Chapter 795: Meet the King!

Luoyang to Jinling is a very long distance. Even in another world, there is an extremely congested road between the two.

Fortunately, at this time, Li Yun was no longer in a hurry to travel. He did not even ride a horse. Instead, he rode in the same carriage with Du Qian. While traveling, the two discussed the subsequent direction of Jiangdong and some key strategies.

Many decisions that will affect the next few decades or even centuries are made in this carriage, in just a few words between the two of them.

In this way, the group walked for a full month, and it was not until the beginning of the twelfth lunar month that they arrived in the Jinling Prefecture. As soon as they entered the Jinling Prefecture, the current Jinling Yin Zhuo Guangrui, brought a group of officials to respectfully welcome Li Yun’s royal carriage.

A group of officials, led by Zhuo Guangrui, knelt on the ground on both sides of the official road.

Li Yun lifted the car curtain, looked outside, then waved to Zhuo Guangrui and said with a smile: “Brother Zhuo, come forward, come forward.”

After not seeing each other for two years, Zhuo Guangrui had become a little fatter than before, but at the same time, he had become a lot darker, like a little black fat man. When he came closer, Li Yun took a look at him and smiled dumbly: “How come Brother Zhuo has become so darker after not seeing him for a while? Could it be that our Jiangdong’s Jinling Yin has to bask in the sun all day long?”

Du Qian, who was standing by, looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said with a smile, “Your Excellency, this is indeed the case. Lord Zhuo was born in a wealthy family. He used to be fair and plump. After becoming the prefect of Jinling, he often ran around in and out of the city, and he got tanned a lot.”

Zhuo Guangrui was a little embarrassed, scratched his head and said: “Your Majesty, please make fun of me. Your Majesty and our Jiangdong soldiers fought on the front line, expanded the territory, and risked their lives. I don’t have any special abilities, so I can only do my duty and do my part well.”

“You may not know that in the two years since you left, the population of Jinling has increased greatly, and many people have moved here from other places. In addition, there are many other things going on. If you were still sitting in the government office like before, you would not be able to manage it all, and you would not be able to control it.”

“Jinling is the place where the Lord was born. Since the Lord has entrusted the throne to me, I will do my best to take good care of this place for you.”

Li Yun snorted, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: “Come on, come on, get in the car and talk.”

After saying this, he looked at the officials kneeling on both sides of the road and said in a deep voice: “Everyone stand up, everyone stand up, and go back to Jinling!”

Li Yun was already full of strength, and almost all the officials could hear his deep shout clearly. They all stood up immediately and followed Li Yun’s carriage back to Jinling.

Towards evening, Jinling City finally came into sight, less than twenty miles away. Li Yun wanted to enter the city immediately, but was stopped by Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui.

Du Qian smiled and said, “Sir, you are returning in triumph this time, so you should be majestic and impressive. How can you sneak into the city at night?”

“I have already informed Lord Zhuo in advance. We will enter the city tomorrow morning. Lord Zhuo will definitely give us a head start and make all the arrangements.”

Li Yun looked at Du Qian, then at Zhuo Guangrui, and said with a smile: “It’s just entering a city, is it necessary to mobilize so many troops?”

Zhuo Guangrui looked serious, bowed his head and said, “Your Majesty, what Minister Du said is right. Since ancient times, the world has always valued etiquette and rules. Moreover, Your Majesty’s conquest this time has brought peace to the Central Plains, which is an unprecedented victory for Jiangdong.”

“Of course it has to be glorious, otherwise.”

Zhuo Guangrui smiled and said, “Otherwise, the people of Jinling Prefecture would think that the emperor had suffered a defeat.”

Li Yun looked at the two of them, shook his head slightly and said, “Of course we have to hold a triumphal ceremony. I won’t be so stingy, but my original plan was to wait until the main force of our Jiangdong Army returns before holding this triumphal ceremony.”

Zhuo Guangrui smiled and said, “I think we have to do it. It doesn’t matter if we do it twice. We will pay for it from the Jinling government office.”

“If the government doesn’t have enough money, the Zhuo family will pay for it.”

Hearing this, Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile, “I almost forgot that the salt road was handed over to the Zhuo family. The Zhuo family is probably very wealthy now.”

Zhuo Guangrui shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, I have been to the family many times and asked them to strictly control their family members. Although the salt road is managed by our Zhuo family in recent years, there is absolutely no corruption!”

Zhuo Guangrui did not lie.

The father and son of the Zhuo family, Master Zhuo and Zhuo Guangrui, are both very shrewd people, especially Zhuo Guangrui. He has followed Li Yun for many years and knows Li Yun’s temper very well.

At this time, the Zhuo family was indeed very strict in restraining their family members.

