Dragon Raja: History Simulator

Page 83

“Of course,” Yin Lihua said calmly. These mixed-race people could bully ordinary people, but when they encountered truly top-tier mixed-race people, they were nothing more than fish on a chopping board.

Xiao Qinghe asked again, "These people are using the county magistrate's name. Does this mean we are about to officially turn against the county magistrate and the imperial court?"

Yin Lihua also sighed, "This is my fault. I didn't expect this new magistrate of Xinye to be so decisive. He was thinking of taking over the entire city of Xinye in one fell swoop and giving Uncle Wen a better dowry."

"How can this be your fault, young lady?" Xiao Qinghe said indignantly. "This new magistrate is so reclusive, who would have thought he would have such audacity to try to assassinate you, young lady or master?"

Yin Lihua shook her head, looked out of the courtyard, and muttered to herself:

"The magistrate couldn't have only sent assassins to kill me. I need to go see my father and brothers now. I wonder how they are doing?"

Take a day off

Take a day off.

Chapter 147 The Youngsters Have Greatly Defeated the Bandits

Xinye.

The Yin family.

Jingyinxuan.

Yin Lu gripped a teacup tightly in one hand, while pouring a cup of clear tea for the young man opposite him with the other. The tea was clear and reflected the uneasy expression on Yin Shi's face.

He looked at the young man in front of him. He had an extraordinary air about him, but his eyes were empty and desolate. Yet, Yin Lu could feel the burning fire in his eyes from that clear pool.

"Uncle Wen, do you want me to raise an army now?" Yin Lu asked quietly, listening to the rain outside the window.

Raising an army is not a simple matter. Raising an army now means abandoning his family's 40,000 mu of land, his current mansion, and even the foundation accumulated by his ancestors over two hundred years, to embark on an unknown path.

This move was a difficult decision for Yin Lu to make. Even though his daughter had already agreed to a marriage with Liu Xiu, he could still back out before the marriage was finalized.

However, this would offend Liu Bosheng and Liu Wenshu. If Liu Bosheng were to raise an army and march south, or if the Green Forest Army were to rise up and march north, not only would their family property be at risk, but their clansmen would also be unable to protect themselves.

Therefore, Yin Lu was actually unwilling to break ties with Liu Xiu.

What bothered him most was that Nanyang, where they were located, was too close to the Han Dynasty.

The world is in turmoil, with rebellions everywhere, but as long as the new army goes out of the pass to quell the rebellions, Nanyang will be the first choice.

Liu Xiu looked at the teacup Yin Lu handed him but didn't rush to drink it.

“Uncle, you are wise,” Liu Xiu said in a low voice, though he seemed somewhat distracted. “I have come here not only for you, but also because my brother-in-law Deng Chen is quite famous in Xinye and can gather more than a thousand people.”

In addition, I made a good friend in Wancheng, Li Tong, and gathered tens of thousands of grain supplies. My elder brother Bosheng has also raised an army and is heading north along the way without any hindrance.

If my maternal uncle joins in raising an army, they can gather over ten thousand troops, and great things will be within reach.

Liu Xiu looked at Yin Lu with piercing eyes, "I wonder what my maternal uncle is planning at this moment?"

Yin Lu frowned and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. Only when the sound reached his ears did he realize his loss of composure.

He sighed and said to the son-in-law before him, who was not yet married but was already engaged:

"Uncle Wen should know that I, Yin Lu, am merely of average appearance, and my Yin family is nothing more than a local strongman. Compared to the new emperor Wang Mang, we are nothing special. If the new army marches east out of Wuguan and south to Luoyang, what should we do then?"

Yin Lu had made his intentions clear, and Liu Xiu naturally couldn't hide them either. However, he couldn't very well say that he was destined by heaven and that a great meteorite would serve as a backdrop to help him destroy Wang Mang's hundreds of thousands of troops, could he?

He put down his teacup, his gaze intense, and spoke with absolute certainty, "Does Master Yin know of the Red Eyebrows and the Green Forest?"

At this time, the Red Eyebrows and Green Forest armies had already risen up. The Red Eyebrows were in the south, and the Green Forest were in the east. The Red Eyebrows were far away in Shandong, while the Green Forest were very close.

Yin Lu, residing in Xinye, was naturally well aware of this matter, and he said, "I know a little about it."

