Thief Emperor

Chapter 405 Two Kings and Three Kes
For Li Yun at the moment, the only suitable application scenario he can think of for gunpowder is to defend the city.

As long as you put it in a sealed space, mix it with some iron sheets, light it and throw it in, it will be almost as effective as gold juice.

In addition, he now has a total of 40,000 troops in Jiangdong. For now, unless several Jiedushi attack together, he will have no problem protecting himself.

In other words, even if he does not strive for advancement from now on and just manages his own little piece of land well, his family business will most likely become another Dongwu in another world in the future, and he, Li Yun, will become Wu... Taizu?
Of course, Li Yun’s career has just started.

His purpose of consolidating Jiangdong's defense now is not to hide here and become a rat in Jiangdong in the future, but to have a stable rear base that can provide continuous blood transfusions.

With such a strong rear base, he had the capital to accept defeat.

Before this, Li Yun could not afford to fail in almost every major battle.

For example, in the Battle of Yangzhou some time ago, once the Pinglu Army broke through the city of Yangzhou, thousands of elite soldiers in Jiangbei were wiped out, and the Pinglu Army took advantage of the situation and moved south, Li Yun's foundation of several years would be destroyed in an instant.

After his Jiangdong base camp is built, it will become a stable rear base. Even if he suffers a defeat outside, he can retreat to the base camp to recuperate for a few years. After recovering his strength, he can go out and compete with others.

If this base is well managed, the civil service system can also be initially established. When expanding outward in the future, we can occupy a piece of land and immediately push the administrative system over there, and begin to register the people, instead of being disorganized and unsystematic as it is now.

Originally, it might take about ten years to build such a base camp, but Li Yun has hardly suffered any losses in the past few years. Now he has become famous throughout Jiangnan and almost everyone knows him.

With the support of local civil servants such as Du Qian, Zhuo Guangrui, Xu Ang and even Xue Song, Li Yun's base camp with Nanjing as its core has now begun to take shape.

Xue Yun'er didn't know what her husband was busy with every day. She was curious and asked, "Husband, what kind of self-defense weapon do you have?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "It's hard to explain in a few words. After Madam gives birth to the baby and recovers her strength, I will take Madam to have a look."

Having said this, Li Yun looked at Xue Yun'er and continued, "My two brothers-in-law are already on their way to Jiangdong."

He held Xue Yun'er's hand and said with a smile, "When Madam is out of confinement, she should be able to meet her two brothers-in-law and her nephews."

As Li Yun's power became more mature and powerful, it was no longer possible for the Xue family to be independent of Li Yun, let alone cut ties with Li Yun.

Under such circumstances, even the brothers Xue Shou and Xue Fang, who had their own careers, had to come to Jiangdong and live with their brother-in-law Li Yun.

If you stay outside, you might die accidentally or be kidnapped by someone with ulterior motives.

This may be the "siphon effect" in another sense. When Li Yun's power reaches a certain scale, people who have important relationships with him will be involuntarily gathered around him.

If Li Yun was not alone and had no relatives to speak of, this effect would be even more obvious.

Now, his wife's family, the Xue family, has been attracted to Li Yun and has inevitably become Li Yun's helper.

A ruler must be surrounded by a group, or a group, that takes his interests as their own interests.

Simply put, he is the most trusted among the trusted.

The status and power of these confidants all come from the ruler himself, so from the perspective of interests, it is impossible for them to betray the ruler.

That is, you can take on tasks that only close confidants can do.

In fact, Wang Junping died because he did not have enough trusted people around him who would share his interests. He eventually died in the palace, killed by a woman.

Xue Yun'er was a little happy when she heard this, but then she lowered her head slightly and sighed, "My two brothers, I'm afraid you're not very happy."

Xue Shou and Xue Fang both hold official positions in the imperial court. Now they suddenly come to seek refuge with their brother-in-law. It is hard to say that they have no emotions in their hearts.

"There is no way. The world is in chaos."

Li Yun said softly: "If they try to hold on outside, their family will be destroyed. Only Jiangdong can protect them."

"Moreover."

Li Yun touched his wife's hand and said with a smile: "I am not a ferocious person, and I will not harm them. They will just feel uncomfortable when they come to me. After a while, they will get used to it."

Xue Yuner smiled and said, "You are the thief leader."

"My two brothers are both from decent families."

"Those who steal hooks will be punished, and those who steal the country will be martyred."

Li Yun said with a smile: "What's the big deal about being a thief?"

