Thief Emperor

Chapter 343 Shaky
The affairs of Changzhou do not necessarily have to be handed over to this Mr. Fei, but those good-for-nothings in Changzhou can be handed over to him.

According to the original rules of the court, the Inspector General was responsible for supervising and even dealing with local officials. Although he, as the Inspector General, did not have the power to directly execute the Governor and the Deputy Governor, he had the power to dismiss them from their posts.

As for what will happen after the dismissal, the imperial court is now too busy to take care of Jiangdong. At that time, even if Li Yun does not send anyone there, at most Fei Xuan will be in charge of Changzhou.

This is something that Li Yun can accept.

As for my father-in-law...

It is still unknown whether Mr. Xue will go to Changzhou now. If Fei Xuan has really investigated the affairs of Changzhou thoroughly, there is no need for Mr. Xue to go. As long as Mr. Xue is willing to be re-employed, there are so many prefectures and counties in Jiangdong, and there will always be a place for him to shine.

For example, Yuezhou, Li Yun’s old base, is currently under the administration of Zhuo Guangrui. When the time comes, he can let Mr. Xue go there. With Li Yun’s control over Yuezhou, even if Mr. Xue only goes there as an aide, he will be the de facto governor of Yuezhou.

At most, it just lacks a status.

After chatting with Mr. Fei for a while, Li Yun came out of his official room. Du Qian was already waiting outside. When he saw Li Yun coming out, Du Qian came up to him and asked, "Master Fei, are you really willing to go?"

Before going to find Fei Xuan, the two had discussed it. Originally, in Du Qian's opinion, with Fei Xuan's personality, it was impossible for him to help Li Yun do anything, nor was it possible for him to go to Changzhou to clean up the mess. However, Li Yun insisted on giving it a try, hence the previous conversation.

"Didn't Brother Du say that Mr. Fei is a straight-laced man? The incident in Changzhou has caused public outrage. Even a rough man like me, who comes from a military background and is used to seeing murders, can't stand it. So naturally, Mr. Fei can't stand it either."

"and…"

Li Yun lowered his voice and said coldly: "Moreover, the guy behind the scenes has left a lot of rumors in Changzhou, forcing me to not be able to take Changzhou directly even if I conquer it. At this time, if I send someone over, they can only act in secret."

"It's neither right nor justifiable."

"Only this Mr. Fei is the right person. He went to Changzhou. If he can find out what happened in Changzhou, that would be great. If he can't find out, that would be great."

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "At least, Changzhou won't continue to be controlled by those two pigs."

At this point, Li Yun slowly said: "I have left 500 people in Changzhou to maintain order. When the time comes, I will hand it over to Mr. Fei. Let him go to Changzhou to deal with it."

Du Qian nodded silently and asked, "Erlang, there is something wrong with this matter in Changzhou. Can you confirm..."

"Was it the Pinglu Army who did it?"

"No."

Li Yun shook his head and frowned, "They were very particular about it. There was no obvious evidence left at any stage. It's hard to find any clues in a short time. It's not like something a soldier would do at all."

"If it was really done by the Pinglu Army, it is most likely that General Zhou had a thoughtful military advisor under his command who gave him advice."

"However, we don't need to consider whether there is evidence or not."

Li Yun whispered, "I'll just assume it was done by the Pinglu Army. We haven't offended any other powerful people during this period of time."

Du Qian was silent for a while, then suddenly looked at Li Yun and whispered, "What if someone from the imperial court did it?"

"The court..."

Li Yun was stunned and frowned, "The imperial court is big. Brother Du, which group of people in the imperial court are you talking about?"

"At a time like this, the people who can do such a thing are naturally those who are bent on protecting the country and claiming to be saviors."

Li Yun thought: "Pei Huang?"

Du Qian nodded slowly: "Although the imperial court can't influence Jiangdong on the surface, after all, it has been in power for so many years. It's not difficult to influence some people and things in Jiangdong."

"At least for Changzhou, I think it won't be difficult for them to make it happen. Besides, Pei Huang..."

"He's capable of such a thing."

Li Yun took a deep breath and murmured, "Then when I see him again, I will ask him about it clearly."

Du Qian said, "After the new emperor ascended the throne, this Mr. Pei rose to prominence. He is said to be observing government affairs in the Political Affairs Hall, but he dares not interrupt no matter whether it is a big or small matter."

"The government and the public call him Prime Minister Pei."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "I have seen Pei Huang before, but I don't think he has any real ability. If the new emperor is willing to use Brother Du as prime minister, the court may still be saved."

