I am a thief in the Tang Dynasty

Fang Yiyi picked up a stool and sat not far away, staring blankly at the piece of iron that was constantly changing under the hammer.

I do not know how long it has been.

Fang Yiyi asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for several days.

"Wang Weng, I see there are quite a few men in the manor. I would like to take them in as my followers. Do you think they would be willing?"

Bang!

A heavy hammer fell.

Blacksmith Wang lost his concentration and the piece of iron flew out of the pliers and landed on the rammed earth, making a crackling sound.

He widened his eyes, his face ferocious and evil, like a ghost biting people, but his eyes were moved, and he said in a trembling voice:

"Sanlang, do you want to take these children as your followers? Not as your followers?"

The Buqu were untouchables, like slaves, and belonged to their masters' private property, but their status was higher than that of slaves. With their master's permission, they could cultivate the master's fields and keep a portion of the harvest for themselves, and they could also marry and have children and have their own property.

The followers were good citizens employed by their masters and protected by the law. Their masters could not bully, beat or kill them at will. They could marry, have children and own their own land.

The two are not the same.

It is said that he is a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister.

Being able to serve as a subordinate of Fang Yiyi, a nobleman who is himself a fifth-rank baron of Lantian County, is enough to make countless good people envious, let alone being a retainer!

Chapter 134: On behalf of my sons, I would like to thank you for your great kindness.

According to what Wang the blacksmith thought, these widows of military households were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and it was a great blessing for those orphans to be accepted as his followers by a kind-hearted man like Fang Yiyi.

But Fang Yiyi actually wanted to take these orphans as his followers!

How could this not make him extremely excited and surprised?

Fang Yiyi grew up under the red flag. The martyrs sacrificed their lives and shed their blood to overthrow the landlords and the wealthy people, allowing the people under the red flag to rise up and the serfs to sing.

In his eyes, everyone is equal. Even in the Tang Dynasty, he naturally did not want to make these young men with a bright future become slaves as far as he could.

Fang Yiyi nodded heavily and said seriously:

"Yes, not slaves, but followers!"

Blacksmith Wang didn't know how to thank Fang Yiyi and could only bow to him with gratitude.

"Sanlang, you and the general are truly our great benefactors!"

"On behalf of my sons, I would like to thank you again for your great kindness!"

Fang Yiyi said quickly: "Wang Weng, don't thank me yet. What I want them to do may be dangerous and their lives may be in danger."

Upon hearing this, Blacksmith Wang said seriously:

"Sanlang, your words are too polite. Not to mention your current help to us, just think about the relief the general has given us over the years. He would let us go through mountains of swords, seas of fire, and plunge into boiling oil!"

"My head is gone, and I have a scar as big as a bowl. I can repay you and the general for your kindness. What's the point of dying?"

Fang Yiyi's heart trembled after hearing these sincere words.

These widows, no, the people of the entire Tang Dynasty, have very simple minds.

They want very little, just to have enough food to eat, to be warmly clothed, and to be protected from the wind and rain.

Their lives belong to whoever can feed and clothe them.

Fang Yiyi's eyes flashed, and he stood up, standing straight.

The thin body now looked like a towering mountain in the eyes of Wang the Blacksmith.

Fang Yiyi said in a sonorous and powerful voice:

"Wang Weng, besides this manor, there are also some widows who went to Langwo Mountain."

"I don't know how many healthy boys there are now who are over ten years old."

"Please help me pass on a message to these men. Those who are not afraid of death, come here in five days. Those who are chosen by me will leave their lives to me. Follow me and build meritorious careers for the Tang Dynasty."

"Yes, Sanlang!" Blacksmith Wang's blood boiled when he heard it.

The scene of the surviving comrades following behind Sanlang and planting the flags of the Tang Dynasty all over the world emerged in my mind!

night.

When the widows returned from work, they heard the message from blacksmith Wang and brought their children directly to the house where Fang Yiyi and his family lived, and kowtowed to express their gratitude.

After Chai Xueying knew the reason for the incident, she looked seriously into her husband's resolute eyes and said:

"Husband, let me help you train!"

The fighting power of the Tang Dynasty Valkyrie is naturally beyond doubt.

But the strength of the Chinese Soldier King is something that the Tang Dynasty Valkyrie does not understand.

Maybe Fang Yiyi had no experience in leading troops in battle, so he didn't understand or know how to do it, and couldn't be compared with Chai Xueying.

But Fang Yiyi's abilities in infiltration and camouflage, obtaining intelligence, assassination and ambush, close combat, jungle warfare and survival are far beyond the reach of Chai Xueying.

Fang Yiyi could not refuse his wife's kindness, so he smiled and said:

"Okay, let's each teach them our own skills and try to train a monster out of them!"

Chai Xueying nodded expectantly and said, "Okay! But we can't just teach one evildoer, we have to teach several!"

"Okay, teach a few!"

Chapter 135 My surname is Xue, my given name is Li, and my courtesy name is Rengui!

Four days.

Fang Yiyi asked Carpenter Sun and Blacksmith Wang to help him prepare some things, then he went into the southern forest that had not yet been felled and started to set up things.

Day .

In the vacant fields outside Zhuangzi that no one is cultivating.

Fang Yiyi was dressed in a black martial arts uniform, looking seriously at the twenty-nine young men over ten years old in front of him who were thin but in good complexion.

He took a deep breath and said in a resounding voice:

"Do you know what will happen if you follow me?"

