Thief Emperor

Chapter 159 Smoke and dust rising everywhere!
Such a large-scale rebellion occurred in Shan County. Logically, if the magistrate died in the line of duty, it would be fine. But if he ran away, he would definitely be held accountable by the court, and perhaps his entire family would suffer as well.

Li Yun had never thought that there would be local officials from the imperial court in Shan County. When he heard that the county magistrate of Shan County had returned, he became curious and immediately asked Li Zheng to bring the person in.

This was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a handsome appearance and quite young. After seeing Li Yun, he was very polite and bowed to Li Yun and said, "General Li."

Li sat in the main seat without moving, but motioned him to sit down, and said with a smile: "What's your name?"

"My last name is Zhuo, Zhuo Guangrui."

County Magistrate Zhuo bowed his hands, sighed, and said, "I am the magistrate of Shan County for the imperial court. I never thought I would make such a big mistake. I am extremely ashamed."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Does Magistrate Zhuo have any proof?"

Zhuo Guangrui quickly pulled out the county magistrate's seal from his sleeve and handed it to Li Yun. Li didn't know how to tell the authenticity of these things. After taking a look, he saw that it didn't look fake, so he put it aside and said with a smile, "It looks like he really is the magistrate of Shan County."

"Since County Magistrate Zhuo has escaped, why did he come back? Isn't this just giving me credit?"

Mr. Li smiled and said, "I will have Magistrate Zhuo tied up now and hand him over to the court for trial. Is Magistrate Zhuo satisfied?"

"Of course I am convinced."

Magistrate Zhuo looked up at Li Yun, took a deep breath, and said, "General Li, after hearing that Shan County had been liberated, Zhuo rushed here from another place just for this matter."

"If this matter is not handled properly, I will not be able to serve in the court in the future, and I am afraid I will not even be able to travel with this identity. Therefore, I would like to ask General Li for a favor."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Please write in the report to the court that Zhuo actively contacted your army and helped them enter Shan County, and made contributions in the process of recovering Shan County."

Li Yun sighed and said, "Zhuo Zhixian, it has been seven or eight days since Shan County was restored. I have already reported the specific situation to General Su, and General Su has probably also reported it to the court."

"Moreover."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It seems that I have no obligation to help County Magistrate Zhuo."

"After submitting the report, you can also submit a more detailed report. I can write this report on behalf of General Li and write a detailed account of the process of the royal army entering the city. I do not seek credit, but only to atone for my crime."

"As for...as for why General Li helped me."

He looked up at Li Yun and held up three fingers: "I am willing to pay 30,000 strings of cash to support General Li in suppressing the bandits!"

Seeing Li Yun stunned, County Magistrate Zhuo quickly said, "General Li, please don't misunderstand. My family is a wealthy family in Jiangdong. This money is my family property, not earned while serving as county magistrate."

"The main reason for losing money is to atone for the sins so as not to bring trouble to the family."

Li Yun was stunned.

Before meeting this County Magistrate Zhuo, he had many plans in mind. He thought that this County Magistrate Zhuo might have come to pick peaches after seeing that Shan County had recovered, or he might have come to Shan County to look for relatives, or even to look for lost family members.

But no one thought that he came to Shan County to escape punishment!

Li stroked his chin, thought for a while, then looked at County Magistrate Zhuo and said, "This matter is of great importance. Let me think about it."

Zhuo Guangrui said quickly: "I know this matter may embarrass General Li. After all, it involves deceiving the emperor. If General Li is not satisfied with this number, we can still discuss it."

"Zhuo no longer seeks an official position. He only hopes that his crimes can be forgiven by the court, and that his family members will not be implicated."

Mr. Li was secretly happy.

For other people, this matter might involve the risk of deceiving the emperor, but for him, there was no such concern because he had no intention of fighting the court or the emperor to the end.

The imperial court is extremely busy now, so who knows if anyone will pay attention to the trivial matters in Shan County. Even if someone does, it may be several years later.

Several years later, the imperial court came back to hold Li accountable for the crime of deceiving the emperor?
Hey, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy then!
Li Yun pretended to be embarrassed and held up five fingers.

"it is good."

County Magistrate Zhuo nodded without hesitation and said, "I will deliver 50,000 strings of cash to General Li within seven days."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Yun, took out a document that had been prepared in advance from his sleeve, placed it in front of Li Yun, and said, "General Li, when can this document be delivered?"

Li Yun took the document and read it through.