Liu Xiu nodded and said, "Now the Green Forest Army has hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching north, which is enough to contend with the army of the new dynasty."

Yin Lu shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I have shown my true feelings to you, my dear nephew. Why do you need to deceive me? How can a bandit group have hundreds of thousands of troops? They are just tens of thousands of bandits who have taken hundreds of thousands of civilians with them. How can they accomplish anything?"

Liu Xiu did not refute this, and said, "Even so, does your maternal uncle have any other choice?"

Yin Lu understood what Liu Xiu meant. Nanyang and Guanzhong were only a short distance apart, yet the bandits from the Green Forest were already within reach.

At this time, if one does not join the rebel army, one will be at odds with the bandits, and the imperial court will not be able to come to the rescue in time.

When the Green Forest Army arrives in Xinye, his entire empire will be wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of bandits are no match for the government troops, but dealing with the Yin family will be a piece of cake.

Thinking of this, Yin Lu felt increasingly bitter.

Seeing this, Liu Xiu pressed on, saying, "Given the current situation, why should you hesitate, brother-in-law? My elder brother, Liu Bosheng, has already made an agreement with the leader of the Green Forest bandits to join them. At that time, the Green Forest will be in the south, and my brother will be in the north; the Green Forest will move north, and my brother will move south."

Putting everything else aside, Nanyang can be taken.

After Liu Xiu finished speaking, Yin Lu's face became even more bitter, and he unconsciously gripped the teacup even tighter.

Although his daughter believed that Liu Xiu was an unparalleled hero, he had some doubts, but he also knew that Liu Xiu was definitely an outstanding person, otherwise he would not have married his daughter to him and made a marriage agreement with him.

Yin Lu had frequent contact with Liu Xiu in the previous two months, and even buying and selling grain and weapons was a common occurrence. However, with the big event looming, Yin Lu couldn't help but feel a little hesitant.

"Please allow me some time to think about it, my dear nephew?"

In the end, Yin Lu still said the same thing.

Just then, a crisp sound came from the doorway; it was the sound of footsteps.

Yin Lu paused, a flicker of emotion flashing in his eyes. He looked towards the doorway and said, "Brother, since you've been listening here for so long, why not step forward and share your true feelings?"

At this moment, a young man walked in through the door. He had a sword hanging at his waist and looked at Yin Lu with a hint of resentment on his face.

“Father, the world is in chaos now, which is the time for us to strive forward. If we retreat everywhere, how can we protect ourselves?”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Liu Xiu, bowed, and said with admiration, "I heard of Wen Shu's great name when I was studying in Chang'an, and what I have seen and heard now is even more so."

Liu Xiu returned the greeting, then looked at Yin Lu again and said, "Since Father has already married my sister to Wen Shu, why is there any hesitation now?"

Yin Lu ignored him and looked at Liu Xiu, saying, "This is my eldest son, Yin Shi. He has been studying in Chang'an. Not long ago, I learned that the bandits had gone north, so I ordered him to return. He will be home in ten days."

Liu Xiu looked at Yin Shi and said repeatedly, "I've heard so much about you."

He had indeed long admired him. Although Yin Lu was not like his brother-in-law Deng Chen or his friend Li Tong, a wealthy businessman he met in Wancheng, who would be among the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai in the future.

However, this was only because he was a relative of the emperor. If we only consider his achievements, Yin Shi would be able to rank among the top ten of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai.

Yin Shi then looked at his father, Yin Lu, and asked, "Father, do you know of Su Jin'an, the newly appointed magistrate of Xinye?"

At this moment, Liu Xiu calmed down and listened attentively as well.

The magistrate of Xinye County took office a month ago. At that time, he had just left Xinye to deliver grain to Wancheng, so he knew very little about him.

Furthermore, later historical records are equally vague about this matter, failing to record the name of this Xinye County magistrate.

For this reason, Liu Xiu knew even less about it.

On the other hand, Yin Lu was unconvinced. "A county magistrate is nothing. In times of peace, I would still have to show him some respect. But now that we are in a chaotic world, what can a county magistrate do?"

Yin Lu's words were indeed true. Liu Xiu's brother-in-law, Deng Chenshi, had a family with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and each generation had a prefectural governor position. However, when he returned to his hometown to raise an army, he could only gather a little over a thousand men. In contrast, the Yin family could raise an army of three thousand men, which was not much different from what his elder brother Liu Bosheng had done by squandering his family fortune.

