Chapter 802 Northern Expedition
Hebei Road is not Li Yun’s territory, and even Qingzhou in the middle cannot be considered Li Yun’s direct territory.

However, Li Yun still planned to send people over to forcibly take over Cangzhou.

Because he needed a relatively stable rear base, one that could barely support his war in Hebei Province. If this rear base was Jinling or Qingzhou, it would be too far away.

And Cangzhou is big enough.

With a large enough territory, there is room for operation. Li Yun can continuously transport troops and logistical supplies to Cangzhou and use Cangzhou as his stronghold in Hebei Road.

Even in the current situation, the combined forces of Su Sheng and Zhou Chang in Cangzhou amount to 70,000 to 80,000 troops, which is enough to ensure the safety of Cangzhou.

Li Yun can make drastic changes to Cangzhou and use it as a springboard for him to pacify Hebei Province.

Du Qian just thought about it, then nodded and said with a smile: “Then the Secretary will write to Huang Chao, and then write to General Su, asking General Su to cooperate.”

“Cangzhou is not very safe after all.”

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and asked, “Should we send him some more people?”

Li Yun looked calm and said, “I will report this matter to General Su. When the time comes, I will ask him to assign a captain’s battalion from the army to Huang Chao and let him start his mission in Cangzhou.”

At this point, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said, “I have already made arrangements for the Central Plains. Even if the Shuofang Army leaves Guanzhong, it can at least hold out for one or two years. In the next one or two years, our focus will be on Hebei Province.”

Du Qian hummed, his eyes fell on the map, and he said, “I understand your intention. Later, the Jinling Secretariat will focus on dispatching supplies to the north. As long as there is no resistance in Qingzhou, I am sure that we can deliver enough supplies in three months.”

“Qingzhou…is unlikely to turn against us.”

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and said softly, “Xiao Heng, the governor of Hebei Province, is now fully engaged in the management of Hebei Province. He is also facing the threat of the Khitans. He cannot help the Zhou family. If the Zhou family father and son turn against us now, it will only slow down my progress northward by one or two years.”

“The price is that the entire Zhou family is wiped out.”

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table, and continued, “Zhou Xu is a very shrewd person. He has seen many things clearly. When dealing with such a person, although friendship is useless, interests will definitely be useful.”

“When Brother Shouyi is doing things, he doesn’t have to worry about Qingzhou.”

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and nodded slowly: “I understand.”

He paused, and then said: “Sir, if Zhou’s father and son are sincere in surrendering, it will not be difficult to pacify Hebei Province, but the difficulty lies in Youyan.”

“So the Xiao family deserves to die.”

Li Yun’s face turned pale when he mentioned this matter. He exhaled slowly and said, “No matter what, we should take back Hebei Province first. As for Youyan, we should fight for it if we can. If we can’t, we should take it step by step.”

Du Qian said, “I have a solution.”

“Speak quickly, speak quickly.”

Du Qian paused and said softly, “The Khitans have been causing trouble in the north for more than one or two years. I have learned a little about the Khitan people, especially in the past two years. Because of the Youyan incident, I have looked up a lot of information about the Khitans.”

“The current Khitan Khan is a rare hero among the Khitan tribes in recent years. He first unified the Khitan tribes, then pacified the Bohai Kingdom, and now he has occupied Youyan. It can be said that he has made many achievements.”

“But this Khitan Khan is not without weaknesses.”

Du Qian said word by word: “After all, the number of people in the Khitan tribes is too small. Even if they are added together, there are only 200,000 to 300,000 households. Behind the numerous achievements of the Khitan Khan, it is a heavy burden for ordinary Khitan people and some Khitan tribes.”

“In the past five years, the Khitan tribes have been recruiting soldiers and waging wars abroad almost non-stop.”

At this point, Li Yun had understood what Du Qian meant. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly, “Brother Shouyi means to start from within the Khitan tribes?”

“Yes.”

Du Qian said, “The Khitan tribe is not a monolithic entity. The time that the Khitan Khan unified the Khitan tribe has not been too long. At this time, they are not united from top to bottom. As long as the superiors can send some people to contact the leaders of these Khitan tribes, they can be promised huge benefits.”

“There may not be no chance to shake the Khitan tribe.”

Li Yun thought about it seriously, then reached out and knocked on the table, and said softly: “That’s the truth, I will let Jiusi give it a try.”

He looked at Du Qian and chuckled, “Brother Shouyi’s method is clever. This kind of contact doesn’t have to be successful, and it doesn’t even have to be secret.”

