Thief Emperor

Chapter 810: Firefight!

The 800-li Guanzhong area could indeed form an independent country. If there had not been a rising force like the Jiangdong Group, even if Wei Quanzhong had only occupied Guanzhong, he could have comfortably established himself as a king.

But with Li Yun, the entire Guanzhong was not enough. Wei Quanzhong needed to add another Shuzhong to support the huge army.

Otherwise, if the army continues to be at its current size, the people of Guanzhong will not be able to support it. Over time, public resentment will boil over and the entire Guanzhong area will collapse.

But if the abundant land of Bashu could provide support to Guanzhong, Guanzhong would be able to support a large army, an army that would have a chance to fight Li Yun for a long time.

However, Li Yun was not too upset about this news. After several "contacts" with Wei Quanzhong, he had already had some understanding of this General Wei.

This is a character that looks tough, but is actually very soft.

Li Yun wasn't worried about him at all.

Moreover, Li was aware of what happened in Guanzhong at that time. The Wu Zhou Emperor hated Wei Quanzhong so much that he was even forced into Bashu by Wei Quanzhong.

If he had been able to let go of the old grudge and reconcile with Wei Quanzhong, he would not have been chased to Bashu by a group of "Zhou ministers".

Du Qian told Li Yun about some things in Guanzhong and Shuzhong. At the end, he looked at the document that Li Yun put aside and said with a smile, "Shangyou, there are quite a few families here who have been in Guanzhong for hundreds of years. They also want to surrender to the wise master, and they may have the ability to help us when Shangyou attacks Guanzhong."

Li Yun poured Du Qian a cup of tea and shook his head slightly, saying, "All my available troops are now stationed in Hebei Province. Not to mention that they can help, even if they can open Tongguan now, I don't have any extra troops to enter Tongguan. Everything has to wait until the battle in Hebei Province is over."

"correct."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "Brother Zhuo came to me today and mentioned to me the matter of recruiting local celebrities and great scholars. I agreed and asked him to take the name cards to invite them to Nanjing to serve as officials. When those people arrive, we will meet them together, and then..."

"The current six simple departments will be changed into six ministries, and in addition to the six ministries, an agricultural department will be added."

Du Qian first said yes, then he suddenly looked at Li Yun and said, "If local famous scholars can directly enter the court as officials without taking the imperial examination, then those from aristocratic families who have experience in officialdom will be promoted."

He looked at Li Yun and finally whispered, "I think it's okay."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and sighed softly: "Brother Shouyi, you should also know that using those ready-made officials now is just a stopgap measure, because we don't have anyone available for the middle and upper-level positions now. We have to wait for ten or twenty years, when people who pass our imperial examinations are promoted, to fill these vacancies."

“Does it matter which people are used now?”

"important."

Du Qian whispered, "I know that the superiors look down on the noble families and think that people from the noble families can have a future just by virtue of their family background."

"But in fact, people from aristocratic families are usually quite talented and knowledgeable."

He paused and continued, "Moreover, these ten to twenty years are the founding years of the new dynasty. Those young people who have passed the imperial examinations will inevitably follow the high-ranking officials in the court and form factions and sects."

"Higher..."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian, sighed and said: "Brother Shouyi, you..."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun calmly, "I have been promoted by the emperor. I am now the leader of the officials in Jiangdong. There are many people in my Jingzhao Du family working in Jiangdong. Whether it is for me personally or for the Jingzhao Du family, I should not say this. I said this for the sake of my promotion and for the new dynasty."

Li Yun thought about it seriously, then put down the teacup and said silently: "Then let's do this. From now on, no matter who we are or what our background is, we must pay attention to these four words."

"Meritocracy."

"You and I will set a principle from now on."

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table, and said in a deep voice: "Anyone who is not a member of the Jiangdong Imperial Examination and wants to serve as an official in the court needs the consent of both of you and me. Even if you are not of high rank, you must at least report to me."

Du Qian immediately bowed his head and saluted, saying, "I obey your command."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "Since everything has been prepared, there is one thing I want to entrust to you, Brother Shouyi."

