Chapter 806: The Current Situation is Desolate
Half a month later, Jinling’s first northern expedition army, led by Deng Yang and numbering more than 10,000 people, set out from Jinling and headed northward amid the farewell of the people of Jinling.

Li Yun also personally sent these soldiers north.

Since the King of Wu had arrived in person, all the officials in Jinling City had to be present as well. Du Qian stood next to Li Yun and watched the soldiers march north together with Li Yun.

After the vanguard troops left, Du Qian looked up at Li Yun and said with emotion: “Your growth in the past few years is truly amazing.”

Li Yun was born as a village chief. In the beginning, he just wanted to occupy a place in the troubled times. Later, he occupied a place and became a local tyrant.

Until Du Qian and Li Yun met, Li Yun was still a leader who always led the troops in battle, a role similar to that of a “brother warrior”.

Later, as Li Yun grew stronger, he went into battle less and less often, and gradually grew from a general to a commander.

By now, Li Yun had the confidence to sit in Nanjing and command the country, and he finally transformed from a general to a king and a monarch.

Li Yun looked back at him, shook his head slightly, and said with a smile: “To be honest, I really want to go to the north in person, clean up Hebei Road in person, and settle old scores with the Xiao family, but now there are too many things to do, and I have to make a choice.”

Du Qian smiled and said, “You are now the monarch of a country. As long as you issue an imperial decree, there will naturally be thousands of troops to fight for you. As for the people of the Xiao family and the generals on the front line, they will be taken back to Nanjing and handed over to you for disposal.”

At this point, Du Qian smiled and said, “All you need to do to get promoted is wait quietly for good news.”

“It’s good to receive good news, but it’s hard to say whether it’s good news or not.”

At this time, even if Li Yun rushed to the battlefield in person, he could only supervise the battle and boost morale. The impact on the overall battle situation would not be particularly large. Therefore, he did not rush to the battlefield in person. However, precisely because the distance was too far, the war on the front line at this time became even more concerning.

The situation in Hebei Province is complicated, with many forces mixed together, and there is also the influence of the powerful enemy Khitan. Li Yun has no idea how the battle will turn out.

Thinking of this, Li put his hands behind his back, looked into the distance, and said, “Brother Shouyi, do you think the battle in Hebei Province can be completed this year?”

Du Qian thought about it, and then answered honestly: “Sir, I think there is no need to rush about this matter.”

“Now, most of the South is in our hands, and the entire Central Plains is also in our hands. We have not yet sorted out these places clearly. Time is always on our side.”

“It would be great if we could conquer Hebei Province in one year. But if we can’t, that’s OK. We can conquer it in three, five, or even ten years. We can conquer it slowly.”

Du Qian said calmly, “I can be sure that those enemies who have taken over will not last more than ten years.”

Whether it is Shuofang, Hedong, or Hebei, there is not enough territory to support a strong army, and at this time, the Jiangdong army is already in an advantageous position.

As Du Qian said, time is on Li Yun’s side.

In fact, according to the ideas of scholars like Du Qian, Li Yun should have chosen a city to ascend the throne and become emperor at this time.

After becoming emperor, he established the imperial court and laid out the proper administrative system. Then, in the name of the new dynasty, he fought against the rebels and eliminated the local forces bit by bit.

The time required to fight the enemy is actually not short. Three to five years is fine, or ten or even twenty years.

Anyway, Li Yun is young enough.

There are many such examples in history, and it is normal.

Li Yun looked back at Du Qian and said with a smile, “Brother Shouyi thinks that it is impossible to pacify Hebei Province within a year.”

Du Qian sighed softly, “To take the throne, a large-scale military mobilization, just the mobilization of logistics and food, may take several months.”

“These things can’t be rushed.”

“I know.”

Li Yun put his hands behind his back, looked into the distance, and murmured, “I know.”

After saying this, Li put his hands behind his back, turned around and walked towards Jinling, saying, “Let’s go, let’s go back to the city. We still have a lot of things to do.”

Du Qian followed behind Li Yun and said with a smile: “Now that you are in power, you should think about whether to make the capital Jinling or Luoyang.”

“Many things require preparation in advance…”

…………

Hebei Road, Cangzhou.

In the Jiangdong Army camp, Meng Qing, dressed in armor, strode into the commander’s tent. After seeing Su Sheng, he half-knelt down, clasped his fists and saluted, saying, “I am Meng Qing, the last general, and I pay my respects to the general!”

Su Sheng was looking through the documents of the Ninth Division at this moment. When he heard Meng Qing’s voice, he immediately looked up, strode forward, and helped Meng Qing up. He laughed and said, “Now that you are a general, why do you have to kneel to me?”

