Chapter 17 Mission (Rush Ranking, Please Vote)

  Today is the beginning of a new week, I sincerely ask for your recommendations and collections, Little Xin bows to thank you all!

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  In fact, his heart was not calm at all.

  Don't look at his promise, by the end of the year, the bandit disaster in Pei County will be pacified, but wanting to achieve this point is not an easy thing after all.

  The banditry in Pei County is actually done by local people.

  Of course, there are also some Chu people who dare not to leave the historical stage and make trouble. The thieves and local people collude with each other, and their relationship is very deep. Moreover, these guys are very cunning, once they find out that something is wrong, they will immediately hide in the depths of the swamp and disappear.

  If a large army is sent out to hunt them down, the bandits will immediately move to another location.

  If the number of soldiers and horses is small, these bandits will take advantage of their familiarity with the terrain of Suiyang County to launch surprise attacks.

  Before that, Tu Yu had also tried to collect taxes several times, wasting countless money and grain as well as soldiers and horses, but ultimately returned without success, even losing troops and generals.

  Ren You carefully studied the materials given by Tu Wei.

  There are two larger groups of bandits in Pei County. One group is extremely difficult to deal with, sometimes appearing as a dozen or so people, and other times as several hundred, occasionally even gathering crowds of over a thousand, their movements mysterious and impossible to apprehend; the other group is relatively simpler, with very complete information available.

  Wang Ling, male, from Chu.

  His ancestors were nobles of the Chu State, his father was a cavalry general under Xiang Yan, the great general of the Chu State, and died in battle with Xiang Yan.

  Wang Ling brought with him the followers his father had left him, about a hundred men, and came to Pei County. He gathered a crowd and became a bandit, having some reputation in Xiapi Commandery.

  Jian was a man of cold temperament and well-versed in military strategy. However, he had repeatedly led expeditions but never succeeded.

  Under Wang Ling's command were about three thousand men, all of whom were fierce and ruthless bandits who killed without blinking an eye. In the territory of Pei County, they were notorious for their cruelty.

  There were already many Chu people under the jurisdiction of Pei County, and there were also a number of informants.

  Ren You deeply knew that from the day he stepped into the county government, Wang Ling had already known of his existence. It was likely that among the staff he recruited, there were Wang Ling's accomplices. In other words, Ren You's every move was being closely monitored by Wang Ling.

  It's not an easy thing to deal with such a group of thugs.

  After deep thought and careful consideration, he finally set up a plan. If it succeeded, it might be possible to capture all the bandits in King's Tomb at once.

  Deploying the Qin army?

  One is to alarm the snake by hitting the grass, and the other is to follow the Qin law, mobilize fifty people, and need to report to King Zheng of Qin. Only after King Zheng's permission can the troops be mobilized. Although Ren Ao has the tiger tally bestowed by King Zheng of Qin in his hands, Ren Ao already had his own plan in mind and would not act rashly.

  Let's take a look at these recruits, maybe there are some useful talents among them.

  Ren Yong came to the camp with this attitude, accompanied by Xiao He and other entourage.

  As soon as he entered the camp, he heard the intense clashing of weapons. Ren Yao didn't disturb the onlookers, but instead walked up to the dueling platform.

  From the high platform, the situation in the arena is clear at a glance.

  Fan Kuai and Liu Bang were in a fierce battle, but Ren Jun's eyes lit up as he watched, and he couldn't help but nod his head slightly.

  "Who knows these two people?"

  "I report to the county magistrate, a tall and strong man, who is a butcher from Pei County, named Fan Kuai. He has been practicing martial arts since childhood and has the reputation of being the number one person in Pei County. This man's martial arts skills are exceptionally high, and he also possesses innate divine strength, hence his bravery can withstand ten thousand men. Ah, indeed a good fellow from our Pei County."

  The official who knew Fan Kuai hastily stepped forward to answer.

  The ancient man's hometown and village were very serious, listening to this person's tone, he was quite proud of Fan Kuai.

  Ren Yao just smiled and said, "What about the other person?"

  Liu Jianping usually stays at home and rarely goes out. Therefore, people in Pei County may have heard of such a person, but few have seen him.

  Xiao He replied, "The young man who had a martial arts contest with Fan Kuai is named Liu Yan. He is not yet fifteen years old and has only recently moved to our place. His father, Liu Fu, was originally a wandering knight in the area of San Chuan Commandery, but later became a dependent of the Lü family in Danfu (now Heze, Shandong). Mr. Lü had been persecuted by his neighbors, so he moved to Pei County. Liu Fu died in battle defending the Lü family, so only Liu Yan and his mother arrived here."

  "It's that silly kid!"

  The official who had previously answered arbitrarily couldn't help but sneer after hearing this.

  "Stupid kid? I think this child's killing skills are quite methodical, where did the 'stupid' come from?"

  "Still not stupid!" The official couldn't help but sneer: "The county magistrate doesn't know. That little guy just arrived in Pei County and separated from the Lü family. This is nothing, he even exchanged all the money on his body for round coins (also known as Qin currency). Ha! Several thousand knives of cloth were exchanged for a pile of useless cheap currency... Ah, the villain should die, the villain should die... No, no, I didn't mean that, please spare my life, county magistrate."

  The official spoke smoothly, but forgot about the county magistrate beside him, who was a real Qin state person.

  Calling Qin currency cheap coins, isn't that asking for trouble?

  Ren You didn't say a word, he just hummed and one of the Iron Eagle Guards drew his sword and beheaded the official. Fresh blood splattered out, spattering on the faces of the surrounding crowd... yet not a single person dared to move.

  But Ren You's gaze at Liu Gong became softer.

