My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 47 I'll Settle the Score with You
This small courtyard was personally arranged by Li Fengci for Li Xuanba.

It's one of the best farms in the entire area, with a large scale, exquisite furniture, and distinctive decorations.

Li Xuanba sat in the inner room, holding Zhang Sengyuan's hand, exchanging pleasantries with him.

Zhang Sengyuan began his story from the moment they parted, recounting how he left the city, how he arrived at Wild Ox Mountain, how he gathered his men, and how he robbed the guards. He spoke in great detail and slowly.

Li Xuanba listened attentively as he finished speaking.

He only let out a long sigh after the other person finished speaking.

"The county is already watching you, how can you go and rob people?"

"Given the current situation, you should stop attacking the officials. Instead, try to find those who have escaped and find ways to survive in the mountains. I can help you with food and other supplies. But stop having any secret dealings with the villages. If they are accused of colluding with bandits, the officials will definitely punish them."

Zhang Sengyuan listened attentively to the chief's instructions, nodding occasionally.

"When there are too many people in this village, trouble is bound to happen. It's not easy to manage."

“My lord, there’s no need to worry. During our previous raid, we captured a group of people who were said to be disciples of a great Confucian scholar. They were conscripted on the road to serve as laborers. These people are all literate, so I’ll use them to manage the rest of the group.”

Li Xuanba's lips trembled. "Did they say they were disciples of the great Confucian scholar Liu Xuan?"

"Yes! Yes! That's right, how did you know, sir?!"

"I summoned them; they are my senior brothers."

"I see! Then I'll send them all over tomorrow!"

"This"

Li Xuanba thought for a moment, "Don't rush, let's talk about this later."

“I have too many things to do right now. If I get distracted, I’m afraid I won’t do anything well. I’ll take care of the village militia first, and then we can deal with the Qingzao Village issue.”

"it is good."

"Is there anything you need me to do, my lord?"

"I need people."

Li Xuanba calmly said, "I have more than 30 men under my command. Changwu is a large township with four large villages and more than 10 scattered small villages in various places. With just my 30-odd men, it's not enough to even patrol."

"Although my brother has many retainers, he also has his own things to do, so I don't think he can spare too many people for me."

"Here's what we'll do: find me thirty reliable people."

"If anything happens in the future, we can go through them."

Zhang Sengyuan bowed his head and agreed.

The two talked about other things for a while before Zhang Sengyuan got up to take his leave.

"My lord, I'll head back now. I'll send those thirty men over tomorrow!"

"Go."

After Zhang Sengyuan left, the room finally quieted down.

Li Xuanba sat inside the room, and he could feel a bit tired.

But instead of resting, he took out paper and pen from the side and began to write.

He is writing his plans.

The biggest problem in rural areas nowadays is public security. To improve public security, we need to deploy more local militia to patrol, establish connections with villages, set up garrisons in various places, and solve the public security problem.

The first thing to do is to gather more people. The current thirty-odd people are clearly not enough to take on the patrol and defense of the entire village.

Once enough people have been gathered, a local familiar with the area can be found to divide Changwu into several sections, establish patrol areas, and then assign people to each area to take turns patrolling.

Each village had a designated outpost where villagers assisted the local militia responsible for maintaining order in the area. This outpost allowed them to question strangers and observe potential thieves.
These assembled militiamen still needed to undergo some basic military training.

Li Xuanba buried himself in writing, but as he wrote, he couldn't help but feel sleepy and a little drowsy.

Liu Chounu stood guard at the door, looking around.

His military habits have stayed with him to this day. Even in the safest farm, he remains quite cautious. It is precisely because of this caution that he has been able to live to his current age.

Suddenly, Liu Chounu seemed to hear a sound.

He carefully opened the door and went inside.

Sure enough, a soft snoring sound came from the table; the young man had fallen asleep, his entire body slumped over the table.

Liu Chounu stepped forward, carefully picked up the young master, and placed him on the bed. Then he turned around and tidied up the documents on the table before getting up. He looked at the sleeping young master and shook his head.

