Thief Emperor

Chapter 778: Despicable

On the tower of Shanzhou, Yu Ye's messenger quickly ran to Li Yun and his men. He half-knelt in front of Li Yun, bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying, "Your Majesty, the Shuofang vanguard army of Shanzhou is about 10,000 people, but they are quite timid. They only fought once and then began to separate from us and no longer tried to charge."

"And, and..."

"There are also a large number of Shuofang troops entering Shanzhou from Tongguan, but they are not in a hurry to rush to Shanzhou City, nor are they in a hurry to rush to the front line."

"Our scouts and the brothers from Jiusi reported that it seems that this group of Shuofang troops have been scattered."

Li Yun frowned, stroking his chin and thinking for a while, then he said, "Go back and tell Yu Ye that I'll leave him 5,000 men in Shanzhou City. Together with the troops he has, there are more than 10,000 men. These troops will fight the Shuofang Army in Shanzhou. But you have to make it clear that Shanzhou does not need to be defended. It should be abandoned when it is time."

"I allow him to make his own decision, but there must not be too many casualties, otherwise I will hold him accountable."

The messenger immediately bowed his head, clasped his fists and said, "I will go and inform Captain Yu right away!"

After saying that, he got up, turned around and left.

At this moment, Liu Bo was no longer beside Li Yun, as he had gone to deal with the affairs of the Nine Departments. However, Meng Qing and Li Zheng were still there. Li Yun looked at the two of them, thought for a moment, and then said, "It seems that the Shuofang Army has lost its fighting spirit."

"Even if I forced you to leave Guanzhong, you still moved forward tentatively step by step."

Meng Qing lowered his head slightly and said nothing.

Li Zheng looked at the map and said with emotion: "They have suffered too much at the hands of the second brother. If they suffer another big loss, even if they occupy Guanzhong, they will just wait for death in the future. Of course, they have to be careful now."

Li Yun did not respond, but looked at Meng Qing and said, "According to the news from the Nine Departments, the Hedong Army in the north has also made unusual movements. Xiao Meng, let me take charge of the battlefield in the west with the Shuofang Army. You can go to the north."

Mr. Li said calmly, “By now, the north will probably start fighting as well.”

Meng Qing nodded his head at first, then he wanted to see, looked at Li Yun, and said: "Sir, if you want to achieve results, the battle line must be put back. Where do you allow me to put the battle line in the north?"

"Huaizhou."

Li Yun looked at him and said silently: "The entire Huaizhou can be handed over to you as a battlefield to lead the Hedong Army to the west."

Huaizhou was newly conquered not long ago. Although it is also near Luoyang, the people's livelihood has not recovered much in a few months. Li Yun can accept using it as a battlefield at this moment.

"but."

Li looked at Meng Qing and said, "Whether it is Shanzhou or Huaizhou, they are all ours. We may not be able to restrain the enemy for a while, but we must control our subordinates."

"Yes."

Meng Qing bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying, "As you command, I will go and arrange the northern line right away!"

Just as he was about to leave, he looked back at Li Yun and asked, "How big a victory is needed to advance to the top in the northern battlefield?"

"At least hurt them."

Li Yun said slowly: "In the future, we will be the only ones fighting them, and they will not dare to go south again."

"My subordinate understands!"

Meng Qing clasped his fists in salute, then turned around and strode away.

Li Zheng looked at Meng Qing's departing back, and said with a sigh, "This kid has really made it. Who would have thought that the poor kid from Shidai would be able to get to where he is today?"

Li Yun sat down and said with a smile: "Actually, I thought of something at that time. You didn't see it, but I saw it with my own eyes."

"When this kid was thirteen or fourteen years old, he almost beat the county magistrate of Shidai County to death with a wooden stick."

In Meng Qing's opinion, it was indeed he who killed the county magistrate, but in fact, Li Yun arrived and gave him another blow.

But even so, it can be seen that Meng Qing is a child with a strong character. Such a child has a good chance of becoming successful.

Li Zheng lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then said, "He hasn't gotten married yet, has he? When the war in the Central Plains is over, I'll find him a marriage partner."

Li Yun glanced back at him and said, "Where did you get the girl for him?"

Li Zheng took a deep breath and whispered, "Second brother, although I came from Lingnan this time, I went back to Jinling in the middle. Second brother knows about this."

"I met him in Jinling."

