Chapter 287 All the way to the west

The next day, Li Yun set out from Yuezhou with more than a thousand people.

Because this trip was in a hurry, he could not take Wu Yuanyou with him. After all, the King of Chu’s ceremonial procession could not move very fast. He also carried some money and food, as well as a few prisoners, so his travel speed would be much slower.

Li Yun didn’t have time to wait for him, so he went first.

After leaving Yuezhou, they traveled for four or five days before finally arriving in Xuanzhou. They camped outside Qingyang County to rest. Li Yun asked Deng Yang to lead people to camp outside the city, while he himself went into Qingyang County and went all the way to the Qingyang County Yamen. The runners in the yamen were a little excited when they saw him.

Some people still called him “Boss”, but many people knew that Li Yun was rich now, and they were somewhat stage frightened and acted timidly in front of Li Yun.

But most of these people have the same idea, which is to follow Li Yun.

After all, Li Yun is now the governor of a state, which is much higher than the rank of county magistrate. I heard that Chen Da and Huang Yong, who originally followed the head of the army, are now brigade commanders. Of course, they also want to make progress.

Li Yun separated the crowd and said with a smile: “Brothers, I have something important to discuss with my father-in-law. When we have time, let’s talk about the past.”

The crowd dispersed and surrounded Li Yun as he entered the county government office. As soon as they arrived at the front office, Master Xue heard the noise and came out to greet them. After seeing Li Yun, he was a little surprised: “Why are you back?”

He looked behind Li Yun and asked, “Didn’t Yun’er come back with you?”

Li Yun shook his head, pointed to the back hall, and said, “Father-in-law, let’s talk inside.”

Xue Song, with his hands behind his back, led Li Yun to the back hall of the government office. After sitting down, Xue Song looked up at Li Yun and frowned, saying, “You look so tired, did you travel all the way here?”

Li Yun nodded silently and said, “It’s something important.”

He said to Xue Song, “Father-in-law, I received news that the rebels in the Central Plains are heading south of the Yangtze River for some reason. They are almost in Luzhou now. Beyond Luzhou is Xuanzhou. I need to go to Luzhou to take a look.”

“in addition…”

Li Yun looked at Xue Song and said silently: “The rebels are very large. If they really come to Xuanzhou, the troops in Xuanzhou will definitely not be able to resist them, let alone Qingyang. As a last resort, my father-in-law and his family will move to Wuzhou first and reunite with Yun’er.”

“After I have dealt with the matter here, my father-in-law can come back if he wants to go back to Qingyang.”

“Rebels from the Central Plains?”

Xue Song immediately became serious and said, “Aren’t the rebels in the Central Plains fighting against the Shuofang Army? Why are they heading south?”

“They are here to pursue General Su’s defeated army. But logically speaking, they couldn’t have chased so far.”

Li Yun rubbed his brows and continued, “I have been thinking about this issue these days. If the news is correct, then there are two possibilities. One is that the rebels have not been fighting well recently and there is a split within themselves. Some of the rebels want to leave the Central Plains and seek another way out.”

“The second possibility.”

Li Yun became more serious and said, “The entire rebel army may be transferred from the Central Plains under the pressure of the Shuofang Army.”

Xue Song shook his head and said, “The second one is unlikely.”

Master Xue looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice: “Since these rebels are rebelling, their intention is of course to change the dynasty. Their target is in Guanzhong, in the capital, and heading east…”

“People are losing their temper internally.”

Li Yun nodded and said, “My son-in-law thinks so too, so for the time being, I still can’t figure out where these people came from.”

“It’s really weird.”

Master Xue frowned and continued, “Although Jiangnan is rich, it has no natural defenses and no particularly strong cities. If some of the rebels want to find another way out, they should go to Shuzhong or Youyan.”

“Isn’t it just waiting to die when you come to Jiangnan?”

Li Yun smiled dumbly: “Father-in-law, there is the Jiedushi of Jiannan in Shu and the Jiedushi of Fanyang in Youyan.”

“A Shuofang Jiedushi has already suppressed the main force of the rebels. How dare they go to these places to die?”

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, “Right now, there is too little news. Instead of guessing here, it is better to go to the front line to take a look. Father-in-law, I will only rest in Qingyang for one day. I will leave for Luzhou tomorrow.”

Xue Song stood up, patted Li Yun on the shoulder, and sighed: “I understand your intentions. You are just worried that if something happens to us, you will not be able to explain it to Yun’er. So…”

“What if something unexpected happens in Xuanzhou?”

