Thief Emperor

Chapter 833 Planning
At this time, the front line was still in the midst of fierce fighting, and the entire Dingzhou battlefield had not even clearly determined who had the upper hand and who was the weaker. However, in Li Yun's opinion, the war in Hebei Province...or the war in southern Hebei Province, had basically come to an end.

Next, we need to resolve the financial and food issues, as well as local administrative problems.

These are all real difficulties. If Li Yun cannot solve these problems, next year he will have to increase taxes on existing areas, such as the core Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road, and Huainan Road.

Although these three regions have now fully recognized Li Yun's Wu Wang regime, there will not be much pressure to implement it even if taxes are increased. However, Li has made a promise to the three southeastern regions after all, and he does not want to increase taxes if he can.

The reality is here. Since there is no compromise in the three areas of Jiangnan, then some compromises will have to be made in other places. For example, in Hebei Province, Li Yun wants to get money and food to feed his own army from Hebei Province in a short period of time. It is not enough to rely solely on the Jiangdong court.

He must cooperate with local forces. At present, the best cooperation partner is the world-famous Fanyang Lu family.

After Youyan fell into the hands of the Khitans, the Lu family of Fanyang was also forced to move south. But even so, the Lu family of Fanyang, relying on years of operation, withdrew almost intact from the territory controlled by the Khitans. At this moment, only some branches were injured, and the entire Lu family of Fanyang did not suffer too much damage.

This time, Li Yun took Lu Yuzhen out with the intention of having a talk with the Lu family.

Lu Shen looked up at Li Yun, hesitating for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "My lord, although the Lu family is not well-informed, we know that the battle in Hebei Province is raging. Should we wait until after the battle to discuss these matters?"

"The battle will be over soon."

Li Yun looked at Lu Shen with a calm expression: "It won't be long before the south of Youzhou will be completely pacified."

At this point, he counted on his fingers and said, "It's only about one or two months."

Lu Shen was thoughtful, then looked at Li Yun and asked, "What about the Khitan people in Youzhou..."

Li Yun's eyes became slightly solemn. He also looked at Lu Shen, was silent for a while, and sighed: "It's not this year's matter."

Lu Shen understood Li Yun's meaning and said, "Your Majesty, you are going to put the Youyan area aside..."

Li Yun opened his mouth to refute, but after a pause, he nodded silently: "Mr. Lu, human resources are limited, and the human and material resources of Jiangdong are not endless."

Li Yun did not want to take a break, he even wanted to conquer the world in one go, but the reality was that the power of the three Jiangdong regions was not enough to support his unscrupulous use.

This has been the case throughout the dynasties. Sometimes you need to stop, rest, and accumulate strength so that you can better proceed to the next step.

However, the army's actions can be suspended, but the actions of the Nine Departments will not be suspended. According to the report of the Nine Departments, Liu Bo has now contacted the leaders of the two Khitan tribes.

Although there has not been any particularly big progress, the lack of progress is not because the Khitans are united internally, but because Li Yun has no status.

If Li Yun had the title of Son of Heaven, then his promise of "Khitan Khan" would have weight. Now, even if the King of Wu were to confer the title of Khitan Khan, no one would believe it.

All in all, as long as you can get in touch with it, it's a good thing.

Lu Shen looked up at Li Yun thoughtfully. He thought for a moment, then bowed his head and asked, "Your Majesty, will you take the throne next year?"

Li Yun turned his head to look at him and chuckled, "Mr. Lu is trying to trick me again. I have never said that before."

Lu Shen lowered his head and smiled without saying anything.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Your Majesty, if the area south of Youzhou can be pacified within two months, the Lu family can select candidates for you to clean up the situation in Hebei Province as quickly as possible, but this year..."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "The spring planting time has long passed. The various states in Hebei Province have indeed planted a lot of grain, but the war in the past few months has caused some damage. We can only hope to plant some summer grain and harvest some in the fall. If this grain is used to feed the Jiangdong Army, it will of course be more than enough. But in addition to the Jiangdong Army, Hebei Province also has the people of Hebei Province."

Li Yun sat in his seat, looked at him, and said, "Mr. Lu may not know much about our Jiangdong Army. When I say supporting the Jiangdong Army, I always take care of the people and their livelihood first."

Lu Shen took a deep breath and said, "This year, it may not be enough. But if the king can give the Lu family another year, if Hebei Province can guarantee that there will be no war next year and that the Khitans will not go south to plunder, then I can promise the king that by next year, Hebei Province will be able to be self-sufficient and provide for the garrison troops in Hebei Province."

