A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

"Also, I plan to stay in the village and help you resist the government."

Liang Ming suddenly spoke again.

Upon hearing this, not only were Cai Sheng and the others stunned, but even Chen Mo was taken aback.

"Second Brother! Eldest Brother is still waiting for us at Qingfeng Village. If you stay here, how am I supposed to explain this back home?"

Cai Sheng said anxiously.

Liang Ming had promised to return to Qingfeng Village after helping Lingtou Village, but if he stays in the village now, Qingfeng Village will lose another leader.

"No need to say more, I know what I'm doing. You go back with the brothers first and tell the eldest brother that I will be back in a few days."

Liang Ming said firmly.

"this……"

Cai Sheng hesitated, knowing Liang Ming's character, and could only secretly scout ahead before leading his brothers away from Lingtou Village.

"Brother Liang, thank you again. I have something important to discuss with you."

As Chen Mo spoke, he led Liang Ming into the village.

Liang Ming followed behind Chen Mo, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the small house outside the village.

When he first came to Lingtou Village alone, Chen Mo kindly accepted him. Now that he has saved Chen Mo and Lingtou Village, it can be considered as a way of repaying him.

Lingtou Village has returned to peace.

The villagers began to clean up the battlefield and, incidentally, moved all the supplies left behind by the soldiers into the village.

If it weren't for the help of Qingfeng Village, the village would have been forced into a bloody battle.

The village has repelled the government troops' encirclement and suppression with almost no cost, and now has at least a few days to catch its breath.

Watching the busy villagers, Chen Mo continued to ponder his next plan.

First and foremost, we must get the land planted. Right now, the village's grain reserves will only last until the next harvest.

Now the village has become a target of the government's suppression, and the villagers can only rely on the land in the mountains to continue growing potatoes.

If all else fails, Chen Mo is prepared to lead the villagers up the mountain to wage guerrilla warfare.

The soldiers arrived suddenly, and the village didn't have time to move its supplies. Now that the soldiers have just been defeated, there is still plenty of time for Chen Mo to make preparations.

"Chen Mo, I have a suggestion. Why don't you take the whole village and go to Qingfeng Mountain to seek refuge?"

Inside the room, Liang Ming suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this suggestion, Chen Mo was stunned and did not reply.

"Now that Lingtou Village has become a thorn in the side of the government, no matter how high the walls you build, you can't stop the government troops. In that case, you might as well go to the mountains, where at least you'll have some room to maneuver."

Liang Ming made another suggestion.

If we can win Chen Mo over to Qingfeng Mountain, with his abilities, he will definitely be able to make Qingfeng Village rise again.

These were Chen Mo's true thoughts, and also what he wanted to discuss with Liang Ming.

However, Chen Mo's target was not Qingfeng Mountain.

"I'm also preparing to lead the villagers up the mountain, but to Black Wind Ridge... It's not far from Qingfeng Mountain, so we can support each other."

Chen Mo said.

He didn't want to live under someone else's roof. Since they had already rebelled, he might as well lead the villagers to establish their own independent territory.

……

North City, Huang Mansion.

In the study, Huang Chengyue was holding a teacup, taking a sip, and beginning to sort out the Huang family's accounts.

After the Chen Mo incident, Wang Laoqi officially handed over half of the business in Shannan Town to the Huang family. In this way, the Huang family will be able to gradually erode the Wang family's power in Shannan Town.

After the government troops destroyed Lingtou Village, they also brought all the surrounding villages under the control of the Huang family.

As for the Wang family, Wang Laoqi was such an incompetent fellow that he couldn't even handle a village. Huang Chengyue felt ashamed to sit at the same table with him.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Sir, it's me."

"Come in."

Huang Chengyue did not look up.

A moment later, the steward of the manor entered, his face showing some worry.

"Sir, we have news from the government troops."

"Oh? Lingtou Village was wiped out?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the government troops have been defeated..."

"Defeat?"

Huang Chengyue suddenly raised his head and looked at the butler's nervous expression.

"What exactly happened?"

He looked incredulous.

The steward then relayed the soldiers' report to Huang Chengyue.

"What a bunch of incompetent fools."

Huang Chengyue hid the accounts and suddenly stood up.

Now that County Magistrate Yang Lide is bedridden, all matters, big and small, in the northern part of the city are handled by people personally dispatched by Huang Chengyue.

The defeat at Lingtou Village caused heavy losses to the government, and the earlier raid on the execution ground by bandits had already caused the government of Beicheng to lose face completely.

"Sir, now Lingtou Village is colluding with bandits and bullying us. Why don't we immediately report to the imperial court and request more government troops to come and reinforce us?"

The butler suggested.

Huang Chengyue had certainly considered the matter of sending reinforcements.

But now the world is in great turmoil, and bandits are everywhere, so the imperial court is too busy to take care of itself.

It took Huang Chengyue a lot of effort to get those elite Zhenbei Army troops transferred here.

The government forces in the northern city were already small, and now they have lost nearly half of them. They simply cannot muster enough manpower to suppress the bandits in a short period of time.

Yesterday, Huang Chengyue also received news that the Zhenbei Army would not arrive for at least three more days.

Currently, in the northern part of the city, only the troops under General Zhao remain.

But having already openly broken ties with General Zhao, there's no longer any expectation that he'll intervene.

For the next three days, Beicheng had to rely on itself to defend against the bandits.

They intended to quickly wipe out Lingtou Village and eliminate a potential threat, but they never expected to suffer such a crushing defeat.

Now it seems no wonder Wang Laoqi went to great lengths to deal with Chen Mo; it appears that Lingtou Village is not simple either.

"Master, there is one more thing. I heard that Wang Laoqi's secret granary was robbed by Qingfeng Village, and a lot of grain was lost."

The butler said in a low voice.

Even though the Wang family kept the news under wraps, the Huang family had planted many spies among the other local gentry and were already well aware of their situation.

"Qingfeng Village..."

Huang Chengyue stopped in his tracks and fell into deep thought.

The Wang family's secret granary was so well hidden that even the Huang family's spies didn't know its exact location. How could those bandits have managed to steal it?

Upon hearing the name Qingfeng Village, Huang Chengyue frowned deeply.

In the past two years, he has suffered quite a few losses at the hands of Qingfeng Village.

If the Wang family falls, they will likely be the next to suffer.

At this moment, in addition to the granaries in the north of the city, the Huang family has also stockpiled a lot of grain outside the city. If the bandits of Qingfeng Village receive the news, they might take action against the Huang family.

The government reinforcements won't arrive for another three days, which will be enough time for those bandits to make their move.

If the grain stored outside the city is not brought in, the Huang family will suffer sooner or later.

"Right now, mobilize everyone in the government office and transport all the grain stored outside the city to the city tonight!"

Huang Chengyue gave the order, sounding somewhat impatient.

"But sir, what about that grain...?"

The butler hesitated slightly.

"We can't worry about that now, let's get it back first!"

Huang Chengyue said sternly.

The grain stored outside the city was naturally the official grain that had been embezzled by collusion with the county magistrate, and it was completely illicit.

However, by hoarding and speculating, the Huang family was able to drive up grain prices and make a fortune.

"Go right now, or I'll kill you!"