The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Li Chengye felt the voice was familiar, but couldn't immediately recognize who it was.

"I am Xu Youlu!"

"Huh? Xu Youlu!"

Li Chengye was taken aback and quickly stepped forward.

Although Xu Youlu in my memory was not handsome, he was always neatly dressed; the man in front of me was even more destitute than the average refugee, barely clothed, sallow-faced and emaciated, and one of his legs seemed to be lame.

Li Chengye hurriedly helped him into a room, had someone help him wash up, and then served him food.

Xu Youlu must have been hungry for some time. He grabbed some food and stuffed it into his mouth, but after a few bites, he choked. Li Chengye quickly handed him some water, afraid that he might choke and get seriously injured.

"Mr. Xu, how did you end up in such a state?" Li Chengye looked at the emaciated Xu Youlu in front of him. "When Chief Wang invited me to join forces last time, I specifically asked the person who came about you, and he said you were still in his camp."

Xu Youlu swallowed a mouthful of dry rations with difficulty, and sighed deeply: "Alas... to tell you the truth, Chief Wang... is gone!"

"What?!" Li Chengye's heart skipped a beat.

Xu Youlu took a breath and recounted his experiences over the past few months in detail.

As the grain official, he always followed Wang Er.

When Yijun suffered a crushing defeat, Wang Er took him with him. Later, when Yichuan joined forces with Hong Jiliang, he followed him all the way. Therefore, he was most aware of Wang Er's situation.

That day, under the walls of Luochuan City, Wang Er's brigade was attacked at night by Mao Hulu's soldiers and was routed in an instant.

Although Wang Er was frightened, he was not completely panicked, after all, he had experienced a similar situation once before in Yijun.

He immediately led his close followers and old camp of about a hundred men and retreated in the dark towards the mountains to the south.

"But those Mao Hulu soldiers are truly unstoppable," Xu Youlu's voice was hoarse, "They are even more ferocious than the government cavalry under Yijun City. Although they are not as fast as cavalry, they are even more desperate in battle. They disregard scattered fleeing refugees and focus their attacks on groups of people moving together."

Wang Er's men were scattered during the pursuit, and in the end, only Xu Youlu and four or five other men remained by his side.

Even so, they managed to find an opportunity to temporarily escape the pursuers' reach.

The group traveled 30 to 40 li overnight and arrived at a village in a mountain valley, where they planned to rest for a while.

Who knew that there was a scholar named Liu in the village who organized a local militia.

When the villagers saw them, they pretended to invite them to the village to drink water, but secretly informed Liu Xiucai.

Wang Er sensed something was wrong while drinking water and tried to escape, but they were already surrounded. Helpless, the group fled into a woodshed.

The enemy pressured them to come out and surrender, but Wang Er naturally refused. During the stalemate, the enemy threatened to set fire to the woodshed.

Several men broke through the wall and rushed out desperately. In the chaos, Wang Er was hit by an arrow and could no longer run. He was eventually caught up by the local militia, who beheaded him and left.

"I and two other soldiers managed to escape and fled into the mountains, where we got separated." Xu Youlu's eyes became somewhat vacant, clearly recalling his past experiences. "I stumbled and walked in the mountains for more than ten days, broke my leg climbing the mountain, and was so hungry that I was barely human."

Later, I heard that you, Brother Li, were active in the surrounding area, so I wanted to come and seek refuge with you, but I couldn't find you anywhere. In the end, I had no choice but to beg for food among the refugees along the way. After some time, I heard that you had captured Yanchang County, so I struggled all the way here to find you.”

Li Chengye never expected that Wang Er, the leader of a generation of rebels, would die at the hands of a few villagers.

Indeed, engaging in rebellion means risking your life; you never know when you might die a violent death.

"Mr. Xu," he turned to Xu Youlu, "what are your plans for the future?"

Xu Youlu gave a wry smile: "What plans do I have? I just need to survive. I wonder if Brother Chengye... would you be willing to take me in?"

"Why not!" Li Chengye immediately said, "I'd be delighted if Mr. Xu would come to join me. My army is short of someone to manage documents, accounts, and provisions, so Mr. Xu can resume his old profession here with me."

At this moment, Luo Dai stepped forward to ask when they would set off, and was also very surprised to see Xu Youlu.

After hearing about Xu Youlu's plight, he said, "Mr. Xu, you've come at the right time! These days, he's been keeping all the accounts himself, which has exhausted him. Your arrival will be a great help in relieving him of this burden."

"Yes," Li Chengye nodded, then explained, "The rations we brought when we left the mountains a few days ago are almost gone, and we're about to make some again. Mr. Xu, could you please help us with that?"

