Thief Emperor

Chapter 483 Building the Core
After Li Yun used gunpowder to capture Yangzhou, this thing had actually attracted the attention of some forces. At that time, some people were inquiring about this thing openly or secretly.

The last time in Chuzhou, the appearance of gunpowder cloth bags made this thing appear in front of the world again. Although it was not particularly amazing, it had played a considerable role on the battlefield.

At present, in a time of chaos, everyone is desperately trying to enhance their combat effectiveness. The appearance of such a thing will naturally attract the attention of some interested people, especially those forces that have already established their own territory.

Therefore, since the last Battle of Chuzhou, people have been trying to find the source of gunpowder in Jinling.

Someone had previously wanted to secretly take the gunpowder out of the workshop. After all, with the real thing, it would be relatively easier to deduce the formula.

And now, more people are approaching the workshop in large numbers, wanting to take things out of Li Yun's workshop.

Li Yun still attaches great importance to this.

He knew that once this thing came out, it would be unrealistic to suppress it completely, after all, it would leak out sooner or later.

Moreover, if someone gets the real gunpowder, they can think of it as a Taoist priest, look through the alchemy book, and want to copy it. It won't be too difficult.

In order to monopolize the gunpowder, at least for a few years, Li Yun specially asked Liu Bo, who had just returned from Jiangbei, to pay attention to this matter. Liu Bo was also very reliable. It didn't take long for him to catch more than a dozen spies who were planning to get the gunpowder.

Liu Bo was very happy to hear that Li Zheng was coming back. He smiled and said, "I haven't seen him for about a year."

In the past, the three brothers were almost inseparable and stayed together all the time. Even when Li Yun later went to Qingyang to work as a yamen runner, Li Zheng always stayed by Li Yun's side.

But now, the territory has expanded and there are many things to do. Liu Bo is in charge of the Nine Departments, and Li Zheng is a general, leading his troops to the south of Jiangdong to "expand the territory" for Li Yun.

The three brothers haven't met each other for a long time.

Li Yun pulled Liu Bo to sit down, and Liu Su beside him quickly made tea for the two of them. Li Yun looked at Liu Bo and said with a smile: "The last time he came back, your sister-in-law introduced him to a girl from a wealthy family. He will be married when he comes back at the end of the year. You are not young anymore, have you thought about your own affairs?"

As everyone gets older, starting a family becomes the top priority for them. Moreover, in this era, for Liu Bo and Li Zheng, starting a family is not just a personal matter, but also a political consideration.

If Li Yun is the core of the current Jiangdong Group, then his two brothers who grew up together are actually also part of the core of the Jiangdong Group.

In other words, on the political level, they cannot be considered independent individuals, but rather a part of Li Yun, just like Li Yun's outstretched hands, feet, ears and eyes.

As the core of a new political group, the members cannot be too small.

Otherwise, if the life span was shorter, it would be very likely that it would be like the Later Zhou Dynasty in another world. Even if it had achieved great achievements, they would disappear in just a few years.

And if this core circle is strong enough, it can ensure that the core of Jiangdong Group will not shift to others.

Therefore, in another world, any dynasty that can last for a long time either has a relatively prosperous family when its founder starts the business, or creates a prosperous family for himself like Zhu Taizu after being in power for 30 years.

Moreover, once it is accomplished, he will immediately start conferring titles on the clan kings.

The purpose is to make this trunk stronger. After all, no matter how great the power is, it needs people to carry it. Talent is the foundation. If it relies on only one or two people, the foundation may not last long.

Liu Bo scratched his head first, then said with a smile: "Second brother, you should take care of Shou Hou's matter first. There is no rush for my matter."

"Now Jiusi is very busy every day. I run around here and there and don't have time to think about these things."

Li Yun looked at him, lowered his head to drink tea and said: "You can think about it when you have some free time."

“This is not a small matter,” he warned.

Liu Bo nodded and said, "I'll remember that, second brother."

Li Yun did not embarrass him. He pulled him to sit down and discussed many things about the Nine Departments. When he finished talking, Li Yun smiled and said to him, "After the New Year, the Nine Departments will start to expand to the west."

"West?"

Liu Bo was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Second brother, are you talking about the Central Plains or Guanzhong?"

"Someone has to be there."

Li Yun lowered his head and drank his tea, saying, "I'll give you double the original amount."

"Go recruit the staff yourself."

