Thief Emperor

Chapter 262: Layout and Planning!

Zhu Tong felt extremely aggrieved.

In the past few years in Mingzhou, he tried his best to make money to settle his debts. It can be said that he spent a lot of effort to get more than 200,000 strings of cash.

Don't think this is an easy thing.

It is easy to be greedy for money, but it is actually very difficult to be greedy for big money and to be able to do so sustainably without being caught by the observers until now.

When his term of office was almost over and Governor Zhu was considering whether to use the income from the past few years for investment in the next cycle, the benefits he had earned after two or three years of "hard work" were suddenly snatched away by damn thieves!

When hearing the news, Envoy Zhu felt like the sky was falling!

Fortunately, the thieves were only after money and did not want to kill anyone. His wife, two children, and several concubines did not die in the robbery.

However, Envoy Zhu was still furious about this. During this period, he scolded all the officials in Mingzhou and even wrote a letter to impeach the county magistrate under him for dereliction of duty.

but…

This time, even though Zhu Tong had already suspected Li Yun in his heart, he was sensible enough not to go to Yuezhou to cause trouble for Li Yun.

You know, after the last incident at the Mingzhou Salt Field, Zhu Tong went directly to Yuezhou to demand accountability.

no way.

In the Battle of Wuzhou, Li Yun directly placed officials from 19 prefectures and counties in Jiangdong under house arrest. At the same time, he quelled the rebellion in Wuzhou almost solely with the military force of Yuezhou!
This kind of combat effectiveness is clearly shown to all the prefectures and counties in Jiangdong. At present, none of the prefectures and counties in Jiangdong, including Wu County where the inspector is located, can compare with Yuezhou in terms of military power.

Zhu Tong was really afraid that the man surnamed Li would go crazy and use force against him, so he never dared to go to Yuezhou.

However, he had already written the memorial impeaching Li Yun.

But before the memorial was delivered, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu from the court arrived!

Originally, there was nothing wrong with this. After all, he had already done all the accounting, and the court could not find anything even if they wanted to investigate. However, after His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu arrived in Mingzhou, he accurately arrested a group of Mingzhou officials within just a few days of investigation!
Then, without any evidence, he used a great memory recovery technique and extremely brutal means to forcibly get the account from Mingzhou!

If it was any other imperial envoy, Zhu Tong might have had the chance to be sent to the capital to be interrogated. After all, a governor was not a small official and he had to be treated with dignity.

But it happened that the person who came back this time was a prince of the imperial court, the brother of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He did not take the governor of a state seriously at all. Seeing that a big fish was caught in Mingzhou, he hung Zhu Tong up and beat him without saying a word, trying to force him to tell him the whereabouts of the stolen money, and then copied it and sent it to the capital for report.

After being whipped a few more times, Governor Zhu was already in tears, wailing, "Your Highness, Your Highness!"

He cried very sadly.

"Don't fight, don't fight."

Wu Yuanyou stopped whipping him and looked at him coldly: "Do you remember where your stolen money is?"

Zhu Tong was full of grievances, but he could not bear Wu Yuanyou's whipping, and cried: "Your Highness, I...I got some money in Mingzhou, but if you look at all the prefectures and counties in the world, which prefecture and county chief did not make money?"

"Moreover, what I obtained in Mingzhou was robbed by a group of thieves some time ago!"

"You just need to send someone to ask, and you will get the answer as soon as you ask. You will get the answer as soon as you ask!"

Governor Zhu burst into tears, and no one knew whether it was because of the pain or because he was too sad.

Or maybe it's both.

Wu Yuanyou shook his whip loudly and sneered, "If you can find out the answer by just asking, then it must be you who set up this trap. You, even when the time comes, still want to hold on to your property!"

"I really don't know how to repent!"

As he spoke, he raised his whip to hit him. Zhu Tong turned pale with fear and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, listen to me!"

Wu Yuanyou stopped whipping and looked at him coldly.

Zhu Shijun cried, "Although what I gained in Mingzhou has disappeared, but...but I still have some property in my hometown. Your Highness, please give me some time..."

His tears fell down.

"I will write a letter back to my hometown and ask my family to sell their property. No matter what, I will make up for the Mingzhou account."

As he spoke, he looked at Wu Yuanyou with his red eyes and pleaded, "I only hope that Your Highness will spare my life..."

Wu Yuanyou threw the whip aside and said coldly, "I knew you were dishonest."

"I'm afraid the proceeds from Mingzhou have already been sent to your hometown. Even if you don't tell me about this, I will still send a letter to the government in your hometown to raid your house!"

Zhu Tong's face turned pale, he trembled, and could no longer speak.

"but…"

Wu Yuanyou looked at Zhu Tong and suddenly changed the subject: "If you are willing to cooperate with me, I can give you a chance to make up for the shortfall."

Zhu Tong's eyes regained their luster, and he looked up at His Royal Highness the King of Chu: "Your Highness, Your Highness..."

