Thief Emperor

Chapter 709: An Old Friend Comes East
Xiao Xian really didn't lie.

Last time, although the Khitans retreated, they were also beaten by Li Yun and Fan Yang's army and suffered severe injuries, but in the final analysis, their vitality was not damaged. In addition, at that time, the Khitans had just destroyed the Bohai Kingdom not long ago and had not yet digested the defeat. Now another year has passed, and the Khitans have long recovered from last year's failure.

Since the first half of this year, the Khitans who had retreated have returned. Although they have not started a direct attack, their restlessness cannot be concealed.

The father and son of the Xiao family were undoubtedly ambitious, otherwise Xiao Xian would not have traveled thousands of miles to Guanzhong to "rescue the king."

After all, the Fanyang Army was one of the strongest border armies in the world, and Xiao Xian was not much older than Wei Quanzhong.

Holding a large army and living in a turbulent time, not to mention being in the prime of life, but also full of energy, these conditions are imposed on a person, if he has even a little

Any ambition will be infinitely magnified.

However, as the Khitans grew stronger, the Fan Yang army became increasingly difficult to move. If he wanted to move, he would have to abandon Fan Yang's base and lead his troops south to compete for the Central Plains.

By then, the entire north will face the invasion of the Khitans, and the entire north, including the Central Plains, will be in chaos.

Although doing so would allow all forces in the north to face the Khitans together, it would be tantamount to cutting themselves off from the rest of the world, and the probability of taking over the world was too small.

Moreover, many of the soldiers of the Fanyang Army are locals from the Youyan area. Once the Khitans invade, a large number of them will lose their families and relatives. By then, the Fanyang Army is likely to lose all its morale and destroy itself.

Of course, this actually depends on the person.

If Wei Quanzhong, Liang Wen and other people were in Xiao Xian's position, they would most likely ignore the situation and would definitely use this to threaten other military governors throughout the world. Once other military governors did not agree to their conditions, they would let the Khitans enter the pass.

But Xiao Xian...can't do such a thing.

The father and son exchanged a few words with the Qingzhou envoy and sent him off to rest. After seeing him off, Xiao Heng returned to the main hall, looked up at his father, and whispered, "Dad, the Central Plains is in chaos."

General Xiao lowered his head to drink tea, then looked up at Xiao Heng and asked, "What do you think, my son?"

Xiao Heng sat down, thought about it, and said helplessly: "Now, even if the most favorable situation happens, it is nothing more than Li Yun and Wei Quanzhong both being defeated in the Central Plains. Both of them are unable to maintain their position in the Central Plains and will retreat."

"But even so, with the Khitans holding our hands and feet, we can't move."

Xiao Xian looked at Xiao Heng and said softly, "You can still move."

Xiao Heng was startled and looked up at his old father.

General Xiao continued, "Now, the Wu Zhou court is no longer able to continue, and we can no longer collect taxes. In addition, Fanyang's territory has expanded a lot in recent years, and the entire Hebei Province is under our jurisdiction."

"During this year, I have not been idle. I have recruited tens of thousands of new soldiers, who are now ready to be deployed to the battlefield."

"I have estimated it for my father."

General Xiao lowered his head and counted on his fingers: "With 70,000 or 80,000 people, we can defend the Fanyang Pass and stop the Khitans, at least for a period of time."

"Now, Li Yun and Wei Quanzhong are busy in the Central Plains. Let them do it. In another year, we in Fanyang will be able to free up a force of about 70,000 to 80,000 people, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any time."

"Although we are still at a disadvantage compared to them, we are not completely helpless. As long as we find the right opportunity, my father and I can still enter the venue."

Xiao Heng nodded and suddenly asked, "Dad, what do you think of Li Yun..."

General Xiao lowered his head to drink tea. After a moment of silence, he spoke: "Looking back now, this man's greatest strength is not in military affairs, nor in his bravery, but in his vision and pattern."

"He started planning in Jiangdong very early and established his own small court in Jiangdong. Even the emperor's brother is now living in Jinling City. He has a lot of room to maneuver."

"Even if he loses the battle in the Central Plains this time, as long as he survives and returns to Jiangdong, he can make a comeback soon."

"If the situation is not right, he can still use Wu Er as a banner."

"These are things we in Fanyang cannot do."

General Xiao whispered, "In the past, Jiangdong's weakness was its weak combat capability, but judging from the current battle reports of the Central Plains War, the combat capability of the Jiangdong Army is getting stronger day by day."

