Thief Emperor

Chapter 109 The Black Dragon Mountain that went down in history!

During the period of suppressing bandits in Shidai, although Li Yun did not follow all the time, Zhou Liang, Zhang Hu and others did.

Li Yun asked Zhou Liang to bring the book of killing bandits. He flipped through it page by page, and then spent a whole night personally counting the number of bandits who had killed the most bandits.

At this time, Li Yun...or the administrative ability of Cangshan Dazhai was still very rough. Except for a few subordinates who fought bravely and were seen by Li, he could not see the performance of most other people during the bandit suppression.

Therefore, he could only use this simplest method to select grassroots officers.

Whoever kills more bandits will come up.

By the next day, Li Yun had selected more than twenty people. There were more than three records of people killed in the accounts of these people. They were considered to be active elements who had performed relatively well in the Shidai bandit suppression campaign.

The next day, Li Yun called these twenty-odd people to an open space separately. He sat in the front row of the group and asked everyone to sit directly on the ground.

Li Dutou stretched his body first, then looked at everyone and said with a smile: "Everyone, when you followed me to fight the bandits, I promised you that as long as you don't run away privately, don't do anything wrong, and make some contributions to the fight against the bandits, I will allow you to make up for your crimes."

"Now, the bandit situation in Shidai has basically been resolved."

Li Dutou lowered his eyebrows and said, "You are all people who have made contributions. I will not break my promise, and I will not throw you into prison for some merits of the court."

"Now, if you want to leave, stand up. I will give you ten strings of cash and you can go."

What Zhou Liang meant was to let Li Yun confess his identity to these people, let them know that Li Yun was the leader of the Cangshan Stronghold and also a member of the Green Forest Road, so that they would believe that Li Yun would not harm them.

Furthermore, truly conquer these people and make them your subordinates.

However, after thinking about it for a night, Li Yun felt that this matter was a bit too abrupt. After all, although his power had expanded several times, it was not yet at the level where he could fight against the government.

Therefore, the fewer people know about your official identity, the better.

If one wants to completely subdue these people and make them follow one's own work, or to make them believe that Li Yun, a government official, will not harm them again, there is undoubtedly a simpler way.

Just let them go.

Sure enough, when Li Yun said this, everyone present was shocked. Some impatient bandits simply stood up and looked up at Li Yun.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Li... Li Dutou, are you really going to let us go?"

"Yes, are you really letting us go?"

Someone asked, "Will the government catch up with us and kill us if we turn around and leave?"

"You go on your own."

Li Dutou smiled and said, "Some of you came early. We have been fighting bandits together for two months. When have I ever killed anyone for no reason?"

"Of course you can leave, and I'll give you the money, but let's make it clear in advance."

"After you leave the anti-theft team, you will still be unregistered in the imperial court. I will not register you with the government. Whether you can have an official status depends on your own fate."

"If you still want to go up the mountain and become a bandit, I won't stop you, but I advise you to run away and not do this business in Xuanzhou, otherwise I will continue to suppress bandits in Xuanzhou. I'll see you next time."

"I won't show mercy anymore."

After he finished speaking, someone stood up and started to leave.

Li Yun pressed his hand, motioning him to sit down. After the man sat down, Li Dutou continued, "Let me tell you about another situation."

"Although you have redeemed your sins, you can still choose to stay. All of you here have made contributions to the suppression of bandits. If you stay, you will be the captain of the anti-theft team in the future. Each of you can manage five to ten people."

"I will pay you later."

At this point, Li Yun paused and continued, "If you continue to make contributions in the future, you can continue to move up."

There was a young man who looked only about 17 or 18 years old. He was sitting not far in front of Li Yun. He had been keeping his head down and didn't say anything. Only after hearing this did he look up at Li Yun and said, "Captain Li, even if we don't leave, this bandit..."

"Can we keep suppressing it?"

After all, suppressing bandits is just a temporary project, and these bandits are the most clear about this.

In the past, it might only take the government army ten days or half a month to suppress bandits. Now, with the help of this Captain Li, they have been suppressing bandits for several months. In the future, even if we want to suppress the bandits in the entire Xuanzhou, it will only take one or two years at most.

Where should these people go after one or two years?
Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "There are still eight or nine counties in Xuanzhou that need to be cleared out. We can do Xuanzhou alone for at least one or two years. As for one or two years later."

Li touched his chin and continued, "If you have made contributions and don't want to be in the anti-theft team anymore, you can leave. I will try my best to give you an official identity so that you can start a new life from now on."

"If you want to stay in the Anti-Theft Team, you can continue to stay in the Anti-Theft Team."

Mr. Li said calmly, "Now there are bandit problems everywhere in the Great Zhou. Our suppression of bandits does not necessarily have to be limited to Xuanzhou. By then, there may be other places that need us."

Li Yun's words about the "future" were vague, but his promise after the suppression of Xuanzhou was made very clear.

