Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 16 Eighteen Feet and Nine Feet

The fact that they could become leaders of bandit gangs and have dozens of brothers under their command was proof of their abilities in this world. Liu Bei was not worried about their abilities, but only about their attitude.

Therefore, Liu Bei planned to settle down in the area for these men who had pledged their allegiance.

However, it was not the bandit leaders themselves who settled there, but their wives and children.

The land that Liu Bei bought for zero yuan was quite large; the county's land registration document stated it was two thousand mu.

Although they are all barren wastelands, judging by their size alone, they could definitely be considered large landowners.

Most importantly, his land is tax-exempt.

Since it's tax-exempt, whether or not it's thalassemia-prone becomes less important.

No rent or taxes were collected; whoever cultivated the wasteland could cultivate it, but the land still belonged to Liu Bei, and the people on this land had to obey Liu Bei's arrangements.

Although most of these former bandit leaders were used to risking their lives to make a living and were not happy to farm, they at least understood what it meant to not collect rent or taxes.

It doesn't matter how these bandit leaders live in the future; they'll just pretend they're already dead and make a living through force.

But if they have children, and if they wish, they can have Liu Bei adopt one of them as a son, either now or in the future.

And they can decide the child's surname themselves.

Their wives could settle in Shiliting as tenant farmers or weavers, and Liu Bei would not charge them land rent.

Their children could become members of the gentry by virtue of being Liu Bei's adopted sons, and study under Liu Bei's tutelage—after all, Liu Bei was a disciple of Yue Yin, a great Confucian scholar from Hebei, and his lineage was quite prestigious.

There were no other unrealistic promises, nor any talk of vassal loyalty.

They took in the farmers and their children.

This pancake is enough.

Liu Bei's only requirement for them was to obey orders.

To be precise, they only obeyed Liu Bei's orders.

After Liu Bei finished painting a rosy picture, these guys didn't sleep all night. The next day, they asked Liu Bei for leave and went back to pick up their wives and children.

……

In early March, the newly reorganized executioners had a new look.

The former leaders are now all team leaders.

Everyone has now changed their address to Liu Bei as "Young Master".

The spoils that had been divided up earlier were mostly exchanged by the team leaders for weapons and equipment.

Liu Bei didn't bother to acquire any weapons or equipment himself; there was no need. These guys, who were used to risking their lives, would arm themselves.

The only thing missing is armor, because it's simply unavailable for purchase and difficult to manufacture.

After all, once these people returned to their unit, they stopped going out to plunder and instead hunted down those who hadn't returned.

Liu Bei had already recorded the merits of more than sixty heads taken – the squad leaders had indeed killed those treacherous fellows.

No one killed innocent soldiers to claim credit, because the imperial court did not recognize the merits of those who were executed. Liu Bei was recording the merits of his own soldiers to distribute as rewards.

The only problem is that each squad has a different number of members, and two squads are even commanded by a single leader...

But this is normal; if there's no one else, just hire someone.

Although Liu Bei did not have the authority to conscript soldiers at will, the list of executioners was 210 people, but the actual number was only 142. There were so many vacancies.

The wandering knights mostly know where the heroes are, and so do these former bandits.

They also know where there are heroes who have committed crimes.

Now that there are more people, things aren't as inconvenient as before. This unit is now considered an army, and Liu Bei no longer allows them to rob, but he permits them to double-cross each other…

Oh, it's not called "double-crossing" anymore.

Now it's called bandit suppression.

After all, those who had been bandits knew best where the bandits were entrenched in the mountains.

Especially the bandits, they were all easy targets, and Liu Bei encouraged them to suppress the bandits.

However, just as they were starting to look for easy targets, a special situation arose.

"Zhangba, did you really get these two horses from the Hu people?"

Liu Bei looked at a tall, fierce bandit to confirm.

"Really, I figured the Hu people were bandits too, so I headed north to search. I never expected to run into a Hu cavalry caravan halfway there. I stole two horses under cover of night. Luckily, I only have two hands, otherwise I could have gotten a few more..."

The ruthless bandit named Zhangba chuckled and stroked his messy beard.

This guy is nearly ten feet tall, so he's called Zhangba—that's obviously a pseudonym. Pseudonyms and nicknames are usually quite accurate. For example, Zhangba means he's nearly ten feet tall, and Da Mu means he has very big eyes...

Zhang Ba was incredibly strong, but he wasn't the leader of his gang. The leader was his older brother, named Jiu Chi—which was his real name, but Jiu Chi was only a little over six feet tall and was short and stocky…

These are clearly not biological brothers.

Liu Bei was deeply impressed by this group because it was the only one where all members had returned, and it also had the fewest members, only ten in total.

"Zhangba, you can't even ride a horse, so how did you manage to bring a horse back from the Hu people?"

Nine feet tall, he asked his own brothers.

“I led it back. It was done about 30 miles to the north, not far.”

Zhangba continued to chuckle sheepishly.

Liu Bei sensed something was amiss: "Thirty li to the north? That's where the beacon tower is located. How could the Hu people have appeared there? How many Hu people did you encounter? Were they Xianbei or Wuhuan?"

Zhangba scratched his head, looked up at the sky and thought for a moment: "No, it's not that fire platform, it's at the foot of the mountain in the northwest... I can't count how many people there are, probably about the same as here. Um, what is this 'fresh something-ball'?"

“My brother can’t count, and he can’t distinguish between different ethnic groups. My lord, I’ll go and investigate again.”

Hearing that the number of Hu people was roughly the same as the number of executioners, Jiu Chi frowned: "If the Hu people appear in the northwest, they are most likely from Shanggu. We brothers are from Shanggu. If so many Hu people can enter Zhuoxian territory, I'm afraid something big has happened..."

Liu Bei looked at Jiu Chi and saw that he was indeed anxious, so he handed him the reins of both horses: "What you got from the Hu people is your spoils of war. Both horses are yours. Take turns riding them and hurry back."

Jiu Chi bowed his head to Liu Bei in respect, struck his left chest with his right fist, then leaped onto his horse and galloped away.

This short, stocky fellow looks like he's an excellent rider.

"A military salute? A long salute, your elder brother was a soldier?"

Liu Bei was somewhat surprised. Jiu Chi's demeanor was like that of someone who had served as a scout in the army, but he had never shown it before.

"I was one, I was one too..."

Zhang Ba nodded, still looking simple and honest: "But the officials wanted to kill the people from our area, and my elder brother refused, so he ran away."

The other executioners who had returned with Zhang Ba nodded in agreement: "We used to be county soldiers. The military commander killed innocent people and took credit for it, but he ended up killing people in our hometown..."

Most people who become thieves are forced into it, and Liu Bei was not surprised.

Surprisingly, a large group of Hu people suddenly appeared in Zhuo County, which was so close by.

The group of executioners, formed under the pretext of dealing with the Hu threat, actually encountered the Hu threat.

(End of this chapter)