Thief Emperor

Chapter 569 War horse, war horse!
In the commander's tent, two people who could be said to be local lords sat across the table from each other, staring at each other quietly.

Li Yun poured himself a glass of wine, toasted General Zhou, and said with a smile: "Now, I'm afraid that everyone in the world will think that my trip to the north is for some hidden conspiracy or unknown calculation."

He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, then chuckled and said, "You don't know, I just want to do my part for the Han Dynasty."

General Zhou lowered his head, took a sip of wine, and asked, "Just for fame?"

"more than."

There was no third person at this moment, so Li Yun spoke very straightforwardly. He smiled and said, "It's also for the sake of the north, so that no one will suffer."

Zhou Xu shook his head slightly and said, "My dear brother, you are too insincere."

"If it's really for the sake of the people in the north, why would you only bring 10,000 people north?"

Li Yun did not answer, but asked: "If I bring more than 10,000 people, will you still let me go north?"

Zhou Xu didn't say anything, but took another sip of the wine and said with a smile: "Good wine."

Li Yun also smiled faintly and did not talk about this topic anymore.

Sometimes, between adults, things don't need to be said so clearly.

If the number of people was larger, the Pinglu Army would have to consider whether Li Yun's goal was to support Youzhou or to capture Qingzhou. At that time, there would naturally be no question of letting him go.

General Zhou put down his wine glass and continued, "In my opinion, the reason why you only brought 10,000 men is probably because, with the current size of the Jiangdong Army, it would not hurt to separate 10,000 men. If there are more men, they will be annihilated outside, which will cause great damage to the Jiangdong Army, right?"

Li Yun shook his head and smiled, "How is that possible? Let alone ten thousand, even if we lose thirty or fifty thousand, I can afford it. If I were not worried about your misunderstanding, I would have to lead at least twenty or thirty thousand people north this time."

Zhou Xu was trying to get answers, but Li Yun was countering his moves.

If Zhou Xu's words were acknowledged, then he could roughly guess how many troops Jiangdong had now.

Of course, he couldn't believe Li Yun's exaggerated words, but they did serve to confuse the enemy.

The two chatted for a while, and Zhou Bi had already brought the wine and food. General Zhou looked at Li Yun with a smile on his face: "Have the Li, Lu, Wang, and Zheng families sent anyone to contact you, my dear brother?"

"A lot of them were sent."

Li Yun replied: "They are all vying to marry their daughters to me."

Hearing this answer, General Zhou's expression finally changed slightly. His face changed for a long time before he exhaled heavily and said with emotion: "You are in a good time, you are in a good time."

Among the many military governors today, it is well known that the Pinglu military governor Zhou Xu is the best at relationships between men and women. Moreover, people of his generation have great respect for aristocratic families. If he were in Li Yun's position, he would definitely take whatever people offered him.

No one will be turned away.

But now, these things obviously have nothing to do with him anymore, which makes the general sigh with regret.

Li Yun was a little surprised: "Those families didn't come to look for brother?"

"No."

Zhou Xu's face was gloomy. He snorted and said, "I was careless for a moment and was harmed by a scholar named Gu. Now my reputation is very bad. Those people are unwilling to deal with us in Qingzhou."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and suddenly said, "Come to think of it, Mr. Gu seems to have some friendship with you, my dear brother."

"Have."

Li Yun nodded and said, "When I was still working as a yamen runner in Qingyang County, Xuanzhou, I was instructed by Mr. Gu. Later, when I came to Jiangnan East Road, I had some contacts again."

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun's expression.

"I was careless at the time. You won't blame me for this, will you?"

Li Yun thought about it, then said with a smile: "This is the grudge between my brother and Mr. Gu, and my brother..."

"Most likely the price has already been paid."

Speaking of the price, General Zhou couldn't help but groan, slapped the table, and gritted his teeth: "I suffered a great loss from him!"

"If I had known this would happen, I would have worshipped him as a god or Buddha when I first saw him!"

The greatest change that Mr. Gu Wenchuan brought to Qingzhou, or to the Zhou family, was naturally to destroy Qingzhou's reputation among the officials.

This incident directly led to the fact that there were basically no capable scholars in the Pinglu Army, and now all kinds of things were in a mess.

Moreover, scholars hold grudges. If you offend them, not only will they spread your bad deeds everywhere, they will even make up some bad things for you.

