help the general?"

General Su, who had been taciturn for two months, was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and finally couldn't help but shed tears.

“It’s…it’s hard.”

(End of this chapter)