35: Harvest

"My Lord, after we killed Zhang Mazi, we found this."

At a critical moment, Wang Hu changed the subject and handed Lin Yue an item.

"Bronze village building token"

Lin Yue nodded and put it into his spatial ring.

Previously, Hou Da destroyed General Yu's Mountain Bandit camp, but did not obtain a village building token.

He didn't expect Zhang Mazi to actually have a Bronze village building token.

But now, a village building token was like a chicken rib to him; his Fief only had one village. If he established another village, he would be besieged by the Government, just like players.

Currently, when players obtained a village building token, most would use it directly, except for trading it for dragon coins.

After a Bronze village building token was used to establish a village, it would initially have one hundred villagers, a high probability of having two or three mid-tier Soldiers, and some silver rewards.

Players would take the mid-tier Soldiers away, using them as thugs to protect themselves.

Initially, many people did this, but later, as betrayals and counter-kills by mid-tier Soldiers against players became frequent, this situation became less common.

Now, facing the village building token, Lin Yue also found it difficult to decide.

"My Lord, we captured the Mountain Bandit's strategist. What do you think?" Wang Hu asked.

"Bring him up," Lin Yue said.

"Yes," Wang Hu replied, turning to signal. A thin, middle-aged man with a goatee was escorted up by militiamen.

"This humble one, Cheng Ai, greets Your Excellency," Cheng Ai said with a fawning smile.

"Where is your Mountain Bandit's treasury? Take us there," Lin Yue said, getting straight to the point.

His purpose in coming here was partly to train his combat power, but he also harbored thoughts of plundering wealth and treasures. Although this Mountain Bandit camp was weak, there should be quite a few things.

Previously, when he followed the Crane Wild City garrison to suppress bandits, the Squad Leader's reward money was always substantial, so he figured there was still some profit to be made.

"Your Excellency, please follow me," Cheng Ai said without a word, leading them directly to the treasury.

It was called a treasury, but it was actually more like a warehouse. From the outside, it looked dilapidated, making Lin Yue wonder if he had come to the wrong place.

However, the moment the warehouse door opened, Lin Yue was greatly surprised!

There was really nothing!

A ray of sunlight shone into the warehouse, illuminating dense dust. There were also some cobwebs around the interior, indicating that no one had entered for a long time.

A few scattered weapons were piled up. Lin Yue inspected them and found they were all damaged and unusable.

He then covered his nose and backed out.

"Is that all?" Lin Yue asked.

"Yes, yes, this humble one would not dare to deceive Your Excellency," Cheng Ai said.

"So poor?" Lin Yue asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Yes, that's how poor it is."

Cheng Ai had unspeakable difficulties. As a strategist, having a disobedient leader was such a painful thing.

He had clearly given him many suggestions, but the leader only cared about drinking and enjoying himself. Even though the suggestions were correct, he stubbornly rejected them to cover up his own ignorance.

He completely relied on his Martial Power, making the entire stronghold support him alone!

"Yes, My Lord. When we infiltrated earlier, we found this group of people drooling over cucumbers and boiled beans," Wang Hu said with a look of unbearable pity.

"Then your whole stronghold has no money?" Lin Yue asked.

"Yes, it's all with Zhang Mazi," Cheng Ai said.

"My Lord, we only got the village building token; we didn't find anything else," Zhang Wenfeng stepped forward and said.

This was not to be taken lightly; he couldn't let his Lord get the impression that he was deceiving him.

"Zhang Mazi has a spatial treasure, that ring on his hand. All his money is in there."

"When he usually encountered an itinerant merchant, Zhang Mazi would buy a lot of good wine. This humble one doesn't know how much money he has now," Cheng Ai explained.

"Go, get it," Lin Yue ordered.

Wang Hu immediately ran out, and soon, he ran back, panting.

"My Lord, I got it," Wang Hu handed the spatial ring to Lin Yue.

A first-tier spatial ring, with an interior length, width, and height of 1 meter each.

Lin Yue looked at the game prompt, directly broke the restriction, and checked the ring.

Good heavens!

This was quite a lot!

Over 100 taels of silver, eleven Qi Gathering Pills, and all the rest were fine wines, totaling thirty-two small bottles!

He was truly a drunkard!

Lin Yue sighed, thinking that he probably didn't have money to buy fine wines from itinerant merchants in the past, but now he wouldn't be able to enjoy them.

"Do these itinerant merchants come frequently?" Lin Yue asked. If he could encounter one, he could buy many supplies with silver. The weapons for the Soldiers in the village were still unsettled.

