My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 70 Asking for help
The farm has changed.

Zhang Du built a large shed outside the North Gate, which could barely provide shelter from the wind and rain. This served as the registration point for the "civilian government." If someone came to them for help or to handle a matter, they would come here to inform them. Zhang Du arranged for people to take turns guarding the place to ensure that there were always people there.

Zhang Du also planned to establish a formal military camp to the west of the farm, where future training and other matters would take place.

When Li Xuanba and his group arrived, some villagers came to ask for help. Upon learning that the famous Third Young Master had arrived, the villagers hurriedly came to pay their respects.

"Sanlang-kun!!"

The villagers were all elderly people, and they were about to bow deeply to Li Xuanba. Li Xuanba dared not accept the elders' courtesy, so he quickly stepped aside and helped them up.

Li Xuanba has been staying in the manor these days, and Zhang Du has been handling most of the outside affairs. Even so, Li Sanlang's reputation has spread far and wide, gradually expanding from Changwu to the surrounding villages.

Everyone knows that the prefect has a son named Li Sanlang, who is kind and righteous. The local militia he formed is different from other local militias; they are truly capable of helping with tasks and dealing with thieves.

This was also a self-protection strategy for the people of Changwu Township; they needed someone who could intimidate the thieves and keep them away.

The best way to avoid encountering thieves is to avoid fighting them off.

They spread the fame of Li Sanlang everywhere, and this group of local soldiers was also called Sanlang's soldiers. They were treated very well in the countryside, and people invited them to their own villages and treated them with the most precious things.

Zhang Du therefore repeatedly told his subordinates not to tarnish the reputation of their leader, and to be careful about their words and actions, and absolutely not to do anything illegal or disorderly.

He would summon the soldiers from various villages from time to time and tell them what they could and could not do.

It wasn't obvious in the city, but in the local area, Li Sanlang was a well-known figure.

These people surrounded Li Xuanba, expressing their gratitude for his righteous act, some even shedding tears.

Li Yuanji stood not far away, watching this scene with eyes full of longing.

Seeing his third brother standing there, surrounded by so many people and receiving so much respect, he felt a pang of envy.

Li Xuanba spoke with them for a while before entering the farm with Zhang Du.

When they entered the courtyard, it had changed dramatically. When Li Xuanba was still alive, it was just a rough outline of a council hall, but now it was a complete council hall with everything one could need.

Li Xuanba sat in the seat of honor, with Zhang Du and other trusted confidants sitting beside him, all looking at him.

Li Yuanji also found a place to sit down. The scene was somewhat solemn, and he dared not act recklessly anymore.

Li Xuanba asked, "Is there any news from those people over there?"

Zhang Du naturally understood what Li Xuanba was asking. He gently shook his head, "No, but I haven't heard anything about it either. It should be fine."

Li Yuanji sat opposite them, unable to understand what they were doing.

Li Xuanba nodded.

Zhang Du suddenly asked, "Commander, what did the Duke say? Will we be dismissed?"

Li Xuanba shook his head. "Grandpa didn't say it explicitly, but since he didn't say that we had to be dismissed, it means he tacitly approved it. However, we need to be more careful in the future and not cause any more trouble. The villagers still need us."

Zhang Du and others confirmed this.

Li Xuanba then inquired about other matters, including the situation in the local area.

With my father's return, the situation in the city has changed a lot, and perhaps the situation in the countryside has changed as well?

When faced with Li Xuanba's question, Zhang Du and the others could only shake their heads and sigh.

Zhang Du replied, "The local militias have become much more restrained and dare not provoke us anymore. But they still treat the common people the same as before. They only scold us a few times when we encounter them, and then they leave. When we are not around, there is no difference."

“There are fewer thieves now, but recently people from other villages have come to tell us that thieves are rampant in their areas and that they all come from here.”

"The people still have nowhere to voice their grievances. The village chiefs don't dare to go to the township head; they fear the township head more than the thieves."

