I'm Liu Bei.

This village man is not tall and has the dark characteristics of an ordinary peasant man. From his words, you can tell that he did not know that I was the new patriarch.

As soon as his words came out, the audience resounded with shock. The three elders Baili, Zhao, and Shan all looked embarrassed. Zhao Zangfeng asked even more anxiously: "How much do they want?" ”

"A thousand swords each."

Zhao Zangfeng said angrily: "Don't think! Father, I have long said that if you give them once, there will be a second and a third. Now it's the sixth time this year. ”

"Elder Baili, do you want to go back to the clan hall to discuss it again?" Zhao Youfu said.

"You told the thief to wait, and you said you would give you an answer in a moment." After Elder Baili finished speaking, the village man ran down to deliver the order.

The three elders came over and bowed down and said, "I respectfully invite the patriarch to return to the clan hall to discuss matters." ”

At this time, the maid was already standing aside, so I hurriedly stepped forward to help the three of them, and said respectfully: "The three elders do this great gift, don't dare to accept it." Please three of you go first, and then you will follow. ”

"Yes." The three elders and others stepped down from the high platform one after another. Yaya and Bailiru helped me to follow. At this time, the bleeding of the wound on the right chest had stopped, but the pain in the heart had not diminished at all. I wanted to go back to the house to have a good rest, but this happened for no reason, and I really don't know if I won't be able to support it.

These three elders are also really, not reasonable at all, seeing that I am seriously injured, I should rest first.

He didn't bother to talk along the way, and followed them around and around to a large courtyard two miles away. Behind him were many tribesmen who refused to disperse. It seems that they want to know whether they agree to the blackmail of White Snake Village as soon as possible.

According to Bailiru, this courtyard is the largest house in the clan, the backyard is the patriarch's private courtyard, and the front yard is the clan's public courtyard. There are seven or eight rooms in the courtyard that are temporary for outsiders.

The main building in the courtyard is a large hall, which is the place where the clan deliberates. Bailiru said that it was hidden the biggest secret of the clan. Seeing what she said, I took the opportunity to ask about the situation of White Snake Village.

There are only two ways to connect the White River Gorge to the outside world. One is the waterway, which is the White River. However, the river is turbulent and cannot be navigated, so it can be said to be a dead end. The other is the mountain trail. The mountain road is on the north side of the canyon, and it is a narrow road with mountains on both sides, but in the middle is a narrow road half a zhang wide. It can only accommodate two people at the same time. This mountain road leads directly to Jieqiao Town, which is more than ten miles away, and the connection between the clan and the Jizhou Prefecture depends on this road.

At the beginning of the year, a fence was suddenly erected in the middle of the narrow narrow road. Hundreds of strong men occupied the mountain as the king, formed the White Snake Village, and colluded with the Yellow Turban to oppose the Jizhou Prefecture. The robbers in the village went down the mountain many times to rob Jieqiao Town. The weapons transported by the clan to the state capital have also been robbed many times, although they have not been robbed, but they have sacrificed many good hands in the clan. In the end, with the Zhao clan elders negotiating, the two sides concluded a treaty.

The White Snake Village promised to allow the clan to interact with the outside world, and the clan must provide the required weapons to the White Snake Village every year. Due to the lack of greed in the White Snake Village, he came to ask for weapons every ten days. Cumulatively, more than 3,000 pieces have been requested.

"It's not a way to go on like this, the White Snake Village has our lifeline, and their demands will never end." I couldn't help but sigh.

"There's no way around that. They are haunted on the mountain road, they can't catch it, and they can't kill it. What's more, the elders of the clan did not agree to use force. Bailiru sighed helplessly.

"Who says the elders don't agree to the use of force?" I asked rhetorically with interest.

Bailiru listened to me and came to the spirit: "You want to say that you want to change all this?" ”

I smiled and didn't answer.

As the saying goes, a weak country has no diplomacy, and a weak race also has no diplomacy. Only a strong clan and a strong army can be the most powerful backing to support diplomacy. It's just a bunch of bandits, and I'm going to have to clean them up sooner or later.

