Thief Emperor

Chapter 196: Decay
At this time, there were many people surrounding Zhu Tong, and at least a dozen people's eyes were fixed on this picture.

Zhu Tong himself was a little confused at first, but when he saw the words that seemed to be deliberately written on the map, his face changed slightly. When he looked up at Li Yun again, Li was already in front of him and snatched the map away.

"Envoy Zhu!"

Li Yun snatched the map, glanced at everyone fiercely, and shouted: "This is my Yuezhou scout. I spent several months and a lot of hard work to find out the location of the Yuezhou rebels!"

"What are you going to do?"

Li Yun glanced at the crowd and shouted, "What are you Mingzhou going to do?"

Although Zhu Tong was a little surprised, he was not panicked. He sneered and said, "If it was really the rebel's map, why would it be placed in the farm? Sima Li, you..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Li Yun.

Li Yun pointed at the Yuezhou Camp not far away and said angrily, "Envoy Zhu, have you seen it? Not far away is the Yuezhou Camp of my Yuezhou soldiers. This Yuezhou Camp has not been built yet. I want to discuss the suppression of bandits with my subordinates. Where do you think we should discuss it?"

"Such a secret, should we discuss it in an open space?"

Li Yun was tall to begin with, and with a few loud shouts and two steps forward, he was almost in front of Zhu Tong again, which immediately frightened the Mingzhou governor. Zhu Tong retreated four or five steps before he stopped, but his momentum was already completely defeated.

"You... everyone here is an official of the imperial court. You just watched it. What do you... what do you think?"

Li Yun sneered and said, "I am under the order of General Su to guard Yuezhou and eliminate the rebels in Yuezhou. The clerk in the Political Affairs Hall of the capital also ordered me to eliminate the bandits in Yuezhou!"

"Now, Mr. Li's months of hard work have been seen by Envoy Zhu and everyone around him!"

"If the rebels get wind of this and flee, who will be held responsible?"

"Envoy Zhu, are you willing to take this responsibility? If you are a husband, you should write a letter with Li and take this responsibility. Don't even mention that you have looked at these maps once. Even if you take them back to Mingzhou to look at them, Li will never say no!"

He stepped forward, grabbed Zhu Tong's sleeve, and said in a deep voice: "Come on, Lord Zhu, let's write the document together and send it to the capital immediately by official post!"

Zhu Tong was not a fool, so he would never agree to it. He was so scared that he kept waving his hands.

At a time like this, if a young man really takes on this responsibility, if Yuezhou fails to suppress the rebels in the future, all the responsibility will probably be placed on him!
"Sima Li, you and I are both appointed officials of the imperial court. How can we be so disrespectful and unreasonable..."

Li Yun sneered, "Envoy Zhu, our two states are neighbors. You relied on your legitimate background to find an excuse to bully me. Now that you think about it, you and I are both officials appointed by the court?"

"go!"

He shouted, "If you don't join me in writing a petition, I will take you to see Lord Zheng and let him judge for you!"

"If Lord Zheng is on your side, I won't fight against the bandit Li in Yuezhou anymore. I'll just go back to my hometown in Qingyang and farm!"

Although Zhu Tong had been in the officialdom for many years and was experienced, he had always handled his colleagues properly, but where had he ever seen someone as tough as Li Yun? After a few words, he was already at a loss.

He even completely forgot why he came to Yuezhou.

"Sima Li, let's talk it over, let's talk it over..."

Li Yun was extremely strong. Zhu Tong had no chance to resist and was almost dragged away by him. The followers Zhu Tong brought with him, perhaps because they were in the wrong, did not dare to step forward.

After hearing his plea for mercy, Li Yun let go of his hand, looked around at everyone, and said in a cold voice: "Envoy Zhu, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

After Zhu Tong was sent away, he heaved a sigh of relief and said with a wry smile: "Sima Li, everyone just glanced at the map just now, how could they remember it? Now they have forgotten most of it. Since this map is important, you should keep it for yourself."

Li Yun sneered, "Envoy Zhu, you may not understand clearly. Ordinary people may forget the map after just one look, but some soldiers can remember the approximate location at a glance and never forget it."

"Envoy Zhu, you are an important local official, the chief of a state. Li believes that you will not collude with the rebels. How should we deal with these people you brought with you?"

Li Yun was about to take advantage of the situation, but he immediately became ruthless and asked in a cold voice: "Waste their skills?"

Although this was underworld jargon, Zhu Tong naturally understood it and his expression changed immediately.

The faces of those who had just seen the picture changed drastically and they began to hide away.

"Or else..."

Mr. Li said quietly, "Give them to me, my lord. I will lock them up in Yuezhou Prison until the rebellion in Yuezhou is completely wiped out, and then I will release them."

No matter which of these two plans is implemented, Zhu Tong will no longer have the face to stay in officialdom.

