Thief Emperor

Chapter 371: Use people to show your authority!

After receiving the imperial edict, Li Yun just smiled faintly and waved his hand, saying, "Meng Hai, take the two angels downstairs for tea."

Meng Hai, who was standing by, responded and took the two eunuchs away.

Li Yun took the imperial edict in his hand and prepared to find a place to put it. Just as he was walking into the house, Master Qin came forward and bowed, "Congratulations, Your Excellency. Congratulations, Your Excellency."

Li Yun glanced at the old man and said with a smile, "Master Qin, do you think this is worth congratulating?"

“Of course it’s worth it.”

The Yangzhou tycoon bowed his head and said, "This is a very happy event."

He paused and continued, "You are a young man, so you may not understand that the Great Zhou has been declining over the past twenty years, but in the past, the Great Zhou was still good."

"The tea is cold, not that fast."

What this old gentleman said is actually very true.

In this world, strength is paramount and no voice is as effective as fists, but people do have feelings after all, especially those over 40 years old, who have some affection for the Great Zhou.

Even if the Great Zhou Dynasty perished, there would still be many so-called old people from the previous dynasty, not to mention that the Great Zhou Dynasty has not yet perished.

With this imperial edict, Li Yun's future development will definitely be relatively smoother.

Master Qin looked up at Li Yun, then suddenly lowered his head and bowed.

"You have come to Yangzhou alone, and there seems to be no one to take care of you. I happen to have two granddaughters of the same age as you. I can bring them to you in a couple of days. If you like them, I will let them stay with you and become your concubines to take care of your daily life."

Li Yun was startled, then looked at the old man and said with a smile: "Is this appropriate?"

Master Qin was very humble and said, "Of course it is appropriate. Even if they help you wash clothes and cook, it is a blessing for them."

Li Yun thought about it for a while, waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about this later. Let's discuss how to cooperate first."

"I heard that the Qin family's trade routes are all over the world."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I want to send someone to follow the Qin family on some business routes."

Master Qin thought about it, then bowed his head and said, "Sir, this is naturally no problem, but the world is in chaos now, and the trade routes that were accessible in the past may not be accessible now."

"As long as it is possible, you can bring the envoy's men with you."

The core members of the Qin family are all in Yangzhou, so they have almost no qualifications to negotiate with Li Yun. Whatever Li Yun says is the final word.

The two chatted for a while before Master Qin said goodbye and returned home, while Li Yun took the imperial edict and went all the way to the governor's mansion in Yangzhou.

In the governor's office, Du Qian and Xu Ang worked together.

Li Yun had just approached and had not yet knocked on the door to enter when he heard Du Qian's voice.

"Brother Ziwang."

"I think this matter cannot be handled this way. We should slow down if we do it this way. If we continue to do it this way, at least dozens of people will lose their heads. Not only will we offend the wealthy families in Yangzhou City, but even those scholars will say that we are cruel behind our backs."

Ziwang is Xu Ang's courtesy name.

Then Xu Ang's voice came: "Lord Du, according to the Great Zhou Law, this is the sentence. I have been a little lenient according to Lord Li's wishes. If everything is judged according to Zhou Law, all the big families in Yangzhou City will be killed, and there will be few injustices."

Du Qian said in a deep voice: "If you want to maintain peace in an area, the most important thing is to follow these eight words: forgive the past and don't allow it in the future!"

"Right now, the most important thing is that Yangzhou can be stable. The crimes that happened after our Jiangdong soldiers entered the city must be severely punished, but the crimes that happened before that."

"It can only be used as a means."

Du Qian said in a serious voice: "If it is beneficial to us, we should pursue it to the end. If it is not beneficial or even harmful, we should slow down."

Xu Ang still seemed unconvinced and wanted to speak, but Li Yun outside knocked on the door, interrupting their conversation.

"Are you two in the office?"

When the two men saw Li Yun coming in, they stood up one after another and bowed to Li Yun: "Envoy."

Du Qian also bowed and smiled, "Why is Erlang here?"

"The imperial edict from the court has arrived, so I came to discuss this with Brother Shouyi."

"Just as I got to the door, I heard you guys seemed to..."

Li Yun sat down and said with a smile, "It seems that there are some different opinions." Du Qian shook his head slightly, handed a document to Li Yun, and said, "This is the case file of Yangzhou Jujia. According to the evidence found, the Lu family is guilty of a serious crime. Brother Ziwang means that we should investigate and punish them strictly according to the law."

