Chapter 279: Le's Declaration of Emperorship (6)
Lezhou City is like a spider's nest. When the poisonous spider curled up in the nest moves, all the spider webs begin to shake violently.
In Lezhou and the other five states actually controlled by the Le clan, all the Le clan's private armies began to be frequently mobilized.
The granaries were opened, and every private army camp began to stockpile food and fodder.
The warehouse was opened, and the Le family's private army, from top to bottom, from generals to soldiers, all received a year's salary. Some important generals even received high rewards.
The armory was opened, and heavy armor, heavy shields, strong bows and crossbows, large equipment, and all kinds of military equipment were distributed one after another, arming the private army, which was usually fat and strong, to the teeth.
The horse farm was opened, and all kinds of good medicinal materials and various secret recipes were used. The mounts, which had the blood of exotic beasts, drank large bowls of good medicine every day , which stimulated them to howl strangely all day long.
Under the stimulation of the drug and the revival of Ji Shengtian's spiritual power, the physique and physical strength of the different-blood mounts in Le's horse farm began to soar. Nearly 30% of the mounts' bloodline returned to their ancestral bloodline, and their qualities in all aspects were several times or even dozens of times stronger than before.
Starting from Lezhou City, local officials in the Le family's territory began to implement the wartime baojia system.
All citizens are thoroughly registered.
Regardless of whether they were scholars, farmers, merchants or artisans, and regardless of their status, all the common people, including those servants, domestic servants, and slaves who were not usually counted in the yellow register of the common people, were all clearly counted.
All adult men were included in the "reserve army list" drawn up by the Le family. Once there was a need and the local authorities called for them, they had to put on their helmets and armor, organize into an army and go into the battlefield.
Of course, Le Wu is somewhat similar to his nephew in some aspects.
If you want to remove your name from this "reserve army list", it is not difficult - if you are an ordinary citizen, you can pay ten strings of coins as a "donation for loyalty and service" and your name will be naturally erased.
For small vendors with a little wealth, the price rose to fifty strings of cash.
For an ordinary small landlord or wealthy businessman, the donation per male member is 500 strings of coins.
By analogy, those big families with a good reputation, great wealth, and a large number of relatives and clansmen would not be able to solve this problem without spending millions of strings of cash.
This is the movement in the six states that are completely controlled by the Le family.
In the periphery of the Le family's territory, in the states and counties bordering the Le family's territory, many officials were trusted subordinates placed there by Le Wu when he was the general.
Especially the local imperial guards of prefectures, counties, and cities, they are Le Wu's absolute allies who can be controlled by him.
Before the city of Haojing could react, Le Wu gave a call in Lezhou City, and the imperial guards of the four states surrounding the Le family's territory rebelled together. Many cultural and educational officials were either killed, imprisoned, or simply surrendered. The imperial guards generals raised the Le family's flag and directly occupied various state capitals, county towns, prefecture towns, and county towns.
Afterwards, these local imperial guards also opened their armories, money warehouses and granaries, and all kinds of baggage were spent out like water. Groups of young and strong people who had no idea what was happening were forcibly conscripted, put on armor, took up weapons, and joined the army.
In this atmosphere, the brothers Le Yi and Le De, together with a dozen cousins, and the financial sponsor Lu Yi, along with a group of guards and hundreds of soldiers, broke into the prison of Lezhou City in a mighty manner.
The Le family was a pure upstart. Not to mention the younger generation of the family, the Le family members who were truly grown up and could be put to use, including the thousand or so members of the family before Le Wu took the throne of the general, totaled only a few thousand people.
Thousands of people may seem like a lot, but not to mention the official positions held by the Le family in the capital city of Hao, their territory is as wide as six states. How many prefectures, prefectures, and counties are under the jurisdiction of six states? How many official positions are there in each state, prefecture, and county?
Therefore, in the Le family's own territory, almost every adult member of the Le family occupies a high position, and some even hold multiple positions.
Regardless of whether they did a good job or not, or whether they were praised or not, the important official positions in the six states were all held by members of the Le family.
For example, Le Yi and Le De’s biological father was the expeditionary envoy of Lezhou, the deputy city lord of Lezhou City, the magistrate of Qingpingfang, the purchasing manager of Qingping Leyuan, and…
In short, the brothers' biological father, Le He, held more than a dozen official positions. When he went out on weekdays, the guards around him had to carry a wooden box filled with various official seals, tokens, imperial edicts, blank documents, etc. Otherwise, he would not be able to get through them all.
In the Le family, Le He is not a direct descendant who holds the most core power, but he is also one of the important members of the family who plays a vital role.
So, Le Yi took Le He's token and rushed into the most important prison for serious criminals in Lezhou City.
Prisons, especially prisons for serious criminals.
Cold, damp, dirty and unlucky.
The most important thing is that there is generally very little oil and water here.
Therefore, the warden of this prison was not a member of the Le family, but a distant cousin of the new concubine of a certain son of the Le family.
Therefore, Le Yi waved Le He's token in front of the prison warden, whose name he was too lazy to ask, and slapped him in the face: "Come on, stop talking nonsense, open all the cells, release all the prisoners, and I, the young master, will take them away!"
