Chapter 46: Then Let Us Fight!

"What is going on?"

Liu Zheng asked urgently.

This person was none other than Huang Zhiyuan, the newly appointed procurement captain of the Shen Gong Workshop, who served under Wei Tiezhu and was primarily responsible for procuring the iron ore needed by the Shen Gong Workshop. Yinzhou was a tiny place, full of salt lakes and salt mines, but it was the only place that lacked iron mines. Yet, the Shen Gong Workshop required a significant amount of iron ore.

Whether it was for making farm tools or weapons, none could be done without large quantities of iron ore.

Thus, they had no choice but to procure iron ore from Yangzhou and then smelt it into iron and steel. This matter was originally a collaboration with the Cao Family. Later, after the Cao Family obtained the Sales Right for "Drunken Yinzhou," they handed this line over to the Shen Gong Workshop, and the matter was handled entirely by Huang Zhiyuan.

"Young Master!"

"On the way back from procuring the ore this time, we encountered a group of mountain bandits, they, they..."

Huang Zhiyuan knelt on the ground, wailing bitterly.

Liu Zheng was furious upon hearing this.

Because Liu Zheng had recently received a large sum of money from the Zheng Family's dividends, and the Yinzhou Plow required a considerable amount of steel, Liu Zheng had invested all the money he had into the procurement of iron ore.

After all, for the time being, spring plowing and war preparations were both very important.

One hundred tons of iron ore—half was to be used for forging Yinzhou Plows, and half for forging weapons.

That was a full ten thousand taels of silver!

Who would have thought that on the road Huang Zhiyuan was already very familiar with, a group of horse bandits would suddenly appear, not only seizing all their iron ore but also openly killing several workers! They even clamored that for this iron ore, the Yinzhou County Marquis Mansion must pay twenty thousand taels of silver to ransom it!

"Mountain bandits?"

Liu Zheng's eyes turned cold as he asked, "Where would there be mountain bandits on the border between Yangzhou and Yinzhou?"

Zheng Yue Ru also said, "That is absolutely impossible!"

The two prefectures were quite close to each other, and there were no deep mountains or steep ridges to hide in. Furthermore, on his way to Yinzhou, Liu Zheng had just wiped out a large group of mountain bandits; where could mountain bandits have been organized in such a short time?

"Young Master, they are indeed mountain bandits! And their strength is not weak; I estimate there are about a thousand of them!"

Huang Zhiyuan said while crying.

Liu Zheng and Zheng Yue Ru looked at each other in shock.

A thousand mountain bandits was already quite formidable. After all, compared to government troops, these mountain bandits had greater flexibility and mobility. They came and went like the wind, making them impossible to catch even if one wanted to.

"Preposterous!"

Liu Zheng shouted fiercely: "Follow me back to the mansion!"

Upon arriving at the County Marquis Mansion, he had a doctor take Huang Zhiyuan away to treat his wounds. Qin Zhangfeng soon ran back: "Young Master, Zhangfeng has also just received a report. This group of mountain bandits is quite strong. In the past few days, they have already robbed many merchant caravans traveling to Yinzhou. The merchants are complaining bitterly and have reported the cases multiple times!"

Liu Zheng's expression was as gloomy as water.

Mountain bandits?

He certainly did not believe that!

For such a group of mountain bandits to suddenly pop up in such a short time, there must be something fishy going on!

Suddenly, Zheng Yue Ru's expression changed slightly: "Brother Liu, could it be from Yangzhou?"

Liu Zheng took a deep breath and nodded. A few days ago, Zheng Yue Ru had warned him that the old thief Chen Kui had fled to Yangzhou and attached himself to Lu Zhengyi, even handing over his entire family fortune to Lu Zhengyi, just to have Lu Zhengyi help him fight his way back to Yinzhou to continue being his Powerful Clan lord.

Now it seemed...

The fact that these mountain bandits appeared exactly on the border of Yangzhou and Yinzhou, not disturbing Yangzhou but specifically targeting merchant caravans coming to Yinzhou, was already very obvious.

"Young Master, give me a thousand elite soldiers, and I will go and trample this group of thieves!"

Qin Zhangfeng shouted in anger.

