Thief Emperor

Chapter 849 New Jingzhao Yin

Su Sheng was in charge of the war in Hebei Province. Until now, Su Sheng was still in Hebei Province, continuing to handle the affairs of Hebei Province. Even generals like Meng Qing were in Hebei Province and had not yet completed their tasks.

As a boss, he had to treat everyone equally, so the Western Expedition naturally fell on Zhao Cheng's head. Li Yun had already discussed this matter with Zhao Cheng around the end of the year, and asked Zhao Cheng to start preparing candidates for the Western Expedition.

Zhao Cheng was naturally happy to hear Li Yun's words. He bowed slightly to Li Yun, replied "yes", and then said with a smile: "Didn't the superior say before that we have to wait for a year or two before we can continue the war?"

Li Yun put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "I made a small fortune this year. It is still difficult to launch a large-scale war as soon as possible, but we can start preparing for the Western Expedition."

It has been two or three months since Mr. Li came to Luoyang. During these two or three months, too many people have rushed to Luoyang and tried their best to meet him.

Among them were former nobles and wealthy businessmen.

Li Yun actually met not many people, only about ten people recommended by Du Qian, Yao Zhong and others.

They all "took the initiative" to give money to Li Yun.

And, there are no strings attached to the money.

The only condition may be to hope that the new dynasty will show leniency to them.

It's protection money in a sense.

Of course, these fat sheep cannot completely solve the current objective economic problems in Jiangdong. What can truly solve Li Yun’s economic problems is the land price in Luoyang.

It had been more than half a year since Zhuo Guangrui arrived in Luoyang. When he arrived, although the city had generally restored order, it was still relatively dilapidated. In addition, due to several disasters, a large number of Luoyang people fled.

After Zhuo Guangrui rectified Luoyang, at least half of the mansions and vacant land in the city were taken over by the government because no one claimed them.

In recent times, the land price in Luoyang has been rising again and again. The income of Luoyang Prefecture in this regard alone made Li Yun breathe a sigh of relief.

Mr. Li looked at Zhao Cheng and said helplessly, "Originally, I wasn't that anxious, but since the Chinese New Year, seven or eight generals above the rank of captain have written to me to ask for battle, saying that their men can bring their own rations and don't need any military pay."

“Among them.”

Li Zuo said slowly to Zhao Cheng: "Among them, there are many subordinates of General Zhao."

Up to today, for about half a year, Li Yun has devoted all his attention to political affairs. He is busy building a new dynasty and moving his team from Jinling to Luoyang.

However, civil servants have their own ideas, and military officers have their own ideas.

Nowadays, even the generals and soldiers in the army can see clearly the general trend of the world.

The great cause of Jiangdong is already within reach.

And now, the reason for stopping is because of the problem of money and food.

For these soldiers, the issue of food and wages is not a particularly big problem. The Jiangdong Army has been "richly supported" for so many years, and as long as they don't spend money recklessly, everyone has some savings, which can at least support themselves for two or three years, and is not a particularly big problem.

But now, among the Jiangdong army, almost no one wants to serve in the army and eat food.

As long as they are serious Jiangdong soldiers, they will think of these two words.

Military merit, military merit!
Under such circumstances, it was natural for them to write letters requesting to fight when they heard that the court, or Li Yun, had temporarily stopped the war due to lack of money and food.

Zhao Cheng thought for a moment, then bowed to Li Yun and said, "The Jiangdong army is eager to fight, please fight with me..."

"Not surprising either."

He said in a deep voice: "The soldiers and generals in the army are all eager for merit."

Li Yun glanced at him and shook his head slightly: "Don't say you don't know anything about this."

Zhao Cheng smiled awkwardly, lowered his head and said nothing.

As one of the two absolute giants in the Jiangdong army, it is impossible for him to be completely unaware of the following situation.

He must have acquiesced to this situation.

After all, the war in Hebei Province had been basically settled, and Su Sheng's achievements as a general had been accomplished, and the only thing left was to be enthroned.

However, Zhao Cheng had not yet achieved any achievements that would be recorded in history.

He definitely wanted to fight this battle. Li Yun put his hands behind his back, shook his head and said, "The army marches, and the expenses are not just the soldiers' food and wages. There are many ways to deal with it. In addition, you can't really not give them food and wages if you want them to fight on the battlefield. You can't just sit back and watch the situation in the army. Put pressure on it."

