Chapter 283 Frankness
With the court in its current state, Li Yun no longer expects to borrow any power from the court, but Li Yun must hold the status of the court in his hands.

Otherwise, when he later manages Jiangdong, or even the entire Jiangnan region, he will have no legitimate reason to do so and problems are likely to arise.

Hearing Li Yun’s words, His Majesty the King of Chu’s expression gradually became serious. He stood up from his seat, looked up at Li Yun, and said, “Governor Li, this is probably not… against the rules, right?”

His Royal Highness the King of Chu is not stupid, but very smart. He knows very well that his power as an imperial envoy in the local area is almost boundless.

When he was still in Jiangnan, he agreed to cooperate with Li Yun and share these powers because with his departure from Jiangnan, this power sharing would naturally end and he would not have to worry about any consequences.

But now, Li Yun clearly asked him to keep this part of power in Jiangnan, in Li Yun’s hands, which was somewhat touching Wu Yuanyou’s boundaries.

Although he is timid, he also has a bottom line.

Li Yun put his hands in his sleeves, looked directly at His Royal Highness the King of Chu, and said slowly: “Your Highness, what do you think is wrong? Is it wrong for me to continue to rectify the administration of Jiangnan, or is it wrong for me to rectify Jiangnan?”

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, “Anyway, it can’t be that rectifying the administration of officials in Jiangnan is against the rules, right?”

“If it is you who are here to rectify the irregularities, then Your Highness should continue to stay in Jiangnan and thoroughly rectify the administration of Jiangnan, so that the people of Jiangnan can have a bright and clear sky.”

“Your Highness is willing to fully cooperate with me.”

Li Yun said in a low voice: “If anyone dares to harm His Highness, all the soldiers in Wuzhou, including me, are willing to die for His Highness!”

Having said that, Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou and said considerately, “If Your Highness feels that I am sending people to follow Your Highness with the intention of controlling Your Highness, then I will take everyone away from Wu County and let Your Highness move freely to clean up the chaos in Jiangnan.”

Wu Yuanyou was stunned.

Li Yun talked about all the options, but none of them was the one he wanted to choose.

The Prince of Chu took a deep breath, walked to the door, closed it himself, then looked up at the tall Li Yun, mustered up his courage, gritted his teeth and said, “Li, we are familiar with each other, can you say a few words to me?”

Li Yun looked at him and said silently: “Your Highness, I have been speaking the truth, and every word I say is very truthful.”

“Well, I want to ask Governor Li a few questions.”

Wu Yuanyou sat back in his original seat, looked up at Li Yun, and gritted his teeth and said, “If…if I don’t want to investigate Jiangnan anymore and insist on returning to the capital, will Governor Li let me leave Jiangnan?”

Li Yun also found a chair and sat down. He looked at Wu Yuanyou seriously, sorted out his words, and said, “Since Your Highness can ask this question, it means that Your Highness has seen the situation in Jiangnan clearly. Since you can see the situation clearly, then Your Highness, do you think there is any meaning in Your Highness doing this?”

“There’s no need to say this, but Your Highness has helped me a lot during this period, so let’s talk it out.”

Li Yun looked up at Wu Yuanyou and said slowly, “If Your Highness leaves tomorrow and goes back to the capital and never comes back, what will become of Jiangnan? Will they be content with their lot and pay taxes to the court every year as before?”

“Your Highness also knows that this will definitely not happen.”

At this point, Li Yun was already furious, and said in a deep voice: “Once General Su is defeated, the court will have no way to clean up the Central Plains battlefield alone. At least before the war in the Central Plains ends, the court will have no way to manage the affairs of Jiangnan.”

“Now, Zheng Yu has been imprisoned by His Highness and is about to be escorted to the capital to be questioned. The Jiangnan East Road no longer has a chief officer.”

Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou and said silently: “If there is no one who can subdue Jiangnan, the prefectures and counties in Jiangnan will definitely start to attack each other and use several years to determine the superiority.”

“By then, I don’t know how many more people will die.”

Li Yun said slowly: “Instead of this, Your Highness would rather grant me some authority and let me manage Jiangdong on behalf of the court. Your Highness has also seen that I at least will not abuse the people, let alone…”

“What evil things have you done in Jiangdong?”

Sweat oozed from Wu Yuanyou’s forehead. He wiped it with his sleeve, looked up at Li Yun, and said in a hoarse voice: “I saw it in Yuezhou. Yuezhou has recovered very well. It doesn’t look like there was a war at all. This is enough to prove that you, Li the Governor, are a good official.”

“Therefore.”

Wu Yuanyou mustered up his courage and looked at Li Yun, his hands clenched into fists under his sleeves: “It’s even more terrifying!”

At this point, without waiting for Li Yun to respond, he gritted his teeth and said, “Moreover, if I really give you the power to rectify Jiangnan, how will I explain to the court after I return?”

“On the contrary, if I just go back like this and don’t leave any authority to Governor Li, after I leave, no matter how chaotic Jiangnan becomes, the court and the prince can’t blame me.”

“Jiangnan, die… some people should die.”

Wu Yuanyou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead again and said, “In the eyes of the court, it’s not a big deal.”

