Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 104 Diaomin
"Damn it, this bunch of unruly people is simply outrageous!" Liu Zun screamed in anger.

Cao Ji had a half-smile on his face, as if he was gloating.

Another meaning of the folk's tough character is that they are unruly. These people will not act unless they see the rabbit, and will turn around and run away unless they see the money and food.

However, a forced melon is not sweet, and they went to Langya County unwillingly. They might be even more brutal than the bandits. Fortunately, more than a thousand people stayed.

Liu Daogui cleared his throat and said loudly, "Since you all are staying, let me make it clear in advance that we are going to Langya to suppress bandits, not to burn, kill, and plunder. Anyone who harms the people will be subject to military law!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another three or four hundred people left.

The long street suddenly became deserted, with only a few chicken feathers fluttering in the cold wind...

"This damn troublemaker..." Liu Daogui couldn't help but curse.

Cao Ji couldn't help but laugh, "Now you understand the difficulties my Cao family is in, right? These people are not kind people at all."

Liu Daogui had previously focused all his energy on the Eight Towers, leaving the people of the city to their own devices.
But this is not a solution. These people don't pay rent, don't do labor service, and are undisciplined. How can such a good thing happen in this world?

Liu Daogui couldn't cut their flesh and bleed them every time to feed them.

The last battle at Ran's Fort had already left the Cao family with a huge debt...

"I'll deal with them after I've defeated the bandits." Liu Daogui slapped the battlement.

There were still more than seven or eight hundred people left under the city wall. Each of them had a firm look in their eyes and an honest expression. Since they were willing to stay, they must be people who were sincerely convinced.

Liu Daogui felt a little relieved that there were still people willing to follow him.

After bidding farewell to Cao Ji, he led his men to meet up at Qingguang Village.

On Qingguang Village, eight colored flags of yellow, black, white, red, brown, blue, purple and green dot the mountain mist, looking quite majestic.

"Why are there so few people?" Liu Guangzhi came down the mountain to greet them with a surprised look on his face.

The main reason was that the last battle at Ran's Fort was so noisy that we became accustomed to it. We really thought that the people of Yucheng were good people who would stand by us at all costs...

Liu Zun said, "Those unruly people won't go if they don't share their food and can't burn, kill, rape, and plunder."

Liu Guangzhi laughed, "Hahaha, it's human nature. Maybe I ate too much last time."

These words gave Liu Daogui some inspiration. If a person does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. Don't expect people these days to have a high level of awareness.

When it comes to the art of war, teaching and warning come first, and the same is true for the art of governing the people.

At first, the eight buildings were not as good as the people of the city, but didn’t they gradually change?

"It's freezing cold, and it's a long expedition. It's not easy to have so many people following us." Liu Daogui no longer had so much resentment in his heart. After all, there were problems with governance.

Of course, I was busy setting up eight buildings, farming, suppressing bandits, and returning to Guangling, so I didn't have time to take care of this matter.

Liu Guangzhi said: "Quality is more important than quantity. Too many evil spirits will only make a mob."

Liu Daogui agreed. "That's right. From now on, these brothers will be members of our Eighth Building. Register your names, have a good meal tonight, and we'll go out tomorrow!"

Each of the two groups consisted of 400 soldiers, with Liu Guangzhi as the general, and Liu Zun, Liu Heibin and Liu Zhong each leading a group.

Compared with the last battle of Ran's Fort, the soldiers this time were much better equipped, with more than 150 sets of iron armor, and the others were also wearing bamboo armor.

The number of cavalry increased to 370, but half of them were donkeys and mules, grunting and neighing, more excited than the soldiers.

There are no war horses in the Central Plains, but donkeys and mules are everywhere.

Anyone who can afford it will keep one.

Donkeys and mules cannot run long distances as well as war horses, but they eat whatever is available and are not picky about food. They are acceptable as a means of transportation and can be used on the battlefield, at least they should not be a big problem when dealing with bandits.

"March!" Liu Daogui waved his hand. "Kill!" The soldiers roared and slowly advanced to the northeast.

The cold wind was howling and the ice and snow had not melted yet, but the soldiers were full of energy and spirit.

Liu Daogui stayed in Qingguang Village, waiting for news while thinking about how to integrate Lanling.

Although Lanling was initially under his control, it was still a mess, with powerful people occupying one side. He had no idea how many households, young men, and fields there were in the county.

They didn't even know how many forts and cities there were in Lanling.

The population and land controlled by the powerful can be ignored for the time being, but the household registrations scattered across the cities must be clarified.

This is a big undertaking and requires a lot of effort.

There will definitely be resistance. The common people and refugees are used to being idle and definitely don't want anyone to control them.

The officials sent by the court had a bad reputation. The previous county magistrates and prefects bullied men and women as soon as they took office, which aroused the rebellious psychology of the people. In addition, the Jin army on the border killed husbands and kidnapped wives and daughters at will, which caused public outrage.

However, the battle at Ran's Fort gave Liu Daogui some prestige.

It is already commendable that we have seven or eight hundred people following us to assist Langya County this time.

The rest depends on how to teach...

The Eight Buildings had extensive experience in dealing with bandits, and with the cooperation of Liu Muzhi and the people of Langya, they received news of victory in less than ten days.

When the rebel army learned that Ba Chuang had entered Langya County, Cheng Wuxiu and Yan Pingzi, with more than 3,000 troops, came to stop them.

The two armies met at Jiqiu. Liu Heibi and Liu Zun, with twenty-one Tiger Guards, wearing iron armor, rode their horses to charge into the battle.

In one encounter, he killed five leaders of the bandit army, both big and small. The morale of the bandit army was shaken. Liu Muzhi led 700 young and strong men from Kaiyang to support them. All the troops advanced together and the bandit army was defeated. Cheng Wuxiu himself was killed by the tiger guard Meng Ganzhi.

The first battle of Building 8 made a big splash.

Liu Muzhi sent people to return more than one hundred captives and thirteen carts of weapons and armor, including seven sets of iron armor, and thirteen oxen working in front of the carts!

Liu Daogui secretly praised Liu Muzhi for his open-mindedness and felt comfortable working with such a person.

Afterwards, eight groups of troops went up the Yi River and broke into Fei County, using it as a stronghold to block the various bandits.

Liu Muzhi returned to Yangdu and controlled the upper reaches of the Yishui River.

Fei County is located in the southeast of Mengshan Mountain, and Yangdu is located in the south of Taishan Mountain. The two cities, one moving forward and the other westward, are equivalent to cutting off the enemy army's retreat route to the west.

However, the bandits were no ordinary people. They gathered their men and horses, took the common people with them, and marched forward with great force towards Kaiyang, the seat of Langya County.

"This is a strategy of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements!" Liu Daogui saw through the enemy army's intention at a glance.

Kaiyang City is high and the moat is deep, and the bandits have no siege equipment. Even if General Jianwei's Mansion is useless, they still have three to four thousand middle-level soldiers and five to six thousand military households.

There aren't many problems with defense.

"Several leaders think so too." Wu Yantong was born in Wuhuan and was proficient in horse riding. He became a scout and delivered messages back and forth.

In fact, Qingguang Village is very close to Langya. Kaiyang is just across the Cangshan Mountain in the east.

If you don’t want to take the mountain road, you can also take the waterway of Yishui.

Lanling County was separated from Donghai County in the past, and both are located in the southeast of Mount Tai.

There are more than ten thousand bandits invading Langya this time, and it will be difficult to completely wipe them out in a short period of time.

(End of this chapter)