As a result, General Zhou Xuzhou now has a very bad reputation.

Because he wandered around the south of the Yangtze River in his early years, there are rumors among the people that he was a flower thief when he was young and picked flowers everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River.

In short, it can be said that it is notorious.

Just as Li Yun and Du Qian had predicted for Qingzhou, after Gu Wenchuan's last poem was spread, Qingzhou Zhou Xu had basically lost the qualification to compete. And Zhou Xu should also be the first governor to be eliminated in this struggle.

After all, Zhou Xu was an old man with decades of experience. He quickly calmed down, looked up at Li Yun, and said, "Brother, let's talk about serious matters."

"I came to see you today mainly for two things."

Li Yun looked at him and said seriously, "Brother, that's what you said."

"the first thing."

General Zhou sighed and said, "My dear brother, you should have seen by now that we in Qingzhou are basically unable to expand outward. It would be good if our descendants can hold on to this small piece of land in the future, and it would bring prosperity to our people for several more generations."

"If they can't hold on, my dear brother, if you have the ability, please come and help. I don't ask for anything else, just that the incense will continue to burn."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "Brother, how do you know that in the future... it won't be me who will take Qingzhou?"

"It all depends on one's own ability."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "If you take Qingzhou, please try to leave me a legacy."

"I don't want your promise in vain."

Zhou Xu patted his chest, causing him to cough violently twice. It took him a long time to recover. After recovering, he looked at Li Yun and continued, "Qingzhou has made the same promise to you Jinling."

"If there is any change in Jiangdong in the future, the Pinglu Army will definitely protect your bloodline and incense."

"If our Pinglu Army marches south, your whole family will be safe."

Li Yun sighed and said, "Brother, you really got something for nothing."

While everyone is expanding, the Pinglu Army is currently in a state of contraction. Li Yun does not think that he will be able to help Jiangdong one day, nor does he think that the Pinglu Army will be able to move south one day.

However, Li Yun only thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I agree."

After saying this, Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu, who was pale, and frowned, "Brother, what's wrong?"

"It's an old problem."

Zhou Xu took a long time to calm down, then took out the bottle from his arms and swallowed a pill. His complexion improved a little. He looked at Li Yun and sighed, "I have been fooling around for half a century. My body has been hollowed out by alcohol and sex. I am still alive today because of the blessing of my father in heaven."

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "I probably won't live for many years, but it doesn't matter. I've lived a happy life."

"Let's...let's talk about the second thing."

He took a few more breaths, which made Li Yun frown.

This guy can’t die in his own camp, otherwise even if he has ten thousand mouths, he won’t be able to explain himself.

General Zhou took several breaths before continuing, "The Khitans are coming with great force. When they reach the north, they will probably be in great danger. If you have time, please take care of my son."

"Also, if you return victorious, you might as well take over a few prefectures in Hebei Province. That way, you can have a lot of benefits to discuss with that Xiao guy."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Brother, you really think far ahead. I have no intention of gaining any benefit from this trip."

"The benefits I'm talking about aren't just bulky things like money and food."

General Zhou looked at Li Yun and said softly, "The Fanyang Army has war horses, and there are quite a few of them. There are several horse farms in the northwest of Hebei Road."

This time, it was Li Yun's turn to change his expression. He looked at Zhou Xu, thinking for a long time, and then nodded slowly: "Little brother... remember it."

Two or three years ago, Li Yun had the idea of ​​recruiting cavalry, but he could never get any war horses!

In the past two years, he has been thinking about how to get qualified war horses, but there are no good channels. The only way at present is to purchase war horses through commercial channels through Xue Fang, one of his uncles.

The quantity is quite small and the price is quite expensive.

If we can get some war horses on this trip to Youzhou, we don’t need a lot, even one or two thousand would be worth it!
Seeing that Li Yun was lost in thought, General Zhou stood up with satisfaction, coughed twice, and left with his hands behind his back, contentedly.

"My dear brother, you will probably have to march tomorrow, so I won't bother you any more."

He looked back at Li Yun and said with a smile,

"In the future, we will have a good drink together, brothers."

After saying this, the great general walked into the night accompanied by several followers.

Only a few faint coughs were heard.

Li Yun walked him a few steps, then stopped where he was, looked up to the north, and whispered to himself.

"Warhorse, warhorse..."

(End of this chapter)