Evergreen Immortal.

Chapter 20: One Alliance, Two Gangs, and Three Families

"You have to pay taxes once a year, in summer and autumn. Although you don't have any land, you still need to pay taxes. Considering that you are over seventy years old and have no children, you can be exempted from corvée."

"You will need to report every year in the future. If you fail to report in one year, your registration will be deemed cancelled."

The clerk emphasized the reminder.

Li Rui is already seventy years old and may die at any time.

Therefore, he needs to report frequently. If he does not come in a certain year, the Household Department will assume that Li Rui is dead.

Otherwise, based on the level of technology in ancient times, there would be no way to determine the population situation.

"Thank you, young master."

Li Rui bowed.

If it weren't for the kindness of Ma Dianshi, this clerk would certainly not have been able to give so many suggestions.

Leave the county office.

Li Rui went to the dental clinic again.

He rented a small house of only ten feet square in Dongcheng at the price of one or two taels of silver a year.

From then on, he finally had a home in Qinghe.

After redeeming myself, there are more things to consider.

When I was a slave in the Zhu family, I didn’t need to worry about paying taxes or anything else. I just had to focus on my work. But now I have to consider a lot more.

"Let's stay in the city first."

"Fortunately, I still have thirty taels of silver, which is enough to last for half a year, but I still have to find a way to make money."

He is now a martial artist of high rank and spends money like water.

No matter how wealthy one is, one cannot afford to spend all his money.

Time passes day by day.

Without a sword, Li Rui had to use a wooden stick as a sword to practice the White Ape Sword Technique.

With the help of martial bones and breathing techniques, the speed of progress is frighteningly fast.

Just half a month.

He has reached the intermediate level of Stone Skin Training, and perhaps within a year, he will be able to break through to the eighth level.

If those geniuses knew this speed, they would probably vomit three liters of blood.

No matter how talented a person is, he will pale in comparison to Li Rui.

Although he is already seventy.
During this period, Wang Zhao and Yang Yong also came several times.

Ever since Li Rui left the Zhu family, the master of the Zhu family seemed to have changed his personality. When Zhu Lie threatened Wang Zhao to borrow a horse, he scolded him.

With the help of Zhu Ping, the head of the Zhu family, Wang Zhao's life became much more comfortable.

Li Rui was also completely relieved.

This day.

Li Rui practiced swordplay at home as usual.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

When he pushed open the door, he thought it was Wang Zhao or Yang Yong again, but it turned out to be Wu Tu.

uninvited guest!
Wu Tu still smiled cheerfully: "Brother, you are still so strong. You didn't even tell me that you were decertified. It made it difficult for me to find you."

Li Rui: "It's just a small matter, don't worry about it."

There was a flash of surprise in Wu Tu's eyes.

"Becoming stronger again?!"

After just one month of not seeing each other, the old man in front of him felt much stronger, even to the point of making him feel afraid of him.

"Is everything alright, Wu?"

Wu Tu laughed and said, "As soon as I heard that my elder brother had been released from prison, I immediately brought the good news."

"good news?"

"I wonder if you have heard of the Heaven and Earth Alliance?"

Heaven and Earth Alliance!
When Li Rui heard these three words, his pupils shrank slightly.

Seeing Li Rui's reaction, Wu Tu continued, "There is a saying in the Qinghe Jianghu that there are one alliance, two gangs, and three families. Some time ago, several leaders of the Dark Eight Sects joined the Tiandi Alliance. I thought, how can such a good thing be missed, old brother, so I came to tell you."

Li Rui certainly knew what Wu Tu meant by the "one alliance, two gangs, and three families".

These are the strongest forces in the nearby counties.

Even the county magistrate would have to avoid them. The first alliance refers to the Tiandi Alliance, the second gang is the Blood Tiger Gang and the Broken Knife Gang, and the third family is the Zhang, Wang, and Zhao families.

Yes, without the Zhu family, compared with those three families, the Zhu family is not qualified at all.