"Tell them I asked you to prepare."

At this point, Li Yun paused for a moment, then continued, "Now, I have already laid the groundwork for Guanzhong, and I should be able to make some moves in the second half of the year."

"Before the formal action, General Zhao must get to know Tongguan thoroughly. If you have nothing else to do, you can take a team of cavalry and go there to get some benefits, so that they will be more cautious."

"When you go there more often, they might not be able to react when the real fight comes in the future."

Zhao Cheng immediately bowed his head and said yes when he heard this. Then he looked at Li Yun and asked, "Sir, can I lead the Tongguan garrison to launch a trial attack on Tongguan?"

He said in a deep voice: "Tongguan is not far from Luoyang. We have more than 20,000 troops stationed in Tongguan. Such an attack will not cause any loss of money and food."

Li Yun looked at him and nodded silently: "If you think it will be beneficial to the war situation, then you can give it a try, but attacking the pass will definitely result in heavy casualties, so you must act with caution."

Zhao Cheng bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying in a deep voice: "Don't worry, my subordinates will be careful!"

…………

In the blink of an eye, several days passed.

Early that morning, Li Yun was taken to the Imperial City in Luoyang by Du Qian, Yao Zhong, Zhuo Guangrui and others. Du Qian and Yao Zhong followed behind Li Yun, while Zhuo Guangrui stood beside Li Yun and introduced things about the Imperial City to him.

"Your Majesty, the imperial city of Luoyang has been repaired. We have informed Jinling and started to send the palace maids from Jinling to Luoyang one after another. After these palace maids move in, they will clean up the place."

Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "By the end of May at the latest, the emperor can move into the imperial city."

Li Yun took a look at the imperial city, which already looked quite good, and then looked at Zhuo Guangrui, smiling and saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhuo."

Zhuo Guangrui quickly lowered his head and said he didn't dare.

"Although I am the prefect of Luoyang, I am also in charge of the Ministry of Works. This is all part of my duties."

After hearing these words, Li Yun realized that Zhuo Guangrui was not only the Yin of Luoyang, but also the "Minister of Works" appointed by Li Yun himself.

He laughed dumbly: "Logically speaking, Brother Zhuo should be the Minister of Works and the Prefect of Luoyang."

At this point, Mr. Li's mind moved, and he chuckled and said, "Now that the new dynasty is about to be established, many places will have to build large-scale projects. Brother Zhuo, the Minister of Works, has a lot of things to take care of, as the Luoyang Yin."

"Can you still do it?"

Zhuo Guangrui looked back at Du Qian and Yao Zhong, then lowered his head and said, "Sir, if you ask me to speak honestly."

"I am really a little overwhelmed. My two lords also know that I have been so busy in Luoyang for the past few months that I have not even had a moment of leisure."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and Yao Zhong and asked, "Do you two have any suitable candidates?"

The two gentlemen also looked at each other. Yao Zhong remained silent, so Du Qian could only step forward silently and bowed, saying, "Luoyang Yin is the future Jingzhao Yin. This position is very important and must be held by someone who is trusted by the higher-ups. Among the civil servants, those who can hold this position are now in important positions."

"I think, I think..."

He took a deep breath, bowed to Li Yun and said, "I think we can let General Li have a try."

General Li of Jiangdong is naturally Li Zheng.

Li Yun was startled and turned to look at Du Qian with a strange look in his eyes.

Just now, he had an idea and thought of letting Li Zheng take on this task. Before he even made any statement, Du Qian had already guessed his thoughts extremely accurately!
Li Yun was stunned for a while, then looked at Yao Zhong: "Mr. Yao, what do you think?"

Yao Zhong bowed and said, "I think what Prime Minister Du said is absolutely right."

Li Yun said, "Li Zheng has no administrative experience."

Yao Zhong shook his head and said, "As for the position, in the current situation, among the officials of the new dynasty, 60 to 70 percent are forced to take the position. General Li can command thousands of troops, so it must not be difficult for him to be the Jingzhao Yin."

Having said that, he paused and continued.

"At most, we can pair them with two more capable Shao Yins."

(End of this chapter)