  "Xiao Chang Li!"

  "Get down!"

  Xiao He remained calm and composed, seemingly oblivious to the headless corpse at his feet.

  "Is this Liu Quan... really from San Chuan County?"

  Xiao He was taken aback and said in a low voice: "It is indeed so. According to the information he provided, as well as the testimony of the Lü family members, it is true that he is from Sanchuan County."

  Ren Yao seems somewhat disappointed.

  "Whoa!"

  "The end is near!"

  "Are there people with the surname Liu among us old Qin people?"

  One of the Iron Eagle Guards furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before speaking in a low voice, "There is. The old Qin Liu family was originally from the Tang State during the early Zhou Dynasty. After King Cheng of Zhou destroyed the Tang State, he changed the surname of the Liu descendants to Du and established the Du State in Duyuan (present-day southern Xi'an). Later, after King Xuan of Zhou wrongly executed Duke Du (the king of the Du State), his son, Du Yi, escaped to Jin to avoid disaster.

  Du Yan's son Du Wei (also pronounced as three tones) served as a Shi Shi in the state of Jin, and took his official position as his surname, known as the Shi family.

  Later, the three Jin divided their households, and Du Shu's grandson Shi Hui escaped to the state of Qin and restored his surname Liu. His descendant Liu Song once served as a cavalry general under the great general Meng Pi of the previous king, was exceptionally brave and highly respected. However, when the previous king invaded the Three Canyons region, forcibly took the bronze tripod from Yong, and died, Meng Pi was torn apart by five horses, and Liu Song also became implicated and received the death penalty. From then on, the Liu clan disappeared without a trace.

  The previous king mentioned in this population is Qin Wu Wang.

  Ren You nodded slightly, and Liu Jian's gaze also became softer.

  "Check it out!"

  "Hi!"

  The Iron Eagle Knights retreated back.

  At this time, the competition between Liu Gan and Fan Kuai also came to an end. The two wielded their halberds and fought for about 40 or 50 rounds, with Liu Gan falling into a disadvantageous position. It's no wonder that Liu Gan's body was still underage and had not yet reached maturity, so he was at a bit of a disadvantage in the fight against Fan Kuai, who had already entered his prime. Fan Kuai spotted an opening, let out a loud roar, and thrust his halberd forward with great force, creating a whistling sound as it sliced through the air.

  It's fast... like lightning.

  If it were earlier, Liu Kan would have definitely used his shield to block. But at this moment, he was also showing signs of insufficient strength, and as the spear approached, his eyes widened, and with a loud shout, he swung his battle-axe to chop down.

  A loud clang, Fan Kuai's copper halberd was knocked open.

  However, Liu Quan couldn't hold onto the bronze halberd either, and it flew out of his hands. The tiger's mouth burst open, and blood splattered everywhere. But Liu Quan didn't retreat because of this; instead, he charged forward, shield raised high in the air, with a force of ten thousand jun, and crashed into Fan Kuai. If they collided, Fan Kuai would either die or be severely injured.

  It's too late to talk about it now.

  Fan Kuai's bronze halberd slipped from his hand, and with both hands holding the halberd, he exerted force to prop it up.

  With a loud crash, the shield and halberd collided. Liu Quan's shield was shattered, and Fan Qiang's copper halberd was also violently smashed into two pieces.

  Fan Qiang shouted loudly and dodged to retreat.

  Liu Quan's hands were already wrapped around his arms, and he violently bumped his head against Fan Kuai's.

  Liu Bang and others had never seen such a fierce battle, and for a moment the whole scene was silent. Fan Kuai was knocked to the ground with blood flowing from his head, and Liu Jiao's face was also covered in blood. The two of them stumbled apart, and plopped down on the ground. Liu Jiao had no strength left, and Fan Kuai was dizzy and disoriented.

  At this time, two Iron Eagle sharpshooters rushed over, one for each, and subdued Liu Du and Han Yin.

  It was then that everyone discovered that Ren Yao and others were watching coldly from the high platform in the camp.

  "You're enjoying this so much, why don't you just kill us?"

  Is it enjoyable to be beaten? Why not just beat him to death?

  "In a thick, old Qin accent, his eyes cold and stern, with a hint of anger on his face, 'What kind of place do you think this is? How dare you be so presumptuous?! Come, take those two ignorant fools away and give each of them 15 lashes, then return to formation.'"

  Liu Bang was exhausted, and Fan Kuai was also worn out.

  Two men were dragged to the camp gate by Iron Eagle Guards like dead dogs, and received a flogging of fifteen lashes. Fortunately, the Iron Eagle Guards had received Ren Yao's instructions and did not use deadly force. Otherwise, these two people would have lost at least one layer of skin after the fifteen lashes.

  When returning to the camp, all the strong and young people in the camp had already lined up and stood still.

  After Ren Ying finished calling out the names, he had his deputy generals weed out those who were ill or physically weak, leaving less than a thousand men.

  "From today on, you will be trained here for three days. After the three days, you will be in charge of escorting a batch of grain and fodder to Xue County."

  General Meng Tian is currently pacifying the war in Xue County.

  It's inevitable that you will be ambushed during the escort. In these three days, I will do my best to teach you combat skills. Three days later, the grain transport will set out... According to Qin law, if people die, the grain must not be lost. You must remember, even if you lose your lives, you cannot lose a single stone of grain. Within ten days, the grain must be safely delivered to Pingyang, and if it is delayed by one day, according to the Great Qin law, the entire army will be beheaded.

  As soon as the words came out, whether it was Xiao He and others on the high platform or Liu Bang and others below the high platform, their faces all changed!