Thief Emperor

Chapter 753: Respecting the King and Becoming a Disciple

The meeting between Li Yun, Zhao Su and the other two can be said to be the highest-level military meeting in Jiangdong. When three people meet, they certainly won't just talk about these general things.

The three of them sat together and talked for more than an hour before they finalized some details. When Li Yun rubbed his brows and said that it was over today, Su Sheng stood up. He looked at Li Yun and said, "My lord, if the Pinglu Army is willing to cooperate, you can consider sending some more troops to garrison in Xuzhou and let Commander Chen of Xuzhou lead the troops to garrison at the border of Dahe to guard against the Khitans coming south from Hebei Road."

Li Yun thought about it and shook his head, saying, "It's no use. There are only two ways to deal with a horse tribe like the Khitans. One is to block them outside the pass and prevent them from entering."

"Or, we can create a cavalry that is stronger than theirs and compete with them on horseback to see who is better."

"Now, it is obviously too late for the latter, and the former, the decision is in the hands of the Xiao family of Fanyang. We... have no way to interfere for the time being."

At this point, Li Yun looked up at the two people standing in front of him and continued, "If the Khitans don't enter the pass, we can solve these problems in the north within three to five years. If the Khitans go south, the problems in the north may be delayed for ten to twenty years."

"Besides, even if we block them north of the river, it will be useless."

Mr. Li looked very determined: "You two, occupying only the south of the Yellow River is not unification. We must take Hebei Road and Yanyun!"

Today, the situation in the world, at least for Li Yun, has gradually become clear.

He had already clearly felt that the Wu Zhou Dynasty, which was very similar to the Li Tang Dynasty, was naturally moving towards a situation of separatist regimes and chaos among warring princes.

His rise in the south led to the evolution of the warring wars among the princes towards the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

At this moment, he marched into the Central Plains, thinking that he might be able to put an end to this chaotic world. However, once the Khitans moved south, if Li Yun was unable to clean up the situation, it seemed that they were moving closer to the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Li Yun could not accept any of these three situations. What he wanted most, of course, was to establish a unified and powerful dynasty.

Next is Zhao Song.

Next in line is the King of Jiangnan.

If he ends up falling to the level of the ruler of Jiangnan, it really wouldn't mean much.

Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng both lowered their heads, thinking in silence.

Li Yun looked at the two people and continued, "No matter what the situation is in Fanyang, we must do everything possible to strengthen ourselves as soon as possible."

“We need to be able to cope with any situation that may occur in the future.”

"All right."

Li Yun also stood up and said, "I won't keep you two any longer. Go back and have a good rest. I'll wait for you."

"Bring this matter to a successful conclusion!"

Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng each nodded their heads, then turned around and left together. Li Yun sent them to the main hall door, then returned to his study with his hands behind his back. He casually flipped through the documents that Jiusi had placed in front of him. After thinking for a while, he picked up the brush and wrote a few words on the paper.

"The Ninth Division is closely watching all events in Fanyang, looking for opportunities..."

After writing these words, Li Yun thought about it again, and added a sentence.

"You can send an envoy to honor Xiao as the King of Yan."

After writing these words, Li Yun blew the ink dry, folded it and asked someone beside him to give it to Jiusi. Then he stood up and walked in his camp with his hands behind his back. After walking a few steps, he saw Su Zhan coming towards him. Su Zhan also saw Li Yun, took two or three steps forward, and reported: "My lord, I have already done the matter of comforting the brothers in the army."

Li Yun looked at him, nodded, and said with a smile: "Your eldest brother came here just now, did you see him?"

Su Zhan shook his head slightly: "I haven't seen it yet."

"Go meet your brother. We haven't seen each other for a long time."

Mr. Li stretched his muscles, paused, and then continued: "In the future, you can follow the army and help with the recruitment of soldiers, and participate in the training of new recruits."

Su Zhan was startled, then whispered: "Master, you..."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "I'm not chasing you away. I'm by my side right now and I still need someone to run errands. Even if I have to assign you a job, I'll have to find a successor for you and let you lead the team for a few months, right?"

Su Zhan finally breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head deeply, saying, "I obey your command."

…………

Jinling.

Li Yun's order to "find an opportunity to send an envoy to honor the Xiao family as king" was delivered to Du Qian through the Nine Departments.

This warrant was actually originally given to Du Qian. After all, there was no one in the nine ministries who could serve as an envoy to represent Jiangdong in the mission to Fan Yang.

