Thief Emperor

Chapter 329 The Future Base Camp
In the face of major changes, there is no point in being a mother-in-law.

Li Yun must take over Jinling Prefecture as soon as possible and at the same time raise the banner of the Jiangdong Recruiting Envoy in Jinling Prefecture.

In this way, as long as he shows strong enough strength to the outside world in the future, he will be able to intimidate the prefectures and counties in Jiangdong and realize his own rule.

This method is more convenient, but it will have some problems. For example, the local states and counties are not our own people, so there will be some troubles later, and we need to eliminate these troubles bit by bit.

If Li Yun had followed his previous development approach, being down-to-earth, handling and "conquering" each state one by one, his foundation would have been relatively solid.

But the current situation is pressing and Li Yun cannot afford to do it bit by bit.

However, this current way of conquering is actually not much different from the way the dynasties conquered the world. Many places were conquered by "issuing edicts", and it is impossible to really send people to spread one's power everywhere in a carpet-like manner.

Not to mention whether there are enough people, it is also time-consuming and laborious.

Li Yun has now prepared for this method in advance.

In the next seven or eight days, Li Yun, relying on the title of the Recruiting Envoy, the orders of the Imperial Envoy Wu Yuanyou, and the personnel who rushed in urgently from Yuezhou, forcibly took control of the situation in Jinling City.

However, he only told the outside world about the corruption of government officials and did not take any further action against local forces.

because…

His troops have not arrived yet.

In a blink of an eye, it was the middle of the twelfth lunar month.

In the Jinling government office, all officials at all levels had been tied up by Li Yun and taken to the prison. Only Jinling Yin Song Zhen was left in the main hall. Li Yun sat in the main seat, looked at him for a few times, and then slowly said: "I have read the case files of Jinling several times. Although Yin Song also took money and benefits, compared with the previous few officials, he is still..."

"It's become more restrained."

He looked at Song Zhen and said silently, "Would you consider cooperating with me to restore peace to Jiangdong?"

"Cooperate with you?"

Song Zhen raised his head, looked at Li Yun, and sneered, "Are you planning a rebellion with me?"

"It's hard to say whether I'm plotting rebellion or not."

Li Yun looked at him calmly and said slowly: "But you, Jinling Prefecture, lied about the bandits and privately embezzled the autumn tax from the court. This is tantamount to treason."

"I will report your crimes to the court. Guess what, Song Lingyin, will the court punish you?"

Li Yun stood up and continued, "It's not just you, Song Shidao, who will be punished by the court. Your entire family, young and old, will not be able to escape the crime."

Hearing this, Song Zhen couldn't help but tremble, and his eyes became clear.

He knew very well that no matter what the truth in Jiangdong was, Li Yun now controlled the most powerful army in Jiangdong, and the imperial court would probably accept whatever he reported.

What's more, it is an ironclad fact that Jinling Prefecture did not pay the autumn tax this year.

He looked up at Li Yun, and after a long silence, he said, "Li... Envoy Li, how do you want me to cooperate with you?"

"On the surface, you continue to be the Yin of Jinling."

Li Yun said slowly: "At the same time, my Recruiting and Suppressing Office will be established. From now on, you in Jinling Prefecture will accept the orders of my Recruiting and Suppressing Office."

Since it has been decided to dominate Jiangdong, there must be a government office that is above all other government offices in prefectures and counties.

However, it is meaningless to just build such a yamen. It requires the approval of all states and counties and they must accept the orders of this yamen.

Now there will be no problems in the entire Jiangdong, Yuezhou, Wuzhou, and Wujun. As long as Li Yun’s notice is posted, these states will respond, but other states and counties are still unsure.

If another Jinling Prefecture responds, the difficulty of setting up the yamen signboard will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, Li Yun really needs to recruit some civil servants to help him manage his territory.

Although Song Zhen was a relatively bureaucratic person, good at networking, and even had dealings with the Pinglu Army in the north, Li Yun had been looking through various files in the government office these days and found that this Jinling Yin was actually quite capable.

It's worth winning over.

If he nodded and agreed to join, then everything would be easy. If he disagreed, Li Yun would just kill him.

This is a life-and-death struggle, not a dinner party, so you must be decisive when necessary.

"Envoy Li..."

Song Zhen looked up at Li Yun, his voice a little hoarse: "Can I ask you a question?"

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea: "You ask."

"Envoy Li, what do you want to do?"

"Can't Lord Song see it?"

Li Yun smiled carefreely and answered sincerely: "I want to seize Jiangdong."

Song Zhen was stunned for a long time before he said, "Because... because His Majesty passed away?"

Li Yun shook his head: "Because a great chaos will soon sweep across the world, if I don't take advantage of it now, someone else will soon take it."

He looked at Song Zhen and said calmly, "For example, the Zhou family of the Pinglu Army who is in contact with Song Lingyin."

"I…"

"I have not communicated with them."

Song Zhen looked up at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "It's just that someone from their family has come, and I can't refuse to receive them."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Li Yun stood up, lost his patience, looked at Song Zhen and said, "Whether you agree or not, Ling Yin, please speak. I am very busy."

"I don't have time to waste here." Li Yun really has a lot of things to do right now.