“It would be even better if the Khitan Khan could vaguely notice it.”

At this point, Li Yun had already decided on this plan. He chuckled and said, “When Liu Bo comes back, I’ll ask him to arrange this matter personally.”

Du Qian smiled softly and said, “If this can be accomplished, that’s great. If it can’t be accomplished, it won’t affect the overall battle situation.”

“Moreover, after the Khitans occupied Youyan, they basically did not take any follow-up actions. The Khitan Khan probably knew the current situation of the Khitan tribes, and he also wanted to recuperate.”

Du Shouyi looked at Li Yun and whispered, “Even if this didn’t happen, they might not be able to hold out after a few years of fighting.”

Li Yun nodded slowly, then smiled at Du Qian: “Brother Shouyi said before that he didn’t know much about military affairs, but now it seems that he is very proficient in it.”

“This is not a military matter.” Du Qian said with a smile, “It’s just my understanding of human nature.”

Having said this, Li and Du looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

…………

The sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

After the Chinese New Year, there has been no heavy snow in Jinling. At this time, all the main roads near Jinling are unobstructed.

As the New Year was coming to an end, Li Yun personally saw General Zhou Xu off from Jinling.

At the gate of Jinling City, the two brothers saluted each other. Li Yun clasped his fists towards Zhou Xu and said, “Take care on your journey, big brother. When I finish my work in Jinling, I will go to Qingzhou to meet you for a drink.”

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun and asked with a smile, “Are you really going, brother?”

“Really.”

Li Yun smiled and said, “If there is such a big battle, I should go and take a look. Brother, you know that I am different from other people. I can’t sit still in the city all the time.”

“Well.”

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun and said seriously, “I am waiting for you in Qingzhou. When you arrive in Qingzhou, all the Pinglu troops in Qingzhou will be assigned to you.”

Li Yun smiled: “Is it a deal?”

Zhou Xu said seriously: “It’s a deal.”

Mr. Li looked back at Zhou Luo who was following behind him and said with a smile, “Little guy, are you going back to Qingzhou with your grandfather?”

Zhou Xu also looked at his grandson. He was silent for a while, then said, “Child, make your choice.”

Zhou Luo took a deep breath and quickly made his decision.

“Grandfather, I want to continue to stay with the king. It is much more interesting to stay with the king than in Qingzhou before.”

Li Yun smiled and said, “No need to say polite words, if you want to go back, go back. When you return to Qingzhou, you don’t have to be my follower anymore. You can be the king of Qingzhou.”

“Fish the people.”

Zhou Luo lowered his head, looking embarrassed: “Your Majesty, I know you don’t want to keep me as a hostage, but I really want to stay with you for a while.”

Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu and smiled without saying anything.

General Zhou patted his grandson on the shoulder and said, “Then you should stay in Jinling, learn more and see more. When you have time, come back to Qingzhou to take a look.”

Zhou Luo knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Zhou Xu, and then lowered his head in response.

General Zhou bent down, helped his grandson up, patted his grandson on the shoulder without saying a word.

Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu and said with a smile: “Don’t be sad, brother. I will leave you with a surname of Zhou and give you another surname of Zhou, Zhou Bi.”

Li Yun called out, and Zhou Bi immediately strode forward and saluted Li Yun with his fists clasped: “Your Majesty!”

Zhou Xu is four or five years younger than Li Yun and is now twenty-four years old. When he followed Li Yun before, he was relatively calm. In the past few years in the Inspection Department, his temperament has become even calmer.

After saluting to Li Yun, he bowed his head and saluted to Zhou Xu: “General.”

Li Yun looked at Zhou Xu and said with a smile: “Brother, this is my little brother who grew up with me. He is now working in the Inspection Department of the Jinling Privy Council. This time, our two families must cooperate with each other. It won’t be long before my Jiangdong Army will pass through Qingzhou and head north to Cangzhou.”

“In order to prevent any misunderstandings and inconveniences, I want him to go with my elder brother to Qingzhou to take a look first, and then we can work together.”

“What do you think, brother?”

Zhou Xu looked at Zhou Bi, then at Li Yun, and exclaimed: “What a young talent.”

He smiled and said, “It’s still my family.”

Then General Zhou looked at Zhou Bi and said with a smile, “Little brother, how many people will you bring with me to Qingzhou?”

Zhou Bi bowed his head and clasped his fists: “Reporting to the general, there are less than a hundred people.”

“it is good.”

Zhou Xu looked at Li Yun, then looked towards the north, his voice calm.

“Let’s go.”

(End of this chapter)