Thief Emperor

Chapter 306 The enemy is now
Jiedushi of Pinglu, Zibo and Qing.

One of the ten military governors of the Great Zhou, he governed ten states including Qingzhou, Zibo, Haizhou, etc. He also had tens of thousands of troops and dominated the eastern part of the Great Zhou.

To the north of Jiangdong.

However, the sphere of influence of the Pinglu Jiedushi was very far away from Li Yun's Wuzhou. Even from Changzhou and Runzhou, the northernmost part of Jiangdong, it was separated by two states, Chuzhou and Yangzhou.

It is at least a thousand miles away from Wuzhou.

Therefore, although the Pinglu Army was very powerful, Li Yun never really regarded them as opponents, or even as a threat.

After hearing what Mr. Fan said, Li Yun couldn't help but frowned, rubbed his temples with his hands, and asked: "Pinglu Jiedushi..."

"What's your last name?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Shen frowned and said, "My master is famous all over the world, but Envoy Li doesn't know him?"

Li Yun shook his head: "Li is ignorant."

This is not a sarcastic remark. Compared with ordinary people of this era, Li Yun's knowledge reserves are not small, but compared with the scholar class, he is indeed lacking in knowledge.

After all, you can't count on the leader of the Cangshan stronghold. I don't know the name of the Pinglu Jiedushi.

Fan Shen suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "My master's surname is Zhou, and his taboo name is Xu."

Li Yun then nodded and remembered the name.

Seeing that Li Yun really didn't seem to know, Fan Shen calmed down a little, looked at Li Yun, and continued: "Li Shijun, my master is not an unreasonable person. Since he is looking for you, he must have your benefits."

"Isn't Envoy Li plotting to take control of Jiangdong? My master can write a letter to recommend you."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun again, a smile on his face: “Before Fan came, my master also said.”

"He has three unmarried daughters. He knows that Li Shijun is young, so he can choose one to marry to Li Shijun."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank his tea, waiting for Fan Can to continue.

However, Mr. Fan stopped talking here.

Li Yun frowned, then relaxed his brows and said calmly, "Mr. Fan, Li is already married. Is it possible that General Zhou is willing to marry his daughter to the Li family as a concubine?"

Fan Can's face changed, and he said in a deep voice: "Of course, Envoy Li should divorce his original wife first, and then marry the lord's daughter."

He stood up, looked at Li Yun, and said, "Envoy Li may be new to the officialdom and doesn't know the reputation of my master. As long as you nod and agree, you will become the son-in-law of the Zhou family. In the future, the entire Jiangnan East Road will be managed by you, Envoy Li, for your master."

"Wealth and honor are within easy reach."

"and…"

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "The Pinglu Army is strong and powerful. If you become the son-in-law of the Zhou family, no one in the whole Jiangdong will dare to go against Li Shijun."

"In the future, maybe you will become a noble and have a bright future."

Li Yun did not interrupt him from beginning to end. He waited until Fan finished speaking before continuing, "If I remember correctly, Haizhou, the southernmost state under the Pinglu Ziboqing Jiedushi, is five or six hundred miles away from Runzhou, the northernmost state in Jiangdong. There is a Jiangnan Road in between. With such a long distance, if General Zhou does not manage his ten states well..."

"Can you reach Jiangdong?"

Fan Shen smiled and said, "If it wasn't too far, it wouldn't be me who came here today, but the Pinglu Army. Li Shijun, do you think this is the truth?"

Li Yun lowered his head and drank tea without responding.

Fan Can continued, "During this period, a group of thieves called Hexi Bandits appeared in the east of Jiangnan and robbed the autumn tax in Jiangdong. Fan sent people to investigate secretly and found the money and grain looted by the Hexi Bandits."

"In the end, it was either sent to Yuezhou or Wuzhou. It has everything to do with you, Li Shijun."

Fan Shen looked up at Li Yun and said slowly, "Envoy Li, what crime is this? This is the crime of treason, which is enough for the court to execute your entire family hundreds of times!"

"If Envoy Li is smart, he can join my master's school. Then my master will protect Envoy Li from all the ups and downs in the court."

"If not."

Fan Shen laughed and said, "Although the court is not in the mood to interfere in Jiangnan Road right now, if General Zhou writes to the court to impeach Li Shijun and leads the Pinglu Army to the south to quell the rebellion, then when the army arrives, the power you have built up for so long will be wiped out in an instant."

“This world.”

Fan Can looked at Li Yun and said slowly, "It is not shameful to follow the general trend. Lord Li, please consider the pros and cons of this matter carefully."