The word "Alliance" in "Heaven and Earth Alliance" already highlights its nature.

According to legend, it was founded by three martial arts masters, and then it grew rapidly by absorbing martial arts masters from several counties south of Anning Prefecture. It is currently on the rise, and before that it had only been heard of in neighboring counties.

I didn't expect that the Tiandi Alliance would extend its influence to Qinghe so quickly.

Since we want to recruit people.

Apart from martial arts schools and escort agencies, the most common places for brave and aggressive warriors are the Eight Secret Sects.

And what a coincidence, one of the three people who founded the Tiandi Alliance happened to be born in the Dark Eight Sects, so as long as they are willing to retire, the Tiandi Alliance will accept them.

It is reasonable for Wu Tu to join the Tiandi Alliance.

Different from the Eight Dark Sects that are not allowed to be seen in public, the Tiandi Alliance is a sect that is officially registered with the imperial court.

It is true that the State of Yu was founded on military power.

But the country was too vast, with tens of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, and the imperial court alone could not manage it.

As a last resort.

Local governments often rely on local forces to help with management.

For someone like Wu Tu, once he joins the Tiandi Alliance, it is equivalent to being whitewashed. He can then enter and leave the county government gate with impunity and no one will bother him anymore.

After hearing what Wu Tu said, Li Rui was somewhat moved.

Originally he wanted to take part in the military examination and gain fame.

But the college entrance examination is held every three years and just ended last year. The next one will have to wait another three years. Of course, he can't just sit back and enjoy all the benefits in three years. Joining the Tiandi Alliance is a good way to go.

The Tiandi Alliance had just infiltrated Qinghe and was in need of manpower.

If you join now, you might be able to find a good job.

Moreover, not everyone can join the Tiandi Alliance. One must either be well-known in the local area or have someone to introduce him.

Wu Tu belongs to the former.

As a person who had just left the alliance, he had to be introduced by someone if he wanted to join the Tiandi Alliance.

Li Rui had already made up his mind and said,

"You can't ask Brother Wu to do the same thing as visiting my thatched cottage three times. I will just obey your orders."

Hearing Li Rui agree.

Wu Tu was overjoyed.

Just as Li Rui thought, the Tiandi League had just arrived in Qinghe and was in dire need of manpower.

Li Rui is a strong man of the first rank.

By bringing Li Rui into the Tiandi Alliance, Wu Tu would not only be credited with a contribution, but would also receive a reward. Otherwise, why would he be so enthusiastic?

"Don't worry, old brother. I will definitely get a good job."

Wu Tu patted his chest loudly.

Now that the Qinghe branch of the Tiandi Alliance has been initially established, the other leaders of the Dark Eight Gates are secretly working hard, trying their best to squeeze people into the Tiandi Alliance.

The principle of strength in numbers applies everywhere.

The more people we have, the greater our say will be in the Tiandi Alliance.

In the imperial court, there is a saying that teachers are grateful to their teachers and their years are long-lasting, and the same is true in the martial arts world.

Anyone he introduced was considered half his own.

If your people can hold important positions, it will be much easier to do things in the future.

Wu Tu really wanted to find an important position for Li Rui with all his efforts, so that he could also use it to gain promotion.

Immediately, he chuckled: "I practice Eagle Claw Kung Fu, and my eyesight is pretty good. I happened to see that my elder brother has entered the rank. If I tell this to the Heaven and Earth Alliance, I can at least be a deacon, with a monthly salary of ten taels, while ordinary disciples only have one tael."

Li Rui raised his eyebrows slightly.

Wu Tu actually has such ability.

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Brother Wu."

Now he has reached the level of training in the stone skin, and with the white ape sword on his body, his strength is far superior to that of ordinary warriors. He can hold on even if he is exposed. Moreover, the gap between the deacon and the ordinary disciple is really too big.

I will definitely meet a warrior with good eyesight like Wu Tu again in the future, so I can’t keep it secret for long.

Might as well take this opportunity to show off four points.

(End of this chapter)