Li Zheng whispered, "Although there are traces of my second uncle and his friends when he came to Jinling, he is definitely that person. Moreover, he got married and had children not long after he left Cangshan. He now has a daughter and two sons. The eldest happens to be a girl who is fourteen or fifteen years old this year."

"I'm almost old enough to get married."

The "he" that Li Zheng mentioned is naturally Li Yun's elder brother Li Feng.

Li Zheng said softly, "Second brother, Xiao Meng will definitely have a bright future. You must hold such a person firmly in your hands. If you let him be your nephew-in-law, won't he be tied to your side tightly?"

Li Yun frowned when he heard this.

After a long while, he shook his head slightly and said, "Let's talk about this matter after we finish this battle."

"I haven't met any of them yet."

Mr. Li lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then said, "Where has he been these years? Have you asked?" "Yes."

Li Zheng said, "He is not the same kind of bandits as us. He sneaked down the mountain at the age of fifteen and wanted to start a career there. He went to several counties but couldn't find a way."

"By the way, after he came down from the mountain, he changed his name. It's still Feng, but it's the same as Feng in the official title."

"They said they were afraid the government would find out."

"Li Feng..."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank tea, seeming to be thinking about something.

Li Zheng continued, "Not long after he came down from the mountain, he lost his livelihood and didn't want to go back to his old job, so he worked in a bookstore for two years. When the bookstore went bankrupt, he went to work for a wealthy family. Later, when they saw that he was handsome and could read and write, they took him in as their son-in-law."

"Later, he taught people to read and write in that area, and became a teacher who taught people to read and write."

"A bandit actually became a teacher..."

At this point, Li Zheng said "Hey", and did not continue speaking. Instead, he snorted: "Back then, he looked down on our village and the old village chief, and sneaked down the mountain. After all these years, he has not made any achievements."

Hearing this, Li Yun shook his head slightly and said softly: "Actually...actually it is already quite rare."

Mr. Li put down his teacup and said, "If the world hadn't been in chaos, it wouldn't be a big problem for him to live a peaceful life. This is much better than being a bandit in the village."

This is class transition.

In the generation of "Li Feng", although he did not leap from the bottom to the top like Li Yun did, he has already transformed from a bandit to a "teacher".

This is quite rare and it is something that ordinary people can never do.

If the world is peaceful and his next generation is motivated, they can continue to climb up along this path. Although it is difficult and the prospects are slim, after all, they have a clean background and there is some hope.

As bandits on Cangshan Mountain, if that incident had not happened, the descendants of Master Li would have either continued to be bandits or been hacked to death by government officials.

The two chatted about the cheap big brother for a while, and then Li Yun waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's not talk about him for now."

"This winter, if Luoyang is not in a tight spot, I will go back to Jinling and meet him. As for whether to get married or not, I will talk about it after I meet him."

Li rubbed his brows and said, "The most important thing now is to fight this battle well."

"Meng Qing, General Su, and General Zhao are not here."

Li Yun looked at Li Zheng and said with a smile: "Right now, we brothers are in charge of the battlefield on the western front. We cannot afford to lose the battle. Otherwise, not only will we lose our own family, but there may be people who will not obey us in the future."

Li Zheng patted his chest and said with a smile: "Don't worry, second brother, I have learned a lot from following General Gongsun."

"Besides, General Gongsun is here too."

After that, he stood up and said, "Second brother, you take a break. I will go find General Gongsun and go with him to see the battlefield in Shanzhou."

Li Yun nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Just go and see for yourself."

…………

In a blink of an eye, another two days passed.

The enemy situation in Shanzhou finally became much clearer.

Li Zheng stood in front of Li Yun and reported the situation in Shanzhou to Li Yun. Then he took a deep breath and whispered, "Second brother, wherever the Shuofang army passed, many fields and houses were damaged. Moreover, few people who saw them survived. They were a bunch of beasts."

"He doesn't put down his sword when he sees the people."

As he spoke, Li Zheng said angrily: "Someone below reported that they saw the Shuofang Army, carrying the Li flag, operating in Shanzhou."

"And, and..."

Li Zheng narrowed his eyes and said, "Moreover, they have no intention of attacking Shanzhou City, but are committing crimes within Shanzhou."

Mr. Li sat there with no expression on his face, just tapping the table rhythmically with his knuckles.

After a long while, Li Yun said expressionlessly, "Vile."

“It won’t amount to anything.”

He stood up and took a deep breath.

"Walk."

Li Zheng quickly followed: "Second brother, where are you going?"

"Fuck them."

(End of this chapter)