Thief Emperor

Chapter 1139 The Emperor's Disciple
Taking a trip back to one's hometown to reminisce and recall past hardships is naturally a great pleasure for successful people like Li Yun. However, Li Yun himself is well aware that he needs to re-examine and re-evaluate the new policies he has implemented for five or six years.

This is the most important thing for him during this eastern tour.

Li Yun naturally wanted to push forward with this policy, but he now had some doubts. He needed to see for himself what Jiangdong had become in the past few years, and then work on patching up the existing policies.

His Majesty's imperial edict was quickly issued, and starting the next day, various documents from Jinling Prefecture and Jiangdong Circuit began to be sent to the palace little by little.

The nearest prefecture was Jinling Prefecture, so the next day, several cartloads of documents from Jinling Prefecture were moved into the palace.

These documents are only a part of the whole; the rest of the documents have not yet been fully compiled by Jinling Prefecture.

The following afternoon, in the Zhaoming Hall of the Emperor in the Jinling Imperial Palace, His Majesty the Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the pile of documents in front of him. He then turned to Du Qian beside him and said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi enjoys reading; you are truly blessed now."

Du Xiangong looked at the document in front of him, and even he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Too much, too much."

Emperor Li took a document from his desk, handed it to Du Qian, and said with a smile, "This is a summary of the statistics from Jinling Prefecture. It's relatively simple, and all the figures are clear at a glance. As for the other documents..."

"Just take a look."

The emperor, with his hands behind his back, said, "If we ignore it, they won't take it seriously."

Emperor Li glanced at the documents and said calmly, "Isn't there an official academy in Jinling, and a branch of the Imperial Academy in Luoyang? These students are the most reliable and capable, and they are young and passionate."

His Majesty the Emperor said with a smile, "If all else fails, Brother Shouyi, you can go and take a look around tomorrow. First, meet with them, and second, select a few dozen people to come here and look through the books to help us check the accounts."

"Remember to find those who are good at math."

At this point, Emperor Li stroked his chin and continued, "We won't use them for nothing. We'll provide them with meals in this palace, and reward them for their good work."

Upon hearing this, Minister Du chuckled and said, "Then how about giving each person three strings of cash per month?"

Emperor Li shook his head and said, "Three thousand coins won't do. That's too little."

Minister Du shook his head and said, "Serving His Majesty, let alone paying them, even if they weren't paid, they wouldn't complain."

The two old brothers sat together, pondered for a while, and finally decided that Du would bring some cheap laborers over tomorrow to help with the accounting. Then the two looked at the general ledger sent by Jinling Prefecture, sat down together, and did a rough calculation themselves.

After a rough calculation, there were no major problems. Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, in a few days, should we go to the Maritime Trade Office in Jinling to see how many merchant ships are coming and going, what the situation is, and also the local workshops and factories?"

At this time, some small-scale textile factories in Jiangnan East Circuit and Jinling Prefecture were beginning to take shape, but they were not called factories at this time, but workshops.

It's the place where everyone works together.

The emperor shook his head and said, "Now that we've arrived in Jinling, we won't be able to see them if we go down to check ourselves. I've already sent people over to confirm these things."

Minister Du was taken aback, but then he understood.

"Deputy General Xue."

Li Yun hummed in agreement: "The local government officials lied to me, but the Nine Departments might not lie to me. Even if the Nine Departments were to lie, Xue Gui is my nephew, but it's unlikely that he would lie to me."

As for Li Yun himself, he had many confidants, and from an emotional point of view, Li Yun felt that these confidants were unlikely to deceive him.

However, an emperor cannot think that way. Being suspicious might be a flaw for an ordinary person, but for an emperor, it is an essential professional quality.

He had to confirm some important information and strategic details with multiple parties.

The emperor pulled Du Qian to sit down, then looked at him and said with a smile, "Wu Qingzheng, the Junior Magistrate of Jinling, Sun Maocai, the County Magistrate under him, and Zhou Bing, the Prefect of Changzhou."

"These three people..."

His Majesty the Emperor paused for a moment, then continued, "In a few days, Cao Yu will arrive in Jinling. Brother Shouyi, please work hard with Cao Yu to take care of all three of them."

