Pick up a princess to be your wife

In the morning, inside Li's Pawnshop, Hei Fu stood in front of Li Mu.

As his name suggests, he had dark, shiny skin, and despite his young age, the marks of time were already visible on his face.

A person in their mid-twenties looks about the same as someone in their thirties.

He was of medium height, which Li Mu understood to be a little over 1.7 meters. Of course, in this era, he was already considered tall.

People as tall as Li Ertie, who is over 1.85 meters, are naturally very rare.

Among the dozen or so brothers, apart from Li Ertie who was over thirty, Hei Fu was probably the second oldest.

"Big brother, second brother," Hei Fu greeted them.

"Hei Fu, have you studied martial arts?" Li Mu asked.

“When I was a child, my family suffered a disaster, and my parents sent me to a temple on their deathbeds. I was a monk for seventeen years, and the old abbot taught me some Buddhist martial arts,” Hei Fu replied.

"Why did you renounce your vows?" Li Mu asked.

"After the old abbot passed away, the new abbot took over. He and his fellow disciples not only took in many disciples and sent them out to beg for alms, but also took in hundreds of maids to stay in the temple."

Later I discovered that the abbot was taking in maids in order to break the precepts. After I found out, the abbot threatened me and forbade me to tell anyone, forcing me to break the precepts with the maids.

In a fit of rage, I killed the abbot and sent away the maids and the disciples I had forcibly taken in.

Later, one of my senior brothers took over and falsely accused me of hiding those maids for my own enjoyment. He burned my ordination certificate and kicked me out of the Buddhist order.

Only afterwards did I discover that the senior brother had gathered even more maids. He and his fellow disciples chanted scriptures every day, but broke their vows at night. So I killed more than a dozen of my fellow disciples and burned down that brothel.

Afterwards, I planned to seek refuge in other temples, but I discovered that almost all temples in the world were the same.

My infamous reputation had already spread throughout the temple, and I was hunted down by many monks.

I was seriously injured, and it was my eldest brother who saved me. Since then, I have stayed by his side, and it has been exactly three years now.

"He said."

He's another person with a story, and a ruthless one at that.

Li Mu likes this kind of decisive and ruthless person; if such a person is trained, he will definitely become a pillar of society.

In fact, Hei Fu had never really approved of Li Ertie's bullying of the weak and fear of the strong.

So when he was acting arrogantly and domineeringly alongside Li Ertie, he never put in any real effort; he just pretended to act each time.

The reason why he stayed by Li Ertie's side was that although Li Ertie had some bad habits, he would not actually do such immoral things as bullying men and women; at most, he would just talk about it.

He followed Li Ertie for three reasons: first, to repay the debt of saving his life; second, to have something to eat; and third, because Li Ertie had a unique personal charm to him.

This personal charm mainly stems from his ability to navigate social situations effectively.

When Li Ertie led his men to bully Li Mu before, Hei Fu was present. He only pretended to be dead and fell to the ground, without actually doing anything.

Li Mu glanced at Li Ertie.

I thought to myself, there probably aren't many people around this guy with simple resumes, right?

In short, Haf is definitely a talented person.

His composure and maturity far exceed his age.

Li Mu, being a shrewd person, could tell this just by looking into his eyes.

"Have you ever taken on an apprentice?" Li Mu asked.

“I have never taken on any apprentices, but I have taught junior brothers on behalf of my master,” Hei Fu replied.

Having gained experience was exactly what Li Mu wanted.

"I plan to fund the establishment of a martial arts school, with you serving as the instructor and recruiting disciples. All expenses of the martial arts school will be reimbursed by the pawnshop."

The disciples you recruit will firstly not be charged tuition, secondly, their room and board will be provided, and thirdly, they will receive a certain salary each month.

Li Mu said.

Nowadays, even temples charge bribes when accepting disciples, euphemistically called "incense money."

Li Mu wanted to start a martial arts school, and not only did he not charge tuition fees, but he also provided food and lodging, and even a salary.

Hei Fu thought Li Mu's way of thinking was very advanced.

He is not a talkative person, but he is very smart.

Previously, when Li Ertie and Li Mubing reconciled and became sworn brothers, Hei Fu was pleased with this.

Because he had realized early on that Li Mu was no ordinary person.

He saw in Li Mu the old abbot's sense of righteousness.

"Second Brother wants to start a martial arts business, if not to make money?" Hei Fu asked.

“Naturally, we need to strengthen our own power. We only have fifteen brothers now, which is far too few. If Yao Pass is breached in the future, we will have to confront the rebels head-on,” Li Mu said.

Hei Fu nodded thoughtfully; Li Mu's thoughts were indeed profound.

Given the current situation of the rebels, it seems only a matter of time before Yaoguan is breached.

At that time, the people of the entire Lingnan region will be in grave danger.

Someone should consider these things, even if they are just an ordinary person.

"We are not a temple, nor are we doing charity work. Therefore, we can only recruit people who have talent in this area. Given our current financial resources, we will recruit two hundred people first."

You can decide for yourself who is suitable and who is not. In short, our principle is not to employ useless people.

Besides teaching them martial arts, you should also teach them some basic military strategy; they might come in handy in the future.

Just practicing every day isn't enough; we also need practical experience. You need to take on some escort jobs and take your apprentices out of the city to gain experience.

Inevitably, some people will die in the accident, and we will provide generous compensation to every casualty. You need to make this clear to the apprentices who wish to join the martial arts world beforehand.

Li Muzai explained in detail.

“I’ve noted it all down.” Hei Fu didn’t refuse and agreed immediately.

Li Mu entrusted him with an important task, which would benefit his brothers and even potentially allow them to defend their country in the future. He had no reason to refuse.

Moreover, he felt that Li Mu was much smarter than he had imagined.

Li Mu wanted to expand his forces, so he couldn't just openly recruit soldiers. He recruited by opening a martial arts school and sent soldiers out of the city to gain practical experience through escorting goods. Most people probably wouldn't think of such a meticulous approach.

At least Li Ertie didn't have the same far-sighted vision as Li Mu.

“If we want to leave the city, we need weapons. But the weapons ban is very strict now. Are these weapons privately hoarded?” Hei Fu asked.

"I'll get you the weapons; you can use them openly and honestly. I'll mediate with the authorities; no one will cause you any trouble," Li Mu said.

Even a landlord like Zhou Wanfu could carry over a hundred knives, and Li Mu had already established a powerful relationship with the county magistrate. So what if he carried knives?

"Now I can rest assured, Second Brother. I will certainly handle the martial arts business well," Hei Fu said, cupping his hands in greeting.