Thief Emperor

Chapter 584 Deputy Commander
At the same time as the report from the Nine Departments arrived in Jinling, the request for merit from Xiao Heng, the governor of Fanyang, was also delivered to the capital.

There is actually something wrong with this document requesting merit.

Because wars in this era cannot be fought in a day or two. The victory of one or two battles cannot determine the direction of a war, let alone the outcome of the war.

As a general, Xiao Xian, the governor of Fanyang, could not have failed to understand this truth.

Theoretically speaking, Li Yun had only won his first victory, and the most that could be done was to send the battle report to the capital, but there should not be a document requesting credit for Li Yun.

There is a bit of General Xiao’s personal emotion in this.

Because as early as the second half of last year, when the Khitans were making frequent movements, Fan Yang had reported it to the court and requested assistance.

But the court has not responded at all.

Although the imperial court has no ability to support Fan Yang now, even if it issues an edict to the military governors and local forces near Fan Yang, asking these local forces to support Fan Yang and do some superficial work, it will be helpful to Fan Yang.

But from beginning to end, the court did not respond at all, as if it had never received any documents from Fan Yang.

This naturally made General Xiao very angry.

This document requesting merit, although seemingly respectful and abiding by the rules, was actually a slap in the face of the imperial court. It used Li Yun, a dismissed official, to slap the imperial court in the face.

In the Chongde Hall, the Emperor got angry after seeing the document requesting merit. He threw the document to the ground and said angrily, "Li Yun, the governor of Jiangnan Province. What a great governor of Jiangnan Province, Li Yun!"

In the documents that General Xiao sent to the court, Li Yun was still referred to as the Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangnan Province.

In other words, General Xiao did not take the previous imperial dismissal document seriously at all and ignored the imperial edict.

After reading these words, the Emperor was really annoyed. After a long temper tantrum, he slapped the table, took a few deep breaths, and said through gritted teeth: "You don't take the court seriously at all! You don't take the court seriously at all!"

The fact that His Majesty the Emperor could say such words meant that there were no outsiders in the Chongde Hall at that moment. To be precise, there were only two people.

Pei Huang bent down and picked up the document on the ground. He looked at the document, then at the emperor, and whispered, "Your Majesty, no matter what, Li Yun's trip north did help Xiao Xian a lot. It's not surprising that Xiao Xian returned the favor."

"He returns the favor?"

The emperor sneered and said, "If he returns a favor, he can stop taking the court seriously?"

Pei Huang lowered his head and remained silent.

After venting his anger for a few words, His Majesty the Emperor fell silent.

It's all talk, but now, both of them are clear about the situation. General Xiao's memorial to the court is already a gift to the court. As for what he wrote in the memorial and what he wanted to express,

The imperial court had no control over it and could not ask about it.

After a long time, Pei Huang carefully read the document and whispered, "Some time ago, after hearing the news that Li Yun was heading north, I was a little skeptical and thought he was not smart enough. I didn't expect that after only a few years of not seeing him, he has become so brave and powerful."

"Even the Khitans suffered a great loss at his hands."

"Your Majesty, there are two ways to deal with this matter."

Pei Huang said in a deep voice: "The first way is to pretend that you know nothing and nothing has happened."

"The second method is to give this Li Yun a heavy reward."

His Majesty the Emperor had a dark face and said in a deep voice: "He submitted an official document to the court, not a secret report to me. How could such a thing be concealed?"

After saying this, the emperor glanced at Pei Huang, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

Since the two of them "teamed up", many things in the court have not been going well. Even the closest of childhood friends will become suspicious of each other. At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor has begun to doubt Pei Huang's personal abilities.

The two grew up together, and Pei Huang was also keenly aware of the emperor's mood. He was silent for a moment, lowered his head and said: "I am sorry for what I said."

After saying that, he just lowered his head and said nothing.

At this time, there was no one else in Chongde Hall. After the two of them fell into an awkward silence, the emperor became even more furious. He slammed the table and gritted his teeth: "Speak, speak!"

Pei Huang sighed.

Since his career went wrong, the emperor has become increasingly emotionally unstable and is now on the verge of exploding at any time.

Pei Huang bowed his head and said, "If Your Majesty pretends not to know about this matter, the court officials will also pretend not to know. Although it is not very decent, it can be passed after all."

"If Your Majesty wishes to reward Li Yun, I have an idea."

