Thief Emperor

Chapter 51 The Troubled Times Are Coming Slowly
The next day.

Hexi Village has been burned to ashes.

Except for the villagers of Hexi Village who rushed out from the east, that is, from Li Yun's side, the rest of the villagers either left the village to surrender and were captured by the soldiers sent by the state, or died in the fire.

And those Hexi villagers who were captured are also in great danger.

The only good news is that nearly a hundred people escaped from Li Yun's side in one night. Although a large number of these people were captured by the soldiers of the state, even if only a small half of them escaped, it would still be dozens of lives.

Li Yun looked at Hexi Village, which had become a scorched earth, and did not speak for a long time.

He had a feeling of powerlessness.

Because, last night, he had tried his best and done everything he could.

If the 200 soldiers from the state had not arrived last night, Chief Li would have wanted to kill Governor Tian and Sima Cao to completely disrupt the situation.

But in the end, rationality prevailed over cruelty.

Fortunately, the original leader of the Li village was a free and easy person, and his character has somewhat influenced the current Li Yun.

Li Yun was silent for a while, turned his head and recited to himself.

"In this world, living one more day means suffering one more day. You are now free."

"But this matter, I am a bandit and I cannot bear to see it. There will be a day in the future."

Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at Governor Tian and Sima Cao in the distance, and sneered in his heart.

"They will be punished."

Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at his subordinates and shouted, "There is nothing to do here. Pack up your things and let's go back to Qingyang!"

"Chen Da, go get a few more cars and take us back to Qingyang!"

Chen Dalian nodded quickly and said, "Boss, your horse is still tied nearby. Do you want to go back on horseback, or take a car with us?"

"My arm is injured."

Mr. Li said slowly: "Let's go back with you in the car."

Chen Da looked at Li Yun with a grin, and Li Yun rolled his eyes at him and said unhappily, "I'll let you ride on me!"

Chen was overjoyed.

Although he had ridden a horse before, the number of times he had ridden a horse could be counted on one hand. Now he finally had the chance to ride a horse!
It’s better to ride back to Qingyang from Shidai, which is more than a hundred miles!

Seeing Chen Da happily leaving, Li Zheng on the side laughed and said, "This kid is really useless."

Li Yun retracted his gaze towards Governor Tian, ​​and whispered, "Skinny Monkey, how many people did you say escaped from Hexi Village yesterday?"

“There are always dozens.”

Li Zheng whispered: "Moreover, as long as they can escape the pursuit of the government, they must be young and strong. If these people get together again."

He looked at the "ruins" of Hexi Village and sighed, "With a deep blood feud, I'm afraid they will have trouble with the government for the rest of their lives."

Li Yun also nodded silently and said slowly: "That Meng Chong is quite decisive. If he escapes, there might be a force among the people in the future that specifically opposes the imperial court."

Li Zheng chuckled: "His son is still on our mountain."

Li Yun also laughed: "You kid, you have so many evil thoughts. If those children join our village in the future, they will be our brothers. You can't have any other thoughts."

"All right."

Li Yun patted Li Zheng's shoulder, but looked towards Governor Tian, ​​and said slowly: "The county magistrate of Shidai asked us to leave. He probably fears that we might see something we shouldn't see here. Let's pack up and leave."

Li Zheng followed Li Yun's gaze, said "Hey", and whispered: "Second brother, do you want us to come again?"

Li Dazhaizhu had a blank expression on his face: "It's no use coming to Shidai. I'll take you to the state capital to have a look after a while."

While the Li Yun brothers were talking, in the direction Li Yun was looking, Governor Tian was also talking to Sima Cao.

To be precise, it should be Sima Cao who reported the situation to Governor Tian.

"Your Majesty."

Cao Rong lowered his head and said, "Yesterday, the yamen runners were too few in number, and there were too many people from Hexi Village. Some of them escaped, and our state soldiers are already chasing them."

"Don't worry, sir. I will definitely bring people to capture all the rebels who have escaped."

Governor Tian stretched himself lazily and shook his head, saying, "My dear brother, you still don't understand."

"It doesn't matter whether we capture these remnants of the rebels or not. As long as they leave Hexi, you and I will have the final say on whether they are still Hexi people or not." "Once they escape, even if the angels of the court come down, they will never see them again."

Cao Sima thought for a moment and nodded, "Your Excellency is wise."

"Sir, yesterday many Hexi rebels were forced out of the village by fire. Now they are all in custody. What should we do with them?"

Governor Tian frowned.

"I don't know about this matter, and I don't know what anti-people you arrested."

Sima Cao's expression changed slightly, and then he nodded silently.

"Your Majesty, I understand."

………………

After arriving in Qingyang, Li Yun asked Li Zheng to leave the team halfway on the pretext of going home to visit someone, and let him go back to Cangshan Village with Zhang Hu.

Li Yun himself, along with the yamen runners, returned to Qingyang County. After entering the county yamen, he immediately alerted Magistrate Xue. Magistrate Xue came out and saw Li Yun with his arm hanging around his neck. He frowned slightly and asked, "How are you injured?"

Li Dutou said silently: "He was injured by the rebels."

He emphasized the word "traitor".

But in a sense, he was not wrong, because he himself now looked a bit like a traitor.

Magistrate Xue glanced at the others and asked, "Is there anyone else injured?"

Li Yun shook his head.

Magistrate Xue glanced at him and said silently, "Come with me."

Li Yun nodded, turned his head and looked at the yamen runners who had followed him all the way, and said in a deep voice: "Take a three-day break, everyone go away."

Everyone cheered and went there happily.

Li Yun, on the other hand, walked all the way to Magistrate Xue's study and sat down without any hesitation.

Magistrate Xue was not angry at all, and even personally poured him a cup of tea, asking, "What happened in Shidai? I heard that Magistrate Du was killed by those anti-civilian people who rushed into the county government office?"

After taking a sip of tea, Li Yun said, "It's not just Magistrate Du. The chief clerk and the registrar of Shidai were all killed by the rebels."

"How did it get to this point?"

Magistrate Xue returned to his seat and frowned, saying, "It has been many years since an official has been killed."

"because."

Mr. Li put down his tea and said calmly, "I received eight hundred coins for the tax from Shidai."

"The village head of Hexi Village, where the incident happened, even added another 1 tael of cash to the bill. How could an ordinary family afford 1 tael of cash?"

He looked at Magistrate Xue and forced a smile on his face: "I now know that the county magistrate is a rare good official."

Xue Song was stunned by this, then shook his head and sighed: "You are scolding all the officials in the Great Zhou."

Li Yun put down his teacup, was silent for a while, and asked: "County Master, is this tax collected in all the counties and prefectures in the Great Zhou?"

"I don't know."

Magistrate Xue shook his head slightly, took a sip of tea, and said, "But I think they should have all been collected. The court has been very short of money in recent years."

"Then, County Master, tell me, did the court really receive five hundred coins?"

Magistrate Xue remained silent.

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and continued, "Exploitation at every level."

He put down his teacup, stood up, and continued, "County Master, there is more than one Shidai County in the world, and more than one Hexi Village. After this tax increase, I'm afraid many places will... rebel."

He wanted to say "uprising", but in front of County Magistrate Xue, he still gave him some face.

Mr. Xue looked up at Li Yun and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"Even you noticed it, even you noticed it..."

Mr. Xue looked up at the sky outside the door, his face full of worry.

"The troubled times are approaching..."

(End of this chapter)