Chapter 3: Buying Without Capital

  The night is deep and quiet, all sounds are hushed.

  On the city wall, the soldiers on night duty leaned against the wall and dozed off, drowsy.

  At that time, the Yellow Turban Rebellion had not yet broken out, and although there were many mountain bandits and water thieves in various places, they did not form a large scale, all of them were small and scattered, with hundreds of people at most, and dozens of people at least, and they did not have the power to attack and occupy cities.

  Wan County is just a small county with no more than 800 soldiers, and its defenses are very lax.

  The northeast corner of the city wall, under the dark shadow.

  Whoosh!

  The rope flew up, and the iron hook at the end caught on the city wall. A black shadow climbed up like a cat.

  Zhou Wu wore a black night-traveling outfit, with a black scarf covering his face. He jumped onto the city wall and quickly glanced around, seeing that the nearest night watch soldiers were all more than ten zhang away, leaning against the battlements and dozing off. Only then did he lightly shake the rope.

  Upon receiving the signal, another person quickly climbed up onto the city wall.

  Zhou Wu Ze had already used another rope to slide down the wall silently and was now outside the city.

  Before long, all twenty-one people had climbed over the wall and left the city, taking advantage of the cover of night to flee eastward.

  Zhou Jian wore a black night-traveling outfit, with a black scarf covering his face, making him look identical to Zhou Wu and the others.

  These years of doing business without a foundation, it's not the first or second time, twenty followers have long been skilled in flying eaves and walking on walls, killing people and stealing goods with ease, once causing quite a stir in the surrounding counties.

  Zhou Jian specifically targeted those wealthy households that were rich but not benevolent, killing and robbing them before leaving his name behind and fleeing far away.

  Of course, the names left behind were those of wealthy households' enemies, and it was impossible for them to leave their own names.

  The county government officials have racked their brains to crack the case and arrested many scapegoats, but they still can't find out who the real culprit is.

  Even three county heads were dismissed in succession due to multiple cases of murder and robbery occurring within the territory that could not be solved.

  This time the target is a Zheng family in Ju Nuo County, more than half a month ago, Zhou Wu had already figured out the details of the Zheng family, and found out which families were enemies with them, as well as their family members.

  Juchao County is less than sixty miles away from Anhui Province.

  Zhou Jian led his special forces team, rushing all the way, and arrived at the target location in just half a time.

  Under the moonlight, a large-scale manor house can be faintly seen in front, black and without a single light.

  Zhou Jian glanced at Zhou Wu and said in a low voice: "You're in command today, I'll provide cover for you."

  Zhou Wu responded promptly, waving his hand, and twenty men quickly dispersed, silently making their way towards the manor.

  Zhou Jian stood at a high vantage point, with his hands behind his back, his eyes scanning the darkness, gazing out at the manor.

  Although dozens of feet away, I could still vaguely see a few black shadows quickly jumping over the wall and entering the mansion. The darkness was eerily quiet, without a single sound coming out, apparently their actions were quite smooth.

  After waiting for a whole quarter of an hour, I saw a black shadow jumping over the wall.

  Soon, Zhou Wu led nineteen team members rushing back, each with a large black cloth bundle on their body.

  "My lord, I have killed five men without alarming anyone."

  Zhou Wu reported in a low voice, his expression subtly revealing an inexplicable excitement.

  These refugees are all poor people who have no psychological burden on robbing the rich and helping the poor, but are very happy to do so.

  Zhou Jian swept a glance, nodded, and silently led the way in a rapid retreat.

  It took half an hour on the way here, and it will take a bit longer on the way back.

  Twenty attendants, although each with super endurance, would still consume physical strength after running hundreds of miles overnight.

  The night grew deeper, and the soldiers on the city wall slept more soundly.

  Zhou Jian was the first to climb up the wall, and the twenty followers also crossed the city wall with ease, sneaking into the mansion in the dark.

  The next day at noon, the wanted list of Ju Nao County was sent to Anhui County.

  The Zheng family was robbed, and the family members reported to the authorities. The magistrate of Ju's Nest County dispatched constables to catch the thieves while sending out wanted posters to surrounding counties, requesting the capture of the bandits. However, the magistrate knew in his heart that this was another unsolved case.