He bowed his head and said, "Since the Khitans are invading, then we will appoint Xiao Xian, the governor of Fanyang, as the general commander of the Hebei Road Army, responsible for conquering the Khitans." "This Li Yun can be appointed as the deputy general commander of the army... to cooperate with General Xiao to conquer the Khitans."

"Now that the Fanyang Army has won a small victory, the imperial court can take this opportunity to send people over to reward the three armies."

"This way, the court won't lose face and the matter will be resolved."

"Deputy Chief of the March..."

His Majesty the Emperor frowned and asked, "What about Jiangnan Road?"

“It still doesn’t have to be closed.”

Pei Huang said silently: "Then let Li Yun do what he wants. It doesn't matter whether he is given the title of governor of Jiangnan or not. Giving him a temporary job will not conflict with the last imperial decree. Wait until the war in Hebei Province is over."

"It won't be too late to give other rewards."

The Emperor thought about it for a long time after hearing this. Just as he was about to speak, a purple-robed eunuch came running in with a document in his hand. When he came close to the Emperor, he bowed his head deeply and said, "Your Majesty, this is a secret report from the Eastern Capital."

The emperor took the document, opened it and took a look. His expression became complicated. He waved his hand, signaling the eunuch to leave. Then he looked at Pei Huang and said slowly, "Liang Wen has taken Luoyang. He wrote to me and asked me to send officials to take over the Eastern Capital and the prefectures in the Central Plains."

Pei Huang fell to the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."

"Now that the Central Plains has been restored, the imperial court will be able to recover quickly."

The emperor showed no joy on his face. He just asked silently, "Is this Liang Wen really useful and trustworthy?"

Pei Huang lowered his head and said, "There is no better candidate."

The emperor sighed silently.

"Regarding the affairs of Hebei Province, let's follow Sanlang's advice. As for Liang Wen, I will summon him to the capital again, and station the imperial guards in Luoyang. If he does everything as instructed, I..."

"Then I believed him."

…………

May of the fourth year of Zhaoding.

General Xiao Xian led 50,000 troops in Youzhou and marched north to fight against the Khitan.

The two sides fought for half a month, with both sides winning and losing, and then they retreated and broke off contact.

After this battle, the Khitans were already 200 miles away from Youzhou, and there would be no more unrest in Youzhou in the short term.

As soon as the battle was over, General Xiao entrusted the military affairs of Youzhou to several deputy generals under his command, and he himself rode straight to Jizhou with his personal guards.

In Jizhou City, Li Yun did not delay after receiving the news. He brought Xiao Heng, Zhou Chang and others to the west gate to welcome General Xiao.

Near noon, General Xiao finally arrived outside Jizhou City. After he got off his horse, he saw the tall Li Yun from a distance. He immediately came up to him, saluted with a fist, and smiled: "Mr. Li, we have been friends for a long time!"

Li Yun looked at the Fanyang Jiedushi.

This is a tall and vigorous old man who looks to be in his fifties, with gray hair that is meticulously combed.

After taking a look, Li Yun also stepped forward to salute and said with a smile: "I have also known the general for a long time, but I have never had the chance to meet him."

After the two backbones exchanged greetings, Xiao Heng, Zhou Chang and Li Yun's subordinates stepped forward one by one to salute General Xiao. Xiao Xian just nodded slightly to the others, then looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Lord Li has traveled thousands of miles to help Fanyang. This kind of evaluation should be personally welcomed and entertained by Xiao."

"I was distracted by those Khitan thieves, so I didn't come to see Lord Li. I'm sorry, sorry."

Li Yun said a few polite words to him before welcoming him into Jizhou City. After entering Jizhou City, General Xiao first went to the place where the Jiangdong soldiers were stationed, and then couldn't help but praise: "I heard that Lord Li has been in the army for only a few years, and these Jiangdong soldiers under his command have become well-trained. It's really rare."

Li Yun said solemnly, "In my early years, I had the opportunity to follow General Su, who taught me the manuscripts of his lifelong learning. As I said, whatever achievements I have made now are all thanks to General Su's generosity."

As for the military affairs of this era, Li Yun did learn a lot from General Su's manuscripts, which is absolutely true.

He can be said to be Su Jing's last disciple.

Hearing General Su's words, Xiao Xian was silent for a while, and did not respond. Instead, he took out a wooden box from his arms, handed it to Li Yun, and said with a smile: "This is an imperial decree. Someone should come and give it to Lord Li soon."

He looked at Li Yun and a smile appeared on his face again.

"From now on, Lord Li will be the deputy commander of our Hebei Province."

　Sorry, sorry!!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)