This was originally just a small matter, but after being bitten by the thief Li Yun, Zhu Tong, who came from a scholar family, really didn't know what to do for a while.

"Sima Li."

Zhu Tong was a fourth-rank official of the imperial court after all, so he quickly calmed down. He took a deep breath, pulled Li Yun to a secluded place, and whispered, "Sima Li, I brought people to Yuezhou, which may have misunderstood you, but I came here only to investigate the case of the salt field robbery, and I have no ill will towards Sima Li."

"We are officials in the same court and neighbors. We will have more time to spend together in the future. Sima Li, please raise your hand. How about I take people back to Mingzhou in the next few days?"

"Your Excellency wants to leave, so I naturally dare not stop you. I will not ask for anything else. I will write a letter of guarantee later, promising that the people who have just seen the map will not leak any of it. If you sign the letter of guarantee, I will take it as your trust, and this matter will be over."

"You want to catch the salt robbers. Yuezhou will also actively help you catch them. Once they are caught, we will not show any mercy." "What do you think, envoy?"

Zhu Tong said in a hoarse voice: "What's the difference between this and us taking responsibility in Mingzhou? If Sima Li can't catch anyone in the future, won't he still blame us?"

Li Yun rolled his eyes and said, "How about you not sign it, sir? Let someone else sign it?"

"That map was the result of months of hard work by Mr. Li. Now this has happened. Mr. Li must give an explanation to his brothers, otherwise he will be unable to justify himself anywhere."

"What do you think, sir?"

"can."

Zhu Tong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Li Yun would not involve him.

Although his subordinates would also make him bear joint liability, it was still much better than for Zhu Tong to sign directly.

Soon, the governor Zhu personally drafted a document and asked the dozen people who had just come to look at the map to sign it. After handing this "guarantee" to Li Yun, the governor Zhu looked at Li Yun and suddenly sighed in a low voice: "I underestimated Sima Li."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I don't understand what you mean, sir."

Zhu Tong looked up at Yuezhou City in the distance, then narrowed his eyes and said softly: "Sima Li, shall we go to the city to have a meal together?"

Li Yun nodded happily: "I'll invite you, sir."

…………

Cuiyun Tower in Yuezhou.

Zhu Tong looked at Li Yun and said slowly, "Sima Li, dozens of people may disappear without a trace, but dozens of carts of salt cannot disappear without a trace. I don't need to explain the process, but Sima Li knows it well."

"However, Zhu has made a friend named Li Sima, so let's not talk about the matter of dozens of carts of salt."

From Zhu Tong's perspective, things are clear.

It must be that the bandits who robbed the salt paid money to bribe the young Yuezhou Sima in front of them, so that they could store the salt near the Yuezhou military camp and then transfer it out of the Yuezhou camp quietly.

He would never have dreamed that the salt thief had not bribed the Yuezhou government, but was sitting right in front of him.

Zhu Tong raised his glass and toasted Li Yun, then whispered, "I pretended not to know about the salt cart incident, but you can't blame me for suppressing the rebellion in Yuezhou."

"If Sima Li agrees, we may be able to cooperate more in the future."

Li Yun clinked his glasses with him and asked calmly, "Envoy Zhu, did Mingzhou really lose hundreds of thousands of kilograms of salt?"

Zhu Tong narrowed his eyes and said calmly: "This is the account reported by the salt officials. It has nothing to do with me."

Li Yun spit in his heart.

Without the cooperation of the Mingzhou government, would the salt official dare to report the expenses casually?
So I worked so hard, but you guys ate most of the money!
He sneered in his heart, but there was no expression on his face.

Zhu Tong picked up the wine glass, took the initiative to toast Li Yun with a glass of wine, and whispered: "Sima Li, someone will send dozens of empty cars to Yuezhou in a few days. As long as the Yuezhou government cooperates, we will keep in touch when the two states report."

"Brother Li, your help is indispensable."

Li Yun smiled.

"It was in a remote place, and a salt truck was found. The salt on the truck had been looted, and only the grain truck was left, right?"

Zhu Tong nodded slightly and stretched out a finger.

"For this matter, you can give Sima Li a thousand strings of cash."

He came to Yuezhou to pick on the weak, but as soon as he arrived in Yuezhou, he was tricked by the weak and even got something that could barely be considered a handle on him.

After all, Zhu Tong's term will expire next year and he will be transferred. He cannot allow any disturbance to affect him at this time, so he is extremely cautious.

Since he couldn't bully Li Yun, he could only give Li Yun some benefits as a reward. Together with the two states, he had played the whole trick.

Only at this time did Li Yun know.

The fact that he robbed the salt field must have made the salt officials in Mingzhou laugh so hard that they couldn't stop.

Mr. Li pondered for a while, lowered his head, took a sip of wine, and smiled.

"Envoy..."

"That's a clever move."

(End of this chapter)