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As Zhou Tong said, what the people in the Green Forest truly care about is their reputation, whether they are doing well or not. This saying holds true for others, and it also applies to Zhou Tong himself.

As a martial arts sage nearing seventy, the old man's character is impeccable. To alleviate the disaster, he has visited hundreds of bandit lairs in a few months. Upon hearing about Ning Yi, he traveled thousands of miles in his advanced age. As long as it is something good in his heart and in accordance with morality, even if there is no reward and the person involved is unaware, the old man will never hesitate to put in the effort, or even more.

However, over the years, he has become the respected number one person in the world. Although he may not care about this false name, he is always treated with respect wherever he goes, and people will take his ideas seriously. There are even disciples like Yan Huan - although not necessarily intelligent - who can be inspired by his arrival and risk their lives.

And this time on his journey south, although Ning Yi was respectful to him, he didn't really give him much face - the two meetings were like this. Zhou Tong wouldn't hold a grudge because of this, but he couldn't bring himself to cozy up to a junior. Therefore, the next day, after doing what he felt he should do - leaving his improved ideas on the formation - he directly bid farewell and left.

When Tian Donghan handed the few pages of improved formation to Ning Yi, Ning Yi felt somewhat emotional. However, his mind was no longer on these matters. The matters of revenge and deterrence had come to an end after the explosion in the center of the small county town. Next, he would return to the capital and then set off north immediately. Due to the interlude of the wedding disturbance, things were already behind schedule - he had originally sent a letter to Hong Ti, telling her that he was going to Mount Lüliang, and now he didn't know if she was getting anxious waiting.

Since learning about Qiyanbu Luo, Borjigin Temujin, and these things, many plans had been redone. And for Ning Yi, with so much information unclear, the endpoint of these plans was difficult to calculate: who were the enemies he would face in the future, what was the minimum he needed to guarantee was self-preservation, and what was the maximum he wanted to achieve? Because the enemy's power could not be calculated, and the things that needed to be dealt with could not be estimated, it was also difficult to calculate what the minimum standard of self-preservation should be.

If the standard of things was uncertain, the plan could be unlimited. Because of this, the amount of time he had was basically not enough. Even if he only did his best, he had to work against the clock. And even with such pressure, he was not willing to give up his family or the people he cared about. In the capital, he still spent a lot of time with his wives and children.

Fortunately, he was no longer a startup entrepreneur groping his way forward. Even with such tense emotions, he could still methodically release more than a dozen lines to move forward: the development of Zhuji, the training of the family guards, the control of storytelling and propaganda, the research and development of new products, the use of gunpowder, the plan to operate Mount Lüliang, the attention to the Miao疆 side... After determining what he wanted in his heart, the plans for these things were rapidly expanding.

Although some of these things were still in the basic stage of not seeing the effect, if you looked from back to front, from February of this year, Ning Yi's plans and projects were expanding almost crazily. In one month alone, he chose more than a dozen directions for the improvement and use of gunpowder, including landmines and phosphorus fire, and asked the fireworks workers in the workshop to try them out.

Since most of these craftsmen were not geniuses and their abilities were limited, many projects encountered problems at the beginning, even with Ning Yi's inspiration. The projects around Ning Yi were like walking on a high tightrope, but soon people would find that, on the whole, these projects began to grow rapidly in a few months. Although some failed and were filed, many ideas were still landing on the shores of success in a state of crazy advancement. The one walking on this tightrope was obviously an experienced acrobat.

Compared to the research and development of new products, the enrichment of Zhuji's goods, and the expansion of business, the confrontation with the various families involved in the disaster relief incident could only occupy a part of Ning Yi's mind. As for the Green Forest people in Tao亭 County, they were an even smaller part of that. It was because things had gotten too hot in the capital before, and a group of people came to make trouble at the gathering where Ning Yi married Yunzhu and Jin'er. Although some were captured and killed on the spot, some still escaped.

That gathering was not grand, but many people from the Right Prime Minister's residence came to congratulate him, such as Yao Zunian, Ji Kun, and Monk Jueming. Although they seemed kind on weekdays, which of these people's relationships was not deeply rooted? Yao Zunian was a contemporary Confucian scholar, but he actually had his own family behind him. Ji Kun was the chief manager who specialized in handling dirty and tiring work for the Prime Minister's residence. Monk Jueming was even from the imperial family. Ordinary Green Forest and thugs would not dare to deceive these people.

At that time, these people turned pale and got angry. Later, because the news of the Tao亭 County Heroes Conference came too timely, Ning Yi took the opportunity to travel south, which was of the nature of "you are standing in the right place, I can't help but kick you." When the matter was finished, and Zhou Tong arrived, Ning Yi was already dealing with other matters.

