Cangshan Mountain has no gods. This is a recognized fact from the north and south of Kukou Pass, because since the Central Plains Dynasty extended its tentacles here, Cangshan Mountain has been stained with the blood of countless people.

Especially the Daxu Dynasty opened up the dynasty's border to this place a hundred years ago, forcing the Jin Kingdom that occupied this area to move further north and compete with other vassal states for living space.

Wars, killings, resentments, and sins are all over the corners of Cangshan Mountain. No matter how huge and stretched a mountain like this is, it is difficult for innate gods to be born.

There are no innate gods, and the righteous gods are not willing to be sealed here, so Cangshan is occupied by many ghosts and evil spirits.

Coupled with the scattered thieves lurking nearby, the entire Cangshan Mountain formed a special pattern.

Thousands of bandits and mountain ghosts in Cangshan Thirteen Villages coexist in "harmony". If the Cangshan group steals blood, food and incense, the mountain ghosts will inform them.

Every time officers and soldiers from Bei'an County and Cangbei County wanted to go into the mountains to suppress bandits, most of the time they would return without success. Over time, the Cangshan bandits also figured out the government's bottom line.

Whether it is looting trade routes to collect "protection fees" or smuggling and selling goods from the north and south of Cangshan Mountain to earn the price difference.

As long as they do not provoke the majesty of the imperial court and do not go too far, local officials will turn a blind eye as the dynasty's officials gradually become corrupt and their fortunes decline.

The last time the Silver Dragon Army was dispatched, Bei'an County thought that the Cangshan bandits were deliberately provocative, so they wanted to teach them a lesson. But it turned out that it was not their fault, so let it go.

If you don't achieve a complete victory against a few bandits, not only will you not get much reward, but you will also have to damage the luck of your own elite.

Nowadays, it is no longer the early and middle stages of the dynasty. When everyone is united and motivated to make progress, some of the battles won may not be what the higher-ups are willing to see.

Emperor Xiangxing reigned for forty-six years, and the dynasty has always been in a seemingly stable state. He wanted to whitewash the peace in the last few years.

Entering the Dragon Court after death in this way can rank higher in the ranking of emperors of the past dynasties, and within the imperial court, only officials who can understand such secret thoughts can be appreciated.

At such a high level, ordinary officials will only think about moderation and do nothing, trying not to make mistakes.

Only young officials like Pingcang County Magistrate Ji Hongzhe who want to achieve results and do something good for the local people will implement the so-called New Deal.

Zhou Bai finally met such a parent official who was willing to stand up to him, so he naturally took advantage of the situation.

At the foot of Cangshan Mountain, there is a vast expanse of wasteland. Only the Zhou family has circled tens of thousands of acres closest to Cangshan Mountain to open up wasteland.

Since Ji Hongzhe implemented the wasteland reclamation order and Zhou Bai ordered the clan to lead the order to open up wasteland, it took nearly two months to recruit hundreds of refugees, but only less than a thousand acres of wasteland were opened.

The other 9,000 acres have only been burned by wildfire. The ground is covered with black ash, desolate and without a trace of life.81zw.??m

The only impressive thing is that a prototype of a manor has been built every thousand acres, and the tiles on the roof of the house have been laid, but no one is moving in.

Every evening, all the refugees, including the Zhou people, would return to their clan area to spend the night, insisting on doing so even if it was a waste of time.

All this is due to the bandits in Cangshan Mountain and the mountain ghosts who often wander down the mountain at night. Both humans and ghosts have caused great trouble to the Zhou family's land reclamation.

It was fine during the day, but with the arrival of summer, the yang energy became stronger and the mountain ghosts did not dare to come out of the shadowy place in the mountains.

The bandits did not want to fight with the Zhou family soldiers to avoid fearless losses, and they did not want to give the government an excuse.

At night, a mere hundred clan soldiers could not protect all the refugees who were opening up wasteland, and the clan soldiers themselves had no fighting spirit.

After seeing several mummies outside the campsite one morning, they completely gave up the idea of ​​staying overnight.

