Thief Emperor

Chapter 589: Competition in the Central Plains
When Li Yun heard the three words "Li Yunlong", his face looked strange.

He could understand Du Qian's behavior, and he could also understand the meaning of the three words "Li Yunlong", but it still sounded strange at first glance.

However, although these three words sounded strange, Du Qian's approach was very appropriate and had been approved by Li Yun.

Jiangnan Road and Huainan Road are now being quickly digested by Li Yun's group, especially after this year's literary meeting. Once this batch of admitted people are distributed, every state and even county will have Li Yun's own people. By then, the territories that have been taken over will be completely digested by Li Yun.

After digesting these territories, he would inevitably face two choices. The first was to consolidate the existing territories, establish a stable Jiangdong Dynasty, and then carve out a territory for himself and become the king.

If you don't choose this option, then there is only the second option.

Continue to expand.

Until one day, the whole world was taken over.

Li Yun would naturally not stop his expansion, which was why he was not very willing to accept the official title conferred by the court. If he accepted the title conferred by the court, he would at most be the Jiedushi of Jiangnan, and at best he would be a duke or marquis. The court would not give Li Yun the territory that he did not have now.

Then, it is actually of no use and will only add to his constraints.

At this time, he has to start preparing for subsequent expansion.

These preparations are not necessarily military preparations.

Money, food, intelligence, and political preparation are equally important.

Starting to build momentum now is actually a political preparation, so that when Li Yun returns to Jinling and finishes the final work of this year's literary meeting, he can immediately start the next step.

Emperor Taizu of Han conquered the world in the eighth year of his reign.

Li Yun has been in this world for six years now. Even though he did not seriously engage in entrepreneurship in the first two years, the following four years alone is already a considerable period of time.

At this time, he needs to be brave and forge ahead. As for the status of the Wu Zhou court, unless the court confers the title of King of Wu on him now, he will not even look at it.

"Yunlong, Yunlong..."

Li Yun muttered a few words to himself.

Since starting the business, there have been some twists and turns along the way, but overall, it has been quite smooth. If I can really conquer the world in the future, it will be quite impressive to be known as the Yunlong Taizu in future generations.

Unconsciously, Li Yun's thoughts drifted away. After a while, he came back to his senses and said to Liu Bo with a smile: "The two words Yunlong can be used, but adding the word Li is too obvious and a little unreal."

Liu Bo moved a small stool and sat next to Li Yun. He smiled and said, "It's better to be more obvious. Those people are uneducated and don't know the name. How can they know that it is the second brother?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said nothing more. After looking at Liu Bo, he asked, "Last time I told you to send the Nine Divisions to the Central Plains. Have you made any progress now?"

Liu Bo was startled, then looked up at Li Yun and said, "Second brother, didn't you say last time that we should deploy our forces to the north?"

Li Yun frowned and thought seriously. He also forgot something. He rubbed his head and said helplessly: "I forgot, I forgot. Anyway, from now on, the people from the Nine Departments should be sent to the Central Plains as much as possible, especially Liang Wen, to keep an eye on him for me."

"I'll give you an additional 30% of the Jiusi funding."

Liu Bo smiled and nodded, then asked, "Second brother, are you going to head west to the Central Plains?"

Li Yun said, "Liang Wen from the Central Plains has been making a lot of noise recently. We are now at the westernmost part and have already reached the edge of the Central Plains. It's time to go take a look."

"Chase the deer, chase the deer."

Li Yun chuckled and said, "In the final analysis, we still have to compete in the Central Plains."

In the agricultural era, the Central Plains, such a large plain, was the absolute core area and also the site of numerous battles in history.

No matter who occupies the Central Plains, they have actually already won half the battle. However, at this time, all forces are waiting and watching, fearing that they will become the target of public criticism after entering the Central Plains first. Even an arrogant person like Wei Quanzhong is watching the situation.

Therefore, Liang Wen rose to power.

Liu Bo has been in charge of Jiangdong's intelligence work for several years. Apart from Li Yun, he should be the one who knows the most about the world situation, at least in terms of intelligence. After hearing Li Yun's words, Liu Bo first lowered his head and thought for a while, then whispered: "Second brother, those who have not moved are now staring at Zhongyuan. I think there is no need for us to leave so early. We must make corresponding preparations to avoid becoming the target of public criticism."

