Thief Emperor

Chapter 824: A Great Leader

Fifty miles north of Lucheng.

Khitan tents were set up here.

These tents are not very exquisite, but horses can be seen everywhere at a glance.

The smell of horse manure almost permeated the entire camp.

At this time, in the commander's tent of this camp...or should I say, in the Khan's tent, the Khitan Khan Yelu Yi, dressed in beautiful clothes, was sitting in the main seat with a majestic horse and a golden sword.

At this time, on both sides of him sat two rows of Khitan generals, all looking at the Khitan Khan respectfully, with a certain degree of caution in their expressions.

Because the Khitan Khan was furious.

He glanced at the generals sitting on both sides and said angrily in Khitan: "Look at you, what have you become now!"

“It’s only been a few days since we entered the customs!”

The Khitan Khan slammed the table, pointed at a general's nose and cursed: "You bone!"

"I praised you for your bravery in battle last year, but it's only been a short time and you've already brought a woman into the military tent! All these people have tried to hide it for you. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, you probably wouldn't have admitted it until now!"

The Khitan Khan gnashed his teeth and said, "After entering the pass, is it for you to do this kind of thing?"

The general named Zhigu knelt down on both knees before the Khitan Khan and kowtowed to admit his fault. After he kowtowed several times, he looked up at the Khitan Khan and said, "Great Khan, we Khitans entered the pass just to rob money and women. I, I..."

The Khitan Khan stood up and kicked him on the shoulder, cursing, "You are robbing money and women, and I let you rob them into the military tent! We are at war!"

"You really don't have any rules at all!"

The Khitan Khan kicked him hard several times and cursed: "I have told you many times that there must be rules for war. But you took your subordinates and took the lead in robbing food and women!"

"I heard that you also robbed a woman from the Fanyang Lu family, is that right?"

Zhigu was a big man, kneeling on the ground, muttering, "That woman was too weak, she couldn't stand the torture, she died in a few days, it's not interesting."

As soon as he said this, there was laughter in the big tent.

Someone stood up and spoke kindly to him: "Great Khan, he just likes to sleep with women, there is nothing wrong with him. These are all small things, Great Khan, please don't bother with him."

"Besides, he is sensible. He only robbed women from Han families. It's not a big deal."

Khitan Khan Yelu Yi, sitting in the main seat, sighed and said, "Normally, he acted foolishly and no one said anything to him. But now we are at war and the Jiangdong Army is on the rise. If the rules in the army are not strict, the morale of the army will soon be ruined."

"How can we fight the Jiangdong Army?"

"You lie on a woman's belly every day, and when you go to the battlefield, do you still have the strength to lift a knife?"

The Khitan Khan snorted and looked around at everyone: "Since entering the Pass, have I ever robbed a woman from a Han family?"

"The maidservant I serve is brought from Bohai Kingdom!"

As soon as he said this, everyone present lowered their heads and remained silent.

There is no way around it. The Khitan Khan did set an example himself in this regard. Since entering the Pass, the Khitans have looted and killed countless Han women, but the Khitan Khan himself did not do these things.

He is not lustful and is quite hardworking.

It is precisely because of this that Li Yun regards him as a serious threat.

In this era, a local leader who is obsessed with women every day will most likely not achieve anything.

This thing takes too much energy.

If you want to make progress, sometimes you have to put 100% of your energy into your career.

Of course, it’s normal to indulge once in a while.

Zhigu raised his head and looked at his own Khan. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Khan, I slept with a Han woman, but it did not prevent me from going into battle to kill the enemy. Tomorrow, I will lead my men south to fight a decisive battle with the Han people!"

"Prove it to the Khan!"

Yelu Yi sat back in the main seat and snorted, "You violated military regulations and refused to change despite repeated admonitions. You still want to go into battle and kill the enemy?"

"In a few days, you will come back to Youzhou with me, and then you can go directly back to the outside of the Great Wall from Youzhou!"

"Since you have no future, I have no choice. All the women you have robbed are yours. You can take them back to the outside of the pass and live your life as you wish."

Upon hearing this, Zhigu stood there in a daze, sat down on the ground, and didn't say anything for a long time.

Although the Khitan tribe had never been seen before and did not have the strict hierarchy of the Central Plains dynasty, it was now in a period of prosperity. After hearing the words of the Khitan Khan, even Zhigu, who was not very smart, knew that his future was over.

He knelt on the ground and was about to kowtow to the Khan to apologize, when a messenger suddenly rushed in, knelt on the ground with a plop, and said with his head down: "Khan, a large number of Jiangdong troops have been spotted near Lucheng!"