He looked directly at Li Yun and said in a hoarse voice, “Besides, the imperial court may not be unable to pacify the Central Plains. Once the Central Plains are pacified, the imperial court can send people to take over Jiangnan again. It doesn’t matter if there is some chaos.”

“It might be a little messy…”

Having said this, he closed his eyes and didn’t say anything further.

But the meaning of the words is already very clear.

Now, for places that the imperial court cannot reach, they would rather have chaos than order. For example, there was a chaos in Jiangnan. After a few years, when the imperial court recovered some strength and sent people over, Jiangnan was still in disarray and could be easily brought back under the imperial court’s control.

But if a powerful man appeared in Jiangnan, he would have conquered the entire Jiangnan early and governed it in an orderly manner.

In a few years, even if the imperial court recovers the Central Plains, will it still be able to recover Jiangnan from this man?
I’m afraid it will be difficult.

Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou, and after a moment, he suddenly smiled.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such truth. Your Highness is an interesting person. Most people probably don’t have the courage of Your Highness.”

“No one is as frank as Your Highness.” His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu’s words just now finally got rid of the clichés and empty words in the officialdom and the power field. It can be said that the conversation between him and Li Yun was finally candid.

This is extremely rare. Li Yun has been here for more than two years, and few people will speak to him so frankly.

“Since Your Highness treats me with sincerity.”

Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou and continued, “Then I will tell you a few truths.”

“Your Highness wants to leave now. I will not stop you. You can also bring back the gains you made in Mingzhou and Wujun to the capital for your mission. However, after you leave…”

“Your Highness can neither hear nor see what is happening in Jiangnan.”

Wu Yuanyou’s face suddenly fell, and he wanted to cry but had no tears: “You still have to use my name to do your business…”

Li Yun smiled and said, “After you return to Beijing, you can tell the court that I am using your name. This way, we can have the best of both worlds.”

Wu Yuanyou sighed, took out his seal from his bosom, placed it on the table, and said silently: “You… take it and make a copy.”

Li Yun smiled dumbly: “Your Highness, what is this?”

“Since I can’t stop you, I’ll do you a favor.”

Wu Yuanyou sighed and said, “Maybe it will be useful in the future.”

At this point, His Royal Highness the King of Chu sighed and said, “The court was too stupid to deal with General Su…”

He muttered a few words, and finally looked up at Li Yun and asked, “Li, Governor, what do you want to do in Jiangnan?”

“Govern one side and protect another side.”

Li Yun looked at Wu Yuanyou and asked, “Your Highness, do you think the court will one day recover the Central Plains?”

“Yes, why not?”

Wu Yuanyou exhaled and said, “The vitality of the imperial army is actually not damaged.”

“There are more local military governors than just Wei Quanzhong. He will also have his own concerns and will not dare to act too recklessly. In the end, it all depends on the court…to what extent they are willing to compromise.”

“The biggest problem of the imperial court right now is that it is too poor.”

Wu Yuanyou rubbed his brows and said slowly: “There are countless places that need money. Putting this aside, the court is still the court.”

“According to the information obtained by Governor Li, Wei Quanzhong is now staying in the Central Plains. First, he wants to take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits. Second, he wants to use the rebels in the Central Plains to consume the remaining power of the court. If he has the confidence, why doesn’t he just start a rebellion?”

“Let’s talk about the rebels. I have heard of General Su’s reputation. With his ability, even if he is defeated by the rebels, the price they pay will definitely not be too small. If the casualties of the rebels are too great, they may be in chaos by now.”

“At this time, if the imperial court puts in a little more effort to bribe and recruit some of the rebel generals, they will surely cause internal strife. This rebel army… unless they can break into Tongguan and the capital, they probably won’t be able to hold out for too long.”

“As for their desire to enter the capital…”

Wu Yuanyou looked at Li Yun and said with a curled lip: “The Great Zhou…is not made of paper.”

Li Yun also looked at His Royal Highness the King of Chu and said silently: “If you injure one of your arms, even if it is made of iron, you can’t bear the pain.”

He looked at Wu Yuanyou and asked, “When will Your Highness leave Jiangnan and return to Beijing?”

“wait…”

Wu Yuanyou looked at the seal on the table and said silently, “Wait for you to copy these things. Governor Li, I have tried my best to cooperate with you during my time in Jiangnan.”

This is true. Although Wu Yuanyou lacks some grassroots experience, he is very smart. And because he is timid, he appears to be tactful in many things.

There was nothing in his behavior around Li Yun during this period that could make Li Yun want to kill him.

It can be said to be slippery.

Wu Yuanyou looked at Li Yun cautiously: “You can’t do anything to me.”

He paused and added, “After I return to the court, I will tell the court that Jiangnan is too dangerous, so I will instruct Governor Li to continue investigating the case in Jiangnan.”

Li Yun looked at him, then shook his head and sighed softly.

“If His Highness were the Crown Prince, the court might…”

“There is some hope for revival.”

Wu Yuanyou’s face changed drastically. He stood up, looked around, and then looked at Li Yun and shouted, “Don’t talk nonsense. Do you want to kill me?”

Li Yun smiled silently and added a comment.

“pity…”

“I’m just too timid.”

(End of this chapter)