Thief Emperor

Chapter 657: Ding Jiangdong

Yang Min was born into the Hongnong Yang clan, and was the legitimate son of this generation of the Hongnong Yang clan. His father was the current head of the Hongnong Yang clan.

To this day, the thing that the Jingnan Jiedushi regrets most is that he believed Pei Huang's lies and really stayed in Jingzhou to defend the Jiangdong Army.

By the time the Jiangdong army surrounded Jingzhou, he had no way to escape.

Later, Yang Min tried several times to open the city and surrender, on the condition that he would be able to protect himself and escape unscathed. This document was once sent to Li Yun's desk, but Li Yun threw it into the trash can without even looking at it.

However, even though he was caught now, Yang Min was not particularly panicked.

Because he came from a prominent family, for hundreds or thousands of years, no matter which dynasty or generation, these aristocratic families have been highly respected.

Because they are the "advanced intellectuals" of this long era.

Perhaps a more appropriate term would be "hereditary monopoly type advanced intellectuals."

Over the long years, they relied on the success of their ancestors so that each generation could have a large number of "non-productive people" who could devote themselves to studying.

They studied the teachings of their ancestors and sages, and then wrote books to discuss them. There were all kinds of knowledge included, especially in ancient times when paper was not widely available. The knowledge of these families was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Even today, although paper has long been popularized, these families have had officials serve as officials for generations throughout the dynasties, and some families have even had prime ministers for generations.

By the time of the Zhou Dynasty, these families no longer monopolized knowledge, but they could recommend officials. Over time, they accumulated enormous political power. Coupled with the inertia of thinking over hundreds and thousands of years, the status of these children from aristocratic families was still quite high.

The reason why Zhou Xu dared to kill Gu Wenchuan was because Mr. Gu was born in a poor family and did not have a large Gu family to support him. If there was such a Gu family, Zhou Xu would probably treat Gu Wenchuan with courtesy.

In this situation, even though Yang Min was captured, he never worried about his personal safety. He looked at the young-looking Lord of Jiangdong in front of him and simply bowed and saluted: "I have heard of Lord Li's great name for a long time. I finally get to meet him today. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Li Yun was also sizing up the governor of Jingnan who came from an aristocratic family, and said with a smile, "I heard that General Yang wanted to defend Jingzhou to the death."

Yang Min looked calm and said slowly: "Mr. Li is also the lord of a place. He naturally knows that when something happens, we, the backbone, must say some polite words. Mr. Li will also say something like this when encountering such a thing."

At this point, Yang Min took a deep breath and bowed his head and said, "Lord Li, there is no hatred between you and me. Even in the battle of Jingzhou, if Yang did not open the city and surrender, your Jiangdong army would have to besiege it until the middle of next year before you could break the city."

"Yang took the initiative to open the city, saving Lord Li a lot of trouble."

What Yang Min said is actually quite right.

Jingzhou is a big city with more than 10,000 people guarding it. Even if Li Yun put all his belongings into it, it would cost a huge price to storm it, and it might not be possible to take it down in a short period of time.

In history books, there are many examples of a city holding off the enemy for several years or even more than ten years.

Moreover, Yang Min was no fool. He had some ability in leading troops, otherwise he would not have been appointed as the Jiedushi of Jingnan by the imperial court.

He did a pretty good job defending Jingzhou. At least if he had not opened the city and surrendered, it would have been difficult for Su Sheng to capture the city by the end of the year.

Of course, Yang Min opened the city and surrendered mainly because there was not enough food in the city. He could have defended it any longer, but he was afraid that the situation in the city would become quite tragic.

Because Yang Min was a soft-hearted person, he chose to open the city and surrender.

He took a deep breath and said, "I don't ask for anything else, I just ask Lord Li to let me go back to my hometown in Hongnong. I promise that I will never serve as an official again, and..."

Yang Min looked at Su Sheng who was not far away and complained: "Mr. Li, this subordinate, is too rude."

