There were less than two months left before the autumn harvest, and before the autumn harvest, Lingnan accelerated its efforts to suppress bandits.

Li Chengmu was originally 5,000 men, and the first time the bandits returned to Fucheng, it reached more than 6,000.

Now it has been more than a month to suppress bandits outside, and with the bandits in Zhao'an, the team has exceeded 10,000 horses.

As the team grew, some shortcomings in discipline were exposed, and Li Chengmu wrote a letter to Xia Jing to report these problems.

Xia Jing didn't say much about this matter, and only replied with four words: 'Kill chickens and make an example of monkeys'!

Through severe punishment, the discipline of the army has improved a lot, and with the conquest, the bandits recruited in have become more and more harmonious with the soldiers of the original squad, and the cooperation in combat has become more and more tacit.

The team is developing in a good way, and there is no one happier than Lee Seung-mu.

On this day, the team wandering in the mountains of Luofu Mountain received the news that the night was not closed, and there was a river not far ahead, and they saw that there were boats coming in and out.

"Deep in the mountains and old forests, inhabited, why are there ships? What is the opinion of the sir on this matter? ”

Li Chengmu asked the middle-aged man beside him.

This person's surname is Long, his name is Yutian, his words are flawless, and he is known as Sai Zhuge . was originally the second leader of a bandit den on the outskirts of Luofu Mountain, and became his adviser after surrendering to Li Chengmu.

He pondered for a while, and then said: "If the subordinates guess correctly, along the river, what should be hidden inside is the largest bandit den in the Luofu Mountains, the big boss is called Sima Lu, who was exiled to Lingnan in the twenty-sixth year of Huiyuan, and for some reason finally went up the mountain to become a bandit." ”

"Sima Lu?" Li Chengmu was stunned for a moment, trying to remember when there was such a person in the imperial court.

"The fifth master may not have an impression of him, after all, when he was exiled, you were still young. But you go back and ask the prince and the princess should know this person, he is Huiyuan's twenty years of Tanhualang, during his political career, he is simply a clear stream of erosion officialdom, just because he is not social in the officialdom, he is often impeached by the imperial court eunuchs, many times, Emperor Huiyuan lost trust in him, and finally was overthrown by the official eunuchs, imprisoned and exiled to Lingnan. ”

"Qingliu in the officialdom finally became a bandit for the troubled side?"

Li Chengmu didn't know how to describe his mood at this time, should he be angry or sad?

"Ahem." Long Yutian listened to his words and coughed a few times in embarrassment, how to say this, he used to be one of them, but to say. He did not admit that he was the one who was to blame.

"Maybe he was also forced to go to Liangshan, when people are at a disadvantage, many choices are forced to come."

Li Chengmu glanced at Long Yutian and nodded, "Maybe, then what should we do next?" ”

The location of this bandit den is a bit special, and it is a bit difficult to attack it, and they don't have enough boats to transport people and horses deep in the mountains.

When Long Yutian was young, he admired this Tanhualang who was about the same age as himself, and he still wanted to redeem it in his heart and recruit this Tanhualang.

Therefore, he said without hesitation: "Don't hide it from the fifth master, the young subordinates will admire him very much, for our twenty-year-old Tanhualang of Huiyuan, we can salute first and then soldier." First persuade him to surrender, and if he is not interested, we will send troops to exterminate him. ”

As he spoke, he looked at Li Chengmu: "Fifth Master, what do you think?" ”

Li Chengmu was interested in this Tanhualang to ascend to the starting point, and asked, "It's okay to persuade him to surrender, but who should we send?" ”

Long Yutian stood up and bowed to him, "If the fifth master allows it, his subordinates are willing to make this trip." ”

"Mr. is willing to take the risk of this trip, I naturally can't ask for it, so it will be hard for Mr." Li Chengmu responded in one bite, and the concubine had a saying that was very right, don't use suspicious people, don't doubt people.

Since he appointed Long Yutian as his advisor, he naturally would not be stingy with this trust.

Sima Lu's department in the depths of the river, this is their territory, Li Chengmu led 10,000 horses in, they naturally knew.

Discovered by 10,000 horses, Sima Lu's troops were in full array, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and the fact that their numbers were not bad, and the bandits were even more gearing up, ready to attack to give these officers and soldiers a lesson that they would never forget.

Relatively speaking, Sima Lu was not as excited as the brothers below, he stared at the fluttering banner of the word "Sima", and there was no joy or anger on his face.