When I arrived at the lobby, Bai Liru, Yaya, the third grandfather and others all retreated outside the hall, and the big-bellied Elder Shan motioned for me to go ahead. So I walked in first, and when I turned around, I saw Elder Baili, Elder Zhao, and Elder Shan following behind. Thinking that there are no elders in the Li family now, it is better to let the third grandfather take over for a while, so he turned around and said, "The Li family can't be without elders for a day, can you let the third grandfather be temporary?" ”

The three of them looked at each other, and Elder Zhao replied, "Only follow the patriarch's decree." After listening to him, I turned around and continued to walk, and a shout sounded from behind: "The patriarch ordered the third grandfather to temporarily take the position of the elder of the Li family, and invite the acting elder of the Li family to enter the hall to discuss the matter." ”

When I entered the clan hall, my first feeling was that this hall was really large, with hundreds of square meters and a rectangular shape. On the north side is a large desk, with more than a dozen small desks on both sides. There are no windows on the four walls of the lobby, only a few skylights made of thin cloth arranged irregularly. The sun shines in and shines on the bricks on the ground. The entire lobby is still somewhat bright after the doors are closed. I can't help but sigh that the design of this sunroof is really good.

"Please sit down, Patriarch." Elder Baili said. So I sat at the big desk facing north and south.

The four elders sat down on both sides, and Elder Zhao spoke first: "Patriarch, elders, the White Snake Village is in charge of my traffic artery, and now I have come to ask for weapons, why don't you give it away?" ”

"Give, of course you have to give, otherwise the goods in the clan won't be able to get out of the valley." The Elder of the Single Clan said urgently.

"The old man approves." The third grandfather said.

"The old man agrees too." Baili Chang nodded slightly.

After the four finished speaking, they turned their eyes to listen to my decision.

I wondered in my heart that the four of them were in such a hurry to express their opinions, and their opinions were surprisingly unanimous: they were afraid of White Snake Village.

They all rushed to say that they wanted to deliver the goods, and it didn't look like they had planned and participated in the huge conspiracy and unfathomable depths of the previous one. Since they agreed, I, the new patriarch, had to agree. As soon as I was about to speak, I couldn't help but think: Isn't this another temptation on their part?

I couldn't help but shudder in my heart: I almost made a mistake again!

He immediately spoke: "Four elders, I am newly appointed and I am not very clear about the affairs of the clan, can I ask a few questions to understand the situation in the clan before making a final decision on this matter?" ”

"Patriarch, excuse me." The four of them waved their hands and said in unison.

"There are more than 10,000 people in the clan, I don't know how many young strong men? The people of the Li clan have a style of practicing martial arts, is there an exact number of people who practice martial arts? Do the other three clansmen practice martial arts? ”

"There are nearly 4,000 strong men in the clan, and the Li family accounts for half of them. Most of the ten strong men who practice martial arts are miscellaneous but not refined. The martial arts are estimated at least thirty. There are very few martial arts practitioners of the other three tribes, and most of them are used to strengthen the body. The third grandfather replied.

"May I ask Elder Baili, how many weapons are there in the clan now?"

"There are more than 7,000 ordinary swords, more than 1,000 ring swords, and more than 40,000 arrows. There are also some halberds and spears and other weapons used in battle formations, with a total of 10,000 pieces. ”

"May I ask Elder Zhao, how does the clan make a living?"

"There are a few fields in the valley, which my Zhao family is responsible for farming, and the Shan family is responsible for fishing and hunting, and these jobs can only feed nearly 3,000 people. The rest of the population had to rely on the iron business of the Baili and Zhao clans to survive. ”

"Elder Shan, how is the life of the clansmen?"

"Barely enough to make ends meet, but when the White River floods the fields on the north bank of the river beach or the state capital does not settle the accounts for building weapons on time, the people can only live on the wild vegetables and grasses in the mountains."

From this point of view, the life of the people is really too poor. Since I, Liu Bei, am the patriarch and a member of the clan, I must lead them to prosperity. At present, the most important thing is to solve the problem of White Snake Village. They occupy the lifeline of transportation for our people's "import and export". If you don't get rid of the scabies on your back and the thorns in your eyes, how can you lead the people to prosperity. What's more, my future is more than that.

From today onwards, the Baihe Gorge is my Liu Bei's first "revolutionary" base. We must not let the little White Snake Village stop here and can't get out.