Thief Emperor

Chapter 367 Zhou Xu, out!

Mr. Wenchuan was taken away by several Qingzhou soldiers, who killed him with just a single blow of their sword.

Originally, this incident would not cause any waves. Even if the imperial court knew the whole matter, at this time, they would pretend not to know and would not punish General Zhou.

And it was precisely because of this that Zhou Xu attacked Gu Wenchuan without any scruples.

General Zhou did not behead Gu Wenchuan in a high-profile manner, but killed him quietly. Originally, this matter would have been silent and not many people would have known about it.

But the day after Gu Wenchuan's death, a poem began to circulate in the streets and alleys of Qingzhou City. To be precise, someone wrote it on paper, copied many copies, and distributed them in the streets and alleys.

"Young men are determined to learn, and old men are blessed by the emperor."

"The darkness is gone and the temple is bright, and the truth of the saints and sages is proved."

"The sky collapsed in the middle of the plain, and the earth split from the west to the east."

"A man who is in danger for his country should not regret dying!"

This poem is not particularly surprising and was obviously written in a hurry, but at the end of the poem, there are thirteen words written clearly.

"Gu Wenchuan of Yingzhou died at the hands of Zhou Xu of Qingzhou!"

As a result, this originally not-so-remarkable last poem immediately caused an uproar in Qingzhou City.

Because of Gu Yuan, he is very famous in the official world.

Most of the scholars in Qingzhou know him.

After everyone inquired further, they soon found out that General Zhou had indeed killed an old man in the General's Mansion yesterday.

For a time, the Qingzhou officialdom was in an uproar.

When this poem was passed to General Zhou, the governor of Pinglu turned pale and slammed the table fiercely: "Who did it?"

The person who came to report the news was also surnamed Zhou, a servant of the Zhou family named Zhou Gui. Upon hearing this, he immediately lowered his head and said, "Master, we have also sent people to investigate."

"It was spread by a few beggars."

Zhou Gui lowered his head and said cautiously: "It should be, it should be..."

"I caught two beggars and questioned them. It turned out that the old man had written a letter yesterday and gave it to the beggars, telling them that if he couldn't leave the General's Mansion, he should send these things to various places in Qingzhou City at night."

Zhou Xu closed his eyes and didn't speak for a long time.

After a long while, he finally opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and clenched his fists.

"That corrupt scholar actually kept this trick!"

General Zhou had a dark face, spat on the ground, and said angrily: "Yesterday, the knife was on his neck, but he didn't say a word. This old man has only dirty thoughts in his mind!"

"You're throwing your life on my head!"

This matter could be a big or small matter. If it spreads on a large scale, it would at least offend all the scholars in the world.

Moreover, if things go wrong, it may become a reason or excuse for other vassal states or local forces to attack the Pinglu Army in the future.

General Zhou was naturally a little distressed.

Zhou Gui, who was standing aside, lowered his head and thought to himself.

According to his understanding of his own general, if the old man had told his plans in advance yesterday, none of the beggars in Qingzhou City might have survived.

He himself might not be able to survive.

General Zhou, who was standing by, was getting angrier and angrier. He shouted, "What are you doing? Close the city gates and collect all the poems and articles that slander me. Burn them!"

"Anyone who dares to hide it will be arrested and punished!"

Zhou Gui quickly lowered his head and responded, then turned around hastily and went downstairs to do his errand.

General Zhou was sitting in his seat, stroking his chin. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He thought for a while, then suddenly slapped the table, stood up abruptly, and muttered, "Damn it, this old guy is not going to use me to go down in history, is he?"

"If that's the case, I'll just fucking ..."

General Zhou looked at the sky outside and let out a breath.

"It will be infamous forever."

………………

Li Yun was somewhat caught off guard by the Pinglu Army’s subsequent reaction in Jiangbei.

He thought that after the battle of Yangzhou, he would soon face a second battle. After all, it would be difficult for the old vassal state, which had been in power for decades, to tolerate this humiliation.

To this end, Li Yun also made two preparations. He asked Zhou Liang to transfer all the troops to the riverside and stand by, ready to rely on Yangzhou City to fight with the Pinglu Army for a while. If defending the city was difficult, he would wait for an opportunity to withdraw from Yangzhou City and let Zhou Liang pick them up and return to Jiangnan.

If Li Yun feels that they can fight, Zhou Liang's troops will immediately cross the river to support the Yangzhou battlefield.

