Thief Emperor

Chapter 552: Wind Rising in Youzhou
In a team or a group, the best job is always middle management.

Because in this position, the physical work is done by the people below, and the mental work is thought out by the people above. The most the middle-level managers can do is run errands and get scolded.

So being an official is a good job.

But being the boss is not that easy.

For example, Li Yun is now the number one figure in the entire Southeast. The size of his team is many times larger than before. As the leader, it is time for him to work hard.

In the future, as the team grows bigger, there will be more and more such stressful things, if he can accomplish his great cause.

I'm afraid most of my energy will be focused on internal balance.

Fortunately, we are still in the starting stage of our career and we can see the signs of many things happening and we can press on.

It doesn't take too much energy.

However, the southeast has reached a new node, and Li Yun can take this opportunity to complete another transformation of the southeast.

Just as Li Yun was starting to reform the southeast, in the north of the southeast, or to be precise, in the northernmost part of Qingzhou, the two generals met in Bohai County on the north side of the river.

This is the junction of Henan Road and Hebei Road.

As the name suggests, it is naturally the south of the river and the north of the river.

Today, the Pinglu Army occupied the eastern part of Henan Road and almost the part south of Mount Tai.

His territorial dispute with the Fanyang Army happened here. Previously, the Pinglu Army took the opportunity to move north and occupied several states in Hebei Province. After the return of General Xiao Xian, the governor of Fanyang, the two sides had been arguing in these states. So far, there have been several conflicts.

In fact, the war is not far away, and it can even be said that it has already started.

If not for this, Zhou Xu would not have retracted his tentacles and reluctantly withdrawn his power from Huainan Road.

The truth is that the Pinglu Army does not have the ability to control such a large territory.

After several months of entanglement, the two generals finally reached a compromise and agreed to meet in Bohai County to start peace talks.

The county town of Bohai had now been occupied by troops from both sides. According to custom, a reed shed was built on an open space outside the city, and both sides sat in the shed to talk.

This is the specification that only takes place when the main figures of both sides meet, because when discussing things in the city, both sides will worry about ambushes. It would be relatively safer to discuss things in an open area with each side leading their troops.

At this time, most of Dizhou, where Bohai County was located, was still in the hands of General Zhou Xuzhou. Therefore, he was considered the landlord and went ahead to wait in the reed shed.

It was not until almost noon that General Xiao finally arrived. After the two generals met in the reed shed, they first saluted each other with their fists clasped.

Zhou Xu clasped his fists towards Xiao Xian and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Brother Xiao, you have been promoted to Duke."

This sentence was somewhat sarcastic, mocking Xiao Xian for traveling thousands of miles to the capital, but in the end he only earned the title of Duke and nothing else.

Xiao Xian looked at Zhou Xu, first narrowed his eyes, then smiled and said, "My title of Duke is just empty and useless, but I heard that Brother Zhou has made a young brother recently."

"This sworn brother seems to be younger than you, Master."

Xiao Xian smiled and said, "Brother Zhou, you are so reckless that you have messed up the order of seniority. When we meet your sworn brother in the future, I really don't know how to address him."

"Call me whatever you want to call me."

Thinking of Li Yun, Zhou Xu couldn't help but twitch his eyelids, and then said in a muffled voice: "That kid is very troublesome. If Brother Xiao became his neighbor, he would probably recognize him as his brother."

The two generals exchanged insults with each other, and finally got down to business in the afternoon: "Brother Zhou, I am not only the governor of Fanyang, but also the governor of Hebei appointed by the imperial court."

"All the prefectures and counties in Hebei are under my jurisdiction."

He looked at Zhou Xu and said in a deep voice: "If you are still a minister of the Great Zhou, then you should retreat back to the south of the river. The friendship between our two families still exists, and we can continue to be in-laws."

General Xiao's first wife had passed away long ago, and his current second wife was General Zhou Xu's biological sister. However, she was older than Zhou Xu, so the two of them called each other brother.

Zhou Xu looked at Xiao Xian and said with a smile: "Brother Xiao, I don't want much from you. I just want Dizhou and Dezhou. I want to ensure that there is a place to ease the tension in the north of Qingzhou. This way, I can sleep peacefully. Then our two families can live in peace. What do you think?"

Xiao Xian said coldly: "A huge river is a natural chasm, can't it let you sleep peacefully?"

"The big river in the south is a natural barrier, a big river..."

Zhou Xu said softly: "I'm still worried."

Xiao Xian slapped the table and said angrily: "Then let's see the truth with our own hands!"

"Brother Xiao, don't get angry."

General Zhou sat leisurely in his seat and said with a smile: "I heard that during the two years that Brother Xiao was in the capital, a young man named Yelu from the Dieci tribe, among the Khitan tribes in the north of Youzhou, took advantage of these two years to unify the Khitan tribes."