He said calmly, "The Nine Departments need to be established. I only have one request, and that is to keep it simple and clear. For now, you can figure it out by yourself. If you really can't figure it out, I will help you build the Nine Departments completely."

Liu Bo nodded quickly and said, "I have been thinking about this. During this period, I have tried to recruit several scholars into the Nine Departments and was thinking about how to build up the Nine Departments' hierarchy."

"This matter needs to be done, but there is no need to be too anxious. It needs to be done more carefully." Liu Bo responded with yes.

The two brothers drank tea for a while, and Li Yun suddenly remembered something and said with a smile: "Oh, there is a wealthy businessman named Qin in Yangzhou. When we were in Yangzhou, his family seemed to have a good attitude. When Jiusi was set up in Jiangbei, his family also made a lot of efforts."

"Old Nine, why don't you see if there is anyone suitable in the Qin family and marry into their family."

"Now that Jiangdong has grown, the entire Yangzhou is in our hands. As long as you ask, their family will never object."

When talking about the Qin family, Liu Bo looked a little strange.

At the beginning, the initial establishment of the Jiusi had some relationship with the Qin family. Later, Li Yun left Yangzhou, but Liu Bo stayed in Yangzhou and he lived in the Qin family.

"Second brother, this matter..."

"I'll do it myself."

Li Yun looked at his expression and suddenly smiled: "It seems that I was right. Are you interested in a young lady from the Qin family?"

"Ah."

Liu Bo nodded and said, "But I don't feel comfortable forcing her with my power."

"That's up to you."

Li Yun did not force him. With his mindset, he would not force anyone on personal feelings. So he changed the subject and said with a smile, "Did you see Zhou Bi this time when you came back? This guy used to look stupid, but now he's much smarter."

Hearing this, Liu Bo laughed out loud: "He used to follow his uncle, so of course he was a little stupid, but now that he follows his second brother, he is slowly becoming smarter."

When the two brothers talked about the old people and old things on Cangshan Mountain, they couldn't help laughing.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was the end of the second year of Zhaoding.

Li Zheng, who was leading troops in the south, finally returned to Jinling again.

Li Yun was very happy to see him, and he called Liu Bo over that day. The three brothers got together and drank happily, and they all got drunk.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xue Song and his son, who were working in Luzhou, also took a carriage back to Jinling to celebrate the New Year. Li Yun went to the door to greet his father-in-law. As soon as Xue Song got off the carriage, he couldn't help but say, "This year is really strange. There was such a heavy snow in Jiangnan. Many roads were blocked."

Because of the heavy snow, Mr. Xue had suffered a lot on the way. When he looked up and saw his daughter and son-in-law, Mrs. Xue, and a group of grandchildren coming to the door to greet him, he couldn't help but smile, and all the fatigue in his body disappeared completely.

Everyone came forward and greeted Mr. Xue.

Madam Xue looked at Master Xue with a frown on her face. "Da Lang sent me a letter saying that you had four young and beautiful maids serving you in Luzhou. How come you didn't bring them back with you this time?"

Mr. Xue was somewhat henpecked, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of all the younger generations, so he turned around and glared at his eldest son Xue Shou, then coughed, pretending to be nonchalant, looked at Li Yun, and said with a smile: “The war in Jiangbei, I have heard many people mention it, and the business of my son-in-law is getting bigger and bigger.”

He stroked his beard and was about to speak. Li Yun looked at his mother-in-law's face and pretended not to hear. Instead, he pulled Xue Shou aside and said with a smile, "Brother, you have worked hard this year."

Xue Shou shook his head and said, "I used to be a deputy driver in the imperial court. Now I am in Luzhou, so I am back to my old job. I can help my father with some things, so it is not hard work."

Li Yun smiled and said, "After the New Year, will you go to Luzhou?"

Xue Shou understood the meaning of Li Yun's words. He looked at Li Yun thoughtfully and asked, "What does Erlang mean?"

"Brother, you should know that I have acquired four new states in Jiangbei this year, and they are all in need of chief officers."

Among the six prefectures in northern Jiangbei, Luzhou and Yangzhou were the ones Li Yun had already occupied, so they could not be considered new acquisitions.

He looked at Xue Shou and said with a smile: "Brother, are you willing to serve as the chief official in one of the states?"

Xue Shou looked at Li Yun, hesitated for a moment, and nodded, "Which state does Erlang want me to go to?"

"Haozhou."

Li Yun looked at Xue Shou and said with a smile: "After the New Year, my elder brother can be appointed as the governor of Haozhou."

(End of this chapter)