Chapter 111: Stupefied by Stupidity!

Li Yun spent nearly three days in Xuanzhou City dealing with two government officials. Beyond haggling with Prefect Cui, he ultimately succeeded in securing five hundred strings of cash and twenty crossbows from the prefect.

This was largely because Li Yun’s performance in Shidai over the past two months had been so impressive that Cui Shao was able to submit a remarkably favorable report to the imperial court. The prefect, a man of noble lineage, found it difficult to refuse, and thus authorized the allocation of these supplies to Li.

Relatively speaking, five hundred strings of cash were no longer a significant concern for Li Yun, but the twenty crossbows drawn from the state armory were truly valuable assets.

When Li and his men, led by Chen Da, retrieved the crossbows, the armory steward’s face was etched with distress. He tugged at Li Yun’s sleeve, endlessly nagging, "Captain Li, the note from Prefect Cui clearly states that these crossbows are on loan for your bandit suppression efforts. Once the mission is complete, they must be returned! They must be returned!"

Li Yun laughed and replied, "Rest assured, rest assured. They will be returned."

The steward glanced at the crossbows being slung over the backs of Chen Da’s men, still clearly pained, and added, "Also, you may only take ten bolts per crossbow. There are no more than that."

Li Yun frowned, saying, "My good man, this armory isn't your private property, why are you being so stingy?"

The steward’s eyes widened as he shouted, "Every time a new Sima takes office, the first thing they do is audit the armory. If things are missing, I am the one who has to answer for it!"

"With a note signed by Prefect Cui, what do you have to worry about?" Li retorted with a sidelong glance, holding up five fingers. "I’ll give you five strings of cash if you let me take one hundred bolts per crossbow."

The steward hesitated, then gritted his teeth and agreed, "Fine. When will you pay?"

"How could I carry five strings of cash on me? I’m staying in Xuanzhou City tonight; you can come find me later. Do you think I, Li Zhao, would stiff you on the money?"

Li Yun raised his voice slightly, prompting the steward to quickly grab his sleeve and whisper, "Hush, hush!"

Li shook his head in resignation and shouted to Chen Da and the others behind him, "Move the goods! If you can't carry it all in one trip, make two!"

Chen Da and his men responded and went to fetch the bolts with cheerful smiles. There were only seven or eight of them who had entered Xuanzhou City with Li. At this moment, each man had to carry two crossbows and two hundred bolts; the weaker ones could barely lift the load.

However, Li had clearly gotten the better end of the deal this time. Crossbows were strictly prohibited by the authorities, and because they were precision mechanical devices with specific requirements for bolt length, they were impossible to purchase on the open market. The arrows used by common archers were entirely unsuitable for these crossbows.

Li Yun had not yet developed his own weapon workshops or armory, so if he ran out of bolts, these crossbows would soon become useless. Even setting aside the difficulty of acquisition, the cost of these two thousand bolts would likely run into the tens or hundreds of strings of cash. Five strings of cash was an absolute steal.

After clearing out the armory, Li Yun and his men hired several carts and left Xuanzhou without delay, not even stopping to bid farewell to Prefect Cui.

Once they had cleared the city, Li Yun took a crossbow from a waxed cloth wrapping and studied it for a while until he understood its operation. He loaded a bolt and aimed left and right, causing Chen Da and the others to turn pale with fright.

"Boss!" Chen Da instinctively ducked, his voice trembling. "You can't point that thing at people!"

Li Yun gave a dry laugh. "Look at you, scared stiff. How spineless."

Seeing him stow the crossbow away, Chen Da let out a sigh of relief and said with a bitter smile, "This isn't a bow. A three-year-old child could kill a man with this!"

Li Yun stretched and laughed, "I know how lethal it is. I was just curious; I didn't expect the state armory to still hold such quality gear. I had assumed it had all been sold off by corrupt officials long ago."

Chen Da made a sound of agreement and, after checking his surroundings, whispered, "Boss, when we were moving the supplies, there was nothing but crossbows and armor in that warehouse. There weren't many swords left, and bows and arrows were even scarcer."

"Crossbows and armor..." Chen Da scoffed, "The imperial court keeps such a tight grip on those that they don't dare sell them."

Li Yun thought for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "If they dare to sell everything else in the armory, there is nothing they wouldn't dare to sell. The only reason these items remain is likely because..."

"No one dares to buy them."

For anyone other than government officials, possessing these items was a crime punishable as treason.

As they traveled toward Shidai to deliver the supplies to the main body of the anti-bandit squad, the group passed through Qingyang. As they approached the county seat, Chen Da and Huang Yong were fine, but the other bailiffs were clearly reluctant to continue. Noticing their mood, Li Yun smiled and said, "Let’s head into Qingyang first. We’ll rest for three days before meeting up with the others."