Shen Xing, standing to the side, had a drastic change in expression: "Absolutely not, Young Master. This is surely a trap set by that Lu Zhengyi! He is using these thousand mountain bandits to lure us deep into their territory; I fear that what awaits us will be the Yangzhou Army! I believe this matter should first be reported to the Liangzhou Prefecture before making a decision!"

Zheng Yue Ru also nodded in agreement with this speculation.

Qin Zhangfeng grew anxious: "Shen Xing, you coward, so what if there is an ambush? With me, Qin Zhangfeng, here, I will kill gods if I meet gods, and Buddhas if I meet Buddhas! When I was in Yangzhou, I saw that Lu Zhengyi was no good bird, and sure enough, I guessed right! How can we let the Yinzhou Army lose its prestige in front of that old thief?"

He was currently the commander of the Yinzhou Prefecture Garrison, so he naturally felt that his brothers were capable of fighting.

Shen Xing snorted coldly, and the few of them began to argue.

Liu Zheng, however, had fallen into deep thought.

This matter was truly thorny.

Yinzhou was currently in a period of vigorous development, and he originally did not want to cause trouble, so when he heard that Yangzhou was preparing troops, he did not take it to heart, thinking he would just let the year pass first.

Who would have thought that while he didn't bother them, they would come to provoke him!

And they were using such a poisonous scheme!

On one hand, they were detaining the iron ore that Yinzhou urgently needed; if this batch of iron ore could not arrive in time, it would likely affect Yinzhou's spring plowing. On the other hand, they were harassing the merchant caravans coming to trade, which was an even greater blow to Yinzhou. Liu Zheng was currently eager to attract more people to engage in commercial activities in Yinzhou so that the economy of Yinzhou could be revitalized.

Therefore.

Not go?

That won't do; the iron ore is a must! And he must give those merchant caravans an explanation. If these horse bandits are not eliminated, who would dare to come to Yinzhou to do business in the future?

But if he goes?

Just as Shen Xing said, this must be a conspiracy from Yangzhou. If the three thousand Garrison troops of Yinzhou encountered an ambush, Liu Zheng would be heartbroken over any losses.

"Stop arguing!"

Liu Zheng shouted, and the whole room went quiet.

Qin Zhangfeng, who was in favor of fighting, still glared coldly at Shen Xing.

Liu Zheng asked Huang Zhiyuan again: "How many days did the mountain bandits give us to ransom the ore?"

"Seven days!"

Huang Zhiyuan said with a bitter face: "Young Master, this matter must be handled with care! I observed those mountain bandits; they are well-trained, their war horses and weapons are excellent, and they come and go like the wind. They don't look like mountain bandits; they look more like Scattered Soldiers!"

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

Scattered Soldiers?

This was something unique to this era. These wandering soldiers meant scattered and stray troops; in the words of later generations, they were mercenaries! This type of small-scale organized army often belonged to a Feudatory King, but later, for various reasons, they left their former organization and became free, professional soldiers.

These mercenaries, whoever pays them, they follow and work for!

Shen Xing said: "Indeed, Young Master, this must be the Scattered Soldiers hired by that Chen Kui!"

"Young Master, think carefully!"

"Looking at this situation, the scale of these Scattered Soldiers is definitely more than one thousand!"

"Seven days..."

Liu Zheng shouted: "Qin Zhangfeng, hear my order!"

"Zhangfeng is here!"

"Lead two thousand Garrison, guard the passing merchant caravans, a pavilion every thousand meters, a sentry post every hundred meters!"

Qin Zhangfeng shouted: "Zhangfeng accepts the order!"

"Shen Xing!"

"This subordinate is here!"

"For now, merchants in the city are not allowed to leave the city; wait until seven days have passed before departing."

"Yes!"

"Wei Tiezhu!"

"Here!"

"Come with me to the Shen Gong Workshop!"

After Liu Zheng finished giving his orders, at this moment, Liu Dahao came running over happily: "My son, my son, your father has arrived late! To think there are mountain bandits disturbing our Yinzhou, this is outrageous! Does my son have a plan?"

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly: "Father, go back and continue drinking; leave this matter to me."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dahao beamed with joy: "Zheng, you must be careful, *hiccup*... you must be careful!"