"At the moment, they are in conflict with the Fanyang Army." The Khitan tribes have been in the Northeast for one or two hundred years, but they have always been in a scattered state and have never been unified. The Fanyang Army is guarding Youzhou, to a large extent, to guard these Khitan tribes.

The capital was in chaos, so General Xiao led half of the Fanyang army on an expedition to the capital. Before leaving, he left instructions to defend Youzhou and not to interfere with the Khitan tribes for the time being.

During the two years that Xiao Xian was away, the Khitan tribes north of Youzhou took advantage of this opportunity to complete their unification.

General Zhou lowered his head to drink tea and said calmly: "Otherwise, Brother Xiao would probably not have the heart to come to Bohai County to find me and sit down and talk calmly."

General Xiao's face changed, then he said with a gloomy face: "Did that bitch tell you that?"

Zhou Xu's expression also changed, and he snorted coldly: "It has nothing to do with my sister. If you dare to embarrass my sister, we will see who will win!"

The two generals glared at each other. After a long time, Xiao Xian sat down again and clenched his fists.

"It's not the Khitan tribes. I have to show you Zhou Yaozi some of my strength."

Zhou Xu snorted coldly: "It's not that you are so aggressive as soon as you come back. I can still fight for Huainan Road. I lost half of Huainan Road, and I only ask you for two states. Is that a lot?"

Both of them were second-generation Jiedushi.

And they were married, having known each other since they were young.

Although they are in a competitive relationship now, it is not particularly stiff in the final analysis, especially in this situation where no one can do anything to anyone else.

The two cursed at each other for a while, and General Xiao knocked on the table and said in a deep voice: "This is really weird. The Khitan tribes have not been unified for more than a hundred years. I was away for two years, and they were unified by a young man!"

Zhou Xu looked at him and asked, "Did you suffer a loss? What's the name of that young man?"

Xiao Xian was silent for a while, then said silently: "After I came back, I sent troops to test him. We fought twice, but I didn't gain any advantage. Now I only know that the young man's surname is Yelu, and his Chinese name is Yi."

"I don't know the name of Khitan."

Zhou Xu looked at his expression and confirmed, "It looks like you've suffered a loss."

"These Khitan people were originally a group of scattered sands."

Xiao Xian said seriously, "Now they have been integrated together, which is very powerful. Don't laugh so hard."

He looked at Zhou Xu and sneered, "My Fanyang Army is much better than your Pinglu Army. If I can't stop them, you Zhou Yaozi can't stop them either."

"Li Tong of Taiyuan may not be able to stop them. By then, the entire northern part of the Great Zhou will fall into the hands of others!"

Zhou Xu frowned and looked at Xiao Xian: "After more than a hundred years of hardship, you suddenly become powerful?"

“They had a hard time in the past, but it was also very severe.”

Xiao Xian looked at Zhou Xu and said in a deep voice: "It's just that we were not united enough before."

General Zhou thought about it seriously, then narrowed his eyes and said, "Well, for the sake of my sister, I don't want Dezhou anymore. I only want Dizhou."

Zhou Xu added: "But let me make it clear first, if there is any danger in Youzhou, you must send my sister back to Qingzhou first."

Xiao Xian stood up, glanced at him, and snorted, "Xiao, you can still protect your family."

General Xiao was about to leave when a fast horse came galloping over from a distance. The horse was a messenger. After seeing Xiao Xian from afar, he quickly dismounted, rolled forward, and knelt in front of General Xiao: "General, something terrible has happened!"

When Xiao Xian heard this, he immediately turned his head to look at Zhou Xu, who frowned slightly, then turned his face away, pretending not to hear it.

Xiao Xian frowned and asked, "What happened?"

The messenger looked at Zhou Xu and didn't dare to speak. Xiao Xian shouted in a low voice, "Hurry up and speak!"

"General He was deceived by the Khitans and led his troops out of the pass to pursue the enemy. He suffered heavy casualties and died outside the pass."

"Now, the Khitans have broken through the pass and are now besieging Youzhou City!"

General Xiao turned around suddenly and looked at Zhou Xu, who was also shocked.

Without saying a word, Xiao Xian jumped on his horse, headed north without looking back, cursing as he rode.

"This beast, this beast!"

Zhou Xu watched Xiao Xian go away, his brows furrowed.

The unrest in the Central Plains has just stopped. Could it be that...

Is the North going to be in chaos too?
　Recently, many people have said that the pace is slow and the plot is not advancing. However, at this time, according to my original pace, it is mainly the stage of sorting out the internal affairs. Originally, the Khitan plot was not so urgent, so let's speed it up now...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)