Thief Emperor

Chapter 1004: Pulling and Dropping
In the city of Jinling, a list of dozens of officials arrested by the Emperor was written on a notice and posted throughout the city.

At the end of the notice, there was a sentence added and written by His Majesty the Emperor himself.

"I started from Xuanzhou and prospered in Jinling."

"I swore in those days that I would not allow evil officials to harm any of our people. Now I am back in Jiangdong and I will punish corrupt officials here to fulfill my promise and serve as a warning to others."

After the notice was posted, many people in Jinling gathered to watch, but they could not understand what was written. It was only after a scholar read it out in public that the people of Jinling became excited.

Some people knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the notice, and cried bitterly.

After the Jinling government learned of this, it immediately ordered a stele to be erected and inscribed with the words on the notice and the names of the punished corrupt officials. It was then placed at the gate of the Jinling government office to serve as a warning to future generations.

By this time, at least one hundred officials from the entire Jinling Prefecture and some prefectures and counties in Jiangdong were ordered to be arrested by the Emperor, and they were interrogated and convicted by Prime Minister Yao, Jinling Prefecture, and the Jiangdong Censorate.

For a time, the people of Jiangdong cheered for it.

On the day when the inscription on the Jinling Mansion was erected, the Emperor, who liked to travel in casual clothes, went to watch the fun with Prime Minister Yao. They sat in a private room on the second floor of a restaurant across the road from the government office, drinking while watching a group of craftsmen erect the huge stone tablet.

Li Yun looked for a long time before looking back at Yao Zhong in front of him. He smiled and said, "Sir, did you hear what those young people said just now?"

When the two of them went upstairs, they heard a few scholars downstairs in the restaurant discussing this matter. Most of them disagreed with the inscription.

They all felt that it was just a formality for the government office to go through. At most, when the emperor was around, the Jiangdong officials could feel more at ease. Once the emperor was gone, things would remain the same.

Yao Zhong nodded and said, "Those people don't know what's good for them. Your Majesty... Erlang, you don't have to bother with them."

Li Yun looked at Yao Zhong, who was not sure if he made the slip of the tongue intentionally, and asked, "Sir, do you think what they said makes sense?"

Yao Zhong thought about it seriously, then said seriously.

“There’s some truth to that, but it’s not quite right.”

"No matter whether Jinling Prefecture will be filthy again in the future, it is much better for His Majesty to come here and clean it up personally and erect this inscription than not to have cleaned it up and not erected this inscription."

"and."

Yao Zhong paused and continued, "Your Majesty, during this eastern tour, you only cleared out the termites in Jinling Prefecture and erected this inscription here. So in the future, Jinling Prefecture will definitely be cleaner than other places."

"Even if an official comes here to serve a hundred or two hundred years later and sees this inscription, he will feel a little fear in his heart."

Upon hearing this, the emperor turned his head and looked at the inscription on the stele, as if he had seen what it would look like in a few dozen or even a hundred years. He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then sighed and said, "I'm afraid that someone will take a copy of this stele and go to the capital to file a complaint in the future."

Yao Zhong was also slightly stunned, and then immediately responded: "Even if it is so, it is also a good thing. This inscription was written by your majesty himself. When the emperor of the future sees it, he will have to show some respect."

"In this way, the people of Jinling will have one more divine weapon in the next thousand or hundred years."

His Majesty the Emperor laughed at himself and said, "What's the use of a dead person's words?"

"At most, it can just make people pretend."

Yao Zhong said sternly, "Your Majesty, even if it's just a show, it's better than no show at all, what do you think?"

His Majesty the Emperor reached out and poured him more tea, then said with a smile, "I've already told you that when we go out for a walk, don't keep calling me Your Majesty."

"Walls have ears. If someone hears what you say, it might attract assassins."

Upon hearing this, Yao Zhong quickly lowered his head and apologized.

The emperor looked downstairs again and saw that the inscription had been erected. He then lowered his head, drank a sip of tea, and stood up to leave the teahouse.

After returning to the palace, the emperor brought Yao Zhong to the study to handle today's official business. Before the official business was finished, the emperor smiled at Yao Zhong and said, "We are investigating corrupt officials here, and Luoyang is also investigating corrupt officials, and the momentum is not small."