Li Yun shook his head slightly.

He looked at Liu Bo and said with a smile: "Jiangdong Road, Jiangxi Road, and Huainan Road are now in our hands. We have almost recruited all the troops that should be recruited. Now we have more than 100,000 troops."

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, "The entire Southeast can only support these troops. If there are more, we have to sacrifice our flesh and blood to support them."

"Old Nine, there is no such thing as taking over the world without first preparing for it."

Looking through history books, when there is an uprising, the army always has more and more troops as the battle goes on. It is not like the army hides in a corner and grows until it is invincible and then goes out to sweep across the world.

In the final analysis, limited territory cannot support a large-scale army, and a truly strong army must be forged through repeated tempering and fighting on the battlefield.

After taking over the southeast, Li Yun would have to start looking at other places. Even if there was no reason to start an army, he would find a way to find one.

Liu Bo thought about it seriously, then looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "Second brother's words are too profound, I don't quite understand them, but we just follow what he says. I will start arranging the Nine Departments' affairs tomorrow."

"Oh, right." Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and asked, "Mr. Zhou asked when the war in Fanyang would end. He said that there are a few interesting people in this year's Jinling Literary Festival. They are currently waiting in Jinling and waiting for my second brother to go back and meet them."

Mr. Li thought about this question seriously, and then answered: "We are currently fighting with the Khitans, but judging from the current situation, the war will end in at most another month."

"I will definitely return to Jinling within two months."

"it is good."

Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "I wrote it all down."

Li Yun patted his shoulder.

"I'll have someone call Skinny Monkey over later. The three of us brothers will gather together in the military camp."

Hearing this, Liu Bo sighed, "Among the brothers, my second brother and Shou Hou have already started families, leaving Hu Zi and I as the only ones who haven't gotten married yet."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Hu Zi will probably get married this year, if you want to get married, Lao Jiu."

"I'll find you a girl from the Zheng family in Xingyang."

Liu Bo waved his hands repeatedly: "I can't serve a girl from a wealthy family, and..."

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "I don't like those wealthy families. I know you don't like them either, second brother."

Li Yun patted Liu Bo's shoulder gently and said with a smile: "Old Nine, you are smart. When we settle down in the future, we brothers will still compete with those wealthy families..."

"Let's arm wrestle."

…………

End of May, Jizhou.

It took Li Yun eight full days to surround more than a thousand Khitans on the banks of the Gushui River.

Seeing that there was no way to retreat, the Khitans turned around and rushed towards Li Yun's troops, either on horseback or on foot.

Li, wearing black armor and holding a spear, shouted, "Kill, save only the horses, no prisoners!"

Meng Qing rushed to the front and shouted excitedly: "Charge forward, charge forward!"

He led the team and charged forward.

Li Zheng was standing nearby, directing the overall battle situation to prevent the Khitans from escaping the encirclement.

While the fierce fighting was going on in Jizhou, a decisive battle was also taking place on the battlefield of Youzhou.

General Xiao also personally went to the front and rushed to the front. This general, who already had white hair, waved his hand fiercely and shouted, "Kill!"

"Drive these Khitans out of Fanyang!"

The Han people in the border town had some feud with the Khitans, which had lasted for more than a hundred years. Now that the decisive battle had begun, the two sides fought more fiercely and soon became bloodthirsty.

The battlefield was covered in dust.

General Xiao rode his horse, stood in the front army, and watched the entire battlefield.

"Li Zhang!"

He drank.

Li Zhang immediately stepped forward and saluted: "I am your subordinate!"

General Xiao glanced at him and said slowly, "The Khitans are ready to retreat. Lead your troops to chase them and drive them out of Fanyang!"

Li Zhang, who was described as rough, immediately bowed his head, clasped his fists, responded with "yes", and then led his soldiers to join the battle.

At this time, the Khitan army had less than 40,000 troops left in the entire Youzhou and Jizhou.

After more than half a year of fighting, they did not gain any advantage, and even suffered a great loss in Jizhou. At this time, there was really no need to fight any further.

If the fighting continues, chaos may arise among the unified Khitan tribes.

Khitan Khan Yelu Yi rode on his horse, looking back at the battlefield, with no expression on his face.

"Take our spoils."

"go home."

(End of this chapter)