The hunt in Tao亭 County ended quickly, and most of the directly related problems were solved by the government. As for the expansion of the "heart demon" reputation under indirect influence, and the increased indignation of more Green Forest people, there were more complex causes and effects that were difficult to attribute to this single event.

Among this tragedy, the only thing that could leave a trace in Ning Yi's mind was probably seeing Zhou Tong again. Even though it was not pleasant, the existence of this old man was not easy to forget. But it was just a little bit of memory left in his heart.

However, although the meeting was not pleasant, Zhou Tong still traveled to many places for Ning Yi's sake after leaving Tao亭. It was not until a year or two later that Ning Yi learned, through some very direct information gathering, that this old man had specifically mentioned this matter in his meetings with many people, explaining and guaranteeing Ning Yi's behavior in disaster relief. However, at that time, the reputation of the heart demon had already spread extremely widely, and the tragedy of Tao亭 had been deliberately publicized. Zhou Tong's words and guarantees could not actually play a decisive role.

But in any case, when he thought of these things again at that time, recalling the two unpleasant meetings, it eventually formed extremely complex feelings in Ning Yi's heart.

This is a story for later, so I won't mention it for now.

*******************

As the weather entered summer, in the distant northern country, after the demise of Emperor Tianzuo's forces, the Jin State was busy sweeping across the land west of the already destroyed Liao State. After Zhang Jue was killed, neither Guo Yaoshi's Ever-Victorious Army nor the Wu Dynasty army stationed north of Yanmen Pass made any major offensive actions, and began to switch to passive defense.

The situation in the north was delicate, and a tense and vigilant atmosphere had been brewing in the imperial court in the south. In the spring of this year, Tong Guan was granted the title of Prince of Guangyang for his achievements in recovering the six prefectures of Yanyun, and then retired, making a complete retreat. Tan Zhen, who succeeded him, began to actively build his own political achievements: that is, to recruit and win over refugees and mountain bandits in the north as much as possible, and try to recruit the Tiger King Wang Qing, and build a defense line centered on Taiyuan in the north.

Whether this unscrupulous method of recruiting people can play the necessary role has not yet been tested in practice, but it is conceivable that the figures on the books can become very beautiful next, and at the same time, it is expanding the deficits and blanks in the logistics accounts of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. Qin Si원 and others once tried to write to advise against it, but the newly appointed Privy Councilor was willing to give the emperor trust. Knowing that things would not come to fruition, Qin Si원 reluctantly gave up after a symbolic rebuttal.

In any case, compared to a master like Tong Guan, in the eyes of Qin Si원 and others, Tan Zhen could only be regarded as a mediocre bastard. With mediocre qualifications, the damage he could cause was also limited.

Of course, this limited qualification was relative to Tong Guan. A slight disturbance in the court would set off great waves among the people. Since Tan Zhen's first fire needed political achievements, the review, leadership, and discipline of soldiers were not strict, and the responsible people below responded to the court's call.

In several routes in the north, some Green Forest people with criminal records and mountain bandits who robbed houses had begun to take advantage of this east wind to whitewash themselves, embarking on the path of killing, arson, and being recruited, asking the court for supplies, eating imperial food, becoming tall, rich, and handsome, marrying Bai Fumei, and embarking on the peak of life. Thinking about it was a little exciting. At this time, this transformation was still in its initial stage, but many Green Forest people had been attracted to it, and they had joined mountain camps and bandit villages that had relationships, and then submitted their identities for whitewashing.

The fluctuations caused by Tan Zhen's ascension were naturally not just some of these superficial ones. Not all court officials were mediocre and fools. While recruiting, of course, they also wanted leadership, while the various bandits in the mountain villages planned to maintain independence while still getting paid by the court for nothing. There were also some bandits who, after being recruited, realized that they were silly. Others had not handed over leadership, but they had handed it over themselves, and they had truly become bitter cannon fodder, so they began to take action from below again.

In any case, the issuance of a court order meant the transformation of the invisible ruling power in several routes in the north, and every transformation and transfer of power and interests in history, whether large or small, would not be quiet. The contradictions between bandits, soldiers, and the Green Forest were not quelled by the recruitment, but under the name of these immature recruitment policies, they became more and more intense day by day.

In the northern country, the imperial court, and the land of the Wu Dynasty, the survival laws composed of undercurrents were like the complex food chain on the grasslands, sometimes calm, sometimes violent, sometimes hidden, and sometimes brutally appearing. And in such a world, there were also more people living their seemingly simple lives, only occasionally showing a trace of ripples when they were watched by the cruel laws of survival.

