Thief Emperor

Chapter 190 Troops march into Luoyang!

The Jiangdong Surveillance Commissioner was already the highest-ranking official in the local area, bar none.

In fact, the position of Inspector has only been around in recent decades. When the central court of the Great Zhou was strong, both the Inspector and the Jiedushi were non-permanent positions. In recent decades, as the national strength has gradually declined, permanent officials such as Inspectors and Jiedushi have become necessary to maintain the court's rule over the local states.

But no matter what, Zheng Wei is now a big shot.

The fact that he could sit in this position in the imperial court showed that he had the full support of the Zheng family. It also showed that he should be from the main branch of the Zheng family, or at least not far from the main branch.

In this era, everyone regarded aristocratic families as idols. Everyone felt that the members of these aristocratic families were of noble birth. If she were the legitimate daughter of Zheng, the prime minister of the time would probably compete to marry her.

Although the nieces that Zheng Yu mentioned here were most likely distant nieces and unlikely to be the legitimate daughters of the main branch of the Zheng family, for someone of Li Yun's status and background, it was already a great honor for him to be proposed to in marriage by Zheng Yu.

If Mr. Li was a native of this era, if he was really an ordinary general who had read a little, he would probably be extremely excited and would bow down to the emperor.

But Li Yun has a different soul.

He did not think much of the so-called aristocratic families of this era, and even had some aversion to them. After all, he had actually met many people from aristocratic families over the past year, including Pei Huang and Cui Shao, both of whom were so-called noblemen who looked down upon ordinary people.

Not to mention that he still had an agreement with Miss Xue. Even if he didn't have this agreement, he would not be willing to marry a woman and bring her home to support her for the rest of her life.

However, when Zheng Wei brought up the matter, Li Yun had other ideas.

The biggest reason why these aristocratic families have been able to survive for hundreds or even thousands of years is because of two words.

Sitting on the fence!

They have their own farmhands and ancestral homes, and have a certain ability to protect themselves in the face of war, disasters and unrest. Moreover, once the chaos in the world is settled, they will be the first to pay homage to the new king.

When a new emperor has just established his rule over the world, he most needs the support of the scholars and aristocratic families in order to legitimize his rule. Therefore, these aristocratic families will often continue to be valued by the new dynasty and will continue to prosper in the new dynasty.

Moreover, because there are people serving as officials in the imperial court in every generation, these aristocratic families with hundreds or thousands of years of history are far more well-informed than ordinary people.

Relying on the information gap, they can be ahead of ordinary people and make their own judgments.

For example, now.

Although the Great Zhou Dynasty is now riddled with holes, it still looks bright and beautiful on the surface, and there seems to be no sign of its demise.

However, these well-informed clans had already noticed something was wrong and began to take their own actions. For example, Zheng Wei, Li Yun's superior, came to Yuezhou in person and used the women of his clan to win over Li Yun.

What for?
Naturally, it was not because they thought Li Yun had the qualities of a true dragon that they placed their bets on him early, but because Li Yun had military power.

Although there are only a thousand people now, if the world is in chaos, this will be a considerable force.

They can use these recruited troops to ensure the safety of their families in troubled times, thus surviving the chaos and waiting for the arrival of a new dynasty, ensuring that they can serve the new dynasty safely.

As for the price paid, it was nothing more than one or two daughters of the clan Pangzhi, and at most a little bit of resource support. For the Zheng family with a deep foundation, it was nothing.

This is what made Li Yun fall into deep thought.

As the saying goes, a duck knows first when the river water warms in spring. The "prophetic ducks" like the Zheng family have already expressed to Li Yun their assessment of the current situation.

The Zheng family's assessment results are expected to be much more pessimistic than Li Yun's own assessment.

From Li Yun's perspective, the Great Zhou Dynasty should have another 10 to 20 years before it reaches its end, by which time the world will be in chaos and many heroes will fight for supremacy.

Judging from Zheng Wei's performance, the actual situation may be much worse than Li Yun expected.

Maybe in the next few years, or even starting from next year, the world may be in chaos!

"General Lee."

Zheng Wei took a sip of wine, looked at Li Yun who was in a daze, and said with a smile: "Why are you stunned?"

Li Yun finally came back to his senses. He smiled at Zheng Wei and said, "I was a little out of control for a moment. Please forgive me, sir."

He picked up the wine glass, toasted Zheng Yu with a glass of wine, and then said: "I appreciate your kindness, Lord. Although I am not married yet, I already have someone in my heart. I will go to your house to ask for marriage before the end of this year."

Li Yun's power is still very weak now, but he can accept cooperating with aristocratic families, but he cannot accept marrying into aristocratic families.

