Thief Emperor

Chapter 846 Two Kings
Li Yun has always wanted to recruit He Zhao for his own use. After all, he is currently lacking someone who can give him advice.

If He Zhao is useful, a situation of "He's plans and Du's decisions" may emerge in the future Xin Dynasty.

Hearing this, Mr. He looked up at Li Yun. He thought about it seriously, then smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, the Shuofang Army is now strictly guarding each checkpoint. No one can mobilize the troops in these places. In terms of military affairs, there is very little I can do to help Your Majesty."

At this point, he bowed to Li Yun and said, "One day, the king will enter Guanzhong. If the king doesn't despise me at that time, I will serve the king with all my heart and soul, and die for him."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "Why, you want to wait until the dust settles before placing your bets?"

"Don't dare."

Mr. He took a deep breath and said, "The situation has already been settled. It is only a matter of time before the king unifies the world."

Li Yun looked at him with a smile: "Everyone can say polite words."

"This is not just a polite remark."

Mr. He bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty is a smart man, and there are many smart people around you. Under the current situation, it will take two to three years at the fastest, and three to five years at the slowest."

"In seven or eight years at most, the world will be unified. This is no longer a matter of the battlefield, but a matter of the times and people's hearts."

He lowered his head and said, "I came out of Guanzhong and as soon as I entered the Central Plains, I could clearly feel the difference. The people of the Central Plains have regained their vitality."

"Even now, the people in the Central Plains, which have been through so much war, seem to be living a better life than the people in Guanzhong."

Li Yun looked back at him and said with a smile, "Sir, are you really unwilling to stay in Luoyang?"

"It's not that I don't want to."

He Zhao lowered his head and said, "I have been in the Shuofang Army these years, alone, without a wife or children to tie me down. But I have a younger sister who is currently living in Guanzhong. She is married and has children."

"A family of six or seven people."

Mr. He bowed his head and said, "If I stay in the Central Plains, her whole family will surely die. I really can't bear it."

Li Yun nodded to show that he understood, then smiled and said, "Do you want Jiusi to help?"

He Zhao shook his head slightly and said, "I have already made some arrangements. As long as there is chaos in Guanzhong, I and my sister's family should be able to protect ourselves. Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty has always valued me, and I have no way to repay you."

He took out a prepared document from his sleeve, handed it to Li Yun with both hands, and said with his head down, "Your Majesty should have known that the Shuofang Army has also developed gunpowder and firearms, and has also imitated the Jiangdong Army's thunder bomb. This document records in detail the progress of the Shuofang Army's gunpowder and firearms, as well as their current power."

At this point, He Zhao paused and added: "And the source."

"source?"

Li Yun looked at him, and Mr. He nodded slightly and said softly: "From Jinling Workshop."

Li Yun was startled and asked, "Is this the work of the gentleman?"

He Zhao shook his head slightly: "It's not my responsibility, but I know that Shuofang also has some people who are working in secret, and they have many tricks up their sleeves."

Li Yun took the document, pulled out the papers, and after roughly reading it, he saw several names on the last sheet of paper at a glance.

These names all look familiar, and one of them, Li Yun, is particularly familiar.

He is the management of Jinling Workshop.

These people should all be from the Jinling workshop.

Li Yun put the document into his sleeve and said with a smile: "Sir, these things are very useful to me, but if I touch them, will it affect your safety?"

"No, logically speaking."

Mr. He said calmly, "Because these matters are all handled by Major General Wei Yao, I am just aware of it, and I am not the only one who knows about it."

"It is also possible that the Nine Officials under the King found out on their own. Logically speaking, I should not be held responsible, but I am still afraid."

He sighed softly and said, "I'm afraid the general won't be reasonable."

Li Yun nodded slightly and said with a smile: "I understand. I will not take action against these people before I take Guanzhong."

He Zhao bowed his head deeply: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The two of them chatted for a long time.

But neither of them mentioned Wei Quanzhong's stupid proposal.

Both Li Yun and He Zhao knew very well that such a proposal was not even worthy of discussion.

Li Yun was unwilling to allow Bashu to become an independent country, let alone give up Guanzhong.

Putting aside the 800-li Qinchuan Plain, if Guanzhong were really ceded away and they were still allowed to call it the Great Zhou, I'm afraid there would be countless old and young people who would scramble to get into Guanzhong and become their loyal ministers and filial sons.

