Thief Emperor

Chapter 217: Make a price!
Of course, when dealing with these big households in Xiangshan, we have to be quick and decisive. After all, if such matters are not handled quickly, there will be a lot of controversy.

With so many disputes, it would not be easy for Li Yun to pack up all their property and take it back to Yuezhou.

Of course, no matter what happens, with Li Yun's current military strength, as long as Zheng Yu in Gusu does not move, he can force anything to be done in Mingzhou. However, if the imperial court or most of the forces in Jiangdong do not agree, this kind of thing can only be done once, and he will become the target of public criticism.

It can happen once but not again.

Therefore, things in Xiangshan had to be done quickly, cut the Gordian knot, get things done, and then send the things that needed to be taken directly to Yuezhou.

Of course, Li was a man of high moral character. He certainly could not take all the property seized from the house by himself. He had to report at least 10% to the court as a symbol and give some to the emperor.

Otherwise, it would not be legitimate.

Hearing what Xu Ang said, Li Yun's face became serious and he said, "We must not be soft-handed when it comes to local rebellion. We must cut the Gordian knot quickly. I already know about what happened in County Magistrate Xu's family and I will report the truth to the court."

At this point, Li Yun also sighed and said, "Xu County Magistrate, please accept my condolences."

Xu Ang responded woodenly, then looked down at the document written by Li Yun in his hand, and asked again: "Li...Sima Li, are these big families in Xiangshan really colluding with those rioters?"

Li Yun nodded without hesitation: "Of course."

Mr. Li paused for a moment and added, "Among them, the Hu family is the most involved with Guo Ming. The other families, at least after Guo Ming entered the city, have had business dealings with him."

Rebellion is an extremely risky thing. After these rioters took such a big risk to enter the county town, they naturally wanted to satisfy their own desires. If they had no dealings with the wealthy families, they would definitely rush in and burn, kill and loot.

When Li Yun entered the city, all the families of these six wealthy families were safe and sound, and Guo Ming and others had not harmed them at all.

This means that they have at least reached a certain degree of tacit understanding or deal between them.

Yesterday, Li Yun made a rough investigation. All of these six big families were involved in salt business, which meant that they were closely related to this matter. Among them, the Hu family was the most involved. It could even be said that it was their family that was secretly controlling this matter behind the scenes.

Because the Hu family came from a salt merchant family, they had to pay a large sum of money to the court every year to buy salt from the salt fields under the court.

In addition to the money to buy salt, there is also money to honor superiors and supporters.

Now that the court is in chaos, the Hu family has of course started to have some evil thoughts, but their original intention is not to rebel. They just want to avoid paying this year's and next year's expenses and push them all onto the rioters.

After all, after Guo Ming made such a fuss, as long as he took his men to the Central Plains to seek refuge with General Wang, it would be as if nothing had happened in Xiangshan. For these big families, it was a happy thing for everyone.

Magistrate Xu's face turned pale, his lips trembled, then he looked up at Li Yun and murmured, "Sima Li, can these people...can they be handed over to me for further interrogation?"

Li Yun thought about it and nodded: "Xu Zhixian has a deep hatred for them. Li can understand that. The Hu family will be handed over to Xu Zhixian for trial."

"Li will handle the rest of the households."

Among these families, the Hu family was the most involved with these thieves, so they were all convicted at the first trial. As for the other families, although they were also implicated, if they were handed over to Xu Ang for trial, their crimes might not be enough to warrant confiscation of their property.

But for Li Yun, all these wealthy families would have their property confiscated.

If they don't search the house, wouldn't his trip be in vain?
Li Yun looked at Xu Ang, who was about to collapse, and patted him on the shoulder. He said, "But County Magistrate Xu, you should go eat something, drink some water, and rest first. Otherwise, you may collapse before you can hear the case."

County Magistrate Xu lowered his head, reluctantly bowed to Li Yun, then turned around and stumbled away.

Li Yun looked at his back, shook his head slightly and sighed.

He had checked Xu Ang and found that his reputation as an official was not bad. Although he was not an extremely honest official, he could be considered above average.

Because he did basically nothing evil during his two years in office.

In this era, an official who does not do evil can be considered a good official.

Not long after Xu Ang left, Deng Yang, who was sent by Li Yun to control the salt fields, also returned to the Xiangshan County government office. After seeing Li Yun, he bowed his head and clasped his fists and said, "General, all the salt fields in Xiangshan have been occupied by our subordinates. We have captured more than a hundred people in the salt fields and are now on their way to Xiangshan."