After a while, a bandit rushed into the lobby and knelt directly in front of Sima Lu, "Big brother, there is a man at the foot of the mountain who calls himself Sai Zhuge who asks to see him, saying that as long as you report his name, you will know who he is." ”

Sima Lu came back to his senses and said lightly: "Oh, what is he doing here?" Could it be that he himself is soft, and he also wants to persuade me to bow to the Li royal family? ”

Ma Qilin, the second leader who sat at the bottom, said with a look of expectation: "Big brother, if you don't let me take my brother down the mountain to destroy them, I heard that this army of officers and soldiers has paid a lot of treasures on the periphery of Luofu Mountain, and they are very rich!" ”

After that, he saw that Sima Lu lowered his eyes and was silent, so he continued to speak: "I see that they are demonstrating to us at the bottom of the mountain, and destroying them can not only obtain treasure but also establish prestige, big brother, why not?" ”

There were only about 10,000 officers and soldiers below, and now there were 12,000 brothers on their mountain, and they all had the advantage in terms of terrain and numbers.

You must know that in Luofu Mountain, they can run all over the mountain with any bandit force.

It can be said that in Luofu Mountain, they dominate one side, who dares to bully!

How could Sima Lu not see Ma Qilin's idea of making meritorious contributions internally and prestige externally.

It's just that he listened to his words, and still shook his head, "Don't be in a hurry for the time being, since they want to salute first and then soldier, why don't we be more powerful and fulfill them." Now that he's already here, why don't you let him in and see what he says? ”

Marclin listened to him, felt that it made sense, and stopped talking.

Sima Lu asked the bandits who had delivered the message to bring them over.

Sending a message to the younger brother leaving, Ma Qilin asked the doubts in his heart, "Big brother, there are many forces on the periphery that have been submissive, do you think they will really have a good future with King Qian?" ”

According to Ma Qilin's own thoughts, he didn't trust the government or the imperial court very much.

It is difficult to survive outside in troubled times, and it is difficult to live when you enter the mountains and become a bandit, but it is not difficult for ordinary people.

Sima Lu frowned slightly, shook his head and said: "I can't see the situation for the time being, according to the few things that King Qian came to Lingnan to do, it can be seen that he has made a difference, but the court has disappointed me too much." ”

Therefore, he can't say it now, whether it is good or bad to return to the royal palace.

The brothers below listened to the words of the two family members, and they all fell into silence, to be honest, no one wants to be a bandit, they can be recruited by the imperial court, they are more willing to recruit peace.

After all, who doesn't want to be able to return home one day.

It's just that the premise of Zhao'an must meet the Ming Lord, and if the deaf monarch is not as comfortable as a bandit on the mountain.

Long Yutian was taken up the mountain blindfolded, and only when he entered the lobby was he allowed to take off the black cloth strip.

Along the way, you can't see the mountain, but you can walk up with your feet, and you know that the mountain road is difficult.

I thought to myself that if I failed to persuade him to surrender, how likely would it be to capture this cottage?

"Brother Zhuge hasn't gotten used to it yet?"

Sima Lu saw Long Yutian squinting his eyes and stunned, so he took the lead in opening his mouth.

Hearing the voice, Long Yutian froze and said, "I'm sorry, I was thinking about things in my head just now, and I was distracted for a while." ”

Sima Lu sneered: "Heh, how much do you look down on me Sima Lu, so you dare to wander in my Hall of Loyalty!" ”

Long Yutian listened to his threatening words, and just smiled, "I have admired the great name for a long time, and I can see it today, let me think about how the big boss was in the next place, and I lost my mind for a while, and I lost my respect!" I hope that the big boss will forgive me. ”

Sima Lu's face darkened when he heard him mention that year, and he suspected that the person in front of him was here to pull hatred.

Although he often misses his former high-spiritedness, it is also the last thing he wants to talk about in front of others.

"If you have something to say, don't talk about the year!"

Long Yutian sighed in his heart, knowing that he still cared about the events of the year, so he changed the topic at the right time and talked about the purpose of coming here.

"Now that the world is difficult, it is rare for Brother Sima to still take care of the people, not to merge with the thieves, maintain his original intention, and maintain his bottom line. Our fifth master admires Brother Sima's personality and talent, and specially sent his subordinates to persuade him, and the fifth master wants you to bring your brothers to return to the palace together. ”

To say that Sima Lu used to be a clear stream in the officialdom, then after falling into the grass, he became a clear stream among the bandits.

In order to survive, the bandits led by Sima Lu did not rob people when they saw them, but were selective, such as robbing the squires and landlords and officials with poor reputation.

However, with such selective robbery, then relatively speaking, their resources are much less than those of other bandits. Therefore, the bandits under Sima Lu either don't do it, and once they do, it will be a big move.

If it weren't for the fact that they were in secrecy, maybe the forces in Lingnan would have wiped him out long ago. A thousand days of anti-thieves made everyone tired.

"Haha."