  In recent years, such things have become quite normal in surrounding counties.

  The county government was completely helpless against this mysterious and elusive gang.

  Not to mention catching anyone, no one has ever seen what the thieves look like. As for those who have seen the thieves, they have all gone to see King Yan and there is no way to investigate.

  Even those rare and precious treasures that had been stolen seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if they had never existed at all.

  As for the money, there is no name written on it, who can tell whose it is.

  Zhou Shang received a wanted poster for help and also dispatched an officer to investigate openly and secretly, hoping to be of assistance.

  Zhou Jian had just finished practicing his boxing and footwork, and was about to head to the Qiao residence after lunch when Zhou Shang sent someone to summon him.

  Arriving at the county government's back courtyard, I found Zhou Shang with a deep frown, seemingly troubled by something.

  Zhou Jian made a bow and asked: "Father, is there something difficult to decide?"

  Zhou nodded and said, "Recently, the Jiang bandits have been going upstream from the Yangtze River to Anhui Province, landing near the Twentieth Mile Pavilion and causing trouble by plundering. My father has sent troops to attack them several times, but they have not succeeded and instead suffered losses. What can be done about it?"

  Zhou Jian said resolutely: "I am willing to lead twenty followers to conquer and completely destroy the water bandits."

  Zhou Shang smiled and said: "My son is brave and resourceful, with a natural talent for strategy. He should be able to achieve great things. Let him lead three hundred soldiers and go ahead."

  Zhou Jian responded with a sound, and immediately went out of the inner courtyard. When he returned to the other courtyard, Zhou Wu and others were practicing their combined attack formation.

  Twenty attendants were divided into two teams, ten people in each team, and they were fighting fiercely, with the battle raging on.

  Zhou Wu led nine men, with four as the main attackers, holding bladeless wooden spears to charge and strike the enemy. Six assisted in attacking while also defending, holding wooden clubs and shields to block the incoming wooden spears and clubs. They advanced and retreated with a clear plan, their offense and defense well-measured, not chaotic in the slightest.

  Zhou Jian slapped his palm heavily and shouted: "Alright, stop for a moment."

  Twenty attendants hastily gathered and stopped, but the formation did not disperse, still guarding according to the array.

  "What instructions does the young master have?"

  Zhou Jian said: "The Jiang bandits have arrived at the 20th Mile Pavilion to rob, my father ordered me to lead the troops to clear them out. Everyone put on your armor, bring your weapons and follow me to the county government to assemble the troops, quickly eliminate the evil bandits that plague our land."

  "Yes."

  Zhou Wu hastily obeyed the order, and hurriedly instructed his followers to put on their armor and bring their weapons.

  The Yangtze River is home to many pirates who frequently plunder the surrounding counties and towns, causing great harm.

  There are hundreds of water bandits lurking in the borders of Lujiang and Jiujiang, each one is extremely fierce and comes and goes like the wind.

  The surrounding counties all sent troops to besiege and annihilate them several times, but the soldiers from each county were mostly weak in training, many were old and weak, and their equipment was not uniform, so they couldn't cope with the Jiang bandits who came and went like the wind.

  Twenty attendants may be a bit less, but in terms of equipment, Zhou Jian spent a lot of thought.

  During the Han Dynasty, most of the armor worn by soldiers were made of boiled cowhide, only protecting the chest and back, with very poor defensive effects.

  Only a tiny number of elite troops were equipped with fish-scale armor made from thousands of iron pieces strung together. However, this type of armor was extremely expensive, and one set cost about ten guan, which could support a family of three for three years at the time.

  Twenty attendants, each with a suit of fish-scale armor, also a considerable sum of money.

  In terms of weapons, each person had a hardwood iron-bladed long spear, two ring-headed knives, two short swords, a strong bow, and dozens or even hundreds of hidden weapons such as flying knives and flying needle arrows, almost to the point of being armed to the teeth.

  Soon, Zhou Wu and others finished dressing up and were ready to set off.

