Thief Emperor

Chapter 276: Blame-shifting
In the next few days, Li Yun personally interrogated some important figures in Haiyan County.

After a lot of threatening and intimidation, the original situation was finally restored.

Not complicated.

Haiyan County was a relatively important county on the salt road of Wu County. After Wu Yuanyou arrived in Haiyan, the elders of Wu County were afraid that he would find out something and repeat the story of Mingzhou in Wu County, so they made arrangements to make some noise and scare the second prince away.

This led to the assassination and the subsequent Haiyan Rebellion.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was not very courageous. After being frightened, he felt that his life was in danger, so he summoned Li Yun to Wujun.

After the Wuzhou soldiers arrived, the people in Haiyan knew that they could no longer hide the secret, so they had to take a risky move and led Zhao Cheng's troops, that is, the Wuzhou soldiers, to attack Haiyan County.

This was actually a big handle. After all, there was actually no rebellion in Haiyan County at the moment, and Li Yun's attack on Haiyan County was essentially no different from a rebellion.

If it was in the past, or if it was a relatively normal official, with such a big handle in the hands of the officials of Wu County, then the affairs of Wu County would naturally not be investigated further.

The two sides reached a compromise and did not hold each other accountable, and the matter ended there.

However, Li Yun obviously did not buy it. He was acting in accordance with the orders of the imperial envoy, and everything he did was reasonable and well-founded.

Even if the court really investigated the matter, there was nothing to fear for Mr. Li. At this time, the court could not send out 10,000 or 20,000 elite soldiers to attack this loyal minister in the south of the Yangtze River just because of such a "small matter", right?
If the imperial court really sends someone here, then we’ll just rebel and add more dirt to the grave of the Zhou Dynasty!

Therefore, Li Yun did not care about the threats from these Haiyan officials.

Three days later, Li Yun sat opposite Wu Yuanyou and told him the general situation. Then he said, "Your Highness, these local people are very cunning and treacherous. If you don't handle the Haiyan incident well, the blame will fall on your Highness. At that time, those officials will impeach your Highness in the capital, act recklessly in the local area, and mobilize troops to attack the county town of the court..."

"It's another troublesome matter."

After hearing the results of Li Yun's investigation, His Royal Highness the King of Chu stood there in a daze, not saying a word for a long time.

He prides himself on being a smart man. Having grown up in the capital for so many years, few people can be smart in front of him.

But after arriving at the local area, His Royal Highness the King of Chu was truly enlightened.

The tricks used by these local forces are one after another. He has only been in Wu County for more than a month, and during this period of time, there have been many traps waiting for him to fall into.

If you step in, things won't go on.

"Thanks to Governor Li."

Wu Yuanyou shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Otherwise, even though I am an imperial envoy, I am afraid I will not be able to take a single step in Wu County."

Having said this, he paused and sighed: "Even so, I'm afraid they will use the fact that the Wuzhou soldiers attacked Haiyan as a handle to make a big fuss about it."

"Don't worry."

Li Yun smiled and said, "We just need to turn Haiyan's fake rebellion into a real rebellion, and those people will have nothing to say."

Wu Yuanyou was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean by that, Governor Li?"

"Not only did the Haiyan officials lie about the news, they were also involved in the assassination of His Highness. As long as this matter is confirmed, they will be considered as rebels."

"Your Highness, sending Wuzhou soldiers to attack Haiyan is definitely a wise move."

"Your Highness, I will take care of these matters. You don't have to worry. In the next few days, you just need to start with the sea salt and follow the clues to sort out the salt road and other termites."

"After a few days, I will escort Your Highness to Gusu City and capture all these people in one fell swoop!"

Wu Yuanyou took a deep breath, looked at Li Yun, and agreed straightforwardly: "Okay."

He bowed to Li Yun and said, "Thank you, Governor Li."

Li Yun looked calm.

"It is my duty."

…………

Two days passed in a flash. On this day, His Royal Highness the King of Chu was having dinner with Li Yun. While eating, he could not help cursing, "It is simply shocking. The annual revenue from the Jiangnan Salt Road is getting less and less every year. It turns out that it is all eaten by the woodworms in these places!"

His Royal Highness the King of Chu said angrily: "In just one year in the fourth year of Xian De, the amount of corruption on the salt road in Wu County alone is probably hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, or even more. The lion's share of the salt road was actually earned by them!"

If His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was timid and fearful before, the current His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was indeed a little angry.

After all, theoretically speaking, the money embezzled by these local officials is indeed the money of their Wu family.

Li Yun smiled and said, "These people in the local area don't have such a big appetite. After all this money has gone around, at least half of it has gone into the capital."

He took a bite of his meal and added, "It just didn't go into the national treasury."