Firstly, it is a matter of personal feelings, and secondly, it is a question of dominance after the alliance.

the most important is…

If the two parties were just cooperating, Li Yun could still turn against the other party in the future. However, if he married a woman from the Zheng family as his wife, it would not be easy to turn against them again.

By then, it is inevitable that you will be in me and I will be in you.

Zheng Wei was startled, then took a sip of wine and smiled dumbly: "Don't regret it."

"My nieces are so popular that so many people want them."

At this time, girls from aristocratic families were very popular. After marrying them home, the most significant effect was that they would gain face and improve the family's reputation.

For example, the Gu family, which had previously married into the Xue family, was because Gu Cheng's grandmother was from a certain aristocratic family, so the Gu family felt that they were also a powerful family.

Li Yun shook his head slightly: "I will never regret it."

Zheng Wei nodded slightly and said no more.

As a person from an aristocratic family, and a direct descendant of the main line, he naturally has his own pride, which is no less than that of Pei Huang, Cui Shao and others.

It’s just that Zheng Wei is a little older and has restrained himself in all aspects, so he is not as blatant as Cui Shao and others.

After being rejected by Li Yun the first time, he naturally would not mention it a second time.

It’s just that the ideas of Zheng Wei in the future will be completely different from those of Zheng Wei today.

…………

After accompanying the leader on an inspection tour of Yuezhou for almost two or three days, Zheng Kui had no intention of staying in Yuezhou any longer. Before leaving, Li Yun accompanied him all the way out of the city. When they were about to get on the carriage, Zheng Kui patted Li Yun on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"General Li, I will probably be stepping down from my post in Jiangdong by this time next year. You have done well in Yuezhou during this period, and we two get along well. If you have any requests, just tell me now and I can do it."

"I'll do my best for you."

"There are indeed a few things I need to ask of you, Lord."

Li Yun coughed and said, "Sir, after the Yuezhou Rebellion, Yuezhou is in ruins. Many people from various counties have fled, and some fields have been abandoned. I would like to ask you to write to the court to exempt Yuezhou from taxes and levies this year and next year."

"Well."

Zheng Wei frowned and said, "Originally, the court is unlikely to agree to this matter, but with the lesson of the Central Plains Rebellion, after I submit the petition, the court may agree."

"I'll give it a try."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Yun and said calmly, "It's just that after the imperial court exempted taxes, your Yuezhou government offices are not allowed to collect taxes from the people anymore. If you force another Qiu Dian out, neither you nor I will be able to explain to the imperial court."

Li Yun patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sir. As long as the court exempts taxes, I will not forgive anyone in Yuezhou who takes a grain of food or a copper coin from the people!"

Zheng Wei stroked his beard and laughed: "What if a new governor arrives next year and he asks the people for money and food?"

Li Yun smiled.

"I think the new envoy would not do this either."

Zheng Wei laughed and said nothing.

Li Yun continued, "Also, where do I get the money and food for my 1,000 or so subordinates?"

Zheng Yu thought for a while and said, "For the sake of General Su and the current situation in Yuezhou, I will transfer 500 dan of grain and 5,000 guan of money to you for your use. As for the rest..."

"I can't spare any time here, you can only rely on yourself."

This amount of money and food is not enough to support a thousand people for a year, but it should be enough to last for a few months at least. It is better to have something than nothing. Li Yun bowed his head and clasped his fists in thanks.

Afterwards, Li Yun made several more requests, some of which Zheng Wei agreed to but some of which he did not.

In this way, Li Yun sent away the highest official of Jiangdong Road.

After a few days of contact, Li Yun felt that Zheng Wei was much better than Pei Huang, Cui Shao and other sons of aristocratic families.

Looking at Zheng Wei's carriage going farther and farther away on the official road, Li Yun thought for a while, then turned around to look at Li Zheng who was following behind him and patted Li Zheng on the shoulder.

"Come on, take me for a walk outside the city."

Li Zheng scratched his head, followed Li Yun, and whispered, "Second brother, what are you doing outside the city?"

"Find a suitable open space..."

"Build camps and train soldiers."

Having said that, Mr. Li looked up at Yuezhou City in front of him and slowly exhaled.

The plan of farming first and then increasing the number of troops seems to be shelved.

"Originally, I was thinking that I should develop Yuezhou first, and then recruit soldiers and train them. Now it seems that I have put the cart before the horse."

After saying that, he strode forward, and Li Zheng followed closely behind him, following behind Li Yun.

At this time, it was the end of October in the fourth year of Xian De.

This month, Wang Junping from the Central Plains conquered another state...

The troops entered Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)