Thief Emperor

Chapter 874: Fighting and Surrendering
September of the eighth year of Zhaoding.

Autumn has finally arrived, bringing an end to the heat that has lasted for several months.

Li Yun, who had been busy all the time, finally got a break and had half a day to rest.

At this moment, he was lying on a recliner in the backyard of his home, watching a pair of children of the same age playing not far away.

They are his eldest daughter Li Shu and second son Li Zheng.

The two children are only half a year apart in age, and are now four or five years old. They can play together just fine, and because they are the same age, the siblings have a very good relationship.

Li Yun watched the brother and sister playing for a while, then raised his eyes to the sky again.

For some reason, his right eyelid kept twitching.

Perhaps because he was worried, his right eyelid was twitching, making Li Yun feel upset.

Princess Lu Huan brought a bowl of soup and placed it next to Li Yun. Then she walked behind him and gently massaged his temples. She said softly, "What's wrong with the king? You seem to be in a bad mood recently."

Li Yun said "hmm" and said slowly: "Because of some official business."

It has been more than two months since Zhao Chengbing entered Chengdu.

Over the past two months, the news coming back from Jiannan Road has been sometimes good and sometimes bad.

The good news is that Zhao Cheng defeated the imperial guards in Chengdu Prefecture and has now reached the outskirts of Chengdu City and surrounded it.

The bad news is that the food supply route behind him has almost completely rotted.

If it weren't for Gongsun Hao and He Jun's hard work, Zhao Cheng's troops would have probably run out of food long ago.

Gongsun Hao did not do this without paying a price. In the past two months, Gongsun Hao's troops suffered heavy casualties in order to maintain their food supply.

The news from Jiannan Road made Li Yun want to order Zhao Cheng to withdraw his troops, but the distance was too far after all. It would take at least ten days for the news from Li Yun to be transmitted to the Chengdu front line.

In ten days, the situation on the battlefield has changed a lot. As a monarch who led troops, Li Yun did not want his will to interfere too much with the commanders on the front line.

But now, he felt a little annoyed.

Because so far, the casualties in the attack on Jiannan Road have even exceeded those in the attack on Hebei Road last year.

Lu Huan sighed softly and said, "My king, there are too many things going on right now. You should at least hand over some things to the people below you and not worry too much."

As she spoke, she gently stroked Li Yun's hair and said softly, "Your Majesty, you have grown a few gray hairs recently."

Li Yun looked up at her, took a deep breath, and forced a smile: "Don't worry about me, I'm not in the way."

While the two were talking, Li Zheng fell to the ground not far away, his knees fell to the ground, and he sat on the ground crying loudly.

The palace servant nearby turned pale with fright, and quickly crawled forward to help Li Zheng up.

Princess Lu frowned, left Li Yun, and went forward to deal with it.

Li Yun hesitated for a moment and did not move. He still sat in his rocking chair, feeling the autumn breeze on his face.

At this moment, a palace servant came running over from a distance, trotting in front of Li Yun, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Meng Sizheng is here."

Among the Nine Departments, there is now a Luoyang Department, which will most likely become the Jingzhao Department in the future. As a veteran of the Nine Departments, Meng Hai naturally becomes the first director of the department.

Li Yun frowned and said slowly: "Let him come here to see me."

"Yes."

The palace servant bowed his head and retreated. Soon, Meng Hai also trotted all the way to Li Yun. He half-knelt on the ground and said in a hoarse voice: "My Lord, urgent news from the southwest."

Li Yun heard the wrong tone in his voice, and without opening his eyes, he said calmly: "Go ahead."

"Yes."

Meng Hai swallowed his saliva and whispered, "Eight days ago, General Gongsun's central army was ambushed and the entire central army was dispersed by the Jiannan Army, and almost the entire army was wiped out."

"There were nearly three hundred casualties."

Li Yun slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Meng Hai, and then looked up at the sky: "Gongsun Hao's central army only has two or three hundred people left..."

"Yes."

"The supply of food is too tight, so General Gongsun has dispatched all his troops."

Meng Hai lowered his head, trying to calm down, and continued: "With the incident with General Gongsun's central army, the entire Jiannan Road's food supply route has been cut off by the Jiannan Army. General Zhao Cheng's main force besieging Chengdu is now..."

"We are now an isolated army."