The Khitan Khan did not show any special expression when he heard this. He just said calmly: "After being coaxed by us for half a year, they finally couldn't help it."

"Dielite."

He called out, and immediately a man stood up and saluted with his fists clasped: "I'm here!"

Yelu Yi looked at him with admiration in his eyes. He smiled and said, "You have performed very well in the past year. You don't drink, don't mess around, and manage the army well." "The credit for Lucheng this time is left to you. Remember the plan we made earlier."

The Khitan Khan said softly: "The Han people are numerous, like ants. We must use our horses and wisdom to win."

"Don't confront them head-on."

Dielite quickly bowed his head and saluted: "I obey your command!"

After saying this, he respectfully left the Khan's tent.

The Khitan Khan then sat back on the main seat, looked at the generals below, and said in a deep voice: "Li Yun among the Han people has occupied 60% or even 70% of the Han people's land, but until now, he has not been an alcoholic or lustful person."

"And he often led the troops and fought in person."

"We Khitan have only started to prosper in the last ten years. People like Li Yun are the biggest obstacle to our prosperity."

"If we were all like Zhigu, with our heads full of women, and even brought women into the military tent, we would be driven out of the Great Wall by Li Yun within three years."

"If you want to come back in the future, it will definitely not be a matter of one or two generations."

"You have all seen the prosperity within the Great Wall."

The Khitan man spoke in a hoarse voice: "This is the beginning of our ethnic group's prosperity, and it is also the key to the prosperity of our Khitan tribe!"

"At this time, tighten your belts, look up and look far away. Don't just look at your crotch, look at your sons and grandchildren."

"For generations to come!"

The Khitan Khan said in a deep voice: "As for Zhigu's incident, I will spare him today because of his bravery in battle and for the sake of his family. If such an incident happens again in the army, no matter who it is, I will punish him."

"I killed him myself!"

All the generals knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Khitan Khan: "Subordinates, we all listen to the Khan's words!"

Seeing everyone kowtow, the Khitan Khan nodded with satisfaction, and a smile appeared on his face: "If you are willing to listen to my advice, we will still be brothers like brothers."

"I have asked someone to prepare some wine and food. Today, I will treat you to a drink."

At this point, Yelu Yi looked toward the north and said slowly, "Tomorrow, I will go back to Youzhou to arrange things for Youzhou."

"The battle with the Jiangdong Army in Cangzhou will all be handed over to you."

When the generals heard that there was wine to drink, they all cheered loudly.

The Khitan Khan smiled and said, "Listen carefully, today is the only time we drink in the military tent, and we will not do it again."

All the Khitan generals cheered loudly.

Soon, the wine and food prepared by the Khitan Khan in advance were served, and soon, everyone in the royal tent was drinking to their heart's content.

After three rounds of drinking, even the Khitan Khan, who rarely drank, drank quite a bit and his face was flushed. At this moment, his confidant carefully opened the door of the big tent and took a look inside.

With just one glance, the Khitan Khan had already sensed something. He spoke to a few of his subordinates, then left the tent with his hands behind his back. As soon as he walked out of the tent, someone came up and whispered, "Khan, something has happened."

Yeluyi frowned and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Yesterday evening, yesterday evening..."

The man took a deep breath and whispered, "Yesterday evening, a navy landed at Zhigu, seized the Zhigu ferry, and defeated our soldiers stationed there."

"And they took up the food and grass."

The confidant carefully looked at the Khitan Khan's face and whispered: "Now, it is estimated that the Zhang River has been occupied..."

"Navy, Naval..."

Even Yelu Yi's expression was not looking good: "Where did the navy come from...Yes, yes..."

He stroked his forehead with his hand, looked towards the south, and murmured: "I underestimated Jiangdong, I underestimated Jiangdong..."

Then he asked in a hoarse voice: "How many of them are there?"

The confidant bowed his head and smiled bitterly, "The one who brought the news didn't explain clearly, but there should be quite a few of them, Khan, you see..."

Yeluyi narrowed his eyes, was silent for a while, looked towards the south again, and murmured: "It seems that the activities of the Jiangdong Army in Lucheng are also an illusion..."

"Sweat profusely."

The confidant whispered: "The area south of the Zhang River may not be safe..."

"Ah."

Yeluyi was silent for a moment: "I will make some arrangements in the afternoon."

"We'll set out in the evening..."

"Return to Youzhou."

(End of this chapter)