It has to be said that these officials are really good at this. The document is beautifully written, well-reasoned and even subtly portrays County Magistrate Zhuo himself as the great hero in the recovery of Shan County.

After reading it, Mr. Li shook his head and said, "I have to write this document myself. County Magistrate Zhuo wrote it too beautifully. If I submit it to the court, the court will not believe it."

"As for when the documents will be written." Li knocked on the table and said calmly, "We'll talk about it in detail after the money arrives."

County Magistrate Zhuo gritted his teeth and said, "General Li now holds the military power. Now that the money has been delivered, do I still have the qualifications to talk to the general?"

"That's what Magistrate Zhuo said."

Li Yun smiled and said, "You actually have no right to talk to me now. I will tie you up now and send you to the court for questioning. You will probably end up with your property confiscated. Jiangdong is in such a mess right now, maybe I will be the one to confiscate your property then."

County Magistrate Zhuo turned pale and dared not speak.

Only then did he realize that this young man who seemed to be obsessed with money was not stupid.

After taking a deep breath, he said, "Then... I'll send half of it over first. What do you think, General Li?"

"Okay."

Li Yun clapped his hands and said, "Send it over first, and then we can talk slowly."

To be honest, Li Yun is still very short of money. If he can earn tens of thousands of strings of cash, then the thousand men under his command won't have to worry about food and wages for at least one or two years.

Of course, the food and wages for these one thousand men are still paid by the imperial court, so Li Yun does not need to pay for it himself. However, the standard provided by the imperial court is extremely low, and there is no food allowance. Now, to support these one thousand men, Li Yun has to pay for it out of his own pocket every month.

With 50,000 strings of cash, he won't have to worry for two years.

County Magistrate Zhuo sighed and was about to speak when Chen Da hurried in and said, "Boss, General Su wants you to go to the central army tent. He said he has something to discuss with you!"

Shan County, where Li Yun is now, is not far from Yuezhou. It only takes half a day to get there by horse. After hearing what Chen Da said, Li Yun stood up and looked at County Magistrate Zhuo: "County Magistrate Zhuo, please take your time to consider it. When I come back from the central army, we can discuss this deal slowly."

After saying that, he stood up, walked outside, called Chen Da over, and ordered: "This man is a criminal of the court, keep an eye on him, don't let him run away."

Chen Da responded, and then asked, "Boss, do you want to take the guards with you?"

Li Yun glanced at him and said with a smile: "It's so close, why do I need a guard?"

"I'm leaving right away. If you need anything, please find Zhou Liang and Shou Hou."

Chen Da responded and watched Li Yun jump on his horse and disappear into the distance. Then he went back and looked after Zhuo Guangrui according to Li Yun's instructions.

Li rode his horse all the way to Yuezhou City. At dusk, he saw a large group of tents set up outside the city from afar. After he stepped forward to show his identity, a lieutenant quickly took him to the large tent in the middle.

After it was completely dark, Li Yun entered the central military tent and met Su Jing, whom he hadn't seen for more than a month.

General Su looked a little haggard compared to the last time they met, but he was in good spirits. When he looked up and saw Li Yun coming in, he waved to Li Yun and said, "No need to salute, sit down and talk."

After Li Yun sat down, he spoke: "Shan County fought well. They captured the county with such little casualties. It was very impressive."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It took me a month to get used to it. I already have it all figured out, so it's not hard to fight."

As he said that, he looked at Su Jing and asked, "The general asked me to come here, isn't it to praise me a few words?"

"I am preparing to intensify the attack on Yuezhou. If the offensive gets intense, Zhao Cheng in Qiantang may get restless, and the rebels in Yuezhou may break out. When the time comes, they will be desperate and flee in any direction. Your Shan County may become their target."

"I called you here so that you can prepare early."

Li Yun was stunned, then frowned and said, "Did the court issue an order to the general, urging him to fight like this?"

Su Jing shook his head slightly and frowned, "He didn't urge me to fight like this, but he said something else."

He lowered his head to drink tea and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It has been abnormally hot these past two years. It has not rained in the Central Plains for several months, and no crops can grow at all."

"It was like this last year. If it continues like this this year, there will definitely be chaos. There are already tens of thousands of refugees in the Central Plains."

Li Yun frowned and asked, "Is there anyone who wants to rebel?"

"No."

General Su lowered his eyebrows and said slowly: "They are already rebelling."

"Even if the Yuezhou Rebellion ends immediately and the army suppresses the rebellion..."

“It won’t disband.”

(End of this chapter)