Thief Emperor

Chapter 384: Scheme against each other!

Huainan Road is likely to become one of Li Yun’s most important territories in the future.

But for now, it is only a possibility.

At present, his core territory must be Jiangdong. If the scope is narrowed further, it can be said that his core base is in Jinling Prefecture.

After all, his whole family is in Jinling City now.

Once the Pinglu Army crossed the river and headed south, Li Yun would not sit idly by in Yangzhou.

Even if he just sat back and watched, it would be useless. If the base camp was lost, there would be no point in defending Yangzhou.

After listening to Li Yun's words, Liu Bo lowered his head slightly and said, "Second brother, I will go and prepare now, and I will definitely contact General Zhao as soon as possible."

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded, patted his shoulder, and whispered: "This time, if we can defend Yangzhou and gain a foothold in Huainan Road, just for the matter of spreading the news, Lao Jiu will be a great hero!"

Liu Bo didn't say much, he just bowed his head silently, clasped his fists, and walked out.

After Liu Bo left, Li Yun first went out to inspect the city defense. When it was evening, he arrived at the governor's mansion and found Du Qian.

At this moment, Du Qian and Xu Ang were counting the food in the city, preparing to distribute rice and firewood uniformly after a period of time. At the same time, they also had to do the corresponding appeasement work to avoid any chaos in the city.

If there is trouble in the city, it will be even more difficult to defend the city.

Seeing Li Yun coming over, Du Qian stood up, looked at Xu Ang, and said, "Brother Ziwang, the food in the city is still sufficient. I don't think it's necessary to start controlling the food so early. It will cause panic in the city."

"At least, we have to wait until late September before considering this matter."

Right now, it is still the beginning of August in the first year of Zhaoding. According to Du Qian, it will take more than a month before we can consider controlling grain.

Xu Ang thought about it, and without saying anything more, he bowed to Du Qian and said, "Then let's do as Envoy Du wishes."

Li Yun walked in at this time. Xu Ang bowed deeply to Li Yun and said, "Envoy."

Li Yun waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite. Xu Ang knew that the two of them wanted to discuss something, so he did not stay long and left quietly to do his work.

Du Qian watched Xu Ang go away and said with emotion: "Erlang has really found a treasure. This Xu Ziwang is the material for a military official."

Li Yun was stunned at first, then he smiled dumbly: "Well, once we pass this hurdle, we will let him supervise us."

Du Qian invited Li Yun to sit down and asked with a smile, "What threshold?"

"The Pinglu Army has once again increased its troops, almost all of them are out."

Li Yun sat down, subconsciously holding the table with his knuckles, and whispered: "I am a little worried that they will bypass Yangzhou and lead their troops directly to Jiangnan."

"We are now more than half of our troops are in Jiangbei, and only Li Zheng and Brother Zixing's two captain camps are left in Jiangnan."

"Although the river is a natural barrier, they don't have enough troops and it's difficult to defend everywhere. I'm a little worried..."

Du Qian lowered his head and thought carefully, then looked up at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Erlang is confused because of his concern."

"The river is a natural barrier, and it is not easy to cross it. The Pinglu Army is composed of northern troops, so it is even more difficult to cross the river."

"Let's take a step back and say, even if they cross the river, what will happen?"

Envoy Du said calmly, "There are still two Duwei camps in Jiangnan. Even if they are no match for the Pinglu Army, they can just give up all the prefectures and counties and just defend Jinling City, just like we are defending Yangzhou now."

"Su Zixing is the son of General Su, a descendant of a famous general. I don't think it's a big problem for him to lead two captains to guard Jinling. Jinling City is more solid than Yangzhou City."

Li Yun chose Jinling as his base camp because it seemed to be the only suitable big city within the Jiangdong area.

Secondly, it is naturally because Jinling City has existing tall city walls and it has an inner city.

It feels safer to set up our base here.

Li Yun sat in front of Du Qian, closed his eyes and thought seriously for a long time before slowly opening his eyes.

"Brother Yiyi is right."

Li Yun whispered: "I am a little impatient."