Then, supported by a few maidservants, he went back to drink.

In an instant, the news of mountain bandits appearing outside Yinzhou spread throughout the entire city.

Inside Fengming Tower.

Many merchants were on edge.

"Mountain bandits?"

"How strong are the bandits?"

"Is Yinzhou safe?"

These traveling merchants, in this chaotic world, earned money that kept them in constant fear and risked their lives, so they were used to it. But this was the first time they had encountered such a thing in Yinzhou, and they could not help but feel some panic in their hearts.

"I observe that the County Marquis Mansion is orderly, so it should be fine!"

One person said.

The person next to him sneered: "How long has the Yinzhou County Marquis Mansion been established? Can the Garrison even fight?"

"Have you not seen how the Chen Family elite soldiers are?"

"But this time it is a group of well-equipped Scattered Soldiers; how can they be compared to those old, weak, sick, and disabled ones?"

Inside Fengming Tower, they immediately split into two factions and began to argue.

One side felt they should trust the Yinzhou County Marquis Mansion and wait for good news. The other side felt that Yinzhou was, after all, a tiny place with weak military strength, and encountering these professional Scattered Soldiers, the situation was likely not optimistic. Some were already thinking of pulling strings to escape Yinzhou quickly.

"Everyone, everyone!"

"The County Marquis Mansion has issued an order: wait seven days! During these seven days, all merchants are to stay at Fengming Tower, and all expenses will be covered by the County Marquis Mansion!"

At this time, an Executive of the County Marquis Mansion came over to announce the County Marquis's order.

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered.

Regardless of how the Yinzhou Army was, being able to treat them, these traveling peddlers and merchants, with such favor was a first in this era.

And over here.

Liu Zheng had already arrived at the Shen Gong Workshop.

Just after dismounting, he asked Wei Tiezhu: "How much Refined Iron is left? And Iron Mine?"

Wei Tiezhu replied: "Young Master, there are still five thousand catties of Refined Iron! Fifty thousand of Iron Mine!"

Five thousand catties...

Liu Zheng nodded and calculated in his heart. Fifty thousand catties of Iron Mine could refine twenty thousand catties of Refined Iron! That is twenty-five thousand catties of Refined Iron in total!

"Bring it all to me!"

Liu Zheng ordered.

Everyone heard this and clicked their tongues in wonder.

Now, everyone in all of Yinzhou was watching this matter. It could be said that this was the first challenge faced by the County Marquis Mansion since its establishment. Whether it was the Powerful Clan, out-of-town merchants, or the common people, everyone was paying attention to the County Marquis Mansion at this moment. The outcome of this matter would directly affect the ruling power of the County Marquis Mansion here, as well as the future stability of Yinzhou.

Liu Zheng also had Wei Tiezhu summon all the blacksmiths from the Shen Gong Workshop.

In fact, no matter how Shen Xing and Qin Zhangfeng argued, Liu Zheng already had a conclusion in his heart.

Fight!

Only fight.

Since others had already stepped on his head, why should he be hypocritical and swallow his pride?

This was not Liu Zheng's style.

Moreover, this incident was not entirely a challenge; it also meant opportunity.

That's right.

Perhaps others could not see the opportunity hidden behind this incident, but Liu Zheng could.

Mercenaries?

Hehe!

Since ancient times, the armies under a ruler have been nothing more than these few types: one's own army, mercenaries, reinforcements, and mixed armies! Among these, mercenaries and reinforcements are both useless and extremely dangerous existences! Because these mercenaries are undisciplined, ambitious, lack discipline, and do not value integrity!

Because they only recognize payment, yet the payment you provide is not enough to make them risk their lives on the battlefield!

Therefore.

This move by Lu Zhengyi is already a colossal blunder; since that is the case, why shouldn't Liu Zheng take advantage of it?

Very quickly.

The Refined Iron had already been pushed over, and by this time, Liu Zheng had also finished drawing a blueprint.

"In these next few days, you must rush to produce at least two thousand of this weapon!"

The blacksmiths crowded over.

On that blueprint was drawn a long weapon, one that they had never even seen before.

Everyone was shocked.

"Young Master, what is this?"