The deputy general system had already been promoted in the Jiangdong army at this time, and Meng Qing was also one of the first young generals to be promoted to deputy general.

Meng Qing shook his head slightly and smiled, “The general has taught me a lot. No matter what my status is, I should pay my respects to the general. Moreover, the general is now the commander-in-chief of the northern front, so I should pay my respects to the general even more.”

Su Sheng pulled Meng Qing to sit in the big tent, then said with a smile: “I have read the battle report of Zhongyuan in detail. It was fought very beautifully. In less than a year, they defeated Shuofang in the west and Hedong in the north.”

“This is all due to the superiors, and General Zhao’s good command. I am just following orders.”

Seeing that Meng Qing was neither arrogant nor impatient, Su Sheng admired him even more. While ordering people to prepare wine and food, he said with a smile: “The more I look at you, the more I like you. It’s a pity that my sisters have all been promised to someone else, otherwise I would have to promise one to you.” Su Sheng has many brothers and sisters, and the one who has shown up now is naturally Su Zhan.

In addition, he has three younger sisters and two younger brothers, all of whom are almost adults.

Speaking of sisters, Su Sheng has another sister who has not been promised to anyone. However, one of his sisters was promised to Zhou Liang’s son Zhou Bi, and they are now married.

Since I’m already married to the Zhou family, it would be difficult for me to marry into the Meng family.

Others may not know, but Su Sheng knows it clearly. Although the Meng family only has one young man named Meng Qing who appears in public, and Meng Hai who works in the Nine Departments, in fact, the Meng family is also responsible for the minting of coins in the entire Jiangdong capital.

This is of great concern.

Even though Su Sheng knew very well that Li Yun was a very magnanimous person and would not say much about it, people still have to consider the future.

When it is full, it will be empty.

After the two of them exchanged a few words, Su Sheng asked, “General Meng, your…”

“The vanguard has arrived in Cangzhou. The follow-up troops will arrive in Cangzhou within three or four days, a total of 50,000 people.”

“As ordered by the superiors, all are handed over to the general for command.”

“it is good!”

Su Sheng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: “I have been wanting to take action for a while, but I was short of troops. Now the reinforcements have arrived.”

“Finally I can show my skills.”

Meng Qing nodded first, then asked, “How do you plan to fight, General?”

“how to spell?”

Su Sheng narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice: “In the entire Hebei Province, except for the Pinglu Army, any other forces are our enemies. We must conquer all the prefectures and counties in Hebei Province bit by bit.”

“The Fanyang Army will bear the brunt of this!”

Meng Qing frowned and whispered: “General, I’m afraid we have no reason to do so. After all, the Fanyang Army lost a great general…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Su Sheng sneered: “There are more people with the surname Xiao than Xiao Heng in Hebei Province. Xiao Heng colluded with the Khitans and murdered his father. His crime is extremely heinous.”

“There is another son of Xiao Xian in Qingzhou. We can borrow him to use. In his name, we can avenge his father and attack Xiao Heng.”

…………

Central Plains, Chenzhou.

At the gate of Chenzhou, Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Chenzhou, dressed in his official uniform, stood at the gate respectfully, bowed to a middle-aged man who jumped off his horse, and said with a smile: “General Zhao, thank you for your hard work on the journey.”

At this time, in Chenzhou, or in the Central Plains, the only general with the surname Zhao who could make Liu Zhiyuan so servile could be Zhao Cheng, the general of the Jiangdong Army.

Zhao Cheng jumped off his mount, looked up at the city, and then took a deep breath.

“Zhao is only a general, not a great general.”

“Shijun Liu.”

He looked at Liu Zhiyuan and asked, “Where is my sister?”

One of Zhao Cheng’s sisters married in Chenzhou. Something happened in her family in her early years and the two siblings lost contact. It was only when he conquered Chenzhou last time that he began to look for his sister.

Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Chenzhou, helped in the search, but just as they found him, the war broke out again on the front line. Zhao Cheng led his troops to the battle before he had time to recognize him.

At this time, the Central Plains had been basically pacified and the army was relatively stable, so Zhao Cheng rode over overnight, wanting to see his sister whom he had not seen for many years.

Liu Zhiyuan bowed his head and saluted: “General Zhao, please follow me.”

After saying this, he paused and whispered, “General, Sister Jin… may be in a bleak situation recently, you must be mentally prepared…”

Zhao Cheng’s hands trembled and he didn’t say anything.

Liu Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment and whispered.

“After your father got into trouble, your sister’s husband’s family divorced her in order to distance themselves from the matter.”

“Mother and her two children were all driven out of the house…”

At this time, in the Central Plains,

(End of this chapter)