Li Yun meant to let Jiusi keep a close eye on Fan Yang, and at the same time let Du Qian find an opportunity to send people to honor the Xiao family as king and directly "confer" the entire Yan area to the Xiao family.

In other words, "honor" to the Xiao family.

In this way, the entire Yan area legally became the Xiao family's own territory, and perhaps the Xiao father and son could be placed in Fanyang in name only. This was a relatively conventional political means. In addition to these political means, Li Yun also began to frantically develop his military strength in the Central Plains.

He certainly would not leave the heavy responsibility of fighting against the Khitans to the Xiao father and son. In fact, he had always regarded this matter as one of his own or future tasks.

Now, he just hopes that the Fanyang Army can hold on for another one or two years.

After seeing the handwritten letter, Du Qian looked towards the north. He thought about it seriously and was about to pick up a pen to write a letter back to Li Yun when there was a knock on the door.

"Sir, the queen is here."

This is Dulan's voice.

In the whole Jinling, only Du Laian still called Du Qian "Young Master", while others either called him Prime Minister Du or Lord Du.

Hearing this, Du Qian was stunned.

His family was relatively familiar with Li Yun's family, but only he himself was familiar with Li Yun, and his wife was familiar with Queen Xue.

He himself and Queen Xue had hardly ever spoken to each other, and apart from official business, they did not have much interaction on weekdays.

Du Qian quickly tidied up his clothes, walked to the door, looked at Du Laian, and asked, "Did the queen come alone to the Secretariat?"

"And the eldest prince."

Soon after Li Yun proclaimed himself king, he personally led his troops to war. The status of many members of the Wu royal family had not been determined. For example, Li Yun's eldest son was still not the crown prince and could only be called a prince.

After hearing this, Du Qian understood about 50% of what was going on. He went out to greet them. Soon, he saw Queen Xue, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, holding the hand of a little boy of five or six years old, walking towards him.

Du Qian hurried forward, knelt on the ground, bowed his head and said: "Greetings, Queen, Prince."

Xue Yun'er quickly reached out her hand to support him and said, "Mr. Du didn't even kneel to his husband, so how could he kneel to us mother and son? Please stand up quickly, please stand up quickly."

Du Qian completed the formal greetings and then stood up.

He knew very well in his heart that he was familiar with Li Yun, so he could not kneel when he saw Li Yun, but he was not necessarily familiar with the mother and son. If he was recorded in the notebook...

That won’t be a good thing for the future.

After paying his respects, Du Qian smiled and asked, "Why did the Queen come to the Secretariat in person?"

"Sir, this child just celebrated his sixth birthday a few days ago."

Queen Xue looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "According to what you and your husband agreed on earlier, it's time for you to teach him."

After that, Queen Xue said softly, "Yuan'er, kowtow to the master."

Li Yuan raised his head and looked with some curiosity at the middle-aged man in front of him who had a fair face but some white hair on his head.

Although he didn't understand, he still did as he was told, knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Sir."

Du Qian was so frightened that he danced with joy. He quickly helped Li Yuan up and waved his hands, saying, "My queen, the king hasn't come back yet. How can we do this? How can we do this?"

He smiled bitterly: "Besides, I am too busy now and have no time to teach the prince..."

Queen Xue said sternly: "This matter was decided long ago, and there is no need for my husband to be present. As for now..."

"I also know that you are busy, so you don't need to teach him every day. You can assign someone else to teach this child, but we will only be in the master-apprentice relationship."

Queen Xue said softly, "I hope it can be settled."

"My family will prepare a gift for you, sir, and we will also hold the apprenticeship ceremony properly."

Du Qian looked at Queen Xue, then at the eldest prince in front of him. After a long silence, he spoke: "I did agree to this matter at the beginning, but now is different from the past. No matter what, I have to ask the king. It just so happens that I have a document to send to the king today."

"I will add a few words now and ask the king about this matter."

"it is good."

Queen Xue was not afraid of the stage, and said with a smile: "It just so happens that I also have a letter from home to give to my husband, so I will send it to my husband together with your letter."

Du Qian nodded and bowed deeply to Queen Xue: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. I am very grateful, very grateful..."

Xue Yun'er shook her head slightly.

"Sir, you are overthinking it. I am here today for no other reason than because the child has reached the age."

"I just want to find him a husband."

(End of this chapter)