"Heng'er."

General Xiao called out, and Xiao Heng immediately lowered his head and replied, "The child is here."

"You also have to get busy and think of a way..."

"Find a way to bring back a royal relative to us in Fanyang."

"The closer to the emperor, the better. If you can't get one close, get one farther away, but not too far away."

Xiao Heng was startled, and then a little surprised: "Dad, has the Great Zhou reached this point?" "It has already arrived."

Xiao Xian looked at his son and said, "Li Yun must have figured it out six or seven years ago, but you and I, father and son, have only just figured it out now. And..."

General Xiao stood up and said slowly: "Didn't the Khitan envoy come some time ago? Go and tell him that before the end of this year, I agree to be with their Khitan Khan..."

"Meet me."

General Xiao left with his hands behind his back: "Whether the negotiation can be successful or not, there is no harm in meeting him."

Xiao Heng took a deep breath, lowered his head and said, "Yes, I'll do it right away."

…………

Before we knew it, it was already late autumn of the fifth year of Zhaoding.

The weather is getting colder day by day.

At this time, Li Yun's headquarters was still in Chenzhou and did not move.

As for the two armies under his command, Su Sheng was ordered to recruit and train new soldiers in Shannan East Road and several prefectures in the Central Plains.

Because the Jiangdong Army had been treated quite well since its establishment. Now that it had occupied these states and counties, under the restraint of Li Yun and the supervision of the Inspection Office, it had not done any evil, nor had it oppressed the people.

As a result, the reputation of the Jiangdong Army, at least in these places, was still good, and the recruitment progress was also quite smooth.

Another army, led by Zhao Cheng and Meng Qing, had successfully captured Yingzhou and Bozhou, and pushed the battle line to Xuzhou.

However, with the Pinglu Army stationed in Xuzhou, Zhao Cheng's advancement could not be too smooth. The two sides even fought several battles and some minor frictions occurred.

Dozens of people died.

During this process, Li Yun hardly moved. At most, he rode a horse with Yao Zhong to see Chenzhou and the nearby states and counties, as well as the current situation of the people.

The rest of the time, he is either handling government affairs or thinking about strategic goals for the next year.

"Ascend."

In Chenzhou, Yao Zhong stood in front of Li Yun and said with his head down, "Several states in Shannan East Road, such as Junzhou, Shanzhou, and Dengzhou, have now completed the household registration of all citizens. I have communicated with Lord Du, and Lord Du has sent people over. However, Lord Du said that he was too far away and did not know the situation in these states, so he only sent people but did not make any arrangements."

Li Yun was looking through the documents sent by the Nine Departments regarding the capital city of Henan Prefecture and Luoyang. Upon hearing this, he put down the documents in his hand, looked at Yao Zhong, and said with a smile: "In this case, Mr. Yao can arrange the personnel by himself."

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, "It is not necessary to use all the chief officials from Jiangdong. After all, they do not understand the local situation. The original officials of the old Zhou Dynasty can be retained as appropriate, but one principle must be remembered."

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table, setting the standards for personnel appointments.

"In each state and county, one of the chief officer and the deputy officer must be from Jiangdong."

What this means is that the governor and deputy governor at the state level, and the county magistrate and county magistrate at the county level, both the chief and deputy officials can be from Jiangdong, but they cannot both be old Zhouyuan officials.

He looked at Yao Zhong and continued, "Mr. Yao should also remind those officials from Jiangdong that they should follow their duties. If they become adjutants, they should not rely on their Jiangdong status to bully the chief officer."

Yao Zhong bowed his head deeply: "I understand. I will arrange it immediately."

He paused and continued, "Sir, there are too many things to do in these prefectures and counties. I have also recruited several local scholars and famous scholars to assist me in my work..."

Li Yun glanced at him with a half-smile, then said with a smile: "My leader in Jinling has also started to form cliques and factions."

Yao Zhong was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed: "I would never dare to do that, I would never dare to do that!"

"It's just a joke, don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously."

Li Yun personally helped him up, comforted him, and then said with a smile: "That's all for today. I have to meet a guest later. Mr. Yao, please go down and do your work first."

Yao Zhong breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Li Yun and subconsciously asked: "Sir, where did the guest come from..."

"From Qingzhou."

Speaking of this person, Li looked at the documents on the table and his expression became a little strange.

"I never thought that he would come in person."

(End of this chapter)