Thief Emperor

Chapter 401 Wang Junping is dead!
General Su's coffin was sent all the way from Xuanzhou to Yangzhou. Li Yun ordered people to build a mausoleum for General Su, and asked Du Qian to write the epitaph and have it engraved on a monument as a commemoration.

In his early years, to be exact, it should be ten or twenty years ago, Su Jing was a famous general and almost invincible.

At that time, the current Wei Quanzhong, Zhou Xu, and other Jiedushi were almost half a generation younger than General Su. Zhao Cheng's father, General Zhao, was even a subordinate of Su Jing at that time.

Therefore, after Su Jing came back to power, he suppressed the rebellion in Yuezhou and his reputation was at its peak. However, later on, General Su suffered several defeats in succession in the Central Plains, and in the eyes of outsiders, he seemed to have lost his integrity in his later years.

Some people even criticized General Su's military achievements when he was young, believing that General Su at the time was only relying on the circumstances and had no real ability to speak of.

The epitaph written by Du Qian clearly explains almost all the causes and consequences of the Central Plains War.

Li Yun spent more than ten days with Su Sheng to bring General Su's coffin to the outside of Jinling City. They then moved General Su from the thin coffin into the outer coffin and placed it outside the mausoleum, waiting for the completion of the mausoleum before burying him in it.

When it comes to the level of a mausoleum or tomb, it would be impossible to complete it in half a month. Su Sheng built a hut next to the "construction site" of General Su's mausoleum and watched over the construction of his father's mausoleum.

Li Yun tried to persuade him a few times, but it didn't work. There was nothing he could do but let him be.

"It reassures you."

In the reed shed, Su Sheng, dressed in mourning clothes, bowed to Li Yun and said, "The conscription in Qiantang County will not be delayed. I have sent a letter to Qiantang County, and the conscription will be completed before the New Year."

"After my father's funeral is taken care of, Qiantang County's conscription should be almost over. By then, I will return to Qiantang and start training these new soldiers. By the end of this year..."

"Those new recruits can barely form an army."

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "The general is a man of unparalleled benevolence and righteousness. We will naturally take good care of the aftermath. Brother, don't be too sad. Don't worry too much about other things."

At this point, Li Yun suddenly realized what was happening, shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Why did you change the way you address me, brother?"

Su Sheng bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency has been very kind to the Su family. Now I am working under your command."

"We can no longer be as casual as before."

Li Yun looked at him, seemed to understand something, and asked, "Did Brother Shouyi look for Brother in private?"

Su Sheng remained silent.

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said, "Brother, when there are few people around, we can still address you as before."

Su Sheng responded and bowed his head: "Erlang has cleared my father's name. I really don't know...I really don't know how to repay him."

Li Yun sighed and said, "These are all what I should do. If I were not the general, how could I be where I am today?"

Su Sheng shook his head.

"Erlang is very capable. Even without his father, Erlang can still rise to prominence, but it may not be the same path as now."

He is absolutely right.

Faced with such a chaotic world, where there is no way to escape, given Li Yun's personality, it is naturally impossible for him to remain unknown.

In fact, when he joined the army under General Su, he already had more than 200 people under his command. If General Su had not helped him and recommended him to be an official at that time, he might have taken advantage of the situation and raised the flag of rebellion.

However, taking that path is much more difficult than the current method of laying eggs by borrowing chickens. Perhaps until now, Li Yun has just established the "Xuanzhou Base", which is far from the current scale.

Taking another path may have a relatively more solid foundation. It is difficult to say which is better or worse.

Life is like this. Sometimes you can't help but make choices at forks in the road. But as long as your goal is firm enough, different forks in the road are just the difference between being longer or shorter.

After talking to Su Sheng for a while, Li Yun left his reed tent. As soon as he walked out of the reed tent, Du Qian was waiting not far away. Seeing Li Yun coming, he stepped forward and asked, "Is General Su okay?"

"It should be fine."

Li Yun looked at him and sighed: "Brother Shouyi, is it necessary to rush to determine the hierarchy now?"

Du Qian thought for a moment, then stopped, looked at Li Yun, and said, "Erlang, any force must go through this stage, and there are some things that you can't tell those close to you, so I, an outsider, have to say them."

"As for whether it's urgent or not..."

Du Qian said softly: "I don't think there is any rush."

