Thief Emperor

Chapter 639 Loyalty and Killing

In Hexi Village, Shidai County, after the fire, only about thirty people survived out of hundreds of households in the village. It can be said that there were very few people left.

But after this disaster, if we consider it only from the perspective of interests, the Meng family can be said to have turned a disaster into a blessing.

For now, although Meng Hai's job is important, it is not very visible on the surface. Meng Qing is already the most dazzling rising star in the entire Jiangdong military, and is highly appreciated by Li Yun.

There is no doubt that he will become the most important person in the Meng family in the future, almost without exception.

More importantly, the Meng family also has a job of minting coins. After the "founding of the country" in the future, this job will probably be passed down from generation to generation in the Meng family as long as the Meng family does not make any mistakes or commit any major errors. Just based on these points, the Meng family will become a very important family in the future "Li Dynasty".

Meng Qing might not understand these things very well, but as someone close to Li Yun and the head of the Nine Departments, Meng Hai has seen them very clearly.

After Meng Qing explained the official business clearly as Meng Hai said, he asked someone to prepare some wine and food. The three brothers sat down in the big tent. Meng Qing originally wanted to pull Meng Hai to sit in the main seat, but Meng Hai forced him to sit in the main seat.

Meng Hai and Meng Yan sat on his left and right.

After the three of them clinked their glasses, Meng Hai sighed softly, "Back in Shidai, our village suffered a great change. For a long time, I felt that we had no way out. Later, when I followed the superiors, I just wanted to make a living and didn't think too much."

He looked at Meng Qing and said with a smile: "At that time, I never thought that this day would come? I never thought that you, Old Seven, would one day become a general leading more than 10,000 troops?"

Having said this, he paused before continuing, "And, at this age."

Meng Qing poured him more wine and shook his head, saying, "Fifth brother, don't talk nonsense. I'm not a great general, not even a general."

Meng Hai shook his head and smiled, "According to our previous vision in Shidai, you are now a great general. Who in the entire Jiangdong Army doesn't know the name of General Meng?"

Meng Qing lowered his head slightly, drank by himself, and did not respond.

Meng Hai turned his head and looked at the youngest Meng Yan, and said softly: "Little brother, remember what your brother said. Our family and our brothers are where we are today, all thanks to the support of the upper-level. Our Meng family, from my father's generation to our generation, and to the generations to come, must follow behind the upper-level."

"No matter what time, you must not have even the slightest impure thought."

Meng Qing put down his wine glass and looked at Meng Hai, a little surprised: "Why did Fifth Brother suddenly say this?"

Meng Hai looked at Meng Yan, then at Meng Qing, and said with a smile: "Seventh Brother, you should be more grateful to your superiors than I am, so you don't need me to explain. But when the accident happened, Ninth Brother was still too young. It's rare for the three of us to get together. We should take this opportunity to explain it to him clearly."

"and…"

Meng Hai said softly, "The Pinglu Army has already started to retreat. No matter how much success this pursuit can achieve, the Pinglu Army will definitely withdraw. General Zhao and General Su are in Jingxiang, and there will be a result by the end of the year. In other words, by the end of this year, we in Jiangdong will have won a great victory."

“This can basically be settled.”

Meng Hai took a deep breath, looked around, and finally glanced at Meng Yan: "Boy, go out and get us a pot of wine."

Meng Yan stood up obediently and ran out with the wine jug.

After he left, Meng Hai spoke up, "By the end of the year, the upper position will definitely be crowned king, and Jiangdong will then become a country of its own. I have been following the upper position for the past few years, and I have gradually come to understand some truths."

"When we were few in number, most of the enemies came from outside. At that time, we could still unite as one. But as our numbers grow and our territory expands, things may not be the same as before."

"By then, we will also have disagreements among ourselves."

"The Meng family must be clear about our intentions at this time and not let any sand in. Not only the three of us brothers, but also our descendants in the future must abide by the Meng family rules we set today."

"Our Meng family has received great favors from the upper echelons. Now, our two brothers and my father can be said to be in important positions. Our Meng family must be passed down from generation to generation in Jiangdong, and they must also be loyal from generation to generation."

"even…"

Meng Hai lowered his voice and said, "We may not be loyal to that country in the future."

Meng Qing understood.

He lowered his head, took a sip of wine, and said in a deep voice: "I have no problem."

Meng Hai patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "You will be a foreign minister in the future. You and I are quite different, so we two brothers may not necessarily do the same things, but we must remember this same concept."

He said silently: "We must tell future generations about what happened in Shidai County."

Meng Qing nodded silently. After a long while, he looked at Meng Hai and said with emotion, "Fifth brother, you have been with the superior for a long time, and your thoughts are very different from before."

