My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 140 The Sage is Coming
After Li Yuan granted Li Xuanba's request, another person was waiting for the emperor's decree.

Li Xuanba was also waiting for the emperor's edict to arrive.

As the father and son waited, the carriage finally arrived in Loufan County in the early hours of the morning.

Just like last time, it was that same unlucky angel.

He borrowed a horse from Li Yuan last time and hadn't had a chance to return it yet, but now he's running to see Li Yuan again.

Li Yuan remained silent and did not inquire about the horses from before. He led the group out and welcomed the angel into the city.

The angels also read out the decree.

Just as Li Yuan had guessed, the emperor didn't care about the matter of conscripting laborers at all. He ordered Li Yuan to confiscate the mines and send the relevant criminals to the capital. It seems that the actual extortion was still to be handled by the court itself.

Just as Li Yuan was smiling and preparing to accept the imperial edict, the angel uttered the next sentence.

The emperor was very satisfied with Li Yuan's work and decided to come and inspect it in person, asking Li Yuan to make preparations to receive him.

Li Yuan, who had been all smiles just moments before, was now dumbfounded.

After the angel finished reading the edict, Li Yuan hurriedly stood up, pulled the man aside, and asked in a low voice, "Wasn't it said that the Sage was going to inspect the Northwest? Why is he here in Loufan?"

The angel, looking exhausted, patiently explained, "The Sage was originally going to set off, but after seeing the Duke's memorial, he changed his mind and decided to come to Loufan. When I set off, everyone was already preparing, and they are probably already on their way."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

Given the sage's impatient nature, Li Yuan wouldn't be surprised if he said he was on his way or even if he arrived tomorrow.

The angel was even more anxious, but this time, he was too embarrassed to ask to borrow a horse again and hurriedly prepared to leave.

But Li Yuan was still very sensible. Even though the angel didn't say anything, he still ordered someone to send horses to the angel, and the angel thanked him repeatedly.

After seeing the angel off, Li Yuan rushed back to see Lady Dou.

When Li Yuan first arrived in Loufan, he did not yet have any truly reliable confidants, and he was not very close to the local officials. Unlike Wang Zanwu and others in Xingyang, he could not summon them when important matters arose.

He decided to discuss the matter with his wife first.

Lady Dou was extremely surprised to see Li Yuan in such a panic, but when Li Yuan told her the news that the emperor was coming soon, she laughed.

"I thought it was something serious, that the Sage was coming. Isn't that wonderful? Why should my husband worry?"

"good??"

Li Yuan clenched his fist. "Over the years, wherever he's been, no official has escaped misfortune. The expenses are secondary; it's this inspection tour that's the real problem. Every time he comes, he's bound to find fault."

"Under my husband's rule, what problems could he possibly find?"

"Oh, that's hard to say. We think it's fine, but he might not think so."

Seeing that Li Yuan was still somewhat worried, Lady Dou smiled and said, "Husband, please rest assured, this is definitely not a bad thing."

"My husband has just discovered so many mineral resources for the Sage. Knowing the Sage as I do, he would love for all the governors in the land to follow his example and bring him even more benefits. At this time, he would never punish my husband. If I am not mistaken, he might even reward my husband this time."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan finally calmed down a bit.

The main problem was that the Sage was too good at changing his mind and was unpredictable. In addition, he had dealt with many people during his previous inspections, which made Li Yuan uneasy. After calming down, he did not dare to delay and quickly summoned everyone to announce the matter to the officials, instructing them to quickly begin preparations to welcome the Sage.

When the officials learned that Li Yuan had summoned them, they knew it was an imperial edict and assumed that they would be rewarded. They came happily, but the next moment, when they heard that the emperor was going to visit Loufan, they were as scared half to death as Li Yuan was.

Huangfu Zhao was most frightened at this moment, and he hurriedly said, "Duke! What should we do?!"

"The roads in this ruined place are dilapidated; if a sage were to walk on them..."

Huangfu Zhao grew increasingly frightened. He found even traveling on a slope like this torturous, let alone traveling as an emperor. He feared that the emperor would start a massacre as soon as he got off the carriage.

