Thief Emperor

Chapter 488 The Big Exam!

At the beginning, when Li Yun met Pei Zhang, he gave him this idea just on a whim, and even with some bad taste and half-joking nature.

His original intention was not to make life easier for the emperor in the capital, but to create chaos in the capital and tie up the hands of the three military governors, thus buying more time for him and Jiangdong to develop.

But sometimes, the world is magical.

The matter of Dai Wang in the capital was clearly following Li Yun's script, and it was exactly the same.

Of course, the Emperor was not really a fool. When he was doing this, he "optimized" Li Yun's plan. He arranged for Prince Dai Wu She to cause trouble in Baiyu Tower.

Honestly speaking, this "plot" was very cleverly arranged. If a member of the royal family died suddenly and inexplicably, the upper circles in the capital might be suspicious, or even certain that it was Wei Quanzhong who did it, but the middle and lower classes, as well as the common people of the world, might not be able to think of it.

But now, with what happened at Baiyu Tower, anyone who heard about it would be certain that it must have been done by Wei Quanzhong or the other two military governors.

However, the upper circles and smart people in the capital may have some doubts about this matter.

But not important.

At this point, it was a pure conspiracy. Wei Quanzhong and others could not get rid of this huge crime no matter what.

Du Qian stared at Li Yun blankly, a little surprised: "Master, you..."

"I met Pei Zhang a few years ago."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank tea, saying, "At that time, I casually told him that if we wanted to drive these three people away and kill a few members of the royal family, it would be difficult for the three of them to gain a foothold in the capital from a moral perspective."

Mr. Li looked at Du Qian and sighed softly, "I did just say it casually, but the news from the capital is exactly the same as what I said, and it is quite clear who the beneficiary of this matter is."

"It's easy to guess that it was the emperor who did it."

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table, muttering, "More than 20 people in a palace died overnight with almost no resistance. I doubt whether the Dai Wang and his family resisted that night."

"Even if they kill themselves, it's hard to say."

Mr. Li took another sip of tea and said slowly: "Speaking of which, our emperor is weak to foreign enemies, but unexpectedly ruthless to his own people."

"This king is his uncle."

King Wu She of Dai is the youngest brother of the late emperor, and the younger uncle of the current emperor Wu Yuancheng, and a legitimate uncle of the emperor.

When Du Qian heard this, he remained silent for a long time. After a long while, he sighed and said, "If what the Lord of the Mansion said is true, then the Dai Wang family is probably willing to die."

"Otherwise, no one can do it so cleanly."

"Putting aside the previous cause, just talking about a royal family like the King of Dai, he really has some backbone, which is admirable."

Li Yun lowered his eyebrows and said, "It is possible that Dai Wang Wushe himself is willing to die. He has enjoyed a good life for so many years, but now he is being treated like a prisoner by a few military governors. It is not surprising that he is willing to die after being bullied like this."

"But there are more than 20 people in his house, including concubines, children, maids and servants. I don't think they would be willing to die with the King of Dai."

Du Qian lowered his voice: "This is the way the world is. They have no choice."

Li Yun curled his lips, stood up and stretched: "After all the calculations, my uncle died. In the end, at most, I could only drive those three people out of the capital. Their soldiers could not leave Guanzhong, that is to say."

"All we got after all the efforts was a Jingzhao Prefecture. Maybe there won't even be a Jingzhao Prefecture, but only a capital city."

Du Qian bowed his head and smiled bitterly, "In this situation, even if only a city or a prefecture is in his control, the emperor will probably think it's worth it. After listening to what happened in the capital during this period, I also feel ashamed for the emperor."

"Whether they will leave the capital depends on whether those three have any shame. Also, given General Wei's character, he may not be willing to suffer such a loss. He may do something even more outrageous."

"Even more outrageous?"

Du Qian murmured, "He's already like this, how can he go too far?"

"I do not know either."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "However, based on my understanding of him from the intelligence I have read in the past two years, it is unlikely that he will just swallow this loss."

"After all, this time, his reputation has been completely ruined, even worse than Zhou Xu's." Zhou Xu killed the great scholar Gu Wenchuan, and he had already offended many scholars in the world, and what Wei Quanzhong did was obviously even more excessive.

As far as the current situation is concerned, unless this General Wei's strength suddenly increases several times and he unifies the world by force, his chances of winning the battle for the world are already... pitifully low.

Du Qian poured Li Yun a cup of tea and whispered, "I hope he can hold on longer."

Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said in a deep voice, "We have to hold on a little longer. We will look for him in the future to avenge Minister Du."

The two chatted about the affairs of the capital for a long time before Li Yun stood up and left. Before leaving, he looked at Du Qian and said, "Brother Du, I will leave Jinling in a few days to inspect the various military camps and check on the new recruits. It will probably take more than half a month, or even longer, before I can return."

Du Qian was helpless and whispered, "Well, I will start taking over government affairs from the mansion master in the next few days."

Li Yun smiled and nodded: "Brother Du will also help to appease Mr. Tao. When I return from the army, the Jinling Literary Festival can begin."

…………

Because the recruitment work of various armies has been carried out quietly, especially Zhou Liang's troops, because they are near Jinling. In a sense, they are equivalent to the imperial guards of the Jiangdong small court.

Half of the conscription work this time will fall on Zhou Liang. A large number of new soldiers will be recruited from him, and after two or three months of training, they will be reorganized into other armies.

It is considered a cradle for new recruits.

Doing so is naturally beneficial, as it can prevent the army far away from Li Yun from forming its own forces at the root.

The entire Jiangdong will therefore become one, without too much sense of fragmentation.

It is also for this reason that Li Yun must often visit various armies, take a look around, at least to get acquainted with the new recruits and maintain relationships with his former brothers in the anti-theft team.

His trip started with Zhou Liang's troops.

After staying in Zhou Liang's army for a full eight days, Li Yun set out again. He first went to Li Zheng's army, then went north from Li Zheng's army to Qiantang. After staying in Qiantang Army for four or five days, he went north from Qiantang to Luzhou to see Chen Da, and then went from Luzhou to Fengyang. Finally, after staying in Fengyang Army for three days, he set out south and returned to Jinling.

It took him more than half a month to go through this long process. By the time he returned to Jinling, the initial screening of the Jinling Literary Society had basically come to an end.

In Li Garden, Du Qian and Tao Wenyuan handed a list to Li Yun. Tao Wenyuan said, "Sir, there are more than a thousand people participating in the Jinling Literary Meeting this time. Shiyilang and I worked out the test questions and spent more than ten days to screen out these people."

He looked at Li Yun and asked, "Master, what are we going to do next at the literary gathering?"

“I have to take an exam.”

Li Yun looked at the list in his hand and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, I will leave the list here and I will do the rest myself."

"take an exam?"

Tao Wenyuan was somewhat surprised and asked, "Shouldn't a literary gathering be about making friends through literature?"

“It is difficult to tell who is better when making friends through literature.”

Li Yun said with a smile: "The exam is more direct, and I can tell the difference between one, two, and three."

Mr. Tao thought this made sense, so he asked, "What is the exam for, Mr. Fu?"

"Seven subjects."

Mr. Tao asked, somewhat curiously.

"Which seven subjects?"

Li Yun's face was full of smiles.

"There is another major subject, namely, rituals, civil service, criminal justice, labor, household and military affairs..."

"Practical."

(End of this chapter)