A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 118 The Security Team Encounters the Enemy

"gather!"

Liu Heizi, wearing a brown linen short jacket, stood at the bridge and shouted loudly.

A group of militia security guards gathered together,
"stand at attention,"

Li Yi, Guo Erlang, Dong Qilang and others came over.

"Report to the captain, the team has assembled, please give instructions."

Li Yi wore a felt hat with a red tassel on it today, and also wore rhinoceros leather armor. He carried a bow on his back and a sword, looking very majestic.

Arriving in front of the team, Li Yi looked at the team which had been training for a few days and had already formed a somewhat organized formation, and nodded with satisfaction.

They were all young and strong servants and slaves from various wealthy families. There were not many of them, at most a platoon, but after they were dressed and armed, and he personally trained them in formation for a few days,

At least now when we go to that station, we can still feel a bit of the team atmosphere.

The children of the disaster victims on the riverbank gathered around to watch the excitement. In the past few days, Li Yi has been training on the riverbank every day, and these children love to follow him and learn.
Stand at attention, at ease, turn left, right, and back.
Li Yi didn't think this set of things would immediately improve their combat effectiveness, but after a few days of strict requirements, at least their obedience had improved, and they even had a preliminary overall awareness.

Dong Xiucai also came to watch Li Yi's training and said that if Li Yi could make them obey his orders, these servants could become a very powerful army.

There is no need for any advanced martial arts skills, and it doesn't even matter if you can't ride or shoot. As long as you can line up neatly and pierce the spear in unison,
that's enough.

Even if they were on a real battlefield, it would be a great achievement if the civilians could form a battle formation and bayonet their spears in unison. Moreover, this militia was only used to intimidate the victims and patrol and ensure the safety of the people.

No matter how strong a person is, he will die if facing a row of spears, unless he is a light cavalryman who can shoot from a distance, or a heavy cavalryman who can charge directly with both horse and armor on board, or a heavy infantryman who is armed to the teeth with two or three layers of armor and is invulnerable to swords and spears.

Li Yi needs more of a showpiece.

They must be neat and tidy, wearing uniform clothing and weapons, and go to that station and shout slogans loudly. Naturally, those scoundrels and robbers among the victims will not dare to act recklessly.

"After a few days of training, everyone has performed very well. Today we are going to launch an operation to distribute soup in Weyburg,"

Li Yi pointed to the shacks on the beach and said, "These are the people from Guanzhong who were hit by the disaster and have no choice but to seek food. Facing their difficulties, we will do our best to help them."

Today I prepared a few big pots, firewood, and a lot of millet.
Go to Weburg to distribute soup and attract these hungry people there.

"set off!"

Dozens of gray-clad militiamen, carrying several carts of large pots, food, and firewood, headed towards Weiburg.

We told the disaster victims here early in the morning that there would be porridge to drink in Weiburg, and they would have two meals of porridge every day, but those who stayed here would not get any.

In order to get these two meals of porridge, the victims packed up their broken belongings without hesitation, put on their small bags, and followed the team.

The rice here has been almost harvested, and there is not much work left.

Because some people stole things, the local villagers disliked them very much. There were many conflicts and fights between the two sides.
They now have a militia, and they are waving swords and spears in front of them every day. There are people patrolling at night, and they have arrested many people in the past few nights.

There are those who steal things, and there are those who sneak into the village in the middle of the night. No matter if you steal or not, you are treated as a thief if you sneak into the village.
That Li Daizhao is quite good, he won't beat anyone, but he will hang people up until dawn.

During the day, he was brought before the public for questioning.

This is no better than getting a beating.

Li Yi was riding a horse and looking at the hundreds of people following the grain cart, he couldn't help but sigh that it was not easy.

But no one wants to have such a group of people living at his doorstep every day, or even more and more.

If someone is just passing by and begging for food, it's okay to give him a bowl of rice, but if he wants to stay and be your neighbor, few people can accept it.

Even if we mobilize the militia and have them patrol at night, we still cannot prevent the problem. Moreover, as the weather gets colder, problems such as theft and robbery will become more serious.

Li Yi also tried his best to help as much as he could.
He selected six families from the disaster victims and recruited them as members of the society. He rented 50 mu of land to each family, provided them with food and lodging for the first two years, and all the farming tools, seeds, oxen, etc. It was like hiring them as long-term workers, which enabled them to settle down.

He also recruited some poor young widows with children from the disaster victims into his workshop and provided them with a job so that they could support themselves.

He also mobilized wealthy local families such as Guo Erlang and Dong Xiucai to recruit long-term workers and tenants, and to recruit workers for workshops, and tried his best to provide as many opportunities as possible.

But there are only seven villages in Xingshengli, and the opportunities it can provide are always limited.

Some people said that Li Yi took advantage of the situation to oppress the good people and poach the good people in the court to serve as his own troops. Others said that he recruited tenants to collect more rent and hired female workers to pay less wages.

Li Yi could only smile. He did not exploit the other party because of their status, but in some ways, he was indeed digging into the imperial court. These tenants were equivalent to abandoning their status and surrendering to him, and from then on they depended on him.

For Li Yi, the real benefit is that he has a more stable labor force.

His tofu skin workshop can expand in scale and increase profits, and the school land can be rented out to his subordinates, which will also provide stable rent.

But this is also a good thing that benefits both parties. If there is no benefit at all, no one will have the motivation to do it. If not for fame, then for profit.

"When the farming season is slack, we can organize some training for the young and strong people in the village, so that they can take turns patrolling." Guo Erlang said as he rode a horse beside him.

