Thief Emperor

Chapter 413: Southeast Tyrant

Zhou Gui glared at Li Yun.

"Envoy, what does the New Year have to do with your entry into Luzhou?"

Li Yun put down the teacup and said with a smile: "Because at the beginning, I made a six-month agreement with General Zhou. Now that the New Year has passed, a year has passed."

"The original agreement is no longer valid."

Li Yun and Zhou Xu had indeed signed a contract for half a year, but it was already autumn then, and it had only been four or five months so far, so there was still some time left before half a year.

It will only be half a year until spring.

It's a bit unfair to count the years by the end of the year.

Zhou Gui was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He shouted angrily: "Li Shijun, you are now a big shot. If you betray me like this, who will be willing to deal with you in the future?"

"If you lose all your reputation and integrity, no matter how much you gain, people will still look down on you and you will be considered a profit-seeking villain!"

Li Yun still had no expression on his face. He just glanced at Zhou Gui calmly and said, "Brother Zhou, you'd better be more polite when you speak."

He smiled and said, "My fists are harder now, and my temper is naturally worse. If you make me angry,

Li looked at Zhou Gui and said calmly, "I will kill someone."

With a sharp weapon in hand, one will naturally have murderous intentions. Now, Li Yun can no longer be said to be carrying a sharp weapon.

It can be said to be a part of the sacred artifact of the country, or a small piece of it.

Apart from anything else, wherever the Jiangdong soldiers go, the life and death of all living beings are under his control. Although Li Yun is not very old now, he has developed some intimidating aura because of this.

Moreover, he was one of the few princes who personally went into battle to kill people. Although it was just a simple sentence, it immediately made Zhou Gui feel the hairs on his body stand up.

The red flush on his face due to anger faded away visibly. After taking a deep breath, Zhou Gui lowered his head slightly and said, "Envoy Li, can you please be reasonable?"

"Then let me tell you something."

Li Yun stretched out his hand, tapped the table lightly, and said, "In theory, I am the Huainan Road Recruiting Envoy appointed by the court. Now in Huainan Road, I only have Yangzhou and Luzhou, and..."

"It's not the whole state. I only occupied the capital of both states."

He looked at Zhou Gui and continued, "From the perspective of the imperial court, why did the Pinglu Army appear in Huainan Road?"

Zhou Gui said in a deep voice: "If according to the court's rules, my young general is now the Yangzhou Defense Commissioner appointed by the court, then the envoy should give up Yangzhou and let my young general take up the post in Yangzhou?"

Li Yun was a little surprised.

"Is there such a thing?"

Zhou Gui said in a muffled voice: "Does the envoy want to see the imperial edict from the court?"

"That's not necessary."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I am a little surprised. Since the court has already appointed Master Zhou, why hasn't Master Zhou gone to Yangzhou to take up his post? I didn't stop him. Master Zhou can go to Yangzhou at any time to serve as the defense commander."

Zhou Gui's face was about to turn red when he heard this, but he looked at Li Yun's face and quickly suppressed his anger, saying in a muffled voice, "It is meaningless for the envoy to say such things."

Li Yun didn't respond to him, but continued on his own.

"Let me explain the situation in Luzhou to you."

"At that time, General Zhou and I did have a contract for half a year, but it was not about Huainan Road, but about... Jiangbei."

Zhou Gui could no longer bear it and shouted, "Isn't Luzhou in Jiangbei?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "In my opinion, Luzhou should be west of the Yangtze River."

"I am too lazy to argue with you about these words. I have indeed occupied Luzhou."

Li Yun said in a deep voice: "This is the western gate of Jiangdong. I must occupy it. There is nothing to say. If General Zhou is not convinced, let's set up our battle formation and fight another battle."

"He asked you to come to Nanjing to have a quarrel with me. It will not help the situation at all. You can't get back a single brick or tile from Luzhou."

"To be honest, I'm very busy now."

Li Yun smiled and said, "If you keep saying these things, it's no use, I'll find a few good talkers among my men and have a good fight with you."

Zhou Gui finally calmed down. He looked at Li Yun seriously, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "My general wants to ask you what your next move is. If you continue to push your luck, then I will not give in. I will fight the Jiangdong Army to see who is better!"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "My strength has reached its limit."

"We took Yangzhou to occupy the salt road in Jiangdong, and we took Luzhou to take the gateway to Jiangdong so that we would not be bullied by others. As for other places."

Li Yun smiled and said, "No matter how much I say, it will be useless. Brother, go back and tell General Zhou that I will go south and try my best to take over the entire Jiangnan Road."

"There will be no more conflicts with him."

The Jiangnan East Road and the Jiangnan West Road both cover a very large area. The two roads together almost cover the entire southeast of the Great Zhou.

The area that Li Yun actually occupies now is the northern part of Jiangnan Road, centered on Jinling.

