Chapter 285 Looking forward

Li Yun spent another five or six days and finally made a rough arrangement of the affairs in Wujun, or Gusu City.

On the salt road, it is naturally the Zhuo family who represent his interests. As for the officialdom, Li Yun does not have enough manpower now, so he can only recruit a few henchmen on the spot.

County Magistrate Shi Heng is one of them, but this kind of henchman can only be used to intimidate others at present. Therefore, although he can be used, he cannot be trusted.

Fortunately, the current situation in Wu County is only a temporary transition. When Li Yun is free, he will naturally take over Wu County again. At that time, a lackey like Shi Heng can only be a deputy in the state or county at most, and it is impossible for him to be in charge for the time being.

His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who was eager to leave, finally left Gusu under the protection of the Wuzhou soldiers, and prepared to leave Jiangnan directly and return to the capital.

However, Li Yun would naturally not send him away so simply. Instead, he went to Yuezhou on the pretext of resting.

The situation in Jiangdong is becoming more and more complicated. Li Yun must return to Yuezhou first to prepare for the next plan.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu naturally had no objection to Li Yun’s decision. The group walked for six or seven days and finally arrived in Yuezhou. His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was arranged to rest at the imperial envoy’s headquarters, and all the prisoners were imprisoned in the Yuezhou prison.

After Du Qian arranged these people, he went to the study with Li Yun. He picked up a document on the desk, handed it to Li Yun, and said slowly: “Erlang, an urgent letter from the capital, the court has released Su Sheng from the Ministry of Justice. Su Sheng has left the capital and said that he is going to the Central Plains to find the remains of General Su for burial…”

Li Yun looked at the document from the Du family, was silent for a while, put it back on the table, then found a chair and sat down. After drinking a sip of tea, he looked up at Du Qian and said silently: “Originally, I was planning to use the title of King of Chu to directly sort out Jiangdong and even Jiangnan. This way, I can at least get some benefits and gain some talents.”

“Now, with something like this happening in the Central Plains, the current situation doesn’t allow me to do these things slowly in Jiangnan. The King of Chu is also worried about changes in Jiangnan and has to return to the capital. Brother Shouyi, what do you think, should we let the King of Chu go back?”

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and whispered, “Or should we just detain him in Jiangnan and use him as a human token?”

Du Qian lowered his head to drink tea, thought for a while, and shook his head slightly: “It’s not very useful. The court is in such a state now. Even if the King of Chu is here, those states and counties may not buy into his account. In the end, we still have to take action.”

“Since we’re going to take action whether he’s here or not, there’s actually no need to keep his men. Just leave his seal behind.”

Li Yun put down the teacup and said softly, “It’s done.”

Du Qian thought for a moment and said, “Tell the King of Chu to take the replica of the seal back to the capital and leave the original one in Jiangnan.”

Li Yun smiled bitterly and said, “What difference does it make? It’s just a name.”

Du Qian shook his head and said with a smile: “The seal of the court will leave a mark. The craftsmen in the court can tell whether it is real or fake at a glance. If the real one is left, the King of Chu will be more cautious and will not speak nonsense after returning to the capital.”

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and continued, “Erlang, what are you going to do next?”

“Control the provinces and counties in Jiangnan one after another, starting with the East Road of Jiangnan.”

Li Yun whispered, “I have already left people in Wu County. There shouldn’t be any changes in the next one or two years. But in other prefectures and counties, we don’t have the power to appoint officials, and we don’t have enough manpower. In the short term, I haven’t figured out how to control them one by one.”

Du Qian lowered his head to think, then looked at Li Yun and said softly: “It’s not difficult to say it’s difficult, but it’s not easy to say it’s easy either.”

Li Yun smiled dumbly: “Brother Shouyi, if you have a solution, just tell me directly, why are you playing dumb?”

Du Qian said softly: “Erlang needs to win a big battle, a big battle that can be seen by Jiangnan West Road, Jiangnan East Road, and even the imperial court.”

“As long as others can see it, many problems will be solved. When Qiu Dian won one or two battles against Zheng Wei, some people took the initiative to return. By then, there will be more people who will return.”

Hearing this, Li Yun narrowed his eyes, thought for a long time, and then said softly: “Well, I’m afraid it will take a year or two to accomplish it.”

If we want to win a big battle, the current 3,000 men are certainly not enough. We need to expand one or two more rounds. We need at least more than 10,000 troops to be qualified to fight a big battle.

Even if Li Yun starts to recruit troops crazily now, it will take more than a year to reach this troop base.

Du Qian drank his tea and asked, “Didn’t Erlang send Lieutenants Li and Zhou to gather General Su’s remaining troops? In my opinion, these remaining troops are not too few, and they may be able to gather several thousand people.”

Li Yun nodded, took a deep breath, and said, “Speaking of this matter, I will go and take a look in person in a few days.”

