Chapter 26: Superior

  They decided on a method of showing off and immediately left the yard to start practicing. Without going far, they began to practice outside the village, practicing for nearly half an hour.

  The result was that the villagers all sighed and said it was too noisy, while the village dogs started barking wildly again. After Li QIN and his friends finished their practice, the excitement of the pack of dogs had not passed, and they continued to bark, making it impossible for the villagers to sleep. Every household came out to beat the dogs, but the more they were beaten, the more they barked, and they barked all the way until midnight, infuriating the villagers.

  Ke Liqin and his five soldiers were all sleeping soundly, for no other reason than they were exhausted!

  The next day before dawn, Mrs. He called Li Qin to get up and said that today was a big day, so it's better to enter the city early, and asked Xu Xiaoni and others to come for dinner.

  After eating a full meal, Li QIN took out several sheepskins from home and prepared to sell them after practice. Li QIN and Jing Qi led the horses out but did not ride them. The six people walked into the city on foot. Li QIN said that whoever made the most noise in the city today would ride a horse back to the village as a reward.

  After a short while, they walked ten miles and entered the city gate. The six of them rushed straight to the county government office.

  Li QIN felt he had arrived quite early, but when he reached the county government gate, he saw that more than 300 people were already waiting there. To his surprise, they were the last to arrive.

  Li QIN was surprised, what's going on? In modern times, watching TV dramas isn't about being fashionably late to show off one's status, but why is it the opposite with Fu Ping, who rushes over as soon as he hears about a rehearsal.

  In the crowd, Meng Mu saw them and walked over with big strides, smiling: "Li Lang, why are you just arriving now? Haven't eaten yet?"

  Li Qin hastily paid his respects and said, "Uncle Meng, good morning! I thought I came quite early, but it seems I'm late. We've already eaten, today we have to train, of course we need to eat our fill or else we'll be out of energy later."

  Meng Mu chuckled and said, "You really are a new recruit! Don't you ask others about the rules?" He pointed to the crowd at the county government gate and said, "For the first gathering of new recruits, County Lord will reward us with meals. Today we'll have three meals, all dry rations. Otherwise, who would be willing to come so early?"

  Li Qindun was stunned for a moment, and there is such a rule? He turned his head and asked: "Brothers, if we have dinner later, can we still stuff some more into our bellies?"

  The five soldiers laughed together, patted their bellies and said in unison: "We can, of course we can!"

  Meng Mu glanced at Shen Yi and the others, then pulled Li Qin to one side and said, "Li Lang, how did you end up with someone like this? It's going to be a lot of trouble in the future!"

  Li QIN shook his head and said, "Don't mention anything else, I've taken it, this can also be considered as helping our superiors to solve their worries."

  Meng Mu nodded and said, "I'm afraid that except for me as your superior, the other superiors don't understand you." After a pause, Meng Mu pointed to the crowd and whispered, "Look, those people gathered together are all from the Tang clan, they're all military officers, even Tang Biao has become a garrison commander..."

  Li Qingshun looked in the direction of his finger and saw several people standing at the gate, all wearing neat military uniforms and boots on their feet. Tang Biao was among them, it seemed that this rascal's injury had improved a bit, at least he could stand still without moving, and it couldn't be seen that he had broken ribs before.

  Meng Mu gave him a brief introduction, the man in his thirties in the middle was the county lieutenant of this county, named Tang Ren, and also the military governor of Fuping Army. Tang Ren looked weak and indecisive, with soft ears and somewhat muddled, such a person should not be a county lieutenant by talent, but he had a backer, he was the nephew of Tang Jie, not a clan nephew, but a real relative.

  Next to him stood a young man about the same age as Li Qian, with a pointed mouth and a monkey-like face, very similar to Tang Ren. At first glance, it was clear that they were father and son. This person's name was Tang Rong, Tang Ren's son, one of the village heads.

