Thief Emperor

Chapter 815: Founding a Country and Becoming a King

Meng Hai stood in front of Li Yun with his hands down and told Li Yun the news summarized by Jiusi. Then he looked at Li Yun, took out a map from his sleeve, handed it to Li Yun, and said, "This is a map drawn by Jiusi today based on the intelligence from the front line."

He paused and continued, "Don't worry, my lord. Although General Su's cavalry is no match for the Khitan cavalry, it is not a big problem to entangle them. At present, they have only suffered a small loss."

"According to the document reported by the Chief of Hebei Province, he believes that... the Khitans will not engage in a large-scale war with us. The reason why they sent troops from Youzhou is mainly to contain our cavalry and some of our troops, so that the Jiangdong Army will not be able to exert its full strength in Hebei Province."

Meng Hai whispered, "Now, our Jiangdong Army is getting bigger and stronger. Those forces are forced to stick together by their superiors. Their main purpose is not to fight with our Jiangdong Army, but to stop us from expanding. They want..."

"Maintain the status."

Li Yun finally came back to his senses. He looked up at Meng Hai and asked, "Where is Liu Bo now?"

Meng Hai immediately lowered his head and said, "The commander-in-chief is now in Youzhou. He is considering going out to meet the leaders of the Khitan tribes."

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "Tell him not to go out and contact the Khitan people in person. It's better to send someone out."

"Besides, let him be careful."

Meng Hai nodded, clasped his fists and said, "I understand."

Li Yun looked down at the map in front of him that Jiusi had just drawn, and felt a sense of illusion.

Unconsciously, his role has changed again.

For several months, looking at the intelligence documents sent by Jiusi every day and the constantly changing maps gave him the illusion that he was playing a strategy game.

Although he knew that this situation was the norm for emperors, he still couldn't adapt to it for a while.

After being absent-minded for a while, he looked at Meng Hai and said, "Go and do your work. If you have any news, please send it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Meng Hai bowed his head, clasped his fists, and stepped back.

Li Yun was alone in his study, looking through the documents. After a while, a palace servant's voice came from the door: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Du and Minister Du want to see you."

Li Yun raised his head, looked at the door, and said calmly: "Please let them in."

"Yes."

Soon, Du Qiandu and the two brothers came to Li Yun's study together. After the two of them saluted, Li Yun looked at the two people and said with a smile: "Is the meeting over there over?"

Du Qian nodded and smiled, "It's dispersed."

Li Yun motioned for the two to sit down. After they were seated, he asked, "What's the matter? Why didn't you talk to me during the meeting just now? Why did you come to talk to me alone?"

Du Qian looked at his brother, Du He stood up, bowed and said: "Go back to the top, it's about money and grain."

He looked up at Li Yun, sorted out his words, and then whispered, "In the past two months, I took the people from the Ministry of Revenue to roughly calculate the expenditure of money and grain."

"Ascend."

He looked up at Li Yun and whispered, "The money and grain income from these years has been almost completely consumed in the past two years, even if there is a good harvest this year and the autumn tax is included."

Du He said silently: "At most, it will only be enough to support the Jiangdong Army for another year. If it is next year, the scale of troops will still be the same as this year."

He smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid we're going to have to raise taxes."

Li Yun frowned and asked, "I asked you this when I was in the Five States of Jingxiang. At that time, you said that the money and grain income from Jiangdong was enough to supply the Jiangdong Army..."

"It's a different time for the top position."

Du He explained, "Two years ago, when the emperor conquered the five states of Jingxiang, the combined strength of the Jiangdong Army was only over 100,000 men. This year, the number of Jiangdong troops gathered here has increased dramatically to over 200,000 men."

"Moreover, the main battlefield this year is still in Hebei Province. The two routes for transporting grain are nearly a thousand miles away, and the troops in the upper positions are too..."

"And a little more preferential treatment."

"Up to now, if we take into account the loss on the grain road, the amount of rice that needs to be allocated every day is more than 10,000 dan, and there is also meat to be supplied."

"Plus uniforms, equipment, etc..."

Du He sighed and said, "If it weren't for the great help from the Central Plains and other noble families, I'm afraid it would be difficult to support this year."

