Thief Emperor

Chapter 1101 Changes in People's Hearts
It was now October of the fourteenth year of Zhangwu, and only two months remained until the original five-year deadline.

At this critical juncture, even Zhang Sui, the governor of Jiangdong, had returned to Luoyang. In fact, the overall situation of Jiangdong had already been laid out on Li Yun's desk.

However, what you see on the table is just a number after all.

Having been emperor for so many years, Li Yun now controls so many resources and manpower that even he himself sometimes can't remember them all.

In recent years, the imperial court has focused on new policies, and various forces have been vying for power in Jiangdong. Emperor Li naturally wouldn't just look at these official figures.

In fact, there were people from Jiangdong Sanlu who were openly communicating with him.

Zhang Sui, representing the local government, as well as the Jiangnan Division of the Nine Offices, and Lu Bing of the Salt Commissioner's Office.

As for who else was lurking in the shadows, what messages they sent to His Majesty the Emperor, and how many messages they sent, no one could say for sure.

Because of these overt and covert connections, the local government offices of the Li Tang dynasty have so far remained quite subservient to the central government, or rather, to Li Yun.

In the fifteen years that followed, no particularly outrageous cases of deceiving the emperor occurred.

Of course, the emperor was far away and had limited manpower. It's possible that someone had already tricked him, but he just hadn't discovered it yet.

Now that Lu Bing has returned, Li Yun no longer needs to look at the figures reported by the local government, but can instead ask him in detail about some local matters in Jiangdong.

Lu Bing had served as the salt commissioner for six years and had become very familiar with people in Jiangdong. He was well acquainted with local officials and gentry, and could answer Li Yun's questions fluently.

When asked about the next part, Emperor Li put his grandson down on the ground and said with a smile, "This little monkey is really making a fuss."

As he spoke, he looked at Lu Bing and asked, "How's the voyage going?"

"Much more than in previous years."

Lu Bing lowered his head and said, "In recent years, there have been more cloth shops in Jiangdong, and more merchant ships have been going out to sea, mainly to do business in Japan and Southeast Asia."

Emperor Li hummed in agreement, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Lu Bing looked at Li Yun and continued, "Some of the salt merchants I know have switched to maritime shipping, while others also run cloth and silk workshops at home."

"The textile industry has made great progress."

Emperor Li remained deep in thought, not speaking. After a while, he came to his senses and shook his head slightly: "The Jiangdong Maritime Trade Office has submitted all the figures. They did a good job last year; it's already more than the year the Crown Prince was in Jiangdong."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Lu Bing and said with a smile, "In the past year or two, I've been thinking about whether it's possible to assemble a fleet to go to sea."

Lu Bing immediately said, "There are several shipping companies in Jiangdong that can build large ships, and their business has been very good in recent years. I can help Your Majesty and the court to make contact."

Emperor Li shook his head slightly: "I don't want to go to the East or the South Seas to do business, but I want to go to a more distant place."

"Go and bring something back."

Lu Bing was somewhat taken aback.

He looked at Li Yun, somewhat confused about Emperor Li's meaning.

"You'll stay in Luoyang from now on, but if you have some free time, I'd like you to find a skilled seaman to help me with this mission."

Lu Bing first bowed his head and answered, "Yes," then asked, "Your Majesty... what is Your Majesty looking for?"

We'll talk about that later.

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "In short, they are several fine treasures."

Li Yun had been thinking about this for a long time. He wanted to find that distant continent and bring back some crops from it.

The most important ones are corn, sweet potatoes, and cotton...

And tobacco.

If I remember correctly, all of these items are on that continent.

The first three items, although still requiring a long period of domestication, can greatly improve people's livelihoods if they can be planted on a large scale.

Especially cotton.

In this era, there was no cotton, let alone cotton cloth. People mostly wore hemp clothing, which was much worse than cotton cloth.

In winter, there are no cotton-padded coats to speak of.

As for tobacco... that's even better. In the future, it will most likely become the most important export of the entire Tang Dynasty, becoming another top-selling and highly profitable commodity after silk, tea, and glass.

Therefore, Emperor Li was determined to bring these things back and cultivate them on a large scale.

In fact, he had sent out two fleets in recent years, both equipped with firearms, but one of the fleets soon encountered storms and returned empty-handed.

There has been no news about the other fleet so far.

Lu Bing had been in Jiangdong for many years, and Li Yun was thinking that he would have his brother-in-law help with these matters in the future.

Thinking of this, Li Yun looked at Lu Bing and said with a smile, "You've done a great job on the salt route. The court will reward you later. What official position do you want to hold in the future?"

Lu Bing lowered his head: "Your Majesty, I will obey your orders."

Emperor Li stroked his chin and said, "The Right Vice Minister of Revenue will be leaving next year. How about you take up the post of Vice Minister of Revenue?" Lu Bing was somewhat surprised. He knelt on the ground and looked up at Li Yun, "Your Majesty, I, I..."

