Thief Emperor

Chapter 275 The Vanishing Rebellion

Li Yun had witnessed a county-scale rebellion before. He once led people to Xiangshan County in Mingzhou to quell the rebellion. The whole process could be said to be extremely simple.

Although the number of rebels in Haiyan County was said to be several thousand, Li Yun believed that there might not be several thousand people who followed these local forces to cause chaos.

After all, this is a real life-threatening business. Not only will you be beheaded, but theoretically, your entire family will die with you.

Unless Jiangnan really produces another Qiu Dian, the scale of a county is unlikely to be so large.

Therefore, in Li Yun's opinion, the thousands of rebels claimed by Haiyan County were most likely fabricated by these local forces to scare King Wu Yuanyou of Chu.

Even if there were a rebellion of several thousand people in Haiyan County, Zhao Cheng would probably be able to defeat them with more than a thousand Wuzhou soldiers.

Because even if Haiyan had another Qiu Dian, they were in the very early stages of rebellion. Not to mention training, I'm afraid that the roster had not even been counted. If there were really three or four thousand armed forces of this quality, a thousand Wuzhou soldiers could defeat them in one battle.

Because the war in Haiyan was going smoothly, Li Yun was no longer in a hurry to rush to Haiyan County. He rested there for two full days. On the one hand, he wanted to let his brothers rest after the battle, and on the other hand, he also had some ideas of continuing to seduce the local forces of Wujun to take action.

However, for two days, everything was calm and no one came to disturb Li Yun, which made Li feel very boring.

Two days later, he took Wu Yuanyou to Haiyan County. When they arrived in Haiyan, Zhao Cheng had already broken through Haiyan County which was "occupied" by the rebels. The gates of Haiyan County were wide open, and the Wuzhou soldiers were stationed on both sides to welcome Li Yun and others.

Zhao Cheng stood at the gate and saluted Li Yun with his fists clasped: "I have lived up to your trust, the riot in Haiyan has been quelled!"

Li Yun jumped off his horse, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "What's the specific situation?"

Zhao Cheng thought for a moment, then lowered his head and replied, "Sir, the situation in Haiyan County is very strange. After our army arrived in Haiyan, we did encounter a group of enemies, about five or six hundred people. After fighting, they lost more than a hundred people in just one hour, so they withdrew to Haiyan County, and my subordinates marched into Haiyan."

"After we surrounded Haiyan, there were also people guarding the city. The total number of people was about a thousand, but they did not look like trained troops. I took turns with Captain Deng to attack the city for a day, and Haiyan County was captured."

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "It all sounds normal, what's so strange about it?"

"What's weird is..."

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and said, "There was no major chaos in the city. After we broke into the city, the government offices and officials of Haiyan County were intact and were not attacked by the rioters at all. They...they also said..."

Hearing this, Li Yun had roughly understood what was said. He narrowed his eyes and sneered, "They also said that our army attacked Haiyan County for no reason. We are rebelling, right?"

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and nodded slowly: "Yes."

"The magistrate of Haiyan County and a group of officials insisted that we were the rebels and attacked Haiyan County for no reason."

"They know we are soldiers from Wuzhou, and they want to write a letter to the governor to report us."

Zhao Cheng obviously didn't know how to deal with this situation, and whispered: "I am worried that they will have a bad influence on you, so I have locked up all the officials in Haiyan County in the county government office and don't let them move around freely. We are waiting for you to come and deal with them."

"it is good."

Li Yun patted Zhao Cheng on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I know about this matter. I will handle it. You don't need to ask."

"Taking over Haiyan County is undoubtedly a great achievement. You don't have to think too much about it. Take your brothers and have a good rest in the next two days."

Zhao Cheng nodded and clasped his fists in response.

Li Yun turned around and came to Wu Yuanyou's carriage and said, "Your Highness, I have something to report to you."

Wu Yuanyou's voice soon came from the carriage. He lifted the curtain and looked out to see Li Yun.

"Then...then Governor Li, why don't you get in the car and tell me?"

Li Yun nodded, got on the carriage very neatly, ducked inside, and sat opposite Wu Yuanyou.

At this moment, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was probably flipping through a book. When he saw Li Yun coming over, he forced out a smile and said, "Li, Governor, what's so urgent?"

Li Yun looked calm and said, "Officials in Haiyan County said there is no civil unrest in Haiyan County."

He looked at Wu Yuanyou and whispered, "They said that our Wuzhou soldiers attacked Haiyan for no reason and that this was treason."

"what?"

His Royal Highness the King of Chu was stunned.

After a long while, he said angrily: "I was assassinated in Haiyan, and everyone saw it! After the assassination, as soon as I returned to Haiyan, someone told me that there was a rebellion in Haiyan County, and rushed me back to Gusu City!"

“These people…”

The King of Chu clenched his fist and shouted angrily, "How dare you call a deer a horse and confuse right and wrong!"

Li Yun's mood was unusually stable. He smiled and said, "These local people, especially those who are related to the salt road, probably know that a disaster is coming. In order to escape punishment, they can do anything. Your Highness does not need to be angry."

