Thief Emperor

Chapter 318 Well done!
Liang Zheng, the magistrate of Yi'an County, Sun Gan, the current county magistrate, He Xian, the chief clerk, and other Yi'an County officials were all tied up in the lobby.

It is worth mentioning that this trial was not an open trial, which means that all the people inside and outside the hall were from Wuzhou.

Li Yun rarely looked serious. He put on the official uniform of the governor, sat in the main seat, slammed the gavel hard, and shouted, "The criminal."

"Three years ago, Xu Dian, the county magistrate of Yi'an, wrote a letter to the emperor accusing you of corruption and misleading the people, as well as embezzling the copper ingots smelted from the copper mine and selling them privately."

"Is this possible?"

County Magistrate Liang had suffered a lot in the prison these days. He looked miserable now, with his hair long gone and bloodstains on his body. However, he still looked up at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "If you want to kill Li, just kill him. Why waste your time talking nonsense!"

Li Yun glanced at him.

"It seems that County Master Liang is dissatisfied."

"Of course I don't accept it."

Liang Zheng stiffened his neck, looked up at Li Yun, and scolded him: "You are just a man from the mountains, who was lucky enough to get the chance to wear this official uniform. But even with this official uniform, your barbaric habits have not changed at all!"

"You are neither an official of Jiangnan West Road nor a civil servant of the imperial court. What right do you have to arrest people in Yi'an County and even resort to lynching?"

County Magistrate Liang glared at Li Yun and cursed, "You are still claiming to be on behalf of the Xu family. Bah!"

"To put it bluntly, you, Li Zhao, are taking advantage of the court's crisis to become a bandit and seize the copper mine in Yi'an County!"

"Otherwise, there are so many counties in the world, why don't you take care of the affairs of other counties?"

Li Yun looked at Liang Zheng with interest and said with a smile: "So, County Master Liang still feels wronged? Xu Dian's death was unclear, isn't it your fault?"

"He deserves to die!"

County Magistrate Liang gritted his teeth and said, "Which county in the world doesn't live off the land and water? It has been like this for the past two hundred years in the Great Zhou Dynasty! But he would seek fame and go around in circles to submit a letter to the court!"

"If the court really follows his memorial, officials from Yi'an County and even the entire Xuanzhou will be implicated by him. Hundreds of families will be ruined by him. This kind of person has a bad career as an official, so he is willing to sacrifice the lives and property of countless people to gain a reputation for himself!"

"Shouldn't he die?"

Liang Zheng stared at Li Yun with eyes wide open. He became more and more excited as he spoke, almost going crazy.

"Things at the mine have been like this for hundreds of years. How much have we, the local officials, taken? Why didn't Mr. Xu file a complaint against us instead of the imperial court?"

“The court takes the most!”

"Do you really think the imperial court knows nothing? Even if Xu wants to kill another round in Xuanzhou, what will happen?"

"After a few years, it's still the same."

Liang Zheng sneered, "Xu is only concerned with fame and not facts. He is nothing but a hypocrite."

"If it weren't for our kindness, would his family be alive today?"

Li Yun looked at him, was silent for a while, and then he sighed: "This is where everything in the world goes wrong."

If everyone thinks it is natural, then it really is natural.

So if a person like Xu Dian really appeared, the common people would not necessarily remember his good deeds, but people of the same class would regard him as a heretic and an enemy.

County Magistrate Liang raised his head and looked at Li Yun coldly.

"Isn't Envoy Li here just to rob the copper mine? Why are you pretending to be so? It's not fun at all."

"Liang County Master."

A smile slowly appeared on Li Yun's face.

"You are right. I am here to rob the copper mine."

"But robbing the copper mine won't stop me from doing good things. No matter how convincing you are, it's useless."

"Xu Dian may have offended you, but your few hundred households are not the entire Yi'an County, let alone the entire Xuanzhou."

Liang Zheng wanted to talk more, but Li Yun didn't want to pay attention to him anymore. He said expressionlessly: "Since County Master Liang knows that I'm here to rob the copper mine, there's no need for us to waste time talking."

"If you confess to this crime, I will save you a lot of trouble. You may even have a chance to survive and stand trial by the court."

"If you don't recognize it."

Li Yun looked outside the county hall and suddenly smiled: "Mr. Liang, our new governor of Xuanzhou has arrived and is about to go to the county government office."

"There are hundreds of soldiers inside and outside my city, but he still dares to break into the city. Guess..."

"What is he here for?"

Li Yun patted Liang Zheng on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If you don't admit this, I will hand you over to this new envoy. What's his last name?"

Liang Zheng's face finally changed drastically and he murmured to himself.

"Envoy Deng..."

There is no doubt that County Magistrate Liang is a smart man.

Therefore, it is easy to understand Li Yun’s words.

