Thief Emperor

Chapter 281 Major Changes
In the following few days, Li Yun began to devote himself to the work of reorganizing the officials in Gusu.

To be honest, this matter is not that difficult. After all, he already has a lot of evidence in his hands. If all the existing salt officials and local officials are arrested one by one, the number of people wrongly accused will not exceed one hand.

However, since we have to leave some people behind, this will be relatively troublesome.

What was originally a simple matter, although still not difficult, has become extremely complicated.

Fortunately, at this time, many officials in Gusu City had already understood who was the boss of Wu County. Within a few days, these "smart people" had begun to find ways to get in touch with Li Yun. Even the brothers Meng Hai and Meng Qing, who served as Li Yun's bodyguards, were given a lot of gifts.

If Li Yun just wanted to make a fortune in Wujun and leave, he could have accepted all the gifts these people gave him. However, at this moment, what Li Yun needed was not just money, but a team of his own.

If this team does a good job, they can become the bureaucratic foundation for him to govern Wu County and even the entire Jiangdong in the future.

When laying the foundation, one cannot slack off at all. Although it is very laborious, Li Yun still carefully selects bit by bit, preparing to tear down the entire Wujun bureaucratic system from scratch.

On the fourth day, Master Zhuo came to visit Li Yun as promised. After Li Yun agreed, Meng Qing took Zhuo Pu to the door of Li Yun's study and knocked gently: "General, Master Zhuo is here."

Soon, Li Yun's slightly tired voice was heard in the room.

"please come in."

Meng Qing pushed open the door and made a gesture to invite him in. Master Zhuo walked in and bowed to Li Yun: "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Li Yun rubbed his eyes, pointed to an empty seat, and said, "You're welcome. Sit down and talk."

Master Zhuo nodded. He first held a thick document and handed it to Li Yun, saying, "Sir, these are some people on the Wujun Salt Road who can still be used seriously. I have sorted out their situations in the past few days."

"Give it to the envoy for review."

Li Yun took the document, rubbed his red eyes, and said helplessly: "The work on this document is more tiring than fighting in the battlefield."

Zhuo Pu looked up at Li Yun, and was surprised when he saw Li Yun's bloodshot eyes. He said, "Your Excellency, these past few days..."

"Very busy."

Li Yun shook his head and sighed, but he did not continue talking. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Master Zhuo, what kind of person is Shi Heng, the county magistrate of Wu County?"

Zhuo Pu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then answered solemnly: "Mr. Shi is a very well-behaved person."

Li Yun nodded, lowered his head to look through the documents, and stopped talking.

If he had a system of civil servants under his command, he could simply take over the entire Wujun. But unfortunately, Li Yun now has some generals who can lead troops, but not many civil servants.

Later, he secured his position as the governor of Wuzhou, and he was able to develop several direct descendants among the officials in the counties under Wuzhou.

Now, there is still a shortage.

Therefore, it is impossible for Li Yun to directly rule Wujun for the time being. He can only control Wujun indirectly through the salt road and make plans when the time is ripe in the future.

The document handed over by Mr. Zhuo was dozens of pages thick, but because the matter was very important, he patiently read it bit by bit. When he turned to the last page, two pieces of paper appeared in front of Li Yun.

One is the land deed and the other is the house deed.

Li Yun was stunned, looked up at Zhuo Pu, frowned and asked, "What does Master Zhuo mean by this?"

"It's not interesting."

Zhuo Pu stood up and said with a smile, "The other day the envoy came to my house and seemed to be very interested in my humble home. The salt road of Wu County is a lucrative post. If the envoy is willing to hand it over to the Zhuo family, the Zhuo family must give something in return."

"and…"

"You are so young, yet you have achieved so much. You will surely have a bright future. Who knows, you may be transferred from Wuzhou to Wujun someday. When that happens, this house will be perfect for you to live in."

Li Yun found it a little funny. After shaking his head, he said, "I just praised the Zhuo family's house that day. I didn't have any other thoughts. Master Zhuo misunderstood."

"That's absolutely not possible."

Mr. Li said sternly, "Brother Zhuo and I have quite a good relationship. If he knew that I went to Wu County and occupied his ancestral home, how would we get along in the future?"

He stood up, looked at Zhuo Pu, and said seriously: "Master Zhuo, let's do as we discussed before. Now you and I will decide on the candidates for several important officials on the salt road, and then..."

