Thief Emperor

Chapter 743 Another Generation
Yao Zhong was led all the way to the main hall of the mansion, where he saw a man in his early thirties, dressed in brocade, already sitting in the main hall waiting for him. The man lowered his head to drink tea, his face as gloomy as water.

Yao Zhong took a deep breath, stepped forward and bowed, "Yao Zhong, the envoy of the King of Wu, greets the young general!"

The man looked up at him and said, "Do you recognize me?"

Yao Zhong bowed slightly and said, "I just found out that the young general was also here, so I guessed it."

The man in front of him was naturally Li Yun's old acquaintance, the Major General of the Pinglu Army Zhou Chang. Zhou Chang glared fiercely at the black-faced general behind Yao Zhong, then glanced at Yao Zhong and said slowly: "I have heard of Mr. Yao's name. At this time, Mr. Yao is already the second prime minister of Wu State, right?"

After Li Yun proclaimed himself king, he had actually established a country. At this time, anyone who recognized Li Yun as the King of Wu would also recognize the Wu Kingdom in Jiangdong.

However, Li Yun wanted more than just the Wu Kingdom, and he also didn't like this name very much. Therefore, Jiangdong had not publicly promoted this country's name.

However, the father and son of Zhou family of Pinglu Army have already recognized the Wu Kingdom in Jiangdong. In their view, the current battle in the Central Plains is actually a battle for the Wu Kingdom in Jiangdong to expand its territory.

Yao Zhong was slightly startled.

He was just an unknown person a few years ago. He became famous overnight through the Jinling Literary Society a few years ago. Even so, he did not think that he had any special reputation and did not expect it.

Everyone has heard of this major general of the Pinglu Army.

Yao Zhong was still a little excited, but he quickly calmed himself down. After taking a deep breath, he bowed and said, "Young General, you are too kind to me. If we talk about the prime minister of Jiangdong, it can only be Du Shouyi, the Prime Minister. I am just helping the Prime Minister Du."

"It is far from being a second phase."

Zhou Chang looked at Yao Zhong and squinted his eyes and said, "I heard that Mr. Yao is in charge of some prefectures in Shannan East Road and Henan Road in the Central Plains. Such a large area is not much smaller than the territory of our Pinglu Army. How can Mr. Yao be so modest?"

Yao Zhong looked up at Zhou Chang and said, "I didn't expect that the young general would care so much about a nobody like me."

"Sir, you are no longer an unknown person."

Zhou Chang lowered his head to drink tea and said slowly: "After the King of Wu rose to power, every important person under his command was investigated inside and out, including the civil servants Du Shouyi, Yao Juzhong, Zhuo Guangrui, Xu Ang, etc., as well as the four generals under the King of Wu."

"The intelligence about you people is not only on the desk of my family in Qingzhou, but countless people are looking through it every day."

Yao Zhong took a deep breath and said, "Then I am really flattered."

Zhou Chang looked calm, and he held out his hand and said, "Sit down and talk."

Yao Zhong thought about it, thanked him, and sat down below Zhou Chang.

The major general of the Pinglu Army looked at Yao Zhong silently with a complicated expression.

What he said was not false. Now Li Yun and the people around Li Yun, even Meng Qing, Chen Da, and Meng Hai, have all been investigated from beginning to end.

Some of these people who were secretly watching them were naturally the enemies of Li Yun and Jiangdong. They wanted to know themselves and the enemy, and look for opportunities to get rid of Li Yun's right-hand men.

And there is also a large number of people who have clearly sensed that Jiangdong's rise is unstoppable and want to find a strong supporter under Li Yun. These "Jiangdong bosses" are naturally good targets for surrender.

Yao Zhong lowered his head slightly and said, "Young General, may I ask how the general is doing?"

Zhou Chang snorted: "What do you think?"

Yao Zhong shook his head slightly and said, "The young general is a smart man. He should be able to guess that the assassination of the general was definitely not done by my king. My king has never disdained to do such a thing."

Zhou Chang closed his eyes, and the image of Li Yun on the battlefield in Fanyang appeared in his mind. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and said, "Mr. Yao, my father is seriously injured. It's useless to say these empty words."

"If anything happens to my father, the hatred for my parents will be irreconcilable. No matter how useless I am, I will definitely lead my troops westward to avenge my parents."

Yao Zhong shook his head slightly and said, "Major General, our king fought one against three in the Central Plains and was not at all inferior. The Major General should have known about this."

"Now, even if the young general leads his troops westward, it is hard to say whether he can arrive before my king takes over the Central Plains. Even if the young general succeeds in ruining my king's plans in the Central Plains and forces my king to retreat back to Jiangdong, it will not hurt my king at all."