Mr. Xue was silent for a while, then said quietly: “Take your mother-in-law to Wuzhou for refuge.”

Having said that, he did not wait for Li Yun to speak, and continued: “I will not take office as the county magistrate until the end of this year. Unless the court issues an edict to dismiss me, I will never leave Qingyang.”

He looked at Li Yun and said, “Even if the rebels have reached Jiangnan, it is still so far away from Wuzhou and it is not Wuzhou’s business. Why are you so anxious to go to the front line?”

“Father-in-law doesn’t know.”

Li Yun looked at Xue Song and said silently: “Now, Jiangnan’s affairs are my son-in-law’s affairs.”

Mr. Xue is a government official, so he can naturally hear the weight of this sentence.

In many cases, power is linked to responsibility. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. And conversely, it can also be said that the greater the responsibility, the greater the power.

Now, as the son-in-law, he has taken the responsibility of the entire Jiangnan region on his shoulders!
Xue Song took several deep breaths, patted Li Yun on the shoulder, and said slowly: “Okay, good boy.”

“Over the past few years, you seem to be becoming more and more amazing.”

Li Yun sighed: “Father-in-law, I didn’t want to do this at first, but the situation is pressing.”

This is true.

Li Yun had never thought that he could reach his current position in just one or two years, but as he moved forward step by step, the situation changed faster and faster, and became more and more pressing, so he had to become stronger as soon as possible.

After all, in this era, once many heroes emerge, if you have not become one of the “heroes”, you will become the fish on the chopping board of the heroes.

Xue Song put his hands behind his back and said, “Let’s go and ask your mother-in-law to get you some food.”

Li Yun stood up and followed him.

As Master Xue walked, he said, “When I finish my term as magistrate of Qingyang this year, I will go to Wuzhou with your mother-in-law to take a look.”

Li Yun nodded happily and said with a smile.

“Welcome.”

…………

The next day, Li Yun led his troops out of Qingyang and headed west. After another two days of walking, they arrived at Liangshan Town in Hezhou.

Here, he finally saw the camp built by the Yuezhou Army.

This was a temporary camp located in Liangshan Town. There were a total of five to six hundred people in the camp, including two brigades of the Yuezhou Army, totaling two hundred and fifty people.

The rest were the remnant soldiers gathered by Zhao Cheng.

The person in charge here is the brigade commander Qian Zhong, who is also an old man who follows Li Yun. When he saw Li Yun coming, he hurriedly stepped forward, clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, “General!”

Li Yun glanced at this temporary camp. In the camp, except for the two brigades of Yuezhou Army who had basically no injuries, the rest of the remaining soldiers were almost all injured.

Some were so badly injured that they couldn’t even get up.

Li Yun took a deep breath, looked at Qian Zhong and asked, “What’s going on?”

Qian Zhong lowered his head and said, “I was originally stationed in Yuezhou, and was ordered to follow… follow Captain Li to come here to support General Su’s defeated troops. However, because the distance between the east and the west is too far, Captain Li has no way to gather all the defeated and wounded soldiers in one place.”

“So, Captain Li set up several temporary camps along the way, and asked his subordinates to gather and take care of these defeated troops.”

Li Yun nodded slightly.

There is no problem with Zhao Cheng’s ability. The distance from the Central Plains to the south of the Yangtze River is probably several hundred miles, or even farther. With such a long distance, there is no way to gather everyone together.

This approach of opening stores separately is undoubtedly quite wise.

He looked at Qian Zhong and asked, “Where is Lieutenant Li now?”

“Near Chao County, Luzhou.”

Qian Zhong took a deep breath and whispered, “There are three to four thousand rebels in Luzhou now, and they have occupied the city of Luzhou.”

Li Yun nodded silently: “I understand.”

“General.”

Qian Zhong lowered his head and said, “We originally thought that these rebels wanted to chase us all the way to Jiangnan, but now it seems that they have no intention of chasing us to Jiangnan.”

“Instead, they chased us all the way, burning, killing and looting along the way.”

Qian Zhong said in a muffled voice: “Luzhou City has been occupied by them. Although I did not see it, I heard that they were looting in Luzhou.”

Li Yun nodded and narrowed his eyes.

“I’m leaving now and going to Luzhou.”

He looked at the stronghold and ordered, “You continue to stay here. Take those who can walk back to Jiangnan first.”

Qian Zhong nodded his head and responded.

On that day, Li Yun handed over the army to Deng Yang, and he himself, with only one brigade, headed straight for Chao County.

He urgently needs to know, the front line…

What is going on!
(End of this chapter)