Guo Erlang was not very happy about the fact that the wealthy people were the ones who provided the money, manpower and labor.

"Well, yes."

Li Yi smiled and said, "When we have nothing to do, I think we can take our team into the Zhongnan Mountains to go hunting. It would be quite lively and interesting, and we can also get some meat."

"That's good. Hunt some wild boars, deer, and muntjac. Even some rabbits and pheasants would be nice."

Dong Qilang suggested, "I think our security group should be expanded to include the five villages of Yusu Township. We can actually organize a group of 200 people, or even a battalion of 500 to 600 people. We can train them during the slack season. We can also go hunting in the mountains as Taizhao said. It will be so lively." Yusu Township has five villages and a total of 500 households. There are about 30 to 50 large landlords in the township. There are even several temples and Taoist temples in the township, as well as some aristocratic manors.

If they really united, it wouldn't be difficult to recruit a full-strength camp of 200 servants. Even if they mobilized the common people and trained them during the slack season, with one servant per household, that would make 500 servants.

"You haven't even been appointed as palace soldiers, but you're dreaming of becoming generals or lieutenants?" Li Yi said with a smile.

"The world is not at peace yet, and we can't rely on the government for everything. Apart from other things, there are still many bandits in Zhongnan Mountain who have become kings of the mountains. When winter comes, life in the mountains is difficult and there is a lack of food and clothing, so they come down from the mountains to kidnap and extort people.
Even these days, there are many people who steal children and kidnap young brides. It's hard to prevent them. Let's organize ourselves and have people patrol the roads day and night and guard the village gates. This will benefit everyone."

Li Yi felt that Dong Qillang was indeed a scholar, and his thoughts were indeed very comprehensive.

Many times you really can only rely on yourself.

There are still so many human traffickers in the 21st century, let alone now.

Another point is that the landlords often have slaves in their homes, and they have to guard against their escape. Another thing is to be on guard against the people abandoning their household registration and running away. If they run away, the taxes and labor service will be borne by the villagers, and even the village head and the head of the security guard will have to bear it first.

Guo Erlang said bluntly, "We are all doing this for everyone. We can't contribute manpower, money, and labor. We should share the expenses when the time comes."

While talking,

A group of people came hurriedly on horseback.
"Qiang, Qiang bandits are coming to attack us, burning, killing, and looting..."

"what?"

Liu Heizi in front stopped those people. He knew two of them. They were wealthy people in the general camp. They ran a mat weaving workshop at home. Their business had always been good. They also had a lot of land and were very rich.

Heizi had stayed in the Wei family tofu workshop in the general camp for some time, and he knew many people in that village.

"Isn't this Mr. Liu? What's going on?"

"Who are you?" Shopkeeper Liu looked at Liu Heizi riding a horse and didn't recognize him for a moment.

"I used to work in the Wei family tofu workshop, Liu Heizi."

"Oh, it's you! Run away! The Qiang bandits are causing chaos and are burning, killing, and looting the general's camp."

Liu Heizi brought him to Li Yi.
"What happened?"

"We didn't know that suddenly a large group of Qiang bandits came on horseback and attacked us. They attacked anyone they saw, robbed anything they saw, and even raped women. Many people died. We were the only ones who escaped because we ran fast," said Manager Liu, who was still in shock when he said this.

"Why don't you run to Chang'an?"

"Those people came from Chang'an,"

Li Yi was confused.

This is the outskirts of Chang'an, right under the feet of the emperor. How could the Qiang bandits come from to attack? The Qiang bandits' hometown is in Longyou, which is very far away from here.

Li Yi asked carefully again,

Even more shocking news was heard: there were a large number of Qiang bandits, all wearing the military uniforms of imperial officials and soldiers. They came from here and plundered all the way south.

Manager Liu was certain that the General's Camp was not the first village to be attacked, because when the Qiang bandits rushed into the village, many of them were carrying women, silk cloth and other looted items.

Several people looked at each other, all confused.

"Li Cunxiao, come here." Li Yi remembered that he still had four captured Qiang soldiers under his command.

These guys can now understand a lot of Chinese and can speak some simple Chinese.

Li Yi told them the situation, and Li Cunli helped translate and explain.

"What do you think is going on? Where did these Qiang people come from?"

"It may be that the Qiang chief who had previously submitted to the court led his troops in mutiny and rebellion." Li Cunxiao said.

Li Yi believed this explanation immediately.

It is impossible that a Qiang tribe came out from some mountain to plunder, as this is not Longyou or Hanzhong, so the most likely possibility is that the Qiang tribe, which had previously submitted to the court, is now rebelling.

This kind of thing sounds exaggerated and outrageous.
But it’s happening now.

"The surrendered Qiang soldiers rebelled? What should we do?" Guo Erlang panicked.

Li Yi looked at his team.
These wealthy families, including their servants, had less than fifty people, some of whom were equipped with simple spears, machetes, bows and arrows, and only a dozen of them had horses.

In addition, there are about ten men helping to deliver food today.

Then came the hundreds of disaster victims, men, women, young and old, who followed behind to Weiburg to drink porridge.

"Manager Liu, do you know how many cavalrymen the rebel Qiang have?"

"A lot. When I ran out, there were probably hundreds of riders entering the village, and there are definitely more behind."

Hearing this number, Li Yi also had a headache. With only a hundred Qiang cavalrymen, they were no match for them.

"Run quickly," Guo Erlang said anxiously, "Wuyi, you don't still want to fight them, do you?"

(End of this chapter)