The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

"Your Excellency, I have already investigated these matters thoroughly."

"They have even clashed with the Black Mountain bandits several times."

"I will now convey all the information about the Black Mountain bandits to you, sir."

Nie Kuangren immediately understood Chu Xiu's meaning and said excitedly.

Chu Xiu nodded slightly, remaining silent.

"The number of Black Mountain bandits should be around 1,200."

"Among them, there are 800 Grandmasters, 300 Nascent Souls, and 100 Dharma Aspects."

"However, this is only a rough estimate of the number of people investigated by my subordinates."

"That's right, we can only roughly estimate the number of people in the Grandmaster Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and Dharma Aspect Realm."

After considering it for a moment, Nie Kuangren spoke to Chu Xiu.

"Not even one below the Grandmaster realm?"

Chu Xiu said with a look of surprise on his face.

The lowest cultivation level is the Grandmaster realm.

There are 300 Yuan Shen realm cultivators and 100 Dharma Aspect realm cultivators.

Such a force turned out to be nothing more than a group of mountain bandits.

The Black Mountain bandits are truly terrifying in strength.

"Your Excellency, there are no Grandmasters or below."

"That's what makes the Black Mountain Bandits so terrifying."

"The Black Mountain Bandits are recruiting, and members must possess a certain level of strength."

"Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to get into the Black Mountain bandits' territory."

"The reason why the Black Mountain Bandits are able to possess such strength is because they act with impunity."

“They attack civilians, caravans, and mountain strongholds in the Taixing Mountains all the same.”

"Anyone below the Grandmaster level will basically die at the hands of the Black Mountain Bandits."

"Having reached the Grandmaster level, one is qualified to join the Black Mountain Bandits. As long as one pledges allegiance, one can be spared from death."

"This is why the Black Mountain Bandits have been able to grow stronger and all of them have reached the Grandmaster level or above."

Nie Kuangren said with a solemn expression, "The Black Mountain Bandits already possess such strength. If we allow them to continue to grow stronger..."

Sooner or later, the Black Mountain bandits will wreak havoc on the world!

"Did the government not organize county troops, or even state troops, to suppress them?"

Chu Xiu frowned and said.

"The Black Mountain bandits are powerful, and their mobility is also very high."

"He committed crimes in various places, including Changshan County, Zhao County, Zhongshan County, Shangdang County, and Hanoi County."

Nie Kuangren shook his head and said, "Jizhou, Bingzhou, and Silizhou are all within their scope of operations."

Moreover, once the Black Mountain bandits were surrounded and attacked, they would immediately flee into the Taihang Mountains.

They used their familiarity with the terrain to their advantage and evade repeated encirclements and attacks.

Even if the government troops wanted to encircle and annihilate them, it wouldn't be an easy task.

Chu Xiu nodded slightly and looked at Nie Kuangren, asking, "Don't they have any areas they're specifically targeting?"

"Have!"

"The area they mainly affected was actually Jizhou."

"It is in Changshan County and Zhongshan County of Ji Province."

"Therefore, Governor Helan Wu of Ji Province actually organized three large-scale encirclement and suppression campaigns."

"However, just as Lord He was about to make his move, the Black Mountain bandits had already fled."

"I suspect that the Black Mountain bandits may have many informants throughout Ji Province who can provide them with intelligence."

Upon hearing this, Nie Kuangren's heart stirred, and he immediately understood Chu Xiu's meaning, and said solemnly.

"He Lanwu, the governor of Ji Province?"

A glint of light flashed in Chu Xiu's eyes as he spoke.

"My lord, could it be that Lord He has some kind of problem?"

"Lord He has a very good reputation in Jizhou and can be considered a very talented official of the court."

Nie Kuangren was stunned for a moment, then said with a look of surprise and doubt.

"No."

"Lord He will naturally have no problem."

"If there's any problem, it should be Wang Mang, the governor of Bingzhou!"

Chu Xiu smiled and said, "After all, the Taihang Mountains are located between Jizhou, Bingzhou, and Silizhou."

However, the Black Mountain bandits mainly operated in Jizhou.

Bingzhou is indeed a border prefecture of our Great Zhou Dynasty, and it is very powerful.

Ji Province, on the other hand, is relatively weaker, having only a governor.

Unlike Bingzhou, which has a governor.

As for Sili Prefecture, it is the capital region of our Great Zhou Dynasty.

Taking action against Sili Prefecture would likely enrage His Majesty.

If at that time, we will mobilize the capital garrison of our Great Zhou Dynasty, or even the Imperial Guard.

Even if these Black Mountain bandits possess the ability to fly and burrow underground, they're doomed!

The reason he didn't think Helan Wu had any problems was because...

There was no doubt that Helan Wu was raising bandits to enhance his own power.

That's because Helan Wu was only a prefect.

He only had supervisory power over Changshan County and Zhongshan County.

Although the governors of the Great Zhou Dynasty could also mobilize the troops of various prefectures.

However, that can only be done under special circumstances.

Most of the time, Helan Wu could only truly command the state troops within Jizhou City.

How did he cultivate bandits to enhance his own prestige?

Wang Mang, the governor of Bingzhou, was different.

Wang Mang, the governor of Bingzhou, was the governor of an entire province!

He held supreme military and political power over a province.

Bingzhou was the territory of the Wang family of Taiyuan.

In Bingzhou, the Wang family of Taiyuan is the true ruler!

Here, the words of the Wang family of Taiyuan carry more weight than those of Empress Murong Si of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

of course.

Wang Mang, the governor of Bingzhou, did not need to harbor a bandit to enhance his own power, especially since this bandit had not yet made a move against his Bingzhou.

However, he did not harbor bandits to enhance his own prestige.

This does not mean that this bandit was really unrelated to Wang Mang, the governor of Bingzhou, or the Wang family of Taiyuan.

Upon hearing this, Nie Kuangren's face lit up with realization, and he said, "So, perhaps someone in Jizhou tipped off the Black Mountain bandits."

But this person could absolutely not be Lord He.

"Let's continue talking about the Black Mountain bandits."

"Since the Black Mountain Bandits possess so many Nascent Soul Realm and Dharma Aspect Realm cultivators."

"The Ascension Realm level shouldn't only have three leaders, right?"

Chu Xiu smiled slightly and looked at Nie Kuangren, asking a question.

"Reporting to my lord, the Black Mountain bandits only have three members at the Immortal Ascension Realm."

"The Black Mountain Bandits did have the Ascension Realm before."

"Originally, the Black Mountain Bandits had a total of nine members at the Immortal Ascension Realm."

“I have long hated the Black Mountain bandits who burn, kill, plunder, and commit all sorts of evil deeds, and I have wanted to eliminate them for a long time.”

"Therefore, every time I went to find the Black Mountain bandits, I had to sneak around."

"Without alerting the Black Mountain Bandits, they infiltrated and ambushed one by one of their Immortal Realm experts."

"The six Black Mountain bandit experts, ranging from the first to the third level of the Immortal Ascension Realm, have all been killed by my subordinates."

"Only these three leaders have such high cultivation levels that, although their strength is not as great as their subordinates, they can hold out for a while until others come to support them."

Nie Kuangren said with a regretful expression.

"So, the Black Mountain bandits only have three left who have reached the Immortal Ascension Realm."

Chu Xiu said with a knowing look on his face.

"My lord, it's still early. Let's wait until dark and then head together to the Black Mountain bandits' territory to wipe them out!"

After considering for a moment, Nie Kuangren cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Chu Xiu and said.