Li Yun nodded, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work. You haven't had much sleep these two days, right?"

Deng Yang lowered his head and said, "As long as I can complete the tasks assigned by the boss, it doesn't matter whether I sleep or not."

Mr. Li nodded gently and said, "Go to sleep first. Tomorrow morning, you will escort all the property I confiscated in Xiangshan County and the property in the salt field back to Yuezhou."

Deng Yang looked up at Li Yun and heard Li Yun continue to say: "If anyone asks you, just say that they were all confiscated and sealed and were prepared to be handed over to the court."

Li Yun would take away everything in Xiangshan County that he could. No matter whether Xu Ang asked or Zhu Tong asked, he would put the blame on the imperial court. Anyway, this matter was handled by Li Yun alone. Except for him, no one else knew how much property was confiscated.

When the time comes, just take some out and present it to the court, and Zhu Tong won’t be able to find any fault with it.

Deng Yang quickly bowed his head: "I obey your command!"

"Okay, go and have a rest." Li Yun also stretched and squinted for a while: "I am a little sleepy too. I haven't had a good sleep these two days."

Deng Yang clasped his fists and retreated, while Li Yun found a room in the county government office and had a good sleep.

When Li Yun woke up, it was already the next morning. When Deng Yang led people to move Li Yun’s “trophies” in Xiangshan County.

After Li Yun left the room, Yang Xi carefully came to Li Yun and whispered, "Boss, the guy surnamed Xu..."

"We interrogated many members of the Hu family last night. It was a night of torture. They screamed like ghosts all night long. It was really scary..."

Li Yun was stunned, then shook his head silently, sighed and said, "His wife and children died in this turmoil, so it's inevitable that he feels resentful. It's amazing that he can restrain himself."

"If it were me, I would have gone crazy by now. Anyway, those people in the Hu family are no good, so let them do whatever they want."

Yang Xi nodded and sighed: "My subordinates are also talking about him. This County Magistrate Xu is really miserable..."

While the two were talking, Xu Ang, with his hair loose and holding a document in his hand, saw Li Yun from a distance and walked towards Li Yun. After he approached, he bowed to Li Yun with a wooden face and said, "Sima Li, this is the case file of my trial of the Hu family. The criminals have signed and sealed it. Please take a look, Sima."

Li Yun took it and looked at Xu Ang, whose eyes were bloodshot, and sighed, "Xu Zhixian, you should take a rest."

Xu Ang shook his head, tears falling from his eyes: "Sima Li, can this traitor who participated in the rebellion be tried?"

Li Yun thought about it and nodded, "Except for the main culprit Guo Ming, County Magistrate Xu can try the others. This will help to reveal the true face of this matter."

It is obvious that the mental state of this County Magistrate Xu is no longer normal.

If we hand Guo Ming over to him, there is a high probability that he will beat him to death.

Xu Ang bowed deeply and said in a hoarse voice: "I thank Sima Li."

After saying that, he turned around and staggered away.

Li Yun sighed but said nothing.

When the world is in turmoil, sometimes it is not just the common people who are harmed.

…………

Two days later, when Li Yun was still doing the final work in Xiangshan County, Zhu Tong, the governor of Mingzhou, hurried to Xiangshan County from Mingzhou.

After entering the county government office, he found Li Yun with a warm smile on his face.

"Sima Li, you are so brave!"

"The Xiangshan Rebellion was put down so quickly!"

Li Yun looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Envoy Zhu, you are well-informed. Before I had time to report to you, you came here on your own."

Zhu Tong said with a smile: "As the governor of Mingzhou, I dare not be unaware of the news."

As he spoke, the governor Zhu coughed and asked, "I heard that Sima Li had a fruitful harvest in Xiangshan this time."

Li Yun frowned when he heard this.

"Envoy Zhu, I didn't gain anything. I just temporarily sealed the property of those who collaborated with the enemy and prepared to hand it over to the court."

"Li has not touched any of the salt fields in Xiangshan."

Seeing Li Yun's alert face, Zhu Tong waved his hands and said with a smile: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, those things will naturally be dealt with by Sima Li, I am not interested."

"What I'm talking about is another treasure."

Li Yun was puzzled: "What treasure?"

"The rebel leader Guo Ming."

Zhu Tong moved closer, lowered his voice, and forced a smile on his face.

"Brother Li, make an offer."

"This Guo Ming, I'll buy it!"

(End of this chapter)