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice: “Although General Su was defeated this time, the rebels also suffered a great loss. Erlang may encounter the rebels when he goes to gather the remaining troops.”

“and…”

Du Qian exhaled and continued, “Erlang, you are not a general under General Su. If you go to gather the remaining soldiers, they will still be deserters.”

“If the imperial court finds out, I’m afraid they’ll investigate.”

“Let them investigate.”

Li Yun sneered: “Fighting a big battle does not necessarily mean fighting against the rebels.”

“The imperial court was very tough against General Su and our local troops, but why didn’t it stand up to the Shuofang Army?”

“The Shuofang Army delayed military operations. Can the court hold them accountable? Will they hold them accountable?” Du Qian sighed and said nothing. Instead, he changed the subject and said, “The King of Chu and the Wujun prisoner, let them stay in Yuezhou for a while.”

Li Yun nodded first, then asked, “Brother Shouyi, do you want it?”

“When I welcomed them today, I asked the King of Chu for a document from Wu County.”

Du Qian shook his head: “Too rough.”

“Those people in the capital, especially that senior official, are all shrewd people. They can find problems with these documents at a glance. I spent half a month to sort out and revise these confessions, case files, and officials at all levels, including the memorials submitted by the King of Chu to the court. At least…”

“There’s nothing wrong with it on the surface.”

Li Yun smiled and said, “Brother Shouyi is much better than me in this regard, so let Brother Shouyi do it.”

Du Qian nodded, and suddenly remembered something, and said, “Oh, Erlang, a few days ago a county magistrate came to Yuezhou to look for you. After knowing that you took office in Wuzhou, he was going to Wuzhou to look for you. I told him that you might come to Yuezhou in a few days, so I kept him.”

“This man’s last name is…”

“Your last name is Xu, right?”

Li Yun interrupted Du Qian and asked.

Du Qian nodded and said, “His surname is Xu, and he is the magistrate of Xiangshan County in Mingzhou.”

Li Yun sighed: “This man is a trustworthy person. He said he would come to me, and he really didn’t want to be the county magistrate and came to me.”

Du Qian became interested and asked, “What does this mean?”

Li Yun recounted what happened in Xiangshan County, and then said in a deep voice: “His wife and children all died at the hands of those thieves. It’s quite pitiful.”

Du Qian fell silent upon hearing this, and shook his head, saying, “He is indeed a trustworthy man who knows how to be grateful. He is now staying at the Ruyi Inn on East Street. Erlang, go and meet him.”

Li Yun stood up, clasped his fists towards Du Qian and said, “Then I’ll leave the documents regarding Wu County to Brother Du. I’ll go see Magistrate Xu.”

Du Qian returned the greeting with a bow: “It’s my job.”

Li Yun walked out, and under Meng Qing’s guidance, he soon arrived at the door of Ruyi Inn. After asking the shopkeeper, he came to the door of a guest room on the second floor and knocked on the door: “Brother Xu.”

“I’m Li Zhao.”

The door was quickly opened. Xu Ang, who was dressed in gray, looked up at Li Yun, then knelt on the ground without saying a word and kowtowed, saying, “Xu Ang greets the benefactor.”

Li Yun helped him up with one hand, turned around and gave Meng Qing a wink, and Meng Qing immediately stood guard at the door and closed it.

After Li Yun helped him up, he shook his head and sighed: “Brother Xu really resigned from his post as county magistrate and came to find me.”

Xu Ang had no expression on his face, he just lowered his head and said: “My parents passed away long ago, I have no wife or children anymore, I have nothing to worry about anymore. You first saved my life, and then allowed me to avenge my great hatred, I have no way to repay you.”

“I am willing to serve you, my benefactor. Even if I am just a clerk, I will be satisfied.”

When Xiangshan County was in chaos, the magistrate Xu Ang was tied to the city gate by the rioters, and his wife and son died miserably.

After he took revenge, he became confused and fell seriously ill. He didn’t even want to seek treatment and only wanted to go with his wife and children. However, he didn’t take any medicine and lay in bed for more than ten days, but he survived.

Xu Ang felt that God would not accept him, so after he recovered a little, he resigned from his post and came to find Li Yun.

Li Yun sighed inwardly as he looked at the Xiangshan County Magistrate in front of him, who had obviously lost a lot of weight.

Xu Ang’s experience is undoubtedly very sympathetic.

“After I took office in Wuzhou, I was short of people. Since Brother Xu came to me, I will naturally not treat him unfairly. However, there is one thing I still want to say to Brother Xu.”

Li Yun was in dire need of scholars who could handle government affairs, and Xu Ang was exactly the type of talent he urgently needed.

Magistrate Xu raised his head and looked at Li Yun: “Please give me some advice, benefactor.”

Li Yun patted his shoulder gently and sighed: “Things are in the past, we must look forward.”

County Magistrate Xu was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears and lowered his head deeply.

“It’s difficult…”

(End of this chapter)