Although the areas further south are relatively less prosperous and developed, there is no one in the south competing with Li Yun anymore, so expanding southward is something Li Yun must do.

At this point, Li Yun continued, "If he doesn't believe me, just lead the troops to attack. I have recently recruited a lot of new soldiers, and I am looking for an opportunity to train them." Zhou Gui raised his head and looked at Li Yun seriously. After a moment, he asked, "Envoy Li, you won't cheat, right?"

"What am I cheating on?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "To be honest, I am the one who is taking the initiative now."

He lowered his head to drink tea, then slowly said: "I know that Luzhou is the southeastern gateway, and General Zhou must know this, but General Zhou still hasn't deployed heavy troops in Luzhou. Where is the main force of your Pinglu Army now?"

"I'm afraid all your energy is on Henan Road, or Hebei Road?"

Li Yun said softly: "The outcome of Guanzhong will soon be decided. General Zhou is more anxious than I am at this moment."

This is the real situation between Li Yun and the Pinglu Army now.

Li Yun was busy expanding his territory and army in Jiangnan Road. Has General Zhou really been idle for the past six months?
He would certainly expand his territory with Qingzhou as the core, and at the same time, recruit as many soldiers as possible. After all, in the mind of General Zhou, his real opponent was the Jiedushi of Fanyang in the north.

He was unable to participate in the "meal sharing" in Guanzhong, so he could only take advantage of this period of time to strengthen himself as much as possible locally, at least to make the Pinglu Army of the same size as the Fanyang Army and become a powerful lord in one area.

During this process, Zhou Xu did not want to, and could not, fight to the death with Li Yun.

After all, when the dust settles in Guanzhong, the Fanyang Jiedushi will be able to take out any imperial edict from his pocket, and by then, a war may break out between the Pinglu Army and the Fanyang Army at any time.

Zhou Xu needed to take over more territory as quickly as possible and digest more territory as quickly as possible. At this time, he had even tacitly acknowledged that Jiangnan was Li Yun's territory.

Otherwise, after what happened in Luzhou, the one who arrived in Nanjing should not be Zhou Gui, a member of the Zhou family, but the declaration of war from the Pinglu Army.

Zhou Gui was stunned for a while before he said with emotion: "Envoy Li...at such a young age, he is really amazing."

Li Yun was quite calm about this kind of flattery.

During this time he was in Jinling, he sometimes had to meet many local people, or people from other places who came to visit him, as well as those who came to seek refuge with him.

He has heard too much flattery.

"Tell me the conditions."

"For the next three years, my general and the envoy will not offend each other, Luzhou and Yangzhou, including the subordinate counties."

Zhou Gui looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice, "Leave it all to Envoy Li."

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "Three years is too long. If we really set a three-year deadline, I may not keep my promise, and General Zhou may not keep his promise either."

"One year."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It will be like this for one year. After one year, it will depend on your own methods."

Within a year, the Pinglu Army will face pressure from the Fanyang Army, and Li Yun will most likely face pressure from the imperial court, or at least "tests" from the imperial court.

A year later, the outcome will be clear for both sides, and at that time, of course, each will rely on their own methods.

Zhou Gui lowered his head slightly and said, "I need to go back and ask the general first."

"Just go back."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Actually, it doesn't make any sense to ask or not. This one-year agreement will not be written in the alliance book."

"I won't let my guard down against the Pinglu Army. The Pinglu Army will probably keep an eye on me, so it doesn't make much sense."

Zhou Gui stood up, looked at Li Yun, and then clasped his fists and saluted: "General and Envoy Li, it may not be impossible for us to work together in the future."

"I'll take my leave."

"Hand in hand..."

Looking at Zhou Gui's receding back, Li Yun narrowed his eyes.

If the two companies join hands, one will occupy the southeast and the other will occupy the northeast, and each will be the king of their own territory.

However, after Li Yun has digested the entire Jiangnan region, he will not always stick to it. He does not want to be regarded as a Jiangdong rat thousands of years later.

He sat in silence for a while, thought for a while, then stood up, walked to the backyard of Li Garden, and found Mr. Xue who was fiddling with flowers and plants in the backyard.

Li Yun bowed his head and saluted, then said with a smile, "Father-in-law, are you busy?"

Mr. Xue put down the watering scoop in his hand, looked up at Li Yun and smiled.

"Hasn't my dear son-in-law been very busy recently? Why did you come to my place?"

As he said this, he was startled and asked in surprise, "Could it be that my Dalang and Erlang are here?"

"Not yet, it will take a few days."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I came here to look for my father-in-law because I wanted to ask him something."

"Are you interested in becoming a provincial governor? A vacancy has just opened up."

Mr. Xue subconsciously asked, "Which state?"

"Luzhou."

(End of this chapter)