Thief Emperor

Chapter 390: Leap Expansion
The conversation between the two "warlords" lasted for more than half an hour.

Although Li Yun did not suffer any verbal loss, he still lost some momentum. After all, General Zhou would pretend not to hear anything he didn't like, and Li Yun had no way to deal with it.

This is the difference in momentum.

If Mr. Li now has an army of 100,000, let alone what he said, Zhou Xu would have to stop and think seriously about whether there is any deeper meaning in his words when he pauses!
When the conversation finally ended, Li Yun stood up first, clasped his fists and said, "General, let's stop here today. We'll meet again if we're lucky."

Zhou Xu also stood up, clasped his fists in return, and said with a smile: "With our status, I don't know when we will meet again."

He paused and said self-deprecatingly: "It must be either in your army or in my army."

"It may be difficult to see each other again."

Li Yun glanced at him indifferently.

"If we are destined to meet, we will meet again."

After saying that, Li Yun turned around and left the pavilion first.

After Li Yun left, General Zhou did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he sat under the pavilion, looking in the direction Li Yun left, slightly absent-minded.

After a long while, Major General Zhou Chang approached the pavilion with a group of soldiers. He walked under the pavilion, looked at General Zhou who was in a trance, stepped forward silently, bowed his head and saluted to his old father, saying: "Dad, I am here with my soldiers to welcome you back to the camp."

Zhou Xu finally came back to his senses. After standing up, he still looked in the direction of Yangzhou and yawned loudly.

"This Li Yun has some heroic spirit."

After making this comment, General Zhou turned his head to look at his son and couldn't help but frowning.

They are both young men, but my eldest son is two or three years older than Li Yun. Why is there such a big gap between them?
If his son could be as worry-free as Li Yun, there would be no need for him to leave the peaceful life of Qingzhou and lead his troops to Huainan Road in person.

Wouldn't it be comfortable to lie in the arms of a beauty?
Thinking of this, he sighed slightly and said, "Let's go back to the camp."

Zhou Chang rode his horse behind his father, and the two of them walked almost side by side. He looked at his father and asked, "Dad, what should we do next?"

"Divide into three groups."

General Zhou seemed to have made plans long ago, and said slowly: "Luo Zhen goes one way, Gongsun Hao goes another way..."

He looked at Zhou Chang, paused, and then continued: "You also lead the way and take down the other prefectures and counties in Huainan Road as soon as possible. Remember this."

General Zhou's voice became serious: "We are the imperial army. When we arrive at the local prefectures and counties, we are strictly prohibited from killing civilians, raping and looting."

He paused, then lowered his voice again: "At least don't go too far. Because of that old man, our Pinglu Army has become notorious among scholars. You should all pay attention to the impact."

"Before winter, we must occupy the entire Huainan Road."

General Zhou said calmly: "When you get to the local area, if the local officials ask, tell them that bandits are rampant now, and our Pinglu Army has been ordered to pacify Huainan Road."

"If anyone talks too much again."

He rode forward without looking back.

"Kill him directly."

Zhou Chang followed on horseback and responded loudly.

"Yes!"

…………

The day after the Pinglu Army left, Zhao Cheng returned to Yangzhou with more than a hundred cavalrymen.

After meeting Li Yun at the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion, General Zhao was still confused. After clasping his fists and saluting to Li Yun, he scratched his head and said, "I originally thought that the battle of Yangzhou would take several months or even more than half a year. I took them to find a few empty villages nearby and prepared to pretend to be villagers."

He smiled bitterly at Li Yun and said, "How come the Pinglu Army withdrew in just a few days?"

Li Yun laughed, motioned him to sit down, and then smiled and said: "Things in the world are unpredictable. I am also a little surprised that these Pinglu soldiers can be so decisive."

"But it's just in time that General Zhao returns. I have something to tell General Zhao. If you don't come back, I will send someone to look for you."

Zhao Cheng stood up again and bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, give your orders!"

"It's not that serious."

Li Yun waved his hand, motioning him to sit down, then he reached out and knocked on the table, and told him the situation in Yangzhou City and Huainan Road, and then said softly: "The current situation is roughly like this. Although the Pinglu Army has temporarily given up Yangzhou, it is impossible for them to give up Huainan Road."

"I need to go back to Jiangnan to reorganize and train the army."

Having said that, he looked up at Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng immediately understood and bowed his head and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely protect Yangzhou for you. If anything goes wrong in Yangzhou, I will bring my head back to you!"

"I don't want General Zhao's head."

