Thief Emperor

Chapter 823 Pocket Tightening
Zhou Chang looked up at Li Yun seriously. After a long while, he whispered, "At your command, uncle!"

Li Yun looked at Zhou Chang, who had a serious expression on his face, and smiled dumbly: "Don't worry, I won't take your Pinglu Army to die. At most, I will use them as usual like the Jiangdong Army, and there is a high probability that they will be less busy than the Jiangdong Army."

Zhou Chang looked up at Li Yun, and Li Yun was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and the meanings in their eyes were very complicated.

Both sides spoke these words nonchalantly, but the interests behind them, or the things they were talking about, were undoubtedly earth-shaking.

This is not a business that only requires a few strings of cash.

This is the command of the Pinglu Army in Hebei Province!

At this time, the Pinglu Army in Hebei Province numbered as many as 30,000 to 40,000 people.

In such troubled times, a military force of this size is so valuable that it cannot be converted into money.

Even in times of peace, it is difficult to convert it into silver.

This is an army of 30,000!
Moreover, they are a well-trained army that can be used right away. Back then, Li Yun started from scratch and worked hard for several years, but he was still far from reaching this scale.

Zhou Chang and Li Yun only looked at each other for a few deliberate moments, then lowered their heads and remained silent.

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "I know that this matter is not easy to decide. If the young general cannot make up his mind, he might as well go to the book immediately and ask General Zhou to find out clearly."

Zhou Chang sighed softly, "Uncle, at this point, the Pinglu Army has no way out. Whatever you say is true. I just hope you can remember our friendship today and in the future..."

He stood up, knelt in front of Li Yun, kowtowed and said, "Be kind to the Zhou family of Qingzhou."

Li Yun looked at Zhou Chang who was kneeling in front of him and nodded slowly. He reached out and helped Zhou Chang up, and said, "There are some things that I have said countless times, but if you are in our position, you may not believe them even if you say them a thousand times."

Mr. Li sighed and said, "We can only see what happens."

"There is one thing that the Major General has noticed. Zhou Luo has been with me for quite a long time. I have never treated him as an outsider. I have entrusted him with many of the things that are close to me."

"Treat him like my nephew."

Li Yun said softly: "My elder brother and I both have our own ideas in mind. You and I may not be able to completely trust each other, but someone in the next generation will be able to solve this problem."

Mr. Li smiled softly and said, "Zhou Luo is a very good candidate."

Zhou Chang bowed his head and said, "My son has met with my father at the end of the year. He has said everything he should say. I already know everything I should know. Uncle doesn't need to say more."

"Our Pinglu Army has been in Cangzhou for more than half a year. During this time, we never flinched when it was time to go into battle. From now on, we will be at the mercy of our uncle."

He looked up at Li Yun, bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying: "Your Majesty said something very well."

"We'll see you later."

Politics is the art of mutual compromise, and the process of compromise is actually about finding the greatest common divisor.

In other words, find someone who is acceptable to both parties or all parties and put him on the table.

In this case, the more forces a person can balance, the more successful he or she will tend to be on the political stage.

Many prime ministers in the court play this kind of role.

Now, between the Jiangdong Army and the Pinglu Army, Zhou Luo is a good balance point.

A point that both parties can accept.

Zhou Chang stayed in Li Yun's tent for a full hour before saying goodbye and leaving. Before leaving, he clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "If the king has any instructions, the Pinglu army will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Li Yun also clasped his fists in return and said with a smile: "Major General, after the battle in Hebei Province, I will treat you to a drink. Let's have a good drink together and not stop until we are drunk."

Zhou Chang smiled and nodded, then asked, "By that time, I'm afraid this wine party will no longer be in Jinling?"

Li Yun thought about it, nodded slightly and said, "Probably not anymore."

He looked outside the tent and said slowly, "People always have to look forward."

Zhou Chang was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and then he sighed softly: "Being able to witness the new emperor appear in the world little by little, my nephew's life is worth it."

In fact, he is a few years older than Li Yun, and he started dealing with Li Yun in the early stages of Jiangdong Group's development. He has actually watched Li Yun "grow up".

