I, Altria, only want to rule China.

From the Xia Dynasty to the present, in the next 1500 years, there will be no better policies toward the people than the one she is currently implementing in Wu'an County.

"Mulan, untie General Li Lin first. How about this, you two go together and see how the people I rule in just a few days are different from the people in Liangzhou." Liya said lightly.

"Huh? Aren't you afraid that I will run away?" Li Lin was a little surprised to see Leah so confident.

"If someone can't even see this clearly, just run away. Do you think I would care?" Liya pouted.

This is the truth. If Li Lin was just a stubborn person, Liya would not want him. The reason she used him was because Hua Mulan said he had good morals, not because of other things that attracted her.

Moreover, in terms of fighting power, he is not even as good as Tuoba Xiu. There is really nothing attractive about him.

Seeing Liya say this, Li Lin glanced at Liya, turned around and walked outside.

"General, General Li is just acting on impulse. Please don't be angry with him." Mulan quickly bowed to Leah.

"Nothing. This kind of thing is not worth my anger. You can go and see what the people think of me and see if I am worthy of your following." Liya said indifferently.

"Well, I believe the general." Mulan nodded and caught up with Li Lin.

Then Leah called over another soldier who had surrendered before. She also asked him whether what Mulan had said before was true. If multiple people said so, then there would be no problem.

The few people who were called later all said the same thing, proving that there was nothing wrong with Hua Mulan and his men's previous marching route.

After Liya waited for an hour, Li Lin and Hua Mulan came back.

"What do you think, General Li Lin? Do you want to join me in reviving this great country?" Seeing the two of them coming back, Liya smiled and asked.

Li Lin's face flashed with hesitation, but he soon figured out something and knelt on one knee in front of Liya: "Li Lin greets the lord!"

"Mulan greets her lord!" When Mulan saw this scene, she also imitated Li Lin and said.

"Okay, General Li Lin, I have a mission here and I need your help." Seeing that Li Lin had surrendered to her, Liya immediately said

"I wonder what tasks you want me to do, my lord. Just tell me what you want me to do." Li Lin said immediately.

"You also know that you passed by Wuxing County on the way here. I hope you can lead these soldiers to seize Wuxing County. Then seal the city gates and cut off their correspondence with Liangzhou. In this way, Wu'an and Wuxing will be under our control, which can also buy us a lot of time.

The resources of Wu'an County alone are too few, which is why Liya chose to attack Wuxing County.

"I see. This is indeed a very good idea. The people in Wuxing County probably didn't expect that Tuoba Xiu had been defeated by the lord without bloodshed."

Li Lin thought about it and felt that this was indeed a very good plan.

“Once you take control of Wuxing County, I will lead the team here personally. By then, Wuxing County can be operated in the same way as Wuan County.” Liya said with a smile.

"My lord, please rest assured. It's just Wuxing County. I will definitely take it tonight!" Li Lin responded immediately.

Liya ordered: "Well, I have confidence in you, let's act now. As for the soldiers, all those who originally surrendered will be handed over to you to lead."

"Yes." Li Lin responded and walked out.

After Li Lin left, Leah also started thinking about what would happen next. Although Wuxing County could be taken over tonight, if Liangzhou knew about this, they might send a large army over.

So can we take Liangzhou in one go?

Liangzhou currently has 15000 soldiers and horses, and she only has 10000 soldiers and horses, 4000 of which were just recruited and cannot be counted. In fact, there are only 6000 people.

To be honest, even if 6000 people could trick the city gate of Liangzhou open, it wouldn't make much sense.

By then, we may be surrounded and annihilated by more than 10,000 people, and then it will be like a meat bun hitting a dog, with no way back.

Chapter 22 Conquering Wuxing County

Even if they win, it will be a pyrrhic victory. When all the soldiers are gone, it will be a big problem. So after thinking for a long time, Liya decided not to launch a surprise attack.

Anyway, she has gunpowder, so there will be no problem in defeating the troops of Liangzhou in a defensive battle.

As for whether the other side will send hundreds of thousands of troops, it would be stupid for all the people in the Northern Wei Dynasty to do so. It is not a simple matter to dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops. It is not known how much food and fodder will be needed. If more actions are taken, the country may go bankrupt.

However, the gunpowder that Leah is currently making is not very useful in close combat, and it is very likely to hurt yourself by mistake, so once in close combat, you still have to rely on the soldiers' close combat capabilities.

But in a defensive battle, this thing is a powerful weapon.

"Forget it. Anyway, let's take Wuxing County first. In addition to Wuxing County, there are several surrounding counties. As long as she can get enough gunpowder raw materials, everything will be fine."

By the time she takes over the entire Liangzhou, even if the Northern Wei Dynasty reacts, it will be too late.

One state is enough for her to develop, but unfortunately there are too few people in Xiliang, unlike those prosperous states, where the population of one state is several million.

