Thief Emperor

Chapter 325 Heartbeat
In terms of administrative level, Li Yun and the Jinling Yin are roughly the same, and because Jinling Prefecture is relatively prosperous, the Jinling Yin is half a level higher than Li Yun.

If it were before, even if Li Yun became the Recruiting Envoy, he would be almost on the same level as the Jinling Yin. No matter what, he would not allow the other party to give him gifts.

But now, Li Yun had just arrived in Jinling City when the other party came, and sent him off outside the mansion gate. There was something fishy going on here.

Should he set the tone for this meeting first, show his goodwill to Li Yun, so as to avoid being turned away, or should he send it to the rest of the Jinling Prefecture to show them so that they don't have any bad intentions...

Or, was it someone who deliberately instructed this?
It's hard to say.

Li Yun thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Since it's the Yin of Jinling, I'll go out to greet him."

Up to now, it has only been about an hour since Li Yun entered Jinling City, and the Yin of Jinling took the initiative to come to him. Either he is very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared in this city, or he is mentally prepared.

However, what is certain is that this Jinling Yin may have had some interactions with Master Zhou of the Pinglu Army.

After Li Yun stood up, he quickly walked all the way to the main gate of the house. At this moment, Jinling Yin had already been welcomed in. The two met in the courtyard. Only then did Li Yun see the appearance of Jinling Yin.

He was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, but he was different from the ordinary chubby officials. He was very thin, of medium build, with a long beard, and looked very energetic.

He just looked up at Li Yun, forced a smile on his face, and took the initiative to bow and salute: "Is it Envoy Li?"

Li Yun clasped his fists in return and said calmly, "Li Zhao from Wuzhou is the governor of Song, right?"

Although there are many prefectures and counties in the world, there are only a dozen or so in Jiangdong. Now, Li Yun may not know the names of the county magistrates under him, but he knows the name of this Jinling Yin.

Just ask and you will find out.

His surname is Song, his given name is Zhen, and his courtesy name is Shidao.

Song Lingyin raised his head, his face full of smiles, and said, "Just now I heard from my subordinates that Envoy Li has arrived. I dare not neglect it, and I rushed here directly despite the darkness. I hope I didn't disturb the Envoy's rest?"

"Of course not."

Li Yun led him to the main hall. After the two sat down in the main hall, the Yin of Jinling said with emotion: "This house is one of the more famous houses in Jinling City. It was originally said to be the house of the Gusu Zhuo family. Now it seems..."

He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "It seems to be the property of the envoy?"

"It's still from the Zhuo family."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and said with a smile: "I came to Jinling to handle some official business, so I'm staying here for a few days."

"Business?"

Song Zhen was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What business did the envoy come to Jinling for?"

According to the information he received, Li Yun went to Jinling to meet Mr. Zhou of the Pinglu Army. If it was just for this meeting, it could not be considered as official business.

Moreover, he is the Yin of Jinling, so any official business that Li Yun has must be related to him.

"Did Ling Yin forget?"

Li Yun looked at Song Zhen in surprise and said, "In the autumn, bandits were rampant in Jiangdong. There was a group of thieves called Hexi Bandits who robbed the imperial court of taxes everywhere. That's why the imperial court appointed me as the Recruiting Envoy. The purpose is to clean up the bandits in the eastern part of Jiangnan."

"Also, last time..."

Li Yun looked at Song Zhen and said seriously, "Last time, the autumn tax in Jinling Prefecture was also robbed by bandits. I came here to investigate this matter, arrest the relevant bandits and bring back the autumn tax money and grain in Jinling."

"It just so happens that Ling Yin will arrive today, so I don't have to go out of my way to look for him."

Li Yun looked serious and asked, "Where was the autumn tax in Jinling robbed? How many bandits were there? Did you see which direction they went?"

"this…"

Song Zhen stood there in a daze, hesitating when speaking.

He never expected that Li Yun would ask such a question.

If you prepare these questions in advance, you can give a decent answer even if you make them up. However, if you are totally unprepared, it is extremely difficult to come up with an answer without any loopholes.

Seeing that Song Zhen couldn't answer, Li Yun frowned and said, "Ling Yin, logically speaking, the autumn tax was robbed, which should be a very important event in the local prefectures and counties. How come Ling Yin can't even answer the process of the robbery?"

What is the most important thing for the court?
Of course it is stability and taxation.

If the situation was stable in the past, and a local prefecture or county lost tax money, all officials in that prefecture or county would be fired from head to toe, and no one would be able to escape.

As the chief officer, his life is in danger.

The reason why the prefectures and counties were still safe and sound despite losing the autumn tax this year was, on the one hand, because the law does not hold everyone responsible, but more importantly, because the imperial court no longer had any control over Jiangdong.

