Thief Emperor

Chapter 684: Battles in the South and North
Zhang Sui's words were somewhat like flattery.

However, it is hard to say whether Li Yun’s current status and position will be included in the emperor’s chronicles in the future, but he will definitely be listed in the history books, and he will most likely have a separate biography in the history books.

Under Li Yun's instructions, the Jiangdong Army quickly began to move. Zhao Cheng and Meng Qing followed the path Huang Chao had taken and headed to the border between Tangzhou and Yuzhou to support Huang Chao.

Su Sheng led his troops north to attack Dengzhou.

Li Yun returned to Xiangzhou from Junzhou, where he handled the affairs of several states, including Junzhou, Tangzhou, Fangzhou, and Shanzhou.

At this time, Li Yun certainly had to personally participate in the more critical battles, but there was no need for him to do any military mobilization himself. Most of the time, it was just a matter of talking.

Just as the Jiangdong Army was making a large-scale move, Li Yun's elder brother-in-law, Xue Shou, the Jingxiang Observation Envoy, also came to Xiangzhou at Li Yun's call. When the two met in Xiangzhou, Xue Shou still behaved properly and bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty."

Li Yun helped him up, then pulled him to sit down, and said with a smile: "Brother, you have been in Jingxiang for several months. I have been busy with military affairs recently. How is the progress in Jingxiang?"

Xue Shou bowed his head slightly and said solemnly, "Sir, I have been busy transporting grain and building granaries in the past few months. Local government affairs are mostly left to the local government to handle, and I rarely interfere."

Li Yun nodded slightly and said with a smile: "This is a big deal, and it's your responsibility to worry about it."

He paused and asked, "My army has conquered several new states, and soon there will be another state, Dengzhou, which we should also capture. These states and counties..."

"Brother, are you able to take care of both?"

Xue Shou looked up at Li Yun for a long time before he smiled bitterly and said, "Master, if these prefectures and counties are all managed by officials, I will just watch and supervise them. There will be no problem with any number of prefectures and counties. If these prefectures and counties have no government offices, I will be alone..."

He shook his head slightly and said, "Sir, I, the Jingxiang Surveillance Commissioner, don't even have a proper government office."

Li Yun frowned slightly.

However, he also knew that what Xue Shou said was true.

A skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Not to mention him, even if Wu Hou was reborn, it would be impossible for him to split himself into two and manage several states and counties without local government offices.

Xue Shou looked at Li Yun and said softly, "Otherwise, we should use the old officials of the old Zhou Dynasty to temporarily replace them for a period of time. As long as these people are willing to surrender to the king, there will be no problem in using them. Our officials in Jiangdong..."

"A large part of it is due to the use of Zhou Chen."

"We need to use Zhou Chen."

Li Yun rubbed his brows and said softly, "But this area of ​​Shannan East Road will become the rear base for my advance into the Central Plains in the future, and it will become an area for logistical supply. I want someone who knows this place well to look after it."

He sighed and said, "There aren't enough people."

Xue Shou thought about it, then said with a smile: "Then transfer the officials from Yuezhou in Jiangdong over here and let them take over and look after Shannan East Road."

"Yuezhou system?"

Li Yun was stunned.

It was the first time he heard this term.

Xue Shou also reacted and said quickly: "When the king was in charge of Yuezhou, the officials of the six counties under Yuezhou, now that they are in high positions, some people with good intentions called them the Yuezhou Clan."

Xue Shou coughed and said, "My Lord, this is just something someone said casually, and I just heard it casually..."

Li Yun was silent for a while, then asked, "Are there many factions in Jiangdong now?"

Xue Shou thought about it and said with a smile: "It is a lot, but in most circles, the top leaders are involved in it."

What Xue Shou said was quite accurate. Nowadays, any circle or faction of some scale in Jiangdong was actually built around Li Yun.

For example, the Yuezhou faction, the Xuanzhou faction, the anti-theft team, and the Qingyang faction. Another example is the Xue family, the descendant clan, and the surrendered clan headed by Du Qian.

Although there are various factions, most of them are Li Yun’s experiences along the way, or some of his personal relationships.

These people, with Li Yun as the core, united closely around Li Yun.

This is also one of the advantages of the first generation. No matter what happens, there will be no big problems, because most of these factions in Jiangdong are Li Yun’s own factions, and most of them are centered on him.

Li thought about it seriously, and then said, "Then send a letter to Du Shouyi, asking him to select a group of officials from Yuezhou and Wuzhou to help me look after Shannan East Road."

Xue Shou nodded and asked with a smile, "Sir, should I write the letter to Mr. Du, or should you write this letter?"

Li Yun thought for a moment, then said, "Go and call Zhang Sui over."

