Qin was located in the northeast of Xia Country. Its original name was Guanghan Basin, and it was originally the territory of the orcs. More than a hundred years ago, the humans attacked the orcs, and this land was occupied by the Bio Kingdom. After the Bio Kingdom split up, this place belonged to Jiang Fei's second son, Luo Bangguo. Later, it was occupied by China. Xia Country sent Qin Yuchun with 100,000 elite soldiers to guard this place. At that time, the Emperor of Xia Country, Mu Shun, listened to Qin Yuchun's suggestion and first built a strong pass at the Bayantuo Mountain Pass in the north of the basin, Hualin Pass, to block the passage of the orcs south. Then, he built Qin City in the east of the center of the basin. After that, Old Qin's family lived in Qin City for generations. Later, they were granted the title of hereditary King of Qin by the later monarch of Xia Country, guarding the border for Xia Country forever. Guanghan Basin was also granted the hereditary territory of King of Qin. The name Guanghan Basin was gradually replaced by the name of Qin.
Lu Yunrui followed the caravan all the way to the north. He heard Li Qiang and Luca talk about many things about the Qin Land and the Qin family. He knew that the old Qin family enjoyed a very high reputation in the Qin Land. The people of the Qin Land were all proud of the Qin family and considered themselves as the people of the old Qin.
After more than two months of trekking, the Qin City caravan left the Mandu Plains and entered the Hanhao Hills.
Coming here, Li Qiang and Luca seemed to relax.
Lu Yunrui only found out after asking around that this place was already under the jurisdiction of Qin City. Although there would be bandits here, due to the Qin family's reputation, those bandits would never commit crimes in the Qin territory. The old Qin family did not take it too seriously and acquiesced to the existence of those bandits without exterminating them. For a long time, the two sides had been living in tacit understanding. The bandits did not harass the Qin territory, and the Qin territory did not send troops to eliminate them. Qin City's caravan was very safe in this area. Even if they encountered those bandits head-on, there would not be any problems. Of course, the caravan would also leave some necessities for them, but the number was up to the caravan.
In the evening, the caravan set up camp on a small mountain peak near the mountain road. Smoke rose from the camp.
At this moment, the sentinel in charge of guarding suddenly sounded an alarm.
Lu Yunrui followed Luca and the others to the outside of the tent. From the top of the mountain, they looked around and saw a group of people rushing out from the west.
Those people were armed with all kinds of weapons and were wearing all kinds of armor. One look and one could tell that they were a gang of bandits.
That group of people had obviously discovered the caravan stationed on the mountain and swarmed towards the small mountain where the caravan was gathered.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain where the caravan was stationed, the group of people stopped. A person who looked like a leader came out and looked at the fluttering flags on the mountain.
"May I ask if the people from Qin City's Li Family Caravan and Silver Star Mercenary Group are up there?”That person asked loudly.
Behind the simple camp fence, a member of the Silver Star Mercenary Group replied loudly,""It's the Li family caravan and the Silver Star Mercenary Group. May I know who you are?”
The man hurriedly put away his weapon and gestured for the people behind him to put away their weapons as well. Then, he replied,"Please report to the Li brothers and the steward of the mercenary group that 'Half Cloud' requests an audience!”
The Silver Star Mercenary Corps soldier who answered turned his head to look at Li Qiang and the others who were standing in the camp behind.
Li Qiang waved his hand and said,"Invite him up!"”
The soldier quickly passed the message down.
After a short while, Half Cloud went up the mountain alone and arrived in front of Li Qiang and the others.
"I hope you won't blame me for disturbing you, Chief Li!”Half Cloud bowed.
Li Qiang also said,"You're too polite!" I wonder why the head wants to see Li Qiang?”
Half the Cloud didn't stand on ceremony and said straightforwardly,"Leader Li, our village has run out of food. Today, I brought my brothers to fight the autumn famine in Luo Bang, but we encountered soldiers and could only return empty-handed. I hope that Leader Li can help us with some rations. My brothers and I will never forget Brother Li's great kindness!”
"The matter of grain and fodder is easy to discuss, but how much do you need?" Li Qiang smiled.”
" Master Li, you're too kind," said Half Cloud hurriedly." According to the rules, we won't complain no matter how much you give us. We'll only be grateful!"”
Li Qiang laughed,"You're treating me as an outsider." Although you are bandits, you have never done anything to harm the people of Qin, and you have never robbed the caravans that pass by. We, the people of the Qin Land, naturally have a clear idea of what to do with you. Besides, who would be willing to be a thief if they had no other choice? You also said that your village has run out of food. You can't let your brothers starve all day, right? Tell me how much rations you need. If it's not a big amount, I can help you solve it myself.”
Half the Cloud didn't stand on ceremony anymore."Hehe, in that case, I'll thank Master Li on behalf of our brothers! Our village doesn't have a large population, only about 200 people. With a thousand catties of food, we can solve our urgent needs. Boss Li, do you think you can help us? Our village still has some gold coins and jewelry. We can use them to buy them from you. As long as you can give us food, anything is fine!”
Li Qiang was not vague." Leader, when you say this, I understand everything. It seems that your village has indeed encountered difficulties." We can return to Qin City tomorrow. We still have four carts of food with us. We only have half a cart of food to support us to Qin City. The rest will be given to you. What do you think?”