"It's not just the road! It's the roadside forest! The roadside forest!"

"And those post stations along the way!" "The canals are all dried up!"

"There are still gaps in the Great Wall that are in disrepair."

"The horse farm doesn't even have enough warhorses!"

Those government-run mines

“The household register shows that we have three or four townships in each county, but those townships have long since disappeared!”

As everyone recalled one fatal flaw after another, their expressions grew increasingly terrified.

Li Yuan was initially a little scared, but after hearing them talk about these problems one by one, he was no longer afraid. This building was full of problems, and many of them were simply unsolvable or impossible to fix.

Thinking about all these troubles, Li Yuan was no longer flustered.

"What are you afraid of?!"

Li Yuan spoke up, interrupting the noise in the room. He looked at the people in front of him and said unhappily, "Loufan is a small prefecture, which has just been established. Wasn't it because of these things that the Sage abolished the prefecture and established the prefecture?"

“The mine issue has been resolved, so other matters will naturally be resolved one by one in the future. The sage has always been kind and benevolent, so would he blame us?”

The officials pursed their lips.

Hard to say.

The sage's kindness and benevolence were well-known to everyone. When the sage went to Mayi, the prefect of Mayi, Yang Kuo, did not present good gifts, which displeased the emperor. If someone had not pleaded for him, he would have been executed on the spot. After that, no other prefecture dared not to put on a grand show.

Prior to this, when he inspected Hebei, he executed several officials who had mismanaged the region, which was actually a problem with roads. He then ordered local authorities to rectify official corruption.

Prior to this, when he inspected Yulin, several ministers, including He Ruobi and Gao Jiong, were executed on charges of slandering the emperor because they felt his entourage was too grand.
When people think of the saint's great achievements, they are all filled with fear.

Li Yuan then ordered them to prepare. As for the major problems that couldn't be solved, Li Yuan didn't intend to solve them. Since the Sage had come for the matter of the mines, he should just focus all his attention on the mines.

After giving these instructions, Li Yuan went out to meet Liu Xuan, intending to consult him on this matter.

Liu Xuan was not flustered at all.

"Duke, this is a joyous occasion."

"The sage changed his mind at the last minute and decided to come to Loufan. It must be about the mine. Now that we know why he came, we can prepare in advance. That's one reason. Secondly, although the sage punished many officials when he went out, he also promoted many others."

"The sage loves horses. I've heard that the Duke has many fine horses. Why not take this opportunity to present them all to the sage?"

"all??"

Li Yuan nearly jumped up. His face was pale, and he hurriedly said, "How can this be? Liu Jun, you are not from a military background, so you don't know how valuable these horses are. These precious horses were carefully selected and bred generation after generation, costing a lot of money, time, and energy to reach the current number of more than twenty."

"These are all stallions, practically legacies of our ancestors. With these horses in hand, we can produce even more warhorses. On the battlefield, a good warhorse can save your life! How can we give them all away?! No, absolutely not!!"

Liu Xuan never expected that Li Yuan, who was usually so magnanimous, would be so stubborn on this issue.

He tried to persuade him several times, but Li Yuan refused to accept it no matter what.

Liu Xuan sighed, "If that's the case, then please ask the Duke to select ten bolts and send half of them. This gift is essential, and the more valuable the better. The Duke must not lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of a small thing."

Ten horses.

Li Yuan felt as if his heart was bleeding, but looking at Liu Xuan's helpless expression, he finally let out a long sigh.

"Alright, I'll give you ten."

Liu Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. With these fine horses leading the way, there was no need to worry about any trouble. Back then, the governor of Yanmen, Qiu He, was promoted to Shangjun simply because he sent some good food. If he sent ten fine horses at once, plus the merits of this place, he wouldn't be afraid that the emperor wouldn't promote him!

P.S.: I'm a bit busy today, so I'll be posting one less chapter. I'll resume my usual updates tomorrow and try to make up for it if I can.

(End of this chapter)