Today, the former Envoy Li has grown into a towering tree, and is likely to ascend to the supreme throne.

To say that Zhou Chang was not touched...

That's so fake.

The major general saluted Li Yun with his fists, then turned around and strode away.

Mr. Li escorted him out of the tent and said to Su Zhan with a smile, "Please see General Zhou off for me." Su Zhan quickly lowered his head, replied yes, and left with Zhou Chang.

Li Yun put his hands behind his back and watched the two of them go away. Then he put his hands behind his back and returned to his tent. He looked through the documents that Jiusi had just delivered to him on the table. Finally, he looked at the map of Hebei Province, counted the days with his fingers, and then muttered to himself.

"There are still... ten days."

…………

Seven days later.

On the boundless sea, a fleet is slowly approaching Zhigu.

This fleet consisted of about fifty or sixty ships, and most of them were large ships that could carry about five hundred people.

Only a part of it was a small boat with one or two hundred people.

There were more than 15,000 people in the entire fleet.

At this time, on the leader's flagship deck, Li Zheng, who was wearing armor, was looking at the coast through a telescope. He looked for a long time before turning his head to look at General Deng Yang who was not far away from him, and whispered, "General Deng, if we approach at full speed, we can reach Zhigu Port in the next two days."

"How are you going to fight?"

There was no naval general in the Jiangdong Army. Previously, the person in charge of training the navy was just a captain in the Jiangdong Army.

Moreover, the size of this navy is not large, with less than 10,000 people.

The rest of the troops were dispatched from the Nanjing garrison.

Originally, Li Yunfa only planned to let the naval commander Geng Lian lead this cavalry unit and advance all the way to Zhigu. Success would be success, failure would be failure.

However, after several people discussed together, Li Zheng and Deng Yang, two generals in the Jiangdong army, finally joined this special force and led the troops north together.

Deng Yang came to Li Zheng's side, pointed to a place not far away, and whispered: "General Li, let's do as we discussed with Captain Geng before. We will rest at sea for the next two days. Two days later in the evening, we will make a surprise attack and land at Zhigu, and then cut off the Zhang River."

"When the time comes, we will station troops south of the Zhang River."

Deng Yang said decisively: "Use the Zhang River to the north to resist the Khitan, and use the infantry to stop the Khitan army in Hebei Road."

Li Zheng nodded first, then took a deep breath and said, "Before we came here, the superior told us many times that we must fight well with this surprise attack."

"Call together the generals above the rank of captain, and we will work out a specific set of rules."

Deng Yang nodded and said yes without hesitation.

Half an hour later, seven or eight generals met in the cabin of the flagship. Li Zheng looked at Geng Lian, the captain in charge of training the navy, and said, "Captain Geng, you are familiar with the navy, you speak first."

Geng Lian looked at Li Zheng, feeling uncertain. He thought for a moment and whispered, "General Li, I dare not say anything about other subordinates, but I am confident that we can defeat the Khitans on the water. When the time comes, leave the water battle to me."

"Subordinates, we must resist the attack of the Khitans in Youzhou."

Li Zheng looked at him with a serious face: "We have to hold out for at least ten to twenty days, not just one or two days."

Geng Lian lowered his head and gritted his teeth, saying, "General, rest assured. If there is any mistake, I will bring my head to the higher-ups!"

"Well."

Li Zheng looked at Deng Yang, then said, "Then all the gunpowder and firearms we brought this time will be given to Captain Geng to use."

"The navy and all the ships are also under your command."

"General Deng and I will handle the battle on land."

He pointed at the map and said, "The only city south of Zhigu is Lucheng."

"Three days later, our Jiangdong army comrades will march into Lucheng. By then, the pocket will be formed immediately. Can you tighten the mouth of the pocket?"

"How many Khitans can be left behind?"

Li Zheng looked at everyone and said in a hoarse voice: "What will Hebei Road look like in the future?"

“It’s up to us!”

"brothers."

Li Zheng's voice was hoarse, but it was filled with determination.

"It's time for us to serve the king!"

(End of this chapter)