The martial arts forces in the southwest were generally not strong, and the bandits were a motley crew.
In fact, the existence of the bandits in the southwest was longer than that of the local martial arts forces. After all, this place was originally desolate, and it was only when the trade route was opened that it became somewhat populated.
And where there was a trade route, there was no lack of people, and that was bandits.
However, these bandits did not have any plans, and most of them had an attitude of muddling through, and they even killed each other. So after so many years, there was no bandit force that could be used, and most of them were still just a motley crew.
However, when one thought about it, it made sense. Bandits were inherently weak. The rise of the 36 Great Bandits of the Northern Lands was already a rare occurrence for thousands of years. As for the bandits of other places, they could only be considered small skirmishes.
Chu Xiu and Eunuch Li chose Qingfeng Stronghold, one of the stronger of the 23 strongholds.
The leader of the Qingfeng Stronghold, the "Smiling Scholar" Song Qian, was also interesting. Not only did he look like a scholar, but he was also a scholar.
It was said that in his early years, Song Qian was just a scholar. He was so poor that he had no money to study, so he could only run to work as an accountant for a caravan. In the end, he was robbed by bandits on the way, and he was taken by the bandits to work as an accountant for the stronghold.
Later, because he gave the stronghold a good idea, it caused the stronghold's power to soar. Song Qian also changed from an accountant to a military adviser, and he also got the opportunity to practice martial arts.
Moreover, Song Qian did not expect that a weak scholar like him would have such a good talent in martial arts, and it only took him more than 20 years to reach the realm of the unity of heaven and man. So he found an opportunity to directly kill the previous stronghold master, and renamed the stronghold to Qingfeng Stronghold until today.
This time, when Chu Xiu and the others arrived at Qingfeng Stronghold and felt the strength of the three, Song Qian directly came out to greet them.
Although he had become a stronghold master, Song Qian still wore a scholar's robe, and with his elegant appearance, at this time, he did not look like a bandit leader, but more like a teacher.
"May I know why the three of you came to my Qingfeng Stronghold? Did my subordinates steal your goods by mistake? Don't worry, I'll get someone to send it back right away. I'll also send a gift as an apology. "Song Qian cupped his hands politely and his attitude was very humble.
Some of the caravans traveling to the southwest could move, while others could not.
For example, the merchant caravans from the major factions had strong defenses. Not to mention whether they could even touch them, even if they did, the other party would take revenge on them in the future.
Therefore, the bandits of the 23 Strongholds changed very quickly. Who knew if there would be a day when someone else would directly break into the stronghold and exterminate the entire clan.
Because of this, after Song Qian became the Fort Master, he set down a rule that he would only rob and not kill. He could not go to the extreme.
Moreover, he couldn't use it immediately after he stole it. Instead, he had to store it for a few months. When he saw that no one came for revenge, he could then spend it.
If someone came, then he would lower his stance, return the item, and apologize.
Anyway, to bandits like them, face was not something they could eat, so what was the use of having him?
Chu Xiu waved his hand and said, "Head Song guessed wrong. We are not here to ask for something, but to deliver something."
As he said this, Chu Xiu began to take out the purple gold from the outside, piece by piece.
Needless to say, this scene was quite shocking. At least to a bandit leader like Song Lian, he had never seen so much purple gold in his entire life.
He had quite a lot of ordinary gold and silver items, but purple gold could be used to set up matrices and forge weapons. It was definitely a hard currency. Ordinary small aristocratic families would at most have a few dozen taels of purple gold. For someone like Chu Xiu to take it out and place it on the table piece by piece, it was quite shocking.
Moreover, to be honest, even Chu Xiu himself was moved by this purple gold. Even the annual tax revenue of the Guanxi region was not this much. A prince was a prince, after all, especially a prince like the Second Prince who held real power and had the chance to ascend to the throne in the future. Their foundations were not ordinary.
After taking out ten purple gold bricks in a row, Chu Xiu said in a deep voice, "Head Song, these are gifts from the Second Prince. I wonder if these things are enough for Head Song to stand on the Second Prince's side? Of course, if Head Song says it's not enough, I still have more here. "
Song Lian swallowed his saliva, his eyes almost imprinted on the purple gold bricks.
Song Lian was indeed shocked when he heard about the Second Prince, but he quickly regained his composure. Whether it was the Crown Prince or the Second Prince, the most important thing was to be able to obtain benefits.
Moreover, it was indeed as Chu Xiu had guessed. The Crown Prince did not spend too much effort on the bandits of the 23 Strongholds.
Compared to some other powers, the 23 Strongholds had the most bandits, but they were still a motley crew. The Crown Prince, Lv Longji, had an innate dislike for these bandits.
Furthermore, as long as the sects in the southwest agreed to pledge their allegiance to the Crown Prince, it was no longer important whether these bandits pledged allegiance or not. In any case, they would not be able to cause much trouble.