"Okay." Xu Youlu understood that this was an introductory test and readily agreed.

Compared to when they could only roast millet in the mountains, they now have much more resources, including rice, wheat, and plenty of flour. So they roast the flour directly, adding some coarse sugar they found at the shop. After stir-frying with oil, the calorie content is even higher, making it more energizing.

Seeing that all the preparations were gradually in place, Li Chengye summoned Li Luo to his side.

"Remember that thing you mentioned before?" Li Chengye said in a low voice. "Make the arrangements in the next two days. We'll be leaving soon."

"Okay, I understand."

Li Luo responded.

Afterwards, Li Luo left the county government office and went straight to the prison. He asked the two guards stationed there, "How has the situation been inside these days?"

"Sigh, it's the same as always," the jailer replied.

"No different from before?"

"They dare not curse openly anymore, but you can still hear them whispering at night."

"Let them scold us. We deserve a few scoldings for what we've done," Li Luo said dismissively. "Give me the key. We're leaving the day after tomorrow. Before we leave, I'll go in and take a look."

He took the key, held up an oil lamp, and entered the cell.

The county government prison was located next to the government office, with a very narrow entrance, and a damp and rotten smell hit you in the face.

The hushed conversation immediately fell silent as the light shone in.

Li Luo took a few steps inside, and the dim yellow light of the oil lamp illuminated the fence.

There were four people imprisoned in the cell: the county magistrate Yu Shideng, the garrison commander Liu Hongjian, the merchant Wang Chongyi, and Su He.

Originally, Li Chengye only intended to release Yu Shideng to serve as a witness for Su He, but Li Luo suggested that releasing only the two of them would be too conspicuous, so they were all locked up together.

Li Luo scanned the crowd and asked, "You all must have thought things through these past few days. Is there anyone willing to join us?"

The cell was silent; no one answered.

Li Luo had already anticipated this outcome; he had tested him several times over the past few days. He said no more, but simply picked up the oil lamp in his hand, pretending that it was not working and he needed to adjust it, and shook it left and right three times.

This was a pre-arranged code with Su, indicating that the operation was imminent and the time to escape was approaching.

Upon seeing this, Su He's eyes suddenly lit up.

He suddenly spoke, his voice impassioned: "Our Great Ming Dynasty has stood for over two hundred years, a glorious and illustrious nation! We, as officials guarding our land and gentry protecting our communities, how can we submit to you bandits and join the ranks of traitors!"

Everyone in the prison was taken aback, and they all looked at Su He, their eyes conveying the same meaning:

Brother, I never knew you were so brave!

Yu Shideng, standing to the side, even looked worried, fearing that Li Luo might become enraged and harm them.

As expected, Li Luo's face darkened, and he said in a harsh voice, "Stubborn fools! Don't think that just because we've shown you some leniency, you can take advantage of us. If you continue to be so ungrateful in a few days, we won't waste our food feeding these useless people; we'll just slaughter them all!"

This threat had an immediate effect; Wang Chongyi turned pale, became restless, and couldn't help but secretly resent Su He for meddling.

After saying this, Li Luo put away the oil lamp and turned to walk outside.

As he reached the door, he glanced back at Su He.

After Li Luo's footsteps faded into the distance, Li Hongjian, the centurion of the garrison, lowered his voice, half complaining and half advising:

"Brother Su, why be so resolute? What if you anger the thieves and lose your life? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

Su He, however, declared proudly, "Having entered this gate, I have long since disregarded life and death. There is only one condition: I must never compromise with the bandits!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Shideng, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but clap his hands in praise:

"Well said! We are paid by the Ming Dynasty, how can we kneel before traitors? Brother Su, I never knew you had such integrity!"

Wang Chongyi wanted to complain about Su He, but seeing the situation, he didn't say anything more.

Suddenly, Su He's image in the hearts of the people in the prison rose to prominence.

Two days later, after Wang Pingyue had checked and confirmed that all the supplies under his command were in order, he led his troops out of Yanchang County and headed north into the mountains along the Yanhe River valley.

He was familiar with the routes in this area and knew that there were many places in the mountains where he could hide. He had been active in that area before, so he could use this opportunity to avoid the advance of the government troops.

Another day passed, and the marching rations and other supplies were all prepared. Li Chengye looked at the more than a thousand men in front of him, all of them strong and capable, especially the three hundred veterans in the front row who were fully armed.

A surge of heroic spirit rose in Li Chengye's heart, and he couldn't help but think, "With this army, where in the world can't we go?"

"Set off!"