Thief Emperor

Chapter 376 Taking advantage of the situation
Late June of the first year of Zhaoding.

The Pinglu Army in Qingzhou began to leave Qingzhou on a large scale.

Before that, the Fanyang Army in the north also took action and began to leave Youzhou and advance towards Guanzhong.

This is an era of great contention.

This situation cannot be avoided by a certain governor simply by keeping a low profile.

As long as you are big enough, you have to fight for it. Otherwise, after others have finished fighting, they will definitely come back to deal with you, and you won't even have a chance to surrender.

Because the old world needs to be completely shattered.

If the old world is not completely destroyed, those in power will not be able to sleep well after the new dynasty arrives.

In other words, even if these big Jiedushi do not participate, they will eventually face purge, and they will face the winner in the competition.

The Pinglu Army may not be considered a big guy, but the Fanyang Jiedushi is definitely a big guy, so the Fanyang Army also started to move and led troops to Guanzhong.

On the Yangzhou city wall, Du Qian was holding a document in his hand. After reading it carefully, he looked up at Li Yun and said with emotion: "With the current situation, I'm afraid the governors of various places will have to take some action."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "Erlang, if the Pinglu Army also sends troops westward, then Qingzhou will probably not have many people left. At most, there will be about 10,000 people left, and they will definitely not be elite. At this time, it seems that we can try to move Chuzhou."

"As long as we take Chuzhou..."

Du Qian said in a deep voice: "Erlang's foundation in Jiangdong is now complete."

Li Yun turned around, looked at Du Qian, and suddenly smiled.

"I finally discovered some of Brother Shouyi's weaknesses."

All along, in the process of interacting with Du Qian, especially when it comes to political affairs and officialdom, Li Yun is obviously inferior to Du Qian.

Even in the earliest times, it was almost always this Envoy Du who taught Li Yun how to do things.

And now, Li Yun finally discovered some of Du Qian's shortcomings, or some weaknesses.

That is... he doesn't seem to be sensitive to military affairs.

Du Qian was startled and asked, "Erlang, the intelligence says that the Pinglu Army is heading west. Is there anything wrong with this intelligence?"

"Go west, but not necessarily to Guanzhong."

Li Yun stood on the tower with his hands behind his back, looking towards the north, and said slowly: "We fought a battle with the Pinglu Army in Yangzhou. Why can this vassal state, which has been in power for decades, swallow its anger?"

"I couldn't figure it out at first, but later I understood it a little bit."

"It's because the imperial court can no longer control the local areas. If the imperial court is unable to control the local areas, the local areas will definitely evolve into a situation of mutual annexation. The Pinglu Army is unwilling to fight us to the death in Yangzhou, or unwilling to lose too much strength in Yangzhou. It must be because there is someone around him who makes him more afraid."

Du Qian finally understood and said softly, "Fanyang Army."

"Correct."

Li Yun said slowly: "I have read a lot of information about the Fanyang Army during this period. This Youzhou vassal town is much better than the Pinglu Army in terms of both the size of its troops and its elite level. I estimate..."

"The reason why the Pinglu Army was able to endure was that they did not dare to lose too many people in Yangzhou, lest they be swallowed up by the Fanyang Army going south."

At this point, Li Yun's face turned serious. He looked at Du Qian and whispered, "But the Fanyang Army has already moved westward."

It is certain that the Fanyang army will enter Guanzhong. After all, the Fanyang Jiedushi has to participate in this major change.

But Li Yun was not sure whether the Pinglu Army would advance westward. After all, the Pinglu Army was not very strong among the many vassal states.

Among the ten great military governors, the Pinglu military governor can only be ranked in the third echelon, on the same level as the Jiannan military governor. It is impossible for him to send out 50,000 troops at once. Even if he arrives in Guanzhong, he can only seek cooperation with a certain force, and it is impossible for him to form his own faction.

It doesn’t matter much whether he goes to Guanzhong or not, and he doesn’t need to rush to Guanzhong.

The key to the problem is that if the Fanyang Army moves westward in large numbers, the Pinglu Army to the north will lose a huge threat.

If Li Yun was the Jiedushi of Pinglu, he would definitely turn his attention to the south instead of getting involved in the melee in Guanzhong and Central Plains!

If Li Yun thought so, then Zhou Xu might also think so.

Therefore, when he learned the news that the Fanyang Army was advancing westward, Li Yun had a vague premonition that his peaceful days in Yangzhou might be coming to an end!