The young men looked at each other, many of them with confusion and uneasiness in their eyes.

Isn’t it the rumor that he might die?

Why did Langjun ask them so seriously?

Fang Yiyi was not disappointed with the reactions of these young men.

Children in ancient times matured early, and many of them had to shoulder the burden of supporting their families from the age of seven or eight, but they only knew how to farm to support their families.

Even though these boys in front of him were only ten years old, as orphans of military households, they were already accustomed to life and death.

They only knew that their brothers, grandfathers, grandfathers and other elders in the family went to fight for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in order to reduce taxes and earn military pay to support their families.

After an unknown period of time, the news of death reached their hometown. Under the names of the elders, the word "zu" was written, letting them know that those elders had died in the war!

Naturally, I didn't understand how important the words "not afraid of death" conveyed by Wang the blacksmith were!

At this time, a young man who looked about the same age as Fang Yiyi and had an honest look on his face, stretched his neck and shouted loudly:

"Bloody battlefield, making great contributions to the Tang Dynasty!"

In an instant, the confusion in the eyes of the other twenty-eight young men disappeared, and they shouted in earnest, imitating the others:

"Bloody battlefield, making great contributions to the Tang Dynasty!"

Fang Yiyi looked at the honest young man who spoke first with great satisfaction and asked:

"What's your name?"

"In reply to Sanlang, my surname is Xue, my given name is Li, and my courtesy name is Rengui!"

When asked by Fang Yiyi his name, Xue Li was very excited and answered loudly with a red face.

Hearing this familiar name, Fang Yiyi raised his eyebrows and asked quickly:

"But Hedong Xue clan, your grandfather is Xue Gui?"

Xue Li's expression became even more excited when his family background was revealed: "My husband actually knows my grandfather!"

The next moment, he lowered his head in shame.

Before the Li Tang Dynasty, the Hedong Xue family was a family of officials and could be called aristocratic family.

His grandfather Xue Gui was a fifth-rank official in the Sui Dynasty. Unfortunately, after his grandfather died, when Li proclaimed himself emperor, Xue Li was just a toddler and was unable to support the family. The Hedong Xue family fell into complete decline.

Originally in Hedong, he was able to survive because of the help of his maternal relatives who gave him the identity of a military household orphan.

After many twists and turns, he came to Chang'an and wandered around. Because he was honest and capable, and had the status of a military orphan, he was accepted by the widows of soldiers under Chai Xueying's command, and grew up safely until he was fifteen years old.

He had been helping to mine coal in Aobei Mountain before, when he heard Fang Yiyi's call.

Knowing Fang Yiyi's identity, he immediately felt that an opportunity to bring honor to his family had come, so he resolutely came to Zhuangzi and stood in front of Fang Yiyi.

Now that his family background was revealed, Xue Li naturally felt extremely ashamed.

Fang Yiyi looked at the honest young man in front of him with shining eyes.

He didn't know how Xue Rengui, a fierce general of the middle period of the Tang Dynasty who had joined the army in Hedong in the late Zhenguan period, was remembered by Li Shimin and praised for his bravery and strength, and later conquered Tianshan with three arrows, and was famous in history and later generations, could appear here.

But Xue Rengui surrendered to him and became his follower, which was a great thing!

Chapter 136 Xue Li and Xue Rengui serve as my escort

Fang Yiyi took a step forward, patted his shoulder heavily, and said firmly:

"There is no need to be ashamed. Throughout history, many noble families have risen and fallen. You were unable to prevent your family's decline when you were young."

"But now, you can use your passion to serve the country, build achievements, and let the Hedong Xue family revive under your hands."

Xue Li's eyes quickly became firm, his expression solemn and serious, full of expectation, he said:

"My dear, I will!"

Fang Yiyi nodded with satisfaction, then he looked at the other twenty-eight young men and said:

"No more nonsense. Once you pass my assessment, your lives will be handed over to me. I will lead you to build meritorious careers for the Tang Dynasty."

"We are all born and raised by our parents. All the officials in the court have expanded the territory of the Tang Dynasty and have lived a good life. You can do the same!"

"From now on, not only will you be able to eat your fill, but you will also have meat and wine every meal, and you will also have money and land, bringing honor to your family!"

The young men were not moved by other words, but when they heard these two sentences, 'there will be wine and meat for every meal, and we will also have money and land', everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation and enthusiasm.

"My dear, you are right! We also want to have fine clothes and delicious food!"

"I will leave my life to you, my lord. You will lead us to achieve great things and live a good life with enough food and warm clothes!"

"My dear, how do we assess you? Let's get started!"

......

Facing the young man's yearning cry, Fang Yiyi grinned and pointed to the woods ahead and said:

"There are twelve wooden signs in that forest."

"Whoever can find it and bring it out will pass the test and become my follower."

All the young men looked in the direction of Fang Yiyi's finger with fiery eyes, and at the same time looked at the others vigilantly.

Xue Li was excited, but also uneasy. He looked at the handsome and thin man with a gloomy look, and couldn't help but worry in his heart:

"My dear, you said before that following him would be life-threatening, but if you want to achieve success, someone has to die!"

"In this assessment without any rules or restrictions, could there be life-threatening consequences? Or even worse, cannibalism?"

Thinking of this, Xue Li pursed his lips and a hint of hesitation flashed across his eyes.

I hesitated whether to take part in this examination.

He hesitated whether this man, who seemed kind on the surface but was actually ruthless, was worthy of his allegiance.