On the twenty-sixth day of the first month, Li Yan returned to Qi County.

He waited until Li Chunyu, who went to Huaiqing's hometown to bury Yuan Bin, came back before leaving. He knew that the funeral was going well, his biological parents were fine, and everything was fine in his hometown, so he left to return to Qi County.

His wife, Chen, and his concubine Kong, all stayed in Kaifeng. Chen stayed at home, served his parents for him, and fulfilled his filial piety on his behalf. As for the Kong family, he didn't want to go to Qixian County and didn't want to leave the Li Mansion with a son's atmosphere. In fact, Li Yan was quite happy in this way, at least he could concentrate on leading his team of bandits.

Before leaving Kaifeng, he went to Master Niu again. As expected, Master Niu still didn't want to make him a master craftsman, and he was not even willing to help him bring apprentices to teach him any smelting and casting processes for making cannons. However, Master Niu repeatedly promised that he would not reveal half a word to the government, please rest assured.

Li Yan was disappointed, and he could only hope for the blacksmith Zhou in Qixian County, which was the arrow that the blacksmith Zhou built for him. It is hoped that Blacksmith Zhou will not only make swords, but also fire guns and cannons. These two weapons, they are both big killing weapons, and if they are combined, they are absolutely invincible.

After he returned to Qixian, the shopkeeper Lu had been waiting for him for several days, and when he came back, he handed him over and returned to Kaifeng with his family in a hurry, because Li Chunyu had already asked him to be the shopkeeper of Kaifeng grain and oil store.

Li Yan found that there were more than 130 stones of grain in the warehouse, except for those that were kept for seeds, if you save a little to eat, you should be able to eat the grain until it is ripe. There are also salt, oil, and other things, which are sufficient. In order to be able to maintain his small team, he had to close the shop, but fortunately, the fine white grain store was not the largest grain store, and it would not have much impact on the lives of the people.

He went to Blacksmith Zhou the next day.

"Fighting knives and arrows, this is no problem," Zhou Blacksmith and Li Yan said in the inner room: "The fire gun that Gongzi wants, that's not good." ”

"So, you're going to build a firebolt? And what about the cannons? Will you build it? Li Yan asked with some excitement.

Blacksmith Zhou waved his hand and explained: "Li Gongzi, I have seen others build that fire gun, and I was also an apprentice at that time, and I have only seen it, but I have never made it myself. Besides, there are no special equipment, and it is not easy to get them all out. Artillery, I won't. ”

"Oh, that's right." Li Yan said with some disappointment.

Blacksmith Zhou hurriedly said: "However, the three-eyed gun is relatively simple, and this one should be relatively easy to build." ”

"It's hard to make a firecracker?" Li Yan frowned and said, "The range of the three-eyed gun is not far, and it is inconvenient to reload. ”

Blacksmith Zhou hurriedly said: "Wouldn't it be good to get a few more pipes, get five or seven, the power is still quite great." Besides, even if it's not easy to use, it's better than a waist knife, right? ”

Li Yan looked at Blacksmith Zhou suspiciously, and asked, "Do you particularly want to do things for me?" ”

Blacksmith Zhou nodded and said, "There are not many people who farm now, so there is no need to count on farm tools or anything." It's just Li Gongzi that you can use us blacksmiths. You're not bad, we just want to eat with you, but if we follow other bandits and thieves, we don't know what the result will be. ”

Li Yan thought about it for a while, and the blacksmith's business is indeed not easy to do now. So he nodded and said, "Follow me, but you have to bring some more apprentices." I want a lot of things, and it's too late for just the two of you to do it. ”

"Do you want to bring apprentices?" Blacksmith Zhou asked reluctantly. These craftsmen all regard their crafts as family heirlooms, and if there are more people in the church, their competition will be fierce, and this bowl of rice will not be delicious.

Li Yan stood up, patted Blacksmith Zhou's shoulder, and said, "I won't treat you badly, as long as I bring out a qualified apprentice, I will give you an extra thirty taels of silver." And the more apprentices you teach, the higher the salary you will get, and you will definitely not let the master suffer. ”

Blacksmith Zhou hesitated for a while before nodding and said, "It's fair, but the silver needs to be matched with food and silver, so we have to be able to eat first." ”

"That's it," Li Yan said happily: "You will be my person in the future, if you lack anything, just tell me, I will come here often." ”

"Why, we don't have to go to your old camp?" Blacksmith Zhou asked cautiously. Since you are going to rebel with weapons, how can you still be in the city? It's not safe either.

Li Yan said casually: "It's okay, just be in the city first." You're still eye-catching when you move this thing, so it's safe to stay here. Don't worry, I'll send someone to keep an eye on you, and I'll make sure you're all right. But keep your mouth tight, and don't cost your money and your life. ”

"Don't worry, we'll be careful." Blacksmith Zhou nodded in agreement.

By the time Li Yan arrived at Qiligang with food and drums, it was already the end of the first month. When he arrived, he found that his second brother Li Zhong had also made his home here. It turned out that Li Zhong resigned to his aunt after fifteen years and quietly moved to Qilizhai.

Li Mu said happily: "It's okay now, let's do a good job for the three brothers!" ”

Li Yan also briefly talked to them about family matters, after all, they are all brothers, and they are also family affairs. Li Zhong and Li Mu can only sigh "It's all fate", the death of children at this time is really nothing new, even if it is the princely general's family, there is no guarantee that everyone can feed the children.

Li Yan tested the results of Li Mu's training in these days, and the results showed that these soldiers were able to walk out of the queue for more than 20 cloths without scattering by stepping on the drums. If you train for a while, you can also make the queue walk a longer distance, which is very important for the military formation and the attack and defense.

What made Li Yan even happier was that these soldiers could actually distinguish between the left and right. It turned out that Li Mu tied a strip of red cloth to each soldier's right wrist and right ankle, so that the left and right sides became the choice of whether or not to have a strip of cloth, and it naturally became much simpler.

"That's good," Li Yan punched Li Mu in the chest and boasted: "In the end, he has been a great general among the thieves, and his knowledge is really not shallow." ”

Li Mu laughed and said, "It's not enough to just tie a strip of cloth, you still have to fight, and you still have to be hungry." These guys, after being cleaned up a few times and hungry a few times, remember them all. ”

Li Yan said quietly: "Yes, continue to practice." To train them until they see the opposing team of horses rushing towards them, they can be nailed to the spot. Even if the comrades around him were shot to death one after another, they could fill the vacant seats without hesitation. ”

"If it's going to be like this, is it still human?" Li Mou asked in a grinning whisper.

Li Zhong said with a smile: "With this kind of soldier, it is difficult to defeat the battle. ”