Thief Emperor

Chapter 304: Suppressing the Bandits in Hexi

Autumn of the fifth year of Xian De.

The first Cuju competition of Li Yun Group was held in Wuzhou.

This time, the Cuju competition was held in the form of school lieutenants and camps. Since a prototype of this had already been developed in Yuezhou and the relevant rules had already been prepared, the competition went relatively smoothly.

The competition venue was chosen to be an open space outside the city. Li Yun also had a two-story stand built. From the first round of the competition, it was open to the public and allowed them to watch.

However, the soldiers did not sit with the civilians to avoid any confusion. According to Li Yun's arrangement, the people in the military camp sat on the north side of the stands, while the civilians sat on the south side.

Li Yun, Du Qian, Zhuo Guangrui, Xu Ang and others sat on the second floor of the wooden stands to watch the game.

Du Qian sat on the left side of Li Yun. After watching a game, he turned slightly to Li Yun and said with a smile, "In the past, there were also many Cuju games in the capital, but usually only nobles participated, and there were few ordinary people. The intensity was far less than the games in Wuzhou."

At this moment, the second game was about to begin. Li Yun also nodded and said, "The army is newly established. If we can hold this Cuju competition, it will at least unite the army at the level of the lieutenant camp, which is of great benefit to the formation of the army."

"Part of the reason I invited Brother Huiyou to come here is to watch this Cuju game."

Li Yun also looked at Du Qian, pointed at the people off the field and said, "Brother Du, look, that's Deng Yang, a lieutenant in our army, he's on the field too."

At this time, Deng Yang was indeed on the court.

In fact, Deng Yang was not the only captain who took to the field. Zhao Cheng was also very interested in this sport and would play whenever he had time.

In Li Yun's opinion, this sport, in addition to physical exercise, is more important in building cohesion. Half of the troops under his command are Su Jing's defeated troops, and they have just been reorganized.

If one wants to quickly build cohesion after being disbanded, this kind of competition based on schools and battalions is undoubtedly a good way to do it.

Du Qian looked at it for a while, then turned to look at Li Yun and suddenly said, "Since Wuzhou has this competition, I'm afraid someone in the city should open a handicap, right?"

"It happened a few days ago."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "Our various battalions don't have official names yet, but those who opened the market have given them names according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. They have also found out the names of the captains of each battalion."

“Very positive.”

Li Yun sighed and continued, "Yesterday, someone told me that some people from other places came to Wuzhou to watch Cuju in the past few days."

Du Qian smiled and said, "I have seen all of these when I was in the capital, but..."

He was silent for a while, then sighed: "I'm afraid it will be hard to see you in the future."

Li Yun said calmly: "Since ancient times, prosperity and decline have always been alternating. This round of decline will naturally bring about the next round of prosperity."

"Brother Du, don't be sad."

Du Qian nodded thoughtfully without saying anything.

Li Yun continued, "I am planning to set up a few captain camps. Brother Du, do you have any candidates to recommend?"

Du Qian looked at Li Yun first, then smiled and said, "I have read a lot of books since I was young. Although I am not proficient in all of them, I can pretend to say a few words about various aspects. The only thing I know nothing about is military affairs. I will not comment on military affairs, so as not to be laughed at by Erlang."

As a young man from an aristocratic family, Du Qian is a person with a strong sense of boundaries. Especially after witnessing too many power struggles, his sense of boundaries has become even clearer.

Ever since he and Li Yun started working together, whether in Yuezhou or in the current Wuzhou, Du Qian has always adhered to one principle.

That is not to touch military power.

At most, he would say whether or not to beat someone, but he never cared about how to beat them.

Especially when it comes to military personnel matters, he never says a word.

Li Yun just nodded when he heard this, without saying anything, and his eyes fell on the court again. At this moment, Deng Yang had led the team to score a goal, and cheers came from the stadium.

"The equal distribution of land in Wuzhou will be completed before the end of the year."

Li Yun retracted his gaze and looked at Du Qian, smiling and said, "If our plan goes well and the court can really give me some other tasks, then Brother Du will take charge of the political affairs of these two states."

Du Qian thought for a moment, then looked back at Zhuo Guangrui and Xu Ang, who were not far behind him, and said with a smile, "I have read some official documents in Wuzhou these past few days. Brother Zhuo and Brother Xu, there is no big problem for you to be the governor of a state. If that day comes, I will help give you some suggestions."

Li Yun nodded slowly: "Then we'll talk about it when the time comes."

The two watched the game for an entire afternoon. In the evening, when today's game came to an end, they returned to the city. Li Yun went all the way back to the back house of the governor's mansion. When he was about to take a shower, he saw Miss Liu talking to Xue Yuner.

He subconsciously wanted to avoid it at first, but after hesitating for a while, he decided to face the matter. So he exhaled and stepped forward.

Xue Yun'er also looked up and saw Li Yun coming towards her. As husband and wife were connected by heart, she almost immediately understood Li Yun's thoughts, so she smiled at Miss Liu and said, "Sister, I'll go get that piece of cloth and show it to you. The pattern is very good."

After saying that, she turned her waist and went into the inner room.

Miss Liu called out to Xue Yun'er, but Xue Yun'er didn't turn around and walked away. Miss Liu naturally noticed Li Yun, so she gritted her teeth, walked up to him, and bowed coquettishly, "Brother-in-law..."

Li Yun looked at her and took the initiative to find a topic: "I wore this new dress a few days ago, and I haven't had time to thank my sister yet."

"ah."

Liu Su turned his head and explained: "That was made by Sister Xue..."