After she conquers Liangzhou, she will reopen the Hexi Corridor, first defeat the Western Regions, then conquer Tuyuhun. After these territories are stabilized, she can focus on developing to the north.

Liya’s idea is very simple, which is to bring Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet here first.

Although these places have fewer people than the Central Plains, they are rich in resources!

Others may not know how to mine, but she has mastered the traditional method of refining everything. In just a few years, she will be able to develop rapidly.

The State of Yue claimed that with only 3,000 soldiers, it could conquer the State of Wu. With the development of technology, it would be no problem for it to conquer the entire Central Plains.

Her problem now is that she doesn't have much time to develop. As long as she can take over the entire Xiliang area, she will be able to withstand the counterattack of the Northern Wei Dynasty and then stabilize the rear.

After receiving Liya's order, Li Lin immediately led the 5000 soldiers who were originally sent to suppress Wu'an County to Wuxing County.

By the time Li Lin arrived in Wuxing County, it was already late and it was already midnight.

The soldiers at the city gates could naturally spot so many troops holding torches arriving at Wuxing County, and soon someone shouted, "Which army is under the city?"

"Listen, people on the city wall. We are General Tuoba Xiu's infantrymen. Didn't we meet yesterday?" Li Lin sent someone forward and said.

"Since you are General Tuoba Xiu's infantry, why are you here so late at night?" the soldier on the city gate continued to ask.

"We have suppressed the rebellion in Wu'an County and are on our way back now. However, it is already too late. We plan to continue to nag in Wuxing County for one night. Please open the city gate and let us stay in for one night. We will leave tomorrow morning."

The person below replied.

"I see. General, wait a moment. I will have the city gates opened immediately." The guards of Wuxing County had no doubts. After all, it was impossible for 5000 soldiers to fail in attacking a small Wuan County.

In fact, even if they had suspicions, it would be okay, because these people were indeed the 5000 soldiers. Even if they sent people down, they would not find any clues, and no one would think that this group of people had already surrendered to the rebels.

Soon, the gate of Wuxing County was opened. Li Lin waved his hand, and 5000 troops marched into the city.

After the 5000 troops entered the city, Li Lin quickly launched a mutiny. His 5000 men immediately took control of all the soldiers guarding the city in Wuxing County, and ordered all the soldiers to guard the city gates and not allow anyone to leave the city.

After doing all this, the soldiers were sent to inform Leah.

It was already morning when Leah got the news.

Liya was very happy to hear that Li Lin had taken Wuxing County. In this way, if she took Linsong County, she would control three counties in Xiliang.

Without hesitation, Liya temporarily handed over all the defenses of Wu'an County to Yu Jin for management, and then she led a few hundred light cavalry and headed directly to Wuxing County.

At noon, Leah and her men arrived at Wuxing County.

When Li Lin knew that Leah was coming, he immediately came out to greet her.

"No one escaped in Wuxing County, right?" Liya asked Li Lin after arriving in Wuxing County.

"My lord, all four city gates of Wuxing County are occupied by our people. No one has escaped. But I don't know how you plan to deal with the county magistrate and those soldiers of Wuxing County?" Li Lin said.

"What kind of person is the governor of Wuxing County?" Liya asked first.

If he is good to the people, he will continue to be the county magistrate. If he is not doing a good job, he will be locked up. If he does things that are harmful to the world, he will be killed on the spot.

"I sent people to ask the people in the city. Although he has no achievements, it seems that he has not bullied the people too much." Li Lin said after thinking for a while.

"Is that so? Bring him to see me." Leah said after thinking for a while.

"Yes." Li Lin nodded.

Soon, the governor of Wuxing County was brought up. He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties.

"Are you the governor of this county? What's your name?" Leah took a look at the other person. He looked ordinary and didn't seem to have any special features.

"Miss, my name is Xu Benfen." Xu Benfen bowed to Liya.

Liya waved her hand and said, "No need to be so polite. Let me ask you, how many noble families are there in Wuxing County? How do they usually do things? Tell me clearly."

Hearing this, Xu Benfen's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He knew about the affairs of Wu'an County. The young lady in front of him would not show any mercy when it came to killing people. Of course, that was only for those from the noble families. She would not touch the ordinary people at all.

For Leah, since she is no longer allowed to cooperate with the aristocratic families, she will naturally not keep them around. Of course, she will kill them if she can to prevent them from causing trouble behind her back.

Now that all these noble families have been cleared out, she won’t have to worry about being stabbed when she fights with others in the future.

Why did the original Altria succeed in the rebellion against Mordred? It was all caused by those nobles. So Altria had to be on guard against these noble families from doing things behind her.

Of course, we can’t kill all the aristocratic families. After all, in this era, only these aristocratic families can read and write, and many things depend on their help.