"This humble one can't say for sure. Sometimes they come once a month, sometimes not for half a year," Cheng Ai explained.

Lin Yue nodded, no longer dwelling on it, and then asked.

"You live such a hard life, why don't you go down the mountain and find a better place?"

Lin Yue was somewhat confused. It was understandable that General Yu and the others, being players, wouldn't go down the mountain. But these indigenous people, being Mountain Bandits was so arduous and life-threatening, why didn't they go down the mountain?

Cheng Ai gave a bitter smile, then said, "Your Excellency, we are originally people of Yan and do not wish to pledge allegiance to the Qin Dynasty."

"Moreover, qin law is harsh, and we are accustomed to freedom. Even if we are a bit hungry and suffer a bit, as long as we can survive, this humble one is unwilling to go down."

"Are you willing to follow me? I am a Baron and have a Fief. I will not levy taxes on you," Lin Yue asked. Seeing that Cheng Ai seemed to have some talent, he entertained the idea of recruiting him.

"This humble one, this humble one is willing!" Cheng Ai immediately agreed upon hearing that the other party was a Baron.

Zhang Mazi completely disregarded his suggestions and wouldn't let him go down the mountain. He had long harbored the idea of finding another enlightened master!

"[Junior Civil Official: Cheng Ai, is willing to follow the player. Does the player agree?]"

"Agree."

"[name: Cheng Ai

Identity: Mountain Bandit

Title: None

Martial Power: 23

Intelligence: 53

Command: 21

Politics: 50

Charm: 64

Loyalty: 70

Qualification: C

Talent: None]"

Oh, a Junior Civil Official! He didn't expect such a talent in this small Black Wind Stronghold?

He currently only had Feng Cai, a mid-tier Civil Official, under him. With Cheng Ai, Feng Cai's pressure would be somewhat reduced.

Moreover, there was an additional 10 points of Loyalty. Could it be that his Charm was too great?

"Good, Wang Hu, go hunt some game and make some meat broth for Cheng Ai," Lin Yue instructed Wang Hu, then turned to Cheng Ai with a smile, "You can rest assured."

"Alright!" Cheng Ai nodded and walked out. He didn't know if this path was right or wrong, but he felt that this was a Lord who would listen to advice.

"My Lord, should these captives still be sent to the Government?"

Wang Hu suddenly turned and asked at the doorway.

Lin Yue stroked his chin in deep thought. Originally, he had planned to send them to the Government to earn some merit points, but now, he had a different idea.

"You go hunting first; don't worry about the rest."

"Yes," Wang Hu nodded and withdrew.

"Open the Lucky Small Treasure Chest."

Lin Yue used all four Lucky Small Treasure Chests, and then the game system sound rang out.

"[Player used Lucky Small Treasure Chest!]"

"[Congratulations to the player for obtaining 10 copper coins]"

"[Congratulations to the player for obtaining one roll of toilet paper]"

"[Congratulations to the player for obtaining 20 copper coins]"

"[Congratulations to the player for obtaining Silver Civil Official Recruitment Token × 1]"

"[Silver Civil Official Recruitment Token: Can summon a third-rate or high-tier Civil Official, random probability]"

Silver Civil Official Recruitment Token!

He was truly possessed by the European Emperor's luck!

Lin Yue immediately ran out of the house and stopped in a secluded spot.

"Use Silver Civil Official Recruitment Token!"

Then, another green light curtain descended, forming a Stargate.

A scene appeared before Lin Yue's eyes.

On a vast river, thousands of ships stretched for miles, countless warships connected together.

A dignified scholar traveled by boat until he reached the shore. A handsome young man greeted him, and the two conversed happily, drinking and sleeping together.

Until the handsome young man spoke:

"A man in the world, meeting a bosom friend as his master, externally relying on the righteousness of ruler and subject, internally forming the grace of flesh and blood. His words and actions are followed, and good fortune and misfortune are shared. Even if Su Qin and Zhang Yi were reborn, and Li Yiji reappeared, I would still pat their backs and reject their words. How could a junior like you be moved?"

The scholar always smiled after hearing this, then bid farewell and walked outside, quietly gazing at the night sky.

This was the Battle of Red Cliffs!

Lin Yue suddenly realized this as he came back to his senses.

One person must be Zhou Yu!

Then the other dignified scholar, could it be... Then a dignified scholar walked out of the Stargate, holding a feather fan, and approached Lin Yue!

Lin Yue's eyes burned, his heart surging with excitement!