Half an hour later, the two returned to the main hall. Li Yun looked at the two and said with a smile, "The suggestions you two brought are very interesting."

"However, it's already late today, and it's hard for me to make decisions on my own. So let's do this."

Li Yun said with a smile: "Tomorrow, I will let the officials of the Ministry of Rites contact you, and then you can have a good chat and discuss it."

The two envoys looked at each other after hearing this. They had no other choice but to bow to Li Yun and leave. After leaving the palace, Chen Song looked at He Zhao and asked in a low voice, "Brother He, what did you say to the King of Wu in private?"

Mr. He smiled bitterly and said, "I told him some bad things about the Hedong Army."

Chen Song widened his eyes and stared at He Zhao in a daze.

Mr. He shook his head slightly: "There is no other way."

"Brother Chen, our two families are not officially one, so we must speak to each other at this time. Otherwise, if King Wu finds out, we will be even more speechless."

Chen Song was skeptical, then asked, "What should we do next?"

"I had no choice but to talk to these officials from the Ministry of Rites in Luoyang."

He Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "What else can I do?"

Chen Song was deep in thought. The two of them left the palace where Li Yun was, one after the other. Not long after they left, Meng Hai appeared in Li Yun's study. He clasped his fists and saluted Li Yun and said, "Sir, what's the hurry?"

Li Yun pointed to a piece of white paper on his desk. On the paper, there were several names written. He said softly, "From Jinling Workshop. Ask Jiusi to check it out."

"Tell the people in charge of the workshop not to alert the enemy, but to transfer them away from important positions and let them... develop fireworks."

Meng Hai took the paper, looked at it, and asked, "Master, are there any problems with these people?"

"Whether there is a problem or not depends on whether you, the Nine Departments, can find out what is wrong."

"But whether there is a problem or not."

Li said with his hands behind his back: "There is no way to use it for the time being."

…………

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The time came to mid-February of the eighth year of Zhaoding.

On this day, another group of people from Jinling arrived in Luoyang.

Among this group of people, a large number were officials from Nanjing who moved to Luoyang to take up official posts.

There is also a small number of people who are more special and were transferred here by Li Yun himself.

Among them, the most typical one is Pei Zhuang, the coach of the Jinling Army.

Pei Zhuang has been teaching military martial arts in the Jinling Army over the years, and he enjoys considerable prestige in the Jinling Army and even the entire Jiangdong Army.

This time, he was invited to Luoyang by Li Yun, and in the future he would most likely be responsible for the training of Luoyang's "Imperial Guards".

In addition to Pei Zhuang, another family was also invited to Luoyang.

This family, including children and women, had more than twenty people in total and they sat in several carriages.

Under the protection of the Jiangdong Army, the family arrived in Luoyang smoothly.

King Wu Li Yun even went to the city gate in person to welcome the family.

At the city gate, Li Yun first stopped Pei Zhuang who was riding on a horse. The two chatted for a long time. When the carriage behind them approached, Li Yun patted Pei Zhuang on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Let's stop here for today. When I have time one day, I will have a good chat with Brother Pei."

Pei Zhuang grinned and said, "I'm afraid the king doesn't have time to pay attention to a warrior like me now."

Li Yun said seriously: "If I say yes, then yes."

As he was talking, a fat middle-aged man jumped out of the first carriage among the several carriages behind him. After seeing Li Yun from a distance, he trotted to Li Yun and bowed to him respectfully: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Li Yun quickly reached out to support him and said in a daze, "What are you doing, Your Highness?"

"Are you trying to put me in an unjust position?"

At this time, the only person who could be on good terms with Li Yun and be called "Your Highness" by him was naturally the King of Chu, Wu Yuanyou.

His Royal Highness the King of Chu straightened up, looked up at Li Yun, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is too modest, too modest."

"From Jinling to Luoyang, we have come a long way. Although we cannot say that it was a peaceful and prosperous time, at least..."

“It’s not messy anymore.”

His Royal Highness the King of Chu said with emotion: "Your Majesty, you are really capable, really capable."

Li Yun turned aside, pointed to Luoyang City behind him, and said with a smile: "Back in Jiangdong, I said that I would give Your Highness the position of Second King and Third Ke. Now, I have invited Your Highness here."

"From now on, our two families will probably live here permanently."

His Royal Highness the King of Chu bowed to Li Yun again. He looked up at Luoyang City and sighed with emotion.

"Your Majesty is truly a trustworthy person."

(End of this chapter)