Thief Emperor

Chapter 441: No Longer Seen the Old Capital
The imperial court was too far away from the local areas.

Especially in this era of inconvenient transportation, it was even more remote. Some emperors never left the capital in their entire lives. Even after becoming emperors, they never left the imperial city. The so-called rule...

In the final analysis, it's just collecting and spending money year after year.

Be the boss of the household and eat from your own pot.

For the imperial court, the most important sign of ruling the local areas is that the local areas must pay money, grain, cloth, and provide manpower and labor to the imperial court.

The imperial court is weak now, so it doesn't care about you, Li Yun, occupying the land and becoming the king in Jiangdong, but you have to pay the money to the imperial court. Otherwise, what's the point of being a minister of the Great Zhou and having a territory of the Great Zhou?

Of course, at this time, Wu Yuancheng might not have the final say in the court. Even if the emperor really got the money, it would be hard to say whether the money could go into the national treasury or into the hands of the emperor.

The emperor was saying these high-sounding words at this moment. On the surface, he was trying to save face as the Son of Heaven, but in reality...

Who knows who he's asking for money on behalf of.

Du Qian was also very cooperative. No matter what the emperor said, he would follow his words.

And this Emperor was not particularly stupid, and he did not really punish Li Yun. Otherwise, while nominally the imperial court sent troops to attack Li Yun, in reality the three military governors were probably going to divide up Jiangnan after dividing up the imperial court!
If this continues, he, the emperor, will never have a chance to turn things around.

So I can only lift it high and put it down gently.

After questioning Du Qian, the emperor ordered Du Qian to stand up, and the court meeting continued.

Because Du Qian was a local official, there was no place for him in the court. After the questions were asked, he should have stood at the last position, but Minister Du waved his hand and Du Qian stood silently behind him.

Prime Minister Cui Yuan looked back at Du Qian, then continued to hold the imperial tablet in his hand and said nothing.

The court meeting did not end until near noon. As soon as the words "dismissal" were shouted, General Wei put his hands behind his back, turned around and left.

The other two military governors were relatively well-behaved, but they also left the hall before the prime ministers.

When Hedong Jiedushi Li Tong walked to the entrance of the hall, he suddenly remembered something, looked back at Du Qian, then stopped and smiled at Du Qian: "Congratulations, Envoy Du."

Du Qian quickly cupped his hands and said, "General, I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it."

When people are in the capital, their life and death are in the hands of these three military leaders. Everyone has to be careful when facing them.

Li Tong looked at him and asked softly, "When will the envoy leave the capital?"

"The autumn tax in the southeast will be collected soon. This is a very important matter. I have to leave for the southeast in the next few days to complete this matter."

At this point, he sighed and said, "It seems that I have been promoted, but I have to take charge of the taxes in Jiangnan. This is a responsibility as heavy as a mountain. I have to do it as soon as possible."

"Young talent."

Li Tong clapped his hands and exclaimed: "I originally wanted to have a meal with Envoy Du, but now it seems too late. Let's meet again when we have the chance in the future."

Du Qian bowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, General. I will definitely visit you whenever I have time in the future."

Li Tong said "hmm" and sighed, "I hope that next time we meet, it won't be in this capital."

He didn't really want to stay in the capital. Having spent half his life in Taiyuan Prefecture, he certainly wanted to return to Taiyuan.

But given the current situation, he has to stay in the capital and Guanzhong, otherwise he won't be able to control the situation, and it is very likely that the current apparent stability cannot be maintained.

Du Qian thought for a moment, and suddenly whispered, "General, can I have a word with you?"

Li Tong thought about it, followed him to the side, then looked at Du Qian and asked, "Go on."

"Does the general know about the actions of the Pinglu Army?"

"Who wouldn't know about Zhou Xu's big move?"

Li Tong said slowly: "Originally he controlled ten states near Qingzhou, but now he probably controls twenty or thirty states."

Du Qian whispered: "I'm afraid that the Jiedushi of various places are like this. Under such circumstances, occupying Guanzhong may not be the right choice..."

"Okay, you don't have to say any more."

Li Tong smiled and said, "It seems that although Envoy Du is in Jiangnan, he is still a loyal minister of the Great Zhou. You just want to persuade me to leave Guanzhong so that the court can recover, but I have something to say to you."

"As soon as I leave Guanzhong, your majesty's situation will only become more difficult. Now there are three Jiedushi, and only if Wei Quanzhong leaves Guanzhong first, this matter can be resolved."

"Otherwise, we will have to keep going like this. As for what the other Jiedushi have done, the court knows about it and it won't take long."

He looked at Du Qian and said, "The court will send troops to punish these lawless people."

"Compared with Zhou Xu, what Li Yun of Jiangdong has done in the past few years is only half as good."

After saying this, General Li put his hands behind his back and turned away: "It's all just empty talk. We have to fight to see the outcome."

Du Qian looked at Li Tong's back and frowned.

