Thief Emperor

Chapter 689: Our Own People Understand Our Own People

At this moment, as long as the Pinglu Army does not move and keeps waiting and watching, Li Yun has actually reached the edge of the Central Plains.

As for Wei Quanzhong, he had just arrived in the Central Plains. Even though he had no obstacles in entering the Central Plains, he did not have any particular advantages compared to Li Yun.

The Zhongwu Army obviously did not have the ability to stop Li Yun on one side and stop Wei Quanzhong on the other side. Even the Wu Zhou court could hardly have such ability. Now, he was working so hard to stop Li Yun in Yuzhou. It was obvious that even if the Zhongwu Army had not surrendered to Wei Quanzhong, it had at least leaned towards that great General Wei.

Zhao Cheng looked at Li Yun, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Master, in five days, I can lead the troops to surround Yuzhou City. If you don't count the casualties, I will definitely take Yuzhou within a month."

Li Yun looked up at him and shook his head slightly: "Yuzhou is not that important. Regardless of casualties, it would be a loss to conquer it."

"That's it."

He said slowly: "Starting tomorrow, I will go to the battlefield to take a look, and then we will make a long-term plan."

Mr. Li paused for a moment and continued, "The results of Dengzhou will be known in the next few days. After taking Dengzhou, Su Sheng can march into Luyang Pass. Then..."

"A lot of the Zhongwu Army's manpower will be diverted."

Li Yun looked up at the map and said, "According to the intelligence, if Wei Quanzhong's troops want to reach the Central Plains, it will take at least a month, about one and a half months, at the fastest."

"During this month and a half, I will personally lead the war. If we can defeat the Zhongwu Army and advance into the Central Plains, that would be great. If not, we can just sit back and wait and delay it for a few months."

Zhao Cheng looked at Li Yun and whispered, "Sir, Luoyang is now empty. If Luoyang falls into Wei Quanzhong's hands, it will not take one or two months to take it down. It may take three to five years, or even ten to eight years."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and said softly, "A dog will always eat shit. The father and son of the Wei family behaved the same way in Guanzhong. They will behave the same way in the Central Plains and Henan Prefecture. We have to be anxious to enter the Central Plains, but there is no need to rush for these few months."

"After all, the other Jiedushi are watching too."

He looked at Zhao Cheng and chuckled, "Of course, if there is a chance to take over the Zhongwu Army as soon as possible, I will not be soft-hearted. Even if I can only take over one or two prefectures in the Central Plains, it will be very good for the overall war situation."

"Okay everyone."

Li Yun stood up, looked at the generals, and said calmly: "I just arrived here, and I don't know much about many things. I'll stop here today. If you have any ideas or opinions, you can talk to General Zhao or Meng Qing first."

"In a couple of days, after I understand the situation on the front lines, we will work out the details of the rules."

Mr. Li looked at everyone and said with a smile: "Maybe I can lead you to defeat the enemy in one battle."

As the absolute core of Jiangdong, Li Yun's words were naturally quite inspiring. As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals bowed their heads and clasped their fists in unison.

"I will obey your Majesty's orders!"

Soon, all the generals dispersed. Even Zhao Cheng and Meng Qing looked at Li Yun, clasped their fists and left.

Zhang Sui, who recorded the entire process, stood up after writing the last stroke. When he was about to leave, he hesitated to speak, and finally bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, please have a rest early. I will take my leave now."

Li Yun looked at him, smiled and said, "You have something to say."

Zhang Sui hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to make a suggestion. A king should be invincible."

Zhang Sui's words were obscure, but Li Yun still understood them.

What he meant was that as a king, or a monarch, one should not take on responsibilities that are not necessarily his responsibility.

For example, for this kind of military combat mission, Li Yun only needs to assign the task and then quietly wait for the result in the rear. He should not get involved himself, and should not take the initiative to take charge and take the responsibility on himself.

It would be fine if he won, but if he lost, his dignity as a monarch would be greatly damaged.

Even if he loses too many times, the generals under him may not be convinced.

With Li Yun's current status and position, he could have stayed away. As long as he didn't leave, he wouldn't have to bear any specific responsibility.

If you don't need to take action yourself, you will naturally be invincible.

Li Yun looked at him and scolded him with a smile: "You kid, you think I'm one of those officials! The foundation of Jiangdong today was built by me with my fists and feet."

"The true king's invincibility is achieved through personal punches and kicks, not through tricks from the temple."

Zhang Sui was startled, and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have spoken out of turn."

