Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

"Your Majesty, we all work under Brother Guan Qi."

"Guan Qi? Was he also one of the commoners who followed me back then?"

"No, we initially followed Master Huo, but he was killed by the soldiers of the Zhechong Prefecture. Brother Guan joined later; he was the best fighter and also had brains, so he became our leader."

Li You nodded. Even for such a small team, it must have been quite a journey to have lasted this long.

"Go back and tell Guan Qi that not only am I not dead, but I've also brought many people with me this time, and I'm going to completely crush the powerful families in Shandong. If the people lose their land, the country will lose its people. I'm going to implement the law of equality in Shandong. Guan Qi is a capable man, and you are all good people. I need helpers like you."

Huang Mazi scratched his head; there were parts of what the King of Qi said that he didn't quite understand.

But he is the King of Qi, so what he said must be true.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I, Huang Amao, will certainly deliver your message!"

"Okay, go ahead."

……

After Huang Mazi returned, he told the leader Guan Qi what he had seen and heard.

"Is it really the King of Qi?"

"There's no mistake, it's King Qi. He told me that he used a double back then to deceive the authorities."

Guan Qi took a deep breath, his heart pounding with excitement: "Let's go, quickly take me to see the King!"

"yes!"

After a minor conflict, Li You finally met Guan Qi, the leader of the bandits in Chengwu County.

At this point, a month had passed since they entered Shandong.

"Guan Qi greets Your Majesty!"

"Okay, get up now!"

Li You saw that Guan Qi was indeed a man of good build, with a broad back and a strong waist, the makings of a military general.

"I heard you're pretty good at fighting?"

"I only know a little about martial arts!"

"I'm not going to talk to you anymore, Tao Zhantian. You should spar with Guan Qi."

"promise!"

The two fought without weapons, exchanging blows with their fists and feet for over twenty rounds, until Tao Zhantian finally captured and subdued Guan Qi.

After getting up, Tao Zhantian laughed and said, "You have great strength!"

Guan Qi said with shame, "Your skill is truly far superior to mine."

"Zhan Tian comes from a military background and is used to fighting. You are in such good shape, so you can learn some skills from them in the future."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

How many men do you command right now?

"Your Majesty, I have 746 men under my command."

"Hmm, I ask you, how did you escape the government's encirclement?"

"Knowing we are no match for the Zhechongfu troops, we led our men to hide in a remote place, waiting for the officials to leave before we come out again. There are some abandoned villages to the west where we are hiding."

Li You said, "You know how to avoid direct confrontation and don't rush in blindly; you're a smart man. No wonder I couldn't find you this time. Come on, take me to see your village."

"Well... it's getting late today. How about we take Your Majesty tomorrow?"

"Very well. Guan Qi, from now on you don't need to call me King, you should call me Lord."

"My lord?"

"Yes, this is a new rule I have established. From now on, you will be a general in my Huang Chao army."

Li You briefly recounted the events of the past few years to Guan Qi, and then treated them to stir-fried dishes. During the meal, Lady Liu, the wife of Chao, also served up her newly brewed wine to entertain everyone.

"Ouch...this liquor is so strong!"

"Madam Chao, is this the new wine you made using Gaochang wine vessels?"

"My lord is right. The winemaking equipment used by the people of Gaochang is truly impressive!"

Li You took a sip and found that although the alcohol content of this wine was less than the 53 degrees of later generations, it should still be around 20 degrees, which was a significant improvement over the wines he had encountered before.

"My lord, please give this wine a name!"

"Well, in life, there are gains and losses, so let's call it... 'Willing to part with wine,' how about that?"

"Great name, great name!"

"Come on, everyone, cheers!"

"Dry!"

……

Huang Chao's army of over a thousand soldiers quickly merged with Guan Qi's seven hundred men.

Li You gave Guan Qi and his gang a designation—Chengwu Camp—and quickly began educating them.

Yin Hongzhi purchased grain and supplies through banks, which were then transported to the surrounding areas of Chengwu County through various channels to supply the daily needs of the soldiers.

The newly joined Guan Qi and his men, seeing the granaries built in the village and the continuous supply of provisions, couldn't help but sigh: This is indeed the Qi King's army; they have money and food.

In the past, in order to survive, Guan Qi would have had to send people out to rob grain and money, which was very troublesome.

The "education" that Huang Chao's officers and soldiers gave them was a real eye-opener.

The King of Qi also told them that they should rely on the people of Shandong to turn Huang Chao's army's vision into reality.

Li You issued an order: now that there were more people, they should make use of the surrounding remote and abandoned land, and plant the sorghum seeds they had found earlier to accumulate planting experience. A camp should also be set up, ideally bringing all personnel together to work on production.

Although Huang Chao's army currently has plenty of money and food, it should still be mindful of potential dangers and continue necessary construction and production.

Besides these things, Li You began to establish the "Equalization Society," a completely new concept.

In Li You's vision, the "Equalization Society" was an organization designed to solve the practical problems of the people, and it was also an organization that could recruit ordinary people to join.

Of course, the initial members who joined were officers and soldiers of Huang Chao's army.

Li You dispatched fifteen teams, each with about thirty men, to infiltrate the county town near Chengwu County, in preparation for the "Junping Society" to recruit members and spread information.

Another month passed, and Huang Chao's soldiers who had gone home to visit their relatives returned one after another.

They brought many relatives, men, women, and children, totaling about three thousand people.

All sorts of sordid incidents that occurred in the fields and countryside were also brought to the attention of the King of Qi.

Upon receiving this information, Li You couldn't help but lament: There are still many bad habits among the common people in the Tang Dynasty.

The most inhumane of these is the frequent phenomenon of infant abandonment in the community.

These infants included both boys and girls, and the reasons for their abandonment varied. The most common reason was that the parents of the infants were of very low social status. Some were servants of wealthy families, some were children born in brothels or theaters, and some were abandoned by superstitious parents for reasons such as "unlucky crying" or "looking like a foreigner."

Some parents still had some conscience and knew to abandon their children in front of temples. In the Tang Dynasty, many temples had "compassionate fields for the sick and needy" specifically for taking in abandoned orphans. These children would often become vassals of the temples when they grew up.

But many more "unexpected" parents, who live far from temples, have no choice but to painfully abandon their unborn babies. These people themselves are completely insecure and oppressed, and simply have no space or conditions to raise a new life.

Upon seeing this, Li Youwu sighed to himself—the population of the Tang Dynasty was actually not large, only a mere 18 million people, and the birth of each child was truly significant. It was truly terrifying that some infants were abandoned because their cries were considered "inauspicious."