Zhou Bai left the matter of land reclamation to Zhou Lin, the owner of the second house, to take charge of it. Zhou Lin was an elder and a scholar himself, but at this time, he couldn't hold his head high in front of Zhou Bai.

Because things really didn't go well, which delayed the family's big plans.

After Zhou Bai led the village protection team to inspect the surrounding situation, his expression did not change at all. Instead, he comforted Zhou Lin.

"Uncle Lin, I don't blame you for this matter. The preliminary work has been done to this extent. Next, let me lead the family to eliminate the ghost bandits."

But after hearing this, Zhou Lin felt uneasy and frowned even more tightly. Brother Bo was the future of their family, how could he take such a risk?

"It's enough for the government to come forward to quell the bandits. You went up so rashly and didn't even know where the headquarters of the Lost Soul Village is." Zhou Lin's worry was clear, and he also spoke out the core issue.

Zhou Bai shook his head and didn't explain much. He had naturally taken these into consideration.

The Lost Soul Village is one of the thirteen villages where bandits gather in Cangshan, and its sphere of influence is probably on the edge of the area where the Zhou family is preparing to open up wasteland.

After comprehensive judgment from various sources, there are probably hundreds of capable gangsters in Mi Hun Village, including about a hundred old thieves, who are very strong.

Zhou Bai also brought hundreds of people today, including 100 clan soldiers, 110 regular soldiers of the village protection team, and 100 trained reserve team members.

There are more than 300 people in total. Except for the crossbow armor, they have everything they should have.

Although the core of the bandits are the one hundred old thieves, it would be too unsafe for three hundred private soldiers to suppress them, not to mention that the name of Mihun Village is not for nothing.

When the government suppressed the bandits, more than a thousand officers and soldiers were sent in, but before they could fight, half of the officers and soldiers got separated while searching for the home base of the Lost Soul Village.

In the end, no trace of the Lost Soul Village was seen, and the officers and soldiers' suppression of the bandits failed.

It was said that they had money and land, and the clan soldiers and village guards were very excited, and wanted to kill a few bandits to make a contribution.

But Zhou Bai looked over and saw that most of the people were still uneasy. Some of the recruits' hands were shaking. Training and actual combat were completely different.

"Report to the capital, Inspection Duan has led his troops over. They are now outside the village." At this moment, the reinforcements that Zhou Bai had been waiting for finally arrived.

Zhou Bai went out and saw more than 200 Wuyangyang patrol soldiers, carrying simple knives and bows and arrows, walking towards this place with a casual pace.

Looking back at the soldiers who were training to protect the village, they were solemn and orderly. Everyone was a seven-foot-long man with good armor and weapons. Who are the officers and soldiers?

From a distance, Duan Dehou shouted at the top of his lungs: "Zhou Yunqi, I have brought here my own headquarters and the inspectors from the three nearby villages."

Zhou Bai wanted to cover his head and sigh, but when he saw the arrival of the patrol soldiers, everyone's morale was instantly aroused, so he could only treat them with a smile.

After all, the support soldiers he borrowed were just to cheer him up. Otherwise, those who were new to the battle would not have the confidence to use private soldiers to suppress bandits.

After all, the patrol soldiers are also members of the imperial court system, and they can bring some luck to the law and gather the hearts of the rebel army.

After Zhou Bai rewarded the reinforcements by killing pigs and sheep, Duan Dehou also figured out his mission and just followed behind to hold down the formation. He would have a share in the meritorious service.

This was a good feeling, so a large number of patrol soldiers marched into the mountains with banners and shouts to suppress bandits. Those who didn't know it really thought that Ping Cang's patrol soldiers had some tricks up their sleeves.

At this time, the scorching sun is in the sky, most of the miasma has dissipated, and the mountain ghosts dare not cause trouble. It is best to attack the Lost Soul Village directly.

In the eyes of the new recruits, Zhou Bai, the leader of the clan, was at the forefront, brave and fearless, and fully fit the image of a general who killed fifteen people in formation and was awarded the title of Yunqi Lieutenant by the emperor's order.
Chapter completed!