He didn't quite understand why a nobleman's child would run out to do these things instead of staying home and playing. Riding a horse was no easy task, and even being carried by him must have been exhausting.

The next day.

The weather today is quite nice; the sun is shining brightly, but it's not too hot, accompanied by a refreshing breeze.

After Li Xuanba finished breakfast, everyone was already standing outside the door waiting to be summoned.

Soon, everyone entered his hut.

These people are now the squad leaders and sergeants under Li Xuanba's command.

Feng Li and Zhang Du sat at the very front.

“My lord, I have recovered the ox that was stolen yesterday.”

"The thieves have been captured, and this morning someone was sent to the government office in the city."

"The gang of thieves we arrested yesterday were also sent over."

After Feng Li finished reporting, Zhang Du hurriedly said, "My lord, I went to see Lord Wei. Lord Wei said that he couldn't find many people at the moment, so he only sent four men with me. However, these four are all veterans who can ride and shoot. In addition, he also told me that he has prepared four carts of grain for the use of the local militia, which will be delivered today."

After everyone finished speaking, Li Xuanba nodded.

He took out the plan he had written the night before.

"Our current numbers are still too small."

“I contacted a friend yesterday. He has a wide network of connections and many friends. He has promised to find thirty good men and send them to me. They are all reliable and capable people.”

“But that’s not enough, Mr. Feng. I’ll trouble you to select twenty more from the servants we rescued.”

"In this way, with nearly a hundred people, that should be enough."

Feng Li was taken aback. "Young master, isn't this a bit too much?"

"If it's too much, then we can reduce it later."

Li Xuanba began to talk about his plan, which was to establish patrol zones.

Everyone took it very seriously and shared their thoughts to complete the plan and make it more comprehensive.

This is actually not a difficult task; it's just that no one has done it before.

The local militias of powerful clans were mostly used to protect their own farms and did not care about the surrounding villages. As for the government's militias, they would not be mobilized unless there were bandits outside the city who could threaten the city.

The guide from yesterday was quickly brought in, and with his explanation, everyone initially planned four patrol zones, centered on the Prefect's Farm and spreading out in four directions, so that if a major incident occurred, they could quickly come to the farm for help.

Afterwards, Li Xuanba divided the work, assigning Feng Li to be in charge of external affairs, such as leading teams on outings, patrolling, and fighting thieves, while Zhang Du was in charge of internal affairs, that is, to be stationed in the village and to be responsible for reception, logistics, communication, and other tasks.

Everyone rushed off to handle their business, leaving Li Xuanba free once again.

Previously, Li Xuanba felt that there were too many things to do and he was too busy to find time for anything else. But after the tasks were divided up like this, the goals became clear and the division of labor became well-defined, and he immediately felt much more relaxed.

Just then, Li Xuanba decided to learn to ride a horse, so Liu Chounu taught him to ride at the farm.

He prepared two sets of ropes, holding one himself and letting Li Xuanba hold the other. He led the horse slowly like this, while Li Xuanba sat nervously on the horse's back, swaying back and forth. He was still a bit too thin.

Liu Chounu was quite skilled; he first taught him how to sit steadily, and then how to control himself.

Li Xuanba practiced riding a horse while waiting for Zhang Sengyuan to bring the person over.

After practicing for a long time, they didn't see Zhang Sengyuan, but instead received two unexpected "distinguished guests".

"Xuanba!!"

"Xuanba!!"

"Get out of here!"

Then they saw Li Shimin riding a horse, with Li Yuanji sitting in his lap, followed by five or six attendants, and storming into the farm gate with an indignant expression.

Upon entering the farm, he had barely uttered this shout when Zhang Du and the others inside immediately stood up, grabbed their weapons, and instantly surrounded them.

Li Shimin's voice abruptly stopped.

He looked at the warriors around him, then at the weapons in their hands, and then at the horses tied up in the distance.

The little face is red.

These are all people he hired! These are the horses he borrowed! These are the weapons he bought!!

"Shu Zi!!!"

(End of this chapter)