Li Yun looked at him, still smiling: "Brother Du didn't teach you this, did he?"

Zhang Sui touched his forehead to the ground and said in a trembling voice: "No, no, it was me...I was worried about Your Majesty, I was overthinking it." Li Yun said "hmm" and did not look at him. Instead, he carried him back to the main seat: "It's okay, you can go down and rest."

"From now on, do your job conscientiously."

Li Yun paused and added: "You are in this position now. If I don't ask, you don't have to tell me."

"Yes Yes…"

Zhang Sui wiped the sweat from his forehead and left respectfully.

Li Yun sat in his seat, looking outside the tent, lost in thought for a while, then shook his head slightly and began to look through the documents sent by Jiusi today.

At this time, it was getting dark.

In the night of the Great Zhou, two ferocious beasts raised in troubled times are about to meet in the Central Plains, the battle-hardened land.

And this meeting is likely to affect the pattern and direction of this land for quite a long time!
……

Just when Li Yun arrived in Tangzhou and joined the army to take over the front-line command, the anxious Prime Minister Wang Yan, accompanied by the Nine Officials, rode all the way to Jinling.

As soon as he arrived in Jinling City, before he had time to dismount, he saw a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in green, waiting at the gate of Jinling City. When the middle-aged man saw Wang Yan, he immediately came up to him with a smile and saluted from a distance: "Uncle, you have worked hard on your journey."

Wang Yan dismounted and looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a complicated expression. After a long while, he returned the greeting with a bow and sighed, "Shiyilang, long time no see."

The Wang family, like the Du family, is an aristocratic family, but their foundation is slightly inferior to those of Cui, Lu, Li, and Zheng. Du Qian grew up in the capital, and Wang Yan has been an official in the capital for many years, so naturally they know each other.

Wang Yan and Wang Du were of the same generation as Du Qian's father, Du Shangshu. When Du Qian saw Wang Yan at this time, he was still very polite and addressed him as uncle.

After the two of them exchanged greetings, Du Qian smiled and said, "Uncle, you are so old and you don't even take a car. Why did you ride a horse all the way here?"

Wang Yan shook his head and sighed, "The court is pressing us very hard, there is nothing we can do."

As he spoke, he glanced at the entourage behind him. Du Qian immediately understood and said with a smile, "I have prepared a car. Uncle Wu, please ride with me."

A carriage was waiting nearby. Wang Yan and Du Qian got on the carriage together. After the carriage started slowly, Wang Yan was a little curious and asked, "Shiyilang is already the prime minister of Jiangdong, why doesn't he take a sedan chair?"

Du Qian shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "As the saying goes, if the king likes something, the people below him will like it even more. Our king doesn't like to ride in a sedan chair. When he goes out, he either rides a horse or a carriage. Of course, we ministers don't like to ride in a sedan chair either."

Wang Yan nodded silently and stopped asking questions. Instead, he lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the scenery of Jinling City. He couldn't help but sigh: "Jinling already has some of the atmosphere of Beijing. Shiyilang is really amazing."

Du Qian looked calm and said with a smile: "The people of Jiangdong are working together at this moment, and it is not just my achievement."

While the two were chatting, they had already arrived at the Zhongshu in Jinling. Du Qian invited Wang Yan in, and then refused to let in all his followers. Then he led Wang Yan into the living room of the Zhongshu and sat him down.

Du Qian was very polite. He personally poured tea for Wang Yan and called him "Fifth Uncle" all the time.

After both of them sat down, they finally got down to business.

"Uncle Wu, the king has already told me roughly what you said when you met him in the letter."

Du Qian lowered his head to drink tea, then looked at Wang Yan and said with a smile: "Our king doesn't know much about the capital and the Great Zhou, so we have to renegotiate the terms."

Wang Yan put down the teacup in his hand, took a deep breath, and said with a wry smile: "Shiyilang, I have watched you grow up since you were a child. Now you are the Prime Minister of Jiangdong. Shouldn't I take care of my old friend from the capital?"

"I will definitely take care of him. If Wang's people come to Jiangdong, as long as they have the ability, I will at least give them the title of governor, but..."

Du Qian said calmly: "In the early years, when we followed the king, we were risking our heads at any time. Now Jiangdong has become powerful and has become a country of its own. It has a foundation of at least a hundred years."

"You...can't just join us with a few words."

Wang Yancha didn't feel like drinking anymore. He sighed and said, "Go ahead."

Du Qian poured him more tea with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Uncle Wu."

"We still have a lot of time, let's talk about it bit by bit."

(End of this chapter)