"Yang told him that Yang was born in Hongnong. He was still arrogant and unreasonable along the way, and there were many..."

"All right."

Li Yun's face turned cold, and he interrupted him, saying calmly, "Did Marshal Yang Jie misunderstand something because I spoke so politely?"

"You are now our Jiangdong captive, a prisoner."

Mr. Li had a cold face and said in a deep voice: "He is not a guest we invited."

"Even though you are not close to me, I am not unaware of the situation in Jingzhou. You can certainly continue to defend it. If you continue to defend it, the city will soon run out of food. You have no reinforcements, and it won't be long before you can only eat each other."

"and."

Li Yun showed a very ugly smile on his face. He said expressionlessly: "If we really have to hold on until next year, after the city is captured, I'm afraid you, the Hongnong Yang family, will have to move away."

Yang Min's expression froze, he looked up at Li Yun and stopped talking. But his eyes changed, and when he looked at Li Yun again, he looked at him as if he were a savage.

It was obvious that in his eyes, Li Yun was already a barbarian who disrespected scholars.

Li stood up, put his hands in his sleeves, walked in front of Yang Min, and carefully looked at the young man from the Hongnong Yang family. After looking at him for a long time, Li Yun said indifferently: "It's okay to let Yang Jie go back, but we have to discuss the conditions."

Yang Min took a deep breath and looked up at Li Yun.

"What are Mr. Li's conditions? It's not for money, right?"

Li Yun smiled.

"What Marshal Yang Jie said is not funny."

"listen."

Mr. Li said calmly, "After this New Year, I will focus on the Central Plains. If I remember correctly, Hongnong... should be the Central Plains area, right?"

Yang Min frowned and asked, "What does Lord Li mean?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"I want the Hongnong Yang family to cooperate with me."

"Please be more straightforward."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Just lean towards me and do things for me in the future. In this way, the Yang family will have its own place in Jiangdong and the Central Plains in the future."

Yang Min frowned and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Li, my family has been sent out of Jingzhou early in the morning. I am alone!"

Li Yun interrupted him again and said expressionlessly: "You are alone, so are you afraid of death?"

Hearing this, Yang Min shrank his head and dared not speak.

He said calmly, "I am not discussing this matter with you, but with the Hongnong Yang family. You can write a letter back to Hongnong and ask for your family's opinions. Once you have clarified the matter, come back and talk to me."

"Su Zhan."

Li Yun called out, and Su Zhan immediately stepped forward, bowed his head and said, "I'm here."

"Take him away and lock him up with the Wuchang Jiedushi, Lu Yunzhang, Lu Jieshuai."

Su Zhan responded, walked in front of Yang Min and made a gesture of invitation.

Yang Min looked up and wanted to say something harsh, but in the end he didn't dare to say it out loud. He could only leave with Su Zhan in disappointment.

After Yang Min left, Su Sheng smiled and said, "This General Yang was so arrogant all the way. This is a good move for him to take the position. If we lock these two generals together, he will lose his temper."

He paused, then continued with a smile, "In the future, when I take the throne here, I don't know how many generals I will have to imprison."

Li Yun smiled silently.

"The Central Plains is a big issue, so we have to make some preparations. If the Hongnong Yang family is willing to cooperate, it will be of great benefit to next year's affairs."

Having said that, he pulled Su Sheng to sit down, then smiled and said, "Brother, you have worked hard during this period."

Su Sheng shook his head slightly and said, "What Yang Min said is right. If he hadn't taken the initiative to open the city, Jingzhou would have been difficult to capture. It would have taken at least until next year."

"He was willing to open the city and surrender, which saved us a lot of trouble."

Li Yun smiled and did not respond. Instead, he said, "General Zhao has returned. In a few days, Li Zheng and Deng Yang will return and bring General Zhou with them."

"Let's discuss a new charter together and establish the rules and regulations for the Jiangdong Army."

"And your specific official positions."

"Let's settle everything together."

(End of this chapter)