In a small village near Yuying County in Shandong East Road, Lin Chong was sitting under a tree by the field, watching a stream quietly flowing in front of him.

The spring plowing season had passed, and the current period of time was a leisure time in the countryside. Lin Chong often went out to see if there was anything to do. Sometimes he followed a man surnamed Fang, who was quite capable nearby, and took on some work similar to short-distance escorting, but he was still unwilling to get involved in long-distance or too troublesome things.

For the current life, these days in the countryside, he thought he was satisfied. But many times - like now - he didn't want to go home, he just wanted to sit by the stream for a while and think. Sometimes he would think for half a day.

After seeing Gao Yanei in Daming Prefecture last winter, the confusion in his heart became more and more obvious. This confusion was mixed with huge hatred, self-blame, and pain: that day, he followed Gao Yanei all the way to the end, thinking that he should attack, he should risk everything, and that the time for this animal to be full of evil had come. However, in the end, he still failed to kill him, so he suddenly realized that he was so cowardly.

Widow Xu in the village - who was now his woman - was, in a sense, able to satisfy him. This satisfaction did not come from her appearance, and he no longer cared about those things. She made him feel warm. Although this widow was initially said to be shrewish and even tyrannical, since she had been with him, the woman had indeed been obedient to him. Perhaps because she had lost a husband, she especially cherished the man in front of her. She relied on him, and he even had a certain dependence on her, like the only treasure left after everything was lost.

However, since last winter, the pain and hatred in his heart often made Lin Chong unwilling to return home too quickly. He vaguely thought in his heart that he shouldn't enjoy that warmth so sweetly. If he felt enjoyment, wouldn't it make him seem even more cowardly? He had such deep hatred, and he had reason to take revenge, but not only did he not take revenge, he was still here, feeling warmth...

At the same time, the other part of him, like ashes, was telling him that he should forget everything and live the rest of his life peacefully in this small mountain village - he originally thought so, until the moment he saw Gao Muen in Daming Prefecture, the pain piled up again.

Occasionally, during the time he met with that "Brother Gao," he could also hear some news from the outside world, mostly from the Green Forest, such as how the Great Bright Religion was, or how Zhou Tong was. Perhaps the most complex thing for him now was hearing his master's name. These emotions made him sit under the tree, unwilling to go home, feeling depressed.

But in any case, as the sun set, he got up and walked back. The woman would be waiting for him at home, cooking meals, and at night, she would also try her best to please him with her body, making his heart feel warm. Thinking of this, he felt guilty for his late return. It was also on this day that he heard the sound of quarreling when he walked outside his yard.

"Get out! Get out! I'll chop off your hands... You try it..."

"Hey, you woman dares to break things, your lover hasn't come back, has he? Do you know he doesn't want to come back at all..."

"Go to hell, do you know he'll beat you to death when he comes back..."

"Beat me to death, come on! Beat me to death! You slut who's easy with men, you're my cousin's woman..."

"The things I owed your family have all been returned to you, get out--"

"Hmph, you're still quite arrogant, I'm telling you, your wild man is not a good person. Look at the scar on his face, he must be a fugitive wanted by the government, tattooed with words... Do you want me to report to the authorities--"

"Go ahead and report it, go ahead and report it, I'm telling you, you've provoked the wrong person, get out now, I won't bother with you, if you don't get out, if you spread rumors here again, I'll chop you to death. Then I'll kill your whole family, it's no big deal for me, Xu Jinhua, to be buried with you, see if I can do it--"

Lin Chong's face darkened. He also recognized the man who was arguing with Xu Jinhua in the courtyard. He was the cousin of Xu Jinhua's original husband. People usually called him Geng Erlaizi, who was a well-known lazy bum in the village. Because he was idle and had nothing at home, no woman was willing to marry him, so he was a bit of a mess when he saw women, and he had been beaten by the villagers many times for this.

After Xu Jinhua's husband - that is, his cousin - died, he probably made a lot of advances to Xu Jinhua. Lin Chong had noticed this at the time, but at that time, he had just arrived here, and he looked tall, and Widow Xu was shrewish, so he didn't dare to do anything. Now he probably felt that he had figured out Lin Chong's weakness, so he couldn't help but come to the door, and it was probably not the first time.

Matters between men and women in the countryside are much simpler than in the city, but in many ways, they are much more chaotic than in the city. If this kind of idle man comes to the door and spreads rumors about a widow, if she resists less, there is a possibility that she will be raped. This kind of person has already gained a bad reputation, and he doesn't even have any sense of shame. In many villages, there are more or less one or two of them.