Minister Du was only slightly taken aback before he came to his senses. He knew that His Majesty already had clear evidence of the three men's crimes. He said in a daze, "If Your Majesty wants to arrest people, you can just have Cao Yu cooperate with the local government to arrest them directly. Why go through all this trouble and come here in person?"

"That's different."

His Majesty the Emperor chuckled and said, "This is just a little trick of mine."

"When we left Jinling and moved to Luoyang, we didn't make Jinling the capital. The people of Jinling inevitably felt resentful. Moreover, we've been in Jiangdong for so many years, and the people of Jiangdong and Jinling are the most supportive of us."

"I feel a little bad for them."

His Majesty the Emperor said quietly, "I'll deal with these three parasites after I arrive. That way, the people of Jiangdong will at least remember some of the benefits we've done for them, won't they?" Prime Minister Du said speechlessly, "Your Majesty truly always thinks of the people."

"There's no need for such empty talk."

The emperor waved his hand and laughed, "I just felt guilty and wanted to find an opportunity to make amends. To put it bluntly, this is selfish and has nothing to do with the people."

"Moreover, these three are truly despicable."

His Majesty the Emperor narrowed his eyes and said, "According to the information obtained by the Nine Departments, these three people colluded with local merchants to manipulate the new policies, and even tried to extend their reach into the Maritime Trade Office. In just a few years, they took away hundreds of thousands of strings of cash."

"This time, we'll make an example of them and bring them to justice."

"To serve as a warning to others."

Du Xiangong nodded, then smiled and said, "It's quite rare that the three chief offices of Jiangdong and the prefectural government of Jinling didn't get involved."

The emperor gave Du Qian a long look.

Du Qian immediately understood, somewhat surprised: "Your Majesty..."

His Majesty the Emperor narrowed his eyes and said, "Since their subordinates have all taken these positions, how can they not? It's just that these positions all offer promising prospects, so they've been relatively more restrained."

"Considering that they have not exploited the people or undermined the court's new policies, we will not hold them accountable for now and wait and see how they behave."

The imperial court was very particular about investigating corruption.

The line here is not whether you were greedy or not.

This boundary isn't even whether or not someone reports it.

It's not about whether you've offended anyone.

If you offend someone, and you can't afford to offend them, then naturally you'll meet your demise.
Offending people can be categorized into several types. If it's about offending a specific person, then there's no need to elaborate. However, if it involves ruining important matters of the court, affecting the court's plans, or disrupting or hindering the development of national affairs, then it's about offending someone.

That would mean offending the country and His Majesty the Emperor.

This is a red line; it cannot be crossed.

As for other misdeeds, as long as they are not too excessive, do not undermine the court's new policies, and the person is useful to the new policies, then His Majesty the Emperor can still tolerate them.

The two chatted for a while about the current state of officialdom in Jiangdong. After thinking for a moment, Prime Minister Du said, "In the eighth year of Zhangwu, Cao Yu exposed the corruption case of the seventh year of Zhangwu. In order to protect him, His Majesty sent him to a local post. Before we knew it, seven or eight years had passed."

"Now, Cao Yu must have... been tempered and honed."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "Over the years, the guards of the nine departments around him have been rotated several times. But fortunately, he has not let my efforts go to waste. In the past seven or eight years, he has inspected the local areas and dealt with about twenty officials in the three circuits of Jiangnan, making the local officials in Jiangnan tremble with fear."

"The administration was also cleaned up."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "It's not much different from when Xu Ziwang was in Jiangdong."

Minister Du said with a smile, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, after years of honing your sword, you have finally seen its sharpness."

The emperor stroked his chin and said, "This time, take him back to Luoyang. Let him train in the court for a few more years, and he can be a pillar of the state in the future."

Du Qian nodded silently.

He knew that His Majesty the Emperor's painstaking efforts were not simply to cultivate talent, but in fact to cultivate a prime minister.

His Majesty the Emperor is already selecting the second or even third generation of the Council of State.

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at Du Qian, seemingly understanding the meaning in his expression, and said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi, please take good care of him during this time."

"Maybe we can take on another student."

Du Qian waved his hand and said with a smile.

"This is a true disciple of the emperor."

"I dare not accept you as my disciple."

(End of this chapter)