"What? Are all the noble families in Wuxing County good citizens?" Seeing that Xu Benfen didn't say anything, Liya sneered.

Chapter 23 There's an assassin!

"Miss, do you want to take action against those aristocratic families? Just like in Wu'an County?" Xu Benfen asked with a sigh.

He knew that even if he didn't say it, the girl in front of him would have a way of knowing how the noble families in the city usually acted. This kind of thing could not be concealed, as the people in the city were watching.

"Of course, taking back the fertile land from the aristocratic families and distributing it to the people has always been my goal, so there is no room for negotiation on this matter." Leah looked at the other party with a firm expression and said.

"If those noble families hand over those lands, I wonder if Miss can let them go?" Xu Benfen asked again.

"Haha, you are quite good at speaking for those noble families. I am afraid you received a lot of benefits from them before I came here. It seems that General Li said that you are just a mediocre person, but he misjudged you." Liya sneered when she heard this.

Hearing what Liya said, Li Lin on the side quickly apologized: "My lord, I was not careful enough, please forgive me."

"It's okay. This guy pretended to be pretty good and fooled most people. Besides, I didn't ask you to investigate in depth, so you just believed the one-sided words."

After that, Liya glanced at Xu Benfen, whose forehead was slightly sweaty, and said, "Your parents did give you a good name, but you didn't live up to the name. Take him away and have someone check his property. It will be clear whether he is a good official or not."

"Miss, I was wrong. I will tell you all the information about those noble families honestly, and I won't miss any of them!" Xu Benfen panicked when he heard that Liya wanted to count his property.

"Hmph, it's a little too late for you to confess now, Lord Xu. Don't worry, Lord Xu, I won't kill a bad guy by mistake, and I will never wrongly accuse a good person. Lord Xu, don't worry for now. If you are really an honest official, I will definitely not make things difficult for you. Take you away!" Leah finally said in a cold voice.

After Lord Xu was taken away, Li Lin lowered his head in shame. He was almost deceived by a corrupt official.

Leah didn't think it was a big deal. How could Li Lin, a military officer, fight with these civil officials? These civil officials had a lot of tricks in their minds and were all cunning foxes.

"General Li, take some people to the city immediately to collect information about these noble families. I need all the information about these noble families at night!"

For Liya, what she did in Wu'an County had already offended all the aristocratic families. If she wanted to face the army of Liangzhou, she needed to deal with these aristocratic families first.

Otherwise, when he faced the Liangzhou army, these aristocratic families might stab him in the back.

After all, even those noble families who didn't bully others couldn't stand her policies, let alone those noble families who did things that were harmful to the world?

It can be said that the current aristocratic families are all enemies of Leah, but on the other hand, the people are all her supporters. This result is actually not a bad one.

"Yes!" Li Lin nodded and went out immediately.

Leah was not idle either. She also wandered around Wuxing County. She also planned to ask others about the affairs of the various families in Wuxing County.

By the way, she would also see if there are any poor children who can be trained. After all, she has almost destroyed all the aristocratic families, so there is definitely no one from the aristocratic families willing to work for her.

By the evening, Li Lin had collected all the information about the noble families in Wuxing County and placed it in front of Leah.

Liya did not rest, but directly looked at the information about those noble families that Li Lin had collected. The more she read, the more she frowned.

These noble families really don't do any good things. They are just a bunch of blood-sucking parasites. They not only suck the blood of the imperial court, but also the ordinary people. They are all birds of the same feather.

The more Leah watched, the angrier she became!

Leah took a pen and drew a red X on the names of some families that she felt were unforgivable, marked some that she felt just needed their property confiscated, and left some families that could be negotiated with untouched.

"Catch all those with an X on them, make their crimes public tomorrow, and then kill the main culprits. As for those with a check mark, confiscate their homes. As for those without a check mark, leave them alone for now." Leah handed the list she had decided on to Li Lin.

"Yes!" Li Lin took the roster, took a look at it, and nodded.

After Li Lin left, Leah took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

The thought of those evil families made her feel very bad.

Leah came to the garden and asked the servants who originally belonged to Xu County Magistrate's Mansion to make a cup of tea for her, and then she slowly began to drink it.

At night, when everyone was asleep, Leah suddenly opened her eyes.

She noticed that many people had sneaked into the mansion, and some of them were masters of internal martial arts who had achieved some success in their cultivation.

"Haha, those guys, do they think they can kill me?" After thinking about it for a while, Leah knew what these killers were.

There is no doubt that the matter of asking Li Lin to investigate those aristocratic families this afternoon must have been known, so these aristocratic families planned to take the initiative and kill themselves.

If she had been killed, what happened to their family would not have happened.

When she was in Wu'an County, there was no assassination, but that was because those aristocratic families did not react in time. However, those aristocratic families in Wuxing County had already known about what happened in Wu'an County, so they naturally would not sit idly by and wait for death.