Du Qian smiled bitterly and said, "Erlang still thinks too highly of me. If I can't do it, I'm afraid it will be difficult for anyone else to do it."

He paused and added, "At least Pei Huang can't do it."

Du looked at Li Yun and continued, "The casualties in Tongguan are already close to 20,000. The rebels are blocked by the Shuofang Army from behind. They can't give up the attack, and they are already furious."

"If we continue to fight, the rebels will either collapse outside Tongguan or revolt internally."

"Or they could invade Guanzhong and march into the capital."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and whispered, "We should be able to know the result this month."

As they talked, the two men sat down on either side of a stone table. Li Yun looked at Du Qian and asked, "What result do you hope for, Brother Du?"

"I naturally hope that Guanzhong can be stable." Du Qian sighed: "After all, my family is still in the capital. If there is unrest..."

He did not continue speaking, but looked at Li Yun and asked, "Erlang, what about you?"

Li Yun thought about it, shook his head and said: "It's too far from Jiangnan, and it won't have much impact on us in the short term. No matter what the result is, both sides will be seriously injured. It doesn't make much difference. However, since Brother Du wants Guanzhong to be stable."

Li Yun forced a smile on his face and said, "Then I also hope that Guanzhong will be stable."

Du Qian sighed: "Erlang should be looking forward to chaos in Guanzhong."

Li Yun asked: "Why?"

"If Guanzhong is in chaos, the imperial court will be in danger, and may even be forced to flee. At that time..."

"In the past, titles, official ranks, and positions were extremely valuable."

"Then they are all worthless."

"By then, the imperial court will be much more proactive and easier in conferring titles and honors."

Du Qian said softly, "Isn't Erlang in need of these right now?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "I used to think so, but after the turmoil in Changzhou, I figured it out. Whether you have the title of the imperial court or not, it all depends on how brave you are."

"Is your wrist strong enough?"

Li Yun stood up, stretched his muscles, and said with a smile: "If I had the same military strength as the Pinglu Army now, I would say everywhere that I am the governor of Jiangdong, or even the commander of Jiangdong, and I am afraid that the court would accept it with a pinch of the nose."

Li Yun had heard the story of the "Fake King of Qi".

The fancy title was certainly useful in the past, and for Li Yun, it will also be very useful in the future, but in the final analysis, whoever has the bigger fist has the final say.

Now, Li Yun’s biggest interim goal is not to get promoted in the court, but to have more than 10,000 subordinates!

Now, including the various recruit camps and the personnel from Su Sheng, Li Yun has more than 8,000 people under his command.

This number is already quite large, and they can be called the Little Overlord of Jiangdong!
But compared with the Pinglu Army, it is still a little inferior. If you want to compete with the Pinglu Army, you should at least use the same unit of measurement as them, right?

"Spring sowing is about to begin."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said seriously, "This year's spring sowing in Jiangdong must be done well."

Throughout last year, neither Yuezhou nor Wuzhou collected much tax.

This year, Li Yun had to start collecting taxes. He even planned to put all the tax revenue of Jiangdong into his own pocket.

Otherwise, as the number of his men grows, he won't be able to support them.

You know, when you have tens of thousands of soldiers under your command, you have to find a way to get at least 10,000 kilograms of food every day when you open your eyes, otherwise the soldiers will starve.

This scale of "de-industrialized people" requires a large amount of land to support them. At least the three places of Xuzhou, Yuezhou and Jinling are definitely not enough.

Du Qian nodded slowly: "Don't worry, Erlang, I will handle this matter myself. If you give me some manpower, nothing will go wrong."

Li Yun smiled and said, "As long as there are no problems with the spring sowing, the Jinling government troops, including me, will be under Brother Du's command."

This is obviously a joke.

Du Qian smiled and said, "We don't really need so many people."

"Give me a few hundred men, and that will be enough."

Li Yun agreed straightforwardly: "Tomorrow, I will send a lieutenant to report to Brother Du."

People eat for food.

Farming is the foundation of the foundation, and we must not slack off in the slightest.

The two of them chatted with each other and began to plan little by little what would happen in Jiangdong in the next year, and even beyond.

While the two young men in Jinling City were planning for Jiangdong, Tongguan was already on the verge of collapse.

Outside the gate, Wang Junping, his face covered in blood, looked extremely ferocious. He jumped off his mount, ran in three or two steps to a banner-bearer who was about to fall, lifted up the rebel army's banner, then looked towards Tongguan with a stern voice.

"Attack, attack!"

“The great cause is at hand!”

"Today, we will take Tongguan!"

(End of this chapter)