Thief Emperor

Chapter 566: Welcoming Li Duhe
Although this literary gathering is very important to Li Yun and even the entire Jiangdong, in the early stages of entrepreneurship, one must be willing to delegate power.

After all, he really couldn't be in two places at once.

Moreover, Du Qian and Li Yun had been partners for a long time before, and he could indeed be considered a trustworthy partner. Li Yun believed that nothing would go wrong if things were handed over to him.

However, Du Qian was still very cautious. He sat opposite Li Yun, looked at Li Yun, and said, "Are you in such a hurry to get promoted?"

Li Yun hummed, and said, "At least before Youzhou breaks through, we must appear in the border of Hebei Province, otherwise, there will be no point in going there again."

"No one in the world is blind."

Du Qian thought about it seriously, and then said, "Sir, I have both the affairs of the new city and the affairs of the literary association."

"We will also start spring planting in various states and counties soon."

He looked at Li Yun and said seriously, "Let Brother Ziwang come and help. Brother Ziwang is quite knowledgeable and is aiming for success. Let him handle some of the affairs of the literary gathering."

"Just right."

Xu Ang and Xu Ziwang are Li Yun’s most loyal subordinates in the civil service.

Xu Ang originally worked with Zhao Cheng in Yangzhou and served as the governor of Yangzhou. Later, when Huainan Road fell into the hands of Li Yun, Xu Ang returned to Nanjing. Now he is arranged by Li Yun to monitor officials in various prefectures and counties in Jiangdong.

He had experienced many disasters in his life. In the past few years, he had been as cold as a tree and handled things impartially. He was known as an iron-faced person, which made him suitable for the job of supervision.

Du Qian involved him at this time, and his purpose was self-evident, that is, even if Li Yun was not responsible for the subsequent selection work of the literary meeting, he had to arrange Li Yun's most loyal people to be involved to promote Li Yun's will.

Mr. Li looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Brother Du, you are so suspicious. We have been traveling together since Yuezhou. How can I not trust Brother Du?"

Du Qian shook his head slightly and said sternly, "In terms of achievements, there is naturally nothing that we cannot trust each other, but the Jinling Literary Society is called a literary society, but it is actually an examination."

"What the higher-ups are promoting is a new school of thought that is also about practical achievements."

Du Qian sighed and continued, "I come from an old Confucian family, so I naturally have to avoid such things."

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Besides, with Brother Ziwang here, I can do things more freely. Don't you think I can take the position?"

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then nodded slowly: "Okay, let Xu Ang participate as well."

"If you have any different opinions, Brother Du is the boss."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "But if this happens, Brother Du will have fewer disciples in the future."

Three hundred people will be admitted to this subject. Theoretically, they can all be considered as Du Qian's disciples. In the future, Du Qian's influence in the court, especially among the civil servants, will be raised to a height that others can never reach.

Du Qian smiled and said, "They are all disciples of high rank, and they have nothing to do with me."

"This is a new study of merit."

Du Qian sighed softly, "To be honest, I am also learning from you now."

"There is nothing wrong with the merits of the matter."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said seriously, "Only by being down-to-earth and seeking truth from facts can one accomplish something. Moral articles will eventually fall into the air."

“It also cannot educate many people.”

Du Qian discussed with Li Yun for a few words, and then said with emotion: "The superior has made great progress in his studies, and I am slowly falling behind."

"Flattery, flattery."

Li Yun poured him a cup of tea, pushed it over, and said with a smile: "Brother Du, don't learn bad things from those people."

Du Qian laughed.

"Tell the truth, tell the truth."

…………

Because the literary meeting was too long-winded, Li Yun could no longer wait. The next day, he said goodbye to his family and went to see Lu Huan, who was about to give birth, and Liu Su, who was already pregnant. On the third day, he set off from Jinling with his guards.

At this moment, the size of Li Yun's guard has officially expanded to 500 people, and each of them is equipped with a horse. A force of this size is no longer a guard, but a guard camp.

Yang Xi's status naturally rose as well. He became a captain in the guard camp beside Li Yun and followed him all the way north.

In addition, Li Yun was accompanied by Zhou Bi and his new follower Su Zhan.

At this time, Li Zheng was already waiting on the banks of the Huai River in Chuzhou. Li Yun did not need to prepare the army anymore. After explaining some things in Jinling, he mounted his horse and led the people from the guard camp all the way north from Jinling to Chuzhou.

Jinling to Chuzhou is actually not too far, only about four hundred miles. After crossing the river by boat, everyone rushed all the way. On the third day after Li Yun set out from Jinling, which was the tenth day of March, Li Yun arrived near the capital of Chuzhou.

At this time, Li Zheng had been stationed in Chuzhou for more than twenty days.

According to Li Yun's request, the Jiangdong Army tried not to disturb the people as much as possible. The 10,000 people led by Li Zheng were basically stationed outside Chuzhou City and did not enter the city.

