New and dark light years

Chapter 347 Injuries and Harms
Li Lin is already a legend in Yulin County.

He started as a commoner, became a spirit hunter, then became the son-in-law of the county magistrate, and then used that as a stepping stone to become the county lieutenant.

Then his father-in-law went from being a county magistrate to a prefect, and Li Lin became the military commander.

He then went to the Southern Expeditionary Army, an army that was almost completely wiped out, but he returned alive. Now, for some reason, he has been promoted to Grand Commander.

This all happened in just two short years.

Two years... Many people spend their entire lives trying to become a commander, yet he easily became the chief supervisor.

So young, there's even more potential for them to go further in the future.

Bai Liwei wouldn't be surprised if he were to become a military governor someday.

Such people are beyond the reach of Bai Liwei and his fellow spirit hunters.

So he went to see Li Lin yesterday, and although he wasn't turned away, he didn't get to see him either.

He had thought that Li Lin had already looked down on his group of Spirit Hunters, but to his surprise, Li Lin not only came to visit him in person today, but also brought gifts.

This means that Li Lin really did go out yesterday and didn't lie to him.

When Li Lin said, "I prefer you to call me Li Xunshou," he knew that Li Lin had not changed.

They still regarded these spirit hunters as colleagues with whom they had shared life-or-death experiences.

"Butler, bring some good tea." Bai Liwei sat down opposite Li Lin and said with a smile, "It's been a long time. Li Xunshou, you are still as charming as ever."

"Thank you," Li Lin said with a smile. "But you look much older, Bai Xunshou. Have you been having a lot of worries lately?"

This question seemed to have touched a nerve with Bai Liwei, who sighed and said, "There are indeed some troublesome matters."

"What's wrong?" Li Lin asked. "This must be why Patrolman Bai came to see me yesterday."

Bai Liwei nodded: "I'm not afraid of making fun of you, Li Xunshou, but I've really run into some trouble at home and need your help."

"Please say."

"Bai Bufan recently found a girl he liked."

"This is a good thing," Li Lin said.

“That girl is indeed good. She is sensible, hardworking, and respectful to her elders. Most importantly, she is also very attractive.” At this point, Bai Liwei said helplessly, “Xiao Fan and he are in love. Our two families had already reached an agreement on this matter, but something went wrong.”

"What happened? Did the woman suddenly change her mind?"

Bai Liwei nodded: "In Jin County, there are also wealthy families who have taken a liking to that girl. Although the girl likes my Bufan more, her parents are unwilling to marry their daughter to my Bai family. Bufan and I went to Jin County a few days ago and talked to them."

"The other party is unwilling to release them?"

"Half and half," Bai Liwei said with a wry smile. "The reason is that the wealthy family gave a very generous dowry, which made our family seem a bit stingy."

Li Lin understood that even in this era, many people would still compare prices before marrying off their daughters.

Li Lin asked curiously, "How much did that wealthy family offer as betrothal gifts?"

"I heard it was a bushel of pearls, a hundred bolts of silk, ten wads of gold, and a cloth shop."

Li Lin hissed: "So willing to part with it?"

Even with Li Lin's current wealth, he was still taken aback by this level of betrothal gifts.

Too much.

It was almost the standard for marrying off daughters of official families.

This wealthy family in Tianjin is really rich.

"So, the White Guard wants me to go and keep things under control for you?" Li Lin asked.

Bai Liwei shook his head: "Of course not, that would make you lose face, Li Xunshou. I, Bai, am not that stupid."

"So... you want to reopen that treasure?" Li Lin asked.

Bai Liwei nodded: "Yes, as long as we take out the treasure from that treasury, my Bai family will definitely be able to surpass that wealthy family."

Li Lin thought for a moment and said, "Can't we change to another girl? This is really... too expensive."

When he married Huang Qing, he didn't spend a single penny; on the contrary, the Huang family even provided a dowry.

"That woman is quite capable. It's worth it."

Li Lin understood that the other party not only had their eye on the woman, but also on the capabilities of her family.

This combination is beneficial to the Bai family's future.

Since that's the case, Li Lin didn't say anything more, only saying, "I naturally agree. What about Young Master Zhao?"

“I’ve already talked to him, and he agreed.”

Li Lin nodded: "The question now is, should we notify Su Bei or not?"

"Of course, he should get a share."

Li Lin said, "Alright, when do you plan to send the betrothal gifts? I'll find a time to make arrangements."

"The sooner the better."

"Looks like they're in a hurry."

Bai Liwei smiled wryly: "I'm not in a hurry, but my nephew is."

Bai Bufan is actually Bai Liwei's son, but he was adopted by his brother.

But he actually loves this son very much, otherwise he wouldn't often keep him by his side.

"Then let's do it the day after tomorrow. I will issue an order in the name of the Grand Commander to mobilize the army to patrol and conduct military exercises in Bobai Town." Li Lin smiled and said, "You will send people to accompany the army as spirit hunters."

"Thank you, Inspector Li."

