Thief Emperor

Chapter 300 The charm of the old profession!

In the next few days, Li Yun spent a lot of money and got a lot of meat to reward the troops.

At the same time, he also began to count the merits of the Battle of Luzhou and prepare to reward people according to their merits.

Because there were too many things to do, he didn't have much time to deal with Gu Wenchuan and left him aside.

Logically speaking, Gu Wenchuan could now be considered at least half an imperial envoy. Having been treated so coldly by Li Yun, he should have left Wuzhou in anger and returned to Beijing to file a complaint.

However, although Gu Wenchuan was also very angry, he was only angry for a short while and continued to stay in Wuzhou City, wandering around the city every day.

Li Yun asked Liu Bo to arrange a few people to follow him, not to keep an eye on him, but because he was an old man and was afraid that he might be in danger.

On the fourth day, a carriage stopped in front of the governor's mansion in Wuzhou. Li Yun came to greet them in person. A servant got off the carriage first. It was Du Laian.

Du Laian has arrived, so the person in the carriage is naturally Du Qian. After Du Qian got off the carriage, Li Yun smiled and walked forward, clasped his fists and said, "Brother Shouyi, thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard to ride in a carriage."

Du Qian returned the greeting with a bow, and then walked with Li Yun to the governor's mansion. As they walked, he smiled and said, "After I entered the city, I saw that Wuzhou City was already in good shape. It seems that Erlang is not only good at fighting, but also good at governing a place."

"Can't talk about it."

After the two of them sat down in the main hall, Li Yun waved his hand and said, "For most things, I just talk and let others do the work."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun meaningfully, and said with a smile: "The superiors just talk. The higher the position, the more so. When you reach the top, you just need to grasp the general direction."

After taking a sip of tea, he said, "Okay, let's get down to business."

On the day Zhao Cheng and others returned to Wuzhou, Li Yun sent someone to invite Du Qian over. It was inevitable that there must be something wrong to call him all the way from Yuezhou.

Li Yun invited him over mainly to discuss the next plan, that is, the strategic direction. After all, since Li Yun’s troops entered Luzhou, Li Yun Group has entered a new stage, which is very different from before.

In this new stage, Li Yun was no longer just an inconspicuous official in the court. He had openly crossed the red line drawn by the court and had a fundamental conflict with the court.

And this contradiction has been exposed.

At this time, the size of Wuzhou's military forces increased again, so the route needed to be re-planned.

"I'm not very familiar with military affairs, so I won't get involved."

Du Qian put down the teacup, looked at Li Yun, and continued: "But the title of controlling Jiangnan must be grasped as soon as possible."

"Otherwise, with only Wuzhou and Yuezhou, no matter how smooth the process is, it will still be a congenital deficiency."

"Moreover, no one knows how long the chaos in the Central Plains can last. Once the chaos in the Central Plains ends, this rare opportunity will never come again. If you want to control Jiangnan again, you will probably have to face the imperial court directly."

“I thought of that, too.”

Li Yun told Du Qian about Gu Wenchuan's situation, and then said with a smile: "I would like to borrow the old gentleman's words to see if the court can be more sensible."

"I'm afraid not."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Erlang doesn't know much about the imperial court. The imperial court has always... responded to hard tactics rather than soft ones."

"Even if Gu Yuan exaggerated the military strength of Wuzhou in his report, as long as the imperial court is not damaged, they will most likely not take any action, according to the information I received."

Du Qian said softly: "Now, the court's policy towards the local areas is just one word."

"drag."

"As long as we can drag out the war in the Central Plains until it ends, even if it's just an open end, the imperial court will be able to breathe a sigh of relief."

"Therefore, they will not change the local situation if they can."

Li Yun picked up the teacup thoughtfully. After drinking a cup of tea, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "Brother Shouyi, I have an idea."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and smiled, "Tell me about it?"

Li Yun laughed: "Come to think of it, this is half of my profession."

He lowered his voice and told Du Qian again. After listening, Du Qian thought about it seriously and then said, "This method should be useful."

"Then let's do it."

The two of them decided on a strategy, and then discussed in detail some issues regarding future development directions.

This chat lasted for more than an hour.

Finally, seeing that Du Qian could no longer open his eyes, Li Yun smiled and said, "Let's stop here today. Brother Shouyi, please stay in Wuzhou for a few more days. I have many things to ask you."

"We'll talk about the weapons tomorrow."

Du Qian nodded and smiled: "After the discussion tomorrow, I will go meet Mr. Wenchuan."

