Thief Emperor

Chapter 570 Persuasion
When he first came to the north, Li Yun didn't think too much about it.

He really wanted to come and help the Fanyang Army. After all, he was still counting on the Fanyang Army to be able to hold off the Khitans for three to five years, giving him some time and space to continue expanding.

However, after hearing what Zhou Xu said, Li Yun began to think about it.

He now had no shortage of anything, especially after he started to mint his own coins, even currency was no longer in short supply. The only thing he lacked was war horses.

During this period, although his second uncle Xue Fang bought some war horses from some horse dealers, the quantity was too small and they were all castrated, so he couldn't breed them himself.

But if you want to conquer the world, you can't just rely on your two legs.

Why is Youyan important? Because this area can breed war horses and train cavalry, thus guarding the gate of the northern border.

If we only develop infantry, the best we can do would be the level of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Li Yun thought about it seriously for a long time. When he came to his senses, it was already late at night. He stood up and walked to the table. He picked up a pen and wrote a note to Liu Bo and Jiusi, ordering Jiusi to collect some information about war horses.

After finishing the note, Li Yun called out, "Someone come here."

At the door, Su Zhan's voice soon came: "The superior has given orders."

After hearing the voice, Li Yun was startled at first, then he opened the tent door and walked out, only to see Su Zhan, who was wearing thick clothes, guarding his tent door.

Li Yun looked at him, a little curious: "It's this hour, why don't you go to bed?"

Su Zhan lowered his head slightly and said, "Back to the upper position, Brother Zhou asked me to stand guard alone outside the upper position tent for a few days to train..."

Before, although Zhou Bi often waited outside Li Yun's tent, he usually only waited during the day, and he was not there for all six hours, but he would not go far.

Li Yun looked at the little guy and said with a smile: "Don't believe him and let him torment you. Go to sleep when it's time to sleep. I have my personal guards here to guard you."

Su Zhan looked at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "I have learned how to do things now. If you have anything to do, just leave it to me!"

Li Yun then handed him the note and said with a smile, "Pass it to Jiusi. Do you know how to pass it on?"

Su Zhan took it with both hands and bowed to Li Yun: "I know, I'll do it right away."

After saying that, he bowed to Li Yun, then turned around and ran away.

Li Yun looked at his receding back, said "tsk", then returned to his tent and lay down on the bed.

"Zhou Xu's health seems to have deteriorated a lot all of a sudden."

Various streams of information collided in his mind.

"During the Fengyang Alliance, he seemed fine. I don't know if his health suddenly deteriorated or if he was just pretending..."

Of course, Zhou Xu's influence on Jiangdong was great.

If something happened to him, it would very likely lead to another drastic change in the situation in the eastern part of the Great Zhou.

Thinking about these messy things in his mind, Li Yun fell asleep soon.

The next morning, General Zhou had returned to Qingzhou. After Zhou Chang sent someone to inquire, the army began to march north again.

In this way, after another five days of walking, more than 10,000 people crossed the river and arrived in Cangzhou, Hebei Province.

Soon after arriving in Cangzhou and settling down, a young man of the same age as Li Yun and Zhou Chang, with an ordinary appearance, came to greet Li Yun's army.

This young man, who only brought three or four hundred people with him, entered Li Yun's tent and bowed deeply to Li Yun, saying, "Youzhou Xiao Heng, I pay my respects to Lord Li!"

Xiao Heng, the son of General Xiao Xian, who had stayed in the capital for more than a year, recently led 20,000 troops from Guanzhong back to Fan Yang.

He had never met Li Yun before, but his bow to Li Yun could be said to be sincere.

After all, at this time, the Fanyang army was indeed in trouble, and they came all the way to support them, so there was no reason for them not to be grateful.

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile, "You're welcome, Major General."

He pulled Xiao Heng into his tent, hung up a map of Hebei Province, and asked, "Major General, what is the current situation in Fanyang? Are the Khitans still attacking?"

Xiao Heng looked at the map, then looked at Li Yun, and then said softly: "Mr. Li's preparations are really thorough."

His eyes also fell on the map, and he continued, "Since the second half of last year, the Khitans' attacks have never stopped. Even at the end of the year, the fighting between our army and the Khitans never stopped."

"It's just that now, the weather is slowly warming up, and the Khitans are fighting more fiercely."

Li Yun pondered the general's words, rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then asked, "How strong are the Khitans?"

"It was originally like attacking a city. As long as we hold the city, there won't be any big problems."

Xiao Heng looked at Li Yun and said with a wry smile: "Now, they are much more powerful in attacking the city, and the new Khitan Khan fights in a very methodical way."

"The most important thing is."

Xiao Heng whispered, "The Khitan tribes are unified, and their adult males can be said to be all soldiers. The Khitan people can mobilize nearly 100,000 soldiers now."

"The Khitan Khan abducted tens of thousands of people from the interior of the country last time, including men, women, and craftsmen. Over time, the Khitan tribe will probably become stronger and stronger."

"Last month, the Khitans captured a county town and took away most of the people in the town."

Li Yun understood.

This is a... alien race that is developing at a rapid pace.