After the clothes were made, she agreed with Xue Yun'er that when she gave them to Li Yun, she should say that they were made by Xue Yun'er herself. However, Xue Yun'er was lonely at home, and she made up her mind to bring the two people together and find a companion for herself, so she turned around and told Li Yun the truth.

Li Yun looked at her, and for a moment he didn't know how to start, so he said silently: "The world is not peaceful, but Jiangnan is not bad. Sister, stay in Wuzhou for a while."

Miss Liu turned her head and looked at Li Yun seriously. She nodded slightly at first, then lowered her head. She was extremely happy in her heart, but she only said one word.

"it is good…"

…………

A few days later, the imperial documents were delivered to Gu Wenchuan. At this time, Du Qian, who had been in Wuzhou for nearly half a month, was also preparing to return to Yuezhou. After all, Yuezhou did not have a deputy governor, and after he left as the governor, many things would inevitably pile up.

Du Qian is a very responsible person. He must rush back to Yuezhou and do his part well.

On the afternoon before he left Wuzhou, Gu Wenchuan took the initiative to visit and found Du Qian in the governor's mansion.

After the two met, Du Qian first bowed to the senior and said with a smile: "Mr. Wenchuan, you came at a good time. Tomorrow morning, I will go back to Yuezhou. If you come then, you won't be able to find me."

Gu Wenchuan looked at Du Qian and sighed: "Is there a place to talk?"

Du Qian looked around, then pointed to a pavilion in the governor's mansion and said with a smile, "Let's go there and talk?"

Gu Wenchuan nodded silently and sat down with Du Qian under the pavilion. After they sat down, he asked, "Is Li Zhao not in the city?"

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Governor Li left the city yesterday."

In the past few days, as Li Yun thought carefully, the first batch of captains of the "Li Yun Group" were basically decided by him.

The one with the least suspense is actually Zhou Liang, who is now stationed in Yuezhou.

Because Zhou Liang is not only the earliest cornerstone of the army building who followed Li Yun, but also represents the power of the old village. His qualifications and prestige are sufficient. Although he has now retreated to the second line, he must be given a position as a captain anyway.

There are two more, one is Zhao Cheng and the other is Su Sheng.

There isn't much suspense about these two.

However, Li Yun also wants to appoint a fourth captain, and he has to choose one from Li Zheng or Deng Yang, and these two people...

The qualifications are not enough.

Li Yun still prefers Li Zheng. After all, Li Zheng is his most trusted confidant.

However, Li Zheng is still on a "business trip" and has not returned yet, and Zhou Liang is in Yuezhou, so Li Yun can only appoint Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng as captains first.

At the same time, there are a group of brigade commanders who will be promoted to colonels.

This is what Li Yun has been busy with these past few days. With the reorganization of the army, although the two captains Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng are "outsiders", more than 90% of the ranks from brigade commanders to colonels were trained by Li Yun himself, and it can even be said that they all came from the former anti-theft team.

This kind of structure will make Li Yun's power extremely stable, and he does not have to worry about being sidelined.

Of course, Li Yun designed this not because he was worried that something might go wrong with Zhao Cheng or Su Sheng, but because he had to get the power structure right at this early stage of the business to avoid problems in the future.

Hearing that Li Yun had left the city, Gu Wenchuan looked at Du Qian and said slowly, "I just received news from the capital that the autumn taxes of all the prefectures and counties in the eastern part of Jiangnan were robbed by a group of bandits called Hexi Bandits."

"Du Shiyi, do you know about this?"

"do not know."

Du Qian shook his head and said calmly: "But I think, if this is true, then it should be that the various states and counties in Jiangdong are acting on their own and are unwilling to pay taxes to the court, so they found such a lame excuse."

He looked at Gu Wenchuan and said with a smile: "Mr. Wenchuan, Wuzhou's autumn tax this year has been delivered."

Gu Wenchuan sneered, "So, Wuzhou is the most loyal state to the imperial court among the twenty states in Jiangdong!"

"This is true."

Du Qian said, "Sir, no matter how loudly other states and counties shout loyalty, it is not as real as a grain of autumn food. Jiangdong is so big, where are the bandits who can plunder more than a dozen states by themselves?"

"It's just an excuse for a tax strike."

Du Qian said calmly, "With the chaos in the Central Plains, people in various places have changed their minds. The influence of the imperial court is no longer as great as before. At this time, they are suspending taxes, and they have to find the so-called Hexi bandit as an excuse to test them."

"If the imperial court shows no reaction, by next year, we won't even have to find a reason to rob Hexi."

Gu Wenchuan sneered when he heard this.

"But other states have not done anything out of the ordinary, let alone five or six thousand soldiers. In the entire Jiangdong, only Wuzhou is the most restless."

Du Qian smiled and asked, "Isn't it unusual to strike taxes?"

Gu Wenchuan was speechless and frowned. He changed the subject and said, "The court asked me to ask Li Zhao what he, the governor of Wuzhou, wants and what he wants to do."

"Can you, Du Shouyi, answer this old man?"

"can."

Du Qian smiled and said, "But when you report my answer to the court, you can't say it was me who said it."

He paused and added.

"Even if you tell me, I won't admit it."

Gu Wenchuan had a blank expression on his face: "Just as you said."

"I think that at this time, the court should not ask Li Zhao what he wants to do, nor what he wants."

"We should ask the court instead."

Du Qian stood up, put his hands behind his back and said, "Ask the court what it wants to do, and...what it wants?"

"Does the imperial court still want stability in Jiangnan and taxes from Jiangdong? If they want both..."

"Then an army is needed..."

"Destroy the bandits in Hexi."