Chapter 26: Predicament

  "Run away? Why run away?" Yang Bo was somewhat puzzled: "What did we do to offend him? Didn't we also give his family two salt ponds?"

  How can you be so careless and speechless? You've ruined someone's little flag, and you think just fixing two blocks of the pond will make up for it?

  Yang Bo thought for a moment and said: "That Yao Zongji hasn't come back since he left last time, and there's been no news from him until now... that's a problem..."

  Xiao Mo nodded: "I also feel there's a problem"

  "What others are doing, we don't know at all, it's not good" Yang Bo walked a few steps with his hands behind his back "Like this, Mo Xiu, you take the trouble to go and pay your respects to Lord Zhou in Shicheng, hmm, also go to Wang Daren's place, and that commander of Andongwei, what was his surname?"

  "Surname Wei, Wei Dong" Xiao Mo Xiu replied

  "When the time comes, go to the city and prepare a few gifts. It doesn't have to be too deliberate, it's best if you can get some information, but it's okay if you can't." Yang Bo said casually.

  "Why not let Xiū Cái Gōng go?" Xiao Mo was somewhat perplexed, as soon as the scholar's identity was revealed, these military officers all had to give some face.

  "That rascal? Forget it, he can make others sour to death. You're clever, just bear with him for now." Yang Bo suddenly thought of something and added: "The most important thing is that you should go to the old donkey's home once, and if possible, bring his whole family over."

  Xiao Mo nodded repeatedly

  Yang Bo instructed, "Find two clever military households to go with you. After finishing this matter, don't rush back. If there's any news, send someone to notify me immediately. How is the investigation of that old donkey going?"

  Xiao Mo's face lit up with a smile: "After asking clearly, it turned out that this old man Liu indeed had a nephew who was a commander, but he was a distant relative outside of the three degrees of mourning. Old Man Liu kept calling him his 'nephew', but in fact, the other party didn't even recognize him as an uncle, it was just Old Man Liu's one-sided affection."

  When Yang Bo heard this, he couldn't help but laugh too, for that's just how small people think.

  "Anyway, go and try to make some connections, whether it works out or not is another matter. I'm sure when they see the silver lining, they'll give you an opportunity. Also, go ask at the Pacification Commission to see how our Director Yao's case is going."

  Xiao Mo Xiang nodded again and saw that Yang Bo had nothing else to say, so he turned around to prepare.

  Liu the old man was thrown into the sea by Erman and others today, and he almost died. He didn't dare to be arrogant again, promised Yang Bo to stay in Ma Family Village to work, but Yang Bo knew that he was not convinced in his heart. After thinking about it, he still brought over his family members, which can also make him feel at ease. As time went on, Yang Bo was confident that the welfare of Ma Family Village would make him willing to stay here.

  After a while, Han Ye returned, and Yang Bo pulled him down to sit, asking in detail about the general situation of the Patrol Department.

  Originally, the Baishi Salt Yard had a special patrol officer to inspect the salt roads and private salt. The Baishi Salt Yard only had one deputy patrol officer from the ninth rank, surnamed Liu, who was said to be the younger brother-in-law of the governor of Ju Prefecture. He was notorious for his arrogance and corruption, extorting money from people, and many of the soldiers and civilians in the surrounding areas had suffered at his hands. He had ten military men under him, as well as dozens of henchmen, and his influence was vast and intimidating.

  "One day I'll let you see my methods" Yang Bo thought viciously, but for now, the priority is to train the military households.

  These few days Yang Bo studied Ke Jie's "The Essentials of Military Training" diligently and gained some insights. Adding his own understanding, he formulated a detailed plan for the next step of training.

  After several days of queue training, Yang Bo had them continue with queue in the morning and physical fitness, cross-country, load-bearing and other subjects in the afternoon and evening. These seem to be relatively advanced things, but they are actually mentioned in the "Ji Yao" of military training...

  Yang Bo's training was cruel and bloody, the soldiers formed a square shape, all the supervisors held sticks and whips waiting outside the formation. The phalanx first walked to the foot of Da Fushan Mountain, about ten miles away, the formation could not be disordered in the slightest, otherwise it would be a whipping. Then came jogging, and finally weight-bearing running. The mountain foot slowly rose to the waist, and then to the top. The formation was not allowed to disperse seriously, and personnel were not allowed to pant.

  "Xiucai Gong, where are you going?" An old woman asked curiously when she saw Xiucai holding a whip and wandering alone in the wilderness.

  "Hum, I'm just casually strolling around and reciting some poetry." The scholar replied indifferently, without even giving the woman a second glance, assuming an air of carefree sightseeing.

  "What's the point of reciting poetry and holding a whip?" The old woman walked away in confusion.

  The scholar angrily threw down his whip and sat under a big tree to cool off, looking at the moving queue between the mountains with a fiery sky, the scholar was very depressed.

  "In those years, I, Wang Zao, also carried tens of kilograms of loads and walked ten or eight miles without taking a breath. Now, how can't even walk on the road? Alas..."

  After a few more days, when he saw that these people were able to maintain their formation, Yang Bo began training with weapons. Since there weren't enough long spears, they used sharpened bamboo poles as substitutes. For a time, the small phalanx was bristling with long spears, its momentum intimidating.

  Yang Bo was nervous all day, fortunately, there were no accidents, looking at that magnificent formation, Yang Bo felt very satisfied...

  "Where to go for a real battle?" Yang Bo muttered to himself, the formation looked good, but a team that had never experienced actual combat would always be just a ceremonial team.

  Why not find a dark and windy night, a night when you can't see your fingers in front of you, sneak to the White Stone Salt Yard, and take out that Patrol Officer? Compared to mountain bandits and sea pirates, these local rascals who only know how to bully men and women are actually the best targets for practice. Taking them out would also be a way to get rid of a local scourge. Yang Bo was initially startled by his own thoughts, then began to think about the feasibility...

  In the end, Yang Bo gave up on this tempting idea. The reason was simple: there wasn't enough benefit to make it worthwhile.

  Since there was no target, Yang Bo created some targets. He set up a row of wooden stakes on the beach, and everyone lined up in a row, stabbing at the target ten times with their spears, then raised their long spears, advanced, and the next row went forward, stabbed ten times, advanced, repeating this cycle.

  After the spears were distributed, the soldiers were all in high spirits. Dogzi drew a few human figures on the target and said to the crowd: "This is Liu, Deputy Inspector, do you want to kill him?"

  "Think!" A loud noise erupted from below, and those soldiers who had been punished were even more furious.

  "This is a pirate, want to kill his mother?"

  "He is a mountain bandit"

  "This is..."

  Those military men had been stirred up with blood and energy, Yang Bo saw that the morale was almost mobilized, so he took a small red flag and waved it.

  "First row, take ten paces forward, charge! Withdraw bayonet, charge! Withdraw bayonet... Second row prepare!"

  After shooting ten arrows, Yang Bo went forward to check the marks on the target. The soldiers who did not hit the target obediently stepped out to receive punishment.

  "Either you die or I perish." Yang Bo pointed at the soldiers being flogged and shouted to the others, "If you want to survive in battle, you must be more ruthless than the enemy. Once you stab with your spear, you must finish him off. Today they are being flogged because I want them to survive in the future. Do you understand?"

  "Understood!" The soldiers shouted in unison. They were not unreasonable people, and even if they were, weren't there still the dog, Yang Bo? He never worried about their morale.

  Just as Yang Bo was about to wave goodbye and continue on his way, a horseshoe sound came over.

  Yang Bo turned back in surprise...