New and dark light years

Chapter 465 Too many rebels are bad; some need to be eliminated.

After leaving the cave, Li Lin returned to Xinxing County. It was already evening.

In the county government office, Jiang Jili was directing the yamen runners.

When he saw Li Lin come in from outside, he smiled and said, "Governor, did you have any success?"

"Some progress was made."

As Li Lin spoke, he flicked the silver whip in his hand.

Li Lin didn't even use much force when he lashed out with the whip, yet a long whip mark, about a finger's width deep, appeared on the ground.

Jiang Jili stared wide-eyed: "These are the treasures found in the immortal's cave?"

Li Lin smiled and said, "That's right."

"But it's not quite right for a grown man to use such a fancy whip."

The whip was covered with a thick layer of white fur.

These white hairs are all very shiny, even giving off a bright feeling.

Under the refraction of light, even various different, faint colors appear.

This thing was the female fox's signature weapon, made from her own shed fox fur.

From the perspective of an immortal, this thing is nothing, but for the strange creature and Li Lin, who is at the Foundation Establishment stage, it is a very powerful weapon.

Li Lin put away the long whip and said with a smile, "My wife's martial arts skills have improved greatly, and this whip is just right for her."

“That’s true.” Jiang Jili laughed, then said seriously, “Xinxing County doesn’t really welcome us.”

Li Lin asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Several local gentry families joined together and sent people to ask us to withdraw our troops and return the land to the Qin family of Yue County."

Li Lin was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Are they idiots?"

“They’re not stupid,” Jiang Jili explained. “These families all run ‘patrol societies,’ and together they have about two thousand soldiers. They’re tough nuts to crack.”

"Are they all outside the city?"

“Yes,” Jiang Jili sighed, “they even built earthen forts.”

Although both are in the southern border region, Yue County and Jin County are somewhat different.

Yue County is located by the sea and has a natural shallow harbor, which is a favorite landing and raiding point for the Southern Barbarians.

Whenever the southern barbarians landed from the sea, it was a time of suffering for the Yue people who were not in the county town and were not protected by it.

Over time, the people of Yue County developed private organizations called "patrol guards" to protect each other between villages and towns.

They even built defensive earthen forts.

It can be said that the local people are fierce and unruly.

Because this greatly reduces the pressure on the government, the government tacitly approves of the existence of such 'patrol' organizations.

Essentially, this is just a group training exercise.

Li Lin asked, "Since they are unwilling to surrender, then let's conquer them all."

Jiang Jili nodded in agreement, saying, "If we want to bring Xinxing County under our control, then we must eliminate these gentry who dare to stand up. If we don't punish them severely, they will think we are easy to bully and then become the new 'Qin traitors'."

“They already have this idea,” Li Lin sighed. “Secretary Zhang, this time you will lead the troops, and I will support you from behind. You can proceed with confidence.”

"Thank you for your assistance, Governor."

Jiang Jili understood that Li Lin was giving him a chance to 'learn'.

As a scion of a prominent family, he was all too aware of the chaos that was to come.

Having domestic management skills alone is not enough; one must also have the ability to command troops.

Otherwise, they will be eliminated by this chaotic world.

Although Jiang Jili was excited, he did not immediately lead his troops out of the city. Instead, he first made a count of the grain supplies and conducted a military simulation.

Seeing how serious he was, Li Lin went to rest first.

The next day, Li Lin woke up in a side room in the backyard of the county government office. As soon as he arrived at the courtroom, he saw Jiang Jili already waiting there. "Didn't you rest last night?"

Jiang Jili laughed and said, "How can I sleep when I think about being able to command troops in battle soon?"

"Then let's start giving orders."

Jiang Jili nodded emphatically.

He then had the commander and three captains invited in.

Then, on the sand table, he explained all the deductions from the previous night and began to issue orders.

Li Lin listened quietly.

Jiang Jili was a conservative, and his approach was quite prudent.

First, the three thousand men were divided into several teams, and then two teams were ambushed on the official roads on the southwest side. The main force was to attack Weijiabao, which was closest to the county town.

If the enemy dares to send reinforcements, they will definitely use the official road to come to their aid, at which point the ambush will be effective.

After speaking, Jiang Jili looked at Li Lin.

Although he had conducted military strategy simulations, whether they would succeed still depended on Li Lin, the military governor.

Li Lin smiled and said, "Commander Luo, and the three captains, tonight you will follow the orders of the chief clerk."

"As ordered!"

The four people bowed with their hands clasped in greeting.

Soon, two ambushes set off first, and after a while, the main force of the army left the city and surrounded Weijiabao after marching for two hours.

Li Lin watched from the rear the whole time, while Jiang Jili commanded two thousand troops, and they easily broke through Weijiabao.

During this time, gentry from the west and south sent people to help, but they were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties, and had to retreat in panic.

A group of prisoners surnamed Wei knelt before the gate of the earthen fort.

The earthen fortress was actually quite well-defended, though of course it couldn't compare to the city walls of a county town.

However, the more than four hundred patrolmen of Weijiabao were still far inferior to Li Lin's regular army.

On Li Lin's side, there were three hundred sets of soldier armor alone. They stood there, raised their shields, and charged straight up.

Aside from attacks like falling rocks, ordinary arrows have no chance of harming them.

With just a simple assault, the gate of the earthen fortress was breached by battering rams, and the guards inside rushed out. Their weapons couldn't even scratch the infantrymen, while on Li Lin's side, the guards were almost killed one by one with each strike.

The difference between the two is like the difference between an adult and a child.

Li Lin, dressed in a red military officer's robe, entered the Wei family's main hall.

A large group of people, mostly women, were kneeling before him, crying and sobbing, which was quite irritating.

A guard brought over a chair, and Li Lin sat down, leaning over to look at the middle-aged man being held down on the ground by several men, and asked, "Wei Xiao, do you know your crime?"

"I am innocent, and my Wei family is innocent too!" the man shouted angrily.

“Disobedience is a crime,” Li Lin said. “Not to mention Xinxing County, the entire Yue Prefecture shall be under my control.”

"What have you restrained... When the Southern Barbarians came, it was our Wei family that protected the people. Your officials would only hide in the city, afraid to come out, and watch the villagers outside die tragically. Your officials were greedy and extorted, and the people were going to freeze and starve to death in the winter. It was our Wei family that helped the villagers and townspeople get through the winter. Do you think our Wei family can gather so many guards? It's because Xinxing County is supported by our Wei family, Zhao family, and Yun family."

Li Lin nodded slightly: "They do sound like a good family, so I will treat you leniently. All of the Wei family's property will be confiscated, all adult males will be executed, and underage males and female relatives will be exiled to Shamen Island in the north."

The women all burst into tears upon hearing the punishment.

Wei Xiao struggled violently on the ground, veins bulging on his forehead: "You dog, you'll die a horrible death, you'll die a horrible death!"

Li Lin said slowly, "Not executing your three clans is already an act of mercy. Do you really think rebellion is a dinner party?"

"I do not have."

Li Lin walked up to Wei Xiao, squatted down, and chuckled softly, "No need to argue, I know exactly what you're thinking, because I share similar thoughts. As for the other two families, I will send their heads to meet you in the underworld. After all, too many rebels in this world are not good for the common people."

Wei Xiao was stunned when he heard this.

(End of this chapter)