Lin Chong grabbed a stick and walked in from the door. Geng Erlaizi, who was at the door of the room, noticed Xu Jinhua's gaze, turned around, saw Lin Chong, and his eyes shrank.

"You you you, what are you going to do... What are you going to do, surnamed Mu..."

Lin Chong raised the stick at him. Even though he was cowardly in some ways, he had also been a soldier for most of his life. With his martial arts, murderous aura, and the scar on his face, not many people could maintain their emotions in front of him when he truly revealed his murderous intent. The wretched villager's legs almost trembled: "You you you, you want to kill someone... You can't... Do you know that if you kill me, people from the government will come, surnamed Mu, you are a fugitive, the scar on your face must be a tattoo, you dare to kill me..."

The stick in Lin Chong's hand paused, and at this moment, Xu Jinhua in the room rushed out and pushed Geng Erlaizi to the ground in the courtyard: "Get out! Get out of here--"

The villager got up from the ground, but stared at Lin Chong: "Haha, I was right, surnamed Mu, if I report to the authorities, what will happen to you... Haha, kill me if you have the guts, kill me... Xu Jinhua, you adulterous couple, you must have killed my cousin together, you will be punished, you..."

Seeing Lin Chong walking straight over, he staggered and ran out of the courtyard in embarrassment, with pee running down his ass. Lin Chong stood at the gate of the courtyard, and Xu Jinhua grabbed him. His eyes were full of bloodshot eyes, and he was trembling all over. After a while, he waved the wooden stick downwards. Only a loud bang was heard, and a crack was split in a piece of bluestone in the courtyard. The front end of the wooden stick had also been broken into pieces, and it was buzzing. If someone who knew him before saw it, they might be surprised that his martial arts had improved to such an extent.

In fact, with his martial arts, if he really wanted to kill that Geng Erlaizi, why would he need a stick, and how would he be discovered by him? He could have just walked in and killed him with a finger. But right now, he was indeed afraid of the government's intervention. He was just afraid of disrupting Xu Jinhua's life, causing her to be involved in all kinds of troubles.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard for a long time, and Xu Jinhua reached out behind him to smooth his breath: "Calm down, calm down, he wouldn't dare, he wouldn't dare."

But after a while, Lin Chong finally said: "I'm going to kill him."

Widow Xu suddenly grabbed his hand. Her eyes were complicated, and she didn't know what she was thinking, but she subconsciously shook her head. After a moment, she looked at Lin Chong: "Don't kill him, let's go, take me away..."

Lin Chong's body stiffened, and he turned his head to look at the woman behind him.

"You...are willing...to go with me?"

"What am I unwilling to do? The things from their Geng family, the things that can be returned, I have returned them all to them. Now this family is just an empty shell, and they still come over every two or three days. You are my man, wherever you go, I will go. You...you can't leave me."

After saving Lin Chong, although she didn't ask, she must have had some speculation in her heart. Whether Lin Chong was a strong man, a bandit, or a wanted criminal, she didn't care. In fact, she definitely didn't care that Lin Chong wanted to kill Geng Erlaizi, but she was worried that Lin Chong would kill someone and then have to flee alone.

"The rice in the field...has just been planted..." After a moment, Lin Chong said subconsciously.

"I don't want it anymore, I don't want the field either." The woman shook her head, "Can't you get work? If I follow you, I'm willing to eat chaff and drink gruel. Take me with you, let's find a place where no one knows us to live, I'll give you children, don't leave alone..."

The woman was a little emotional when she said this. Lin Chong stood there, and after a while, he gently tilted his head.

On this day, as night fell, they packed up the few things and money in the house and left the small mountain village. They agreed to live in a friendly place where no one knew them, plant a few acres of land, give birth to a group of children, and grow old together. This was their other, new beginning.

At the same time, a little to the north, a woman named Lou Shuwan was sitting on the steps of a mountain village, looking up at the stars. This was a mountain village under the command of Tiger King Tian Hu. When she sat here, many men were pointing and looking at her not far away.

Once upon a time, she might have liked this feeling of being watched, and she had also enjoyed the interactions with certain men, but now, whether it was a scholar-like pretty boy or a rugged Green Forest hero, all that was left in her heart was an ugly impression and a feeling of disgust.

Although many people were watching her, not many men dared to say or do anything. She had her journey, just passing through here, staying overnight. Tomorrow, this woman who had received Tiger King's order would lead her guard team and head northwest. Her purpose was to go to Mount Lüliang and contact and cooperate with a large mountain village there to open up a road to do business.

Since surrendering to Tiger King, she had done many things.

This time, there would be no problem either.

Thinking like this, she looked into the distance. Her eyes were full of confusion.