The Khitans in Youyan are more difficult to deal with. Even though Li Yun gained the upper hand by launching a surprise attack on Zhigu this time, the Jiangdong army only has half a year left to act recklessly. Within half a year, it is impossible for them to take any action against Youzhou.

Therefore, Li Yun needed to station troops south of Youzhou and hold out against the Khitans for a while.

Of course, this kind of stalemate does not necessarily require defending south of Youzhou. Once the time is ripe or there is an opportunity, Li Yun will still go north. The worst case scenario is that he will have to eat up the food he has in the next year and overdraw future money and food.

If it could really solve the problem once and for all and make the people suffer, Li Yun would really be willing to bear the blame.

After hearing what Lu Shen said, Li Yun touched his chin, then looked at Lu Shen and said softly: "Okay, I will write to Jinling now. After a while, people from the Jiangdong Ministry of Personnel will come to see Mr. Lu and decide with him on the selection of officials for Hebei Province."

"Mr. Lu, please take my place as the Hebei Province Observation and Disposal Commissioner for a while."

Li Yun looked at Lu Shen and said in a deep voice: "If you do a good job as the governor, you will serve in the new dynasty as the governor of Hebei Province in the future. If you don't do well..." "Then let's part ways in peace."

Lu Shen stood up and bowed to Li Yun. He responded first, then asked, "I heard that the king has some opinions about the children of noble families. I wonder if the officials of Hebei Province can employ the children of the Lu family?"

“This Hebei official can do it.”

"After I finish this term, I will ask the Ministry of Personnel to assess the prefectures and counties in Hebei Province."

Li, with his hands behind his back, looked at Lu Shen and smiled softly, "Those who do well will remain in office, and those who do not will have to take the exam again in the new dynasty in the future."

"Three years later."

Li Yun looked at Lu Shen and said calmly, "No matter what your background is, everyone in the world must pass the imperial examination before they can serve in the new dynasty unless there is a special decree."

Hearing this, Lu Shen looked up at Li Yun with a complicated expression.

These aristocratic families have been around for thousands of years. For thousands of years, they have been holding official positions and have enjoyed extremely high privileges.

During the entire Wu Zhou dynasty, which lasted for more than 200 years, these aristocratic families who had served as officials for generations not only held high positions, but also had the power of "recommendation", that is to say, they, to a certain extent, controlled personnel power.

And now, Li Yun has made it very clear that this kind of privilege of the aristocratic family will no longer exist in the future.

Just one imperial examination, coupled with the future popularization of paper books, time will be enough to revolutionize the lives of these aristocratic families.

However, these aristocratic families have very strong foundations. In the future, they will most likely change from aristocratic families to gentry families and continue their inheritance, but they will no longer be as glorious as before.

Li Yun didn't need to explain these words clearly, but he explained them clearly now, and the meaning is very simple.

Explain the conditions and future situation clearly to the Lu family. Whether they will join the New Dynasty or not depends on whether the Lu family understands the situation.

If they are ignorant, Li Yun has a ruffian named Huang Chao under his command, who will make these noble families honest and sensible.

Lu Shen was silent for a long time before he bowed deeply to Li Yun and said, "I understand."

"The Lu family of Fanyang will definitely assist the king with all their strength in governing Hebei."

Li Yun nodded with satisfaction. He looked at Lu Shen and asked, "Sir, are you going to stay with me for a few days or leave immediately?"

"There are a lot of things going on in Hebei Province."

He looked at Li Yun and took a deep breath: "I will contact all parties right away to avoid delaying the king's business."

After saying that, he bowed and said goodbye.

Li Yun did not keep him and sent him to the gate of the camp. Then he stood with his hands behind his back and watched him go away, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Originally, these aristocratic families should have undergone a purge before slowly degenerating into "aristocratic families."

Now, this purge has not been completed, so in the future, Li Yun will need to artificially bring these aristocratic families down to earth and turn them into gentry.

One word difference makes a world of difference.

Mr. Li was silent for a long time before he returned to his tent with his hands behind his back. He looked through the documents on the table, then looked up at the young man guarding the door.

"Xue Gui."

Xue Gui immediately came in, bowed his head and clasped his fists in salute: "Take the seat!"

Li Yun looked at him and said calmly: "Go contact the Ninth Division and tell them the military report from the front line."

"Send it to me in one hour."

Xue Gui immediately lowered his head.

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)