Thief Emperor

Chapter 427: It all depends on the support of peers
Only when the world is in chaos will there be opportunities for grassroots.

If it was a well-governed world where there was no room for rebellion, for someone like Li Yun, who was born a bandit, to stand out, I wonder how much opportunity he would need to have even a slight chance.

If the world really were like that, Li Yun would most likely be serving in the army under General Su, and would have started as a small soldier. To have become a brigade commander now would have been an exceptional promotion.

But now, the world is in chaos, giving Li Yun a good opportunity to rise quickly. It is also because of the imperial court and Guanzhong, as well as the chaos in the Central Plains, that Li Yun can once again get a golden period of development.

From now on, until the big shots in Guanzhong decide the outcome or make compromises with each other, at this stage, it is unlikely that other forces will disturb Li Yun who is quietly developing in Jiangdong.

In fact, in recent times, what Li has been doing is to continuously improve the system of Jiangdong.

In the past, although Li Yun could also be the king of Jiangdong, at that time, he was more like a military leader leading a group of soldiers. He was invincible in Jiangdong and forced various states and counties in Jiangdong to pay him protection fees.

And now, at this time, Li Yun's military system has basically taken shape. As long as the civil service system, education system, selection system, etc. are established, the Jiangdong small court can actually take shape.

At that time, the mobilization capabilities and the human and material resources that Li Yun could mobilize were completely incomparable to those of ordinary local military leaders.

Du Qian thought for a while, then looked up at Li Yun and said, "If we can solve the civil servant problem in Jiangdong in half a year, and let all levels of officials be appointed from Jinling, and government orders can be carried out smoothly, then no matter how the situation changes, we can at least protect ourselves."

Li Yun smiled and said, "What is Mr. Fei doing recently?"

"He has been traveling around Jiangdong and is now heading to Jinling."

When mentioning Fei Xuan, Du Qian also smiled and said, "Compared to Xu Ziwang, Master Fei is more suitable to preside over the Inspectorate mentioned by Erlang. After all, he is known as the Iron-faced One in the capital."

Li Yun touched his chin and looked at Du Qian: "I think it might be more appropriate for Lord Fei to be in charge of Jiangdong Xingming. Brother Shouyi, next time you see him, please persuade him for me. If he is willing to stay in Jiangdong and work for us, Lord Fei will be in charge of the entire Jiangdong Xingming."

"It just so happens that he is an inspector appointed by the court. As an inspector, he inspects various states and counties and inquires about the names of the people. There is absolutely no problem with his authority."

Du Qian smiled and said, "Erlang wants Master Fei to be the Minister of Justice of Jiangdong."

"The old man has nothing to do anyway."

Li Yun smiled and asked, "Where is Mr. Fei from?"

"Jiangnan West Road, from Hongzhou."

Li Yun clapped his hands and smiled, "That's even better. We can directly bring his family to Jiangdong. Brother Shouyi can clearly tell him that I, Li Yun, am now confident that Jiangdong will not be in chaos during the upcoming chaos."

He paused and continued, "At least, it won't be as messy as other places."

Du Qian nodded gently: "Okay, when I see Master Fei again, I will definitely persuade him."

Li Yun continued, "If Fei Xuan can stay and work for us, then we will have two ministries, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice, out of the six ministries of the imperial court, namely the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Works."

Du He, the third son of the Du family, was in charge of money and grain, and was considered the "Minister of Revenue" of Jiangdong.

"I am currently in charge of the Ministry of War, so you don't have to worry about it. The Ministry of Rites also has no shortage of staff for the time being."

"As for the work of the Ministry of Personnel."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said in a deep voice, "Brother Shouyi will take over the position first."

"After this calculation, there is actually only one Ministry of Works left. I really need this person, first to help me manage the workshop in Jinling, and second to be responsible for building the water conservancy pond."

Du Qian thought for a moment and asked, "How is Zhuo Guangrui?"

He looked at Li Yun and continued, "We are already quite familiar with Yuezhou and Wuzhou. We can actually promote the local county magistrate to take charge, so we don't have to let Zhuo Guangrui waste his time on it."

Li Yun nodded: "I'll write him a letter and ask for his opinion."

"If he agrees."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Our makeshift team has been set up."

The six-department system is actually a fairly complete system. Li Yun does not plan to make major changes. At most, he will add or delete some duties in the future. But now, he can just copy and use it.

Du Qian clapped his hands and laughed, "In fact, there are makeshift troupes everywhere in the world."

"To be honest, the court in Xichuan may not be more sound than the current Jiangdong system."

Li Yun clapped his hands and sighed: "It's a pity that Mr. Wenchuan is gone."

"Otherwise, you can let him preside over Jiangdong's Ministry of Rites. I want to establish the school and the selection system next year."

This year, that is, the second year of Zhaoding, is a relatively important year. It is also a year that determines whether Li Yun can truly gain a foothold in Jiangdong.

