Thief Emperor

Chapter 976 Patrol
Zhuo family of Wu County.

This is not a noble family, nor is it a thousand-year-old family, but it is the fastest rising family in the entire Southeast in the past ten years, or even the past twenty years.

none of them.

Because of Wujun Zhuo family, they bet correctly almost every time.

At the beginning, when Emperor Li just started his business, Zhuo Guangrui, who was the local county magistrate, gave Emperor Li a full 50,000 strings of cash.

This amount of money was enough to support Li Yun for more than a whole year.

After that, the Zhuo family sent a lot of money and food to Li Yun. After Li Yun entered Jinling, the Zhuo family even gave their mansion in Jinling to Li Yun.
It was the Li Garden in Jinling.

The current Crown Prince was born in this house, and Li Yun reciprocated the favor by handing over the Jiangdong Salt Road to the Zhuo family. The Zhuo family lived up to expectations, and the salt road alone provided Li Yun with a large source of funds over the years.

The most successful investor in the Zhuo family is undoubtedly Zhuo Guangrui.

Zhuo Guangrui first served as the prefect of Nanjing and then as the Minister of Works. After the founding of the country, he was promoted to prime minister. In a blink of an eye, he had been the prime minister for many years.

Moreover, as the prime minister, he is responsible for specific practical matters, that is, the implementation of policies. It can be said that his power is extremely high.

Taking all these factors into consideration, the rise of the Zhuo family was naturally expected.

After all, even if Mr. Zhuo was really incorruptible and had never helped his family back home, the mere fact that he was the prime minister in Luoyang could provide countless conveniences to the Zhuo family.

In fact, in recent years, one of the most important things for the three envoys who arrived in the East Road of Jiangnan was to pay a visit to the Zhuo family.

Zhuo's influence is self-evident.

Emperor Li looked at Xue Gui and sighed slightly.

To be honest, the Zhuo family can be said to be one of the more important members of the Jiangdong Group at the time. It can even be said that the Zhuo family made great contributions and had original shares.

Such a family deserves all the glory and wealth, and if they make some money in the local area, the imperial court will not interfere too much.

However, after Xue Gui's trip to Jiangnan and his report back, Li Yun had to take it seriously.

After all, Xue Gui is still a young man. He just took a trip to Jiangdong and was able to see such a situation, which shows that the Wujun Zhuo family... is not low-key.

It may even be ostentatious.

This is not good.

Li Yun can allow them to make money quietly and in a low-key manner, but he does not allow them to be so ostentatious or to wantonly expand their influence.

Thinking of this, Emperor Li looked at Xue Gui and asked, "Did you hear about any illegal activities of the Zhuo family while you were in Jiangdong?"

"Of course there is."

Xue Gui smiled bitterly and said, "Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to tell you, and no one in the court would tell you such a thing except my nephew."

"No one wants to offend those three gentlemen."

There are already five prime ministers in the Zhongshu now, but in fact the ones with the greatest influence are Du, Yao and Zhuo. After all, these three people were appointed prime ministers in the early years of the founding of the country. It can be said that they were the ones who shaped the current political situation.

Emperor Li nodded slowly and said, "Okay, let's end this matter here. Just pretend that nothing has happened and you know nothing."

Xue Gui breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head to respond: "Yes, nephew understands."

Li Yun smiled and patted his head, then he straightened his crown with both hands and said, "You have been gone for a few months, and your aunt misses you very much. Go to the harem and visit your aunt."

Xue Gui bowed quickly and said, "Yes, nephew will go right away."

After saying that, he bowed his head to Li Yun, then hurried to the harem to meet Queen Xue.

Li Yun sat in the Ganlu Palace and looked through the battle reports sent back from the front. After a long while, he finally made up his mind and said, "Go and call Meng Hai."

A palace servant immediately answered the door. Only half an hour later, Meng Hai entered Ganlu Palace cautiously and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty."

Li Yun waved at him, signaling him to come closer. When Meng Hai got closer, Emperor Li whispered, "Send someone reliable to investigate the Zhuo family in Wujun."

"Be more detailed."

He paused and continued, "Lu Bing is in Jiangdong now. We can send someone there and let Lu Bing take charge of this matter."

Meng Hai nodded quickly. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, are you only investigating the Zhuo family?"

What he was asking was whether we should investigate Mr. Zhuo as well.

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "Only check the Zhuo family."

He paused, and continued, "If there is any affair involving Zhuo Guangrui, it must be sealed and no one is allowed to see it. It must be sent directly back to Luoyang."