At this point, he took out an account book from his arms, handed it to Li Yun, and said, "This is the number that we have spent several months sorting out. Please take a look."

"I have repeatedly confirmed the numbers in each link. Even if there are some discrepancies, they are not big and there won't be too much deviation."

What Du He meant was that there were indeed people who manipulated the various links in the transportation of money and grain, resulting in discrepancies in the numbers, but the deviation was not large, even if everyone in all links was as honest as water.

The number will not change significantly.

Li Yun believed this.

At this stage, even though there is inevitably corruption within the Jiangdong court, it is still pure overall.

Li Yun rubbed his brows, was silent for a while, and asked: "What do you two think now?" Du He turned his head and looked at Du Qian, then bowed to Li Yun and said: "There are two ways. The first is to cut military expenses and food and wages."

"Food and other things will also be reduced accordingly."

"Recruit new soldiers, and reduce their food and wages accordingly. Then we can find a way to raise more money and food from the people and nobles, and we can continue this war."

Li Yun looked up at the two brothers and sighed, "What you two really want to say should be the second one."

Du Qian also stood up and bowed to Li Yun: "My Lord, I know you are eager to unify the world and achieve success in one fell swoop, but the current situation is..."

"If the war continues, we will either raise taxes or mistreat the troops."

"Although the various armies of the Jiangdong Army are brave, it is difficult to wipe out all the separatist forces in various places within a year."

"So far, what I mean is..."

He looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice, "Slow down for a moment."

Li Yun lowered his eyebrows and did not answer.

Du Qian continued, "Throughout history, those who have accomplished great things have rarely been able to unify the world in one go. There must always be a period of accumulating strength. If we continue to fight like we are now, we can only fight for a year and rest for a year, and the effect may be even worse."

"If we can stop and recuperate for a few years."

He whispered, "You have now gained most of the world. If you can maintain the status quo, it will undoubtedly be of great benefit to you and Jiangdong."

"In a few years, we will be able to accumulate enough strength."

Li Yun finally raised his head, looked at the two brothers, and sighed: "You mean to start a country first."

"Reunification?"

"Yes."

Du Qian did not evade the question, but spoke directly: "Since ancient times..."

"I know I know."

Li Yun waved his hand and interrupted him.

He is not illiterate and knows something about history.

Even the history of this world, he had carefully read it in the first few years after he arrived. Not to mention this world, even the history of another world was as Du Qian said.

This was the case with the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties: they first founded the country, then accumulated strength and unified the country.

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then looked at Du Qian and asked, "Brother Shouyi, did you come up with this suggestion yourself, or did you discuss it after I left the meeting hall just now?"

Du Qian's expression remained unchanged as he spoke, "Go back to your seat, this matter was not discussed during the meeting just now. In order to stabilize people's hearts, the third brother did not mention the shortage of money and grain."

"It's just that the third brother came to me privately and told me about the money and grain. We brothers discussed it, and then I brought the third brother to see the superior."

"This is what my two brothers meant."

Li Yun pressed his hands, motioning for the two to sit down and talk, then he smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous, I'm just asking casually."

At this point, he sighed and said, "What you two said is of course reasonable, and I agree. If the Xiao family of Fanyang had not opened the gate and let the Khitans in, I would probably have been in power by now."

"Now, we need time to gain a firm foothold, but the Khitans also need time to gain a firm foothold."

He looked at the two brothers and said silently, "Well, let's finish this year first."

"If there is no progress this year, next year I will ascend the throne in Luoyang and found the country."

"Then, we will slow down and take a break militarily."

Du Qian and Du He looked at each other, then stood up and saluted: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Yun looked at the two brothers and said with a smile, "There is something you two need to help me with."

"We now need to strive for all the strength we can."

"You two, you can send some people out to persuade those local forces. As long as they have troops and voluntarily surrender to the new dynasty, they will be treated preferentially."

"Both the Fanyang Army and the Hedong Army can send people."

"In addition, in the name of the Jiangdong court..."

Mr. Li whispered.

"Emperor Zhou Xu is conferred the title of governor of Pinglu."

"For the King of Linzi."

(End of this chapter)