"Master Zhuo arranged for them to meet with me." "After that, I started to make arrangements for the vacancies."

Master Zhuo took the house deed and land deeds handed back by Li Yun and said respectfully: "I obey your command."

Although Li Yun did not take the Zhuo family's ancestral home at this time, the relationship between the Zhuo family and Li Yun was undoubtedly closer between the two. In terms of human relationships, Mr. Zhuo, who has been doing business for decades, is many times better than ordinary people.

With the participation of Zhuo Pu, a local know-it-all in Wujun, Li Yun's personnel arrangement work immediately went much more smoothly. In just two or three hours, most of the things had been arranged. After Master Zhuo's brush put down the last stroke, he stood up and bowed to Li Yun and said, "Your Excellency, if the officials on the salt road can follow this list, I guarantee that the Wujun Salt Road will be firmly in your hands in the future."

Li Yun nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile: "The Imperial Envoy can't stay in Wu County forever, and I can't stay in Wu County for long. It's not easy to accomplish this in such a short time. So let's settle it for now. Tomorrow morning, I will go to the Imperial Envoy and get the job done."

There are dozens of states in the entire Jiangnan region, so it is naturally impossible for Wu Yuanyou to stay in Wu County all the time.

Since Wu Yuanyou is not here, Li Yun cannot stay here for long. After all, it is not right for him to do so.

Therefore, the affairs of Wu County need to be handled as soon as possible and cannot be delayed.

That day, after seeing off Master Zhuo, Li Yun returned to his room and had a good sleep. On the next morning, Li Yun took the list and found His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu who had just woken up.

Wu Yuanyou yawned as he took the document, or plan, handed over by Li Yun.

While he was checking in detail, Li Yun beside him said, "Your Highness, I have carefully checked the intelligence and official reputation of the officials in Wu County in the past few days."

“Some of the people in Wujun’s officialdom can be retained, such as Wujun’s governor Shi Heng, but the salt road is completely rotten.”

Li Yun emphasized his tone and said, "The Salt Road must be thoroughly rectified, and all officials on the Salt Road must be replaced from top to bottom."

"In this way, the borers can be eliminated and Jiangnan can have a few years of peace."

After Wu Yuanyou took the document and read it through, he looked up at Li Yun and said with a wry smile, "After reading this, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to move around Jiangnan in the future."

Li Yun said with a cold face: "Your Highness, that is why we have to be ruthless in Wu County. If other prefectures and counties are like Wu County, pretending to obey but secretly disobeying, or even taking up arms, Your Highness will have a hard time moving forward in Jiangnan in the future."

"Other people will only become more daring."

Wu Yuanyou looked at Li Yun, opened his mouth and was about to say something, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

"General, general!"

Li Yun clasped his fists towards Wu Yuanyou and said, "Your Highness, something may have happened. I will go and ask."

Wu Yuanyou nodded, and Li Yun turned around and walked to the door. After opening the door, he saw Meng Qing standing at the door panting. Li Yun looked at him and frowned, "What's the urgent matter?"

Meng Qing took a deep breath and whispered something to Li Yun. After hearing what Li said, his face immediately darkened.

He stood there without saying anything for a long time. After a long while, he finally let out a breath: "I... understand."

"You go ahead."

Meng Qing looked up at Li Yun's expression, hesitated for a moment, then nodded and left.

Li Yun was silent for a long time before he turned back and walked into the room again. He clasped his fists towards Wu Yuanyou and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, you can't stay in Wu County for long. Wu County's affairs must be decided early, otherwise it may become more difficult if it is delayed."

"Your Highness's mission in Jiangnan will become increasingly difficult in the future."

Wu Yuanyou did not answer the question directly. He looked at Li Yun's expression, which looked a little strange, and frowned, "Li, has something happened?"

Li Yun looked up at Wu Yuanyou with a gloomy expression: "I just received news that General Su was ordered to attack the Henan rebels together with the Shuofang Army. The Shuofang Army... the Shuofang Army advanced 50 miles and then stopped moving. General Su's entire army was surrounded and suffered heavy casualties."

Li Yun had a blank expression on his face: "The general was lost on the battlefield, and his life or death is unknown."

Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was also stunned, but after swallowing his saliva, he quickly reacted.

"Regarding Wujun's affairs, we should...do as Li the governor said, immediately, right away..."

At this point, he was already feeling a little guilty about what he said.

“I’ll do it right away…”

(End of this chapter)