Thief Emperor

Chapter 587 Gravedigger

When Li Yun arrived near the east gate of Jizhou, Meng Qing just came back from outside the city with a few people. After seeing Li Yun, he hurried forward, bowed and said, "Take the seat!"

Li Yun patted his arm and shook his head, "No need to be polite, tell me the situation."

"Yes."

Meng Qing followed Li Yun, and the two of them went up to the tower together. He confirmed the direction and said, "Sir, the Khitans were originally stationed to our east, about 26 or 27 miles away."

"We have mirrors that can see farther. We have been able to keep track of their movements over the past few days. Today, we discovered that more than 3,000 Khitan troops in Jizhou have begun to move and left Jizhou."

"According to the direction, it's heading towards Youzhou."

Jizhou and Youzhou are not located in the south and north respectively, but are two horizontal battlefields located in the east and west respectively. Moreover, Jizhou is the only way for the Khitans to retreat.

Li Yun thought about it seriously.

"Could it be that the Khitans are pretending to retreat to lure us into attacking?"

Meng Qing whispered, "I sent forty or fifty people to accompany them all the way and follow the retreating Khitan troops from a distance."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and said, "I think this is an opportunity, a rare opportunity, to get promoted."

After this period of contact, Li Yun had a basic understanding of the Khitan military strength in Jizhou, which was about 10,000 people.

If we take into account the casualties from the recent war, there are still more than 9,000 people.

Many of these troops are cavalry. If Li Yun leaves the city and fights them in the wild, he will not be able to win.

But if the enemy loses more than 3,000 troops, we will have a good chance.

Even if the enemy still has cavalry, we can completely drive them out of Jizhou by relying on our numerical advantage.

If he had enough troops, Li Yun could even block the Khitans' retreat to the east in Jizhou and trap them in the Youzhou battlefield.

However, this would require at least 50,000 troops to accomplish. Li Yun did not expect to wipe out the Khitans in one fell swoop, but at this time, it would be great if he could weaken the enemy's combat power.

Because in Li Yun's perspective, these Khitans will become more powerful in the next few years, and will most likely become his opponents in the future.

In the next three to five years, the ideal situation is that the Fanyang Army will be able to hold off the Khitan Army until one day, Li Yun cleans up the internal affairs of Wu Zhou and unifies the country, or a general trend of unification is formed, and then he will take over Fan Yang and Liaodong.

If this situation is to happen, the weaker the Khitans are, the better.

"Send someone to keep an eye on it. It will take at least three days to confirm the situation. I'll find someone..."

Li Yun looked at Meng Qing and said in a deep voice: "I will find someone to deploy the battle situation."

Meng Qing nodded and said, "Don't worry, my lord. I will keep a close eye on these Khitans."

"Ah."

"The Khitans are fast, be careful."

After giving a few simple instructions, Li Yun parted ways with Meng Qing. Then he went to the city wall and asked someone to invite the two major generals, Xiao and Zhou, over.

Soon, Zhou Chang and Xiao Heng both climbed up the city wall. After greeting Li Yun, Xiao Heng asked, "Lord Li summoned us here. Is there a change in the battle situation outside the city?"

"Just received the news."

Li Yun briefly explained the situation to the two men, then looked at Zhou Chang and asked, "Major General, if the war breaks out again, will the Pinglu Army dare to fight?"

In the last battle, the Pinglu Army suffered heavy losses. Including the wounded, their combat effectiveness was almost reduced by 20% to 30%. If they were to face the Khitans again, I'm afraid some of them would be unhappy.

Zhou Chang lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked at Li Yun and said, "I'm afraid some people will say nonsense if I attack first, but there won't be any problem if you serve as an assistant to your uncle."

Li Yun nodded and said, "It would be fine if I could go out of the city to help."

He looked at Xiao Heng again and said softly, "Major General, I need two thousand cavalrymen from you."

Seeing Xiao Heng's surprised expression, Li Yun knew that he had misunderstood, and said with a smile: "What I mean is that the Fanyang Army needs to send 2,000 cavalry to help contain the Khitan cavalry."

"Otherwise, even if we win this battle, we won't be able to stop them."

He smiled and explained: "I didn't ask the Fanyang Army for 3,000 cavalry for me."

At this time, if you want to defeat the enemy, you must have the help of cavalry.

Li Yun has no cavalry, but the Fanyang Army has no shortage of cavalry. As long as he can mobilize two or three thousand cavalry to help, Li Yun will have a chance of winning this battle.

Xiao Heng thought about it and said, "I need to ask my father about this."

Li Yun looked calm: "If the Fanyang Army is willing to send out cavalry, this battle can be fought. If not, then we have to let it go. I will guard Jizhou for the Fanyang Army for three months, and then we can part ways in peace."

