Thief Emperor

Chapter 1093 Lord Lu

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li chuckled.

"Good or bad is always determined by comparison."

He looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "I know what Brother Shouyi means. As long as people have selfish desires, it is impossible to be fair. There will always be someone who is relatively worse off."

He thought for a moment and continued, "However, most ordinary people's basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are better than yours and mine now, as for daily entertainment."

He exclaimed, "They far surpass you and me."

Upon hearing this, Du Qian remained silent for a long time. After a while, he let out a long sigh and said with a wry smile, "Such a prosperous era is something I could never have imagined."

He looked at Li Yun and murmured, "If ordinary people in this world were to surpass His Majesty as he is now, what kind of lives would kings, nobles, and generals lead?"

Emperor Li was taken aback upon hearing this, then shook his head and smiled wryly: "I don't know either."

He looked at Du Qian and sighed, "I've never seen him before."

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Du's gaze shifted, and he looked at Li Yun.

At this moment, many thoughts were racing through his mind. He even imagined what His Majesty would have been like if he had lived in that world…

He's just an ordinary person.

Perhaps, he'll be slightly better than the average person?
However, he ultimately couldn't say those words aloud. He simply thought for a moment and asked, "If we continue down Your Majesty's path, will our dynasty ever reach such a day?"

"That probably won't work."

Emperor Li said very seriously, "I have thought about this issue."

"This is a process that can easily take hundreds of years, and even if what you and I are doing can shorten that process, I think..."

His Majesty the Emperor looked up at the outside of the palace, somewhat lost in thought: "I think, one day, when someone overthrows this dynasty, perhaps... perhaps such a day will come."

At this point, the emperor and his minister exchanged a glance, both filled with mixed emotions.

The only difference was that the two of them were feeling differently.

After chatting for a while, Du Qian finally snapped out of his fantasy about the other world. He smiled at Li Yun and said, "When the time is right, I really want to hear about the world Your Majesty once saw."

After saying that, he changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, this matter in Jiangdong is of great importance or small importance. If we let the scholars of Jiangnan handle it themselves, it will probably end up being a case of muddling through."

Li Yun glanced at him and said calmly, "This matter didn't require the court to get involved, nor did it require Yao Xiang's men to get involved. Zhang Sui could have handled it himself. If he had handled it, there would have been no need for the court to send an imperial envoy, right?"

“It’s not like the Jinling government office doesn’t have soldiers.”

Emperor Li said calmly, "Moreover, Zhang Sui is well aware of our attitudes toward the new policies. With you, his tutor, supporting him in the court, and me, his backer, why would he be so hesitant in his actions?"

"To put it bluntly, it's because they're afraid of offending people."

Emperor Li looked at Du Qian and said, "Your student has quite the ambition."

Du Qian nodded and said helplessly, "Zhang Sui has become much more shrewd than before after serving as the Vice Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture for a few years."

Emperor Li sneered, "A scholar? Does learning new things mean he's no longer a scholar? Reading books has somehow created a hierarchy of social status."

"Is this how the sages taught them their knowledge?"

At this point, Emperor Li glanced at Du Qian and said calmly, "Brother Shouyi, there's no need to worry. After the imperial envoy is dispatched, I will send someone else to Jinling to see how they handle their duties."

Du Qian was taken aback and asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to send someone from the Nine Departments?"

Li Yun shook his head: "These are matters of the imperial court, and naturally people are chosen from among the court officials. I understand these matters very well."

"For more than ten years, when has the Nine Departments ever interfered in state affairs?"

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Those former Zhou rebels were all handed over to the Three Judicial Offices after the Nine Departments captured them."

After thinking for a moment, Lord Du suddenly remembered someone and exclaimed, "It's Lord Lu!"

Li Yun clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Brother Shouyi is truly my confidant!"

Lu Bing, the younger brother of Consort Lu and brother-in-law of Li Yun, is currently on the Jiangdong Salt Road Transport Commissioner's route. He was assigned to the Salt Road during the Emperor's eastern tour in the eighth year of Zhangwu and took over the salt administration from the Zhuo family.

It has been three years now.

In three years, Lu Bing did a very good job in the salt trade. During these three years, the Jiangdong salt trade alone generated an additional million strings of cash in revenue.

For this achievement, the imperial court bestowed upon Lu Bing the title of Marquis of Ruyin.

Ruyin is the ancient name for Luzhou.

The reason Lu Bing was granted a marquisate was not only because he did well in the salt trade, but mainly because he was the only male heir in the Lu family in this generation. His two sisters had both entered the palace and become concubines of Li Yun, and both had given birth to princes.

Based on this, Li Yun should have granted him a marquisate. However, because Lu Bing has always been diligent in his duties, he cannot be simply regarded as a powerful relative of the emperor. He is more like a down-to-earth official in the court.

That's why he was never granted a noble title.

The claim that the Salt Commissioner had outstanding achievements was just an excuse; ultimately, it was because he was the only brother-in-law recognized by His Majesty the Emperor.

Of course, he did a very good job in the salt trade, earning more than a million strings of cash in three years. The Zhuo family did not embezzle that much money back then.

He had compiled a lot of information from various stages of the process. Moreover, following Li Yun's instructions, he also increased the income of the salt farmers in those salt fields by 50%, resulting in an actual increase of far more than a million strings of cash.