Li Yun was startled and said, "Brother Shouyi is from the capital. It's not good to meet him in Wuzhou, right?"

Du Qian shook his head and smiled: "It doesn't matter."

"My father is the Minister of Six Ministries. Even if he goes to the capital to file a complaint against me, he won't be able to bring me down."

Li Yun smiled silently: "Yes, his official position is not as high as Du Shangshu." The two looked at each other and laughed.

…………

After Du Qian went down to rest, Li Yun immediately began to implement his plan without stopping. He first got up and went to the front office of the governor's mansion and found Zhuo Guangrui who was working.

After he entered the public house, Zhuo Guangrui quickly stood up, bowed and said, "Your Excellency."

"If you have anything to say, please ask someone to call me..."

"It's not that far."

Li Yun sat down and said with a smile: "Don't be so polite, sit down, I want to talk to Brother Zhuo about something important."

Zhuo Guangrui then sat down again and said, "The envoy has given orders."

"It's time to pay this year's autumn tax. Brother Zhuo, please prepare it as soon as possible and find time to send someone to escort it to the court."

"what?"

Zhuo Guangrui was stunned and said quickly: "Sir, the taxes of the counties in Wuzhou have not yet been determined whether to be collected. How can we hand them over to the court..."

"Pay in advance."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Just do the math. I'll pay for whatever money you have. I'm very rich now."

"I will just pay for the state's levies and levies."

Zhuo Guangrui nodded, and then said, "I wonder if other states and counties have paid their autumn taxes this year."

"In the entire Jiangnan region, only our Wuzhou Prefecture pays taxes and grain on time."

Li Yun said calmly: "Other states and counties cannot be handed over."

Zhuo Guangrui looked at Li Yun and asked doubtfully: "Envoy..."

He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood and nodded quickly: "Your Highness, I understand..."

…………

Half an hour later, in Li Yun's study, Li Zheng and Liu Bo both sat obediently opposite him.

Li Yun said with a serious expression: "Listen carefully, in the 20 prefectures and counties in the eastern part of Jiangnan, if any prefecture or county sends the autumn tax to the imperial court, they will be robbed immediately."

"In addition to the troops under Lao Jiu, I will give you two more battalions of lieutenants, led by Skinny Monkey. You two will do this together and make sure you do it beautifully."

Li Zheng looked at Li Yun and said, "Second brother, with our manpower, it is not a problem to rob the autumn tax, but the autumn tax must be paid before November. With so many people in 20 states and counties, I am afraid we may not be able to make it in time..."

"If we split our forces into several groups, we won't have enough manpower."

Li Yun said with a smile: "Don't worry about this. As long as you can intercept the autumn taxes of four or five states and counties within this month, the taxes of the other states and counties will be robbed."

Li Zheng frowned, somewhat puzzled.

Liu Bo, who was more thoughtful, had figured it out. He looked at Li Zheng and said with a smile, "Second brother is right. If we rob four or five prefectures, the other prefectures will no longer pay the autumn tax."

"Moreover, when they report to the court, they will say that they were robbed by a group of bandits."

Li Yun nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "From childhood to adulthood, Lao Jiu, you are the most cunning one."

"Sure enough, it's clear at once."

Liu Bo scratched his head a little embarrassedly and chuckled, "Compared to my second brother, I am far behind now."

He stood up and said, "Second brother, this matter is neither difficult nor easy. The most important thing is whether we can find out the time for the autumn tax to be escorted in the prefectures and counties of Jiangnan."

"Shouhou and I will get to work right away."

Li Yun nodded and said softly: "This matter is very important to us. You two should pay more attention and do it well."

They both nodded, then clasped their fists towards Li Yun and said, "Don't worry, second brother, we will definitely get it done for you!"

After saying that, the two men left Li Yun's study one after another.

After the two of them left, Li Yun found a piece of white paper and began to write and draw on it.

After a long while, he raised his head and looked outside the door, snorting, "It's a pity that we don't have enough manpower, otherwise not only Jiangdong, but the entire Jiangnan autumn tax would have been robbed by him!"

After saying this, Li Yun stood up, stretched, walked out the door, looked up at the sky, and seemed a little absent-minded.

"The autumn taxes of the twenty states and counties in Jiangdong were all robbed by bandits. Only the autumn taxes of Wuzhou were safe and sound. Hey..."

"The court...must make a choice."

"Do you want the taxes of the entire Jiangdong area, or do you want someone who can suppress the bandits in Jiangdong..."

"Recruiting envoy!"

(End of this chapter)