Chapter 482: Snowy Night in Jinling
The end of the year is approaching, and even in Jinling, located in the south, it is unusually cold this year.

Several days of heavy snow covered the entire Jinling city with a thick layer of white, almost a foot deep.

At this time, half a month had passed since Du Shangshu’s funeral in Jinling. Du Qian, who had been sad for a long time, was slowly recovering.

During this period, he no longer took care of the political affairs of Jiangdong. Most of the political affairs of Jiangdong fell on Li Yun himself.

Fortunately, the team has grown stronger now, and the number of things that are actually sent to the highest decision-making level is not particularly large. Mr. Li can barely handle it by spending two or three hours every day.

At this time, the heavy snow that had been falling for several days finally stopped. In the warm room of Li Garden, Li Yun handed a cup to Du Qian. Du Qian shook his head slightly and said, “I will observe mourning for my father and will not drink alcohol or eat meat for three years.”

“It’s not wine, it’s not wine.”

Li Yun pushed it over to him and said, “This is the ginger tea my wife made. It’s cold today, drink it to warm your body.”

At this time, Du Qian was in mourning, and according to the rules, he should not drink alcohol or eat meat for three years.

Although even in this era, most people no longer strictly abide by this rule, but Du Qian is different from ordinary people after all. In addition, he has a very good relationship with his father, so he intends to strictly observe the mourning period.

Now Li Yun invited him to dinner, and the dishes on the table were all vegetarian.

Du Qian then took it and sighed, “Please ask the mansion master to thank the madam for me.”

Li Yun shook his head slightly, looked at Du Qian, and asked, “Brother Du, are you feeling better now?”

“The depression in my heart is hard to relieve.”

Du Qian shook his head and sighed, “During this period, I often see my father in my dreams at midnight.”

At this point, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, “That thief Wei, sooner or later, I will kill him to avenge my father!”

Li Yun said softly: “Brother Shouyi, rest assured. One day, you and I will be able to defeat the Shuofang Army. The entire Wei family will be handed over to you, Shouyi.”

Du Qian raised his head and drank the ginger tea in the cup. Then he looked at Li Yun, his eyes were red. He clenched his fist and said, “Of course I believe you, Lord Fu. I’m just worried that Wei the thief is so cruel and crazy. I’m afraid that fate will befall him and he will die at the hands of others!”

He gritted his teeth and said, “I just hope he can live a few more years so that I can avenge my father’s murder!”

Li Yun poured him more tea and said silently, “I have also read a lot of intelligence about the situation in the capital during this period. If it continues like this, it won’t take long for Wei Quanzhong to lose all support.”

“Even if you can temporarily use authority and force to be rampant, it will only be temporary.”

Li Yun whispered, “Originally, my plan was to slow down our pace in Jiangnan in the next one or two years, take care of the occupied territory, and then take over Jiangnan West Road.”

“Build high walls, store up food, and take your time.”

At this point, Li Yun thought for a moment and continued, “But for the sake of Brother Shouyi’s family, I will start preparing in the second half of next year to lay the groundwork for future wars.”

Judging from the current situation in Jiangdong, the most appropriate method is naturally Zhu Taizu’s nine-word mantra.

Occupy the land, consolidate the foundation, and then frantically accumulate food in preparation for future major battles or even expeditions.

According to Li Yun’s original plan, this stage would last two to three years. During these three years, he would not have to hand over grain to the imperial court. The surplus grain handed over by dozens of states under his command would be enough for him to sustain the war for a long time.

But now, the changes in the situation in Guanzhong were far beyond Li Yun’s expectations.

Although General Wei was not stupid, it was obvious that he was both arrogant and violent.

With this kind of personality, Li Yun might not have two or three years of stability in the world.

Du Qian drank another cup of ginger tea, looked at Li Yun, and said, “What the Lord said about building high walls and storing up food is very reasonable.”

He paused and continued, “Now the Duke is the ruler of the Southeast, ruling over tens of millions of households. The success or failure of the Duke also affects the fate of these people. I cannot change the Duke’s policies because of the personal grudges of my family.”

Li Yun poured him another cup of tea.

“Whether to change or not is not up to me. I originally thought that the capital would be able to maintain the status quo for three to five years, but with Wei Quanzhong making such a fuss, I’m afraid it won’t last even two years.”

“If there is chaos in Guanzhong again, and the whole country is in turmoil again, it will not be a small-scale fight like before. Other Jiedushi and local forces will also take advantage of the situation to rise up.”

“I heard that there is a man named Liang Wen in the Central Plains. He was originally under the command of Wang Junping. Because he surrendered to the court in time, he was recruited and appointed as the defense envoy of the state by the court. Now he has occupied several states in the Central Plains and has 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers under his command.”