Meng Hai said silently: "The superior said that I am far less talented than you, and I admit this myself."

"But, after being in power for a long time, I finally figured out one or two things."

Meng Qing looked up, suddenly remembered something, and asked: "Just now, Fifth Brother said that he will soon be crowned king and will establish a new country in the future. What do you think..."

His eyes showed yearning: "What kind of king will be on the throne? What will the future country be called?" "The one on the throne is from Xuanzhou. Logically, he should be called King Xuan, and the future country should also be called Xuan Dynasty."

"However, I once heard that the higher-ups don't like the name of the country. It's hard to say what the country will be called now."

It was a rare opportunity for the two brothers to get together in private, and they had a very happy chat, chatting with each other.

When Meng Yan came back, the two of them were in tacit understanding and no longer mentioned the affairs of the Jiangdong upper echelons. Instead, they talked to Meng Yan about the military and the past events in Shidai.

Meng Qing patted Meng Yan on the shoulder and said with a smile: "After this battle is over, I will take you back to Shidai to have a look."

At this point, he let out a breath of air: "I haven't been back for a long time."

Meng Hai raised his glass and said with a smile: "When the time comes, I will go back with you. We, the Meng family, will return to Shidai openly."

The three brothers raised their glasses together and drank happily.

…………

The next day, the Pinglu Army in Gushi began to retreat as expected, and Meng Qing personally led the troops, using the Nine Departments and the Scout Battalion as coordinators, and always followed behind the Pinglu Army at a leisurely pace.

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On the other side, Li Yun had already retreated eastwards into Chuzhou City with his 700-plus cavalry overnight.

Now, there are two captain camps stationed in Chuzhou. Together with the 700 people brought by Li Yun, they can barely be counted as 3,000 troops. The captain stationed in Chuzhou is no longer an old member of the anti-theft team, but an officer formerly under General Su. After the reorganization, he was assigned to the captain in the Jinling Army, named Lu Hui.

His name was not given by Xue Yun'er.

However, at this time, Li's prestige in the whole of Jiangdong was enough to overshadow anyone. No matter if they were from the anti-theft team or not, no one dared to show off when they saw him. When Captain Lu saw Li Yun, he half-knelt on the ground respectfully, bowed his head and saluted, saying: "Your subordinate Lu Hui, pays homage to the superior!"

Li Yun stepped forward, helped him up, and said with a smile: "No need to perform such a grand ceremony."

Lu Hui stood up, lowered his head, and said excitedly: "I didn't expect that you would come here in person and follow you to fight the enemy. I am willing to die!"

"What is this nonsense?"

Li Yun frowned, waved his hand and said with a smile: "Unlucky, unlucky."

After that, he took Lu Hui to the top of the Chuzhou city tower. Li Yun looked around and said with emotion: "This is my second time in Chuzhou. The last time I came was when I had just conquered Chuzhou. I didn't expect that I would be back here soon."

Lu Hui smiled and said, "Your Excellency always personally attends the battles. If nothing else, just in terms of military exploits, you surpass everyone in Jiangdong. Our brothers in the army all admire you very much."

Li Yun glanced at him and said with a smile, "As expected of someone who was taught by Master Su, he speaks much better than those rough guys."

Hearing this, Lu Hui sighed softly, "I would like to follow the leaders earlier, just like those brothers."

"Don't say that. Don't say that."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "In my early years, I also served under Master Su. At that time, I was only a lieutenant, and my official position may not be as high as yours."

Speaking of General Su, Li Yun smiled and said, "Speaking of which, General Zhao should have sorted out Master Su's notes soon. When the time comes, I will have someone print more and send them to you so that everyone can learn from them."

Lu Hui was stunned.

This era was different from the military academies of later generations. When there were extraordinary military strategies, the first reaction of the ruling class was mostly to keep them secret.

Because at this moment, the threshold for rebellion is too low.

After learning how to lead troops in battle, who knows, one could raise his hand and bring a group of brothers to start a "business".

Some extremely powerful military strategies were kept secret by the imperial court or the government, and were rarely shown to other people.

And Li Yun actually wanted to make General Su's military tactics public? ?
Lu Hui was just stunned, then quickly lowered his head and said: "Yes, I will study the general's military tactics seriously."

Li Yun raised his head and looked to the west, and continued, "In a few days, Zhou Xu's army should pass through Chuzhou and Haozhou."

Lu Hui understood and lowered his head and said, "The superior wants to stop them in Chuzhou?"

"There are more than 10,000 of them. How can we stop them?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said softly: "It is difficult to stop the Pinglu Army from joining, but they have pursuers behind them, so it is impossible for them to fight in Chuzhou, and they can't even fight back. We can take advantage of this opportunity..."

"One more person can be killed!"

(End of this chapter)