Looking at his expression, Lin Jinyue could only think that Li the blacksmith was a talented person.
With such excellent acting skills, blacksmithing has really hindered his acting career.
Li the blacksmith flung the object in his hand, making a piercing sound.
Seeing that everyone was looking over, Li the blacksmith stared at Lin Shucheng and questioned, "Brother Lin, that's not very kind of you. When we left together, you didn't say the same thing to me."
Lin Shucheng then said, "Brother Li, times have changed. Besides, Brother Zhao is a man of great righteousness. It is our blessing to be able to join the Red Turban Army, and it is our good fortune to be appreciated by Brother Zhao."
Zhao Tianquan was so flattered by these words that he almost lost his bearings.
But Li the blacksmith didn't give him any face at all.
He just quit and left.
Zhao Tianquan felt a little embarrassed and looked at Lin Shucheng.
Lin Shucheng sighed, "Oh well, never mind him. He's not from our village. I just happened to see him in Runan County and thought he had some skills, so I asked him to come with us and help us with blacksmithing. Now that our lives have settled down, I have no opinion on whether he stays or leaves."
Lin Shucheng said softly, "Brother Zhao, I'm really sorry, I didn't give you any advance notice... I need to go and persuade my wife and son to agree to this first. Why don't you take a stroll around the village for a bit?"
Zhao Tianquan thought to himself, "What are you men doing discussing such important matters with women?"
What kind of insight could those women possibly have?
But seeing Lin Shucheng's attitude towards his daughter, he knew that the man cared about his family and loved his wife and children, so he kept quiet to avoid being disliked.
Lin Shucheng took Lin Jinyue back to their small house, where the doors and windows were tightly closed.
Jiang Yun hurriedly asked, "Daughter, what are you thinking?"
Lin Shucheng, after putting on an act for a while, was really annoyed. "No, I won't add them. Let whoever wants to add them can add them. I'm not willing. You guys don't know, these people keep saying that auspicious omens appeared when they were born. Aren't they just talking too much? Do they really think they're saviors? They even want to kill Xueqing. They say they'll kill her if she doesn't join them, and they'll still kill her if she's bad-natured and selfish. Is this something a human being would do?"
Jiang Yun asked in disbelief, "How can you have such a big face?"
Lin Shucheng patted her shoulder: "Forget it, don't worry about them. We don't know their background or how many Red Turban Army soldiers are around here. Let's just appease them first."
Lin Jinyue whispered, "I suspect the Red Turban Army has far more than three thousand men. My plan this time is..."
*
Outside, Zhao Tianquan and his five trusted confidants looked around.
At first, I thought these people were too cold-hearted; after all, they were the Red Turban Army!
But the more I looked at them, the more I realized they were different.
If I remember correctly, this place used to be inhabited by a band of mountain bandits. How could this group even take over Wolf Fang Stronghold?!
Looking at the training ground, everyone has a crossbow. Without drawing a bow, they can easily pull the trigger and the arrow will fly out, with a power dozens of times that of a bow and arrow.
And look at these young men shooting at the target, their accuracy is surprisingly good!
There was also a separate house in the village where they could hear several young girls reading aloud.
It's really strange, why would anyone specifically send their daughter to school?
As we got closer, we heard them reciting the "Compendium of Materia Medica." There were even doctors here!
These were all people Lin Jinyue temporarily brought in to make up the numbers, to show Zhao Tianquan and the others the strength of Yunhe Village—it had doctors, money, military strength, and everything else.
Even after all this, he was still willing to cooperate with Zhao Tianquan and serve as his deputy.
Zhao Tianquan will be overjoyed.
Lin Jinyue was very good at manipulating people's hearts, and sure enough, Zhao Tianquan's eyes were gleaming with greed as he looked at this group of people.
He thought to himself that Lin Shucheng was the leader of their group.
Lin Shucheng is indeed a man destined for great things, able to have so many talented people working under him.
Zhao Tianquan was overjoyed and said to his confidant, "I knew Lin Shucheng was no ordinary man; he was a man of great talent. Now that he is willing to serve me, our Red Turban Army is like a tiger with wings."
When Lin Shucheng came down, he heard this sentence.
I thought to myself, "You wish! You think you can get my help? Dream on!"
Lin Shucheng walked over with a smile and took out his trump card—a crossbow.
Lin Shucheng handed a crossbow bolt to Zhao Tianquan and began to probe, "Brother Zhao, I am truly grateful for your appreciation... Well, let's not talk about such things. How many brothers do we have? I'll have the village carpenter make a few more crossbow bolts, one for each of us. Then we won't be afraid of anyone!"
Zhao Tianquan hadn't expected Lin Shucheng to be so perceptive; he could already picture it in his mind.
If at that time, each of their Red Turban soldiers has a crossbow...
Let alone Prince Jing and Xie Hong's army, he could lead these people to sweep across the entire country!
Zhao Tianquan was filled with enthusiasm and immediately revealed, "We have many brothers; we have 30,000 men in Lingnan, all of them sons of farmers."
Lin Shucheng thought for a moment and then made the decision: "Alright, I'll take care of the crossbows for these 30,000 men!"
Zhao Tianquan was incredibly excited.
Lin Shucheng changed the subject: "It's just that... I'm afraid we'll have to wait a while longer. Hey, don't laugh at me, but our village was attacked. It's just that Xie Hong can't spare the time to deal with us right now. Half of the village is old, weak, sick, or disabled, and some people are seriously injured. We don't have enough manpower, so... we have to do it slowly. Thirty thousand, if we do it quickly, we can finish it in a year."
Zhao Tianquan was shocked: "It took so long to finish?"
Lin Shucheng looked troubled: "That's right. Only Li the blacksmith and a few carpenters in the village can do this job now. Li the blacksmith is gone, so it's just Wang the carpenter and my son left. Wang the carpenter has a few apprentices to help him, so he can get the job done quickly. But they all have other jobs. They have to tidy up the village and rebuild it to make it an impregnable fortress. There are also some other trivial things, like carrying water, keeping watch, and practicing target shooting. They don't have time for anything. If Xueqing is left to do it all by herself, who knows how long it will take?"
The Red Turban Army soldiers were all excited.
"It's alright, I can handle these trivial matters!"
"Yes, yes, making crossbows is the important thing."
They all eagerly volunteered to help with the chores.
Lin Shucheng said that wouldn't do, how could he let his older brothers do such trivial things?
The Red Turban Army soldiers were desperately trying to help them. After all, having an extra reliable weapon meant having more confidence to survive on the battlefield.
How could they not be excited?
"Bang--"
Just as the group was having a pleasant conversation, Li the blacksmith slammed the door shut, his dissatisfaction with the Red Turban Army written all over his face.
Lin Shucheng smiled and said to Zhao Tianquan, "That's just how he is. I'll persuade him to come along too. We can't be without a blacksmith."
Li the blacksmith sneered.
He left immediately.
He also added, "From now on, we'll go our separate ways."
Seeing that Zhao Tianmian was a little embarrassed, Lin Shucheng smiled and said, "Brother Zhao, don't mind him. He's just stubborn. I'll tell him about your good points in a few days, and he'll definitely be willing to join us."
Zhao Tianquan, however, was rather disdainful, saying, "Our Red Turban Army isn't something anyone can just join at will."
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