"But they are very cunning."

Li Yun said softly, "Your Highness, you must have been very tired on this journey. How about I interrogate these local officials in the next two days? What do you think?"

"well."

Wu Yuanyou looked at Li Yun and took a deep breath: "I'll... I'll trouble Governor Li to interrogate them for me."

Li Yun smiled and nodded.

"I, your humble servant, will conduct a thorough trial on behalf of Your Highness, on behalf of these cunning and treacherous corrupt officials."

"Let them all show their true colors!"

…………The next day, in Haiyan County Government Office.

Li Yun changed into a cloth robe and sat in the study of the yamen. A middle-aged man wearing the uniform of a seventh-rank official sat opposite him.

Li Yun was looking at the middle-aged man, and the middle-aged man was also looking at Li Yun. Neither of them spoke.
After a while, Li said calmly, "Are you Cheng Gao, the magistrate of Haiyan County?"

"It is Cheng."

Although County Magistrate Cheng was already a prisoner, he was still as imposing as ever. He looked up at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "Li, I don't understand why you Wuzhou soldiers came all the way to our Haiyan County and attacked our Haiyan County without explanation, causing hundreds of casualties in our Haiyan County!"

"As officials of the same dynasty, what law did we in Haiyan break to deserve being treated like this?"

He was so angry that his face turned red, and he said indignantly: "Let's take a step back. Even if Haiyan has done something wrong, Governor Li can only write a letter to report us. What power does he have? He can just lead the troops and capture Haiyan!"

"Now, they have brought Cheng here, as if he were being interrogated!"

County Magistrate Cheng's face flushed red, and he said angrily, "If Governor Li doesn't give me an explanation today, I will go to the capital to file a complaint against you, Governor Li!"

He was very aggressive, as if he was really right.

Li Yun, on the other hand, looked calm. He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea before saying, "You can't go anywhere."

County Magistrate Cheng said angrily, "Does Governor Li want to set up a private court?"

"It is not that I set up a private court."

Li Yun shook his head and said with a smile: "It was you who was plotting a rebellion."

"Those who plot treason do not need to be reported to the court. They can be executed on the spot."

"rebellion?"

County Magistrate Cheng was so angry that he laughed and said, "I am the county magistrate of Haiyan. How can I be a rebel?"

"I am not clear about this, so County Magistrate Cheng needs to explain it himself."

Li Yun stood up and looked at the magistrate, with his hands behind his back, and said calmly: "His Royal Highness the King of Chu was assassinated in Haiyan earlier. You told His Royal Highness the King of Chu that a rebellion of thousands of people had occurred in Haiyan."

"Your Highness has reported this matter to Wuzhou through official documents, and has dispatched soldiers from Wuzhou to Haiyan to quell the rebellion."

"All the necessary documents are available, and the attendants around His Highness can also testify."

Li Yun looked at County Magistrate Cheng and whispered, "Why did the rebellion disappear as soon as we, the Wuzhou soldiers, arrived in Haiyan?"

"The people who defended Haiyan County a few days ago and resisted the heavenly soldiers have also become the local militiamen who resisted the invaders in the words of County Magistrate Cheng?"

At this point, without waiting for the man surnamed Cheng to speak, Li Yun said calmly: "In this world, there are indeed people who are capable of confusing right and wrong, but I think that person will never be your County Magistrate Cheng."

"So many people saw it. I'm afraid the one-sided statement of your Haiyan officials cannot change the facts."

County Magistrate Cheng gritted his teeth and said, "When Your Highness was inspecting Haiyan, he did encounter assassins. Haiyan County has been investigating the matter. As for the rebellion of thousands of people, Cheng sent people to investigate."

"It's a misunderstanding!"

"There has never been such a large-scale rebellion in this county, and there has never been any rioters who have occupied the county town. The people in the city can all testify to this!"

"No matter what, you Wuzhou soldiers attacked Haiyan County without explanation, you are suspected of treason!"

Li Yun clapped his hands: "I understand."

"You want to negotiate with me about the Wuzhou soldiers' attack on Haiyan County."

"No."

Without waiting for County Magistrate Cheng to speak, Li Yun shook his head to reject this possibility. He looked at County Magistrate Cheng and said lightly.

"There was a rebellion in Haiyan County, and you local officials..."

His face was expressionless.

"Colluding with the rioters, causing trouble for the people."

After saying that, Li Yun walked straight out.

"You don't have to admit it. I will interrogate Haiyan from top to bottom. It's impossible for you to deny Haiyan's rebellion in just a few words..."

“That’s it.”

"As for you, County Magistrate Cheng."

Li Yun walked to the door, looked back at the Haiyan County Magistrate, then his eyes fell on his neck and sneered.

"Just wait for your beheading."

County Magistrate Cheng's face changed drastically. He turned to look at Li Yun and said in a trembling voice, "You...you want to confuse right and wrong!"

Li Yun stopped, looked back at him, and then smiled.

"Can't you?"

(End of this chapter)