  Next to him was Tang Biao. From a familial relationship, he and County Lieutenant Tang Jie were somewhat distant, but still belonged to the Tang clan, so he also became a village head.

  The third one, Yao Xiu, was a bit older, over 40 years old, and gave people a slippery feeling that he couldn't be grasped. He was an officer who rose from being an old soldier, his greatest skill was that every time he went to battle, he could return unscathed, no merits but also no mistakes, when his comrades all died, he naturally became one of the leaders!

  The last one is Meng Mu, of course. Meng Mu whispered: "You have to get along well with this Yao Xiu, his son Yao Qiu is also in the army and happens to be your direct superior, the leader of your squad."

  Li QIN looked towards Tang Xiu's back and saw a person in his 20s standing there, with his hands clasped behind his head, constantly yawning, looking like a younger version of Tang Xiu, seemingly another sly one.

  The composition of the Han army was: five men formed a wu, two wus formed a shi, five shis formed a duì, and the leader of a duì was called a duì zhǎng. Two duìs formed a tún, with an officer as the tún zhǎng. Two túns formed a qū, led by a military marquis. Two qūs formed a bù, with a military governor as the commander. Five bùs formed a yíng, led by a colonel. However, the Fuping army was not large enough to have a colonel, so the highest officer was Tang Ren, the military governor.

  Two military marquises, one of which was concurrently held by Tang Ren. In case of war, he would personally lead 200 men, while the other military marquis would be concurrently held by his son, Tang Kui. Tang Jie was the county magistrate, and his nephews and grandnephews controlled the army. The military and political power of Fuping were firmly in the hands of the Tang family.

  Li Qinzhen and Meng Mu were talking, when suddenly the gate of the county government office opened, and several bailiffs came out, led by Jingming. The bailiffs were carrying three large pots, with steam rising from them, cooking millet rice.

  "Is everyone here? Once everyone is here, we'll start eating. Each person gets a big bowl of rice with some side dishes. Those above team leader can have an extra bowl. Line up in order of rank to get your food!"

  When the soldiers rushed over, they surrounded and shouted loudly. No one lined up, and no one cared about their position. Being a soldier is just for a meal, isn't it? If you're fed well, then acknowledge your superiors; if not, get lost!

  Li QIN turned around and asked his subordinates: "If we show courtesy, will we gain others' respect?" His soldiers were all intimidated by him, and no one dared to rush forward without his order.

  Shen Yi hastily rubbed his hands together and said, "What respect? They just think we're fools!"

  Li Qin waved his hand and shouted: "What's with the politeness? Go bring the pot over!"

  Shen Yi and Wu Xiaosan shouted loudly, rushing straight into the crowd. Wudanzi and Jing Qi followed closely behind. Xu Xiaoni was stunned at first, but seeing everyone else go ahead, he yelled "Wait for me!" and also rushed in.

  Li Qin turned his head and said: "Uncle Meng, wait until they bring the pot over... Ah, where's he?" He looked into the crowd and saw that Meng Mu had also gone to squeeze in.

  He immediately shook his head, what's the fuss about, can't you just let your subordinates bring you food? Can't they even listen to you? After shaking his head, he nodded again, it seems that no one listens to Mengmu's words, this village chief is really embarrassing!

  Suddenly, a loud shout came from the direction of the big pot: "Get out of the way for Grandpa! Whoever dares to grab again, Grandpa will recognize you, but Grandpa's fist won't!" The person shouting was Shen Yi.

  Shen Yi and others rushed out of the pot, and with a flurry of punches, they drove the soldiers to the side. Shen Yi lay on top of the pot, using his body to block the food, staring at the soldiers with a pair of big, round eyes, shouting loudly. Wu Xiaosan and others also kicked and beat the soldiers, driving them away.

  The soldiers retreated one after another. They recognized Shen Yi and Wu Xiao San, these two guys were unreasonable masters, they couldn't afford to provoke them, so they retreated.