Li Xuanba frowned. Liu Xuan had explained this matter to him before. The system of the Sui Dynasty was very different from that of the past. In the past, there were more officials in the countryside. In the village, there were village heads and village chiefs in charge of affairs, village gatekeepers in charge of guarding, and pavilion chiefs in charge of security. In the township, there were patrol officers, tax collectors, officials, and three elders. At one time, there were even various township offices.

They undertake many different tasks, some in education, some in taxation, some in agriculture, and some in public security, making them a full-fledged group.

However, the places during the Sui Dynasty, especially the rural areas, were quite unique.

In a village, there is a village head, who is a combination of all the village officials in the past.

He was in charge of public security, taxation, education, agriculture, and transportation. Under the head of the village, there were only the village chief and the head of the security office.

Liu Xuan told Li Xuanba that the initial purpose of doing this was to strengthen control over the local area and reduce local interference in the countryside. In the past, the miscellaneous officials in the countryside were all appointed by the people in the countryside themselves, which easily led to the rise of powerful local families. Therefore, the power was centralized and the government took overall control of everything.

In order to ensure organizational strength, a system was established with five households forming a bao and five bao forming a li, which could cope with large-scale corvée labor and war.

The idea was good, but the results were not good. During the reign of Emperor Wen, this special system led to chaos in the countryside. Many things were left unattended. Local powerful families did not become too powerful, but the local officials began to grow in power. They concentrated all the power of the former officials in one person, and could be called local emperors. They did whatever they wanted, and no one could control them.

They ran rampant in the local area, causing immense suffering and resulting in a large number of deaths and thieves.

Therefore, in the tenth year of Emperor Wen's Kaihuang reign, he decided to temporarily abolish the village chief and consider re-establishing other official positions to govern. However, after the current sage ascended the throne, he restored the system. He felt that the large number of deaths and thieves was the problem of the unruly people themselves and had nothing to do with the official positions.

Almost every system in the Sui Dynasty had very clear drawbacks, from land grants to the military system and the village officials.

Unfortunately, the sage didn't care.

When Li Yuan arrived, he was able to control the people in the city, but in the countryside, the village officials could still do whatever they wanted.

Li Xuanba pondered for a long time before speaking, "It seems we need to find some time to meet with the heads of the townships around Guancheng and have a good talk with them about this matter, and reason with them."

Li Yuanji, who had been listening attentively, was taken aback and quickly interjected, "Third Brother, this official must not be killed!"

Li Xuanba simply rolled his eyes at his younger brother, ignored him, and gave Zhang Du a few instructions.

"Send someone to contact the village chiefs and militia leaders outside the city. I have something to tell them."

"Then, send people to investigate those local thieves and see if you can find their stronghold. We can't just drive them away; we have to wipe them out completely."

Zhang Du quickly accepted the order and hurriedly began to send people to carry it out.

Li Yuanji quickly moved closer to Li Xuanba, "Third Brother, are you really going to attack the village head?"

I want to reason with them.

"I already know how Third Brother reasones."

Li Xuanba was silent for a moment, then grabbed his younger brother's shoulder and said seriously, "From now on, you will work for me. I am in need of a chief clerk, so you will be my chief clerk and do things for me, how about it?"

Li Yuanji's eyes widened. "Third Brother, are you serious?"

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes at first, but it quickly turned to disappointment. He said, "But I... I don't know what to do."

"I'll teach you, how about it, are you willing to do it?"

"willing!"

Li Xuanba then smiled, took his younger brother and walked outside. As he walked, he said, "Yuanji, there are actually many things we can do. Some things may not seem like much to us, but to others, they can be major events that change their destiny."

"Help others more, and they will respect you. Perhaps one day, the whole world will praise Li Silang's benevolence and righteousness."

Li Yuanji's eyes grew increasingly eager, and he nodded repeatedly.

As the two walked out the door, they came across several villagers who were excitedly talking loudly to the village soldiers who were there to greet them. The leader was a dark-faced farmer who spoke with a heavy local accent. He was so excited that he was about to cry and his whole body was trembling.

(End of this chapter)