Li Yun and his party rode directly to the camp outside Chuzhou City. Before they reached the gate of the camp, Li Zheng in the camp led a group of generals and officers and strode out to greet Li Yun. The generals knelt on the ground respectfully and kowtowed to Li Yun: "Subordinates, we pay our respects to the superior!"

Li Yun jumped off his horse and looked at everyone. He asked everyone to stand up first. Then he saw a familiar figure behind Li Zheng. He waved at the figure and said with a smile, "General Xiao Meng, why are you here too?"

In the entire Jiangdong Army, the only person who could be called General Meng was Meng Qing. When others called him that, it was naturally a sign of respect, but when Li Yun called him that, it was a bit teasing. Meng Qing blushed, hurried forward, bowed his head, clasped his fists, and said, "Greetings, my Lord!"

Li Yun looked him up and down, then shook his head slightly: "It seems that he hasn't grown much."

A year or two ago, Meng Qing was the same height as he is now, about half a head shorter than Li Yun. Now, he has hardly grown any taller.

It's just a little stronger than it was a year or two ago.

Meng Qing smiled and said, "Master, I am already 19 and almost 20 years old. It is normal for me not to grow taller."

Li Yun was stunned for a moment, then he shook his head and said, "Yes, you are almost twenty years old."

When Li Yun first met him, it was the third year of Xian De. The era name Xian De ended in the fifth year of Xian De. Now it was the spring of the fourth year of Zhao Ding.

Six years have passed.

The young boy who was thirteen or fourteen years old back then has now grown up.

Mr. Li looked at him and said with a smile, "You haven't told me yet, aren't you following General Zhao? Why did you come to Chuzhou?"

Meng Qing lowered his head and said, "Returning to the superior, I have been ordered to inspect along the Huai River and find a suitable place to set up a military defense line. I just happened to come to Chuzhou."

Li Zheng at the side said with a smile: "Don't believe his nonsense, my Lord. I don't know where this guy got the news from, but he knew that you were going to the north to fight, so he sneaked in half a month ago. After arriving at our camp, he stayed there and refused to leave no matter what."

Meng Qing scratched his head first, then took a step back, clasped his fists and bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "Sir, I want to follow you north and serve you!"

Li Yun looked at him and asked with a smile: "You like to act on your own, boy. Does General Zhao know about this?"

"If he doesn't know, I can't take you with me."

Meng Qing quickly said, "I reported this to General Zhao ten days ago."

Li Yun smiled and asked, "What did General Zhao say?"

Meng Qing chuckled: "General Zhao said that he also wanted to go north with the superior, and asked me to stay here to look after the Huai River."

Li Yun smiled silently.

It made sense for Meng Qing to follow, after all, he was a captain, one level lower than General Li Zheng.

If Zhao Cheng followed, it would be a bit unreasonable for the two generals, and Zhao Cheng had just gotten married, so it would not be a good idea to let him go to the battlefield at this time.

"Since General Zhao knows about this, there is something to discuss. Tell me later how the defense line of the Huai River is arranged. If I am satisfied, I will take you north with me."

Meng Qing was overjoyed, bowed his head and said yes, then he clasped his fists towards Li Zheng and said, "Thank you, General!"

Li Zheng looked at him, then looked at Li Yun, and said with a smile: "Second brother, those boys in Hexi have grown up now."

Li Yun was about to speak when he suddenly looked up into the distance and saw a group of officials rushing over. Li Zheng followed his gaze and said with a smile, "They are officials from Chuzhou. Second brother, don't worry about them. I'll take care of them."

"Brother, go and take a rest. We will soon cross the river to the north."

Li Yun also looked at these officials, nodded silently, and asked: "Are there any people from the Pinglu Army north of the Huai River? What do they say?"

"Have."

Li Zheng said directly: "The people of the Pinglu Army said that we can cross the river at any time and they will not stop us."

Li Yun nodded, stretched, and went into the big tent to rest.

He was exhausted from the journey and soon fell into a deep sleep. It was not until it was completely dark that he woke up in a daze and heard a slightly nervous voice.

"Sir, Major General Zhou Chang of the Pinglu Army has arrived. He is outside the camp. He said...he said he is here to welcome you across the river."

The person who spoke was General Su Sheng's younger brother Su Zhan. This was his first time traveling far away with Li Yun.

Zhou Bi was right beside him at this time, teaching him how to report the news to Li Yun and how to talk to Li Yun.

But he was still a little immature after all, and there was a tremor in his voice.

Li Yun sat up with his clothes on, rubbed his brows, and muttered, "It's the middle of the night, it's really hard."

"Let him in."

While Su Zhan was still in a daze outside the tent, Zhou Bi had already clasped his fists in salute.

"Yes!"

　I was stuck and was delayed for a while, sorry!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)