Thief Emperor

Chapter 68 Incredible!
This was the first major battle after Li Yun took over Cangshan Village. In terms of the result, this battle was undoubtedly a great victory.

The number of casualties in the Cangshan stronghold, including the yamen runners and the farmhands, did not exceed ten, while the Shiwang stronghold lost about fifty people, and the village will surely be in chaos because of this!

More importantly, after this battle, Li Yun won the recognition of Lijia Village.

Did the old village chief really agree to let Li Yun recruit people in Lijia Village just because Li Yun asked them to leave the village early?

I'm afraid not necessarily.

Nowadays, bandits are rampant everywhere, especially in Xuanzhou. There are more and more bandits in recent years. Villages like Lijia Village will be like lambs to be slaughtered if they are visited by bandits.

And now, Li Yun has shown the strength of Cangshan Village to Lijia Village. They have enough ability to protect Lijia Village in this world.

Under such circumstances, the old village chief would naturally not object to Li Yun recruiting people from Lijia Village.

After all, the two generations of leaders of Cangshan Village were actually from Lijia Village. In this world, if Lijia Village doesn't rely on Cangshan Village, how can it expect to rely on the government?
In the future, if Lijia Village can side with Li Yun, then Cangshan Dazhai will no longer be just an old nest for Li Yun, but a base!
A base that can provide productivity.

After staying in the village for two or three days and dealing with most of the village affairs, Village Chief Li packed his luggage and prepared to go down the mountain again.

This time, he still brought Li Zheng and Zhang Hu down the mountain. Liu Bo sent them all the way to the gate of the village, and then asked Li Yun: "Second brother, when are you going to Lingyang Mountain? I can make preparations here."

Li Yun looked up at the sky and said, "After this great battle, the Ten Kings Village must be in chaos. We can't delay this matter, otherwise they will stabilize again. By then, even if their strength is greatly damaged, it will not be easy for us to defeat them."

"Within ten days, we will go to Lingyang Mountain to settle accounts with them. I will let Shouhou come back in advance to inform you."

Liu Bo grinned: "I understand, second brother."

"The farmhands at the foot of the mountain are also under your care. Pay more attention to them and select some brave fighters. Increase their monthly wages to two strings of silver."

Liu Bo was startled, but quickly reacted: "Second brother wants them to enter the village?"

"No."

Li Yun shook his head and said, "These are two different groups of people. They can't be confused. But the farmhands must also be able to fight, otherwise it would be a waste of money to hire them. If there are fights or even bloodshed in the future..."

"There are many more."

Liu Bo seemed to understand, but he nodded and said, "I'll remember that, second brother."

Li Yun patted Liu Bo's shoulder, then turned around and took Li Zheng and Zhang Hu down the mountain. After the three of them arrived at Lijia Village at the foot of the mountain, the villagers were no longer afraid of them. Some of the brave ones even came forward to greet them.

The three men rode their horses and rushed back to Qingyang County. Since it was already afternoon when they arrived in Qingyang, they did not go to the county government office. Instead, they found a tavern in the county town and had a drink. It was not until early the next morning that the three men returned to the county government office.

In the county government office, Chen Da was holding the government's standard knife and slashing at the air with both hands. When he saw Li Yun coming back, he quickly sheathed the knife and greeted him with a smile: "Boss, why did you come back only today?"

"I arrived in Qingyang yesterday afternoon, but because it was too late, I didn't come to the county government office."

Li Yun patted Chen Da on the shoulder and asked, "How are the brothers who were injured that day?"

"The one with minor injuries has almost recovered. The one who was seriously injured is now recovering at home. I went to see him yesterday and he is fine for now."

"But it will probably be hard to get out of bed in a year or so."

Li Yun nodded silently, and then ordered: "Take ten strings of money with you this afternoon and deliver it to his home."

The monthly salary of the yamen runners is paid by the household registration office of the county yamen, but the money for the anti-theft team is not paid by that office. After the Gu family donated money, the wealthy families in Qingyang now donate a sum of money to the anti-theft team every month. In addition, the anti-theft team can also get some spoils when suppressing bandits, so now the anti-theft team actually has its own accounts.

The money of the anti-theft team has always been spent by Li Yun. If he doesn't come back, Chen Da and others will not be able to get the money from the anti-theft team.

Chen Dalian responded quickly, and then asked, "Boss, what have you found out in Cangshan these few days?"

"That's what I was going to say."

Li Dutou looked serious and said, "Go and gather all the brothers. I will talk to them later."

"Yes!"

Chen Dalian nodded quickly, then turned around and trotted off to carry out Li Yun's orders.

After half an hour, the Qingyang County's anti-theft team and all the yamen runners gathered in front of Li Yun, but they were not in a neat line and their postures were loose.

These things cannot be corrected in a day or two, and Li Yun had no way to ask about it. After clearing his throat, he said in a deep voice: "Everyone, you should have known about the killing of bandits a few days ago."

