Chapter 284 Looking for corpses!
In the prison in Gusu City.

At this time, because all kinds of evidence had been found out, the former governor Zheng Yu and the county magistrate Xie Shan had both been imprisoned and thrown into jail.

Li Yun, dressed in black, walked in the prison. A pungent stench of corruption hit him in the face, causing him to frown.

After walking a few steps, Li Yun stopped and looked at the county magistrate Shi Heng who was following him. He said, “Take them out and question them outside.”

Shi Heng glanced at Li Yun, then waved his hand. Soon, several yamen runners took them to a room outside. Li Yun sat in the main seat, looking at the two embarrassed Jiangnan officials in front of him, and slowly said, “You two, I have discussed with His Highness. As long as you are willing to plead guilty, I will only report your crime of corruption to the court, and will not take into account your crime of treason. Tomorrow morning, you can leave with His Highness and be sent to the capital to be judged.”

“If you still refuse to confess, let alone other things, just based on the crime of sending troops out of the city to intercept and kill the imperial envoy, you can be executed directly in Gusu City without going to the capital.”

The fact that these two people have not yet confessed their guilt means that they have not admitted defeat.

After all, they had another excuse that Li Yun had held the imperial envoy hostage and was doing whatever he wanted. If they didn’t admit defeat, Li Yun would never let them leave Jiangnan.

Zheng Wei looked up at Li Yun, his expression somewhat hesitant.

Xie Shan glared at him and gritted his teeth, “I have never met Your Highness once. All the words you said came from your mouth. You are only the acting governor of Wuzhou. What qualifications do you have to handle our Wujun case?”

“You are so reckless and arbitrary. Is it us who are plotting treason, or is it you who are plotting treason?”

Li Yun shook his head slightly and stood up. He no longer had the patience to continue talking to him. After he stood up, he walked out directly. When he reached the door, he turned back to look at the two people and said lightly: “I will also leave Wujun in a few days. I am very busy now. I really don’t have time to argue with you here.”

“Whether you admit it or not is up to you.”

At this point, Li Yun looked at Xie Shan and said calmly, “You refuse to bow your heads and submit to the law, which means you want to admit the crime of treason. County Magistrate Xie, your family… is from Shanyin, right?”

Shanyin County is located in Yuezhou, and is a county attached to the capital.

Xie Shan’s face changed and he shouted, “Mr. Li, what are you doing?”

“I won’t do anything, but the crime of treason will not be forgiven by the law.”

Li Yun walked out without looking back.

“I admit it!”

Zheng Wei looked at Li Yun’s back and gritted his teeth and said, “I plead guilty. I did accept bribes when I was in office in Jiangdong…”

Li Yun stopped and looked back at the two. Xie Shan’s face turned pale. He finally lowered his head and said, “I…I also plead guilty.”

Li Yun glanced at Shi Heng and said calmly, “Mr. Shi, have them sign and seal. Remember to make two copies. One copy will be kept in Wujun, and the other will be given to His Highness. Have His Highness take it to the capital.”

Shi Heng looked at Li Yun, then at the two superiors, gritted his teeth, nodded, and went down to make arrangements.

After a while, he finished his work and handed one of the confessions to Li Yun.

“Governor Li is really amazing. We interrogated them for a long time, but they refused to confess. When Governor Li came here, he said a few words and they admitted it.”

Li Yun took the confession and said with a smile: “It’s not that I have the ability, but that Shi Juncheng has the leverage in their hands.”

“is not it?”

Shi Heng scratched his head in embarrassment.

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. Wujun needs an official to manage the affairs. His Highness has already said that Shi Juncheng will not be dealt with for the time being. After all, after we leave, Wujun Haiyan will be left to Shi Juncheng to take care of for the time being.”

Shi Heng lowered his head, took out a document from his arms, handed it to Li Yun, and whispered: “Thank you for your care, sir. This is a small gift from me.”

Li Yun reached out and took it, taking a glance at it.

It is the title deed to a house in Gusu City.

After thinking about it, Li Yun accepted it, looked at Shi Heng, and said, “Shi Juncheng, the past events will not be investigated for the time being. I still have the evidence of your crimes. In the future, Wu Jun will reform its administration, whether it is the salt road or the officialdom, and it must be restored to a clean and honest state.”

“Yes Yes Yes.”

Shi Heng bowed his head deeply and said, “I will follow your orders in everything… everything.”

Li Yun nodded slightly and said calmly, “None of the officials on the salt road are clean. Your Highness has dismissed them all. I have discussed with Your Highness for a few days and decided on the candidate for the temporary salt official. In addition, all salt merchants in Wu County will be temporarily taken over by the Gusu Zhuo family.”