"Strong words."

Xue Yun'er snorted lightly, then asked, "Does my husband want a son or a daughter?"

"Let it happen, let it happen."

Li Yun smiled and said, "They are all the same."

Xue Yuner looked down at her belly and said softly, "But in the eyes of others, it might be..."

“It’s a little different.”

…………It was the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of Zhaoding, and there were only four days left until the end of the year.

On this day, Li Yun was in Li Garden with Du Qian, planning several major events for the next year. When the two were chatting excitedly, Zhou Bi walked in cautiously, bowed to Li Yun and said, "Envoy, there is a family with the caravan, and now they have entered Jinling City. They found the government troops and said they are old friends of the Envoy and want to see you."

"Later, someone from the governor's mansion went to take a look and took the token from the man, saying that they would pass it on to the envoy."

Li Yun waved to Zhou Bi, who immediately stepped forward and handed the token to Li Yun. Li Yun took it and saw that it was a private seal only the size of a thumb nail.

He looked at the engraving on the private seal, but couldn't recognize it for a moment, so he simply found a piece of paper, blew on it, and stamped it on the paper.

Four words suddenly appeared on the paper.

"Seal of Yuanyou."

Li Yun handed the seal to Du Qian, looked down at the four words written on the paper, and said with a smile: "It was him. He cried and shouted to leave Yuezhou, and now he has returned to Jiangdong."

Du Qian recognized the inscribed characters. After reading them, he smiled and said, "It must be the King of Chu."

Li Yun stood up, stretched his body, and said softly: "Since he is an old friend, I will naturally go to see him. Brother Shouyi, will you go with me?"

Du Qian thought about it, shook his head slightly, and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu suddenly appeared in Jinling, and quietly. Even Erlang didn't receive the news in advance. Most likely, there is something important."

"Erlang, go see him first. I'll come back to see him in two days."

Li Yun nodded and said to Zhou Bi, "Please invite this family to Li Garden."

After a pause, he reminded, "Be polite."

Zhou Bi responded and went downstairs.

Li Yun also separated from Du Qian, changed into a black robe, and waited in the main hall for a while. Finally, Zhou Bi came to deliver a message. Then he set off and came to the gate of Li Garden.

There was a carriage parked at the gate of Li Garden. After Li Yun stepped forward, a short young man jumped out of the carriage. When the man looked up and saw Li Yun, he was quite excited. He hurried forward and pulled Li Yun's sleeve.

"Envoy Li, Envoy Li!"

His Royal Highness the King of Chu was so excited that he almost shed tears: "We finally meet again!"

As he said this, a woman and two children jumped out of the carriage.

Two women and three children got out of the carriage at the back.

Obviously, this is the family of His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu.

Li Yun clasped his fists towards him and saluted, "Why did your highness come to Jinling?"

He frowned and asked, "Could it be that His Majesty did not bring Your Highness with him during his western tour?"

"Bullshit Western Tour! Bullshit Western Tour!"

Wu Yuanyou cursed twice, then looked up at Li Yun and sighed: "Envoy Li, I am in trouble now, so I come to you for help."

"Let's talk inside."

Li Yun nodded, stepped aside, and invited the King of Chu and his family into Li Garden. After arranging a place for them to rest, he and Wu Yuanyou sat down in the main hall.

After sitting down, His Royal Highness the King of Chu sighed and said, "Before the late emperor died, he was worried that something might happen to the court, so he drove my family out of the capital, saying that he wanted to leave a bloodline for the royal family."

"Originally, I was going to stay temporarily at my wife's family's home, but I didn't expect that while I was on the way, I heard that something happened to my wife's family. I had nowhere to go, so I could only stay here and there for a while."

"Later, I thought of Envoy Li."

He looked up at Li Yun with eager eyes: "Envoy Li, can you take me in?"

Li Yun was speechless and said, "Your Highness may not know that the rebels have now been defeated and Guanzhong has been restored. It won't be long before the court can return to Guanzhong."

"Your Highness can stay in Jinling temporarily. It won't be too late to return to the capital after the court is restored."

"Recover, what the hell!"

The uncultured Prince of Chu cursed loudly. After cursing for several times, he looked at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "If I go back to Guanzhong, I will die. I plan to settle down with Envoy Li!"

He stood up, pulled Li Yun's sleeve, and looked at Li Yun intently with eager eyes.

"If you succeed in the future, you must give me the position of Second King and Third Ke!"

　Edited it a bit late, sorry!
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(End of this chapter)