Thief Emperor

Chapter 1000 Fulfilling Promises
There was a problem with the Jiangdong Salt Administration, so the court naturally had to deal with it. However, apart from treason, the court no longer implicated others, so the only person to be dealt with this time was Zhuo Hong, the operator of the Jiangdong Salt Road.

In fact, Yang Xi was already on his way to catch someone.

Since the Zhuo family is not implicated, the emperor will not purge them. His Majesty the Emperor intends to reason with them and deal with them according to the laws of the country.

Since it was a matter of national law, there was naturally no room for consideration of personal connections. From the moment Li Yun had the old house in Nanjing returned to the Zhuo family, there was no longer any personal connection between him and the Zhuo family of Wujun.

The incense that the Zhuo family of Wu County used to burn to the big Buddha named Li no longer counted, and from now on, all matters would be handled impartially.

To be more precise, the relationship between Li Yun and Prime Minister Zhuo in the court is still the same as that of monarch and subject for many years, and there is even some friendship between them.

But the relationship between me and Wujun Zhuo, or the old Master Zhuo...

It's all clear now.

After hearing what Li Yun said, Zhuo Guangqing stood there in a daze, then his face turned pale, as if he had lost his parents.

Throughout the ages, no matter which circle or industry, if you want to gain a firm foothold and succeed in this society, to put it bluntly, it all comes down to connections.

Why has the Zhuo family of Wujun been able to prosper over the past ten or twenty years?
To put it bluntly, it is because their family has connections with the emperor, and they also have the support of Prime Minister Zhuo.

But now, with just one sentence, the emperor has severed the relationship between the two families that had lasted for more than ten or twenty years. The present and future prospects of the Zhuo family in Wujun may all become wiped out because of this sentence.

This is not a matter of just one or two generations!

The Zhuo family of Wu County has been planning to become a family closely connected with the country and to become dukes and marquises for generations in recent years!

"His Majesty."

Zhuo Guangqing knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed to the ground, and cried bitterly: "My family contributed a lot to the court in the past, and we have spared no effort in recent years and have been loyal to the court. I really don't know how I have offended Your Majesty..."

He shed tears and said, "Is it because the Zhuo family of Wujun failed to do their job well, or is it because my elder brother made some mistakes in the court that the Zhuo family was implicated? Your Majesty, please tell me clearly, so that even if I die, I can die with a clear conscience."

His Majesty the Emperor frowned, then looked at him and said, "This dynasty cannot implicate others. Even if Prime Minister Zhuo made a mistake in the court, it has nothing to do with your family."

"As for your family's dedication..."

The emperor knocked on the table with his hand and said, "I admit that the Zhuo family did help me and the court a lot in the past. Otherwise, you would not have come here to see me before the officials of Jiangdong, calling yourself a commoner."

"Since we have to settle accounts, let's do it properly."

His Majesty the Emperor stood up, looked at him, and said, "Our two families were indeed good. If your father were still alive, I would definitely go to Wujun to visit him when I arrived in Jiangdong. But after he passed away, the Zhuo family..."

"Still presentable?"

Li Yun was silent for a while, and then continued: "Not counting the money you spent on the salt road, just talking about the territory of Wujun."

"The Zhuo family has done a lot of dirty things over the years, right?"

The emperor said in a cold voice: "For the sake of Mr. Zhuo, I will not bother with your family about the affairs of Wu County. I will only sever all ties with you and handle official matters impartially from now on."

"I have already sent people to investigate the matter on the salt road. Whatever is found out is what we will handle. We will handle all matters impartially."

Zhuo Guangqing knelt on the ground, his face pale and unable to speak for a long time.

He was about to say something else when a palace attendant approached and whispered to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the three officials of Jiangdong Road are all waiting to see you outside the palace."

Jiangdong Dao was the first "dao-level" unit where Li Yun implemented the Three-Commissioner system. Today, the Three-Commissioner yamen system of Jiangdong Dao is already quite complete, consisting of the Provincial Governor, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, and the Defense Commissioner.

Originally, Jinling Prefecture belonged to the East Province of Jiangnan. After Li Yun arrived in Jiangdong, the three envoys of Jiangdong should have been the first to see him. However, after Jinling Prefecture was promoted to a secondary capital, the administrative level was raised too much, and now it no longer belongs to the East Province of Jiangnan.

It is not the seat of government of Jiangnan East Road.

The Sansi Yamen of Jiangdong Road was moved to Wujun.

In fact, the current Jinling Prefecture not only does not belong to Jiangdong Dao, but is almost on the same level as Jiangdong Dao. Even Zhang Sui, the Yin of Jinling and a disciple of Prime Minister Du, has a higher status in Jiangnan than these three Sansi Envoys.

Precisely because Jinling Prefecture does not belong to Jiangdong Province, the three envoys of Jiangdong Province did not come to greet Li Yun when he entered Jinling Prefecture, but arrived late today.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Zhuo Guangqing, waved his hand and said, "Okay, you are old now, there is no need to look so sad. I am not going to confiscate your Zhuo family."