"Am I capable of doing this?"

"The affairs of the salt route are not much simpler than those of the Ministry of Revenue. You have been training in the salt route for six years, and now you are qualified and old enough to become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue without any problem."

Emperor Li thought for a moment and said, "You should pay attention to the matters about going to sea that I just told you. Once you have a suitable candidate, go and find Prince Zheng. Prince Zheng is currently handling all these miscellaneous matters."

Prince Zheng was Li Cang, the third son of Li Yun.

When Li Yun first conferred the title of prince upon him, he considered that starting with him, he would be granted the title of county prince, and subsequent princes would be granted titles at his discretion.

Later, Li Zheng and Li Feng both came to him and said that among all the princes, only three princes were capable of serving the country. Since the third prince had come out to do things, he should not be treated unfairly.

Furthermore, the princes of the founding emperor are of higher status, so it is advisable to actively enfeoff princes at this time to expand the influence of the Li family.

Li Yun accepted his brothers' suggestion and appointed Li Cang as the King of Zheng.

At this time, King Zheng had been working outside the palace for several years, managing some of the royal family's assets. He was already a calm and steady person, and after several years of experience, he became even more reliable in his work.

By now, he has been able to complete most of the tasks assigned to him by Li Yun, which has made Emperor Li very satisfied with his third son.

As for the second son, Li Zheng, he was enfeoffed as the Prince of Qin two years ago and went to the Guanzhong region.

Upon hearing Li Yun's words, Lu Bing lowered his head and said, "Your subject understands. Once I have a candidate, I will immediately go to Prince Zheng."

Emperor Li patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You've just returned, so I won't waste any more time with you. Come to the palace to see me again in a few days after you've rested, and we'll have a proper talk."

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at his grandson Su Heng and said with a smile, "Take this little rascal and go find your sister. You and your brother haven't seen each other for several years."

Lu Bing responded, bowed to the emperor, then picked up his grand-nephew who was playing near the emperor's weapon rack, bowed to the emperor again, and carefully withdrew from the Ganlu Hall.

Little Su Heng was held in his arms and did not struggle. He was carried by Lu Bing all the way to Jingren Palace. After being led into Jingren Palace by the palace servants, he soon saw his sister, Consort Lu, whom he had not seen for many years.

At this moment, Consort Lu was talking to the Eldest Princess, and Consort Lu was also nearby with the Twelfth Prince, talking to the mother and daughter. Little Su Heng was put on the ground by him and ran to Consort Lu, calling out "Grandmother".

Empress Lu was looking at her younger brother and ignored her grandson.

Princess Lujiang stepped forward, took her son's hand, and brought him to the twelfth prince, saying with a smile, "Go, go play with your uncle."

The twelfth prince was born in the ninth year of Zhangwu and is now five years old. His relationship with Princess Lujiang is somewhat peculiar; if counted from the maternal line, the two are cousins.

From the father's perspective, however, they are siblings.

The twelfth prince stepped forward, took little Su Heng's hand, and the two little ones, led by Princess Lujiang, went to play on the side.

Empress Lu looked at her brother and wiped away her tears: "So many years have passed, how come you've gotten so much darker?"

"You should go to the salt fields often."

Lu Bing said with a smile, "There's no other way."

He spoke a few more words to Consort Lu, then looked around and asked, "Where is the Fifth Prince?"

"Going to school."

Empress Lu glanced at the time and said, "We won't be back until after noon."

At this point, she smiled and said, "Fifth Prince is the most fond of reading among all the princes. Although he is not very old, he has already been praised by many tutors from the Hanlin Academy in the palace."

Lord Lu nodded slightly.

Empress Lu walked up to Marquis Lu, straightened his clothes, and asked, "You're not leaving again this time, are you? What task does His Majesty intend to give you?"

"Vice Minister of Revenue".

Upon hearing this, the two concubines of the Lu family exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with joy.

Empress Lu said with a smile, "This is good news. Duke Xue has been resting at home for several years and should be reinstated next year. I heard that Minister Zhuo is going to the Ministry of Personnel."

"Go to the Ministry of Revenue at this time."

Empress Lu smiled and said, "I guess you'll be going with Duke Xue. If you go to the Ministry of Revenue together, it will be easier for you to establish yourself."

Upon hearing this, Lord Lu frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed. He asked the two sisters how they had been doing in recent years, chatted for a while, and talked about some things in Jiangnan before getting up to take his leave.

After being escorted out of Jingren Palace by his two sisters, Lord Lu couldn't help but look back at the palace after walking some distance away.

He stared at it for a while before turning his head away, looking slightly lost in thought.

“My sister used to never care about these gains and losses in officialdom.”

He frowned and muttered to himself.

"Could it be because the Fifth Prince has grown up?"

(End of this chapter)