Chapter Fifty-Four: Who Dares Accuse Me, the Head Constable!
After mapping out the future development of the mountain stronghold, Chief Li raised his head and took a swig of wine, then asked, “How much farmland does Li Family Village at the foot of our mountain have?”
Li Zheng scratched his head and replied, “Li Family Village isn’t large, with fewer than a hundred households altogether. Since it’s at the base of the mountain, there isn’t much land—perhaps only several hundred acres in total, and about half of that is occupied by a local landlord.”
He looked at Li Yun, blinked, and said, “Second Brother, what are you planning? Our Li family hails from Li Family Village, and when the old man was still alive, he told you that even if we starved, we must never work for Li Family Village…”
“Who said anything about working?” Li Yun shot him a glance, his eyes shifting as he spoke, “We need to find a way to get that landlord’s land. Lao Jiu, you’ll take care of this. If you can buy it, buy it. If not, take some men and give him a scare.”
As a mountain bandit, Liu Bo had no scruples about right and wrong; he patted his chest without hesitation and said, “Don’t worry, Second Brother, leave it to me!”
Li Yun cautioned, “Remember, negotiate properly. We have money—buy it at the market price.”
“Skinny Monkey has a proper identity now, so the land will be registered under his name. It counts as him returning to his roots.”
Li Zheng was quite pleased and pointed to his own nose. “Second Brother, you want me to handle the purchase?”
Li Yun nodded, “This matter is too troublesome for me to handle personally. You go ahead.”
Li Yun’s initial plan was to use Mount Cang as the center and gradually expand their sphere of influence outward.
Buying land was undoubtedly a shortcut.
Once that was settled, Li Yun asked, “Who’s the best fighter in our stronghold?”
After asking, he noticed Li Zheng and Liu Bo exchanged odd looks, so the chief quickly added, “Besides me.”
Liu Bo laughed and said, “Second Brother, how could you forget? Among the younger generation, Tiger is the best at fighting; among the elders, it’s Third Uncle.”
Li Zheng nodded in agreement, “Third Uncle is quite formidable. He used to belong to some martial sect, though I’m not sure how he ended up in our stronghold. When you were young, Second Brother, Third Uncle taught you some moves.”
Li Zheng knew that since his second brother’s head injury, many memories were lost, so he reminded him, smiling, “When you grew to thirteen or fourteen, you bested Third Uncle in a bout, and after that, he stopped teaching us martial arts.”
Chief Li chuckled, “I’ll go find him later.”
Liu Bo immediately caught on, “Second Brother wants Third Uncle to teach those kids?”
“Yes,” replied Chief Li. “He’s got nothing better to do anyway.”
The three brothers drank together, finalized the rough plan for the stronghold’s future, and by afternoon, Li Yun took a jug of wine and wandered through the settlement, eventually arriving at a small courtyard.
Inside, a woman was washing clothes while a boy of about ten stood nearby.
Li Yun stepped forward and said with a cheerful smile, “Third Aunt, is Third Uncle at home?”
The woman looked up and saw Li Yun, quickly standing and wiping her hands with her clothes. She forced a smile, “Erzi, you’re here. My husband is napping, I’ll call him.”
She invited Li Yun to sit and went inside to fetch her husband. Before long, Third Chief Zhou Liang emerged from the room. Seeing Li Yun amusing his son in the courtyard, his expression shifted slightly. He approached silently, lowered his head, and clasped his fists. “Chief.”
After speaking, he glanced at his son and said sternly, “Go play somewhere else.”
The boy, clearly intimidated by his father, scampered away.
Li Yun rose and smiled, “No outsiders here, Third Uncle—just call me Erzi, sounds more pleasant.”
Zhou Liang smiled but said nothing in return.
“Chief, you have business with me?”
Li Yun placed the wine jug in the courtyard and smiled, “Found this in my father’s cellar—brought it for you to try.”
Zhou Liang glanced at the jug and smiled, “That… The old chief’s wine is hard to come by. Thank you, Chief.”
The two left the courtyard together. Once outside, Li Yun spoke, “I do have a favor to ask, Third Uncle.”
Zhou Liang was no fool and had already guessed, “You want me to train those newcomers in martial arts?”
“Something like that,” Li Yun answered. “Mainly to strengthen their bodies, so they’ll grow up robust.”
“In a few years, they’ll be strong young men—quick and unafraid. That’s all I need.”
Zhou Liang nodded, “As long as they’re well-fed, that’s no problem. But…”
He looked at Li Yun and lowered his voice, “There’s one question I want to ask, Chief.”
Li Yun smiled, “Go ahead, Third Uncle.”
“I want to know where those kids came from.”
He gazed at Li Yun, took a deep breath, “I’ve wanted to ask for days—these dozen or so youths…”
Li Yun replied calmly, “There are many mouths in our stronghold, and their origins are not something I can share with you. But I can tell you—they came up the mountain of their own accord, and they no longer have families.”
“Not just these; more will come in the future. They’ll all be entrusted to you, Third Uncle.”
He looked at Zhou Liang, “You won’t be working for nothing.”
“I know your heart is set on your son. When he grows up, if he chooses to stay in the stronghold, he’ll be my brother. If he’d rather leave the mountain, I can arrange a respectable post for him in the county, so he won’t have to be a bandit—he can live as an upright man.”
Zhou Liang was silent for a while, then suddenly said, “Chief, you’ve become more refined in speech since traveling.”
“No choice,” Li Yun waved his hand and smiled, “Can’t go around cursing all day in Qingyang County—wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Zhou Liang stopped and bowed deeply, “I accept the task.”
“Good,” Li Yun turned to him and said gravely, “This is a matter of utmost importance for our stronghold. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to meet the children. Raise them well, and you’ll be our greatest contributor.”
Zhou Liang shook his head slightly, “At my age, I don’t care for credit. As long as you don’t hold my past mistakes against me.”
“Besides, I have one more question for you, Chief.”
Li Yun remained calm, “You want to know what I’m planning?”
Zhou Liang nodded.
Li Yun looked up at the sky, “You’ve been on the mountain a long time, Third Uncle, so you likely don’t know—there’s already rebellion in neighboring Shidai County. Before long, uprisings will spread across the land.”
“Chaos is near. We must prepare ourselves, at least to ensure our own survival.”
Zhou Liang looked at Li Yun, then bowed his head.
“I am willing to follow the Chief!”
…
For more than half a month afterward, Li Yun was often away from the mountain, taking a group of brothers to investigate the neighboring strongholds around Cang Mountain. Once he had a firm grasp of the nearby situation, he finally returned to Qingyang with Li Zheng and Zhang Hu.
Upon arriving in Qingyang, he reported to the county office. Before he had a chance to see Magistrate Xue, a middle-aged, portly man grabbed his sleeve.
“Are you Chief Li? Are you Chief Li?”
Li Yun stopped and looked at him, “Do we know each other?”
“No, not at all,” the man waved his hand, “But the county officials sent me to find you.”
His face was anxious and he pleaded, “There are people near our village colluding with mountain bandits!”
Li Yun was taken aback, “Which village?”
“At the foot of Cang Mountain—Li Family Village!”
The man gritted his teeth, “A gang of ruffians, emboldened by mountain bandits, are trying to seize our land!”
Chief Li finally stopped and turned to scrutinize the man.
His expression became strange.