  Zhou Jian also put on a suit of iron armor and brought twenty followers to rush to the county government office.

  County Lieutenant Chen Dian heard the intention and without saying another word, immediately took Zhou Jian to the camp to inspect the troops.

  Chen Dian is a typical example of being neither literate nor martial, and has been serving as a county lieutenant for over a decade. Last time he led troops to suppress the Jiang bandits, not only did they lose hundreds of soldiers, but Chen Dian himself almost got captured alive by the Jiang bandits, so how dare he lead troops to fight against bandits again?

  If it weren't for this guy being the nephew of the governor of Lujiang, he would have been dismissed long ago after losing hundreds of soldiers.

  Wan County originally had 800 soldiers and militiamen, but Chen Dian defeated more than 200 of them. Now there are only over 500 soldiers and militiamen left.

  Zhou Jian arrived at the camp and was almost shocked to death. Almost half of them were old, weak, sick or disabled, and less than 300 were strong and healthy. Moreover, they all looked pale and thin, without armor, and most of their weapons were rusty, some soldiers didn't even have any weapons.

  Such a group of soldiers is hardly much better than refugees.

  With such an army and horses, it is easy to imagine the outcome of going to punish the bandits.

  "Sir Chen," Zhou Jian asked, "why are there so many old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers, and some of them don't even have weapons?"

  Chen Dian hummed and said, "This ah, you don't know that these old and weak people have always been brave soldiers. Because they are older, if they are not allowed to be soldiers, they will not even have food to eat, so they stay in the camp."

  Zhou Jian furrowed his brow, feeling that this barracks had become a nursing home. He pointed to several soldiers and asked, "Can these soldiers' weapons still be used to kill the enemy? They can't even cut grass efficiently! And why don't some of them even have weapons?"

  Chen Dian felt somewhat embarrassed and furrowed his brow without speaking.

  Zhou Jian coldly laughed and didn't ask anymore.

  In recent years, although natural and man-made disasters have continued unabated, the grain and silver in Anhui County are still barely sufficient. Every year, a large amount of money is allocated to County Lieutenant Chen Dian, but it seems that this money has not been used for the 800 soldiers at all.

  Not even having weapons, how can you fight?

  Zhou Jian did not want to bring a motley crew onto the battlefield to drag him down.

  "Zhou Wu."

  Zhou Jian shouted in a deep voice.

  "In."

  Zhou Wu hastily stepped forward, raised his head and puffed out his chest, responding loudly.

  Zhou Jian swept his gaze over the hundreds of soldiers with dull expressions, and said coldly: "Select one hundred robust men with weapons who can wield a knife from among these soldiers. Each of you will lead five men and form an army."

  "Yes."

  Zhou Wu loudly acknowledged the order and immediately led his men to select the strong and sturdy ones.

  Zhou Jian said to Chen Dian, who was not looking well beside him: "Chen sir, these soldiers are lightly armored and poorly equipped. They can barely manage to guard the city gate, but if they were to engage in a fierce battle with the pirates, they would definitely be no match. In order to successfully eliminate the pirates and bring peace to the people of Anhui County, shouldn't you, Chen sir, provide some equipment and weapons for the selection of one hundred strong and capable soldiers?"

  "This..."

  Chen Dian's face was difficult to look at, with a hint of unease.

  Zhou Jian coldly smiled and said: "Since Magistrate Chen is having difficulties, I'll have to go find County Magistrate Sir and report the situation truthfully."

  Chen Dian was shocked. If the county magistrate really investigated thoroughly, he would likely have to spit out everything he had eaten over the years. Moreover, the crime of embezzling military funds was no small matter. Although he was unwilling in his heart, he could only pinch his nose and agree, "Alright, limited to 100 people, one piece of leather armor and a ring-headed knife per person. If it's more than that, this official will be powerless."

  Zhou Jian smiled and said: "Thank you, Lord Chen, each of us will also need two short knives."

  Chen Dian hesitated for half a day before gritting his teeth and agreeing.

  Zhou Jian nodded in satisfaction, knowing that if he had asked for more, Chen Dian would have gone bankrupt.