These bailiffs were from Qingyang, and after two months of following Li Yun through thick and thin, they truly deserved a chance to go home and see their families.

The group cheered, whipped their horses, and raced back to Qingyang. It was already dark by the time they reached the gates. Chen Da stood on the cart, hands on his hips, and cursed until the gate guards opened up for them.

The guards were fellow bailiffs from the county office, and upon seeing Li Yun on the cart, they all wore apologetic smiles. "Boss, it was too dark, we didn't realize it was you." "Captain, it’s been a while since you’ve been back to Qingyang."

Li Yun sat on the cart, greeting the familiar faces and laughing, "I’ve been in Shidai suppressing bandits. You brothers might not have seen it, but the bandits in Shidai were beaten until they ran with their tails between their legs! They’re nowhere near as tough as the ones in Qingyang!"

The bailiffs, being locals of Qingyang, were excited by this. "That goes without saying! How could the Shidai folks compare to our Qingyang men in terms of ferocity?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Yun did not linger. He led Chen Da and the others straight to the county office. Since they were carrying highly dangerous crossbows, they had to be turned over and sealed in the county armory.

Once the ten or so men reached the office, lamps were lit in the darkened courtyard. Li Yun watched as Chen Da and the others locked the twenty crossbows and the bolts into chests. He then gathered them together and said, "Alright, go home to your families. Come back and find me at the office in three days."

Feeling exhausted himself, Li Yun stretched and added, "If anyone doesn't want to come back, stay home for a while. No need to rush back."

Chen Da and the others cheered and scattered in high spirits. After locking the warehouse, Li Yun prepared to head to his quarters for some sleep, but before he could leave, the voice of Master Xue suddenly came from behind him.

"Where are you off to?"

Li Yun turned, wearing a smile, and cupped his hands. "The Magistrate hasn't retired yet?"

"I was about to, but I heard the commotion outside and came to see what was happening."

Li Yun explained the situation with the crossbows to Magistrate Xue. Master Xue frowned, his expression turning serious. He called for two bailiffs and ordered them to guard the warehouse in shifts, strictly forbidding anyone from opening it.

After giving his orders, he looked at Li Yun and said calmly, "Follow me."

Li Yun complied, following the Magistrate to his study, where he sat down obediently. Magistrate Xue looked at him and asked, "How has the bandit suppression been going?"

"Not bad," Li Yun said with a smile. "In two months, most of the bandits in Shidai have been cleared out. Give it another year, and the bandits of all of Xuanzhou—if not wiped out entirely—will be at least seventy or eighty percent gone. Once that’s done, my task will be complete."

Master Xue rubbed his temples and looked at Li Yun with a sigh. "I never imagined that the deep-seated problems of Xuanzhou for all these years would... actually be resolved by your hands."

He paused, then looked at Li Yun and continued, "You may continue your suppression, but do not go to Ningguo County for the time being."

Li Yun was curious. "What happened in Ningguo?"

"Nothing happened in Ningguo," Master Xue frowned. "But something has happened in Yuezhou. The rebel Qiu has occupied the entire province. A few days ago, he openly raised the banner of rebellion in Yuezhou and declared himself the Prince of Yue."

"Ah?" Li Yun was stunned.

Magistrate Xue glanced at him and gave a dry laugh. "What? Are you frightened?"

He immediately retracted his smile and said sternly, "Now that the entirety of Yuezhou is under the control of the rebel Qiu, and Ningguo County is adjacent to Yuezhou, war could break out at any moment. Wait for the imperial court to send reinforcements to Yuezhou and for the conflict to settle down before you go to Ningguo to carry out your duties."

Magistrate Xue offered his counsel earnestly.

Li Yun finally snapped out of his shock. He shook his head slightly and said with a smile, "Magistrate, I’m not frightened. I’m just stunned by how stupid this so-called Prince of Yue is."

"He has so few troops and such a small territory..." Li Yun chuckled. "He really couldn't keep his composure."

Xue Song frowned and said, "By declaring himself Prince, he can more easily bewitch the masses. Who knows how many people will flock to his banner, hoping to become so-called founding heroes."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Magistrate, by declaring himself King, even if the imperial court couldn't spare the effort to deal with him before, they will now be forced to grow an extra hand to strike down Yuezhou."

He paused, then said softly, "Magistrate, I have decided to go to Ningguo to suppress the bandits."

Xue Song frowned. "Why?"

Captain Li spoke with righteous indignation.

"Naturally, for the sake of the common people!"