Thief Emperor

Chapter 36 The first battle!
Chen Da tried his best to persuade the yamen runners, but in the end only eight of them were willing to join Li Dadu's anti-theft team and follow him into the mountains to suppress the bandits.

But it doesn’t matter.

The fewer the yamen runners, the easier it would be for him to operate behind the scenes.

After writing down the names one by one, Chief Li personally trained them for a few days.

On the third day, the training of the great leader Li came to an end. He looked at the eight people in front of him, coughed, and said, "Brothers, the county magistrate is very supportive of our anti-theft team. Today, I can take you to the warehouse to get armor."

"Although the mountain bandits are fierce, they don't have many bows and crossbows. With armor, as long as we are brave, there will be no risk."

Village Chief Li patted his chest and shouted, "Remember, just follow me!"

At this point, he coughed and continued, "There are a large number of bandits, and our county yamen's people have to maintain the law and order in the city, so we can't send them all out. Therefore, in addition to our county yamen runners, we also need to recruit some local militia. I will take care of this matter, so don't worry about it."

"I have two fellow villagers who want to join us in fighting the bandits. Let me introduce them to you brothers."

After saying that, Li shouted, and Zhang Hu and Li Zheng came out from the side and clasped their fists to the group of yamen runners.

Because everyone spoke with a Qingyang accent, no one doubted where Zhang Hu and Li Zheng came from.

After all, who could have thought that since arriving in Qingyang, he has repeatedly fought against bandits, and now he is forming an anti-bandit team. Li Dutou, who is irreconcilable with bandits, would bring two bandits into the anti-bandit team?

The process of Zhang Hu and the other person joining the team went very smoothly. After everyone got to know each other, Li Dadutou announced his decision.

"Brothers, I have already found out the exact locations of the two strongholds. Tomorrow morning, we will gather at the gate of the county town and go out of the city to suppress the bandits!"

At this point, he said in a deep voice: "Today, I will give you brothers one string of silver. If anyone dies in the hands of the bandits or becomes disabled and unable to move when you go out of the city to suppress the bandits, the government won't pay you, but I will pay you 20 strings of silver myself!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone cheered.

In this world, regardless of whether there is pension or not, it is already extremely difficult to get a single string of money.

After sending away the yamen runners, Li Yun took Zhang Hu and others to the storehouse to get the sabers. On the way, he looked back at Zhang Hu and said with a smile: "Old Eight probably doesn't know yet, but the Gu family is looking for you everywhere."

Zhang Hu scratched his head.

"Second brother, what do they want from me?"

"I want revenge on you."

Village Chief Li grinned and said, "You beat those uncle and nephew a lot in those few days."

Zhang Hu then smiled and said, "It's okay. My hair was disheveled at that time, so they probably wouldn't recognize me when they saw me."

The three men talked as they arrived at the warehouse. Li Dadutou brought out two sets of knives for the two men and handed them to them, saying calmly, "These are official knives. The government office will count them and return them on time. Don't lose them."

Zhang Hu took it in his hand, pulled it out and looked at it for a few seconds without saying anything. After walking out of the warehouse, he grinned and said, "Second brother, there are many knives like this for sale by those who deal in things. We have two or three in our village."

Li Yun laughed and didn't respond.

It is normal for people in the government to resell things.

As the three people were about to leave the county government office side by side, a woman's voice was heard.

"Li... Li Dutou."

Li Yun turned around and saw a little maid about fifteen or sixteen years old waving at him not far behind him.

The head of the Li family patted the thin monkey Li Zheng on the shoulder and ordered: "You two go back first, I will go and see what's going on."

Li Zheng was smart and nodded: "Got it."

After the two of them left, Li Yun walked up to the little maid and said with a smile, "Miss Dong'er, what's the matter?"

Dong'er handed the two books in her hand to Li Yun and said, "My young lady saw Li Dutou reading a book, so she picked out two books and asked me to give them to Li Dutou."

She paused and continued, "This is the master's collection of books. Li Dutou, remember to return it after reading it, otherwise the master will be angry."

Li Yun reached out to take it and took a look at the cover.

The first one is called Summary of National History.

The second book is called Shi Tao Miscellaneous Notes. After reading two or three pages, I found that it was a set of notes for an official. The author was named Shi Tao Lao Ren, and he had been in officialdom for a long time.

However, the records should have happened decades ago. The contents of these two books are what Li Yun urgently needs to read now. He did not refuse. After reaching out to take them, he bowed slightly and said, "Please take them back for me. Thank you very much, Miss Xue."

Dong'er responded, hesitating for a while before saying, "Also, my lady asked..."

"Doctor Li doesn't live in the county government office anymore?"

"Yes."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I was just staying temporarily in the county government office. Now that I'm going to live in Qingyang for a long time, I naturally need a place to live. I rented a small courtyard in the county town."

Dong'er nodded.

Li Yun looked at her and said, "Miss Dong'er, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

"There are still many things that need me to do."

Dong'er nodded gently, looked at the book in Li Yun's hand, and said, "Captain Li, don't forget to come back and return the book, otherwise the young lady and I will be scolded."

Books were very valuable in this era, especially the miscellany, which was a handwritten copy and might even be a unique copy that ordinary people could not get access to.

Li Yun also knew this truth, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will send it back immediately after I finish reading it."

…………

The next day, Li Yun left Qingyang County with eight yamen runners and two brothers.

With so many people, there were naturally no horses. The group walked on the official road for about two days and finally arrived at a mountain range.

Li Yun was walking in the front. As the group was on their way, Chen Dayi felt something was wrong. He stepped forward silently and whispered, "Boss, are we being watched?"

Li Yun looked back at him and said with a smile, "Why do you ask?"

Chen Da whispered, "For the past twenty miles, we have always been ahead of those people. It seems like they are following us on purpose..."

"There are also occasional movements in the mountains and forests on both sides."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Since they are in front of us, how can they be following us? We should be following them. You are a good kid, you are alert."

"However, the few people in front are the helpers I found. They have already found the location of the village and are leading the way for us."

"Just follow me."

Chen Da finally felt relieved and followed Li Yun obediently.

It was not until evening that the group arrived at a mountain path entrance. The people leading the way finally stopped. Village Chief Li rushed over and saw that the person leading the way was none other than Liu Bo, the ninth leader of Cangshan Village!

When Li Yun got closer, Liu Bo pulled him aside, looked up at the mountain path in front of him, and whispered, "Second brother, this is it."

"Black Crow Mountain."

Liu Bo whispered, "I found it according to my second brother's instructions. This is the most unrefined village near Cangshan Mountain. Not only do they like to come down the mountain to rob girls, but also..."

"Those who are snatched up won't survive even ten days. That old man in the village loves to torture and kill little girls the most."

Village Chief Li looked up at the mountain path and asked, "How many people are there?"

"More than twenty."

Liu Bo whispered, "Two people from our village were lying on the slope near their village last night. Now, almost all the people from their village are inside the village."

Li Yun said "hmm", stretched his muscles, and his joints made sounds. He said slowly, "After that, be ruthless."

"understood."

After explaining everything to Liu Bo, Li Yun returned to the yamen runners and said in a deep voice: "The bandits' lair is on the mountain. Cheer up and go up the mountain with me!"

When these words were spoken, all the yamen runners were stunned.

When our army is suppressing bandits, shouldn't we...

Wait till daytime?

(End of this chapter)