After all, this is a business that may become part of the Zhuo family’s family tradition and make the Zhuo family wealthy for several or even dozens of generations. So of course they have to be extremely cautious at this time.

“I didn’t say you were greedy.”

Mr. Li laughed and said, “Then it’s up to you. But it doesn’t need to be too big. Just about anything will do.”

Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui looked at each other, then bowed their heads and saluted.

“I obey your command.”

…………The next morning.

Several huge flags with the word “Wu” on them were held high in the wind.

There were musicians and drummers leading the way, beating and playing all the way, leading the team into Jinling.

Behind the musicians, there were eight flags with the Chinese character “Li” on them, fluttering in the wind.

Behind these flags with the word “Li” on them were Li Yun’s guard camp. At this time, all the guards in Li Yun’s camp had changed into brand new military uniforms, and they were marching in neat steps and looking very majestic.

By this time, Yang Xi’s injuries had largely healed. He rode his horse and accompanied Li Yun’s carriage into the city, with his head held high and a smile on his face.

Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui were also riding horses, on the other side of Li Yun’s carriage.

At this time, Li’s royal carriage was in the front, with four white horses with snow-white fur, moving forward in unison, pulling Li Yun’s carriage, slowly entering the city.

On both sides of the road, there were rows of people standing, almost endlessly. When they saw Li Yun’s carriage arriving, they all knelt on the ground and shouted in unison.

“Long live King Wu!”

“Long live King Wu!”

Li Yun listened to the shouts, leaned out to take a few looks, then lifted the curtain, glanced at Zhuo Guangrui, and sighed: “Knocking and beating is fine, but why do you have to detain so many people here, in such a cold day, and make them kneel here?”

Zhuo Guangrui waved his hands repeatedly and explained, “Your Majesty, I never forced any of the people to come here. I just posted a notice in the city to inform the people in the city that you have defeated the Central Plains. These people all came here voluntarily after hearing that you have returned victoriously today!”

Li Yun frowned and was about to speak when Du Qian smiled and said, “Sir, when we left Luoyang, the people who knelt along the road to see us off were not necessarily here willingly. But the people who knelt outside Jinling City, I think, most of them came here willingly.”

“They have truly benefited from the higher-ups, and it has been going on for many years.”

In the past few years, the Central Plains has been in chaos and the people are almost living in misery. Even after Li Yun occupied the Central Plains, it is only in the recovery stage now.

As for Jiangdong region, which was the “place where the dragon rose” of Li, the turmoil in Jiangdong ended quickly due to the sudden emergence of Li Yun. Only a few very minor turmoils occurred, such as the Qiu Dian Rebellion and the Haiyan County Rebellion.

These small-scale disturbances were quickly quelled by Li Yun.

This meant that the people of Jiangdong were almost unaffected by the turbulent times, and Li Yun’s major policies and Du Qian’s administrative ability took root well in this land.

In recent years, the people of Jiangdong have not only not suffered, but their lives are far better than those in the old Zhou period. Of course, they will remember the kindness of Li Yun.

At this time, his reputation as the King of Wu was already quite high in Jiangdong. Even if the Jiangdong army was immediately wiped out, as long as he raised his arms and called for another 100,000 or 200,000 troops, there would be no problem at all.

This is an extremely terrifying appeal and mobilization ability.

Du Qian’s words were a subtle flattery, and it was a flattery that made Li Yun quite comfortable. Li was sitting on the royal carriage. He looked at Du Qian and Zhuo Guangrui, smiled silently, and said nothing more.

Zhuo Guangrui breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly bowed his head and said, “Sir, I will make arrangements immediately after I return to the government office today. The government office will give twenty coins to each person who comes to welcome you today.”

Li Yun immediately shook his head and glanced at him: “Doesn’t that mean I’m paying someone to welcome me?”

“How about this, the government office will collect the names, and I will hold a banquet in the city in a while, and everyone who is here today can go and have a meal.”

“My treat.”

Zhuo Guangrui responded and agreed.

As they were talking, the city gate was already in sight. Li Yun, dressed in a purple robe, got out of the car. He looked around and saw that his family members were already waiting at the city gate. Xue Yun’er came up with her son Li Yuan, then looked up at Li Yun, her eyes full of tears.

Li Yuan looked up at his mother, then took a deep breath, knelt down in front of Li Yun, and kowtowed: “My child… My child kowtows to my father.”

As Li Yuan knelt, the people nearby knelt in a circle and greeted him in unison: “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Among the crowd, there was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat like Li Yun. He looked at Li Yun with a complicated expression, then followed the crowd in bowing, kneeling on the ground with a hoarse voice.

“Greetings to the King.”

(End of this chapter)