Thief Emperor

Chapter 346 You’ll know only after you fight!
Li Yun's current sphere of influence is still limited to Jiangdong, or even to a few states and counties. Naturally, he is not as well-informed as Du Qian about news from the capital.

Hearing Du Qian's words, Li Yun reacted almost immediately and frowned, "Did the rebels enter Guanzhong?"

Li Yun has been paying attention to the affairs in Tongguan and there is no way he can't pay attention to it.

After all, this matter is related to the changes in the entire world, as well as Li Yun’s own development and the situation he may face in the future.

However, Li Yun's current intelligence only allows him to know that Tongguan is in a tough battle.

Therefore, after hearing what Du Qian said, Li Yun reacted immediately.

Du Qian still had no strength in his body. He sat on the chair, feeling cold all over and even shivering.

"The Great Zhou Dynasty of more than 200 years..."

Du Qian closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before he relaxed a little. He looked up at Li Yun, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "I anticipated this day when I was in my teens, but I didn't expect that when it really came..."

"Still, still..."

He shook his head and did not continue.

More than two hundred years is too long.

Even a few decades or even more than ten years is enough for a person to develop a habit of thinking, let alone more than two hundred years.

More than two hundred years were enough for everyone in the world to feel that the existence of the Wu Zhou court was natural and unshakable.

Even for someone like Du Qian, who had clearly figured out with his mind that the Great Zhou Dynasty would not last long and had even started making preparations early on, when he actually heard this crucial news, the huge mental shock still made it difficult for him to accept it all at once.

To the extent that he said the same thing as Fei Xuan.

The Great Zhou Dynasty lasted for more than 200 years.

Li Yun walked to the table nearby and poured a cup of tea for Du Qian. After handing it over, he shook his head slightly and said, "Too fast, too fast."

In comparison, Li Yun is now extremely calm, and the news of Guanzhong being broken did not shake his mind at all.

Because the other Li Yun was a bandit since he was a child, he might not even know what the imperial court is, or what the emperor's surname is.

And if you count carefully, Li Yun now is actually less than three years old in this world.

Neither of them had the slightest idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor or patriotism, nor did they have any feelings towards the Wu Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, the news of the breakthrough of Tongguan did not bring any emotional impact to Li Yun. The only thing that made him frown was that the breakthrough of Tongguan was too fast.

If the imperial court could be more motivated, not to mention defeating the rebels and wiping them out, even if it could hold out for two or three years longer, or even just one or two years, Li Yun would have more room to grow stronger.

But now, the imperial court was so corrupt that more than 100,000 imperial guards guarding the capital were forcibly driven into Guanzhong by a group of rebels.

This situation will not lead to further deterioration of the situation in various parts of the world.

Because things are already rotten, it is difficult for them to get any worse.

However, this situation will definitely lead to the accelerated formation of local separatist forces, or the situation of separatist rule by princes.

Just as Du Qian said, the imperial court was originally in name only, but now with the fighting going on like this, it is not even certain that it will be able to maintain its status. It will be difficult for those local forces to obey the orders of the imperial court.

And at this time, it’s the fists that speak.

But Li Yun’s fists were not strong enough now, and the accelerated collapse of the imperial court further shortened his development time.

After Du Qian drank several sips of hot water, he finally recovered a little. However, due to his agitation, his face was a little pale. After taking several deep breaths, he told Li Yun the details of the situation.

After finishing his words, Du Qian whispered: "Guanzhong is a plain. Once you enter Guanzhong, there will be no strategic location to defend. The capital city will probably not be able to withstand it, and the court will not defend it."

At this point, he closed his eyes and continued, "According to what my father said in the letter, the court will most likely leave the capital temporarily and move to Xichuan for shelter."

Li Yun hummed, and whispered: "This kind of big thing cannot be concealed by anyone. Since Brother Du received the news today, then in a few days, all walks of life in Jiangdong will begin to receive the news one after another."

At this point, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said softly, "The Pinglu Army in the north should also receive the news soon, or have already received it."

Li Yun sat on the chair and continued, "Now, we must make some contingency plans to prevent emergencies."

"And that's it."

Li Yun said slowly: "Xuanzhou should be in our hands now."

Xuanzhou is adjacent to Jinling Prefecture and is also Li Yun's hometown. However, because Xuanzhou belongs to the Western Road of Jiangnan, not the Eastern Road of Jiangnan, theoretically it is not under the jurisdiction of him as the Jiangdong Recruiting Envoy. Therefore, until now, Li Yun has only built a copper mine in Yian County, Xuanzhou, and has not taken action against the entire Xuanzhou.

