Chapter 58: Formation

Li You naturally knew this principle; so many people could not necessarily be fed, and moreover, when could the grain be given again?

Li You immediately waved his hand and said, "Those who do the work well, those who stand out, or those with unique skills, can only enter our Longmen Shanzhai! Do you really think everyone can enter the Shanzhai?"

"Today is just to inform you! From now on, perform well!

With this, many people got up, looking extremely disappointed, but Li Qinxiang suddenly came out and said, "I want to join the Shanzhai!"

Behind him, Gao Conglong and others stared blankly at Li Qinxiang.

Wu Zhuge, who had originally been in urgent need of urinating, saw it was Li Qinxiang and immediately laughed, saying, "Why did you beg to join before, and now you are asking to join us? Wasn't it 'dying rather than bending' that day?

I tell you, our Longmen Shanzhai is not a place you can come to or leave whenever you want; get lost!"

"What? With the skills of us brothers, we are not worthy of your Longmen Shanzhai?" Li Qinxiang said.

"Wait until you are freed from the shackles, have swords and knives, and try to raid our Shanzhai again?" Wu Zhuge said mockingly.

Li You's heart tightened as he spoke, "Boss, these men's martial arts are indeed good; if we give them up, wouldn't that make the Liu brothers clap with joy? In the Jianghu, righteousness comes first. If the Boss reconciles with them again, how could they still repay kindness with enmity?

"What if they still do?"

Wu Zhuge squinted at Li You and said, "Scholar's tricky schemes; what small calculations are you making in your heart?"

Li You's heart pounded wildly, and he stamped his foot, saying, "I guarantee it with my own head!"

Having said that, Li You stepped closer and whispered urgently in his ear, "Big Boss, do we have to continue being bullied by those guys from Maobi Ba?

Such martial talent, previously unrecruitable and must be eliminated, now that the prodigal has returned, is a great asset to us. If you are not confident, just use them as cannon fodder then!"

Wu Zhuge's expression changed, and finally he stood up, saying, "You handle it yourself; don't make any small calculations for me... Anyway, it's just this grain; after a while, I want to see these brats able to fight on the battlefield!"

Having said that, he left with his people.

And Li Qinxiang and others still stood in place, their minds stunned by Li You's words just now...

"Then I guarantee it with my own head!"

As the saying goes, a scholar dies for one who knows him.

Li You's words made Li Qinxiang, Gao Conghu, and others feel a heat in their chests; even Gao Conglong and Guan Hongxin, people of such frivolous temperaments, had eyes slightly red; this was sheer and utter trust!

Wu Zhuge left, and Huang Mao'er and others coldly glanced at Li You before also driving the mine workers and salt slaves to continue working; indeed, the working mine workers and salt slaves now had divisions, after all, with so much grain piled together, who didn't want a bite?

Yet many in their hearts cursed Li You as no good; a few days ago he seemed to be on their side, but in the blink of an eye he threw himself into Wu Zhuge's arms, looking like a complete lackey and henchman!

Since ancient times, scholars have boasted of establishing the mind of heaven and earth, and establishing the fate of the people; they remained unyielding, and when great disaster loomed, they should naturally die rather than bend, shattering their bodies for a glorious eternity.

But what kind of scholar is Li You, this soft-boned traitor aiding the wicked?

Yes, Great Ming scholars indeed had much backbone; most did not necessarily fear death; death is death; in peace, they sit idly discussing nature and mind, and in danger, they die once to report to the monarch; living freely, dying tragically, as if both life and death were great achievements.

Indeed, among the 'double ministers' who betrayed Great Ming and surrendered to Qing in the late Ming, there were only 136, while those who resisted the Qing and died for Great Ming reached 3786; this figure is the official statistic from the 'Record of Martyred Ministers of the Former Dynasty' compiled in the Qianlong era.

And the uncounted scholars among the common people had long since numbered in the tens of thousands.

Loyal heroes of China, unbroken though like a thin thread, were the most numerous in every dynasty, but what use was this to Great Ming?

The Yongli Emperor ultimately drew the curtain for Great Ming under Wu Sangui's bowstring.

Since scholars enjoyed Great Ming's various privileges and also received respect and glory, they should, in times of racial peril, take up the social responsibilities they ought to bear, rather than considering themselves great and choosing to die.

Of course, the ignorant have their own shortsightedness and hatefulness, and the cultured have their own arrogance and backbone, but for Li You, this fake scholar, he only wanted to make himself live as well as possible, and then make those around him live well.

As for his changes and intentions before and after, time will prove everything.

Li You very much wanted to distribute the grain equally, then work together and train in martial arts together; when there were more resources and more say, all mine workers would have their leg chains removed, then implement a salary system, and those who wanted to go home could go home.

This would not only improve efficiency but also save much manpower for guarding; even developing later, it would be possible to recruit people; the saying 'blockage is not as good as channeling' is this principle.

But he also knew there were many difficulties; originally, the mine workers and salt slaves totaled thirty-nine, plus the ten-plus who were captured with Li You from Lueyang that time, and later Li Qinxiang, Gao Conglong, and Wu Dadding added seven, making sixty-five or sixty-six already.

Not counting the ten children, two women, and Liu Quezi, Qian Chengzhi, and others, this was nearly eighty people.

At this time, the food had little oil or fat; whether children or adults, appetites were large; a strong man needed four jin of coarse grain a day; calculated this way, nearly two shi of grain had to be consumed daily!

This did not count the archers Wu Zhuge stuffed into his care; although these twenty-one were for him to train, who could say there were no spies of Wu Zhuge watching him among them?

Such constraints on him were extremely great.

Things are never perfect; originally, Li You wanted some grain, then raise his own team, and moreover, this team would include Li Qinxiang and others, such border army veterans.

But Wu Zhuge happened to have some tricks, stuffing people for him to train soldiers; it was clearly just training soldiers, like Lin Chong the Leopard Head serving as an instructor; wanting these people to do something with him was definitely hopeless.

What was deadly was that he was given only a little over seven shi of grain; adding black beans and other coarse grains, it was less than nine shi; and it was estimated this was given only once; to get grain again, he must achieve some results, otherwise the next grain distribution would be indefinitely far away.

Weighing the options, Li You still chose Li Qinxiang and the other six plus Wu Dadding, totaling seven people, and selected Lu Yi, Xiang Ying, Wa Qingyun, Liu Longjin, Qi Jingkun, and others, totaling thirteen people, raising a 'mountain bandit team'.

As for Xu Sanshui, Wu Zhaodi, and others, although they had helped treat minor injuries, he considered these people not reliable enough, so he dropped the idea.

The lineup of these thirteen people required no training; it was already very strong.

Li Qinxiang, Zhou Yin, and others were originally from the border army; although they were deserters, their characters were not utterly vicious, and since they dared to challenge the Longmen mountain bandits, their skills were likely not bad at all.

Wa Qingyun and Liu Longjin were relatively familiar to Li You; their martial arts were average, but their character was good; especially Liu Longjin could read some characters roughly.

Wu Dadding needed no further explanation; having grown up together, he could strip his pants to help someone take a beating, and in literature, he could wail at funerals and play the suona; naturally, he was Li You's all-around good brother.

Qi Jingkun, Xiang Ying, and others were eager to sell their lives to Li You to repay the debt of saving their lives.

The sudden formation of this team, if Wu Zhuge really stopped sending people for rotation in the future, could be said to directly become the strongest lineup at Nanshan.