The guards guarding the door immediately nodded in response. Not long after, Zhang Sui came jogging over. He first bowed his head to Li Yun, but he did not recognize Xue Shou, so he only looked up at Li Yun.

Li Yun smiled and said, "This is my brother-in-law, Xue Shou Xue Boda."

Zhang Sui had heard of Xue Shou's name, so he immediately bowed his head and said, "Greetings, Envoy Xue."

Xue Shou looked at Li Yun, and Li Yun introduced him, "This is Zhang Sui, Du Shouyi's student. He is now working as a clerk beside me."

Xue Shou understood immediately. He looked at Zhang Sui and said with a smile, "So you are Mr. Du's disciple. I am so sorry for your disrespect."

Zhang Sui bowed to the ground and said, "Envoy Xue's words make me feel ashamed."

Li Yun coughed and said calmly, "Draft a document for me and send a letter to Brother Shouyi."

Zhang Sui bowed his head respectfully and responded. …………

Zhangzhou, in the military camp.

More than a dozen generals were tied up in front of the big tent. Li Zheng, dressed in a dark robe, sat on a chair, his face still a little pale.

His injuries haven't fully healed yet, but they're no longer serious.

Zhou Bi stood in front of him, lowered his head and said, "General, these people are from the Inspection Department. They have found out from the army some officers who have shown signs of secretly communicating with the Lingnan Army. Among them, several have already reported the news to the Lingnan Army."

"The rest secretly accepted money and property from the Lingnan Army."

All these generals knelt in front of Li Zheng, and many of them bowed their heads, kowtowed and cried out for justice.

"General, we did take some valuables, but we had no idea that the people on the other side were from the Lingnan Army, and we never did anything to harm you!"

"General, please spare us and allow us to atone for our sins with our merits!"

Li Zheng didn't say anything, but turned his head to look at Liu Bo who was standing not far away, and then looked at Gongsun Hao.

Gongsun Hao's injuries were relatively minor and he has basically recovered now.

Liu Bo put his hands in his sleeves and said nothing.

Gongsun Hao shook his head slightly and secretly gave his opinion.

He, the deputy general, had just arrived and had no prestige in the army yet. Therefore, it was difficult for him to express his opinion directly at this time.

Otherwise, it is too easy to offend people.

After all, these captured generals and officers all have comrades in arms.

Li Zheng took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and said in a hoarse voice: "I went to see the king at the end of this year. The king said that I was too lenient to you, so that the military discipline was relaxed. At that time, I argued for you in front of the superiors. Now it seems."

Li Zheng said coldly: "I was wrong to argue, come on."

A group of soldiers immediately stepped forward and bowed their heads in salute: "General!"

"Drag him away, punish him according to military law, and send his head to the whole army."

Li Zheng shouted: "To warn others!"

"Yes!"

The law enforcement officers immediately stepped forward, dragged all the dozen people away, and executed them on the spot with swords.

Soon, more than a dozen heads were sent back. Li Zheng said expressionlessly, "Send the heads to the army."

"Yes!"

More than a dozen bloody human heads were carried by law enforcement soldiers and displayed in the army.

Li Zheng took a breath and continued, "My injuries have not healed yet. During this period, all military affairs will be handed over to General Gongsun."

He paused, then said in a deep voice: "General Gongsun is the deputy general appointed by the superiors. I am not in the army. His orders are the orders of the superiors. You must obey the general's orders, otherwise you will not be spared by military law."

Everyone bowed their heads and saluted: "I obey your command!"

After the lecture, Li Zheng had no strength left. Liu Bo came over and helped him back to the camp. Li Zheng looked up at Gongsun Hao and said, "General Gongsun, this army is now in your hands."

Gongsun Hao was quite touched.

This kind of trust was something he had never experienced when he was in the Pinglu Army.

After all, Zhou's father and son had been on guard against him before.

He took two steps back, bowed his head deeply and said, "General, rest assured. I will defeat the Lingnan Army and bring back the traitors who betrayed you to bring them back to face justice!"

After saying that, he turned around and limped away slowly.

Liu Bo looked at Gongsun Hao's back as he left, then looked at Li Zheng, and asked with a smile, "Skinny Monkey, can you hold him down?"

Li Zheng looked at Liu Bo and replied, "I don't need to suppress him. It's enough if my second brother can suppress him. There's no need for me to suppress him either."

Li Zheng laughed at himself: "My second brother sent me out just to promote me so that I can gain military merit and have more weight in the future."

He said softly, "I understand."

Liu Bo couldn't help but smile: "You have such insight. When my second brother succeeds in his ambition, I will definitely make you a prince."

Li Zheng looked at him and asked, "What about you?"

Liu Bo shook his head slightly: "My profession..."

"It's hard to tell what will happen in the future."

(End of this chapter)