Thief Emperor

Chapter 295 Are you going to start a rebellion? !

In the front office of the Wuzhou Governor's Mansion, Zhuo Guangrui stood up and bowed to Li Yun respectfully, saying, "Your Excellency."

Li Yun pulled him to sit down and said with a smile, "Brother Zhuo is too polite."

The two of them sat down one after another. Li Yun said with emotion: "When I entered Wuzhou just now, it was quite different from when I left. Brother Zhuo is really capable."

Zhuo Guangrui waved his hand and said, "Before the envoy left, the general direction had already been determined. In addition, the envoy left behind so many elite soldiers and generals, so order was quickly restored. After a long time, the order in the city will naturally be very different from before."

"In fact, I didn't do anything. I just handled some miscellaneous matters to ensure that government affairs would not be ignored."

"I really don't dare to take credit for other achievements."

At this point, he stood up and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Recently, I have received several letters from my hometown. I know that after arriving in Wu County, you have taken great care of the Zhuo family. On behalf of the Zhuo family, I would like to thank you."

Li Yun pulled him to sit down and said with a smile: "It's just that each of us takes what we need. Although I held great power in Wu County at that time, I couldn't stay for long, so I could only place my hopes on the local nobles. The Zhuo family is the most suitable one anyway, and there is no other choice."

At this point, Li Yun paused, smiled faintly and said: "I haven't had time to rectify the salt road in the whole Jiangnan area. Only the salt road in Wu County is now on the right track temporarily. I took ruthless action in Wu County, but I don't know..."

"How long can the Zhuo family hold on?"

This statement also has two meanings. The first meaning is naturally to maintain control of the Wujun Salt Road. The second meaning is how long the Zhuo family can maintain their honesty and integrity.

After all, those white salts are white money, and few people can keep holding on to them without being tempted.

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head slightly and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Your Excellency. I have already explained this matter to my father. My father is a reasonable person and will never be greedy for the small gains in front of him. As long as the Zhuo family is still in Wujun and Gusu City, they will definitely be able to protect the Gusu Salt Road for Your Excellency."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Master Zhuo is very smart. I have talked to him a few times. Don't worry about this. However, there are so many people in the Zhuo family, and not all of them can understand things."

Zhuo Guangrui stood up again and said in a deep voice: "If there is any problem, I will go to Wu County on your behalf and make sure that Wu County is clear again."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Sit down and talk, sit down and talk."

Zhuo Guangrui then sat down again.

Li Yun poured him some tea, still with a smile on his face: "I don't think there will be any problems in Wujun in the next one or two years. After one or two years, I will start to sort out the entire Jiangnan Salt Road, so it's okay."

"Let's not talk about the Zhuo family's affairs today."

Li Yun looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said, "Brother Zhuo has been working hard in Wuzhou for the past two months. I have seen it. I have been trying to find a way to transfer Brother Zhuo to the position of Wuzhou Beijia from the court, but Brother Zhuo also knows."

"I don't have any connections in the court."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and continued, "It's hard to say whether it can be done or when it can be done."

"So now, Brother Zhuo has two choices."

Li Yun looked calm: "The first choice is naturally to return to Shan County, wait for the court documents to arrive, and then come to Wuzhou to find me. The second choice..."

"That is, resign from the post of county magistrate of the imperial court and stay in Wuzhou. Although I cannot give Brother Zhuo the position of Beijia, I can give Brother Zhuo the actual position of Beijia."

In this matter, Li Yun was not testing Zhuo Guangrui. There was nothing to test in the relationship between the two people. However, apart from the second generation such as Cui Shao and Pei Huang, Li Yun did not have any connections in the court.

Especially after the incident in Luzhou, it was not known whether he had offended the imperial court. Therefore, Zhuo Guangrui's promotion to "Deputy Governor" was not easy to handle in the imperial court.

In other words, I don’t know how long it will take to get it done.

Since the court refused to confer the title, Li Yun had to do it himself. Anyway, he was the governor of Wuzhou. If the court really sent an imperial eunuch, he would either stay at home and grow flowers and plants, or die.

This position must be in Li Yun's own hands.

Zhuo Guangrui only thought for a few breaths before he bowed his head and said to Li Yun: "Sir, I choose the latter."

"But I have to go back to Shan County, settle matters there, and then resign from the court. After I resign, I will come to see you, my lord."

If it were in the past, a local official like Zhuo Guangrui, who came from a typical local aristocratic family, would have to think about these two choices for a few days, and might even choose the former.