The reason why he waited until this moment to take action was to wait for Zhao Cheng's soldiers to arrive outside the city. This way, even if any accidents occurred in Jinling City, he would be safe.

Now, Zhao Cheng's troops are about to reach Jinling, and Li Yun needs to leave the city to make some arrangements.

Song Zhen was flustered, then lowered his head and said, "I...I do."

"That's great."

Li Yun walked behind Song Zhen, grabbed the hemp rope that tied him with both hands, and pulled it apart. After pulling it apart, he took out a document from his sleeve, handed it to Song Zhen, and said, "Sign this, and we will be family."

Song Zhen took the document, read it once, and his face turned even paler.

This was a confession document, and it even detailed the matter of the autumn tax in Jinling Prefecture, putting all the blame on Song Zhen himself.

Once he signed this document, even if he did not associate with Li Yun in the future, he would probably not be able to survive in the Wu Zhou court.

However, everyone was an adult, not a child anymore. Song Zhen naturally knew that at this point, he had no capital to refuse. He could only grit his teeth, walk to the table nearby, and sign the document.

Li Yun blew the ink dry, put the document away, then looked at Song Zhen and said with a smile: "Song Lingyin, we are family from now on."

He pulled Song Zhen's sleeve and said with a smile: "The troops under my command should have arrived outside Jinling City by now. This is a time of trouble. We need to prevent any accidents in Jinling City."

The smile on his face faded.

"I need to take over the defense of Jinling City."

"Brother Song, please cooperate with me."

Song Zhen wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, "This matter... this matter does not seem to be the responsibility of this humble official, the prefect..."

"You are the governor of Jinling. You can manage all the affairs of Jinling Prefecture."

Li Yun looked calm, patted his shoulder gently, and continued: "Don't worry, my soldiers will only take over the city defense and maintain order in the city. Everything else in Jinling City will remain the same as before."

"There won't be any big changes. I won't turn against you and become a villain who oppresses others. If you don't believe me, go to Wuzhou and Yuezhou to ask around."

Li Yun smiled and said: "My reputation as a local official..."

"It's actually not bad."

Song Zhen naturally didn't dare to refute, and nodded in agreement.

So Li Yun asked him to wash up and change into official clothes again, and then Li Yun took him to the south gate of Jinling City.

It was already the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and Zhao Cheng's troops had just arrived outside the city of Jinling, only an hour later.

With Song Zhen, the prefect of Jinling, the city gate was quickly opened smoothly. Standing on the city wall, in front of the former defenders of Jinling, Song Lingyin first looked at Li Yun on the side, and then spoke hesitantly.

"Your Majesty has arrived, and the city is in turmoil. In order to prevent thieves from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, Li Shangshi's troops will now take over all of Jinling's defenses."

After just a few words, Song Zhen's forehead was already covered with sweat.

After saying a few words, he almost collapsed on the ground. Fortunately, Li Yun, who was standing by, was quick to support him.

Song Lingyin finally stood firm. He stood on the city wall, watching the troops under Li Yun's command enter the city, his heart was already in turmoil.

Only at this moment did he realize that the document signed by Li Yun for him might just be a cover. After all, there was no one watching in the dark room, so he could just deny it.

And now, what he said while standing on the city wall was his true token of allegiance.

After saying this, he had no choice but to follow Li Yun.

Once Li Yun fell out with the Wu Zhou court, the court would never tolerate him.

While the Song Lingyin was in a daze on the city wall, a general in armor strode towards the tower, came to Li Yun in three or two steps, bowed his head and clasped his fists respectfully: "Your subordinate Li Xiao, greetings to the envoy!"

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "You must have had a hard time traveling all the way."

It took less than ten days from the time Zhao Cheng received the news from Li Yun to the time he arrived in Jinling. He basically did not stop along the way.

He bowed his head and said respectfully, "Sir, my troops number more than 1,800 in total. Five hundred of them have already arrived, and the remaining 1,000 or so should all arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Li Yun nodded silently and said slowly: "It's really not easy in this cold weather."

At this point, Li Yun looked back at Song Zhen and said with a smile: "Song Lingyin, can I borrow your token?"

Jinling Prefecture does have a signboard, which is actually used to facilitate the officials of the prefecture to do their work on weekdays and to represent the power of the prefecture.

This brand, in Li Yun's hands,

Although he asked Song Zhen to lend it to him, he handed the badge directly to Zhao Cheng. At the same time, he took off his own badge and said slowly: "Captain Li, in the name of Jiangdong Recruiting Envoy Office and Jinling Government Office, you will take over all the defense of Jinling City before dawn tomorrow, and..."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and whispered, "As well as the city defense soldiers and all the troops in the city."

He paused and added: "Everyone, do you understand?"

Ordinary prefectures and counties only have about a thousand official troops, but Nanjing City has more. After all, it takes a lot of manpower just to defend such a big city.

Li Yun must also keep these people in his hands.

After all, they are all unstable factors.

Moreover, he now urgently needs to expand his staff again.

Zhao Cheng took the two signs, bowed his head deeply and clasped his fists, his eyes filled with excitement.

"Subordinates... obey orders!"

(End of this chapter)