  Shen Yishuang raised the big pot with both hands and was about to walk towards Li Qin. But Li Qin waved his hand and said, "No need to come over, just divide the food there. Didn't the County Magistrate of Jing say earlier that we should receive our food according to our ranks?" He pointed at the soldiers and shouted, "Can you see your appearance? Who puts the words of the County Magistrate of Jing in their heart? You're not even presentable, what kind of discipline is this!"

  The soldiers looked at each other, and many of them knew Li Qin. The name of Li Lang had been loud in Fuping for the past few days, but the soldiers thought to themselves: "We don't listen to the county magistrate's words, he didn't say a word, what are you showing off?"

  Li Qindao said: "First, let the elder brothers above Shizhang serve the rice, and then it will be the turn of the other brothers. Jing Qi, serve the rice to Tang Xianwei." As he spoke, he made a distant fist at Tang Ren.

  The soldiers looked at Li Qin, then at Shen Yi and Wu Xiao San, and with a sudden movement, they all squeezed towards the other two pots. Can't afford to provoke them, can't hide from them either!

  Tang Renli was delighted to see a young man bring his own food, he took the bowl and nodded at Li QIN, then turned to Tang Biao: "Is that Li QIN? Not like what you said, this guy is not bad, knows how to respect his superiors, better than others. Li Lang is indeed loyal, it's true."

  Tang Ren may not be as wealthy as Liu Sheng, but his family is quite well-off and he doesn't care about this bowl of plain rice. What's important to him is that he has gained respect. Due to his weak personality and lack of ideas, even though he became a county official, he rarely gets respected by others, who don't take him seriously. This really gives him a headache. Today, someone suddenly gave him face in public, so he was naturally delighted and immediately said that Li Qin is not a bad person.

  Tang hummed and thought to himself, "You just give him a full bowl of rice and he thinks you're a good person. What a foolish thing. But it's good that you're foolish, it'll be easier for me to take your place." He said in a low voice, "Big brother, Li Qin is the most cunning, don't let him deceive you."

  Tang Ke also received the meal sent by Jing Qi at this time. He knew that Tang Biao had a plan to replace his father, which was equivalent to robbing himself of his future position. Therefore, as long as someone did not deal with Tang Biao, he would support them, and Li Qin happened to be one of them.

  Tang Dao said: "I think Li Qin is quite good, besides, how could he have the ability to deceive Father, don't talk nonsense."

  Tang Biao's face suddenly sank, but Tang Xiao was his junior and held a higher position than him, so he didn't dare to lose his temper. Just then, Meng Mu also received the news and shouted: "Li Lang, County Magistrate Tang has spoken, you are the most righteous!"

  Li Qin listened and smiled, he never entered the crowd, always standing on the periphery watching, looking at everyone's reaction.

  Yao Xiū and Yao Qiū, father and son, also received the meal. The two were sycophants, whatever their superior said, they would say the same, nodding together: "Tāng County Magistrate has a good eye for talent, Lǐ Lang's reputation for righteousness is not in vain!"

  Tang Biao's face suddenly turned green, like a cucumber skin, and he was furious! He thought to himself: "If it were Li Qin who gave you food to eat, it would be fine if you said he was good. He only served the rice, not even with his own hands, but through his subordinates. Yet you all say he's good, this is absurd!"

  It just so happened that Jing Qi brought his rice over, stretched out his hand and said: "Tang Tun is full, not eating!" He withdrew his hand and handed the rice bowl to a squad leader.

  Tang's face turned red with rage, and he was about to lash out at Jing Qi, but just as his hand was raised, a sharp pain shot through his ribs, forcing him to put it back down. He glared at Li Qin, his eyes blazing with anger.

  ——

  It's Monday morning again, Ping'an is still waiting in front of the computer, just to update a chapter early and get everyone's support early! Ping'an sincerely asks for support, asks for recommendation votes, asks for collection, thank you all, Ping'an thanks you, thank you very much!