"The Lu family will be confiscated, the relevant people will be beheaded, and the rest will be exiled."

Li Yun was somewhat surprised and asked, "What kind of crime is so serious?"

Although crimes in this era can implicate relatives, as long as they do not involve treason, the crime is usually committed by one person and the family members will not be particularly implicated.

"This Lu family has been doing business with the Pinglu Army for many years."

Du Qian shook his head slightly and said, "The entanglement is very deep, and he has been passing messages to the Pinglu Army. A woman from his family was sent to Qingzhou to become a concubine of General Zhou."

Li Yun said "Oh".

According to his logic, or his position, the Pinglu Army's secret march southward was already treason, and the Lu family were naturally followers of the traitors and should be severely investigated and punished.

Li Yun thought about it, then looked at Xu Ang and said with a smile: "Brother Xu, don't hurt anyone's life in this matter, just confiscate the family property and be done with it."

"After all, strictly speaking."

Li touched his chin and said, "The court has not yet identified the Pinglu Army as traitors."

Xu Ang was very straightforward. He stood up and bowed his head and said, "I obey your command."

After saying that, he bowed to the two people, turned around and walked away.

Seeing Xu Ang leaving, Du Qian shook his head and smiled bitterly: "This Xu Ziwang is really stubborn. No matter how I talk to him, he won't understand."

Li Yun took out the imperial edict from his sleeve, handed it to Du Qian, and then said, "He has had a miserable life, and there is still resentment in his heart, so he can't help but be a little harsh in his actions."

"After a few years, I'll give him a family, and things will get better slowly."

Du Qian had heard something about Xu Ang, so he just nodded, took the imperial edict and read it, then frowned again: "This..."

After carefully reading it again, he sighed, "Nominally, the territory I can operate in is much larger, but the title of Recruiting Envoy is not loud enough."

"But even so, it is a great help to Erlang. At least we can occupy Erlang's hometown Xuanzhou legitimately."

Being the Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy of Jiangnan and Huainan meant that Li Yun could operate in the three territories of Jiangnan East, Jiangnan West and Huainan. However, this position of Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy was actually aimed at local bandits and robbers.

In other words, the Recruiting Envoy had no power to interfere in either military or government affairs at the local level. For example, after Fan Zhao, the Recruiting Envoy of the Western Jiangnan Road, arrived in Xuanzhou, he had an almost equal dialogue with Cui Shao, the then governor of Xuanzhou.

Although this is partly related to Cui Shao's background, it also shows that the position of Recruiting Envoy.

It's just average actually.

At least it is far from positions like Inspector General and Jiedushi.

"That's what I thought too."

Li Yun poured himself a cup of tea and said with a smile: "The position of Recruiting Envoy is really ordinary, but it seems that the court does not trust me very much. Although they want to balance the local areas, they are unwilling to give me a big official position."

Du Qian nodded slowly. He looked at Li Yun and asked, "What is Erlang going to do next?"

"Since the court has given this title."

Li Yun lowered his head and thought for a while, then continued: "The first thing, of course, is to spread this news in Jiangnan Road and Huainan Road."

"The second thing is to send an open letter to Chuzhou in the name of the Huainan Road Recruiting Envoy, ordering the Pinglu Army to withdraw from Chuzhou and retreat north of the Huai River."

Du Qian thought for a moment, then nodded: "The Pinglu Army will certainly not agree. In this way, in addition to the crime of killing the Imperial Censor Gu Yuan, they will also be charged with the crime of treason."

At this point, Du Shijun also sighed and said, "It's a pity that these two charges can only make the Pinglu Army uncomfortable at most, but they can't do anything to them."

"When troubled times come, in the final analysis, the battle still has to be fought."

Li Yun nodded first, then looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "With this title, it is more reasonable for me, the Recruiting Envoy, to be in charge of various states, although it is still a bit far-fetched."

"From now on, Brother Shouyi will not be responsible for the affairs of any specific prefecture. All the affairs of each prefecture will be summarized and sent to the Recruiting Envoy's Office, and Brother Shouyi will handle them all."

As he spoke, Li Yun stood up and looked outside the door.

"Since the title of the Recruiting Envoy is not very famous."

"Then I'll... make it louder!"

(End of this chapter)