He opened his eyes and sat up. He didn't speak for a long time and asked silently, "Gongsun Hao...any more news?"

"Yes, yes."

Meng Hai swallowed his saliva and said quickly: "General Gongsun will personally go into battle, but...but..."

"But two fists cannot defeat four hands. General Gongsun was seriously injured. He was rescued by his subordinates and barely sent back to the rear. However, according to the information from the Nine Departments, General Gongsun was seriously injured."

"My right arm was almost cut off at the shoulder." Meng Hai gritted his teeth and said, "It's still uncertain whether he will live or die."

Li Yun stood up, his face expressionless.

Gongsun Hao was not a general.

Even though he was a general in his early years, he was no longer considered a general after Li Yun crippled one of his legs.

With someone like him like this, limping into battle, it was clear that he would not have a good ending.

Thinking of this, Li Yun clenched his fists and said in a hoarse voice: "Send a message to Zhao Cheng, let him."

"Retreat eastward immediately and wait for orders."

Meng Hai heard the anger in Li Yun's words. He lowered his head quickly, replied "yes", then bowed his head deeply and said, "Master, there is one more thing, one more thing."

Li Yun glanced at him, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said in a hoarse voice: "You say."

"Zhang Lian, the third brother of the Zhang brothers of the Jiannan Army, is on his way to Luoyang. He will probably arrive tonight. He is here to ask for an audience with the superior."

At this point, Meng Hai took a deep breath and continued, "It should be said that he came to beg for surrender..."

"Begging for surrender..."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and groaned, "When he arrives, bring him to see me immediately."

"besides."

Li Yun said in a low voice: "Go call Meng Qing and tell him that I have something to talk to him about."

Meng Hai quickly stood up, lowered his head and said, "Yes, I obey your command."

He stood up, retreated carefully, and left Li Yun's house.

Half an hour later, Meng Qing, who was resting in Luoyang, came to Li Yun and saluted Li Yun with his fists: "Take the seat."

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "Did Meng Hai tell you about the situation?"

Meng Qing shook his head: "No."

Li Yun seemed to be thinking about something, and then he told Meng Qing about the general situation. Finally, he said in a muffled voice: "In a few days, I will take a look at the follow-up situation at Jiannan Road. If Zhao Cheng is really unable to make it, you will rush to Jiannan Road and take over his position."

Meng Qing was stunned, then hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and said: "Master, it is no problem for me to be an assistant to General Zhao, just replace him..."

“It seems a little inappropriate.”

"What's inappropriate?"

Li Yun finally couldn't hold back his anger and cursed: "Damn it, it's not like I didn't give him a chance!"

After cursing for several times, Li Yun's anger finally subsided. He said angrily: "I thought he was the commander, but he really has no patience at all!"

Meng Qing was also frightened. He took two steps back and didn't dare to say a word.

Li Yun cursed a few more times, using some Xuanzhou dialect slang. After a long while, he calmed down and looked at Meng Qing and said, "Tell me, if you go to Jiannan Road, how will you fight?"

"We have nothing to do this afternoon, so we can think about it carefully."

"Yes."

Meng Qing nodded immediately. He went to the study with Li Yun. The two of them pointed and talked around a map of Jiannan Road until sunset.

While Meng Qing was still talking, Meng Hai's voice came from outside: "Master, I am here with Zhang Lian."

Li Yun glanced at Meng Qing, motioned him to stand aside, and then said slowly: "Let him come in."

Soon, a young man of medium build walked in with his head lowered. After he came in, he knelt in front of Li Yun and kowtowed: "Zhang Lian of Jiannan Dao, kowtow to the king!"

Li Yun looked at him, suppressed his anger, and said in a deep voice: "Why did the Third Young Master come from afar?"

"My four brothers have admired the king for a long time, but we have nowhere to turn to."

"My brother specially ordered me to come here to seek refuge with the king."

Li Yun had a blank expression on his face and sneered, "Want to surrender to me? Jiannan has been harassing my Jiannan grain route for the past few months!"

“Not a single day of rest!”

"Your Majesty, please understand!"

Zhang Lian raised his head and shouted, "The king's army is in Jiannan Road, and they attacked my brothers without explanation. My brothers have been attacking the grain road for several months to protect themselves!"

"If not for this, my brothers..."

"He has already died at the hands of Master Wang!"

(End of this chapter)