These three military governors have a very clear understanding of the situation... and from what Li Tong said, they will soon take action against those dishonest vassal states in the name of the imperial court. They want to beat these vassal states into submission and submit to the "military government" they have formed.

Before that, these three people...will continue to cooperate.

Du Qian was silent for a long time, then shook his head and sighed: "Everyone has his own plans, everyone has his own plans."

After he finished speaking, he looked around and saw his father Du Ting talking to Prime Minister Cui Yuan not far away. Du Qian rushed forward and saluted the two of them, saying, "Father, Mr. Cui." Prime Minister Cui looked at Du Qian and asked him when he was going to leave. Then he patted Du Qian on the shoulder and said to Du Ting, "Your child is much better than my nephew Cui Shao."

After saying this, Mr. Cui put his hands behind his back, turned around and left.

After he left, Du Qian looked at his father and asked, "Dad, what were you talking about with Prime Minister Cui?"

"We are talking about Wang Xiang."

"King's appearance?"

Du Qian asked, "Mr. Jinghu?"

The former prime minister Wang Du, whose courtesy name was Daqi and pseudonym was Jinghu.

Du Ting nodded silently and said, "Last time, the capital was occupied by thieves, and Wang Xiang was taken out of the capital by his family to seek refuge. He has returned to the capital now. He was supposed to go to court today, but was stopped by Cui Xiang and was not allowed to go to court."

Du Qian sighed, "That's right. With Mr. Jinghu's temper, I'm afraid he will have to confront the three Jiedushi in the court."

"I can't stop him. I can't stop him."

Minister Du said silently: "Prime Minister Wang has already gone to Wei Quanzhong's residence."

Upon hearing this, Du Qian was silent for a long time and could only sigh.

On that day, Prime Minister Wang Du invited Xiao Xian, the Jiedushi of Fanyang, and Li Tong, the Jiedushi of Hedong, to the residence of General Wei. He himself also went to the residence of General Wei. Then the former prime minister made an impassioned speech and scolded the three generals.

Immediately, Wang Du was thrown into prison.

That night, the prime minister who had served in the court for twenty years died in prison. Some said it was suicide, while others said it was murder. There were many different opinions.

No one knows the specific situation.

There was an uproar in the capital.

The next morning, at dawn, Du Qian was driven out of the house by Du Shangshu. Du Shangshu saw Du Qian and Du Laian out of the house, and then gave some gold bars to each of the twenty guards who escorted them to the capital.

When Minister Du sent him home and watched Du Qian get on the horse, he had thousands of words to say, but they were ultimately reduced to just two words.

"Go quickly, go quickly!"

……

As soon as the city gate opened, Du Qian and his entourage left the capital, and then a group of twenty riders galloped along the official road towards Jinling.

Two days later, they left Guanzhong and passed Tongguan. Du Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief. He rode on his horse, looked back at Guanzhong behind him, and stood there in a daze, not speaking for a long time.

Du Laian was right beside him. Seeing him like this, he couldn't help but say, "Don't think too much, young master. The master is so smart, nothing will happen."

"In two years, we will bring him to Jiangdong."

Du Qian came back to his senses, shook his head slowly, and sighed: "The righteousness of the Great Zhou died in the capital."

"The imperial court exists in name only."

After coming to this conclusion, Du Qian no longer hesitated, turned back to look at the official road, and said in a deep voice: "Keep on going, and rush back to Jinling as fast as possible!"

So, everyone traveled day and night, and after five days, they finally returned to Jinling.

The scene in Jinling remained the same, but there seemed to be more people on the streets than before, and it was a bit more lively.

At this time, Du Qian no longer had the heart to watch all this hustle and bustle. He went all the way back to Jinling Mansion. When he opened the door of the study, Li Yun was sitting in the study, handling official business.

Seeing him coming back, Li Yun stood up and said with a smile: "Brother Shouyi came back so quickly. I received a message from Jiusi yesterday and thought you would not be back until this afternoon. But it's not even noon yet and Brother Shouyi is back."

He pulled Du Qian to sit down, poured him a cup of hot water, and said, "Brother Shouyi, why do you look so distraught? Did your trip to the capital go badly?"

Du Qian nodded and said with a wry smile: "It's not going well."

"The craftsman from the Military Equipment Bureau was not able to be given to Erlang."

"That doesn't matter."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I'm glad that Brother Shouyi has returned safely. I can get out of the political affairs of Jinling after you go home and rest for two days."

The two of them still kept in touch. While on the road, Du Qian had already learned about the war in Jiangbei. He looked at Li Yun and asked, "What's the situation in Yangzhou?"

"We have been surrounded by the Pinglu Army, but it's not a big problem."

Li said with his hands behind his back: "This time, I will personally lead the troops to Jiangbei to fight with the Zhou family father and son!"

As he spoke, he seemed to notice that Du Qian seemed to be in a bad mood, so he asked, "Brother Shouyi, what's wrong?"

Du Qian lowered his head to drink water and let out a long sigh.

"The capital city today... and the capital city of the past in my mind."

“It’s completely different.”

(End of this chapter)