"The positions, ranks, and various honors of the new dynasty, except for the military honors that I decided earlier, all the other honors must be drafted as soon as possible."

Having said that, Li Yun put forward his own request.

"It can imitate the previous dynasty, but it must also have the characteristics of our new dynasty. For example, the Agricultural Affairs Bureau cannot be abolished, and the head of the Agricultural Affairs Bureau must be a third-rank official."

"Also, we need to set up another institute." Li Yun lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "We need to set up a Department of Investigation of Things to recruit knowledgeable people to investigate things and explore the truth. It will be temporarily affiliated with the Agricultural Affairs Institute, and the director will be given a fifth-rank title."

Du Qian wrote them down one by one, and then said in a deep voice: "I obey your command."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian, thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's getting late, Brother Shouyi, don't go back. Stay in my palace today and we'll have dinner together."

Du Qian did not refuse and bowed.

"Yes."

…………

In a blink of an eye, another seven or eight days passed.

Hebei Road, Hengzhou Zhending, Fanyang Military Camp.

In the general's tent, Xiao Heng, with an unpleasant expression, looked at Li Hao, the general of the Hedong Army, who was sitting in his tent, and his expression became even uglier.

He paced back and forth several times before he spoke: "Brother Li, Weizhou and Xiangzhou have both been attacked by Jiangdong bandits. We are in the south and have almost no troops to stop them."

"Last time, you were nearly trapped and killed by the Jiangdong Army in Huaizhou. It was Xiao who sent cavalry to rescue you from afar. Our two families also agreed to help each other. Now that my Hebei Province has been invaded by Jiangdong bandits, why is the Hedong Army so slow to act?"

Li Hao glanced at Xiao Heng and said expressionlessly, "Li Yun has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Cangzhou. He can move at any time. How can we go south now?"

"At the end of the year, I will tell you to march directly into Cangzhou and drive Li Yun's troops and the Pinglu Army out of Cangzhou. This way, the entire Hebei Province will be under your control."

"At that time, you said that they came under the pretext of attacking the Khitans, and that you were unwilling to touch them for the sake of some false reputation. Do you see it now?"

"You care about this false reputation, but does Li Er care about it?"

Xiao Heng sat back in his main seat and said in a hoarse voice: "Now is not the time to blame each other. If we merge, our forces will be no less than the Jiangdong Army. Why should we be afraid of him?"

Li Hao had a blank expression on his face. He lowered his head to look at the map in front of him and said, "General Xiao, let me remind you that this is not the time when we were in Guanzhong or the capital. At that time, your father and my father were both here, and they had plenty of ideas."

"Now, my father has passed away. As for your father..."

Li Yu snorted and didn't continue talking.

But this one muffled groan was enough to make Xiao Heng glare in anger.

Li Hao didn't take it seriously and continued, "Now, it's time for us to make our own decisions. I'm giving you two choices. The first choice is that we two families fight on our own. I'll go back to Taiyuan and you can go to Youyan and surrender to the Khitan Khan."

"To make a living from the Khitan Khan."

Xiao Heng stood up, put his hand on the sword at his waist, and glared at Li Hao: "Stop being so sarcastic, if you have something to say, just say it now, or get lost and go back to Taiyuan!"

Li Hao was dismissive. He had no expression on his face and continued, "The Jiangdong Army has not many troops heading north from Weizhou, and they have to divide their attention to protect the Central Plains. We, the Hedong Army, will resist their troops heading north for you."

As he spoke, Li Gao pointed at the map and said, "We have a part of the Hedong Army stationed in Yizhou. These troops can go east to Mingzhou and Xingzhou to block the Jiangdong Army from going north."

"And your army must immediately march east to Cangzhou and drive the Jiangdong Army and the Pinglu Army out of Hebei Province."

"At least, we have to fight them and keep an eye on them. Don't let them make any moves."

At this point, Li Hao stood up and put his hands behind his back: "If you don't want to listen to my suggestion, let's part ways amicably. In return for saving me, I will compensate you with a new soldier from the Duwei Battalion."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Heng sat in his seat with an uncertain expression.

After a long while, he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"it is good."

"Ok, deal."

(End of this chapter)