Sima Lu laughed as if he had heard a big joke, and when he had laughed enough, he asked the brother next to him, "You heard it, he said that the fifth master of the palace admires me!" Haha, how to listen to this thing and how unreliable, fooling fools! ”

As he spoke, he didn't forget to glare at Long Yutian, he was really fooled by a fool.

The brothers next to him also laughed, and they didn't forget to learn from the big boss to glare at Long Yutian.

Ma Qilin said: "Big brother, don't be presumptuous, you are also a twenty-year Tanhualang of Huiyuan, if you really want to talk about it, you are more powerful than the fifth master of Nashi Laozi." ”

Long Yutian's posture was very low, and he arched his hand and said: "What I said is true, Brother Sima has a good conscience and treats the people well, so I got a promise from the fifth master, please consider it carefully." ”

With that, Long Yutian took out a letter from his arms and handed it to the bandit next to him.

Sima Lu restrained the smile on his face and shouted: "I am a bandit who does all kinds of evil, or a sinner exiled in Lingnan, you fifth master are not afraid that I will pretend to surrender to him, and then rise up and kill him?" ”

Long Yutian arched his hand outside, and then replied loudly: "Our fifth master pursues the principle of not using suspicious people, employing people without suspicion, it turns out that I am the best example, the fifth master treats people so sincerely, Brother Sima, what else do you have to worry about?" ”

Having said that, Long Yutian actually had such a worry in his heart, this person was recruited through him, if something really went wrong, he would be the first to be asked.

But his face was so impassive that it was impossible to see what he really thought.

Sima Lu and Ma Qilin glanced at each other, and both of them were shocked by what they had just said.

They also felt the sincerity of the so-called Fifth Master, but they also had a lot of concerns.

Sima Lu still asked with a solemn face: "Just recruit us according to what you said, how are you fifth masters going to settle us?" As far as I know, there are only 10,000 soldiers under your fifth master, and my team is 2,000 more than him, and it is not certain who will annex whom at that time. ”

When Long Yutian heard this, he knew that this meant relaxation, so he smiled, "Our fifth master can appoint you as a general for the time being, and if Brother Sima has the ability, it is not a problem to appoint you as the chief soldier." ”

Therefore, what official position you want to be depends on whether you have the ability to do it.

Sima Lu glanced at Ma Qilin, and instead of answering Long Yutian immediately, he said, "This matter came too suddenly, we have to discuss it with our brothers." ”

As he spoke, without waiting for Long Yutian to speak, he shouted out the door: "Someone! Please go and rest! ”

Long Yutian was shocked in his heart, thinking that Sima Lu was turning his face and not recognizing people, but no matter how flustered he was, he didn't dare to show timidity on his face, and tried to maintain his demeanor.

He bowed his hand to Sima Lu, "Let's leave for a while, Brother Sima and the brothers will discuss carefully, whether to be a thief who is spurned by thousands of people or a soldier who returns to his hometown, it all depends on your decision today." ”

Sima Lu didn't think as much as Long Yutian, he waved his hand at him and motioned to leave quickly.

When the others left, he turned around and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Ma Qilin was the first to ask: "Big brother, this is under the name of the fifth master, his team seems to be all personal soldiers, can we also become his personal soldiers, instead of King Qian's soldiers and horses?" ”

Sima Lu nodded, frowned, and said: "This is also what I am worried about, if we are subordinate to the name of the fifth master, then we are his own soldiers, which is equivalent to standing in line directly, just like the emperor has many sons, and we chose one of the princes."

If you submit to the name of the prince, it will be different, don't worry about standing in line, but there is one bad thing, that is, because of our background, it is impossible to become the prince's descendant team in the future. ”

Ma Qilin didn't know much about this, "Then according to what the eldest brother said, is it better for us to be under the name of the fifth master, or under the name of the prince?" ”

"The fifth master in Sai Zhuge is the sister-in-law of King Qian, he was born to the current princess, if you talk about competitive strength, this fifth master is no worse than the original eldest son." Saying that, Sima Lu sighed, "It's just that what I hate the most is the struggle for power and intrigues, and I was exiled to Lingnan more than ten years ago because of this, and now let me return to the original environment, to be honest, I am a little resistant." ”

These words made Marchlin feel a little sympathetic to him, but

"Big brother, there was a difference between the past and the present, you used to be a civil official, and the civil official had the most flowers and intestines, and he was the best at playing intrigue and tricks. And this time we are military generals into the imperial court, military generals are not good at playing scheming, and they are also open-minded, and they will not reproduce the previous tragedy, you can rest assured. ”

Ma Qilin was able to say this, which surprised Sima Lu, "Second brother wants to submit to this fifth master?" ”

Ma Qilin smiled: "No matter what the eldest brother chooses, I will follow the eldest brother." ”

Sima Lu nodded, probably knowing what his brothers were thinking, and the brothers probably wanted to return to their hometown one day.

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