Although the Khitans can be said to be enemies of the Han people, in the current situation, once the Khitans move south, the Fanyang army will be the first to bear the brunt.

At this time, eliminating one more Khitan would be a good thing for the Fanyang army.

Xiao Heng said quickly, "Don't worry, sir. I'll have someone deliver an urgent letter to my father. There will be a reply in two days, or at most three days."

"it is good."

"Then I won't waste any more time talking nonsense." Mr. Li clapped his hands, looked into the distance, and said with a smile: "Let's see the outcome in three days."

…………

Capital city, Chongde Hall.

Liang Wen, the Henan Province Recruiting Envoy, knelt before the emperor with his forehead touching the ground and his hands on the ground, almost prostrating himself, with an attitude of utmost respect.

"I, Liang Wen, the Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy of Henan Province, come to see Your Majesty."

His Majesty the Emperor exchanged a glance with Pei Huang, and then looked with a scrutinizing look at the Henan Envoy who had just recovered the Eastern Capital and was kneeling in front of him.

"Liang...Mr. Liang, please stand up."

"Yes."

Liang Wen was extremely respectful. After he stood up, he still stood with his hands hanging down, standing obediently.

The emperor looked at him and smiled: "My dear minister, you have made a great contribution to the court by recovering the Eastern Capital."

"How are the other prefectures and counties in Henan Province doing now?"

Liang Wen lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I, your subordinates, are doing our best to recover the entire Henan Province. It won't be long before we can recover the Central Plains for the court and Your Majesty."

After a pause, he lowered his head and said, "The new Henan Yin Ren Hong has arrived in Dongdu. I have sent people to assist Ren Lingyin and take full control of Dongdu."

"Ah."

The emperor nodded and said, "I have seen your memorial. Your Excellency Liang is loyal to the country and has made great contributions. What reward do you want from me?"

"I am a criminal. I have been able to serve Your Majesty and the court in some small way over the past few years. I am already satisfied and have no other requests."

Humans are all emotional animals, it’s just that the dominant factor is more or less.

As an emperor, he has now fallen into poverty, and other ministers are all looking down on him. Some of them even try to offend him openly or secretly.

Even some people in Jiangnan have begun to establish their own court.

Now, there is such a minister who has made great contributions, is respectful, and even willing to go to the capital alone without hesitation and entrust his life to him.

It is impossible for His Majesty the Emperor not to be touched.

Anyone in his position would prefer Liang Wen and would not like a traitor like Li Yun.

"The matter of Wang Junping is over. From the moment Liang Qing turned from evil to good, he has no guilt. He cannot be said to be guilty."

His Majesty looked at Pei Huang and saw that the latter did not speak, so he said to himself: "Seeing that this summer is about to pass, Liang Qing is in Henan Province, and he must cooperate with the local officials to harvest Henan Province's autumn grain this year."

"As long as you can handle this matter well, I will immediately promote you to the position of Henan Province Surveillance Commissioner and give you a higher rank and title."

Liang Wen knelt on the ground again, bowed his head deeply and said: "Your Majesty, I obey your command..."

"If I fail to do this job well, I will bring my head to see Your Majesty."

A smile appeared on His Majesty the Emperor's face.

Since he ascended the throne, he had suffered too much injustice and been bullied by too many ministers. He even forgot at one point that he was an emperor.

And now, in Liang Wen, he finally found the feeling of being an emperor again.

The supreme being has the power of life and death.

"Someone is coming."

The emperor clapped his hands and said with a smile: "A reward of 100 gold coins and 10 beauties will be given to Liang Qing."

The eunuch beside him immediately responded.

Liang Wen knelt on the ground, deeply moved, and almost burst into tears in the Chongde Hall. It took him a long time before he followed the eunuch downstairs to receive the reward.

After Liang Wen left Chongde Hall, the emperor looked at Pei Huang and said with a smile: "This man is really capable."

Pei Huang thought for a moment and whispered, "Your Majesty, I think we should find a way to remove his military power as soon as possible, otherwise I always feel that this person will cause problems in the future."

The emperor frowned slightly and said, "I made a mistake in the matter of Su Jing, which caused chaos in the court and gave rise to evil obstacles such as Li Yun and Su Sheng. Now I finally have a minister who can do things. I can't make the same mistake again."

Seeing Pei Huang frowning, the emperor thought about it and relaxed a little.

"At least, after we finish dealing with the affairs of Henan Province, we can consider removing his military power."

Pei Huang had no choice but to look up at the emperor and then bow his head deeply.

"Your Majesty is holy."

　The Kawenka has been so powerful these past two days, I need to sort it out...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)