Wu Yuanyou gritted his teeth and said, "This time, I have to give the Jiangnan Road a good shake, even if things get out of hand!" These words were sincere and not too false. After all, Wu Yuanyou was a young man and had blood. At this time, he still wanted to do something for the Wu family and the court.

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "Your Highness is right. This Wu County and even the entire Jiangnan Road needs to be thoroughly opened up and cleared of termites."

After a pause, Li Yun smiled and said, "When we go to Wu County in a few days, Your Highness will be able to confiscate at least millions of coins. The income from Wu County alone should be enough for Your Highness to return to the capital and report to the court."

"Hand in, hand in..."

The King of Chu snorted coldly: "How can I report to the imperial court? It's clearly..."

He kept silent, but still couldn't help but grit his teeth and said, "Just wait and see, I will give him a very bad job!"

While the two were talking, someone hurried over. After stopping, he first looked at Li Yun, then at the King of Chu, and finally bowed his head to Li Yun and said, "Envoy, someone has arrived outside the city. He said it's the Jiangdong Surveillance Envoy and the Prefect of Wu County..."

Li Yun nodded, indicating that he understood, then he turned to look at His Highness and said with a smile: "Your Highness, did you see that someone is anxious?"

"We haven't even gone to Gusu yet, but they came to Haiyan instead."

Wu Yuanyou nodded slowly and said in a deep voice: "They should be anxious."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "I am too lazy to see them. Governor Li, please go and see them on my behalf."

Li Yun stood up and said with a smile: "Dare you disobey me?"

After that, he clasped his fists towards Wu Yuanyou and said, "Your Highness, please take a break. I will go and test them first."

After saying that, Li Yun put his hands behind his back and strode towards the city gate.

About an incense stick of time later, Li Yun arrived outside the city. After opening the city gate, he saw two sedan chairs parked outside the gate. Near the sedan chairs, there were about one or two hundred people scattered around.

Li Yun glanced at the two sedan chairs and sneered in his heart.

Even Wu Yuanyou knew to take a horse-drawn carriage to travel at this time, but these officials are still riding in sedan chairs!
He strode forward, glanced at the Wujun soldiers outside the city, and said in a cold voice: "Are you here to attack Haiyan?"

Soon, Zheng Wei, with an embarrassed look on his face, walked out of the sedan reluctantly. After looking up at Li Yun, he sighed in his heart.

He will be stepping down at the end of the year, and he really doesn't want to get involved in this matter at all, but there is nothing he can do. It has come to this point, and as the Jiangdong Observation and Disposal Envoy, he can no longer be a turtle.

After standing up, he looked at Li Yun and forced a smile: "Li Erlang, don't you recognize me?"

He and Li Yun are old acquaintances, but he only recently heard that Li Yun was the second-rank official. In order to get closer to him, he addressed him by his seniority.

A tall middle-aged man in green clothes came out of another sedan chair. He clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "I am Xie Shan from Wu County. I am honored to meet Governor Li."

Li Yun symbolically clasped his fists towards the two of them and thanked the County Magistrate and Duke Zheng.

Then he looked at Zheng Yu and said slowly, "Sir, I received a letter from His Royal Highness the King of Chu. In the letter, His Royal Highness the King of Chu said that he was in danger in Wu County. I had previously boasted in front of you that I would protect His Royal Highness the King of Chu, so I hurried to lead the troops to protect him."

"I didn't expect that after arriving in Wu County, I would be so amazed by what I have seen."

He looked at the people outside the city and said slowly, "When our army was stationed outside Gusu City, people from the city came and wanted to intercept His Royal Highness the King of Chu and me into the city."

"Later, the local army of Wu County rushed over overnight to kill His Royal Highness the King of Chu and Mr. Li!"

Li Yun said expressionlessly: "If you don't know, you would think that Wujun is no longer in the Great Zhou realm!"

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding."

Zheng Wei looked unhappy and turned to look at Xie Shan. County Magistrate Xie bowed to Li Yun and said, "Governor Li, this is indeed a misunderstanding."

"Xie has already done a thorough investigation. The people who came to invite Governor Li and Your Highness that night were from Sun Garden in Gusu City. We, the Gusu officials, were not aware of this."

"As for what happened next, there were soldiers from Gusu City blocking the way..."

He said in a deep voice: "It was Wujun Sima Zhou Yan who had evil intentions and acted without authorization. Zhou Yan has been arrested by me and imprisoned in Gusu Prison!"

"After Li arrives in Gusu City, he will go to the prison and find out."

"Also, Governor Li."

"I heard that a war broke out in Haiyan County..."

Having said that, Xie Shan looked up at Haiyan County, took a deep breath, and looked at Li Yun.

"What is the situation in Haiyan County?"

(End of this chapter)