Thief Emperor

Chapter 644: Fight out of Taiping!
The Hedong Jiedushi is one of the few Jiedushi in the world, and his military force has hardly suffered any damage and is still in a strong state.

The only problem may be that the Hedong vassal group is now in the process of transitioning between the old and new powers, and the old governor Li Tong, who can decide everything by himself, is almost unable to handle affairs.

It may also be for this reason that Li Zhen, the eldest brother of the Hedong Li family who is taking over the military affairs of Hedong, is generally conservative in his attitude towards the southeast. That's why Li Gao kept his troops in Xuzhou and this letter was delivered to Li Yun today.

Li Yun had no contact with Hedong.

But no matter what kind of force it is, no matter whether it is right or wrong, as long as it is a separatist force, it will become Li Yun's opponent and rival in the future. It is only a matter of time.

Of course, no matter what the attitude of the Hedong vassal state was, they did not directly participate in the war and did not oppose Li Yun. At this time, Li Yun would not be like a fool and stubbornly confront the Hedong army, so he just read the document sent from Taiyuan, and after a little consideration, he wrote back to Li Zhen.

There is not much content in this letter, it is mainly some polite words.

He didn't know Li Quan of Hedong, so at this moment, he could only say these polite words.

As for the other document, it was a letter of peace.

Jingzhou has been surrounded by the Jiangdong Army for more than a month. During this month, the frequency of the Jiangdong Army's sieges was not particularly frequent, but they had surrounded the entire Jingzhou.

This frightened General Yang Jie, who had wanted to escape but failed before. He wanted to break out but he didn't have the courage to do so. He couldn't count on the imperial court either. He could only scold Pei Huang and then send someone to send a letter to Li Yun to apologize.

The content of the letter was simple and clear. He was willing to give up Jingzhou, but wanted Li Yun to show leniency and let him and his troops leave Jingzhou.

Li Yun just glanced at the letter and threw it aside without paying any attention to it.

If his Jiangdong Army was short of troops and struggling, he might have nodded in agreement after seeing Yang Min's letter. But at this moment, Jingxiang had sufficient troops, and Li Yun could not let Yang Min and his forces go.

After throwing the letter away for a while, he lowered his head to think for a while, and then sent a letter to Su Sheng.

In the letter, Li Yun clearly stated his combat objectives.

"If the Jingnan army is willing to surrender, we can take all of Jingnan's troops and incorporate them into Jiangdong."

After several months of hard work, Jingxiang and other five states were basically under the control of Li Yun. Jingxiang and the five states could support 20,000 Jingnan soldiers, so in Li Yun's hands, he could raise at least 10,000 more soldiers.

Surrendering these Jingnan soldiers is naturally a good choice.

Many great figures in history have had more and more people under their command as they fought more and more. It is actually a snowball process.

After writing the letter, Li Yun asked Su Zhan to send it out, then he stretched and went to bed.

When Li woke up the next day, it was already morning. He opened the door and walked out. He saw Su Zhan talking to a middle-aged man. Li Yun looked closely and said with a smile, "Why are you here, brother?"

The middle-aged man glanced at Su Zhan, then looked up at Li Yun and shook his head, saying, "I should be the one asking Erlang this question. I am the governor of Haozhou and I am doing my job in Fengyang."

"I heard that Ji Lang was here, so I came to see him."

At this point, he looked at Su Zhan and said with a wry smile, "Erlang, this follower, is really stubborn. He refuses to inform me no matter what."

Su Zhan turned around and looked at Li Yun with an innocent look on his face.

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Why are you confused? This is my brother-in-law, don't you know?"

The visitor was Xue Shou, the governor of Haozhou.

Su Zhan lowered his head and said, "Envoy Xue said so, but I just wanted you to take a rest."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I've been eating well and sleeping well these days. I've already had enough rest."

"Go get someone to prepare some wine and food. I want to have a drink with my brother."

Su Zhan lowered his head and responded, then turned and ran away.

Xue Shou looked at his back and said with emotion: "Which family is this little guy from? He is really good."

"General Su's youngest son."

Li Yun invited Xue Shou into the house, poured him some tea, and said with a smile, "He has been with me for several months. When he grows up a few years and matures, I will send him to the army."

Xue Shou was originally an official, so he naturally knew who General Su was. He nodded, suddenly smiled, and said, "In a few years, when this little brother Su grows up and joins the army, my son should be grown up too. If Erlang doesn't mind, I'll let him follow him and run errands for him."

