Chapter 204: Three Major Bandit Problems
The place Wanyan Rulie mentioned is a city on the north side of the Nanyue Empire, called Wangfeng City. It is one of the smallest cities in the Nanyue Empire, but one of the most developed cities. Its special geographical environment makes it the Jade City of the Nanyue Empire.
The produced jade was sold in the surrounding kingdoms and empires, and had a huge market. Also because of the jade mines, the Nanyue Empire sent heavy troops to guard them to ensure their safety.
However, during the war between the Nanyue Empire and the Huaxia Empire, 80% of the troops here were withdrawn to rush to the front line for support, leaving Wangfeng City empty. Several powerful bandit gangs in the surrounding area then set their sights on the jade mines.
When Wanyan Rulie saw the memorial, he found that it had been robbed for the third time, and hundreds of soldiers were killed or injured. Even with the presence of a seventh-rate martial arts master, it was still of no avail. The casualties were heavy and the losses were enormous.
There were no more brave and capable generals available for recruitment in the imperial court, so Wanyan Rulie had no choice but to let his son-in-law suppress the banditry.
Shen Lang did not refuse. After all, since his family was staying in someone else's territory, he had to pay something, so he accepted the task immediately.
After returning to the room, he told the four girls and Chen Yi about this matter. The five of them immediately expressed their intention to go to Wangfeng City, especially Wanyan Ruyu, who slammed the table angrily when she heard the news.
A hundred palace guards were squeezed out of the dynasty, led by Shen Lang, with Wanyan Ruyu and Chang Rumo as deputy generals, Qingsi Mingyue as the adviser, and Chen Yi as the great wizard, helping to protect the safety of the four women.
The group left the imperial capital in a mighty procession and headed for Wangfeng City.
After a long journey, Shen Lang and his party arrived at Wangfeng City five days later. The city lord Li Huan and the city guarding general Li Yun went out to greet them and set up a banquet to welcome Shen Lang and his party.
At the dinner table, the city lord Li Huan gave Shen Lang a detailed introduction to the bandit situation.
There are currently three extremely powerful gangs of bandits located in three areas that are easy to defend and difficult to attack: Black Wind Ridge, Baiyunjian, and Kurumulin. The number of bandits is preliminarily estimated to be more than 6,000. Especially in Black Wind Ridge, the number of people has reached more than 3,000, which is also the most powerful one.
The leader of Black Wind Ridge is named Zhou Hei, a top sixth-rate master who is extremely skilled in using a spear. He has eight Vajra under his command, each of whom is an early or middle-stage sixth-rate master and extremely powerful.
Baiyunjian is slightly inferior. Its leader Bai Chang is a sixth-rate peak master who practices the Iron Fist and can break monuments and split rocks. He has infinite power. He has five guardians, the weakest of whom is at the seventh-rate peak master level. Their strength should not be underestimated.
Although the Kurumulin group has fewer people and weaker strength, they are the most difficult to deal with. Their leader, Li He, practices the speed-moving technique and is elusive. The three heavenly kings under his command are all skilled fighters who are as light as a swallow. It is very difficult to catch them. The imperial capital has sent troops to encircle and suppress them several times, but they all escaped. This is an example of their strength.
After saying this, the city lord Li Huan reported the current losses of the jade mine to Shen Lang again. As of yesterday, the jade mine had lost thousands of denarii, causing huge losses. Currently, eight out of ten good raw stones mined from the jade mine have been lost. The day after tomorrow will be Wangfeng City's once-in-three-years jade exchange conference. Jade merchants from all over the world will gather in Wangfeng City to exchange and trade. This time, these three gangs of bandits will definitely come to rob.
After saying this, he explained the current military situation of Wangfeng City to Shen Lang again. Since the troops were withdrawn, the number of soldiers has been reduced to 10,000, and the most powerful master is only seventh-rate. After these vicious times, the number of people is less than 2,000. Compared with the bandit problem, it is not worth mentioning at all.
When Li Huan learned that Shen Lang only brought a hundred guards, he felt terrible.
There are less than two thousand people in Wangfeng City and one hundred in the Imperial Capital, so all together there are only two thousand people. How can they fight against three powerful bandits?
Thinking of this, Li Huan's heart sank and he sighed repeatedly. He was afraid that this triennial jade conference would suffer heavy losses. If bandits occurred and robbed people of time, he was afraid that jade merchants would not come here in the future.
Shen Lang noticed Li Huan's worries, but did not say anything. He just asked about the venue of the Jade Merchant Exchange Conference.
After the banquet, Li Huan arranged for a hundred guards to stay and booked a restaurant to entertain Shen Lang, Wanyan Ruyu and others. After arranging everything, he left a butler on standby before leaving.
"Husband, what are you going to do?" Chang Rumo sat down and poured a cup of tea for Shen Lang, then asked.
Shen Lang did not answer, but looked at Qingsi and Mingyue and said, "Two advisors, what do you think?"
"We must protect this jade exchange conference and not let bandits cause trouble!" Mingyue pondered for a moment and expressed his opinion.
Qingsi blinked and said, "Sister Mingyue's suggestion is indeed good!"
"However, my husband can also go and eliminate the banditry in advance, so as to ensure that the jade exchange conference is foolproof!" Qingsi changed the subject.
"I agree!" Wanyan Ruyu said, "There are still three days left. As long as we find out their lair, we can wipe them out in one fell swoop !"
"I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult!" Mingyue said, "We haven't found their lair after several rounds of encirclement and suppression. Three days may be too short!"
Wanyan Ruyu didn't say anything this time. What Mingyue said did make sense, and she was a little conflicted for a moment.
"Sister Mingyue and I have talked about it. What are your plans?" Qingsi looked at Shen Lang.
"Waiting is not my style!" Shen Lang smiled and took a sip of tea: "Taking the initiative is the best way!"
"But, we don't know their location yet. Even if we take the initiative to attack and they find us and set up an ambush, our small number of people will not be enough to fill their teeth!" Mingyue continued.
"Mingyue is right!" Qingsi also nodded.
Shen Lang waved his hand: "That's because they don't know!"
As he said this, he grinned and looked at the four ladies: "For me, their exact location will be known soon!"
The four girls were stunned for a moment, then they were relieved.
My husband has so many tricks up his sleeve, so knowing their locations doesn't seem to be a difficult task.
“Bang!”
Shen Lang snapped his fingers, and a full holographic projection appeared on the table. Then he walked outside, brought out four unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, and disappeared into the darkness.
" All we have to do is wait!" Shen Lang returned to the room and spoke while looking at the image projection sent back by the reconnaissance plane.
"Yes, yes, the flying iron bird can detect it!" Mingyue looked at the holographic projection and said with a smile.
"This thing is really powerful!" Qingsi exclaimed in surprise.
"Why do you have so many tricks?" Wanyan Ruyu looked at Shen Lang and said, "How many things do you have that we don't know?"
After hearing this, Shen Lang smiled slightly.
“Too many!”
