Thief Emperor

Chapter 877: Thousand Miles of Power
The grain transport convoy could not move too fast, so Li Zheng handed the task of escorting the grain to He Jun, and asked He Jun to lead this part of the Jiangdong army and a group of civilians to escort the grain to Chengdu Prefecture.

Li Zheng himself, along with Zhang Han, the leader of the Jiannan Army who insisted on following him, and Li Yun's personal guards, rode all the way to Chengdu.

Mianzhou was not far from Chengdu, and there was no Jiannan Army blocking their way, so it took the group only three days to reach the territory of Chengdu Prefecture. Not long after they entered Chengdu Prefecture, Chen Da, the deputy general following the main general Zhao Cheng, came up with a team of people.

After seeing Li Zheng, Chen Da jumped on his horse, bowed his head and saluted Li Zheng, saying: "General!"

Li Zheng dismounted and strode to Chen Da. He patted Chen Da on the shoulder and lowered his voice slightly: "What's the situation here in Chengdu?"

Chen Da looked up at Li Zheng, then lowered his head slightly and said with a wry smile: "General, the situation is both good and bad. Earlier, General Zhao led us to easily defeat the old Zhou imperial guards stationed in Chengdu Prefecture, but these imperial guards immediately retreated back to Chengdu City. Since then, we can only surround Chengdu like this, without any progress."

At this point, Chen Da looked up at Li Zheng, looked around, and whispered: "General Zhao was also anxious a few times, but several strong attacks were of little use."

Chen Da and Li Zheng not only came from the same anti-theft team, but when Li Yun was the head of Qingyang County, the two of them also followed Li Yun and worked as yamen runners in Qingyang County.

This is a relationship that couldn't be more ironclad.

Chen Da would not have any reservations about Li Zheng.

Hearing this, Li Zheng nodded silently and asked, "Where is General Zhao?"

"In the commander's tent."

Chen Da coughed and said, "After learning that General Gongsun was seriously injured, General Zhao's mood became unstable. After learning that you had arrived in the southwest, General Zhao's mood became even worse."

Li Zheng was silent for a while after hearing this, then he gently patted Chen Da's shoulder and asked, "Where is the army?"

"Are the military rations sufficient?"

"It wasn't enough to begin with, but luckily the imperial guards in Chengdu didn't dare to come out. The area around Chengdu is our territory. I took people to borrow several batches of food from the wealthy families nearby. Now, we can still hold out for seven or eight days."

"But there is not even a bit of meat left."

Li Zheng looked at Chen Da and asked again, "How's the morale?"

“Morale is fine.”

Chen Da immediately replied: "The thing that our Jiangdong Army lacks the least right now is morale. Even a few days ago, some people took the initiative to approach me and General Zhao to ask for a fight to attack Chengdu City."

"General Zhao rejected it."

Li Zheng heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, and said, "Okay, I know the general situation. The Jiannan Army... has surrendered."

"There won't be any more obstructions on the subsequent food supply routes. The first batch of food and fodder will be delivered in about seven or eight days, so our brothers won't starve."

"As for General Zhao."

Li Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I'll go meet him."

Chen Da responded and said, "I will take the general to see General Zhao right away."

"Not urgent."

Li Zheng looked up at the sky. It was almost noon. He stretched and said, "Let's take a break. We can go again after the sun goes down."

"it is good."

Chen Da responded with a "good" and said a few words to Li Zheng. Then he turned his head and saw Yang Xi not far away. He said something to Li Zheng and then strode towards Yang Xi with a smile on his face: "Old Yang, you are here too!"

Yang Xi is older than Chen Da, but his experience is not as good as Chen Da. The two are very familiar with each other. After seeing Chen Da, Yang Xi's face was full of smiles. He said with a smile: "General Chen is so majestic."

The two looked at each other and laughed. After chatting for a while, Yang Xi asked, "Where is Huang Yong? Why didn't I see him?"

"He is still in the army and did not come with us."

Chen Da looked at Li Zheng and chuckled, "Da Huang is now a captain, so let's wait for the old brothers to see him and have a good reunion."

Yang Xi nodded repeatedly and asked, "How many brothers from our anti-theft team are here in Jiannan Road?"

Chen Da lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "There should be about ten of them, right?"

"I don't remember clearly."

"Wait for the matter of Jiannan Road."

He looked at Yang Xi, patted his chest and said, "I'll use my salary to treat everyone to a drink."

Yang Xi grinned, pulled Chen Da aside, and whispered, "The Highness has dozens of houses in Luoyang, and will reward us in the future. The Highness also specially asked me to go to Minister Zhuo to choose one. When we return to Luoyang, I will take you to see Minister Zhuo."

"You also go to Minister Zhuo to select a mansion, and we brothers will live together and be neighbors in the future."

Chen Da's eyes flickered, and he said with a smile: "You have been with the superior and saved his life. You have a share in this meritorious official's mansion, but I may not have a share."

