Thief Emperor

Chapter 278: Li Jilang, the Messenger of Justice
At a time like this, we cannot be soft-hearted, let alone really sit down and negotiate terms with these officials.

After all, these people did not regard Li Yun as a person at the "table" from the very beginning, and until now, Zheng Wei still regards Li Yun as a thug.

In that case, there is nothing to talk about!
There's no need to talk any further, let's just turn against each other!
Xie Shan and others were tied up tightly by Deng Yang and his men and taken to Haiyan County. As for Zheng Wei, an old acquaintance, Li Yun gave him a little face and did not help him, but let him enter the city by himself.

Zheng Wei walked in front, and Li Yun followed behind him with his hands folded across his chest.

Only when they reached the gate of Haiyan County did Zheng Wei finally understand what Li Yun meant by "I forgot to count one person when dividing the bill." He stopped, looked back at Li Yun, and his breathing became a little faster.

"Ji Lang..."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and said, "It's better to call him a lord of the mansion."

"Prince Li."

Zheng Wei whispered, "Don't be impatient. We can sit down and discuss whatever you want."

"What's making you so tense?"

"late."

Li Yun glanced back at Xie Shan, the governor of Wujun, who was already tied up tightly, and said with a smile: "If they are tied up, it means they have fallen out."

"Now that we've fallen out, there's nothing to talk about."

At this point, Mr. Li stretched his arms and continued, "If the Lord and County Magistrate Xie could figure it out earlier, we might still have something to talk about."

Before coming to Wujun, Li Yun had planned to use this opportunity to control the Jiangnan Salt Road, or at least get a share of the Jiangnan Salt Road. However, at the beginning, he had no way of predicting everything that would happen later, so he could only take one step at a time.

If people like Zheng Wei and Xie Shan cooperate with him, then there is not nothing to talk about between the two sides. At least these local old forces have a very mature system on the salt road. Cooperating with them will make the process relatively simpler.

All you need to do is collect protection money.

Of course, even collecting protection fees is only a temporary transitional plan. After all, if Li Yun wants to become stronger, he will sooner or later control the entire Jiangdong, and even the entire Jiangnan.

Sooner or later, he will have complete control over the salt road.

Now, since these local forces have this attitude, Li Yun might as well just go all out and get things done on the salt road.

"All right."

Li Yun said, "When the Duke of Fu sees His Highness later, he should explain everything clearly. He is a senior official after all, and there is a Zheng family behind him. His Highness should give him a lighter punishment."

"I…"

Zheng Yu was almost broken by Li Yun's words. He looked up at Li Yun and almost started to curse him, but after looking at the soldiers nearby, the inspector quickly calmed down and said in a muffled voice: "What do I want to explain? In the past few years as the governor of Jiangdong, I have hardly received any money!"

"The worst that can happen is that I will be dismissed from office. What else can I do?"

He went into the city in a rage.

On this point, Zheng Wei was indeed not lying. In his position as the Inspector General, he supervised the officials of Jiangdong, so of course it was impossible for him not to take money. If he did not take any money as the Inspector General, I am afraid that the officials of the twenty states and counties in Jiangdong would not be able to sleep well at night.

But he didn't take much.

During his entire tenure as Jiangdong Surveillance Commissioner, the amount of money and property he received was roughly the same as that received by Mingzhou Governor Zhu Tong.

The reason for this was, on the one hand, that Zheng Wei came from an aristocratic family and was not short of money. He had to pay some attention to his official reputation and not be too greedy.

On the other hand, it was naturally because Envoy Zhu’s business ability was too outstanding. The money he obtained exceeded that of the governor and was almost the same as that of Zheng Yu.

But no matter what, if we follow past practices, even if Zheng Wei was investigated, his crime would not cost him his life, as he himself said.

At most, he will be dismissed from office.

Li Yun sneered in his heart but said nothing. He brought the two men all the way to the Haiyan County Government Office. At this moment, His Royal Highness the King of Chu was already waiting at the gate of the government office. After seeing Zheng Wei, he frowned at first, but then he saw Xie Shan, the prefect of Wu County, who had been tied up and had his mouth gagged with a cloth strip.

Wu Yuanyou had lived in Gusu City for some time, so he naturally recognized Xie Shan. His face changed when he saw this.

When Xie Shan saw Wu Yuanyou, he became very excited and began to struggle. He tried to speak by whimpering, but he was strangled by the cloth strip and could not utter a complete sentence.

"Li... Li the governor."

Wu Yuanyou took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He looked at Li Yun, pointed at Xie Shan, and asked, "What's going on?" "Your Highness."