Du Qian was a very smart man. Li Yun only gave him a few pointers, and he understood almost immediately. After taking a deep breath, he whispered, "I see. Zhou Xu sent people to negotiate and show his goodwill, or even weakness. He didn't really want to live in peace with us in Huainan Road, but wanted Erlang to think..."

"The Pinglu Army really moved westward!"

Du Qian murmured, "If we rashly attack Chuzhou at this time, they will ambush a group of elite soldiers in Chuzhou, and we will probably suffer a great loss, or even..."

"Lose Yangzhou."

Li Yun kept looking towards the north. He whispered, "If the Pinglu Army is pretending to move westward, but its real target is us, then its target may not only be Yangzhou."

"And the area south of the Yangtze River." Li took a deep breath and whispered, "After taking over Yangzhou and annexing Jiangnan, the Pinglu Army will immediately have a large rear base. The military strength can at least increase exponentially, and then it will be qualified to participate in this battle among the heroes."

He looked at Du Qian and said softly, "In my opinion, this possibility is very high. If I were Zhou Xu, I would also do my best to take over Jiangnan."

Du Qian also became serious and whispered, "If Erlang is not wrong, then I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle in Huainan Road."

"I have asked Lao Jiu to verify my guess."

Li Yun's eyes were still looking towards the north, and he said slowly: "Wait a little longer, there should be news."

At this time, the sun was setting. Li Yun and Du Qian stood on the city wall, both looking to the north.

At the foot of the tower, Liu Bo hurried up the tower and said to Li Yun, "Brother, the people sent to Chuzhou are back."

"The number of Pinglu troops stationed in Chuzhou seems to be much smaller than before, and there are almost no more of them."

Li Yun nodded gently and said with a smile: "I understand. I will commend the brother who was sent to Chuzhou once."

"Then explore again and report back."

Liu Bo responded, then hesitated for a moment, and then bowed to Du Qian beside him and said, "Thank you, Lord Du, for helping to invite an expert. Now we can finally do things in the dark."

Some time ago, through Du Qian or the Du family's relationship, two "old intelligence officers" who had worked in the court's intelligence system for many years came all the way to Jiangdong and were recruited by Li Yun.

Captain, these two veteran intelligence officers have become the "instructors" of the intelligence system personnel under Li Yun. With these two professional teachers, Liu Bo and others have made rapid progress.

Compared to their previous chaotic approach, they now have some methods in their search for intelligence.

The intelligence agency under Li Yun's command finally took shape and was rapidly taking shape.

Du Qian waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. I didn't do anything. It's just that they..."

"I just can't stay in the court any longer."

Liu Bo still bowed his head and thanked him before going down the city wall.

After he left, Du Qian looked up at Li Yun and said softly, "At this moment, with the current situation in Chuzhou, it seems that Erlang's guess is indeed correct. The Pinglu Army is using Chuzhou as bait to hook Erlang, the big fish."

"Perhaps, their main force did not leave too far, but broke up into small groups and sneaked into the vicinity of Chuzhou and ambushed."

"Fortunately, Erlang was one step ahead and saw through them."

"It's no use seeing through it."

Li Yun said in a deep voice: "As long as we don't make any moves for four or five days, Zhou Xu will most likely know that they have been exposed. At that time, he will no longer cover up anything and it is very likely that the army will march south and take Yangzhou directly."

"The battle...must be fought."

Du Qian touched his chin and asked, "Are you sure, Erlang?"

"do not know."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "It is still unclear how determined General Zhou is and how many people he can commit."

"But even if we have to fight this battle, I will take advantage of him first."

At this point, Li Yun smiled and said, "Brother Shouyi, you go into the city to deal with things. I'll go to the military camp to discuss how to deal with it."

Du Qian responded with a "yes", and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Erlang, please take care of yourself and don't be too impatient. If it really doesn't work, we can retreat back to Jiangnan. There will always be a place for us in Jiangnan."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Mr. Li looked determined: "I know what's going on."

After the two separated, Li Yun went all the way to the new recruits camp outside Yangzhou City and met Zhao Cheng in the new recruits camp.

After the two sat down in the big tent, Li Yun briefly told him the situation, and then said: "A big battle is inevitable."

Zhao Cheng narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Sir, since the situation has completely deteriorated, I suggest you recruit as many soldiers as you can. After a simple training of one or two months, they can be deployed to the battlefield."

"After a few rounds of fighting, only about 30 to 40 percent of them remain..."

"They are all elite soldiers!"

Li Yun was startled, then shook his head and said, "There is no hurry now. I came to you to ask you to lead two thousand soldiers."

"tomorrow…"

Mr. Li knocked lightly on the table.

"Come with me and attack Chuzhou!"

(End of this chapter)