Yao Zhong was startled at first, but then he became serious. He looked at the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, are the three judicial officials investigating corruption?"

His Majesty the Emperor clapped his hands and smiled, "I will keep it a secret for now. When you return to Luoyang, you will know it naturally."

Although they are thousands of miles away, His Majesty the Emperor has always been keeping abreast of the happenings in Luoyang.

In a sense, he was also watching what was happening in Luoyang City.

The Eastern Palace faction, or the "Prince's party", is destined to become a political force in the court, and they must also become a force of considerable size.

It is even said that in the future, they should become a small court, a small court that can take over at any time. Since it is a matter of time, Emperor Li will not be too restrictive, but will do his best to judge and prevent a certain force in the court from growing abnormally and causing violent turmoil in the court.

As an emperor, your job is to be a good judge.

Besides, with Emperor Li around, the prince's participation in politics will not bring about any earth-shaking changes to the court. The only difference from the past is that the current court has a faction headed by the prince, a new generation of power.

His Majesty the Emperor was just about to talk to Prime Minister Yao about what was happening in Luoyang City when the eunuch Gu Chang stood cautiously outside the door, lowered his head slightly, and said nothing.

The emperor looked at him and asked, "What's the matter?"

Eunuch Gu then walked in cautiously, came near the emperor, and whispered to him: "Your Majesty, there are two things."

He handed the document in his hand to the emperor and said, "The first thing is that Zhuo Hong, the salt administrator of Jiangdong, has embezzled a huge amount of 200,000 strings of cash in just six years as the salt transport envoy. Now the Jinling government has verified the facts and Zhuo Hong has confessed his guilt."

"Jinling Prefecture, please ask your majesty to convict Zhuo Hong."

His Majesty the Emperor was silent for a while, looked at Yao Zhong, and then looked at Gu Chang: "What about the second thing?"

"The second thing is that the local officials of Jiangdong and some noble families have jointly written a letter to Your Majesty, asking him to select beautiful women in Jinling Prefecture to fill your harem."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor smiled dumbly and said, "You really take advantage of every opportunity you find."

He stood up, looked at Yao Zhong with his hands behind his back, and said, "Zhuo Hong's crime is not small. How should he be convicted? Sir and Jinling Prefecture should discuss a charter in the next few days and send it to me."

Yao Xianggong's eyes widened, and he could only bow his head and smiled bitterly, "I obey your command."

His Majesty the Emperor patted Prime Minister Yao on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Just follow the national law. Since I am here, my grace and power come from me. It has nothing to do with you."

Emperor Li has always been very responsible.

Moreover, even if he killed Zhuo Hong, Li Yun would not have any psychological burden.

As for Zhuo Guangrui, it was even more impossible for him to dare to blame him for anything.

However, as the emperor, Li Yun felt it was not easy to directly convict his subordinates. After all, the Zhuo family did make contributions back then.

Therefore, he needed to rely on his ministers to prevent people from saying that Li Er was mean and ungrateful.

Mr. Yao lowered his head and replied, "Yes."

Emperor Li left with his hands behind his back, and said to Gu Chang with a smile: "Go and tell them that there is no need to select a concubine. I will hold a banquet in the imperial city in a while and invite them to dinner."

"When the time comes, all those who are interested can meet at the banquet."

Emperor Li is now in his prime.

Moreover, he was the first generation emperor and had the responsibility and obligation to reproduce the royal family and ensure that the royal family would continue to thrive and be passed down.

Therefore, he would not object to enriching his harem.

Not only did he not object, the empress and concubines in the harem would not object either.

Gu Chang bowed her head deeply: "I understand. I will do it right away."

He quickly turned around and retreated respectfully.

Emperor Li, with his hands behind his back, came to the backyard of the palace. After waiting for a while, his brother-in-law Lu Bing hurried over, half-knelt in front of him, bowed his head and said, "Your Highness, I, Lu Bing, am here to see you, Your Majesty."

The emperor helped him up and asked, "Is the matter in Luzhou over?"

Lu Bing bowed his head and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I have already made all the arrangements."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said straight to the point without any nonsense: "Are you interested in being sent out to be an official?"

Lu Bing was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, I..."

The emperor looked at him and continued, "For me..."

"Become the transport envoy of Jiangdong Salt Road."

(End of this chapter)