Du Qian smiled and said, "At this time, it is indeed Marquis Lu who should go."

Emperor Li clapped his hands and said calmly, "We'll just wait for a reply in Luoyang. Zhang Sui is a scoundrel. Once he gets back to Luoyang, we'll teach him a lesson."

Zhang Sui was a disciple of Prime Minister Du. The fact that His Majesty the Emperor spoke ill of him in front of Prime Minister Du shows that he was not truly angry with him yet.

Otherwise, he wouldn't say a word.

Minister Du nodded and said, "Zhang Sui has a wide range of knowledge. He knows the Tibetan language and script. After the events in Jiangdong are over, Your Majesty can transfer him to the Ministry of Rites and send him as an envoy to Tibet."

Emperor Li was speechless.

"You're such a heartless teacher."

…………

One month later, in Jinling City.

Zhang Sui stood at the gate of Jinling City, followed by a group of officials from Jinling and Jiangdong.

At this time, the sun was blazing, and it was the autumn heatwave. Although it was morning, the heat was already intense. Zhang Sui stood in the shade, with servants fanning him, but even so, he was still sweating profusely.

It wasn't until noon that a sedan chair slowly approached Jinling City. Zhang Sui hurriedly went to greet it. When it got closer, he saw a middle-aged man of about forty-four or forty-five years old. The man bent down and got out of the sedan chair. Zhang Sui stepped forward, cupped his hands repeatedly, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency has had a long journey."

The middle-aged man looked at Zhang Sui, a smile spreading across his face, and said with a laugh, "Brother Gongda, now that you've become a high-ranking official, you don't recognize me anymore?"

This middle-aged man's surname was Qin, given name Tong, courtesy name Zongyuan. He was the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, which meant he was Xu Xianggong's right-hand man.

The Vice Censor-in-Chief is the deputy of the Censorate, holding the rank of lower fourth grade.

This level of official in the capital is already quite high, and they are also officials in the Censorate who speak out against wrongdoing. In addition, the Grand Censor Xu is now frequently on duty in the Secretariat, so most of the affairs of the Censorate are handled by these two Vice Censors.

Normally, someone of his rank wouldn't be sent to a local area to get involved in this matter, but His Majesty the Emperor gave the order to have Yao Xiangong's protégé take charge of it.

Qin Tong was a student of Yao Xiangong and one of the first officials to enter officialdom after Li Yun became King of Wu. He was from Wuzhou, so it was only natural that he became a disciple of Yao Xiangong and has remained so ever since.

Zhang Sui bowed to him and said with a smile, "Brother Zongyuan is now an imperial envoy, in charge of affairs in Jiangdong Province. I am just a subordinate official, how dare I presume to claim a relationship with him?"

In terms of background and rank, Zhang Sui was actually no worse than Qin Tong. Moreover, Qin Tong was a "special" imperial envoy who did not inspect local areas; he was only responsible for handling this case of kidnapping officials in Jiangnan.

Therefore, Zhang Sui was not afraid of Qin Zhongcheng investigating him.

Originally, Zhang Sui didn't even need to come out of the city to greet him, but in order to get rid of this troublesome matter, Zhang Sui still tried his best to lower his posture.

Qin Zhongcheng shook his head and sighed, "I was doing a good job in the Censorate, and now, out of nowhere, who wants to get involved in this?"

He looked at Zhang Sui and complained, "It's because you, Brother Gongda, are unwilling to put in the effort; otherwise, why would I have made this trip?"

Zhang Sui sighed deeply: "Although I am a disciple of Prime Minister Du, I am also a native of Jiangdong."

Qin Zhongcheng's eyes widened: "Does that mean I'm not a person from Jiangdong?"

The two men exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. After catching up, Zhang Sui invited Qin Zhongcheng to rest at the Jinling Prefecture government office in Jinling City.

After the two men sat down in the main hall, Zhang Sui poured Qin Zhongcheng a cup of tea and said, "I have prepared a welcome banquet for Brother Zongyuan. Let's rest for a while and then go have some drinks."

Qin Tong looked at Zhang Sui and said solemnly, "Brother Gongda has been in Jinling for many years. You must help me this time."

Zhang Sui looked at him and asked, "What did His Majesty say?"

Qin Zhongcheng said with a wry smile, "His Majesty didn't say anything, only that he would handle the matter according to the law."

Zhang Sui frowned and shook his head, saying, "This is troublesome."

Just as he was about to speak, a minor official from Jinling Prefecture stepped forward quickly, bowed to the two men, and said, "Your Excellency."

"Lord Lu requests an audience outside the mansion."

"Lord Lu?"

Qin Tong still had some questions, but Zhang Sui had already stood up hastily, almost swallowing a mouthful of tea, and hurriedly said.

"Please come quickly..."

He only said two words before putting down his teacup, finally swallowing the tea in his mouth, and turning to Qin Zhongcheng with his hands clasped, saying, "Brother Zongyuan, please rest a moment, I will go and greet you."

Seeing his expression, Qin Tong thought for a moment and realized who this "Lord Lu" was. He stood up and blinked.

"Is it Lord Lu?"

"Which other Lord Lu could it be?"

Zhang Sui walked out with a wry smile.

Qin Tong strode forward.

“I will go with my brother Gongda to greet him, let’s go together to greet him.”

(End of this chapter)