"I have been staying near Cangshan Mountain to gather information these days, and finally figured out the thread of events." He squinted his eyes and said, "There is a group of bandits on Cangshan Mountain. You should know that the daughter of the county lord's family was almost kidnapped by the bandits on Cangshan Mountain some time ago. I have been gathering information near Cangshan Mountain during this period of time, just to be able to wipe out the bandits on Cangshan Mountain and avenge the county lord."

"A few days ago, when I was investigating near Cangshan Mountain, I don't know what happened, but the bandits on Cangshan Mountain actually provoked the Ten Kings Camp on Lingyang Mountain, and the two groups started fighting."

"Many of you saw the results of that day."

Li Yun coughed and said, "They both suffered losses."

"According to my investigations over the past few days, the bandits on Cangshan Mountain have been almost completely wiped out. They are no longer a concern and we don't need to bother to wipe them out. The better news is that because the bandits on Cangshan Mountain are so fierce, the bandits on Lingyang Mountain have also suffered heavy losses!"

"The Ten Kings Village on Lingyang Mountain is the largest village in the entire Qingyang territory, and it is also the village with the most bandits. This gang of bandits has been entrenched in Lingyang Mountain for many years, and the evil deeds they have committed are countless."

"Now that the Ten Kings Camp is weak, this is the perfect opportunity to eradicate them. This captain has already decided to gather the anti-theft team and summon the local militia in a few days to wipe out the Ten Kings Camp!"

"Brothers in our county government, except those in the anti-theft team, can also find Chen Da to sign up in the next few days to participate in this anti-bandit campaign. Anyone who dares to fight will be assigned to the anti-theft team."

"We are brothers in the anti-theft team."

Li Yun looked around at everyone and coughed: "If you don't want to participate in this bandit suppression, you can also find Chen Da and write down your name. You will automatically leave the anti-theft team in the future."

There were more than thirty yamen runners in Qingyang, and there were only ten in the anti-theft team. All of them were here at the moment. They cheered when they heard what was going on, and surrounded Chen Da.

Are you kidding? With an extra string of coins every month as monthly wage, these yamen runners’ eyes have turned red in the past few months when they see the people from the anti-theft team!
Chen Da was surrounded in the middle and exclaimed: "Don't be anxious, don't push!"

When Li Dadu saw this scene, he smiled silently, turned around and left, going to the county government's warehouse to look for crossbow arrows.

In the blink of an eye, another two days passed.

On this day, Li Yun was flipping through a book in the county school when he was called to the main hall of the county government office by people from the county government office. At this time, County Magistrate Xue was there, and next to County Magistrate Xue stood a warrior in shorts.

The warrior had a full beard. After calling Li Yun, he stepped forward, clasped his fists, and saluted, smiling and saying, "Are you Captain Li?"

Li Yun clasped his fists in return: "I am Li Zhao, and who are you?"

"I'm the brigade commander of the state, my surname is Du, and I'm here on the orders of Sima Cao to discuss a few matters with Qingyang County."

Li Yun glanced at County Magistrate Xue, who lowered his head and drank tea without saying a word.

Li Dutou seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "What can Sima Cao do that he can find me for?"

"Of course something big is going on."

Commander Du smiled and said, "I heard that Brother Li is planning to suppress the bandits in Lingyang Mountain?"

Li Yun was surprised and asked, "Does the whole state know about this?"

“I just found out about this, too.”

Commander Du still had a smile on his face and said, "Captain Li, it's like this."

"Lingyang Mountain has always been a major threat to our Xuanzhou. Since taking office, Sima Cao has been planning to wipe out the Ten Kings Camp. Now it is almost time to close the net. Sima Cao means that there are too few people in Qingyang. Captain Li should not act rashly and leave the matter to our state."

Li Yun suddenly raised his head and looked at Commander Du, then turned his head to look at Magistrate Xue.

Mr. Xue also glanced at Li Yun, his eyes full of helplessness.

It is obvious that the state does not want to steal the credit from Li Yun.

The officers and soldiers in the state had a hard time conquering the Cangshan Stronghold, let alone the Ten Kings Stronghold. Even if the Ten Kings Stronghold was half-destroyed, they would never be able to take it down!
On the contrary, it was a big shot in the state who wanted to save the Shiwangzhai from Li Yun!

At this moment, Li Yun felt an unprecedented absurdity.

It’s simply unbelievable!
Just when Li Yun was frowning, he heard Brigade Commander Du continue to speak with a smile.

"Also, I heard that Captain Li captured a dozen bandits from the Ten Kings Village. In order to cooperate with Sima Cao to find out the details of Lingyang Mountain, those bandits..."

He looked at Li Yun with a friendly smile on his face, but his tone was clearly unquestionable and had a hint of command.

"I want to take it away."

(End of this chapter)