The new governor of Xuanzhou has not been in Xuanzhou for long. Li Yun has deployed so many troops inside and outside the Yian County, but he still dares to break into the city.

Then...he definitely didn't come here to go against Li Yun.

No one would be that stupid.

Then, it seems not difficult to guess the intention of this envoy Deng who hurried to Yi'an. He came to shut up Liang Zheng and others.

After all, this Envoy Deng also received some benefits related to the copper mine, but his involvement was not deep and there was still room for mediation. As long as Liang Zheng and other Yi'an officials kept silent, he would most likely be fine.

Li Yun put his hands behind his back, looked outside the main hall of the county government office, and said with a smile: "Envoy Deng will be here soon."

"I admit it."

Liang Zheng suddenly lowered his head and said dejectedly, "We will recognize it according to what Li Shijun wrote."

Once they fall into the hands of Lord Deng, most of them will commit suicide out of fear of punishment.

There is no way for them to survive. The new envoy will never protect them, and will not go against Li Yun for them.

Mr. Li nodded in satisfaction. He turned around and patted the Liang County Master on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Liang County Master is a very smart person."

"What you said makes sense, but you have your reasons and I have mine."

"But in this world, reason is useless."

Mr. Li walked out of the lobby with his hands behind his back.

"I am stronger than you, so I am the truth."

"Take them all into custody and make them sign their names."

After saying this, Li Yun strode out. As soon as he reached the front hall of the county government, he saw a middle-aged man in his forties walking towards him. After looking at Li Yun, he immediately bowed and saluted, "Is it Envoy Li?"

Li Yun did not return the greeting immediately. He looked at the new governor of Xuanzhou and said calmly, "I was lucky enough to get a new job not long ago. Now I am honored to serve as the recruiting envoy of the Jiangnan East Road."

The Governor Deng was stunned at first and said nothing.

Li Yun smiled and said, "Is it Envoy Deng?"

"Envoy Deng wants to see the appointment document from the Ministry of Personnel?"

"Don't dare."

Governor Deng bowed his head and said, "I congratulate you, Your Excellency."

The post of Recruiting Envoy did not have an actual rank. He was a temporarily appointed official. Theoretically, there was not much difference between him and the local Governor. They could both be called Envoys.

Li Yun waved his hand and said with a smile: "The officials of Jiangdong have nothing to do with those of Jiangnanxi Road. Besides, Lord Deng is the father and mother official of Xuanzhou, and I am a citizen of Xuanzhou. If I have to pay homage, it should be Lord Deng."

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Envoy Deng waved his hands repeatedly, then changed the subject and asked, "Why did you come to Yi'an this time?"

"Not long ago, someone handed me a petition, and the content of the petition was extremely tragic."

Li Yun took out the Xu family's petition from his sleeve and handed it to Envoy Deng. Then he took out the document written by Wu Yuanyou and handed it to him, saying calmly, "Originally, this matter should have been handed over to Envoy Deng, but it happened that I was ordered by the King of Chu to rectify the administration of officials in the south of the Yangtze River, and I happened to be visiting my relatives in my hometown of Qingyang."

"Just stop by and take care of this case."

He looked at Governor Deng and said with a smile, "You are not interfering in other people's affairs, are you?"

You are really overstepping your authority!

Envoy Deng was furious, but he forced a smile on his face: "No, no."

"May I ask, sir, how is the case going?"

"very smooth."

Li Yun smiled and said, "All the defendants in the petition have pleaded guilty. In two days, I will report this case to the court."

"Well done!"

Envoy Deng praised him and said, "To be honest, after I arrived in Xuanzhou, I wanted to start to rectify the administration of officials in Xuanzhou. Unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable and I have never been able to find a place to start. I have wasted half a year. It would be better for you to spend a few days to investigate it clearly."

He took a deep breath and said, "Your Excellency is not an official of Xuanzhou after all. Leave these criminals to me. I will deal with the aftermath and give an explanation to the court and the people."

Li Yun glanced at him with a half-smile, then said with his hands behind his back, "Since I am handling this case, I must handle it thoroughly from beginning to end. I will take the main criminals Liang Zheng and Sun Gan back to Jiangdong to await the court's decision."

"The rest of Yi'an County will be handed over to Lord Deng."

"What do you think, Lord Deng?"

The two have been chatting until now, and neither of them has mentioned the copper mine.

It seems that there is no such copper mine in Yian County.

And Li Yun's control over Liang Zheng and the other two meant, to some extent, that he also had the leverage over Governor Deng.

Although it is of little use, at least it can prevent the Xuanzhou governor from being satisfied, and that's enough.

Governor Deng hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Then let's do as you wish."

"Deng represents the people of Xuanzhou and Yi'an."

He looked up at Li Yun, then lowered his head deeply.

"Thank you, Envoy."

(End of this chapter)