Meng Hai lowered his head quickly: "I understand."…………

A few days later, good news came from Hebei Province again. Marshal Meng led the army and successfully captured Yuguan, controlling the throat inside and outside the pass.

However, the war with the Khitans was far from over. After all, the Khitans were good at riding and had strong mobility. This was not a war that could be fought in a month or two, or even half a year.

However, by controlling Yuguan, the initiative of Youyan and even Liaodong was in the hands of Emperor Li.

His Majesty the Emperor was very pleased and ordered rewards for the three armies and a banquet in the palace.

After the banquet, Emperor Li was almost drunk. Finally, he ordered his men to invite the two ministers Du Qian and Yao Zhong to a side hall to discuss matters.

At this time, the two ministers had also drunk a lot of wine, and their faces were flushed. Emperor Li ordered people to let them sit down. After the two prime ministers sat down, Li Yun smiled and said: "Another great victory on the front line proves that the battle of Youyan was not wrong."

"When Youyan is recovered, all the land of the old Zhou Dynasty will have been restored."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "What we need to consider in the future is to expand our territory."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty currently has hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and thousands of brave generals under his command. Wherever the troops go, they are naturally unmatched."

Yao Xianggong also said seriously: "After we take back Youyan, we will consider the Western Regions in the northwest and Nanyue."

After the three of them discussed some grand plans for the future, Emperor Li stood up, raised his head and took a sip of wine, then sighed and said, "Xue Gui came back a few days ago and told me a lot about the situation in Xuanzhou and Jinling."

"I've been thinking about these things these days."

He turned his head to look at his two husbands and sighed, "It's hard to leave your hometown. In the blink of an eye, we left Jinling and moved to Luoyang. It has been almost ten years."

Li Yun moved to Luoyang at the beginning of the eighth year of Zhaoding, and then ascended the throne the following year. It has indeed been almost ten years now.

The two prime ministers were both shrewd men. After hearing what Li Yun said, they immediately understood what Emperor Li meant. Du Qian seemed to be thinking about something and did not speak.

Yao Zhong thought for a moment and followed suit: "I am also from Jiangdong. I have been away from Jiangdong for more than ten years."

Before the imperial court moved, he was sent to Luoyang by Li Yun to take care of the affairs of the Central Plains. It has been more than ten years.

Emperor Li sat back in his seat, shook his head for a while, and then said: "When the court was first established, there were endless political affairs to deal with every day, and I couldn't leave Luoyang City."

"Now, the entire court is on the right track, all government offices are complete, and the prince has reached adulthood, so he can take on some of my responsibilities."

After saying this, he looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "Brother Shouyi, I want to leave Luoyang and walk east to see the disaster along the river first."

"Then, go all the way south and go back to Jiangdong to take a look."

"how do you feel?"

Du Qian had guessed what Li Yun was thinking. Hearing this, he sighed and said, "No one can stop your majesty from doing anything he wants to do, but your majesty..."

"If you leave Luoyang, what will happen to the government?"

Li Yun already had a plan, and said with a smile: "I will only take Prime Minister Yao back to Jiangdong. You, my brother, as well as Prime Ministers Xu Ang and Tao Wenyuan, are still in the court, so ordinary government affairs will not be affected."

"Then let the Crown Prince govern the country, and the three of you will handle government affairs together."

Prime Minister Du smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty has already made plans, what else can I say?"

Li Yun walked up to him, pulled his sleeve, and said with a smile: "Brother Shouyi, I haven't been back to my hometown for many years. You have to understand and be considerate of me."

Du Qian looked up at Li Yun and continued, "There is a war in the north this year, and the local area has suffered a disaster. Your Majesty, how about another tour to the east next year?"

"It is precisely because of the disaster that I want to go out and take a look."

Emperor Li said sternly, "Don't worry, I will keep the journey as simple as possible and try not to mobilize a large number of troops or waste money and manpower."

Du Qian stopped persuading him. After all, the Ministry of Revenue had actually saved a lot of money in recent years.

Even if a disaster occurs in a local area, the real problem is the transportation of food, not the money problem.

The Ministry of Revenue now has more than enough to supply the emperor with supplies for one tour, and there won’t be any big problems if it can supply them for four or five times.

He looked at Li Yun and asked, "When does Your Majesty plan to leave?"

"Probably next month."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor also became a little excited. He looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Two years ago, I wanted to go back."

Yao Zhong also smiled at the emperor with joy.

"I have been missing my hometown for many years."

(End of this chapter)