Li Lin waved his hand: "We're all brothers, no need to be so polite."

……

Two days later, time flew by.

As the chief military commander, it would be easy for Li Lin to coordinate an inspection. Moreover, this was one of his responsibilities as the garrison commander.

One thousand soldiers and two hundred personal guards set off from Yulin County and arrived at Bobai Military Town after three days.

When the military town of Bobai saw the banner with the character "Li" coming from afar, they immediately sent men on horseback from the town to check his identity. After confirming Li Lin's identity, they immediately opened the city gates and let him in.

The layout of Bobai Military Town remains unchanged from last year.

Li Lin noticed that there were some new fields in the military town, and people were cultivating them. Their skin was dark, and they didn't look like people from the Great Qi. So he asked the soldier on guard next to him, "Those people... are they the Southern Barbarians?"

The soldier nodded: "Yes."

"Why did you let them in?"

"This is Anjun Town's order."

Li Lin angrily said, "Nonsense! How can we let barbarians into this kind of place and let them move around freely? Call Anjun Town here for me."

"He's out patrolling; he probably won't be back until the afternoon."

Li Lin glanced at the sky; it was still early before afternoon.

"Then light the signal fires and make him come back immediately."

The soldiers dared not say a word and immediately ordered the beacon fire officer to light the beacon fire.

The border of the Great Qi had its own beacon fire system, and there are different accounts of the number of beacon fires set off, so there would be no misunderstanding like "playing with the feudal lords by lighting beacon fires".

Li Lin then said to Su Bei beside him, "Send men to tie up all those southern barbarians. If anyone dares to stop them, drive them away. If they still dare to resist, kill them without mercy."

Su Bei nodded.

Then the army set out and immediately began operations in the military town.

As the prefectural army, their numbers exceeded those of the local military garrisons, and almost every soldier was armored. Bobai Military Garrison was a second-tier military garrison, and the soldiers' training and equipment were generally poor, making it impossible for them to compare with Li Lin's prefectural army.

Seeing the menacing presence of the government troops, these people naturally dared not stop them.

Soon, all these southern barbarians were tied up and thrown into the center of the military town.

Su Bei walked over and said, "Sir, we have tied up all the southern barbarians."

"We've searched everywhere else, so we can't miss a single one."

"I've searched for them all."

Li Lin went down from the city wall and observed the southern barbarians.

He walked around and became increasingly alarmed.

Because these southern barbarians... actually looked quite well.

What does this mean? It means that these southern barbarians are actually able to eat their fill.

Moreover, the majority of them are men.

One characteristic of the southern barbarians is that they are very capable.

He looks thin, but he's all muscle, the kind that's very resilient and has excellent stamina.

When marching and fighting, good physical strength is a huge advantage.

Wearing the same armor, if you can move for an extra incense stick's time, that's a huge advantage.

He counted them; there were 108 bound southern barbarians.

Even this number gave Li Lin a headache.

Upon seeing this, he narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, Bai Liwei walked over and asked, "Chief Inspector Li, is there going to be an unexpected situation regarding our matter?"

“Nothing unexpected happened.” Li Lin shook his head. “If you hadn’t sent me here, the mine here might have exploded.”

Bai Liwei was somewhat baffled.

Li Lin looked at these southern barbarians, and then he noticed that the way they were looking at him was also strange.

It carried a stubborn hatred.

Li Lin thought for a moment and didn't rush to kill these southern barbarians. Instead, he had a platform set up, then moved a chair over, sat down, and waited quietly.

Time passed slowly, and another hour later, the gates of Bobai Military Town opened again.

A general, dressed in gleaming armor, rode in on horseback with about two hundred soldiers.

After he entered, he immediately turned his chin over, came to Li Lin's platform, and knelt down on one knee to bow.

"This humble general, An Feng, greets Commander-in-Chief Li."

By this time, he already knew who the visitor was.

Li Lin nodded and stood up: "Anjun Town, you're a newly transferred town officer this year. Where did you work before?"

"Tang Family Army".

Li Lin frowned slightly: "Tang Family Army? Since they are border troops, they should understand the troublesome nature of the Southern Barbarians. Why are there so many Southern Barbarians here?"

An Feng looked at the bound Southern Barbarians, his expression calm, and said with a smile, "They are all prisoners. It would be a waste to kill them, so we used them to cultivate the land."

Li Lin chuckled: "More than a hundred southern barbarian men, all strong and capable, would be a waste of their talents to use them for farming. They are more suited for fighting."

An Feng said, "You need strength to till the land."

Li Lin didn't respond to him, but pointed to the east and said, "There used to be a large pit there, burying the corpses of hundreds of southern barbarians. I had it dug up. Now the pit is no longer visible, and the vegetation is lush, growing better than elsewhere."

An Feng was taken aback.

Li Lin continued, "Here's what we'll do: dig another big pit next to that grove of trees, and kill those hundred Southern Barbarians too, to use as fertilizer."

An Feng looked up and said, "Chief Inspector Li, this could cause injury."

(End of this chapter)