After this chaotic era, the Yin family indeed doesn't need to care too much about a county magistrate.

Yin Shi shook his head at this moment, "Father, you don't know this, but I had dealings with Su Jin'an when I was in Chang'an. He secretly recruits young people and keeps assassins. He is no ordinary person."

Upon hearing this, both Yin Lu and Liu Xiu's expressions changed.

Assassins might have been easily dismissed in other dynasties, but not in the Han Dynasty. The most common types of assassins in the Han Dynasty were chivalrous heroes who used martial arts to break the law and Confucian scholars who used literature to disrupt the law.

Besides, the most famous person in this era who keeps assassins is none other than Gongsun Shu, who officially seized control of the Shu region this year.

In this world of dragons, the one who assists Gongsun Shu is Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire, who goes by the alias Li Xiong. The so-called "assassins" are not the ordinary people who can be easily dealt with in the official history. Almost every one of them can be confirmed as a hybrid with extraordinary powers such as "word magic".

This is why assassins have taken on a different meaning in this era.

During the transition from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the legendary feats of armored cavalry, such as defeating 100,000 with only 800, were all accomplished by these so-called hybrid "assassins".

This problem remained unsolved until the Tang Dynasty.

According to the orthodox historical records that Liu Xiu had read, up until the period of confrontation between Song and Liao, although the military strength of both countries declined, they coincidentally developed many alchemical weapons specifically designed to deal with "assassins".

Only then did the threat posed by the assassins gradually dissipate. After that, the few mixed-race individuals were no longer able to achieve anything, which is why Li Zicheng was defeated at Shanhai Pass.

As Liu Xiu fell into deep thought, Yin Lu remained silent as well, knowing the danger these people posed.

Just as the two of them fell silent, a bright light suddenly flashed in the gloomy weather outside the window.

Liu Xiu was suddenly startled, a sense of crisis flashing through his mind. He rushed forward, grabbed Yin Lu who hadn't reacted yet, and then they both dodged to the side and behind.

He suddenly drew his sword from in front of him, but before he could even shout, a beam of light suddenly shot in through the window and pierced the table where Liu Xiu and Yin Lu had just been sitting on the ground.

The "bright light" struck the table, causing it to explode violently and instantly reduce the hardwood table to dust.

Yin Lu's face darkened instantly. He said, "These are crossbow bolts, and they are some of the rarest standard crossbow bolts used by the government troops."

Liu Xiu frowned, unable to speak.

Is that a crossbow bolt?

You can tell me this is a crossbow, or to put it more bluntly, it's Li Yunlong's favorite Italian cannon, and he'll believe you.

However, after carefully searching his memory, he suddenly realized that what his father-in-law, Yin Lu, said was actually true.

This is a crossbow.

These were simply crossbows "enchanted" by alchemy. When the First Emperor conscripted strong soldiers and powerful crossbowmen, he invented this weapon. With it, the Qin army was invincible and unified the six kingdoms in ten years. No one in the world dared to resist them.

This can be considered another technological revolution in hybrid alchemy.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of the "one cannon shot destroyed dozens of miles" mentioned by the later Grand Commander Yuan, as well as the "Magic Book Catalogue" not far away.

Could it be? Maybe? Perhaps?

In this magical world, are the "one cannon shot destroying dozens of miles" and the Book of Jin the true realists, while the other so-called rigorous Twenty-Four Histories are just embellished?

Upon thinking of this, Liu Xiu's lips twitched involuntarily.

At this moment, Yin Lu became furious. He knew that the new magistrate Su Jin'an, whom Yin Shi had mentioned, had indeed taken in such a group of assassins, otherwise they would not have bypassed the manor and arrived here directly.

He suppressed his anger, wanting to say something more.

But the crossbow bolts outside the window never stopped.

Forced into a corner, Liu Xiu, Yin Lu, and Yin Shi found it nearly impossible to escape.

Taking advantage of the break, Yin Lu said to Yin Shi, "My son, you have been familiarizing yourself with the servants and guards of the manor for the past ten days. Now, please quickly restore order and do not let these assassins escape."

After speaking, Yin Shi did not hesitate and immediately went out from the side to summon the servants.