Chapter 779: Meeting

This was the training method passed down from Panlongcheng: coming from a forest of guns, going through blood and fire; those who survived could grow rapidly and receive generous rewards. Simple, rough, cruel, but effective.

What every new recruit got here was not gentle care, but the test of life and death.

The southern trade route also became a training ground for the Yuheng City army, sometimes fighting up to two battles a day.

He Lingchuan himself was as busy as a spinning top; how to fight encounter battles with water bandits, how to adjust patrol teams, which generals could be promoted... none of it could do without him.

He was checking the latest battle reports even while eating, and hadn't been home for at least ten days, let alone having time to accompany Sun Zi.

Besides the water bandits, he was also deeply involved in the affairs of Yuheng City.

He originally thought that just managing military affairs was enough, iron-blooded and simple.

*Heh*, he was too simple.

For cities like Panlongcheng and Yuheng City, all administrative affairs were basically centered around military affairs and war. The officials at all levels He Lingchuan had to meet were no fewer than Wen Daolun's.

He even had to find time to give speeches at Yuheng Academy to boost the morale of students and soldiers.

Big shots have big shots' troubles, such as not having enough time.

Wen Daolun even pulled him to discuss tax reform, because the banditry in Longchuan was a historical problem, caused by Xiji scraping three feet of land, leading to civil unrest and banditry; therefore, Yuheng City had to release maximum goodwill to the people and try every means to separate the officials from the bandits.

Wen Daolun was very urgent about this.

He Lingchuan also found that he was staying in the Panlong world for longer and longer.

At first, it was only ten or so hours, later it extended to four or five days, and now it was often ten days or half a month; the longest time, he spent more than twenty days in the Panlong world, while reality was only one night.

Sometimes he couldn't tell which was reality and which was the Panlong world, because the time he spent in Yuheng City was clearly longer than in reality.

This probably had something to do with the Great Fang Hu getting its lid back, right?

He had a feeling that this world seemed to be becoming more and more solid.

Anyway, after more than a dozen Mobile Corps Commander battles of killing and chasing, the number and frequency of robberies by the Longchuan water bandits began to drop significantly.

After all, their numbers were limited and their reinforcements were limited; after several fierce counterattacks by the Yuheng City army that didn't count the cost in blood, the arrogance of the water bandits was also suppressed.

Bandits don't fight officials; objective laws always take effect.

Under the strict crackdown of the Yuheng City New Army, the Longchuan trade route began to recover.

Green Wolf Post Station, at the north-central end of the Longchuan trade route.

At this time of year, the small lake behind the post station was full of frog sounds from morning to night, but one could hear the sounds without seeing the frogs, because the lotus stalks were taller than people.

Under the scorching sun, He Lingchuan entered the Green Wolf Post Station wearing a straw hat and cloth clothes, threw some broken silver to the postman, and asked for a set of low tables and chairs to be placed behind the post station, by the small lake.

It was cool here, and there was a breeze.

It wasn't just him doing this; seven or eight tables along the lake were placed like this, with large intervals, none of them getting in each other's way, unless they shouted at each other, otherwise no one could hear anyone else.

He Lingchuan ordered a large pot of local specialty bayberry wine and a plate of salted crispy peanuts, then squatted by the table and started chewing.

The aroma of charcoal fire drifted over in waves; a thin, dark man was setting up a barbecue grill not far away, just putting on dozens of meat skewers, fanning them with a cattail fan.

He Lingchuan also ordered a dozen skewers to taste.

However, before the skewers were grilled, someone came over from the opposite side, also wearing a green bamboo hat, strolling all the way to him before stopping and asking: "Is anyone here?"

"No, sit." He Lingchuan took out a wooden cup and poured him the bayberry wine.

The visitor was a thin man. He hadn't seen him for two months, and he was thinner and darker.

"Why is it this wine again?" The thin man complained first, "I'm almost vomiting from drinking it in the stronghold."

It's funny to say, although Longchuan is a den of water bandits, the best bayberry wine within a hundred miles is produced in Longchuan. The bandits inside go out to rob while selling their own specialties, which is robbing money while making money, not delaying either.

"Which stronghold has the best bayberry wine?" He Lingchuan dug the thin man out of Panlongcheng to let him infiltrate Longchuan as an undercover agent. This guy was a natural socialite and could mix well anywhere.

"Of course it's the Qianjin Stronghold; the bayberries from those old trees are each this big!" The thin man put his thumb and index finger together; He Lingchuan guessed this was the size of a ping-pong ball, "There is also a clear spring behind the stronghold; good fruit and good water can brew good wine."

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "You aren't going to the Lu Family Gang, so how did you get to eat the fruit and spring water of the Qianjin Stronghold?"

The thin man said *eh*: "The Lu Family Gang disbanded last month; I entrusted someone to find a relationship and entered the Qianjin Stronghold."

"Disbanded?" He Lingchuan picked up a peanut, "Such a big gang, how could it disband just like that?"

The Lu Family Gang claimed to have eight hundred water troops; it wasn't the strongest bandit gang in Longchuan, but it was the one with the most people. In the later Yuan Nation, local regular troops might not even have eight hundred people.

Relying on having many people and being powerful, the Lu Family Gang could also rank among the top in Longchuan.

"Three months ago, when attacking Yuheng City, the Lu Family Gang sent Lu Laoliu, who was a very important figure in the gang, and Lu Laoda liked him the most and originally wanted him to take over. As a result..."

"Hmm, Lu Laoliu died." He Lingchuan naturally knew. Because when counting military merits after the war, he had seen this head.

"Last month, Lu Laoda also died of illness, and the remaining leaders didn't obey each other, fought a few times, and took their men away, so the gang disbanded." The thin man stopped here because the thin, dark barbecue guy sent them ten skewers.

"The rest are still grilling."

"No rush." He Lingchuan ate a lamb skewer and immediately said, "Add ten more lamb skewers!"

Fragrant, tender, and the charcoal fire aroma in that bit of lamb fat was just right, neither burnt nor old.

"Alright!"

The guests around the small lake also felt it was good and placed orders one after another.

The thin, dark guy walked away with a smile; the thin man pointed his chin at his back: "Is this not an eye for somewhere?"

"Good eye." He Lingchuan whispered, "He is our man."

The thin man was relieved: "The kid is capable; even if he doesn't work as an eye for you in the future, he can go back to Yuheng City and set up a barbecue stall to make money with this craft."

"He enlisted two months ago and has talent. Later, everyone discovered that what he was best at wasn't fighting, but grilling skewers."

The thin man ate a few fat and lean skewers while hot, then continued: "The disbandment of the Lu Family Gang also had to do with Yuheng City. For the past few months, the patrol intensity on the Longchuan trade route and village plains has become stronger and stronger, and the water bandits have been empty ten times out of ten, with complaints everywhere."

"That's just the beginning?" He Lingchuan picked up a hot, steaming grilled heart tube, *hmm*, fragrant, crispy, and a bit sweet, "Whatever ghosts and monsters are crowding into Longchuan, I'll make sure they don't have food to eat!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 780 =====