After this year, if Li Yun still firmly occupies Jiangdong, it means that he will be as stable as a rock in Jiangdong for a long time to come, so some basic state functions must be established.

"Jiangdong has no shortage of great scholars."

Du Qian smiled softly and said, "When Erlang has some free time, he can go visit virtuous people. Even if he spends thousands of gold to buy horse bones, he can attract more people to come and join him."

The two chatted for more than an hour, and before they knew it, the outline of a small country seemed to be slowly taking shape in the midst of their conversations. In the evening, Li Yun asked Du Qian to stay for a drink, and the two of them toasted each other until Du Shiyi was a little drunk, and Li Yun let him go.

After Du Qian left, Li Yun did not rest, but got up, washed his face, and went to his study.

His study was piled with documents from all over the place, some of which were intelligence sent from various places, and some were documents that needed to be processed by him.

He exhaled a breath of alcohol, sat down at the table, and found that the documents on the table had been classified and organized. Those from Jiangbei were placed in one pile, and those sent by Li Zheng or Qiantang County were piled in another pile.

Obviously, it was his "little secretary" who did it.

This saved Li Yun a lot of trouble.

He knew Liu Su inside and out, and there was no reason for that Miss Liu to be a spy for outsiders. Besides, she was very thoughtful and was a great secretary.

With these classifications, Li Yun quickly went through the documents. For some that needed to be dealt with urgently, he picked up a pen and dealt with them one by one.

When he had read almost half of the document, the door was slowly pushed open and Liu Su, dressed in a light blue robe, gently pushed the door open and walked in.

"I saw my brother-in-law drinking with Du Shijun today, so I thought I didn't have to deal with official business today..."

As if she had done something wrong, she hurried to the desk and helped Li Yun grind the ink.

Li Yun was still reeking of alcohol at this moment. He stood up with the help of the table, staggered to Miss Liu, and almost fell down.

Liu Su was shocked, and her voice trembled as she could smell the alcohol so close to her: "Sister...brother-in-law, you..."

Li Yun held onto the table, took several deep breaths, and finally stood firm.

"Sister Su, you...you came at the right time."

He took Miss Liu's arm and pulled her to the main seat, then stood beside her and shook his head: "I seem to have drunk too much today. The handwriting I wrote just now is already... a little crooked."

"I have a notice to write. I said, you come and write it down."

Li Yun's mind was still clear at this moment, but his hands were indeed a little out of control.

Liu Su responded quickly, took out new paper and laid it out, then looked up at Li Yun: "Brother-in-law, you...you go ahead."

Li Yun said "hmm", closed his eyes and thought for a long time, finally sorted out his thoughts, and said: "Militia recruitment order."

"Today, all prefectures, states and counties are in chaos. In order to protect the peace and stability of the region and to protect Jiangnan, we are recruiting 5,000 militiamen in Jinling Prefecture, ranging from 16 to 36 years old. They will be trained in the camp for three months and will be released after the training period. They will be prepared for war and will be needed to defend the city and the land."

At this point, Li Yun thought for a moment and added, "During the training period, only food and lodging will be provided, but no salary will be provided."

Liu Su wrote them down one by one, then looked up at Li Yun and asked, "Brother-in-law, is there anything else?"

"Nothing."

Li Yun found a chair and sat down, slowly closing his eyes: "Sign it, sign it to the Recruiting Envoy Office, and ask someone to copy a few copies tomorrow and post them out."

After saying that, Li Yun leaned back in his chair and fell asleep.

After Liu Su wrote it down, she looked up and saw Li Yun lying on the chair motionless. She was startled and quickly put down the brush. She carefully came to Li Yun, then timidly reached out her hand and touched Li Yun's head.

After making sure that Li Yun was okay, she breathed a sigh of relief, but she did not move her hand away. After carefully touching Li Yun's face, she quickly retracted her hand.

Maybe it was because she smelled too much alcohol, but her face turned a little red.

After secretly looking at Li Yun for a while, Miss Liu walked out of the study and shouted outside: "The envoy has drunk too much, come quickly, help the envoy back to the bedroom--"

…………

The next day, the notices drafted by Li Yun were posted, including one at the gate of the governor's mansion.

In just half a day, someone came to ask when to start recruiting militia and where to recruit militia.

Some people, carrying dry food, gathered at the gate of the governor's mansion and shouted, "We are willing to join the camp for training. We will bring our own food!"

"When will we start recruiting militia? Why doesn't the notice clearly state it?"

Soon, more and more people gathered.

The more chaotic the outside world is, the more the people of Jiangdong can feel how precious the peaceful days in Jiangdong are.

Not far away, on a tall building, Li Yun and Du Qian sat across the table from each other. Looking at the crowd gathered at the gate of the governor's mansion, Li sighed: "We clearly haven't had time to do anything big for the people of Jiangdong, but we didn't expect these Jinling people to be so supportive."

Du Qian stood up, stood behind Li Yun, and looked at the people gathered below. He also sighed.

"It all depends on the support of my peers."

(End of this chapter)