Thief Emperor

Chapter 264 A doomed tragedy!
Zheng Wei was not in a hurry at first.

He will also step down at the end of the year and prepare to return to the capital to hand over his post.

Even if the court sent a prince to inspect Jiangdong, he would not be too panicked. After all, he didn't get much from it.

Moreover, according to common sense, with the Central Plains in such chaos at that time, the imperial court could only think of getting some money from Jiangnan, but it was impossible for it to cause too much unrest in Jiangnan.

If there is chaos in the south of the Yangtze River after the chaos in the Central Plains, I am afraid that it will not be just the Shuofang Army that will enter the heartland of the Great Zhou.

However, the actions of the ferocious Prince of Chu far exceeded Zheng Wei's expectations.

He seemed to have completely disregarded the overall situation of Jiangnan and even the entire Great Zhou. After arriving in Mingzhou, within a few days he had turned Mingzhou upside down, causing panic in all the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan!

If we really allow him to continue investigating, I'm afraid that it won't be long before there will be a "civil uprising" in Jiangnan.

However, whether this "civil uprising" is a real civil uprising remains to be discussed.

Du Qian glanced at Zheng Yu, looking somewhat unhappy. He frowned and said, "Duke Zheng, he is an imperial envoy of the court, the prince of His Majesty, holding the imperial edict in his hand. He came to Yuezhou to mobilize troops, so of course we have to give it to him. Is this still our responsibility?"

"Moreover."

Du Qian sneered, "I have heard a little about what happened in Mingzhou. The King of Chu arrested and punished people with solid evidence, and most of them have admitted their crimes. Punishing them will only make people happy. The people will applaud and cheer. Why is there chaos?"

"you…"

Zheng Wei was choked and almost couldn't speak. After taking a breath, he shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Du Shiyi, Du Shiyi, you...you are still too young."

"You have been in the capital for many years. You have just arrived in the countryside. How can you know how powerful these local tyrants are?"

"Are they really just a few wealthy businessmen and gentry?"

Zheng Wei said in a deep voice: "Those people have been operating in the local area for who knows how many years, some of them have even been there for four or five generations. As long as the imperial power does not extend to the countryside, they are the masters of the local area. If the Central Plains is not in chaos and the court wants to punish them severely, they can only bow their heads and plead guilty, and use official means to fight for their rights."

"But right now, you two are aware of the chaos in the Central Plains!"

"At this time, instead of appeasing the gentry in Jiangnan, we should start a big prison. Those people may incite the people to rebel at any time!"

He looked at Du Qian and sneered, "Du Shiyi, you just said that if corrupt officials are dealt with, the people will applaud. But if corrupt officials are dealt with, will the money and property they embezzled be returned to the people?"

Zheng Yu patted the table and said in a deep voice: "Besides, the local mouthpieces are not under the control of the court. The people below will believe whatever those local forces say. You say that the court is punishing corrupt officials, but they still say that the court is robbing Jiangnan!"

"These things."

Zheng Wei also sighed: "It's hard to explain."

"at the moment…"

Zheng Wei whispered, "We have to put the overall situation first and at least make sure Jiangnan doesn't get into chaos."

"At least until the chaos in the Central Plains is quelled, Jiangnan cannot be in chaos."

He looked at Li Du and said in a deep voice, "Do you two understand?"

Li Yun looked calm and said, "Sir, it seems that the two of us are powerless to do anything about this matter, and I have been transferred from Yuezhou to Wuzhou."

Du Qian, who was standing by, said slowly, "Lord Zheng, the court does not intend to regulate Jiangnan at the moment. In my opinion, it is probably because the court has no money at all that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu came to Jiangnan."

"The Lord has taken care of the overall situation in Jiangnan, but who will take care of the money and grain for the court?"

Zheng Wei disagreed and said, "When the time comes, I will call on the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan to raise funds."

"We can always get some together."

Zheng Wei's words were no longer on the side of the imperial court. It was as if he was saying, if the imperial court wants money, Jiangnan will just give you some. Why do you have to start a war?

Li Yun and Du Qian looked at each other.

Although this Zheng guy spoke very logically and it sounded reasonable, as if he was a capable and loyal minister to the country, both Li Yun and Du Qian were sure that this guy must have accepted benefits from the local forces in Jiangnan!

And I collected a lot!

At the same time, he did not just start collecting money, most likely he had been collecting money all along, because he was grateful for what he had received, so after Wu Er "made trouble" in Mingzhou, Zheng Wei wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible.

Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Zheng, now that things have come to this, how do you want us to cooperate with you?"

"This is simple."

Seeing that they were finally talking about business, Zheng Wei lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then said, "It is my job to have His Royal Highness the King of Chu come to inspect Jiangdong. It is also my job to protect His Royal Highness the King of Chu's safety."