But after Li Yun entered Yangzhou City, for a whole month, the Pinglu Army had almost no follow-up actions. They occupied Chuzhou and Li Yun occupied Yangzhou, and the two sides maintained a strange state of peace.

This is extremely abnormal because sometimes, for a group or force, it is not only the substance that is important, but also the face.

If you lose face, people will look down on you, and many things may become more difficult to do in the future.

However, because of this month-long peace, everyone in Yangzhou City gradually accepted the rule of Li Yun, the Jiangdong Recruiting Envoy.

There was no way. It was useless not to accept it. The Jiangdong army was in the city. Not only had their numbers not decreased, but they had increased compared to when they entered the city.

Because Li Yun selected a group of young and strong men from the original Yangzhou garrison and incorporated them into the Jiangdong soldiers.

As time passed, the weather in Yangzhou gradually became warmer.

"Second brother."

In Yangzhou City, in Li Yun's study, Liu Bo handed a document to Li Yun and said, "We have deployed some personnel in Chuzhou. Although it is not easy to deploy personnel near the Pinglu Army, as long as the Pinglu Army in Chuzhou moves, there will be someone who will report to us immediately."

Li Yun nodded and said with a smile, "Well done, Lao Jiu."

"It seems that you have talent in this area. You are becoming more and more proficient in doing things."

"We arranged for someone to go to Chuzhou through a business in Yangzhou."

Liu Bo smiled and said, "Second brother, there are many big businessmen in Yangzhou City. They have accumulated a lot of money through years of business, but the real treasure is the trade routes they have opened up all over the world."

"If they can make it through, they can bring our people along with them."

Li Yun was startled when he heard this, then glanced at him and frowned, "Has a wealthy family in Yangzhou City contacted you?"

Liu Bo waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no."

"Brother, I'm just saying this..."

Li Yun stood up, stretched his body, and then slowly said: "After Xu Ang entered the city, he has been governing people according to Zhou law. If the big families in this city have no fault, Xu Ang can't catch them."

At this point, Li Yun glanced at Liu Bo and continued, "As for the big households you mentioned, Lao Jiu, I'll take time to meet a few of them these days. If I can really use the trade routes, I can spread out my spies."

"I'll arrange it."

In the past month, there were at least ten wealthy families in Yangzhou who sent visiting cards to Li Yun every day. An unknown number of people requested to meet Li Yun or to host a banquet for him.

Li Yun didn't see any of them.

If it would be helpful for the expansion of the intelligence organization, Li Yun would really like to meet these Yangzhou tycoons.

Having said that, Li Yun looked at Liu Bo again.

"but…"

He shook his head slightly and said, "It's hard to say whether the trade routes that were accessible before are still accessible now."

In the past, when the Great Zhou Dynasty was in full swing, although each place had its own local forces, they were all part of the Great Zhou after all, and merchants were still able to move freely in most places.

But now, I'm afraid that may not be the case.

Liu Bo nodded first, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, by the way, second brother, a big thing happened in Qingzhou City a few days ago. Mr. Gu Wenchuan, the imperial censor of the court, seemed to have died in Qingzhou City."

Li Yun was startled, then frowned and asked, "How did you know?"

Liu Bo took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, on which was written Gu Yuan's last poem and his signature.

But it is obvious that this piece of paper is not the original, but was copied by someone.

Liu Bo briefly explained the cause and effect of the incident, then handed the paper to Li Yun and said, "It is said that the content above was written by Mr. Gu before he went to see the governor of Pinglu. He really couldn't leave the general's mansion in Qingzhou, and he must have died in it."

Li Yun took the paper, read it carefully, folded it, put it into his sleeve, and sighed silently: "Mr. Wenchuan is a little ignorant of the times, but his crime does not deserve death."

"But this old man..."

Li Yun sighed: "There are indeed some tricks."

The fact that he could see this poem means that it has been widely circulated outside Qingzhou.

Mr. Gu's goal has been fully achieved.

As long as this thing spreads, Zhou Xu would have offended most of the scholars in the world.

It is almost as if they have lost the qualifications to compete for the world in the future.

After all, in this era, scholars are a very important class. You may not need them to conquer the world, but if you want the world to be stable, these scholars are indispensable!
After sighing, Li Yun remembered something, turned around and looked at Liu Bo, and said, "Brother Shouyi will cross the river to Jiangbei tomorrow, Laojiu, send someone to Liuhe Ferry to welcome him."

"Bring him to Yangzhou city."

Liu Bo nodded immediately.

"Don't worry, brother. Tomorrow..."

"I'll go and greet you personally."

(End of this chapter)