At that time, they can still leave, and they will have a legitimate official identity and can get money.

That's enough.

The young man sitting in front of Li Yun looked up at Li Yun and gritted his teeth and said, "Captain Li, I want to continue to fight you."

"We must continue to follow Li Dutou!"

More than twenty people followed suit and shouted.

Li Yun did not speak. After they had been making a lot of noise for a while, he looked at the young man in front of him and said with a smile, "What's your name?"

"My last name is Deng."

"Deng Yang."

"Good boy."

Li Yun stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Okay, those who are willing to stay can go to Zhou Liang to record their names. We will stay in the Black Dragon Village for ten days."

"Within ten days, you must organize your own teams. Each person must lead at least five people and at most ten people." At this point, Li continued, "Three months later, I will select several captains from among you. Each captain will lead five teams. I will establish new household registrations for these captains and increase their salaries."

"From now on, I will be completely cleared of all charges and no longer be a bandit!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone cheered.

Li Yun pressed his hands and continued, "Today, let's continue drinking and eating meat. I have asked someone to go down the mountain to buy livestock."

A group of people stood up, cheered a few times, and went there happily.

After they all left, a man in his twenties or thirties finally stayed. He looked at Li Yun and whispered, "Li... Li Dutou."

Li Yun also looked at him and asked with a smile, "Are you leaving?"

The man nodded and said, "I... I was kidnapped and taken to the mountains. In order to survive, I... I followed them and became a bandit. I have parents at home."

"Since you, Captain Li, said that I have redeemed my sins, I...I want to go back and take a look."

Li Yun nodded first, then asked with a smile: "What's your name?"

When the man heard this, his face suddenly changed. He looked up at Li Yun with a somewhat flustered expression.

Mr. Li smiled dumbly: "Don't worry, I don't intend to embarrass you."

"In this world, many people are helpless. If you want to go home, then go home."

Mr. Li said calmly, "Wait a minute, go get the money from Uncle Zhou, and then you can go down the mountain."

"Don't tell anyone about the anti-theft team. If you tell them, the government might arrest you."

The man thanked Li Yun profusely and kowtowed to him, saying, "My parents are well in my hometown. I will come back to serve the governor."

After he got up, he turned around and was about to leave. After a while, he turned back to look at Li Yun and took a deep breath: "My surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Sheng."

Li Yun waved at him.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Feng Sheng wiped away the tears with his sleeve, not knowing whether they were from excitement or sadness, and turned away.

Mr. Li stood there, looked at his back and smiled.

"Among the bandits..."

“There are many stories.”

…………

Three days later, the list of squad leaders was basically finalized. Zhou Liang took the list to see Li Yun. After placing the list in front of Li Yun, he said, "Village leader, we have selected twenty-eight people and kept twenty-four."

"Four people are leaving."

Li Yun nodded and said with a smile: "This ratio is not easy enough. Let those who should leave go."

"Third Uncle, you will temporarily lead the remaining captains. Tell them to take good care of the people in their team. If anyone runs away or betrays, they will be held responsible."

"Don't worry about this village chief."

Zhou Liang said with a serious expression: "I will take good care of them."

Li Yun confirmed the list again, then walked out of the room and looked at the 160 to 70 "bandit soldiers" on the open ground. They had gathered into small groups according to their teams.

Zhou Liang stood behind Li Yun, looking at these people, and sighed softly: "Village leader, these can no longer be considered bandits."

Li Yun looked back at Zhou Liang and said with a smile: "What is that?"

"army."

Zhou Liang said slowly: "There is already a rudimentary form of an army, but it has not yet been formed."

Li Yun stroked his chin and thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Uncle San has been in the army before, right?"

Zhou Liang's expression changed slightly, and then he fell silent.

Li Yun smiled and didn't ask any further questions.

Everyone has his or her own story, especially those who have become bandits, whose stories are often more exciting than those of ordinary people.

Just when Li was about to change the subject, Chen Da and Huang Yong came running over. They also looked at the bandits who were organized by their own captain, then looked up at Li Yun and reported: "Boss, the Xuanzhou government sent someone to Shidai to deliver a message, saying that they want to invite you back to Xuanzhou, someone wants to see you..."

"Return to Xuanzhou?"

Village Chief Li touched his chin, looked at Chen Da, and asked, "How did they know that we were in Black Dragon Mountain?"

"Boss, we haven't moved for half a month."

Chen Da scratched his head: "How did you know that?"

Li thought about it, then turned back to look at Zhou Liang and said with a smile: "Uncle San, after reorganizing here, you, Li Zheng and your family will continue to fight the bandits with them."

"Chen Da and I will go to Xuanzhou to take a look."

He spoke very cryptically, using the word "family members".

Zhou Liang understood and saluted.

"Yes, Li Dutou."

(End of this chapter)