“Although his military strength is not solid, once chaos breaks out, this kind of people will probably expand rapidly, just like Wang Junping.”

“People like this will be everywhere by then.”

Li Yun also took a sip of tea and said slowly: “If the whole world starts to move, we will be unable to keep up with them if we stay in Jiangnan and build walls and store food.”

Du Qian lowered his head and thought for a long time before he whispered, “No matter what, I believe in the judgment of the Lord.”

He paused, took out a letter from his bosom, handed it to Li Yun and said, “When my father was alive, he met Tao Wenyuan, the principal of Lizheng Academy, and suggested that Mr. Wenyuan bring the students of Lizheng Academy to Jinling to seek refuge with the Duke.” “Mr. Tao was unwilling to come at first, but after my father was thrown into the death row, he used his connections to take the students of the academy to leave Guanzhong and is now coming to Jiangnan. This is the letter that Mr. Tao wrote to me.”

Du Qian looked at Li Yun and continued, “Sir, this Lizheng Academy is the best academy in the capital, and even in the entire Guanzhong area. There are many talented students among them. There are dozens of them in total. If they can come to Jinling, they can continue to run the academy or serve as officials under you.”

“It will be of great benefit to us in Jiangdong.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yun took the letter and read it, and was overjoyed.

However, because Du’s father had just passed away, although he was happy in his heart, he did not smile. He just sighed and said, “Although I have never met Du Shangshu, he has really helped me a lot. Don’t worry, brother Yiwu, I will remember this.”

“In the next few days, I will send people from the Nine Departments to bring these teachers and students to Jinling. After they arrive in Jinling, if they are willing to serve as officials, I will arrange jobs for them.”

“If they don’t want to serve as officials, I will allocate a piece of land in Jinling for them to start a new school.”

Du Qian stood up, bowed his head and said, “Thank you, Lord.”

Li Yun frowned: “Why is Brother Shouyi so polite?”

After the two chatted for a while, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and asked, “Brother Shouyi, when… when…”

He coughed, but ultimately didn’t feel comfortable asking any further.

He wanted to ask Du Qian when he could go back to work.

If the mourning period really lasts for three years… Li Yun will have to do a lot more things, apart from anything else.

“Let’s celebrate the New Year.”

Du Qian clearly saw what Li Yun was thinking. He shook his head and said, “Please forgive me, Lord Fu. I really don’t have any thoughts right now.”

“Three months then.”

Li Yun comforted him, “Brother Shouyi, take a good rest in the next three months. You can also take your family to walk around Jinling. Since last year, I have asked General Zhou to lead people to suppress bandits in Jinling Prefecture and nearby prefectures and counties. Now there are almost no bandits. It’s very safe.”

Du Qian hummed, and said to Li Yun: “Even if it’s just to avenge my father, I will definitely take up the burden of Jiangdong as soon as possible.”

In the heavy snow in Jinling, Li Bai and Du Fu toasted each other and chatted until late at night.

Late at night, Li Yun wanted to let Du Qian stay overnight in Li Garden, but Du Qian refused no matter what. Li Yun had no choice but to let Zhou Bi send him back.

After seeing Du Qian off, Li Yun returned to his study and began to review some important documents.

After Du Qian’s “vacation”, he was indeed very busy. Some important documents would continue to be sent to Li Yuan and his study.

Fortunately, there was a secretary in the study who helped him organize the documents.

Sometimes when Li Yun was tired of writing, his secretary Liu Su would sit next to him and write for him. After a long time, he could even imitate his handwriting to about 70% of its original quality.

Before he knew it, it was late at night. There was a knock at the study door. Liu Su walked to the door and opened it. He saw a slightly fat young man standing at the door. When the young man saw Liu Su, he was so scared that he danced with joy and said quickly: “Sister-in-law…ah, that…”

He explained with his hands dancing, “I’m here to look for my second brother.”

Liu Su was also a little at a loss. When the two were in an awkward situation, Li Yun had already arrived at the door and said with a smile: “Come in and talk.”

“You are still from the same family, how come you can’t explain yourself clearly?”

The person who came was none other than Li Yun’s brother Liu Bo.

After Liu Bo came in, he smiled at Li Yun, then lowered his voice and said, “Second brother, we caught more than a dozen thieves in the Jinling workshop.”

“He’s already been detained.”

Li Yun said “hmm”.

The thief he was talking about was not a petty thief, but a thief who wanted to steal gunpowder.

A lot has been discovered during this period.

“I see.”

Li Yun patted Liu Bo on the shoulder and said with a smile: “Come to my place to celebrate the New Year.”

He paused and added.

“The skinny monkey is back too.”

(End of this chapter)