"If you stay calm and do your best in the future, you can live in peace."

In the old days, the Zhuo family provided great help, so when Li Yun returned to Jiangnan, he had no intention of destroying the Zhuo family.

What he was doing now was just fulfilling the conditions he had discussed with Mr. Zhuo before, which was...

Depriving Wujun Zhuo of their hereditary salt administration, that is, the privilege of being the transport envoy of Jiangdong Salt Road. This was something he and Zhuo Guangrui had already agreed on, and since it had already been agreed on, of course they had to get started on it. As for what Wujun Zhuo thought, it didn't matter.

Compared with Zhuo Guangrui, the entire Wujun Zhuo family is not worth mentioning in the eyes of Emperor Li.

"Go back to where you came from."

The emperor said calmly: "I am going to see the foreign ministers."

Zhuo Guangqing stood up stiffly, walked out of the hall in a daze, and looked up to see three familiar envoys from the Three Departments.

Their official office was in Gusu City, Wujun, the same place as the Zhuo family, so they were old acquaintances.

The three officials were also surprised to see Zhuo Guangqing coming out of the emperor's study. A familiar governor came forward and bowed, saying, "Master Zhuo, why are you here?"

Zhuo Guangqing shook his head without saying a word, and stumbled out of the imperial city like a walking corpse.

The three envoys seemed to have guessed something. They looked at each other, took a deep breath, and walked into the emperor's study together. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Your Highness..."

"Kowtow to Your Majesty."

…………

In Jinling Mansion, Zhang Sui looked at the document in his hand, then looked up at Yang Xi in front of him, also dumbfounded: "Lord Yang, this, this..."

"The one your majesty ordered to be taken."

Yang Xi said calmly, "His Majesty has said that Zhang Lingyin should cooperate with me."

Zhang Sui looked at it again and saw that half of the people on the list were officials from Jinling Prefecture.

Today's Jinling Prefecture covers a much larger area than the original Jinling County. After becoming the secondary capital, Jinling Prefecture annexed several nearby prefectures and counties, becoming an administrative region almost at the province level.

As the territory becomes larger, there will naturally be more officials.

After reading it once, Zhang Sui smiled bitterly and said, "Lord Yang, what exactly did they do wrong? Where is the evidence? You can't arrest people without any basis, right?"

"The evidence is still being transcribed."

Yang Xi waved his hands and said impatiently: "It will be sent to Zhang Lingyin soon. Could it be that Yang is going to forge an imperial decree?"

Zhang Sui nodded silently at first, then smiled bitterly and said, "More than half of these people are not officials from Jinling Prefecture, but officials from Jiangnan Province. I don't have the authority to arrest them."

"I have."

Yang Xi grinned and said, "We, the Yulin Army, will arrest the people, and Zhang Lingyin will be responsible for cooperating with the interrogation."

Zhang Sui had no choice but to respond and followed Yang Xi to "follow the map".

This vigorous arrest campaign lasted for three days. First, many officials in Jinling City were arrested and interrogated.

Next came the officials of the entire Jinling Prefecture.

On the fourth day, Yao Zhong, who had returned to his hometown to "show his divine power", finally arrived in Jinling from his hometown to meet the emperor. As soon as he entered Jinling City, before he saw His Majesty the Emperor, he was invited to the Jinling Palace by Jinling Yin Zhang Sui.

In the main hall of Jinling Prefecture, Zhang Sui personally poured tea for Yao Zhong, then bowed to Yao Zhong and said with a wry smile: "Master Yao, Your Majesty is on an eastern tour and has just arrived in Jinling. Why do you start arresting people without any explanation?"

"Let's not talk about anything else. Even if someone is to be arrested, it should be the censor who impeached him and the imperial court who issued an order. It's not right to arrest someone without any reason..."

Zhang Sui looked around, then lowered his voice and said, "Master Yao, isn't Jiusi meddling too much?"

This sentence made Yao Zhong's face change slightly. He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then sighed and said, "Gongda, you and I are not teacher and student, so don't address each other like that."

Zhang Sui, whose courtesy name is Gongda.

He paused and continued, "Yao has also learned something about this matter. According to what you said, Gongda, even though the Nine Departments found out about this matter, they did not arrest the person directly. Instead, Lord Yang arrested the person according to the imperial decree."

"Or rather, it is you, the Jinling Prefecture, who is arresting people."

Zhang Sui wanted to argue after hearing this, but Yao Zhong looked at him and continued, "Moreover, this incident has only occurred in Jinling Prefecture and has not occurred throughout the country. The Nine Departments have not conducted large-scale investigations. Therefore... In my opinion, this is not the Nine Departments exceeding their authority, but Your Majesty..."

"I am fulfilling the promise I made to the people of Jinling."

(End of this chapter)