The First Killer God of the Tang Dynasty

Li Siye was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.

He thought Zhang Yang would want something, but it turned out he just wanted to exchange it for some food.

Li Siye patted his chest and said, "Brother, our Mo Dao team has plenty of food, no other stuff. You go and rest first. In the early morning, I'll have the quartermaster take you to the warehouse. Just take whatever you want."

It was indeed getting late. Zhang Yang chatted with Li Siye for a few more minutes before heading to the tent that had been prepared for him in the military camp.

By this time, Guo Shitou and his gang of brothers were already waiting in the tent.

Upon seeing Zhang Yang return, the brothers immediately gathered around him.

He asked excitedly, "Brother, how's it going? Has General Li said what official rank you'll be given? Does that mean the brothers can stay in the Mo Dao Brigade from now on? The food in the Mo Dao Brigade is so good, even the dogs in the camp get to eat white flour buns."

Guo Huzi was very excited. He had just gone out to urinate when he discovered that the dogs in the Mo Dao team were also fed white flour buns.

This scene completely dazzled Guo Huzi.

You should know that in the village, people don't even get to eat such good food during festivals.

Zhang Yang smiled faintly, reached out and patted Guo Huzi's head, and said with a smile.

"We won't stay with the Mo Dao team."

Guo Huzi and his brothers were stunned.

"No, brother, General Li is a very good person, and his men are humble, unlike the Longwu Army, we..."

Guo Huzi wanted to say something more, but Zhang Yang patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly.

"The Tang Dynasty treated the Mo Dao Brigade as a suicide squad, placing them in the most dangerous positions in every battle. I don't want my brothers to risk their lives for a few steamed buns."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood Zhang Yang's good intentions.

Then, Zhang Yang said with a smile, "However, Li Siye has already appointed me as the head of Guodu Town, and I have the right to recruit soldiers, collect taxes, and cultivate land. It can be said that Guodu Town will be our brothers' territory from now on. Moreover, no matter how many mercenaries we have, they will all be unofficial members of the Mo Dao Team."

Upon hearing this, the brothers were all dumbfounded.

Five households form a neighborhood, five neighborhoods form a village, and five villages form a bao (protection).

A neighborhood head can be very influential in the village, but he's just a figurehead.

Now, the eldest brother is the head of the village in Guodu Town, and all the power is concentrated in one person's hands. He's practically the local tyrant of Guodu Town.

This is much more useful than being a suicide soldier in the Mo Dao team.

"Brother, this is great! Not only do you control Guodu Town, but you also have such great power. I estimate that the young people from the surrounding villages will all come to join us."

Guo Shitou said excitedly.

Zhang Yang nodded, but he also had his own concerns.

They do now have military power, but Li Siye has not said that he will give them a fixed monthly salary.

The reason for giving him so much power was that they hoped Zhang Yang could raise troops and supplies on his own.

For Zhang Yang now, the most important thing is not food, but how to stabilize the livelihood of the people in Guodu Town and restore production in Guodu Town. Only in this way can the problem of military food be solved.

"Don't rush the recruitment for now. Didn't we capture dozens of young men from towns during our attack on the Great Yan rebels? Let's start training them first. Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the warehouse to move some grain, which should last us for a while."

Hearing Zhang Yang say this, the brothers wholeheartedly agreed.

The group chatted excitedly for a while before finally falling into a deep sleep.

……

The next day, early in the morning, Zhang Yang and his brothers pulled an empty carriage to the front of the warehouse.

The quartermaster led a few men over and greeted Zhang Yang warmly.

"Brother Zhang, you're here so early."

Having witnessed Zhang Yang's abilities and with Li Siye's military orders, the entire Mo Dao team held Zhang Yang in the highest esteem.

"Pack up quickly and go home early."

As the quartermaster rummaged for his keys, he said, "According to the Tang Dynasty's military merit reward system, a civilian who kills a rebel receives a bag of flour or fine rice and two catties of meat. The General said that since you are unofficial brothers of our Mo Dao team, we'll give you more—double the reward, how about that?"

The unit with the most abundant food supplies in the entire Tang army was the Mo Dao (陌刀) unit.

Li Siye didn't care about the small amount of grain at all.

At this moment, Zhang Yang said with a smile, "We don't need the meat, but could you give us more grain?"

After all, some horses had died and had already been distributed, so having more food meant he could take better care of his brothers.

The quartermaster smiled faintly: "Sure, no problem. How about an extra twenty bags of polished rice?"

Zhang Yang clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Thank you very much."

The warehouse door opened, revealing mountains of rice and flour, with burlap sacks piled high inside.

The brothers were all dumbfounded; they had never seen so much grain in their lives.

Just as his brothers rushed forward to move the grain, Zhang Yang's gaze fell on a pile of yellow, stone-like minerals to the side.

Zhang Yang bent down, picked up a piece, and sniffed it.

His eyes lit up instantly: "It's sulfur."

"Brother Zhang has a good eye indeed; it's sulfur. There are many insects in the military camp. The general brought these things here to fight poison with poison, to relieve the brothers' itching and dampness."

Upon hearing this explanation, Zhang Yang sighed with four words: "What a waste of resources."

With sulfur, gunpowder could be made. Even if a musket couldn't be made in a short time, things like firecrackers could be made and put into the battlefield as deadly weapons.

How could Li Siye only use this stuff as medicine for his brothers?

"Could you give us a few bags?"

Hearing Zhang Yang say this, the quartermaster frowned, looking somewhat troubled.

After all, Li Siye had not given any instructions on this.

Seeing the quartermaster's dilemma, Zhang Yang quickly said, "Brother, we won't take it for nothing. Can we exchange half of the grain for sulfur? Two bags of grain for one bag of sulfur."

Upon hearing this, the quartermaster was clearly stunned.

Grain is far more valuable than sulfur and gold. How could someone as shrewd as Zhang Yang suddenly become so muddle-headed?

However, this deal was indeed worthwhile, and there was no need to consult Li Siye at all.

"Alright, since Brother Zhang wants it, let's exchange it."

Although the brothers didn't understand, their leader had already made his statement, so naturally no one would refute him on the spot.

In this way, twenty heads were exchanged for more than thirty bags of grain and about ten bags of sulfur.

The entire cart was crammed full.

The brothers hummed a little tune and pulled the horse-drawn cart toward the village.

This bag of grain weighs over a hundred pounds, and with over thirty bags of grain, even including the brothers we just recruited the other day, it's enough to feed us for half a year.

At first, everyone had some doubts about Zhang Yang's killing of the Great Yan rebels, but now it seems that their eldest brother's decision was absolutely correct.

Just then, Stone asked curiously, "Brother, what do you need sulfur for? It's just a bunch of broken stones; you can't eat or drink it."

Zhang Yang gave a wry smile.

"You'll find out then."