Thief Emperor

Chapter 535 Dare to act!

After returning to Jinling, Li Yun did not start working immediately, but returned to Li Garden and rested at home for two or three days.

Xue Yun'er was very happy to see Li Yun and Liu Su come back. After the family had a reunion dinner together, she pulled Liu Su aside and asked him questions. In a place where no one was around, she even reached out and touched Liu Su's belly, making the latter blush.

There was a reason for her to be happy. During the time that Li Yun and Liu Su were away, she, the mistress of Jiangdong, was quite bored.

Because Mrs. Xue also went to Luzhou some time ago to accompany Mr. Xue.

The eldest son of the Xue family, Xue Shou, is now serving as the governor of Haozhou. The second son, Xue Fang, is now working as a grain merchant outside with the support of Li Yun.

In addition, her good friend of several years was taken by Li Yun to serve as a military secretary, which made Xue Yun'er really bored for a long time.

After resting at home for three days, on the fourth day, Li Yun changed into autumn clothes and came to the Jinling government office.

After entering the government office, Yao Zhong, who was sitting at the door, immediately stood up, bowed and said, "My lord."

He called him "Lord" extremely naturally, without any sense of incongruity, as if he had been calling him that since he arrived in Jinling.

Li Yun looked at him, wondering if this guy had practiced secretly in private.

Because other people, even if they change their names, will still stutter.

Du Qian also stood up, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "My Lord."

Li Yun pressed his hands, motioning them to sit down. He touched his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "I still think that the title of Lord is inappropriate, but it is also inappropriate to call him an official of the imperial court. So, I will be thick-skinned and set the rules."

"On weekdays, when there are outsiders around, call it the superior position."

At this point, he looked at Du Qian and Yao Zhong, and said with a smile: "When there are no outsiders around, it doesn't matter what you call me. You can call me Er Lang, or just Li Er."

"Shangwei" means boss, and sometimes it can be used to refer to the monarch. There is no problem in calling him that.

Du Qian seemed to be thinking about something.

Yao Zhong, who was standing at the side, stood up again, bowed his head and said, "Yes, I will take the seat."

Yao Zhong was a self-aware man. He knew very well that he was different from Du Qian, whether now or in the future. Even if one day his boss became a monarch or an emperor, there would be no problem if Du Qian privately called him Erlang.

But Yao Zhong doesn't have this option.

From now on, he will only be known as the superior.

Du Qian, who was standing by, also said with a smile, "This is a good title. No matter whether you continue to be an official in the court or not, or what position you hold, you can continue to use this title. I will send an official document to all prefectures and counties, asking them to use this title in the future."

The title is actually a kind of status, and this status should be determined early on.

After all, Jiangdong now even has a rudimentary civil service system, and all other aspects will gradually become formalized.

Once everything is on track, when we go to conquer other places, nothing will go wrong in any aspect, and efficiency will be greatly improved.

After deciding on the titles, Li Yun took another look around the public housing. Now, there were not only Du Qian and Yao Zhong in the public housing, but also four or five young people in their early twenties, helping to carry and sort documents, or transcribing documents.

Seeing Li Yun focusing his attention on these people, Du Qian smiled and said, "Now, there are more and more states and counties under the jurisdiction of the superior, and the superior is not in Jinling during this period, so there are more and more things to do here, and it is getting busier and busier."

"So we selected a few smart young scholars to come here and work as clerks to help out."

Li Yun sighed and said with a smile, "It's becoming more and more like the Political Affairs Hall."

Li Yun had never been to the capital, and naturally had never seen the Council of State, but he often drank and chatted with Du Qian, and heard Du Qian talk about some things in the capital.

The government affairs hall in the capital is actually like this. In addition to a few prime ministers who handle affairs, there are also some minor clerks walking around. These inconspicuous clerks can sometimes play a big role.

According to Du Qian's previous statement, a position as a minor official in the capital's government hall sometimes cost tens of thousands of strings of cash, and one also needed connections to get one.

Today, this public housing in Jinling Mansion, except that the two people in charge are relatively young, is actually the prototype of the Government Affairs Hall.

Du Qian did not refute, but just laughed softly and said, "I was just about to tell you about this. I am also taking care of the affairs of Jinling Prefecture, so I am really too busy. Can you find a suitable candidate to be the Jinling Yin?"