Moreover, the development path is quite clear. The Khitan tribes are unified, and they have no internal conflicts. Now they are plundering Han people from the interior to fill the population.

Among these abducted people, there were craftsmen in various trades. If they were given some time, the Khitan tribe could have improved exponentially.

It would not be difficult for the Fanyang army to resist them for a short period of time without the support of the imperial court, but it would be extremely difficult to keep them outside the pass all the time.

After thinking for a while, Li Yun asked, "Major General, I brought 10,000 people with me this time, and there are 5,000 people from the Pinglu Army heading north. How can we help the Fanyang Army?"

Xiao Heng did not hesitate, pointed at Jizhou on the map, and said in a deep voice: "Here."

"As long as Lord Li can hold on to Jizhou for three months, it will be a great help to the Fanyang Army. Lord Li, don't worry, all the food and grass for your army will be provided by Fanyang."

"It's not a good idea to keep getting beaten like this. Within three months, my father will find a way to concentrate our forces and repel the Khitans."

Xiao Heng said in a deep voice: "When the time comes, the entire Fanyang Army will be grateful for Lord Li's kindness!"

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "If we really defeat the Khitans, they will behave themselves for a few years."

"Then the whole world should be grateful for the kindness of the virtuous father and son."

Xiao Heng said calmly: "Born in Fanyang, I should do my duty!"

"it is good."

Li Yun clapped his hands and said seriously: "I will rush to Jizhou right away, but the Major General has to go and talk to the Pinglu Army in person. I can't command them."

Xiao Heng smiled and said, "Zhou Chang and I are cousins. Although we are not blood relatives, there shouldn't be any problems with him."

As he spoke, he clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Please take a rest, my lord. I will go see him right away."

"it is good."

Li Yun smiled and sent him out of the tent. After he left, Li Yun returned to his seat, looked at the map of Hebei Road for a while, and thought secretly in his heart.

Now he is no longer a duke, but the Fanyang Army and the Pinglu Army both recognize him as the Inspector General of Jiangnan Province.

In other words, the words of the imperial court are no longer of much use, and there will be no problem even if he appoints himself as the Jiedushi of Jiangnan.

The imperial court had almost no involvement in the battle of Fan Yang.

Once the local people win the war, no one will pay attention to the court in the future.

The status of the Wu Zhou court will drop to another level.

Thinking of this, Li looked at the map and shook his head slightly with emotion.

"If the imperial court does not accept such a righteous cause, it will probably not exist for long..."

…………

Just as Li Yun was in the north planning to fight against the Khitan, in his base camp in the south, Yao Zhong, who had been away for a long time, finally returned to Jinling.

After returning to Jinling, he did not go to the government office immediately, but went to the new city first. After wandering around the new city for an hour or two, he went to the government office to meet Du Qian.

As soon as I arrived at the door of Du Qian's official residence, I heard the sound of endless arguing coming from inside.

"Mr. Du, although this person has good literary talent, he is not pragmatic at all. He does not conform to the ideas of the superiors. I think he cannot be accepted."

Yao Zhong recognized that it was the voice of Xu Ang and Xu Ziwang.

Someone else in the room spoke up, "We should take 300 people, not 30. Jiangdong also needs some talented people, so that we won't be criticized in the future and say that we have no literary heritage."

Yao Zhong also recognized this voice as the voice of Zhuo Guangrui, the Shao Yin of Jinling.

Yao Zhong stepped forward, thought for a moment, and then knocked on the door: "Mr. Du, I am Yao Zhong, your humble servant, and I am back to report."

The door was soon opened. Du Qian, who was dressed in blue and had dark circles under his eyes, reached out and grabbed Yao Zhong's sleeve, with a smile on his face: "Brother Ju Zhong, you are finally back. You have worked hard on the journey. Come in quickly, come in quickly."

He pulled Yao Zhong into the house. Xu Ang and Zhuo Guangrui in the house both bowed to Yao Zhong.

Yao Zhong also quickly returned the greetings one by one.

Du Qian pulled Yao Zhong to sit down and asked with a smile, "How is the progress of this trip?"

“Extraordinarily good.”

Yao Zhong lowered his head and said, "In every county, tens of thousands of acres of land can be confiscated, and the more they investigate, the more land they can confiscate."

He smiled bitterly and said, "Some of them even involve officials from Jiangdong. Lord Fei and I are a little afraid to investigate further."

Hearing this, Xu Ang frowned and said, "Which official in Jiangdong? Brother Yao, tell me the name and I will go and ask."

Yao Zhong looked at Du Qian, who thought for a moment before asking, "Brother Juzhong, what do you and Master Fei think?"

Yao Zhong said in a deep voice: "There is too much resistance in the local area now, especially from the local big families, there are many scholars, some of whom even pointed at me and scolded me for being nameless and insignificant, and accused Mr. Fei of being an accomplice of the evil."

He looked at the three people present, paused, and said through gritted teeth: "Mr. Fei and I both feel that we, the civil servants of Jiangdong, are indeed nameless and without status..."

"You have to persuade him to take the throne, at least to be king."

He looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Persuading people to come in will give you a title!"

(End of this chapter)