Thief Emperor

Chapter 988 Returning home in glory
Before the founding of the country, Li Yun told Li Zhen that he would grant him a red-lettered iron certificate.

This was not just a casual remark. After the founding of the country, Li Yun did have a batch of red-lettered iron certificates cast and distributed them.

This red-lettered iron certificate was designed by Emperor Li himself. On the front side was a Tang character in seal script, followed by the sixteen characters "Make the river like a belt, Mount Tai like a fierce sword, the country will be forever peaceful, and the Miao descendants will be included"; on the back side were engraved with the detailed achievements of each meritorious official, and it was written how many times they were pardoned for crimes other than treason.

This is actually a contract.

Because at that time, the Tang Dynasty had just been founded and all aspects were unstable. Li Yun really needed to win over these "original shareholders" at that time, so he signed a contract with them to reassure them.

Emperor Li has a very good credit.

Since he started his business, even before he became the King of Wu, he had never broken his promise. This was still the case after he became the Emperor. Therefore, this "letter of agreement" was extremely valuable.

At first, only about ten copies were distributed.

This "red-lettered iron certificate" was not considered a good thing. After all, it was equivalent to a royal seal. However, because Emperor Li himself had a good credit, he was able to use a promise to make the entire Hedong Li family surrender.

Therefore, this contract is also in great demand.

In the second year of Zhangwu, there was a chaos in the court because of this contract. The meritorious officials who did not get the red book and iron certificate were very angry. In the end, Emperor Li relied on his prestige to suppress the matter.

Later, because no one had ever used the red seal and iron certificate, gradually no one mentioned this matter anymore.

In the blink of an eye, six years have passed.

Zhuo Guangrui almost stood there in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.

After seeing the court documents, he was so excited that he forgot about this matter. After all, whether this thing counted or not depended entirely on the mood of His Majesty the Emperor.

For example, if you are spared from death three times, but the emperor says that your crime deserves death a thousand times, then there is nothing you can do.

After all, the right of interpretation lies with the organizer.

But now, His Majesty the Emperor does not want Zhuo Guangrui to die, so this thing can come in handy.

Zhuo Xianggong was so excited that he stood up and couldn't help crying. He bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I bow to thank you."

His Majesty the Emperor patted him on the shoulder and said, "When I return to Luoyang, you and I, the emperor and my subject, will have another play to perform."

Zhuo Guangrui naturally understood what Li Yun meant, and quickly bowed his head: "I understand, I understand."

"it is good."

The emperor said, "You can go back now. I will send someone to escort you back to Luoyang tomorrow, but I will tell them in advance that you will not be punished."

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty."

After he left respectfully, Emperor Li sat in his seat and thought for a while, then asked someone to invite Yao Zhong who was accompanying him.

After showing the document to Prime Minister Yao, Yao Zhong thought about it for a while and nodded, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Du's draft is quite fair, and I think so too."

Emperor Li nodded and said calmly: "Then you can write back to the court in my name."

“Add some content.”

Yao Zhong immediately spread out the paper, dipped it in ink and looked at Li Yun.

"This case involves a lot of people. All the perpetrators are detained in the Dali Temple Prison. I will deal with it personally after I return."

"Duke Ying is under house arrest."

Yao Zhong quickly finished writing these two sentences, and then continued to look at Li Yun, only to hear Emperor Li say: "All those involved in this case will be recorded, including the more than 20 Jinshi who cheated. After their titles are revoked, they will not be allowed to participate in any imperial examinations or serve as officials for the next three generations."

"You are also not allowed to work as an official in a government office."

This system was already quite perfect in the Ming Dynasty of another world. When taking the examination for students of higher education, one had to write down the names of three generations of one's father and grandfather to guarantee one's family background, and two students were also required to act as guarantors.

However, Li Tang's imperial examination system had just taken shape and was still relatively rough, with all aspects not yet perfected. This time, the system in this regard was improved.

After writing this sentence, Mr. Yao couldn't help but feel a little frightened.

