Thief Emperor

Chapter 44: Simple Official Style
Early the next morning, more than a dozen yamen runners gathered at the gate of the county government office. Magistrate Xue came over to take a look personally, but did not see Li Yun. Even the two followers that Li Yun usually brought with him were not there.

He casually called a yamen runner and asked, "Where has your chief Li Zhao gone?"

The yamen runner took a look outside and replied, "Master, Captain Li and a few of his men have gone to Zhu Gui's house to deliver the compensation."

"Nonsense."

Magistrate Xue was a little annoyed: "Even if there is a pension to be distributed, it is the government office that should distribute it. What kind of pension is he distributing?"

However, although County Magistrate Xue was angry, he and "Li Zhao" were not completely subordinate to each other. For the sake of his daughter, he could not just drive Li Dutou away. After cursing, he waited for a long time before he saw Li Yun coming back from outside with five or six yamen runners.

After seeing County Magistrate Xue from afar, Li Dutou stepped forward, clasped his fists in salute, and said, "County Magistrate."

Mr. Xue glanced at him, called him aside, and his face was gloomy.

"The government's pension should be distributed by County Magistrate Tian or someone from the Lifang Office. Why are you distributing it?"

Mr. Xue said in a muffled voice: "This county yamen runner has the same surname as you, Li?"

Li Dutou looked calm and said, "County Master, if after passing through County Magistrate Tian, ​​my twenty strings of cash will still be twenty strings of cash when it reaches Zhu Gui's family, then I will definitely not ask about this matter. But the question is, can County Magistrate Tian and his family bear it?"

"Moreover."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Yesterday in the study, I informed the county magistrate about this matter in advance, and the county magistrate nodded in agreement at that time. Why are you blaming me now?"

Master Xue rubbed his brows, remembering that he seemed to have done this before. He snorted and did not continue talking. Instead, he said, "It's getting late. You should leave now. When you get to Shidai, remember to make big things small and small things nothing."

"Just cooperate with the county government over there."

At this point, Magistrate Xue paused and said, "There is one thing I want to tell you."

Li Yun nodded: "Please speak, County Master."

"No matter what, those anti-people cannot come to Qingyang. Do you understand?"

Li Yun nodded quickly: "Don't worry, County Master, it has nothing to do with Qingyang."

"Ah."

Mr. Xue then waved his hand and said, "You guys go."

Li Yun turned his head and looked at the yamen runners, and shouted: "Fifteen people, come out and follow me!"

At this moment, Li Dutou's prestige among the yamen runners was already very high, especially after he really gave money to his subordinates, many people sincerely obeyed him. Even those who were not in the anti-theft team rushed to raise their hands and shouted loudly: "I will go, I will go!"

Seeing the chaos, Li Dadutou started to call out orders: "The two injured brothers in the anti-theft team, stay and rest, the rest will leave with me. Chen Da, pick a few more people to make up the fifteen."

Chen Da responded, turned around and picked a few people he knew, then the group followed Li Yun and quickly left the county government office.

Magistrate Xue looked at the backs of these people leaving, and for some reason, he inexplicably developed a bad feeling in his heart.

"How long has it been?"

Mr. Xue muttered to himself.

"He managed these yamen runners and made them obey him perfectly..."

………………

"I heard it all."

After leaving the city, Li Yun looked back at his subordinates and shouted, "This business trip is of great importance. After leaving Qingyang, you should behave yourself. When you reach Shidai, follow my instructions!"

"Do you understand?"

When he shouted, all the members of the anti-theft team responded quickly. Some said they understood, but the other runners were a little slow and only gave sporadic answers after a long while.

"I understand."

Li Yun then said "hmm" and turned back and said, "Let's go!"

After the team set off, Chen Da came up with small steps and asked, "Boss, don't you ride a horse?"

"There are more than a dozen of us, how can we have so many horses?"

Li Yun waved his hand and said, "I'll go with you."

Chen Da thought for a moment and said, "Boss, it's more than a hundred miles away. We are going to quell the rebellion. We won't have the strength to walk there. How about I go back to the city with Dayong, and I'll get your horse. Let Dayong hire a few carts to take us to Shidai." He looked at Li Yun and continued, "We'll pay for the animals so you don't have to spend the money."

Li Yun stopped, glanced at Chen Da, and said with a smile: "You are quite smart, boy."

"Go ahead and do it. I'll pay for it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Da was overjoyed. He turned around and shouted a few words to the runners. Then the runners each found a tree and sat under it to rest.

Li Yun, Li Zheng and Zhang Hu also found a tree to rest. Li Zheng looked at Chen Da's back and said with a smile, "Brother, Chen Da is quite smart. Why don't we let him join us?"

Li Yun rolled his eyes at him and said unhappily, "I'm a government official. Why would I fight with you as a bandit?"

"Don't let your imagination run wild. There's still a lot of time left. Just wait and see for a while."

Li Zheng nodded slightly and said nothing more.

After a long while, Chen Da came back leading the horses and hired a few mule carts. The group of people headed towards Shidai.

The next day, they finally arrived in Shidai. Without any delay, they headed straight for Shidai County.

When we arrived outside Shidai County, it was already late afternoon. Although it was not dark yet, the city gates were closed.

Li Yun glanced at the city gate, frowned slightly, and said to Li Zheng beside him: "It seems that the matter is quite serious."

Li Zheng nodded and said nothing.

"Chen Da."

Li Yun called out, and Chen Da, who had already gotten off the cart, hurried forward: "Here."

"Go and ask the city gates to be opened."

"Yes!"

Chen Da was full of confidence. He stepped forward and shouted a few times. After a while, someone on the city gate poked his head out to look down. After seeing a group of officials in black clothes outside, he asked a few more questions and then opened the very simple city gate and let Li Yun and others in.

When entering the city, Li Dadu looked at the yamen runners guarding the gate and said with a smile: "It seems that those unruly people are making a lot of trouble. They even closed the city gate in broad daylight."

"No."

The Shidai Yamen guarding the gate sighed and said, "It's been okay these past few days. Those people almost occupied the entire county a few days ago."

Li Dutou said a few polite words to him, then asked the coachman to return to Qingyang, and they entered Shidai City one after another.

After arriving at Shidai, Li Yun found a tea stall on the roadside and sat down, inviting his subordinates to have tea. After sitting down, he looked at Li Zheng.

"Skinny Monkey, go get some information and see what's going on."

Li Zheng responded, then stood up and left silently.

He was in plain clothes and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

When Li Yun and others had almost finished their tea, Li Zheng turned back and sat opposite Li Yun.

He picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and then said, "I asked a general idea."

"About half a month ago, it was said that the people near Dahe Town, Shidai County, gathered together and beat up a local village head. When the police went to arrest him, another conflict broke out."

"In the end, for some reason, the local people started to make a fuss and beat three of the five officials to death. The other two were also seriously injured. The people from Dahe Town who came later almost fought directly to the county town."

Li Yun sighed: "The people are really simple and honest."

He then asked, "How much additional tax is collected here in Shidai?"

"Eight hundred coins."

Li Zheng looked at Li Yun, put down his tea bowl, and whispered, "It is said that Dahe Town collected more money, almost one tael of silver from each household, which led to the conflict and caused a loss of life."

Li Yun took a sip of tea and shook his head slightly.

"This Shidai not only has simple folk customs, but also official customs..."

“It’s also very simple.”

(End of this chapter)