Thief Emperor

Chapter 536: His Royal Highness the King of Chu
Yao Zhong wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed to Li and Du and said, "Your Excellency, Lord, this subordinate..."

"I was a little excited for a moment. What I just said was just my humble opinion."

Li Yun and Du Qian looked at each other, then clapped their hands and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, okay."

He stood up, patted Yao Zhong on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "What a great phrase, daring to act. Sir, you have thought far and wide, and you think more clearly than I do."

Li Yun looked at him and asked with a smile, "Does Mr. Yao dare to do this?"

Yao Zhong looked up at Li Yun and said in a deep voice: "As long as the superiors support me, there is nothing I dare not do!"

Li Yun looked back at Du Qian, who nodded silently.

This matter requires a specific person in charge.

Of course, Li Yun himself can also be responsible for this task, but after all, apart from the issue of equal distribution of land, Li Yun has many other things to do.

It is impossible to put all your energy into this one thing.

And Du Qian...

He came from an aristocratic family, a class higher than the gentry and landlords. Regardless of whether it was appropriate for him to do this, he himself was not very willing to do it.

"Well, then, you will be in charge of this matter, sir."

Li Yun said very seriously: "Don't worry, I support you 100% on this matter. As long as you really do the equal distribution of land, even if it provokes those landlords to rise up and attack me, I will also bear it for you!"

There is no room for negotiation on this matter, it must be done. If it cannot be done at the administrative level, Li Yun will lead his troops to push it through.

If we knock out the big landlords and leave them with nothing, then things will naturally get done.

As for the possible unrest, Yao Zhong is right. There will be no mistake in equalizing the land use because as long as you do it, you will always have more supporters than opponents.

The three of them sat together and pondered the specific rules for equal distribution of land for more than an hour. At the end, Yao Zhong said, "My lord, I will start drafting the document in the next few days and then submit it to you for review. If you think there is no problem, we will wait until the autumn grain is collected this year."

"I will start doing this and send the official document to all states and counties."

"By the time…"

He gritted his teeth and said, "I will go to each state one by one and make sure this matter is implemented!"

Li Yun was delighted and said, "When you inspect the states, I will send half of my personal guard battalion to you to protect you."

Yao Zhong bowed his head and said, "I obey your command!"

Born in a humble family, although he and Du Qian lived in the same public housing through scheming, he was far inferior to Du Qian in terms of status and voice.

Not even on the same level.

Therefore, Yao Zhong needs to seize every opportunity to demonstrate his value and role in front of Li Yun, and this time is a good opportunity.

If he could accomplish this, regardless of whether Du Qian promoted him in the future or not, Yao Zhong would firmly hold a position of prime minister!
By the time the rules for equal distribution of land were almost finalized, it was already late afternoon. Li Yun took his two subordinates to a restaurant outside the government office to have dinner.

After sitting down, Li Yun remembered another important thing.

“And then there’s running a school.”

"Now, in various places in Jiangnan Province, some county schools have been closed. County schools in various places must be established as soon as possible, and each county cannot have only one public school."

At that time, there were basically no public basic schools in local areas. The basic schools were private schools, and a county basically only had one public school, the county school.

As for some academies and the like, they are all high-level schools and have little to do with ordinary people.

Du Qian said, "I have discussed this matter with Mr. Tao, and he said he would get started on it as soon as possible."

Li Yun nodded and continued, "Let me tell you my idea. In addition to the county school, each county must have ten public schools that can provide elementary education. The money for running the schools and the monthly salary for the elementary school teachers should be paid directly from Jinling."

Then he looked at Du Qian and asked, "Do we have enough money?"

Du Qian scratched his head and sighed, "I want to ask my third brother."

"If there is not enough money for the time being, this matter can be put on hold or less construction can be done, but there is one thing that must be done immediately."

“Everywhere, start teaching agronomy.”

Yao Zhong thought for a moment and whispered, "Sir, I'm afraid even if I teach, no one will be willing to learn."

"This is simple."

Li Yun said calmly: "It's almost the end of the year. Next spring, I will hold another Jinling Literary Conference. This time, it will be a literary conference."

"I will definitely study agriculture."

"This matter can be announced, and it can be made clear that as long as I, Li Yun, am here, there will be an agricultural science exam."

“See if anyone is learning.”

Yao Zhong murmured, "If one can become an official, there must be someone willing to learn."