Li Yun said in a more serious tone: "I want Yangzhou."

"There are more than 7,000 people in Yangzhou City right now, including the people brought by Captain Zhou. How many people does General Zhao need to defend Yangzhou?"

Zhao Cheng thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "At least five thousand."

Li Yun took a deep breath and said, "Then let Captain Zhou take a thousand backbones back, and the rest will be left to you."

Zhou Liang and Li Yun must be brought back to Jiangnan. After all, the subsequent organization of the army and even the recruitment and training of new soldiers all depend on the efforts of this uncle. Therefore, the team Zhou Liang brought cannot all stay in Yangzhou, otherwise it will be difficult for him to raise an army if he goes back alone.

Leave him a thousand men so that he can recruit soldiers in Jiangnan.

Zhao Cheng bowed his head and said, "I obey your command!"

At this point, he looked at Li Yun again, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Sir, although I know a little bit about military affairs, I know almost nothing about government affairs and miscellaneous matters. Apart from me, who else is left in Yangzhou City?"

"Xu Ang, Xu Ziwang."

Li Yun replied: "He stayed in Yangzhou to handle the affairs of Yangzhou and supply military supplies to your army."

At this point, Li Yun also paused and continued: "I have a brother who is currently working on intelligence matters. He will also stay in Yangzhou and help me lay the groundwork in Jiangbei."

"I will let you meet in the next few days, and you should cooperate with each other then."

Liu Bo and Li Yun were planning to stay in Yangzhou.

Liu Bo has already gained some understanding of intelligence work. Now he needs to expand the intelligence work outward, especially to the north. At this time, Liu Bo must of course stay in Jiangbei.

Li Yun looked at Zhao Cheng and said, "General Zhao, there are many capable people in the Pinglu Army, especially General Zhou, who is very smart. You are in Yangzhou. You can take the subordinate counties of Yangzhou if you can, but if you can't..."

"Then there is no need to guard."

"No matter what, I want you to protect Yangzhou City and leave me this stronghold in Jiangbei."

"do you understand?"

Yangzhou and Yangzhou City are two completely different concepts. Li Yun must make this clear to Zhao Cheng.

As far as the current situation is concerned, defending Yangzhou City is a great victory for Li Yun. As for the entire Yangzhou...

Although Zhou Xu had said that he would not enter Yangzhou within half a year, this promise was bullshit and Li Yun could not completely believe him.

When necessary, we only need to defend Yangzhou City, and other places in Yangzhou can be abandoned.

Zhao Cheng was the son of a general, and he could figure out many things at once. After hearing Li Yun's instructions, he patted his chest and said, "I will live and die with Yangzhou City!"

Li Yun smiled silently.

"There is no need to say this. I just want the general to know that Yangzhou City is very important to us now."

"You guard Yangzhou City, I will go back to Jiangnan, and I will come to Jiangbei next time."

Li Yun looked at Zhao Cheng and said softly, "General Zhao, you should at least be a captain of ten thousand men."

There was no such position as the captain of ten thousand men in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Zhao Cheng could naturally understand what Li Yun meant. He clapped his hands and said, "Good, the envoy finally figured it out!"

Li Yun smiled and didn't respond.

This time he returned to Jiangnan, he had only one purpose, which was to make his military strength achieve a leapfrog growth.

As for the cost increase caused by the increase in military strength...

There is no other way but to reduce the cost slightly and seek territorial expansion at the same time.

During this conversation, the two chatted for a long time, and Li Yun explained many things to Zhao Cheng in detail.

Zhao Cheng agreed to all of them.

When leaving, Zhao Cheng bowed his head and clasped his fists to Li Yun and said, "I am in Jiangbei, waiting for you to go north!"

Li Yun said "hmm" and smiled, "I'll see you off, General."

Li Yun escorted him all the way to the gate of the governor's mansion. Not long after he returned to the study, Liu Bo carefully knocked on his door: "Second brother."

Li Yun put down the book in his hand, looked up and said, "Come in."

Liu Bo pushed the door open and walked in. He clasped his fists and saluted Li Yun, and whispered, "Second brother, there are some things I don't know whether I should tell you."

Li Yun motioned for him to sit down, then glanced at him and said, "You've already said it, why are you still wasting words?"

"Say it."

Liu Bo responded, then lowered his head slightly.

"Second brother, these days, some people seem to be secretly trying to find out something."

Li Yun was surprised: "What's the matter?"

Liu Bo answered in a low voice.

"They are asking about the day when my second brother broke into the city gate..."

"What on earth is being used?"

(End of this chapter)