Li Yun still had no expression on his face and did not speak. After a long while, he looked up at Fan Shen and said slowly, "Words are not enough. I need to see the proof of the Pinglu Jiedushi."

Fan Shen smiled dumbly: "How can there be evidence for such a thing?"

"If Envoy Li doesn't believe it, I can take Envoy Li with me to the north to meet my master tomorrow. After meeting the general, Envoy Li will naturally believe it."

Li Yun frowned and said, "There are so many things going on in Wuzhou. I can't go north with you just because of a few words from you."

“I want to see proof.”

Fan Shen sat down again, drank a sip of tea, and said to Li Yun with a smile: "Envoy Li, do you want to delay time?"

He sneered: "Even if I give you a delay, how long can it last? One month, two months, or half a year?" The black-clad Mr. Fan shook his head and said, "It's meaningless."

"I know that Envoy Li is recruiting soldiers. He already has thousands of soldiers under his command. It is precisely because of this that my master wants to cooperate with Envoy Li."

"But if Li Shijun thinks that he can fight against the Pinglu Army by delaying time, then he is really wishful thinking."

"Even if I give you three to five years or even ten years, you will still end up being wiped out when facing the Pinglu Army."

Mr. Fan said calmly, "What happened to the rebels in the Central Plains when facing the Shuofang Army? Envoy Li should have heard about it... right?"

Li Yun looked up at Fan Can and suddenly smiled: "Is the Pinglu Army also a border army?"

The Shuofang Army, located in the west of the north, is a real border army.

Although Li Yun did not know who the Jiedushi of the Pinglu Army was, a book he had read marked the locations of each Jiedushi. To the north of the Pinglu Jiedushi was the Fanyang Jiedushi.

The Pinglu Jiedushi was originally from Youyan, but later, after a series of events, the Pinglu army moved south to the vicinity of Qingzhou and was called the Pinglu Ziboqing Jiedushi.

"Whether it is a border army or not, Envoy Li will know after seeing it for himself."

Fan Can stood up, smiled at Li Yun, and then bowed and saluted: "Envoy Li, the general is not in a hurry for this matter, and I am not in a hurry either. After you think it through, please send a letter to Qingzhou and send it to me, and the general will be able to receive it."

"Of course, it would be best if Envoy Li could personally go north to meet the general and serve under him."

"but…"

Fan Shen lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "I estimate that with the general's patience, he can only wait until the end of the year at most."

"By the end of this year, if the general still hasn't met Li Shijun or received a letter from him, he will probably lose his patience. Then he will write to the court, and Li Shijun will be able to meet the royal army heading south in the spring of next year."

"At that time, under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion in Wuzhou, the general will still be able to go south and still control Jiangnan."

At this point, Fan Can smiled and said, "It's just a little troublesome."

Mr. Fan, dressed in black, stood up and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "This is a big deal. Lord Li, please think about it yourself. I will stay in Wuzhou for three days. As for where to stay, Lord Li should be able to find it."

"After three days, if you want to join the army again, you can only write to Qingzhou."

After saying that, Fan Shen bowed, turned around and left in a leisurely manner.

Li Yun sat in the main seat, watching Fan Can walk away expressionlessly without saying a word.

Originally, he thought that after finally stabilizing the situation and being able to control Jiangnan, he would spend two years to build up the army, equipment, and everything else. But now it seems...

No one gave him the opportunity to grow up peacefully.

After all, when times are turbulent, the imperial court cannot take over the fertile land of Jiangnan, so naturally others will want to come and get a piece of the pie.

His farming plan failed again.

And this time, the opponent he might face is someone he absolutely cannot confront head-on.

A Jiedushi!

Even if Li Yun gathered all his troops, he could at most clash with the vanguard of the Pinglu Army. Moreover, there was a high probability that he would not even be a match for the vanguard of the other army.

After all, the Pinglu Army has been in business for several generations.

After a long time, he rubbed his eyebrows and let out a breath helplessly.

"If he really is the governor of Pinglu, it will be difficult to deal with."

Li Yun still stood up, walked outside, and instructed the attendant at the door: "Go and invite Lieutenant Li and Lieutenant Su to come to the city to discuss matters."

After saying this, Li Yun returned to his study and wrote a letter to Du Qian who was already halfway there.

A half-written letter was thrown into the brazier on the side.

He dropped his brush and said to himself, "I can't tell him about this for now."

"Fortunately, the imperial court would not want to see..."

Li muttered something, then looked to the west and perked up a little.

"The Pinglu Army is heading south."

He walked out of the study and called Meng Hai.

"Go find Liu Bo and ask him to check this Fan Shen."

Meng Hai lowered his head quickly.

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)