Li Yun clasped his fists and said, "Gusu City sent soldiers to kill Your Highness. This was witnessed by Your Highness and experienced personally. For this matter alone, County Magistrate Xie cannot escape the death penalty. Now he has come to my door and wants to speak for the rebels in Haiyan County. How can I let him go?"

"Now, the criminal Xie Shan has been captured by this humble official and will be dealt with by His Highness!"

Wu Yuanyou then looked up at the tied up Xie Shan, rubbed his temple, and waved his hand, saying, "Take him to the prison and wait for interrogation!"

After saying this, he looked at Zheng Yu, his face darkening: "Observer Zheng, after I left Gusu City, some soldiers from Wu County did come here overnight with ill intentions. Does Observer Zheng have to give me an explanation for this, too?"

Zheng Wei looked bitter and lowered his head, saying, "Your Highness, I did not know about this at first, and I only learned about it afterwards. At that time, the officials of Wu County reported to me that Your Highness was suddenly taken out of Gusu City by the soldiers of Wuzhou at midnight, and taken... outside the city... outside the city..."

He looked at Li Yun and continued, "He was taken to the place where Governor Li was outside the city. The officials in Gusu were worried that the prince might be in danger, so they sent troops out of the city to bring the prince back."

"The rest... the rest..."

Zheng Yu bowed his head and clasped his hands, saying, "I don't know about the rest of the matter. It was only when Governor Li mentioned this matter just now that I learned that the troops of Wu County clashed with the troops of Wuzhou, and there was a big battle."

Wu Yuanyou gnashed his teeth and said, "That night, I was the one who left the city on my own. How could those people in Gusu see that I was abducted out of the city by the Wuzhou soldiers?"

"You Jiangdong officials are plotting something bad!"

Zheng Wei bowed his head deeply, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, can you allow me to report to you alone?"

Wu Yuanyou turned his head and looked at Li Yun. Li Yun looked calm and said calmly, "Your Highness, please see me if you want to."

At this time, Wu Yuanyou really wanted to have a private chat with Zheng Wei and other Jiangdong officials, at least to discuss how to resolve the problem. However, after seeing Li Yun's calm expression, Wu Yuanyou felt a little scared for no reason.

He had seen with his own eyes Li Yun holding a gun and using the gun tip to smash someone to death!

And now he knows more clearly who is in control of the situation.

Soon, the clever Prince Chu made his own choice. He frowned and shouted, "This is all official business between me and Jiangdong. There is nothing personal about it. What can Zheng Guancha say that cannot be made public?"

These words made Zheng Wei's face turn pale.

He already felt a little regretful. If he had known earlier, he should not have asked this question in front of Li Yun. Now, he was afraid that he would never have the chance to meet Wu Yuanyou in private again.

Not only him, but also officials of Wujun such as Xie Shan will probably never have this opportunity again.

Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou with some surprise.

The spiritual level of His Royal Highness the King of Chu once again exceeded his expectations. He had thought that there would be more trouble.

Since His Royal Highness the King of Chu is so sensible, there will be less trouble. Li Yun looked at Zheng Wei and the tied up Xie Shan, and said slowly: "Observer Zheng, County Magistrate Xie, and all the officials in Haiyan County have confessed everything. Although some accounts have been destroyed by you, their testimonies can also be used as evidence."

"The accounts of each salt field are still available for review. It won't be long before the general accounts of Haiyan County can be cleared up again."

After the incident in Mingzhou, Wujun responded quickly, and with more than one approach. One of them was naturally to solve the problem at its source, Wu Yuanyou.

The other part is to balance the accounts. They have already done all the accounts that should be done, and some accounts that should not exist have almost been destroyed.

Therefore, it is quite troublesome for Li Yun to reproduce the complete chain of evidence now. After all, these old hands in officialdom are very experienced in doing this kind of thing.

Fortunately... Li Yun doesn’t really need any evidence now.

The person has already been kidnapped, are you still worried that you won’t be able to get evidence?
He took a step forward, looked at Xie Shan, and said in a cold voice: "This place in Wujun is so bold that they not only dare to kill their colleagues, but also dare to kill the imperial envoy and the prince!"

"Your Highness has already said that this time, the corruption in Wu County, no matter who is involved, no matter what their background and support in the court, must be investigated thoroughly!"

He glanced at everyone and said coldly.

"No one should get away with it!"

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, standing by, blinked innocently.

He rubbed his temple and thought carefully.

I…

Did you say this?
(End of this chapter)