"I brought five or six hundred men with me from Wujun this time. Tomorrow... tomorrow Governor Li, you and I will go to Mingzhou and bring the Yuezhou troops around His Royal Highness the King of Chu back to Yuezhou. I will lead the troops to continue to protect His Royal Highness the King of Chu."

At this point, Duke Zheng waved his hand and said, "As for the rest of the matter, you Yuezhou people don't need to ask about it anymore. I will be responsible for handling it."

"It has nothing to do with you two." Li Yun narrowed his eyes slightly and said nothing.

Du Qian looked at Zheng Yu and said, "Mr. Zheng, as soon as the imperial envoy arrived in Yuezhou, I sent a document to Wujun. The imperial envoy stayed in Yuezhou for several days. If Mr. Zheng could have arrived in time, why would we have to send troops from Yuezhou?"

Upon hearing this, Lord Zheng coughed quickly and lowered his head to drink tea to hide his embarrassment.

Originally, he really didn't want to get involved in this matter and didn't want to cause trouble. After all, he had never thought that Wu Erlang could act so recklessly in Mingzhou.

"Before, before..."

Zheng Yu shook his head and sighed, then smiled bitterly at Du Qian, "We are all family, so I won't hide the benefits. The King of Chu came to Jiangnan this time because of the Crown Prince's intention, and there may not be factors of fighting among the princes. I am about to leave Jiangdong, and at this time, of course I don't want to get involved in these disputes. The reason why I am in a hurry to come here now..."

"It is truly for the overall interests of Jiangnan, and even for the overall interests of the entire Great Zhou."

Li Yun looked at Zheng Wei seriously, and he once again looked at this Duke of Zheng with a new respect.

He had long been aware of Zheng Yu's military capabilities and his ability to get things done, and he even knew something about Zheng Yu's ability to speak as an official.

But today, he realized that he still underestimated the old man's language skills.

What a damn good talker!

At this time, Li Yun, the person involved in many things, couldn't even find a way to refute his words.

However, Li Yun was not good at arguing with others, he was better at fighting.

If it really doesn't work, just change your number!
Seeing that Li Yun looked a little strange, Du Qian on the side coughed and said, "Mr. Zheng is the governor of Jiangdong and can mobilize soldiers from Yuezhou. If you want to replace the guards around His Royal Highness the King of Chu, just go and replace them yourself."

"Why do you need to drag us into Yuezhou?"

Zheng Wei sighed, "If I go by myself, let alone whether I can replace him, even if I can, it will directly offend the imperial envoy, which is a bit too offensive."

"You Yuezhou can just take your people away, and I will take people to replace them. Even if His Royal Highness the King of Chu is dissatisfied, he can do nothing about it."

Li Yun and Du Qian looked at each other, and Du Qian gave Li Yun a look, indicating that he would handle the matter.

Envoy Du stepped forward slowly and sneered, "The Duke is afraid of offending the imperial envoy, but are we not afraid of offending the imperial envoy? If His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu makes a fuss, he may not be able to deal with a local official like the Duke, but it will be easy to deal with us two, right?"

As the legitimate son of Jingzhao Du, he had enough confidence to quarrel with Zheng Wei.

Moreover, his eloquence can keep up.

After the two of them argued for a long time, Li Yun on the side suddenly smiled and said lightly: "Duke Zheng, Lord Du, my opinion is that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu should just do whatever he wants. If anything goes wrong, it's better not to do so."

Mr. Li stood up and patted his chest.

"I'll calm it down."

…………

Songzhou City.

Han Ying, the governor of Songzhou, stood in front of General Su's bed. Looking at General Su lying on the bed with a pale face and without saying a word, he called out "General" several times but got no response.

He turned around helplessly, looked at a blue-robed eunuch beside him, bowed his head and saluted, smiled bitterly and said: "Angel, you have also seen that the general must be seriously ill."

The eunuch was only in his twenties. He looked at Su Jing lying on the sickbed and said, "General, the Shuofang Army has advanced again. Most of the rebels' forces will be deployed on the Shuofang Army."

"At this time, if your army can advance from the side and join forces with the Shuofang Army to attack the rebels, you can immediately achieve success and force the rebels to surrender!"

"Your Highness, order your army to march into Henan Prefecture immediately..."

Su Jing closed his eyes and turned a deaf ear.

The eunuch could only turn around and look at the deputy general Jiang Yan, and said in a deep voice: "General Jiang."

"Come and receive the imperial edict."

Jiang Yan looked at Su Jing, then at the eunuch. As he was hesitating, he saw the latter glaring at him. His knees softened and he knelt down.

"Your servant Jiang Yan..."

Deputy General Jiang's voice trembled.

"I will obey your order..."

　Recommending old friends, new books by old historical authors, Spring and Autumn Period, those who are interested can go and have a look!!
　　

(End of this chapter)