"Erlang now has practically actual control over Jiangdong. If everything goes well next year, we can also intervene in Jiangnan West Road. It won't be long before we become one of the most powerful forces in the world."

"If the power grows too fast, there won't be time to sort out the hierarchy. By the time Erlang reacts, it will be too late."

“There will be problems later.”

Du Qian said softly: "If some people still can't figure it out at that time, and can't handle it, they will die."

Li Yun seemed to be thinking about something.

As a modern man, he knew very well that he had to establish a unique core in the team, that is, himself. And since the Cangshan Dazhai period, he has been doing this, making himself the undisputed core of the Li Yun Group.

However, he is not very sensitive about status, and brothers still call each other brothers.

In comparison, Du Qian is much more sensitive to these things. He has begun to consciously promote Li Yun in the Li Yun Group.

To put it bluntly, this talented person from an aristocratic family was consciously trying to make Li Yun the "emperor" of Jiangdong, rather than the leader.

In this way, if something great is accomplished in the future, the change of identity will be quite smooth.

In Li Yun's opinion, the situation has not yet been decided, and doing these things now would be, firstly, too hasty, and secondly, would only make people laugh.

"I will think this matter through myself."

He looked at Du Qian and said softly, "Brother Shouyi, just let it go and don't add fuel to the fire."

Whether to be the lofty little emperor of Jiangdong or the down-to-earth leader of Jiangdong, this is a matter that Li Yun needs to decide on his own. Even if a change is really necessary, he doesn't want anyone to get involved in this process.

Du Qian was startled, then nodded gently: "I obey your command."

After saying this, Du Qian thought for a moment and continued, "Envoy, my family will arrive in Jinling in about ten days or half a month. They are my third brother's family."

"When the time comes, will you meet them?"

Li Yun nodded decisively and said softly, "Of course I have to meet you."

"When the time comes, Brother Huiyi, remember to remind me."

"it is good."

Li Yun waved at Du Qian and walked away: "I'm going to the new recruit camp to take a look. Brother Shouyi, please go back to the city first."

Du Qian responded with a "OK" and watched Li Yun go away. Looking at Li Yun's back, he touched his chin thoughtfully.

For an ordinary person of Li Yun's age, with such achievements, the first thing he would do is probably to eagerly improve his status and grant himself a title of king. This is also very common.

Why is Jiang Dong...

Seems... a little too calm?
………………

The sun and the moon shuttle back and forth.

Soon, it was the winter of the first year of Zhaoding, and the end of the year.

At this time, Li Yun had been frantically recruiting soldiers in Jiangdong for two or three months, and the targets he had set in advance had basically been completed.

And it was overachieved.

The military strength from all over the country, including Zhao Cheng's troops in Yangzhou, has steadily exceeded 40,000.

At this time, in Li Garden in Jinling City, a middle-aged man with a mustache was reporting the financial situation of the entire Jiangdong to Li Yun with his head slightly bowed.

After he had narrated the general situation, he lowered his head slightly and said, "Sir, according to the current amount, Jiangdong's money and grain...seems to be able to barely support us."

This man's surname was Du and his given name was He. He was from the Jingzhao Du family. He was the third son of his generation and the third brother of Du Qian.

This Du Laosan had worked as an official in the Ministry of Revenue in his early years. When the capital city was in turmoil, he took his family and left the capital because his father-in-law died, thus avoiding the disaster.

Later, he received a letter from Du Qian. After careful consideration, he brought his family to Jiangdong.

He and Du Qian have the same father and mother and are brothers. This is quite rare in a large family, so brothers trust each other the most.

After arriving in Jiangdong, Li Yun received him and let him resume his old job in Jiangdong. Now he can be said to be the "accountant" of the entire Jiangdong.

Originally, according to what Du He said when he first arrived, Jiangdong's current money and grain could only support 30,000 troops at most. However, due to the reform of the salt permit, 40,000 troops can now achieve a balance between income and expenditure.

This surprised Mr. Du a little.

After listening to his words, Li Yun smiled and said, "It seems that if we grit our teeth, we can get more soldiers."

Du He was about to speak when Du Shiyi came trotting in from outside the door, holding a letter in his hand and breathing heavily.

"Envoy, Third…Third Brother."

He tried to catch his breath, but his speech was still a little fluent.

"Wang...Wang Junping is dead!"

(End of this chapter)