Yang Xi patted his chest.

"Even if others don't have it, you, General Chen, do have it."

"And, it has!"

…………

In the afternoon, Chen Da led the way, leading Li Zheng and others all the way to the Jiangdong Army camp outside Chengdu. As soon as they arrived at the gate of the camp, Li Zheng saw Zhao Cheng in armor from afar, waiting for him at the gate of the camp. He was startled and dismounted from a distance and approached with a group of people.

Before he got close, Zhao Cheng bowed his head and clasped his fists in salute, bowing deeply: "Greetings, Your Excellency." Li Zheng strode forward, supported Zhao Cheng with both hands, frowned and asked: "General Zhao, what are you doing?"

Zhao Cheng was helped up, looked up at Li Zheng, and took a deep breath: "Didn't the envoy...come to punish you?"

"No way to talk about it, no way to talk about it."

Li Zheng helped Zhao Cheng up and said with a wry smile, "Speaking of which, I have already resigned from my military post and am no longer a general. I am now only the governor of Luoyang, and my position is still below that of General Zhao. How can I deserve such courtesy from General Zhao?"

Zhao Cheng was silent for a long time before he let out a long breath and said with a wry smile, "I was almost scared to death when the envoy came to the southwest these few days."

After knowing that Li Zheng had arrived in Jiannan Road, Zhao Cheng indeed couldn't sleep well every day.

He knew that Li Yun's will had arrived in the southwest.

Although Li Yun rarely interferes with the actions of the front-line commanders on weekdays, and basically lets these commanders perform on their own and act according to circumstances, Li Yun is not incapable of interfering with the front-line commanders.

Putting aside his family members who were still in Luoyang, Li Zheng alone could go to the southwest and take over all military power directly from Zhao Cheng in the name of Li Yun.

Because of Chen Dazai.

There are also a group of generals from the anti-theft team.

More importantly, Zhao Cheng did not and dared not have any rebellious thoughts towards Li Yun.

There is no motivation and no ability.

Li Zheng frowned and shook his head, saying, "General Zhao, it's not the first day we've known each other. How can you call me your envoy all the time? General Zhao, if you don't mind, please call me Sanlang."

In the past, Li Zheng was not ranked together with Li Yun because he and Li Yun were not cousins.

However, since Li Zheng entered Luoyang this year, the two brothers' tacit statement to the outside world is that Li Zheng is the third among his peers.

Li Yun is the second one.

In this way, in the eyes of outsiders, the two are at least cousins, so Li Zheng can carry out his work more conveniently in his position as the Yin of Luoyang.

In the future...it will be convenient to confer titles.

In fact, the relationship between the two people is far more than that of ordinary cousins.

"it is good."

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath, looked up at Li Zheng, and said, "Let's talk in the commander's tent."

Li Zheng nodded and looked around the Jiangdong Army camp. Then he followed Zhao Cheng and quickly arrived at the general's tent.

A faint smell of alcohol could already be smelled in the general's tent.

Li Zheng frowned, then sighed softly: "General Zhao, alcohol is prohibited in the army."

Zhao Cheng pulled Li Zheng to sit down and said with a wry smile: "Sanlang, my unit has not moved for several days. I thought..."

"I thought my superiors would not allow me to lead troops anymore, so I drank here to drown my sorrows, waiting for you, Sanlang, to come and take over my military power."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and said, "Anyway, I admit my mistake and accept the punishment."

Li Zheng smiled and said, "I think the Audit Department will file a complaint against you."

After the two sat down, Li Zheng looked at Zhao Cheng and said, "General Zhao didn't seem to be so impatient before."

Zhao Cheng lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "When enemies meet, they are particularly jealous of each other."

"Now, I am red-eyed."

At this point, he clenched his fists and bowed his head, saying: "I fought too stupidly in the battle of Jiannan Road. Not only have we made no progress so far, but I also harmed General Gongsun."

When he said this, his body trembled slightly.

After a long time, he mustered up the courage to look up at Li Zheng, his voice still trembling: "Sanlang, what does he say about taking the position... taking the position?"

Li Zheng lowered his head to drink tea and said silently: "The Zhang brothers of Jiannan Army rushed to Luoyang to surrender. Brother Wang ordered me to come and surrender the Jiannan Army. Now, the Jiannan Army has been recovered."

"The food supply route has also been connected."

"For Jiannan Road, the only tough bone left is Chengdu."

Zhao Cheng's face was still a little pale: "Shangri-La... Is Shangri-La angry with me?"

"I do not know."

Li Zheng looked at Zhao Cheng and continued, "But what the king meant was that you should continue to be the commander of Jiannan Road and clean up the mess of Jiannan Road."

"Then…"

Li Zheng lowered his head silently.

"Go to Luoyang to meet him."

(End of this chapter)