Thief Emperor

Chapter 914 The Emperor's Determination

For a long time, Li Yun has always had a feeling that he knows most of the things in the world.

Especially after Jiusi grew stronger, he could basically know anything he wanted to know.

If Jiusi can't find out, he will have other channels to find out.

But this time, Liu Bo's words did shock his cognition. It turned out that being in this position, there would really be some things that people in the court would unanimously hide from him.

Although the original intention of this concealment was because of his own power, even so, it also allowed Li Yun to have some new understanding of his current identity and position.

Li took a deep breath, returned to his seat, patted the table with his hand, and said with a dark face: "It's really fucking different!"

Liu Bo knew Li Yun very well and guessed Li Yun's current reaction. He stood up, put the teacup aside, and said to Li Yun with a smile: "Second brother, don't be angry about this kind of thing. Everyone has their own thoughts."

"Those new recruits dare not offend the old members of the Anti-Theft Team. The few old men in Jiangdong who are not afraid of the Anti-Theft Team are also unwilling to damage the reputation of the second brother."

"So, just pretend you don't know."

Li Yun sat back in his seat and was silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, "If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have known anything at all. When I was the King of Wu, I didn't quite understand why the emperor in the court had the Imperial City Department and was fooled around by others. Now I understand a little bit."

Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and asked, "Don't be angry, second brother. At least for now, apart from the anti-theft team, no one dares to hide other things from you, second brother."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then said, "Leave me the list of the thief-hunting team members who made mistakes, and I will deal with them."

Liu Bo hesitated for a moment and asked, "Second brother, let me ask you something. How do you plan to deal with them?"

Li Yun looked up at Liu Bo, frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Secret punishment."

Liu Bo obviously knew what was going on. He lowered his voice and said, "The Anti-Theft Team was the foundation and backbone of the Jiangdong Army. Now they are the generals of the various armies of the Royal Division. No matter what they did, they are the most loyal to my second brother."

"Moreover, at least so far, there are at least 70 of the more than 90 members of the anti-theft team who are able to survive without any problems. This means that this group of people can still be used."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and looked up at Liu Bo: "Wouldn't it be better to deal with a few of them and make an example of them?"

"If we deal with a few of them, will the remaining seventy-odd people no longer be loyal?"

"I don't think it's appropriate."

Liu Bo lowered his head and said, "Second brother, I have thought about this matter for a long time."

"Severely punishing some people, or even killing them, will not affect the remaining people's loyalty to Second Brother, but it will expose the weaknesses of Second Brother's direct descendants."

"I will tell other people in the court that these people who came from the anti-theft team are not immune to all poisons."

Liu Bo whispered, "Then, there will be others who will attack them together and work together to impeach these old subordinates of Second Brother."

"Even the smallest mistake will be magnified infinitely."

"Most of the people in the anti-bandit team were born as bandits. Those who are still here after years of war mostly rely on their loyalty and righteousness. They are not very vigilant, so it is easy for those civil officials to set a trap for them."

"Over time, the anti-theft team will no longer exist."

At this point, Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and continued, "I know that Second Brother has enough prestige. No matter which group of people they are, they can't make any waves in front of Second Brother. But I have been thinking about it these days. The anti-theft team as a group is generally powerful for the future of New Tang."

"I think that Second Brother should protect them as a whole."

"Don't let them become big, and while they do evil, keep this group of people alive."

Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and whispered, "In the future, we can leave it to future generations."

Liu Bo has also read a lot of books over the years.

In the early years of a dynasty, the royal power must have been immense, but this became less and less true as time went on, because the power of ministers would take away part of the royal power, and a large part.

Once an emperor gave in and lost some power, it would be extremely difficult for later emperors to take it back.

It’s always these four words: the laws passed down by our ancestors.

Liu Bo is a natural "imperial faction". He always considers things from Li Yun's perspective. He wants to preserve the anti-theft team in order to ensure that the imperial power will remain strong in the future.

Hearing this, Li Yun glanced at him and scolded him with a smile: "I'm only thirty years old, and you're already thinking about my afterlife."

"If you say such things in front of another emperor, I will kill you."

Liu Bo smiled and said, "I have no right to speak in front of other emperors." Li Yun glanced at him and thought for a while: "You have too many ideas, but I will seriously consider what you said. But no matter what, no matter whether it is the anti-theft team or not, this evil sign cannot be started."

As he said that, he held out his hand: "Give me the list."

"I'll handle it."

Li narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Things like this should be dealt with, as for what you're worried about."

"I'm not dead."

Li Yun snorted: "It's my family's fortune, of course I will protect it well."

Duke Ying sighed, took out a prepared list from his sleeve, and handed it to Li Yun. He hesitated for a moment, smiled bitterly, and said, "When your majesty deals with these people, don't say that I reported them. I am afraid of offending people."

Li Yun glanced at him and scolded with a smile: "I know, I know."

"You are all afraid of offending people."

Mr. Li snorted: "I'm not that afraid. This is the time to offend people. I don't want to offend people."

He knocked on the table: "I am afraid that this new Tang II will die."

Throughout history, many dynasties did not live long enough and ended up paving the way for the next dynasty. This was essentially because the reforms were not thorough enough and no new flowers could bloom on the corpses of the previous dynasties.

As for Li Yun, he has enough courage to create a brand new era.

His reign may not necessarily usher in the peak of the dynasty, but he will definitely lay a solid foundation for the peak.

In fact, his reign was about to usher in a prosperous era.

Before the prosperous era comes, he has to clear up some of the currently visible root causes of the problems.

The roots of these problems come not only from the anti-theft teams, but also from the civil service group, the aristocratic families that have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, and the institutional ills inherited from the old Zhou Dynasty.

They all need to be smashed to pieces and started over again.

Duke Ying stood up, bowed deeply to Li Yun, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, I will not say more, I will leave Luoyang in three days."

"Everything about Jiusi."

Liu Bo whispered, "Your Majesty can ask Meng Hai."

Li Yun said "hmm" and patted Liu Bo on the shoulder: "When the time comes, I will personally send you off."

…………

The next morning, still in the Ganlu Palace, the Minister of Revenue Du He was ordered to see the emperor. He strode into the Ganlu Palace, bowed his head and saluted Li Yun, saying: "Your Majesty, I, Du He, pay my respects to you."

Li Yun raised his head, looked at him, and then lowered his head again: "Minister Du, please stand up."

Du He thanked him, then stood in front of Li Yun with his hands down, waiting for orders. Li Yun then put down the red brush in his hand, looked up at Du He, and said, "Please ask Minister Du to come here, mainly for these few things."

"The first thing to do is to survey the land across the country."

Du He lowered his head quickly and said, "Your Majesty, we have been working on this matter, but we don't have enough manpower and the local government is not well-established. I'm afraid we won't be able to achieve anything in the next two or three years."

"If there are not enough people, the Ministry of Revenue can send people to do the work. The local garrisons can cooperate with you. By this time next year, I want to see a rough number."

"Also, the Ministry of Revenue must work with local governments to organize the reclamation of arable land."

"Reclaim some abandoned fields and land that can be reclaimed. Let the people from the Agricultural Bureau be responsible for this matter and notify the local authorities."

"Whoever reclaims the land will own it. Local government offices must cooperate in issuing land deeds and not make things difficult."

Du He nodded and said yes.

Li Yun looked at Du He and continued, "Especially the land holdings of the aristocratic families, they must be counted one by one and reported to the court without any concealment, and then..."

His Majesty the Emperor spoke in a calm voice.

"Call the relevant officials from the Ministry of Revenue, we..."

“Negotiate a new tax code.”

(End of this chapter)