Otherwise, more than half of the chief officials of the twenty prefectures and counties in Jiangdong would have lost their heads.

Song Lingyin was sweating profusely. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked up at Li Yun, and said, "Li Shijun, this matter is a bit complicated. It's getting late now. My mind is in a mess and I really can't answer."

"Please come to my government office tomorrow, and I will tell you about this matter in detail."

"it is good."

Li Yun said with a smile: "The matter of autumn tax cannot be neglected. Although the court has not yet investigated us in Jiangdong, it does not mean that it will not investigate in the future."

"A new inspector may arrive at any time. I'm afraid the first thing he will do after taking office is to investigate the autumn tax issue."

At this moment, Song Zhen's mind was completely confused. He could only agree with others and could not say anything meaningful.

At this time, he had even forgotten that he came to test the true strength of Envoy Li.

The two chatted for a long time, but Song Lingyin still couldn't come back to his senses.

"Since Ling Yin has agreed, then fine, I will go to the government office to retrieve the case files tomorrow." "I agree..."

Song Zhen came back to his senses and was shocked: "Envoy Li, what did I promise?"

"Didn't the governor say that there are detailed files on the case of the autumn tax robbery in the government office? I will go and check it out tomorrow morning."

"As the Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy, I, Li, must work for the court and for the people of Jiangdong to completely eliminate these bandits in Jiangdong!"

"At the same time, it also helps the imperial court to save half of the money and grain in Jiangnan."

At this point, Li Yun sighed and said in a deep voice: "National affairs are so difficult. At this time, we must do our best to do what we should do for the court and the country."

Song Zhen looked at Li Yun in shock and was speechless.

How come this Wuzhou governor, who was described by Master Zhou as a traitor, now looks...

Looks like a responsible minister of the country?

What went wrong?
"It's hard to say whether the case file can be transferred to you tomorrow, but..."

Song Lingyin gritted his teeth and changed the subject abruptly.

"However, the son of General Zhou, the governor of Pinglu, also arrived in Jinling not long ago. He is about the same age as you. If you are free, perhaps you can meet him."

"There's nothing wrong with meeting once."

Li Yun sighed and said, "However, I can only wait until the official business is done. If the official business in Jinling is not done well, how can I have the mood to meet with others privately?"

Song Zhen raised his head and looked at Li Yun deeply.

Because in the words of Master Zhou, the Hexi bandits in Jiangdong were a farce created by Envoy Li himself. Logically speaking, this matter was his handle and he should never bring it up on his own initiative.

But now, not only did he mention this matter, he also mentioned it in great detail and made a big fuss about it!
This has put Mr. Song in a very passive position.

He really wanted to confront Li Yun directly and denounce the Hexi bandits, but he didn't dare to.

After all, he had heard of Li Yun's deeds as early as the Wuzhou Rebellion.

This is a reckless person.

It’s not good to offend him in person.

So he could only agree with a few words, and in the end the topic fell on the two women he brought with him.

"The weather is getting colder and colder. You have come to Jinling alone, without anyone to serve you."

"These two were taught by famous maids in Jinling City. Why don't we let them stay by your side and take care of your daily life?"

"it is good."

Li Yun looked at the two women, agreed very straightforwardly, and said with a smile: "Just stay."

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord."

Li Yun's answer once again surprised Song Zhen. In the end, the Jinling Yin, full of doubts, left the future "Li Garden" hesitantly.

After he left, Li Yun asked someone to arrange for the two girls to stay, and he went to the study to look through some important documents.

The next morning, Li Yun got up from the bed and was about to go to the government office to retrieve the "case file". As soon as he went out, he ran into a young man in a purple robe who looked to be in his twenties.

The young man was very tall, almost identical to Li Yuncha, and had a sturdy build, with some pits on his face.

He rode on his horse, glanced at Li Yun sideways, then looked him up and down, and strode forward: "I am Zhou Chang."

Li Yun was also looking at the young man. He smiled and said, "Is he the son of General Zhou?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

He looked at Li Yun carelessly and said, "You tied up my father's people and sent them to the capital, causing my father to be scolded by people sent by the court."

"He was so angry that he didn't sleep with a woman for several days."

Zhou Chang looked at Li Yun and smiled, "You are very brave."

Li Yun looked calm: "Mr. Zhou invited me to Jinling just to tell me this?"

"That's not the case. It's just that our family wants to do some business with you."

He put his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Didn't you occupy a copper mine in Xuanzhou? My family wants copper."

Li Yun also laughed: "Buy it with copper coins?"

"Do not."

Zhou Chang looked at Li Yun and said slowly: "Use horses, and..."

"Armor."

I have to say that the charm of language is infinite.

With just a few words, Mr. Zhou made the leader of the Li Village...

My heart was pounding.

(End of this chapter)