PDLP Chapter 176 Prisoner Li Wei
Chapter 176 Prisoner Li Wei
The afterglow of dusk was like a fine golden ribbon, gently sprinkling on the tired officers and soldiers, and also tinging the cold light of their armor with a hint of warmth. They dismounted one after another, their movements carrying the heaviness and fatigue of the day, but still retaining the neatness of a soldier. The horses were skillfully tied under an ancient sycamore tree, which seemed to have experienced vicissitudes of life and quietly witnessed this scene. There seemed to be an unspoken tacit understanding between the officers and soldiers and the tree, as if it was an old friend on their journey.
They sat on the ground, leaning against the tree trunk, or lying down, completely ignoring the escorted county magistrate Li Wei. They no longer had the initial vigilance against Li Wei, because in their eyes, he had become their captive, a weak county magistrate who had lost the ability to resist. Moreover, he was a county magistrate who was a Jinshi, and he valued face more than life. They were convinced that he would not have the courage to escape.
Lin Kunlun stood aside, quietly observing all this. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle, as if he could penetrate the hearts of every soldier and see through their inner thoughts. The leading soldier saw that Lin Kunlun was looking so carefully, frowned slightly, and shouted in dissatisfaction: "I say, kid, why are you staring at us all the time!"
Lin Kunlun smiled slightly, took a few steps forward, and said with a bow, "My dear officials, I am just curious about what crime this person has committed. I think he has an extraordinary temperament and looks like an official. Is he really a corrupt official?"
Seeing Lin Kunlun asking this, the leading officer did not shy away and said, "Since you are from this county, you should have heard of it. This Li Wei is your county magistrate. He privately appropriated grain from the county treasury and embezzled it. Now he has been discovered by our general and is about to be taken to the provincial capital to be interrogated by the governor!" At this point, the officer showed a smug smile on his face. For these soldiers who were usually bullied by literati officials, they were naturally very happy to see these high-ranking officials end up like this.
Lin Kunlun's heart was moved, but his face remained calm, and he continued: "It turns out that Lord Li is a corrupt official! We don't know how much of the rent and taxes we paid were embezzled by him!" He pretended to be angry, walked a few steps closer, and whispered: "Lord Li, please don't make a sound, listen to me. Your son Li Bin was chased on the road and was accidentally rescued by us. If you still want the people above to overturn your case, don't pin your hopes on the letter you wrote."
Li Wei felt mixed emotions at the moment. He thought that as a Jinshi, he would be able to clear his grievances as long as he could meet the governor and explain the whole story after arriving in the city. Moreover, he asked his son to take a letter to the city for help. He believed that the governor should have known the whole story by now. However, after listening to Lin Kunlun's words, he had an ominous premonition in his heart. He lowered his voice and asked anxiously, "How is my son now!"
"He's fine, he's just injured and recovering." Lin Kunlun answered softly. He knew that he had to be cautious at this time and not let the officers and soldiers see any flaws.
Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief, and finally felt a little comforted. At least his son was still alive, and their Li family still had a glimmer of hope.
"My lords! I heard that the county magistrate has a son. Why wasn't his son arrested together with him?" Lin Kunlun suddenly asked loudly. He deliberately raised his voice so that the surrounding villagers could hear him.
The officers and soldiers were embarrassed by Lin Kunlun's question. One of them answered impatiently, "It seems his son ran away a long time ago! But it doesn't matter. As long as we catch this corrupt official, he won't be able to escape even if we put the whole country on the wanted list!" After that, the officers and soldiers ignored Lin Kunlun and continued to eat their dry food.
Seeing this, Lin Kunlun stopped asking questions. He knew that he had to stay calm and not let his emotions affect his next plan. He turned to Li Wei and whispered, "Master Li, don't worry, we will take good care of Li Bin."
Li Wei nodded gratefully. He knew that he could only rely on these people at this moment. He couldn't help but feel more respect and gratitude towards Lin Kunlun.
"Third brother! Was that man really the county magistrate? I didn't expect he was arrested?" Lin Er dared to ask softly only after seeing the officers and soldiers leave.