But during this period of time, after serving as the acting governor of Wuzhou for a month or two, Zhuo Guangrui has already deeply understood...part of Li Yun's strength.

Theoretically, the more than a thousand people left by Li Yun in Wuzhou alone exceeded the regular establishment that a normal state could have, and the quality of the army was very different from the local army that Zhuo Guangrui had seen before.

In addition to the military strength of Wuzhou, Li Yun's performance in Wujun also taught County Magistrate Zhuo a severe lesson.

Even through just a few letters from his old father, Zhuo Guangrui saw how powerful Li Yun was when he was in Wujun.

Governor Li smiled and nodded: "Okay." "Then Brother Zhuo should go back to Shan County in a few days and bring his family to Wuzhou."

"If nothing else happens..."

Li Yun rubbed his brows and said, "We will stay in Wuzhou for quite a while."

At this point, Li Yun looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said with a smile: "During this period, I also abducted a county magistrate from Mingzhou. He is now rushing from Yuezhou and should be able to reach Wuzhou in a few days. I will introduce him to Brother Zhuo then."

Zhuo Guangrui was startled, but a smile appeared on his face: "Then I really want to meet you, your subordinate."

In the study, Li Yun chatted with Zhuo Guangrui for more than an hour, mainly to get a detailed understanding of the current situation in Wuzhou.

After all, not long after he took office, he hurried to Wujun to serve as a judge, and he didn't know much about the current situation in Wuzhou.

After he had learned almost everything, Li Yun thought for a moment and said, "It's already autumn now. It's too late to take care of the farming in Wuzhou this year, but we can send people to clean up the fields in Wuzhou."

"I want to find a way to distribute the land of some wealthy owners to some poor people."

Li Yun looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said slowly: "When Brother Zhuo comes back from Shan County, we will start doing this."

Zhuo Guangrui was startled, but without much hesitation, he nodded and said, "I obey your command."

The Zhuo family is a typical aristocratic landlord family. Especially after the Zhuo family was kicked out of the salt road, most of the business that Mr. Zhuo has done in recent years has been related to land.

Theoretically, aristocratic landlords like Zhuo Guangrui should oppose Li Yun's act of dividing the land, but in fact they would not.

Because at this moment, Zhuo Guangrui stands on the side of Li Yun, the administrative body. As long as Li Yun does not change the nature of land private ownership, even if all their land is taken away now, they will be able to get it back in the future, or even get more.

What's more, Li Yun will not deprive the Zhuo family of their land now, and the Zhuo family's focus in the future will shift to the salt road.

If Li Yun becomes successful in the future, the Zhuo family, who follows him, will no longer have to worry about the land issue.

To put it boldly, after the change of dynasties, equal distribution of land and exemption of taxes was something that every dynasty had done. It was nothing new.

The two chatted for a while, and then Li Yun stood up, stretched and said, "I just came back from here, let's talk about it in detail later. I'll treat Brother Zhuo to dinner tonight."

Zhuo Guangrui nodded and stood up to say goodbye.

Not long after he left, there was another knock on Li Yun's door. Li Zheng pushed the door open and walked in, clasping his fists and saying, "Brother, are you looking for me?"

Li Yun said "hmm" and said, "Sit down and talk."

After Li Zheng sat down, Li Yun looked at him and said in a deep voice: "Shou Hou, starting from tomorrow, you will go to Wuzhou and its subordinate counties..."

"conscription."

"All new recruits should be sent to the Wuzhou camp. I will try to set up a camp for new recruits in the next few days."

Recruiting soldiers was nothing new to Li Zheng, after all, he had done it more than once.

So, Li Zheng patted his chest happily and said with a smile: "Leave it to me. How much does Second Brother want to collect now?"

"Just go ahead and collect as many as you can."

At this point, Li Yun paused, rubbed his brow, and said, "Call Lao Jiu as well, have him go with you, and recruit some smart people around you."

"Also, tell Lao Jiu that I don't need cash now."

Li Yun looked at Li Zheng and said in a deep voice: "Tell him to find a way to get food from all over the place. The more the better."

Hearing Li Yun's words, Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became excited. He looked left and right, then lowered his voice and said: "Second brother, you...you..."

"Are you going to start a rebellion?"

Li Yun rolled his eyes at him and said unhappily, "Not yet. Just do it if I tell you to."

"This conscription is a little different from the previous ones. Except for the salary, which remains the same, you will announce it to the public when you conscript."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and said softly: "I got military merit..."

“You can divide the land.”

(End of this chapter)