You have to know that this is a society where officials are the priority. If one is not allowed to be an official, or even a clerk, for three generations, his upward path is basically completely cut off.

This may not be a big punishment for ordinary families, but it is a huge punishment for the Jinshi of this session and the officials involved. After all, the country was founded only seven or eight years ago. At this time, even if the candidates specialize in new studies, their family conditions will not be too bad, and most of them are from high-ranking families.

After finishing writing the words of His Majesty, Yao Xianggong was lost in thought for a moment, then he lowered his head and handed the document over: "Your Majesty, please take a look."

The emperor took the document, glanced at it, and handed it back to Yao Zhong: "Send it like this."

Yao Zhong nodded his head and said yes.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him and said, "After we cross the Huai River and reach Huainan Road, Mr. Yao will not have to follow the procession and can go back to his hometown to take a look by himself."

Li Yun smiled and said, "This time, I will go to Luzhou first, then to Yangzhou, and finally to Jinling. Sir, you don't have to follow me."

"When the time comes, I will ask Yang Xi to send a team to escort you, so that you can return home in glory."

Yao Zhong is a Taoist from Jiangnan, and he was born in a poor family. He has been away from home for many years, and his most important need at the moment is, of course, to return home in glory and show his worth in front of people.

This is a necessity.

As an excellent leader, Li Yun naturally has to consider the needs of his subordinates, so he wants to let Yao Zhong go home and show his prowess.

Even the extremely cunning Lord Yao couldn't help but get a little excited when he heard this. He bowed deeply to Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, thank you very much."

"It's been so many years, why are you being polite?"

His Majesty the Emperor waved his hand and smiled brightly.

“They are all old brothers.”

...............

After crossing the Huai River and entering Luzhou, the Emperor called the Lu sisters and the eldest daughter to his sedan chair. Emperor Li touched his daughter's head, pointed to both sides of the official road, and said with a smile: "At that time, Wang Junping was in chaos, and bandits were causing trouble in Luzhou. It was here that your father met your mother."

"And your aunt."

The Lu sisters were also looking at the scenery outside the chariot at this time. In a blink of an eye, they had not returned to Luzhou for more than ten years. Hearing Li Yun's words and recalling what happened in the past, the two sisters couldn't help but have red eyes.

Emperor Li then remembered that the encounter that year was a hero saving a beauty for him, but it was a real destruction of the Lu family.

Realizing that he had said the wrong thing, His Majesty the Emperor coughed and stopped talking.

Princess Lujiang looked at the scene outside and asked, "My father gave me the title of Princess Lujiang. Lujiang is in Luzhou, right?"

"Yes."

Finally the topic was changed, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief and replied: "Lujiang is in Luzhou."

Li Shu stretched her head out and looked at the scenery for a long time before sitting back down beside the emperor. She looked up at the emperor and said, "Father, how is the battle going in the north?"

Hearing this, Concubine Lu ignored her sadness and glared at her daughter, scolding her, "These are all important matters in the court. Why are you asking about them?"

Princess Lujiang was obviously more afraid of her mother than Li Yun. She shrank her head when she heard this, but still defended herself, "Didn't my second brother go to the north to fight? I grew up with my second brother, so why can't I ask about his situation?"

Li Yun was not angry, he just smiled and said, "The battle in the north is going well. Your second brother followed Meng Qing and fought outside the Liaodong Pass."

Having said this, he stopped talking.

It was not until Princess Lujiang pulled his clothes unwillingly that Emperor Li said in silence, "The fourth son of the Su family is also with Erlang."

Having said this, he paused, and then said dumbly: "The two of them get along pretty well."

Up to now, Su Zhan has joined the Second Prince Li Zheng's scout team for several months, and the relationship between the two is indeed much better than before.

Princess Lujiang couldn't ask any more questions, so she changed the subject and said, "Dad, I heard from my uncle that there is a bad guy in the Lu family who lives in Luzhou."

"This time, my daughter wants to..."

The eldest princess clenched her fists, looked at her mother and aunt, and snorted.

"Teach him a lesson."

(End of this chapter)