Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

As the weather grew increasingly arid, the number of refugees and beggars on Damingfu Road increased, and people died every day on their way to escape.

Some people, fed up with this kind of life, fled into the mountains and became bandits. Since death was inevitable—beheading by soldiers or starving to death—it was all the same to them. They robbed and slaughtered passing refugees. They seemed to have forgotten that they themselves had been just as destitute as the refugees not long ago. These refugees had nothing of value to begin with, so the bandits couldn't steal much from them.

Along the way, Li Zhen saw groups of refugees and said to Yue Peng, "Tell the guards of the stronghold to strengthen our defenses and not let these refugees break in."

Yue Peng, riding on his horse, laughed and said, "Don't worry, Chief. With the stockade walls over ten meters high and our brothers on guard day and night, not to mention refugees, even government troops can't break through."

At first, Li Zhen managed to gather some refugees, but as the number of refugees increased, even with the support of his jade pendant space, he dared not take them in anymore. Now, Li Family Village has grown to a size of over three thousand people, and almost the entire Huancui Mountain is enclosed by high walls. In addition to the fields on the mountain being exploited, the fields around the foot of the mountain have also been occupied by Li Family Village.

Li Zhen led a group of men into Tangyin City, where County Magistrate Zhang Cheng had been waiting for a long time.

"Hahaha... Brother Li, you've finally arrived. Should we rest at the county government office first, or go straight to the scene of the crime?"

Li Zhen could see through Zhang Cheng's little scheme at a glance, but he didn't expose it. He just smiled and said, "Let's go to the scene of the crime outside the city. The sooner we resolve this matter, the magistrate will be at ease."

Seeing that Li Zhen and his companions were all riding horses, Zhang Cheng also abandoned his sedan chair and had someone bring over a horse to follow Li Zhen out of the city.

On the way, Zhang Cheng smiled and said to Li Zhen, "Brother Li, I've found the shop you're looking for. It's right next to the main street in the south of the city. Coincidentally, that shop used to be a restaurant, but the owner had to close it down because of some family matters. There are quite a few things inside that you can use right away."

Li Zhen, still on horseback, clasped his hands in thanks to Zhang Cheng: "Thank you, Magistrate."

"Let's not be formal with our relationship. Just call me brother when we're not in a crowd."

"Hahaha... Alright, Brother Zhang, once I've finished setting up the restaurant, you'll have to personally cut the ribbon for its opening."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

Led by several constables, the group arrived at the scene of the crime. By then, the bodies had long since been moved, but the bloodstains on the grass were still very noticeable, and there were also many arrows scattered around the scene.

Yue Peng picked up an arrow and examined it carefully before saying to Li Zhen, "Chief, this arrow is not homemade; it must have come from the army."

Zhang Cheng asked in a panic, "You mean the soldiers killed these people?"

As he spoke, he looked around in panic, fearing that an arrow might be shot at him.

Seeing Zhang Cheng's state, Li Zhen smiled and comforted him, "Brother Zhang, don't be afraid. With so many of us, who would dare to make a move? My soldiers are not to be trifled with."

After carefully examining the scene, everyone found that apart from the arrows scattered around, there were basically no other clues.

Furthermore, since the incident occurred at night, no one in this desolate wilderness saw it. After learning that a death had taken place here, people avoided the area.

As Li Zhen rode his horse back towards Tangyin City, he discovered two deep ruts in the soft ground. Li Zhen reined in his horse, jumped down, and crouched down to examine them closely.

Looking at the winding cart tracks, Li Zhen smiled and said to Zhang Cheng, "Magistrate, it seems that they sent the silver directly into the county town. It just depends on whether you have the ability to find it."

Because this pipeline ends at Tangyin County, unless these people can cross the county to transport the two carts of silver northwards. However, only half a day has passed since the incident, so they are probably still in Tangyin City.

After arriving at the gates of Tangyin, Zhang Cheng summoned the officers in charge of guarding the gates for detailed questioning. They confirmed that two carriages had indeed entered the city just as the gates opened at dawn. Since they had followed the proper procedures and paid the entry fee, they were not questioned further.

Zhang Cheng's face darkened: "You bastards! Immediately order the closure of all city gates and a city-wide search. Remember, focus on inns and restaurants."

Li Zhen didn't care about what happened next. He followed Zhang Cheng leisurely into the city and first checked out the restaurant that Zhang Cheng had found for him.

It is located not far from the South Gate and is very conspicuous on the main street.

Li Zhen was very satisfied with the position, so he had Yue Peng accompany his advisor to handle the transfer payment, while he himself leisurely drank tea with Magistrate Zhang Cheng.

Within half a day, a constable came to report that a group of people of unknown origin had been found in an inn in the west of the city. Based on their numbers and attire, they should be the same group the city guard officer had mentioned that morning.

Zhang Cheng stood up and bowed to Li Zhen: "Brother Li, we are afraid that our forces in the city are not enough. We need to borrow your men to bolster our strength."

Li Zhen quickly helped Zhang Cheng up and said with a smile, "It's alright. Yue Peng, you lead your men to meet up with Magistrate Zhang's men later, and you must capture these bandits."

At this moment, Su Chi was at Manager Sun's grain store with one of his men to discuss purchasing grain when he suddenly saw well-equipped yamen runners and guards rushing toward the inn where he was staying.

Su Chi knew something was wrong; his group's whereabouts had definitely been exposed. He whispered to his attendant to take a shortcut back to report.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng, the magistrate of Tangyin County, was well-prepared. He had sealed off the entire western district before taking action, and when the attendant arrived, he saw the guards attacking the inn with all their might.

Shouts of battle echoed throughout the street, and many curious civilians hid in the distance to watch secretly. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Li Family Village, led by Yue Peng, stood in neat rows on the opposite side of the street watching the government troops' offensive.

The people inside the inn fought back with their bows and arrows. After half an hour, several government troops were killed or wounded, while the people inside the inn were not injured at all.

Before anyone knew it, County Magistrate Zhang Cheng and Li Zhen arrived at the scene. They saw that their soldiers had suffered heavy losses and had not yet managed to breach a small inn.

Zhang Cheng cursed under his breath, "They're all a bunch of useless trash!"

He approached Li Zhen and said, "Brother Li, do you think you can help me out?"

Li Zhen didn't speak, but instead gestured to Yue Peng. The latter immediately understood his boss's meaning and began to arrange the attack formation.

Li Zhen came to Tangyin City partly to help Zhang Cheng, and partly to see how effective his trained soldiers were.

The first group of over a dozen soldiers from Li Family Village charged out, each carrying a riot shield. Since the shields were brought from the modern era by Li Zhen, the markings on them were still intact. These soldiers were arranged in groups of three: two shield bearers followed closely by a soldier carrying a composite bow, and behind them were armored soldiers wielding long steel spears.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The arrows shot from inside the inn posed no threat to them at all. Because the riot shields were made of transparent material, the soldiers slowly approached the inn.