"This matter will completely annoy my king. Next year, if my king goes north from Chuzhou to Qingzhou to avenge today's revenge, I don't know if the young general can resist him."

"I wonder if the two armies of Heshuo will send troops to rescue Qingzhou?"

Zhou Chang slapped the table and said angrily: "Li... King Wu is only fighting one against two, how can he fight one against three?"

Yao Zhong said calmly, "The remaining troops of Duke Liang Wen of Ru are fighting with our royal army in Ruzhou, but they were defeated by General Su. Isn't this one of the reasons?"

Zhou Chang sneered and didn't respond.

Yao Zhong looked at him, stood up and bowed, saying: "Young General, my king and the general made a covenant with the heaven in Fengyang, and agreed to be brothers. You and I should have been brothers. If the king were to establish his capital in the Central Plains today, the virtuous father and son would surely be relatives and nobles of our Wu Kingdom in the future, and their status would be beyond words." Zhou Chang sneered: "The Fengyang Alliance, your King Wu has already disowned it!"

Yao Zhong shook his head and said, "As long as the Pinglu Army does not take any action this time and stands aside, my king will recognize the original Fengyang Alliance again."

"In the future, the Zhou family can also obtain a high position and inherit the title!"

After saying this, seeing Zhou Chang was hesitant, Yao Zhong took a deep breath and said, "Major General, I have something unpleasant to say. Qingzhou's future has been cut off by Mr. Wenchuan back then. Now that the world has come to this point, the Major General should also consider his own future."

"Let's take a step back. Even if the young general forces our king to retreat and return to Nanjing, he will not be able to control the Central Plains. At that time, the Central Plains will still be in Wei Quanzhong's pocket. For the wise father and son, is it better for Wei Quanzhong to occupy the Central Plains than for our king to occupy the Central Plains?"

"Will Wei Quanzhong not threaten Qingzhou in the future?"

Yao Zhong shook his head slightly: "The face of Wei the thief must be extremely ugly."

Zhou Chang stood up and said in a muffled voice, "What a sharp tongue! The King of Wu really did not raise you in vain!"

“But how can we view the affairs of our parents as benefits?”

After that, he stood up and said in a deep voice: "Sir, please don't leave today. Stay in my house for a while, and we can talk about this matter slowly!"

After saying this, Zhou Chang turned away and asked his men to leave Yao Zhong in the mansion. He then went all the way to the back house and saw General Zhou Chang, who was sitting and snuggling with a young girl.

The girl was feeding General Zhou some cakes. When she saw Zhou Chang, she quickly stood up and carefully retreated.

Zhou Chang said helplessly: "Dad, you still have a wound on your arm."

"Can't die."

Zhou Xu said calmly: "What does the man named Yao say?"

Zhou Chang repeated it, and then asked, "Dad, what do you think?"

"Don't ask me, just decide for yourself."

General Zhou stood up and said calmly, "If you think that a group attack can subdue Li Yun, your father will die now to give you a legitimate reason to send troops."

"If you think it's not feasible, then you can restore the Fengyang Alliance. Once Li Yun has taken control of the Central Plains, you and I will go and join him."

"In the new dynasty, take up a spot early."

Zhou Chang's expression changed drastically: "Dad, how could you..."

General Zhou rolled his eyes at his son and said unhappily, "Do I really have to die? I can't fake my death and get away with it. You really don't have the intelligence of Li Yunlai."

Zhou Chang took a deep breath and smiled bitterly: "Dad, if it were you, what would you do?"

General Zhou glanced at his son and said slowly, "If your father were your age, he would definitely have a good fight with Li Yun to determine the winner, but you are not your father."

"We are different after all. The future of Qingzhou is in your hands. You have to make the decision on this matter yourself."

The major general was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "You mean, your son is not as good as you were when you were young."

"of course."

General Zhou was not polite at all.

"Your grandfather passed away so hastily, and the imperial court at that time was not the same as it is now. How do you think our Zhou family was able to keep the Pinglu Army and the Qingzhou vassal state and not be reduced by the imperial court?"

"It's all thanks to me, your father!"

General Zhou laughed: "Thinking back to the past, the situation was changing. If it weren't for my father's clever move, our Zhou family would be living on coarse food now!"

Zhou Chang took a deep breath, bowed his head to his old father, and said, "Then son...think about it yourself."

After saying that, he turned around and took his leave. He then found the woman and brought her back to his father's room. Then he walked in the courtyard alone with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself.

"Zhongyuan, Zhongyuan..."

(End of this chapter)