Mr. Li said slowly: "Last year, for the sake of Yi'an Copper Mine, I left Deng Yang in Yi'an, and 500 other people also stayed in Yi'an. I immediately wrote to Deng Yang and asked him to lead his troops to Xuanzhou City and station troops in Xuanzhou City."

Du Qian had basically regained his composure at this point. He looked at Li Yun and asked, "Will the officials in Xuanzhou agree? Will there be a conflict?"

"I'll agree."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I got a handle on Deng Zhongming, the governor of Xuanzhou, last year. I'll send him a letter and he should behave himself. If he doesn't, let Deng Yang help him behave himself." Two and a half years ago, when Li Yun was still the head of Qingyang, a rebellion broke out in Hexi Village, Shidai County. At that time, the entire Xuanzhou could only send out 300 government troops, and their training level was extremely poor.

At that time, it was a common practice in local states and counties to collect salaries without doing anything.

Even today, two and a half years later, the number of official troops in each state and county has increased, but the number of official troops in Xuanzhou is still not too large.

Even if there are enough of them, their quality is far inferior to the 500 people led by Deng Yang.

Most of those people were soldiers from Yuezhou and were one of the earliest groups led by Li Yun. Many of them had been to the battlefield and participated in the Battle of Wuzhou.

With these five hundred people, even if Deng Zhongming is not honest, Deng Yang can still control Xuanzhou.

Du Qian nodded first, then looked at Li Yun and asked, "Should we let Deng Zhongming take charge of Xuanzhou, or should we send someone else?"

"We can only let Envoy Deng take care of it temporarily."

Li Yun frowned and said, "We still don't have enough manpower available. If we want to send someone over, we can only let my father-in-law go."

Li Yun now has no shortage of subordinates, both civil and military.

Because during this period, especially after Li Yun occupied Jinling, there were always people coming to seek refuge, and most of these people were scholars.

Most of them are scholars who have had difficult careers or even no career at all.

These people did help Li Yun solve some of his urgent problems, for example, some writing matters could be handed over to them.

However, after all, the time of contact is still short and no one has stood out. For the time being, Li Yun can send out scholars who are confidently capable of serving as governors.

It’s still too little.

Envoy Du nodded silently, then he supported himself on the table and barely stood up. He looked at Li Yun and said, "Erlang, I have some classmates and relatives. Maybe I can invite them to Jiangdong to help with some things."

Li Yun was overjoyed: "Please come quickly."

Mr. Li is now extremely short of civil servants under his command. These civil servants are not the civil servants of the imperial court, but his, Li’s, civil servants!
It would be great if Du Qian could get some.

As for whether Du Qian will form a group after he brings people together, and whether his power will grow, these are not problems.

Because the military power has always been firmly in Li Yun's own hands, and Du Qian is also very clear about his position and never does anything beyond his authority.

Although the relationship between the two of them has not yet been completely determined, such as that of "king and subject", the distinction between master and servant has been made.

In times of peace, scholars may still be able to make changes in the world, but now that troubled times are upon us, no matter how powerful a scholar is, he can only be a vassal of the warriors!

"It's not hard to write to them, but..."

Du Qian looked up at Li Yun and sighed softly, "We have too little time in Jiangdong. Is Erlang sure that he can occupy Jiangdong in such a short time?"

What Li Yun lacks most now is time.

As the old order is shattered, local forces in various places will surely collide and merge wildly, thus giving rise to a new order.

With Li Yun's current strength, if it was a force within Jiangdong, he could easily suppress it.
But external forces, such as the Pinglu Army...

It is by no means easy to deal with.

In the current situation, if there is no way to have the strength to at least counter the Pinglu Army in a very short period of time.

It is impossible for those educated people to come here and put themselves under the dangerous wall.

Li Yun stood up, looked outside, then turned back to look at Du Qian and said, "Then let them take a break before coming over. This year... this year we must have a battle."

"If I don't fight a war, the prefectures and counties in Jiangdong will not recognize me as the commander, and General Zhou will not take me seriously. Let's fight this war!"

"Only then can we truly control Jiangdong, not just these few states and counties!"

Having said that, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and smiled.

"After I win the fight and gain a firm foothold, it won't be too late for them to come."

Du Qian was also looking at Li Yun, and he slowly exhaled a breath.

"How confident are you, Jiro?"

"do not know."

Li Yun clenched his fists under his sleeves, squinted his eyes, and looked at the sky outside.

"You won't know until you fight!"

(End of this chapter)