At this moment, the food and wine were just served. Li Yun raised his glass and said with a smile, "Come on, let's clink glasses."

"For the great cause of Jiangdong."

The three of them clinked their glasses and drank it all in one gulp. Yao Zhong put down his glass, looked at Li Yun, and muttered to himself.

"For the great cause of Jiangdong."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but clench his fists.

Because he was a smart man, he knew very well that after agreeing to the equal distribution of land, he would most likely offend the entire landlord gentry class in Jiangnan.

From now on, he may have to follow Li Yun closely.

Become a lone minister!
………………

After a few more days, after Li Yun arranged some things that Jiangdong had to do or had to start preparing for, he went to the Jinling Workshop to see the progress of the Jinling Workshop.

After several years of development, the Jinling Workshop now has a person in charge. His name is Deng Heng. He was originally a blacksmith and later became a master among blacksmiths.

Because he was discovered by Li Yun and had some talent in administrative management, he has now become the chief chef of Jinling Workshop, responsible for managing the operation of Jinling Workshop and paying wages.

He first took Li Yun to a warehouse, where there were more than a dozen newly made telescopes placed on the shelves.

This thing is not particularly rare. Some time ago, Liu Bo brought ten of them from Jinling and gave them to Li Yun. Li Yun has distributed them to Su Sheng, Zhao Cheng, and the generals at the level of captain under their command.

Deng Heng pointed at the telescopes and said, "Master, we can make these without any problems. It just takes time to polish the glass. Now we can only make five or six in a month at most."

Li Yun picked up one, played with it for a while, and said with a smile: "It's much better than I thought."

After looking through the telescope, he asked again, "What about the thunder bomb?"

Speaking of thunder bombs, Deng Heng said quickly: "According to the request of the Lord of the Mansion, after using pig iron, it has indeed improved a lot. Now there are some that can explode, but they are not 100% exploded, and we can't tell which ones can explode and which ones can't. The brothers below are still thinking about it."

He was very confident and said in a deep voice: "I will definitely get it for the Lord before the end of the year!"

Li Yun was very satisfied. He patted Deng Heng on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Two things. The first thing is that I am no longer a mansion lord. When you see me in the future, just call me a superior."

"besides…"

He looked at Deng Heng and asked, "Master Deng, do you want to be an official in the Ministry of Industry?"

"Being an official?"

Deng Heng scratched his head: "I... am in a high position, I don't know how to be an official."

"It will be pretty much the same as what you're doing now. Nothing will change."

Li Yun was about to continue talking when Zhou Bi trotted over and whispered something in Li Yun's ear. After hearing it, Li Yun was startled at first, then turned to Deng Heng and said, "I have something urgent to deal with. Master Deng, please think about the official business and the thunder bomb."

"Send me twenty of the new ones, whether they can explode or not, and I will go back and try them one by one."

Deng Heng nodded quickly in agreement.

Li Yun followed Zhou Bi out of the "workshop" and after washing his face, he asked, "How long has he not been out? Why did he suddenly want to see me?"

Zhou Bi thought for a moment and said, "Since my second brother arranged a place for him to live, that prince has been staying at home, rarely going out and not interacting with anyone."

"I don't know why he suddenly came out and insisted on seeing my second brother."

"He is at the entrance of the workshop right now."

Li Yun nodded to show that he understood.

Not long after leaving the workshop, Li Yun saw the familiar yet unfamiliar figure waiting at the workshop door.

A round figure.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu trotted over and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Lord Li, long time no see!"

Li Yun looked him up and down, with a strange look on his face: "I haven't seen you for a while, Your Highness has become more plump."

The last time Li Yun met the King of Chu, he had lost a lot of weight, but now, not only has he gained weight again, he seems to be even plumper than before.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu smiled bitterly and said, "You stay at home all day, eat and sleep, isn't that right?"

Li Yun nodded and said with a smile: "Your Highness has not been out for a while, so you may not know that I am no longer an official of the Great Zhou."

"I was dismissed from the court."

Li Yun said sternly, "Your Highness, please don't mention the word 'Gong Gong' again."

His Royal Highness the King of Chu coughed.

"I know I know."

He looked at Li Yun cautiously.

"The court has already realized its mistake."

At this moment, the fat prince forced an ugly smile on his face.

"I'm going to give you a promotion."

(End of this chapter)