"No matter what, I will cooperate with you!"

"You have been in Mingzhou for several years. You should know everything about the Mingzhou Salt Road."

Wu Yuanyou put his hands behind his back and said slowly, "If you explain the situation in Mingzhou in detail and cooperate with me to handle the case in Mingzhou, I will allow you to make up for your crime and make up for your loss."

Zhu Tong's face turned pale again. He lowered his voice and said tremblingly, "Your Highness, the forces on the Jiangnan Salt Road are intertwined... It's not just Mingzhou, but a single move can affect the entire body. You have been ordered to inspect Jiangnan and get some money from them... That might be okay."

"If we really touch them..." Zhu Tong gritted his teeth and said nothing.

The King of Chu glanced at him, then waved his hand and said, "Untie him."

After the servants untied Zhu Tong's bonds, His Royal Highness the King of Chu said calmly, "Why, are you worried that these people on the Jiangnan Salt Road will take your life?"

Zhu Tong knelt on the ground, trembling with fear: "My humble life is not worth mentioning. I am worried that Your Highness may be in danger..."

Wu Yuanyou narrowed his eyes and didn't speak for a long time. After a long while, he slowly said, "Just tell me. Whether or not to do it, and how to do it, is up to me."

Zhu Tong knelt on the ground regardless of the pain in his body. He first looked at the jailer in the prison, then looked at Wu Yuanyou, and bowed his head deeply.

His Royal Highness the King of Chu also followed his gaze and looked at the jailers, as if thinking about something.

"Someone is coming."

He said in a deep voice: "Take him out and bring him to my imperial envoy's headquarters!"

…………

After a few days,

Yuezhou City, inside the governor's office.

Li Yun and Du Qian sat across the table from each other. Li Yun poured Du Qian a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Yesterday, our brothers from Yuezhou sent back news that the Prince of Chu had made a big splash in Mingzhou. He had sent people to arrest several salt merchants in Mingzhou and directly ransacked their homes."

Du Qian lowered his head to drink tea, then looked up at Li Yun and said softly, "Mingzhou is only a small part of the entire Jiangnan Salt Road. If we take heavy measures in Mingzhou, I'm afraid the salt masters in the big cities will be in danger."

Li Yun also lowered his head to drink tea and said calmly: "I am ready to lead the troops to support."

"This Jiangnan Salt Road..."

Having said this, Li Yun stopped talking.

Du Qian understood what he meant and shook his head slightly, saying, "Even if it's rotten, we don't have the status to get it."

"It is naturally unlikely to get it publicly."

Li Yun drank the tea in the cup and said, "We can imitate the masters in the court."

The salt industry is an absolutely lucrative industry in this era, and it is also an absolutely lucrative necessity of life. The profits are not just one or two times, but sometimes so huge that they are immeasurable.

In addition to the well salt in the southwest, the sun-dried salt from the coastal areas of Jiangnan is also an important source of salt and also a huge piece of cake.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty had existed for more than 200 years, and this big cake had already been divided very finely and cleanly. For example, local officials were one layer, officials on the salt road were one layer, and salt merchants were another layer.

But the biggest profits must be taken by those bigwigs who are high up in the world.

It is also for this reason that the imperial court turned a blind eye to the decreasing revenue of the Jiangnan Salt Road year by year.

Du Qian raised his head, looked at Li Yun, frowned and said, "I'm afraid it's not easy to control them."

These local salt merchants either had family members serving as officials in the court, or were family members of important figures in the court. At the very least, they had some connections with important figures in the court.

Their interests have long been tied to those bigwigs in the court. Even if Li Yun can suppress them by force, it is difficult to control them.

"It will be easier to control if we change a batch."

Li Yun said calmly: "If those salt bugs on the Jiangnan Salt Road dare to attack the imperial envoy, it would be treason, and it would be reasonable to kill them all."

Du Qian finally understood and whispered, "Erlang wants to borrow Wu Er's name..."

"That's pretty much what it means."

Li Yun smiled and said, "It's just a temporary idea now. We still have to adapt to the situation. But once this is done, there will be many benefits."

At this point, Li Yun looked towards the Central Plains, lowered his head to drink tea, and said silently: "I heard that the Shuofang Army has marched forward again."

"That's what I was going to say."

Du Qian suddenly realized what he was saying and asked Li Yun, "Did Erlang send someone over there?"

"I sent some people out to do business. We can't always be deaf and blind."

At this point, Mr. Li stood up silently and sighed: "I wonder how long General Su can withstand the pressure from the court."

After saying this, he clasped his fists towards Du Qian and said, "Brother Shouyi, time is running out. I'm going to prepare for the Wuzhou Army."

Du Qian bowed to him and said goodbye, reminding him.

"Things need to be done, but don't be too impatient."

"Don't worry, brother Yihui. I am such a person."

Li Yun smiled.

"Always take one step at a time."

(End of this chapter)