Thus, Eunuch Chen and Li Yuan, the Crown Prince's trusted aides, did not even personally come to the 23 Strongholds. They only sent a few ordinary subordinates to discuss the conditions with the bandits and give them some things before leaving.
Even if Song Lian and the other bandits of the 23 Strongholds were dissatisfied, it was useless. Once the other powers of the martial arts world agreed, if the bandits of the 23 Strongholds wanted to cause trouble, the local martial arts world powers would probably be enough to take care of them all before the Crown Prince even made a move.
Thus, after Chu Xiu took out so many purple gold bricks, Song Lian did not even need to think about it and immediately leaned towards the Second Prince's side.
As for Chu Xiu asking him if it was enough, although Song Lian thought that he would never complain about having too many purple gold bricks, he still forced his gaze away from the purple gold bricks and said with a dry laugh, "It's enough. Of course it's enough."
He was not an idiot and knew what the consequences of being insatiably greedy were.
Ten purple gold bricks were enough to buy the entire Qingfeng Stronghold. If he were to be even more greedy and take the opportunity to extort money from the Second Prince, the consequences would probably not be good.
Chu Xiu knocked on the table and said, "It's good that it's enough. Head Song, you should know what to do at the alliance meeting in a month's time."
Song Lian hurriedly nodded and said, "I know, I know. Please rest assured. The Second Prince is so generous. Although I am a bandit, I also know the word 'trustworthy'. I will definitely not let Your Highness down."
Chu Xiu nodded and turned to leave.
Eunuch Li and Fang Zhenqi, who were behind him, looked at each other. They also did not dare to believe that the matter had been settled so easily? Wasn't this a little too fast?
Fang Zhenqi was on a mission to kill people, so he was only slightly surprised by the amount of time Chu Xiu had used.
However, Eunuch Li was different. He had been by Lv Longguang's side for a long time. Although he was not the most capable subordinate of Lv Longguang, he was the person Lv Longguang trusted the most. He had participated in many secret missions and carried out many of them.
He could also use the methods that Chu Xiu had used. Other than the time when he had tricked Zheng Chengyong, the other methods did not require much skill.
However, what was truly terrifying about Chu Xiu's methods was that he had a grasp of the human heart.
When faced with different people, he could use the most suitable methods to make them submit. This was the most terrifying thing.
No one was invulnerable. As long as these people had the slightest flaw, they would be caught by Chu Xiu. Then, he would use the most suitable method to defeat them one by one.
After dealing with these people, Chu Xiu, Eunuch Li, and the others went into hiding in the southwest. A month later, Li Yuan and Eunuch Chen also brought people to the southwest.
This time, many of the Crown Prince's subordinates had come. Other than Li Yuan and Eunuch Chen, there were also three experts at the Unity of Heaven and man realm. They were all guests that the Crown Prince had recruited.
Once again coming to the southwest, Li Yuan felt rather high-spirited.
The main people in charge of recruiting and subduing these people in the southwest were Li Yuan and Eunuch Chen.
If this matter was done well, his status in the eyes of the Crown Prince would definitely rise by a large margin.
After arriving in the southwest, Li Yuan did not delay. He directly sent invitations to the people of the five clans, eight clans, eleven sects, and 23 strongholds, asking them to come to the Goddess Peak's Heaven Gazing Cave to participate in the alliance meeting.
The Goddess Peak was very famous in the southwest. Legend had it that in ancient times, a goddess had ascended here, which was why it was named the Goddess Peak.
As for the Heaven Gazing Cave, it was a cave in the Goddess Peak. Because there was a huge opening at the top, one could see the sky if they raised their heads, which was why it was called the Heaven Gazing Cave.
At this moment, the huge cave had already been tidied up neatly. The leaders of the five clans, eight clans, eleven sects, and 23 strongholds were all gathered here. They were seated according to their respective power rankings.
Li Yuan, Eunuch Chen, and the others stood in the center. After everyone had arrived, Li Yuan cupped his hands towards the people present and said, "Everyone, although the southwest is desolate and barren, it is still the territory of the Da Qi Kingdom.
Everyone started from scratch. It was not easy for you to establish such a foundation in the southwest. I am very impressed.
Now that His Highness the Crown Prince has the mandate of heaven, he will ascend to the throne in the future. Therefore, we have prepared to invite all the outstanding talents of the Jianghu in the southwest to jointly raise the prestige of the Da Qi Kingdom! "
Li Yuan spoke passionately, and there was some applause from below. However, Li Yuan still felt that something was wrong.
Why were the reactions of some of the people below not so intense? Since they had already come to participate in the alliance meeting, could it be that they still had some doubts about this matter?
However, at this moment, a sneering voice came from outside.
"They started from scratch and accumulated such a large family property, but the Crown Prince took it all away with a single sentence. He even glorified it by raising the prestige of the Da Qi Kingdom. Could it be that the Crown Prince is preparing to lead these warriors of the southwest to attack the Northern Yan?"
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