His son is Li Yun’s eldest nephew Xue Gui.

Xue Gui was also the first member of the Xue family to defect to Li Yun. He arrived in Jiangdong at the age of thirteen, which was earlier than the later Xue family.

Hearing Xue Shou's words, Li Yun smiled and said, "That's no problem. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Xue Gui for a long time. He should have grown up a lot."

It is certain that the Xue family will be used, especially now that there are too few people of the Li family available, so there must be some people who are naturally close to Li Yun to gain some important power.

Xue Gui was naturally more suitable. He lived in Li Yun's home when he was very young. In a few years, it could be said that Li Yun had "raised him single-handedly". Moreover, Xue Gui was very smart and could be of great use in the future after some training.

Xue Shou gestured.

"Almost. It's already up to my chin."

"Tsk."

Li Yun shook his head and sighed: "Young people grow up so fast."

Xue Shou lowered his head to drink tea, and said with a smile: "Erlang, you grow up fast. If there were outsiders here now, I would also kowtow to you."

"Brother, you're making fun of me."

Li Yun smiled and said, "We are family. Big brother, you don't have to kowtow to me at any time."

Xue Shou shook his head and said sternly, "Now that Erlang has no status, I will not talk about those etiquettes and manners. When his status is determined in the future, the etiquette will be what it should be."

"The Xue family will never rely on their status to embarrass Erlang."

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Li Yun poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile, "We were just talking about family matters, why did you become so serious?"

"We'll talk about the future later."

Xue Shou smiled and said, "I received a letter from my sister a few days ago. The civil officials in Jiangdong are already planning to build a palace for Erlang."

He lowered his head to drink tea and said with a smile: "Du Lingyin also asked Yuaner to sign his name on the palace blueprint."

Li Yun was a little stunned, then he sighed helplessly and said, "I have read about this matter in the documents before, but I was fighting with the Pinglu Army at that time, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't expect them to be so anxious."

"It concerns everyone's future and position, so of course I am anxious."

Xue Shou smiled and said, "If this continues, not only will the educated civil officials be anxious, but the military officers under Erlang will also be anxious after they have seen more of the world."

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "Then..."

"I will arrange this matter in detail when I return to Jinling."

At this point, he looked up at Xue Shou and said with a smile, "If I become king, my elder brother will also rise with me. What official position do you want? Why don't you tell me?"

Xue Shou shook his head and said, "I haven't completed my term as governor of Haozhou yet. I'll have to wait until I complete my term. Besides, Jiangbei has just experienced a war, and many places in Haozhou have suffered heavy losses. I plan to spend a year to restore Haozhou."

"Besides, if I get promoted for no reason, wouldn't that make me a relative of the emperor?"

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "What's wrong with being a relative? I'm short of people here, and you're talented enough, so it's the best of both worlds."

At this point, Mr. Li thought for a moment and said softly, "Next year, I plan to transfer my elder brother to Jingxiang to serve as the governor of Jingzhou or Xiangzhou. If I ascend to the throne, I will simply appoint my elder brother as the governor of Jingxiang."

"What do you think, brother?"

"I can't."

Xue Shou shook his head quickly: "After I serve as the governor of Haozhou for a full term, Erlang will consider promoting me before I take up another governorship."

Li Yun looked him up and down, smiled, and didn't respond.

Soon, Su Zhan brought over the wine and food. Li Yun hadn't drunk for a long time, so he pulled Xue Shou and Su Zhan together to have a good drink.

It was already afternoon when they finished drinking. Su Zhan was young after all, and he was drunk and unconscious, lying under the table.

Li Yun, on the other hand, took Xue Shou with him and rode out of Fengyang City on horseback, and soon arrived at the bank of the Huai River.

At this time, on the bank of the Huai River north of Fengyang, General Deng Yang was leading thousands of Jiangdong troops to launch another round of attack on the Pinglu Army that was still stranded south of the Huai River.

The battlefield with thousands of people was extremely spectacular, and at a glance, it seemed almost endless.

At this moment, both of them were almost sober. Xue Shou was a scholar after all, and looking at the cruel scene in front of him, he was speechless while riding on his horse.

After a long while, he finally sighed, "This kind of fighting is really frustrating."

Li Yun was beside him, his eyes burning.

"Only by fighting can we create a peaceful and prosperous era!"

(End of this chapter)