" Master Li," Half the Cloud said happily," you've helped us a lot by giving us three carts of food!" I won't say anything to thank you. In the future, if your Li family has any problems, just send someone to inform me. My brothers and I will definitely do our best!”
Lu Yunrui was listening to their conversation from the side. She couldn't help but nod secretly. It seemed that Li Qiang's actions still had merit. At least the bandit leader in front of him should be a person who still had a conscience.
Li Qiang ordered people to unload a portion of the food from the caravan's vehicles and transport the remaining food along with the vehicles to the foot of the mountain.
Half Cloud looked at the vehicles in the caravan and said to Li Qiang,""Master Li, can I make a deal with you?”
Li Qiang looked at the goods and smiled." I think I already know what kind of business you want to do with me." I'm very sorry, these armors and equipment are all purchased for the Qin City army. The quantity is limited. I'm afraid I can't help you with this matter!”
Half the Cloud was disappointed. He bowed and said,"In that case, I won't disturb you anymore. Farewell!”
But Li Qiang said,"Wait a moment, please wait a moment!"”
After saying that, he pulled Luca to the side and whispered for a while before walking back.
"Chief, we can't sell our goods to you, but Captain Luca has a batch of weapons. Do you want them?”
"What weapon is it?" Half Cloud asked. Can you bring it over for me to see?"
"Of course, please follow me!" Luca smiled.”
Then, he brought Half the Cloud to a car.
"We were attacked once, but fortunately, we were saved by an expert. These are the spoils of war from that battle. Why don't you take a look and name a price?”Luca said.
Half Cloud picked up a longsword from the carriage and said,""This is the standard weapon of the Chinese army. The market price should be 30 gold coins. I won't say much. Let's go with the market price. What do you think, Commander Lu?”
Luca smiled." Although the market price is 30 gold coins, the price will be lower if we sell them in bulk. This way, the owner will suffer a loss." I think we should charge it at 25 gold coins. It will save me the trouble of looking for a buyer.”
" Half Cloud " laughed heartily." Captain Luca, you should know that these weapons are hard to find in the market. You're doing me a favor. I think it's better to go according to the market price!"
Li Qiang also said,"Luca, I think we should do as the leader says."”
Luca bowed to Half Cloud.""In that case, I'll be grateful!"
Then, the two of them discussed the specific amount and method of the transaction and quickly reached an agreement.
Lu Yunrui didn't say a word as he watched Half Cloud leave with weapons and food.
Lu Yunrui only said after the group of people disappeared,""Aren't you raising a tiger and leaving trouble behind?”
Li Qiang and Luca looked at each other and said,""Mr. Lu, you don't know. In our eyes, these so-called bandits are just a group of people who have no choice but to do so. They are not harmful to us. On the other hand, if Qin is attacked, they will help us. Otherwise, the old Qin family would not have tolerated their existence and would have exterminated them long ago!”
Luca sighed and said," This Half Cloud is actually a good man. His real name was Xu Yifan, a native of Xuguan Village, five miles southeast of Qin City. His father had a total of three brothers. His father was the eldest and owned a small shop in Qin City. His grandfather and grandmother had passed away early, and his two uncles had been raised by his father. There was no need to elaborate on the pain. Four years ago, Xu Yifan's father and second uncle passed away due to illness. A year later, his second uncle's eldest son, Xu Huaiyi, somehow managed to establish a relationship with King Qin's residence and began to follow the young prince. Not long after that, Xu Huaiyi was incited by someone, and he had evil thoughts. He wanted to occupy the property left by Xu Yifan's father. No matter how hard their Third Uncle tried to persuade them, he could not stop them. In the end, Xu Yifan failed to keep his family property, and his mother died of anger. Xu Yifan entrusted his only sister to his third uncle and went out alone. He didn't know where he learned his skills from, but two years later, he returned to his hometown. On a windy night, he broke into his second uncle's house and killed all the people there. He took his sister and fled to Luo Bangguo overnight. That night, Xu Huaiyi stayed in King Qin's Mansion and did not return. Fortunately, he escaped death. The next day, when he heard the news, he immediately persuaded the young prince to ask the king of Qin to send out a notice to arrest Xu Yifan. Xu Yifan and his sister had no one to rely on in Luo Bangguo, and they were bullied. Later, they were rescued by a villager. Xu Yifan gave up his real name and joined the village under the name of Half Cloud. Because he was righteous and had strong martial arts skills, he was deeply liked by the old Fort Master and the people in the village. The old Fort Master later passed the position of Fort Master to him. From then on, Half Cloud killed the rich and helped the poor, and was called the Hero Bandit. However, very few people knew his true background.”
After hearing Luca's story, Lu Yunrui smiled and said,""I didn't expect you to know so much about Half Cloud!”
"Our Li family has a wide range of people in Qin, so what happened to the Xu family naturally can't be hidden from us," said Li Qiang with a smile. However, this matter has implicated King Qin's Residence, so we can't do anything about it. We can only help him hide his identity.”
"Didn't you say that the old Qin family enjoys extremely high prestige in the Qin territory? Was there any other relationship here?”
Li Qiang sighed and said,"It's true that the old Qin family has extremely high prestige in Qin." However, when it came to the Qin family's generation, it was really not flattering!”
Then, he told Lu Yunrui something unexpected.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]