We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at Wang Yongnian as if he were a dead man.

Everyone who could stand in the court was a shrewd person and had already figured out the emperor's attitude.

Emperor Qing seems to be favoring Prince Ninggu, but in fact he intends to suppress the aristocratic families in order to completely ban human trafficking.

Wang Yongnian was just an insignificant victim in this game, and exile to Ninggu County was a foregone conclusion.

But he was stubborn and refused to repent. He didn't want to think about how to reconcile with Prince Ninggu, but instead insisted on asking until he got to the bottom of it. Wasn't this blocking his only way out?

Emperor Qing cast a deep gaze upon Wang Yongnian. His tone was calm but pointed, "Prince Ninggu was at fault. I shall punish him severely."

"Prince Ninggu is arrogant and domineering. I severely reprimand him and punish him by making him copy the Daqing Code ten times."

"Seize the slaves obtained from the human trafficking and send 10,000 of them to Ninggu Commandery. The Prince of Ninggu Commandery is ordered to personally oversee them and ensure no mistakes are made.

After saying this, Emperor Qing looked at Wang Yongnian with a gloomy expression:

"Is such punishment feasible?"

When Wang Qingnian heard what Emperor Qing said, his eyes went dark and he almost fainted.

They exiled me to Ninggu County and slaughtered my entire family. And now, when your son comes here, he just copies the book ten times and that's it?

How could this be considered a punishment? This is clearly a reward!

The prince, who was attending the court proceedings, felt mixed emotions.

He wore a gentle smile on his face, but his heart was already filled with turbulent waves:

Is the Emperor...starting to favor Li Che?

Why did he, a descendant of the previous dynasty, receive such favoritism?!

Li Che, you deserve to die! Damn it!

Judging from the time, he is almost at Mangdang Mountain, right?

. . . . . .

"Your Highness, Mangdang Mountain is ahead." Qiu Bai said.

Li Che looked up and saw endless and majestic mountains.

That’s right, Mangdang Mountain is not a single peak, but a natural barrier formed by several dangerous peaks.

The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it a perfect place for breeding bandits.

There is a narrow pass on the north side of the main peak. This is the only passage through this mountain range and also the official road.

"What a dangerous mountain!" Li Che couldn't help but sigh.

The people around him nodded one after another. The mountains here were as straight as if they were cut by a knife. It was indeed dangerous.

"He Conglong, how did your Salt Gang cross the Mangdang Mountains back then?" Li Che asked.

He Conglong beside him replied, "Back then, I had some reputation in the underworld. Once the Salt Gang raised its banner, those bandits in the small mountain strongholds naturally dared not make a move."

"As for those big strongholds, they're happy to live in peace if they share a little bit of silver as a bribe."

What He Conglong said was true. The Salt Gang had always been known for its strong fighting ability, and ordinary bandits were nothing to be afraid of.

Whenever there is troubled times, the salt gangs are often the first to rise up and can quickly form separatist forces.

Cheng Yaojin, a fierce general in the early Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and even Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen who rebelled in the late Yuan Dynasty all came from the Salt Gang.

"Big stronghold, small stronghold?" Li Che asked curiously. "From what you said, there are more than one bandit group in Mangdang Mountain?"

"Your Highness, you may not know that there are more than just one or two bandits hiding in these deep mountains and old forests," He Conglong explained. "Back in the day, there were eighteen large strongholds and over thirty small strongholds here. Now that times have changed, I'm not quite sure of the specific situation."

Li Che nodded slightly, thinking secretly in his heart.

He now has a total of more than 1,300 criminal soldiers under his command. After several days of training and rest, they have all recovered to their peak combat strength.

In addition, among the rescued slaves, there were hundreds of young and strong men capable of fighting.

The rest were just children or maids and singers, who were basically drags on the war effort and were of no help to the war.

With only these people, it would be difficult to sweep across Mangdang Mountain, but if they just want to pass through safely, it should not be a problem.

Unless all the bandits in Mangdang Mountain go crazy at the same time and unite to attack him.

"Pass the order down, all soldiers, put on armor, and string your bows and crossbows!" Li Che ordered in a deep voice, "Be sure to be cautious and be ready to fight at any time!"

"Yes!"

"Let Wang Sanchun take a few people who can ride horses and go ahead to explore the way!"

. . . . . .

The Mangdang Mountains are a mountain range with many peaks. Its main peak is majestic and famous as Tiger Head Mountain.

In the Hutoushan stronghold, nine chairs were arranged in order. Nine leaders had already taken their seats, leaving only the stone chair covered with tiger skin at the top empty.

The atmosphere in the hall was dull. A burly man with a face full of flesh asked impatiently:

"Wang Laosi, do you know why Village Master Fan asked us to come here?"

The man called Wang Laosi had a thin face and was dressed in plain clothes. He was out of tune with the other rough leaders in the hall and looked more like a down-and-out scholar.

Wang Laosi glanced at the man and said coldly, "I don't know either."

The man sneered, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth: "Are you still not convinced?"

Wang Laosi did not reply.

"If you ask me, we bandits are all trying to make a living, and Village Chief Fan is a man of honor. Why would we confront him head-on?"

Wang Laosi did not respond, so the man lowered his voice and continued:

"I see that all of Fan Village Master's men are very skilled, unlike ordinary rabble-rousers. I'm afraid they have someone backing them up!"

"We are just small fry, we can't defeat them, so you'd better stay calm!"

Just as the man said, there were originally eighteen large villages and more than thirty small villages in the Mangdang Mountains. They were all happy and did not submit to each other.

The big mountain strongholds are large in scale, with each group having hundreds of people.

The small mountain strongholds were much smaller, with each group having about thirty to fifty people.

These forces are complicated and intertwined, and no one is willing to submit to the other. For more than ten years, no one has emerged as the king.

Until a few years ago, Fan Chong suddenly appeared and led a group of elite soldiers and generals to sweep across Mangdang Mountain with thundering force.

The leader, Fan Chong, held a large sword in his hand and twenty-four javelins on his back. His martial arts skills were very impressive.

He also brought with him more than a hundred bandits, each of whom had amazing abilities.

He first took Hutou Mountain as his main stronghold, and then swallowed up other strongholds one by one like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Small villages were uprooted, and any large villages that refused to submit were slaughtered and burned to the ground.

From then on, the bandits in Mangdang Mountain surrendered, leaving only nine strong strongholds, which accepted the unified command of Fan Chong and survived.

Fan Chong integrated the forces of all the mountain strongholds, and had tens of thousands of followers under his command, making him unrivaled in power at the time.

The fat man and Wang Laosi were both leaders of the big mountain stronghold who surrendered that year.

As they were talking, a tall figure appeared at the door.

The originally noisy hall suddenly became quiet. Everyone stood up, lowered their heads and hands, and dared not make a sound.

The person who came was none other than the master of Hutou Mountain, Fan Chong!

Fan Chong's eyes were as fast as lightning as he glanced at everyone. Then he walked straight to the stone chair covered with tiger skin and sat down with his horse and sword in his arms.

"Everyone's here." Fan Chong's voice was hoarse and cold, "Then let's get down to business."

The nine village chiefs all lowered their heads and remained silent, obviously very afraid of this village chief.

Fan Chong's face was gloomy, and he said slowly:

"There's a big deal coming down the mountain."