“Mr. Shi, if you have anything to discuss, please discuss it with the Zhuo family.”

This was not a hint, but a blatant statement. No matter how ignorant Shi Heng was, he understood it. He quickly bowed and said, “Don’t worry, sir. I will…will discuss it with the Zhuo family.”

Li Yun walked outside, looked around at the city of Gusu, and couldn’t help but sigh.

“What a big city.”

This is a big city that can truly be used as a base camp. Li Yun now has the urge to move his wealth and his own “administrative center” to Gusu City.

But not yet.

As the King of Chu said, the court was not made of paper. Although there were problems everywhere, they were not fatal problems that could kill the Great Zhou Dynasty for the time being. His power was still not strong enough, at least not to the extent that he could directly raise the flag of rebellion. Now he still had to lay eggs under the big tree of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, he could not enter Wu County as the governor of Wuzhou.

Moreover, as far as the military is concerned, Li Yun has a lot of things to do at this stage.

These things are of course very complicated, but to put it simply, they can be summed up in two words.

Explosive troops!

The current situation is no longer one of “turmoil is coming” but that troubled times have already arrived. Before the chaos in the Central Plains ends, no external forces will come into Jiangnan for the time being.

Then during this period of time, Li Yun can undoubtedly make use of most of the resources in Jiangnan.

He must become stronger before external forces come in, strong enough to be able to truly call the shots in Jiangnan, or at least in Jiangdong!

Shi Heng followed behind Li Yun and flattered him calmly: “Your Excellency has worked hard and made great contributions. You will definitely be the ruler of Gusu one day in the future.”

Li Yun looked back at him, narrowed his eyes, and laughed.

“Maybe.”

…………

Beijing.

Su Sheng, dressed in prison clothes, was released from the Ministry of Justice prison. The person who greeted him at the prison gate was an old man in his fifties. He was thin and only wore casual clothes instead of official uniform.

Su Sheng recognized the old man, stepped forward silently, clasped his fists and saluted: “Minister Chen.”

Minister of War Chen Kan.

Minister Chen stepped forward, looked at Su Sheng, sighed silently, and said, “The young general has lost weight.”

Su Sheng’s face twitched, and he could not tell what was going on. He just looked up at Chen Kan and said in a hoarse voice, “Minister Chen, did my father win the battle or lose it?”

Minister Chen frowned and asked, “Why do you ask that, Young General?”

Su Sheng closed his eyes and took a deep breath: “If there is no result on the front line, the court will most likely not release Su.”

This time, it was Minister Chen’s turn to remain silent. The Minister of War did not respond for a long time.

Seeing Chen Kan’s expression, Su Sheng immediately guessed what happened. Tears welled up in his eyes almost instantly. He excitedly stepped forward, grabbed Chen Kan’s sleeve, and said in a hoarse voice: “Minister Chen, my father, my father…”

“How is my father?”

Chen Kan sighed and said, “I don’t know whether he is alive or dead.”

As the Minister of War, Chen Kan naturally knew more detailed reports from the frontline than Li Yun. He told Su Sheng everything in detail and then said, “In the end, General Su was surrounded, and the last remnants of his army were dispersed by the rebels. General Su himself is nowhere to be found.”

After a pause, Minister Chen continued, “However, General Su at least defeated tens of thousands of rebels in this battle, so it cannot be considered a defeat.”

“It’s just, it’s just…”

Minister Chen clenched his fists and said angrily, “It’s just that the Shuofang Army is extremely hateful. If the Shuofang Army could cooperate as much as possible, the Central Plains rebels might have been pacified by now!”

“How could this situation happen now?”

Su Sheng stood there, tears streaming down her face, unable to utter a word.

Chen Kan and Su Jing were also old acquaintances. Seeing Su Sheng like this, he couldn’t help but sighed, patted Su Sheng on the shoulder and said, “Young General, when the Council of State was discussing matters, I argued with reason. In the eyes of the court, General Su was not defeated in the end.”

“The court will no longer pursue your crime. I have some friendship with the general, so I have secured a position as a captain of the imperial guards for you. You can rest for a few days first, and then report to the imperial guards in a few days.”

“This is the time for you to make achievements.”

Chen Kan said in a deep voice: “If the imperial guards can wipe out the rebels, you will be able to inherit your father’s business and restore…”

“No need.”

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Su Sheng. The major general looked at Chen Kan, his face expressionless, and said, “If the court doesn’t intend to imprison me again, I’ll leave now.”

Chen Kan was stunned: “Where is the young general going?”

“Go to the Central Plains, to find…”

Su Sheng walked away without even looking back.

“My father’s body.”

(End of this chapter)