He paused and continued, "When the time comes, we can move out of the Jinling government office."

Li Yun smiled and asked, "Where are you planning to move to, Brother Du?"

"Move to the vicinity of Li Garden." Du Qian said seriously, "This way, our work efficiency will be higher in the future."

Li Yun thought about it seriously, then looked at Yao Zhong, who lowered his head and did not dare to speak.

After hesitating for a while, he continued, "At the moment, there is no other more suitable candidate. Brother Du should take on the job of Jinling Prefecture for the time being."

Today's Jinling is actually the capital of "Jiangdong Kingdom", and the Yin of Jinling is Li Yun's Jingzhao Yin.

This position is extremely important and requires someone who is close to Li Yun and whom Li Yun completely trusts to be qualified for the position.

If Li Zheng is capable of governing, then he would be very suitable for this position, but Li Zheng is now pursuing a military career, and he probably won't be able to manage Jinling Prefecture well.

This matter can only be put on hold until a suitable person is chosen in the future.

In the public house, the three people chatted about Jiangdong's political affairs for a long time. When it was almost noon, Li Yun finally got to the point.

"I now have some ideas about the matter of Jiangnan Juntian."

“I’m going to start with two states.”

Li Yun looked at the two people and continued, "First is Luzhou, then Xuanzhou."

Du Qian was startled, then he said: "Xuanzhou is the hometown of the superior. It is not difficult to understand from Xuanzhou. As for Luzhou..."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then said, "The Lu family, the richest man in Luzhou and also the largest landlord in Luzhou, handed over all their land to the government last year for disposal."

"In addition to being the richest family in Luzhou, the Lu family is also my in-laws. My in-laws took the initiative to divide up the land, so other families have no excuse not to divide up the land."

Du Qian nodded first, then said, "Sir, are there any specific rules?"

"The rich families were allowed to keep at most five acres of land each, and all four or five acres were to be re-divided."

"Distribute it to tenants who have no land and refugees. All localities must re-register the population, re-count the population, and measure the land."

"Those who do not own land will be given two mu of land each temporarily, and any surplus will be used as public land for the government."

“If there is not enough, it will be divided equally according to the actual land.”

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and Yao Zhong and asked, "This is my idea for now. What do you think?"

Du Qian thought about it seriously, then nodded and said, "I don't think there is any problem. We can do it in these two states first. This way there won't be too much reaction. If the situation is not right, we can always respond."

Yao Zhong sat in his seat and didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he suddenly stood up, bowed to Li Yun, and said boldly: "Master, can I... can I speak too?"

Li Yun smiled: "Now that you have entered this public housing, you can talk naturally. Didn't I just ask you and Brother Du for your opinions?"

Yao Zhong's face was serious. He bowed to Du Qian first, then looked at Li Yun again and said with his head down: "You can't do things like equal distribution of land in one state or two at a time."

"If we equalize one or two states first, not only will the influence not be reduced, but the news will soon spread to other states and counties. By then, the landlords and gentry in other states and counties will definitely gather together to cause trouble, and they will even do whatever it takes to cause trouble. Once they form a group, it will be difficult to deal with them!"

"By then, it will be impossible to succeed in the first two states."

"My Lord, please understand. I think that since there is still a war in the north, the equal distribution of land should either be postponed for two or three years, or... we should just grit our teeth and implement it in all the states and counties at once!"

"If we just ignore it and push it through, the impact will be minimal."

This middle-aged man in his forties, who was still a commoner and suddenly became rich, looked up at Li Yun with a determined look on his face: "Sir, there is no need to try and make mistakes in one or two states before distributing the land equally, because distributing the land equally will not go wrong. At this time, we must be bold and daring!"

Li Yun seemed to be thinking about something and did not speak.

Du Qian also put down his teacup and asked, "If we implement this policy directly in all the prefectures and counties under our jurisdiction, won't those gentry and landlords cause trouble? I'm afraid they will join forces to cause trouble as well."

Yao Zhong bowed again and said to Du Qian, "Mr. Du, the number of gentry and landlords is small after all."

"As long as you are brave enough, you can directly implement the decree and post the notice. If the gentry and landlords continue to cause trouble, those landless and propertyless people who are about to be allocated land will stand up."

"With the support of the majority, those gentry and landowners."

"It's not worth mentioning!"

(End of this chapter)