"Yes! He is the county magistrate Li Wei!" Lin Kunlun nodded, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes, "The world is really going to be in chaos! In the past, even if a county magistrate like Li Wei, who was a Jinshi, committed a serious crime, it would take at least a governor-level person to arrest him. Now a mere general dares to arrest him privately, which shows that the status of civil servants is no longer as high as before."
Lin Kunlun couldn't help but think of another possibility - if the imperial court could not effectively control these local generals who held military power, then these local generals would become independent warlords, attacking each other and fighting for territory. This would be a terrible disaster!
After Lin Kunlun and his team packed up, they set off again. Everyone was walking, so the pace was not fast. Most of the villages they passed by were empty, and occasionally someone would dig grass roots and tree bark on the mountain to fill their stomachs. Seeing these scenes, Lin Kunlun couldn't help but feel sad - these once prosperous villages have now become like this!
It was already afternoon when they arrived at Kaoshan Village. After hearing the report from his men, Sun Ying went to the village entrance to greet them enthusiastically - after all, this time Lin Kunlun came with the villagers and his relatives.
"Brother Lin, you are finally here!" Sun Ying excitedly shook Lin Kunlun's hand and said, "We have been waiting for you!"
"Brother Sun!" Lin Kunlun also responded with a smile, "This time I brought some people from the village - they all want to work with you! This is my second brother Lin Er!" As he said that, he pointed to Lin Er who was standing aside and introduced him to Sun Ying.
Sun Ying's eyes swept over Lin Er and the others one by one, and the enthusiasm and trust in his eyes seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts. He knew very well that Lin Kunlun's brothers must be trustworthy partners.
Soon, the people brought by Lin Kunlun were led to a spacious camp. There was a blazing bonfire and many people around, making it very lively. Sun Ying arranged for several people to stay and personally assigned them tasks.
As soon as Lin Kunlun sat down, he couldn't wait to speak: "Brother Sun, how is the progress of contacting other strongholds?" There was a gleam of anticipation in his eyes, as if he had seen the dawn of victory.
Sun Ying smiled and said, "We have recruited some new people in the past few days. You see, there are more and more people in this camp, and the momentum is getting stronger and stronger. I have asked these people to start some simple training, hoping to improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible." He paused and continued, "As for Zhang Shan, he is contacting mountain strongholds everywhere. Some mountain strongholds have expressed their willingness to cooperate with us, but they all put forward a condition, that is food. You also know that these days, everyone gathers together to fill their stomachs."
Lin Kunlun nodded to show his understanding. He pondered for a moment and said, "In this case, I plan to go meet the people from Qinglong Mountain in person. They have a well-trained team there. If we can let them train our people, our combat effectiveness will definitely be greatly improved."
When Sun Ying heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little worried: "Are the people from Qinglong Mountain really willing to help us?"
Lin Kunlun smiled confidently and said, "Don't worry, I have already reached an agreement with them. When our team is well-trained and our combat effectiveness is improved, we can attack those counties with food. In this way, we can both train our troops and seize food. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
Sun Ying still had some doubts when he heard this, but when he saw Lin Kunlun's determined eyes, he nodded. He knew that although this young man was young, he had extraordinary courage and determination. As long as he followed him, he would definitely be able to make a name for himself.
At this time, the wind outside the camp gradually grew stronger, blowing the campfire to sway. However, in this swaying firelight, the figures of the two people seemed more determined and upright.
Lin Kunlun, on the other hand, carefully observed the newcomers. Most of them obviously couldn't even fill their stomachs. They were already skin and bones from hunger. If it were a regular army, they would definitely not want such people. But now they can only be regarded as peasants' uprising army. Ah, fighting is all about numbers. Only by numbers can they win. This is why he wanted the people of Qinglong Mountain to help with the training. He wanted to train an elite army. Without an elite army, no matter how many people there are, they can only fight with the wind. Otherwise, Li Zicheng in history would not have been defeated so quickly.