The warden was stunned for a moment, then tactfully obeyed the order, and hurriedly led the jailers to open the cells one by one, releasing the serious criminals who were ragged, smelly, and had strange and hideous appearances.
As soon as these serious criminals walked out of the prison gate, they started roaring and screaming loudly, wanting to do something.
But when hundreds of soldiers wearing heavy armor and holding powerful crossbows stood in front of them, all these guys became obedient.
Le Yi was very proud. He brought a large group of people to Lezhou City, the prisons in various towns within the city, and the temporary detention centers of the government offices. He cleared out all the death row prisoners, serious criminals, minor criminals, as well as petty thieves and ruffians who were just temporarily detained. It took him two full days!
Outside the city of Lezhou, outside a farm that Le Yi borrowed from a local landlord, a large field of crops that were almost ready to be harvested were trampled to pieces.
War horses were strolling happily in the fields, occasionally lowering their heads to take a nibble at the golden ears of wheat.
Teams of heavily armored soldiers roamed around the fields.
Tall watchtowers were built on the edge of the fields. Sentinels holding strong bows and crossbows were standing on the towers, looking around coldly.
In the fields, thousands of tents were pitched crookedly and crowded together in a mess.
Nearly 30,000 well-known heroes in the world gathered in groups of three or five in the camp, basking in the sun, scratching lice, and boasting about their great achievements.
Those guys who came out of the prison for serious criminals were all shouting about how proud they were of having killed seven or eight people.
Those prisoners with minor sentences would describe with a smile to the rookies around them how they had a romantic one-night stand with a pretty lady in the brothel of a wealthy businessman or landlord.
The ordinary ruffians were exchanging experiences in a friendly way. In Lezhou City, which family's eldest daughter-in-law is pretty, which family's young girl is fair and tender, which store owner is timid and can be scammed, which casino's thugs are fierce and will have their fingers chopped off if they cheat...
Nearly 30,000 "heroes" were bragging and looking in all directions with shining eyes.
They don't understand why they were released from prison or detention center.
But looking at the momentum, something seems to be wrong.
The soldiers around were clearly the elite among the elite. The heavy armor on their bodies, the powerful crossbows behind them, the steel swords and spears in their hands were all top-notch stuff. They looked like they were not to be trifled with.
Look at the watchtowers again
Even the tents they slept in for the past two days were made of thick materials without any compromise, and had excellent wind and waterproof properties, and were all of the same standard quality.
Not to mention...
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The sound of gongs rang out, and horse-drawn carriages drove in, carrying buckets of white rice, fried meat, golden fried eggs, green vegetables, etc., which were delivered like water.
Someone was shouting, "You damned scoundrels, it's time to eat, it's time to eat! Hurry up and line up, eat your fill, and listen to the master's lecture!"
'Young Master's lecture'?
Who cares so much?
Prisons are a place of bland suffering, and some of the most severely sentenced prisoners have been languishing in prison for who knows how many years.
Seeing such a sumptuous meal, they immediately grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and rushed over like vicious dogs.
After a chaotic scramble for food, the food delivery convoy withdrew, and Le Yi and others, along with their financial sponsor Lu Yi, appeared on a wooden platform in the camp.
A thousand elite soldiers in heavy armor borrowed from Le He surrounded the platform, and large boxes one after another were continuously transported to the platform by a group of guards.
The heroes of the martial arts world, who had eaten and drunk their fill, gathered lazily beside the platform.
Many people were talking about the clothes worn by Le Yi and others, guessing the value of the rings and other ornaments hanging around their waists, and speculating on the identities and origins of these young men.
Lu Yi walked to the platform with a smile and gently opened a few large boxes.
Thus, the golden ingots, the white silver ingots, and the boxes full of newly minted copper coins with a faint red glow, bathed in the autumn sunshine, appeared in front of the group of heroes.
A loud gasp was instantly heard throughout the camp.
Nearly thirty thousand heroes stared at the big boxes with green eyes. Many of them were born as bandits and thieves, and their muscles were throbbing violently, wishing they could rush up to the platform, pick up a big box and leave.
Behind them, groups of guards were constantly carrying up large boxes.
Le Yi looked at this group of heroes with satisfaction and clapped his hands vigorously: "Very good, it can be seen that you brothers have a good impression of these gold, silver, and copper coins!"
There was a great noise in the camp, with countless people shouting and clamoring wildly.
Le Yi smiled and pointed at his nose: "I am Le Yi of the Le family, and my father is Le He, the expeditionary envoy of Lezhou... You bastards who deserve to be killed a thousand times, I, the young master, will give you a chance to stand out and change your fate!"
"Eat my food, take my salary, follow me, change the world, and make Dayin a new one... Use swords and guns to fight for a wife and children, and fight for a bright future!"
Lu Yu coughed lightly and clapped his hands just as vigorously.
"Master Le Yi's intention is that the Le family wants to rebel and fight against the emperor in Gaojing City!"
"If you are willing to join us in the rebellion, we will all be one family from now on."
"If you don't want to... raise your hands now and you can die!"
Lu Yi smiled brightly.
It was his idea in the first place to recruit these heroes to serve as his private army.