"It shouldn't be a big problem to defend Jinling City, but it's hard to defend other prefectures and counties in Jiangdong. By then, the prefectures and counties that we have worked so hard to build will probably be turned into a mess by the Pinglu Army."

Hearing Li Yun's words, Du Qian shook his head: "No destruction, no construction. Erlang, you should be a little ruthless now." He paused and added: "If you want to do big things, you have to be a little ruthless."

Throughout history, those great people who ultimately accomplished great things all seemed to have some inhuman qualities, but upon closer examination, it was actually because, most of the time, these great people were absolutely rational.

People who are too emotional find it difficult to accomplish anything.

Previously, Li Yun was indeed a little impatient, but after being reminded by Du Qian, his mind gradually became clear.

Yes, even if the Pinglu Army sent half of its forces to the south, Jinling City could still hold out for a long time. By then, if the Pinglu Army surrounded two cities with one army, it might not be able to hold out.

"We may not be able to take care of all the prefectures and counties in Jiangdong now, but after Brother Shouyi reminded me, I suddenly realized that the Pinglu Army may not really want to go south."

Thinking of this, Li Yun's heart moved. He froze in place and muttered, "If we follow this line of thought, they want me to go out of the city and fight with them..."

"In other words, the person who most wanted me to know that the Pinglu Army was heading south in large numbers and might cross the river to attack Jiangnan was actually Zhou Xu."

"So this news..."

Thinking of this, Li Yun suddenly felt enlightened. He suddenly looked up at Du Qian and exhaled heavily: "Actually... it was General Zhou who took the initiative to tell me."

Du Qian had not thought of this at first, but after hearing what Li Yun said, he thought about it and could not help but sigh, "It is really amazing that he can sit firmly as the governor of a region for twenty years. This General Zhou is almost as thoughtful as you and me."

Li Yun felt the same way and nodded, saying, "Before, I only heard that this man was greedy for money and lustful, so I didn't take him seriously. Now it seems that I underestimated him."

After he stood up, he stroked his chin and whispered, "At this point, General Zhou has done almost nothing wrong, except for underestimating the enemy a little bit earlier."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said, "Now is the most critical time, Erlang, don't be anxious."

"If we are not careful, all our previous hard work will be ruined!"

Li Yun nodded, then looked at Du Qian, clenched his fist and said, "In the final analysis, there are still too few people."

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have to be so caught up in this dilemma."

"After this battle is over and we have secured Yangzhou, we will return to Jiangdong together."

"Pull up more people!"

Upon hearing this, Du Qian nodded first, then chuckled and said, "After passing this hurdle, Erlang will be able to leap over the dragon gate."

He paused and added.

"The military governors of various regions are already on their way to Guanzhong. If nothing unexpected happens, by the end of this year, the thief who claims to be the emperor will be driven off the throne and driven out of the capital."

"Even...you may die in Guanzhong."

Du Qian put his hands behind his back and said softly, "When the various parties compete with each other, it is possible that the imperial court will return to Guanzhong."

"But from now on, it will just be a virtual dynasty."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said softly, "And at that time, this dispensable existence will confer titles on the princes in order to at least continue in name."

"Now, the court will grant you as much territory as Erlang has occupied."

Du Qian clapped his hands and smiled, "When that time comes, the Great Zhou will have its youngest noble."

Compared to Li Yun who focuses on military affairs, Du Qian pays more attention to the development of the current situation and is more concerned about the changes in Guanzhong.

Hearing this, Li Yun was stunned for a moment, then shook his head slightly, came back to his senses, and said, "It's just temporary."

"Even if the imperial court can return to Guanzhong and nominally rule the country again, it is only because there is no force among the Jiedushi and local forces that can suppress everyone."

"This situation won't last long."

Du Qian nodded gently: "That's true, but by then, Erlang will be more famous and his status will be more prominent."

"That's useless."

Li Yun stood up and walked out: "We still have to go through this hurdle ourselves. That Zhou guy is plotting against me."

Li Yun strode outside with a low voice.

"I'm going to think of a way to plot against him, too."

(End of this chapter)