In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 449 Zero Loss

Because armor is a prohibited item by the imperial court, it doesn't have a specific price on the market. However, anyone with a brain knows that it must be very valuable, especially now that we are in a chaotic period. The price of armor will only be higher. According to Li Qingyun, in some black markets that operate on the fringes of the law, a pair of iron armor can sell for as much as 20 taels of silver, and sometimes even 30 or 40 taels of silver. This shows how expensive it is.

We have captured 800 sets of armor from the defeated army. Even at the lowest price of 20 taels of silver per set, it is worth 16,000 taels of silver.

In addition to the armor, the captured items included warhorses, weapons, and other items, the total value of which probably exceeded 2.

It's impossible for Li Qingyun not to be tempted by the spoils of 2 taels of silver; after all, wealth is a powerful motivator.

However, a gentleman loves money but acquires it in a proper way. These battlefields were won by the Chen family army, so the spoils of war should naturally belong to the Chen family army. Li Qingyun would not be so shameless as to steal the spoils of war from the Chen family army.

"Then thank you very much, Magistrate Li."

Chen Da thanked him, and then had the men of the Chen family army lead the captured and routed troops, carrying the spoils and prisoners of war, toward the county town.

Before long, the group arrived at the city gate. After Li Qingyun called for the gate to be opened, everyone filed in through the gate.

"Why are there so many people?"

"Did we win?"

"I saw the magistrate return. He must have defeated the bandits outside the city."

"Great!"

"..."

The city's residents, seeing large numbers of Chen's army and defeated prisoners of war entering the city, showed excited expressions. Although they could not see the battle breaking out outside the city, the vast number of prisoners in the ranks had already given them the answer.

"Master Li!"

An old man who was relatively close to Li Qingyun asked loudly, "Have the bandits outside the city been wiped out?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingyun stopped in his tracks, met the expectant gazes of the crowd, and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, please rest assured, the bandits outside the city have been defeated. However, because some bandits are still escaping outside the city, the city gates will need to remain closed for a few more days. Once I have wiped out those fleeing bandits, you will be able to enter and leave the city smoothly!"

Wow!

As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar erupted throughout the city.

"That's great! We don't have to live in fear anymore!"

"Long live Lord Li!"

"Well done, Lord Li!"

"..."

The people in the town were excited and spread the good news. Soon, the whole county was bustling with activity as the people cheered and sang praises of Li Qingyun's merits.

"Lord Li is truly a good official!"

An old man looked at Li Qingyun in the returning crowd and couldn't help but sigh, "If it were the county magistrate of the past, he would never have cared about the thieves outside the city!"

"Yes!"

The young man next to the old man said, "It's truly our good fortune to have met such a good official as Lord Li!"

The common people of Xia Kingdom are so easily satisfied; all they ask for is a stable environment and a world where labor is rewarded.

However, even with such a simple request, very few officials were willing to fulfill it.

Therefore, when they learned that Li Qingyun had wiped out the bandits outside the city, the people were so excited and praised Li Qingyun as a good official.

Hearing the praises of the people, Li Qingyun smiled with satisfaction. He didn't love money or power, but it was hard to say that he didn't love fame.

Of course, the kind of fame he loved was not the kind that was sought for personal gain, but the kind of fame that the people genuinely loved and respected, the kind that would last for eternity.

When he heard the people spontaneously praising him, Li Qingyun felt a surge of joy throughout his body.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Qingyun and the Chen family army returned to the county government office.

Looking at the defeated prisoners of war who had been placed in the open space in front of the county government office, Li Qingyun couldn't help but frown.

Throughout history, the best way to deal with prisoners of war has undoubtedly been to kill them directly. After all, keeping prisoners of war alive not only requires manpower to guard them, but also wastes food.

However, Li Qingyun was clearly not the kind of person who could kill people ruthlessly, so how to deal with these prisoners became his biggest problem.

"Brother Chen."

Li Qingyun asked Chen Dadao, "What do you think I should do with these prisoners of war?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Da replied, "Magistrate Li can do the same as Magistrate Xu and let these prisoners of war farm the land."

"That's a good idea!"

Li Qingyun's eyes lit up. Because he had eliminated the Sun family's connections, he had a lot of land in his hands. Although most of this land had been rented out to the people for cultivation, he still had a small portion left. Using it to settle these prisoners and let them support themselves was a good option.

but……

These prisoners will probably have to be separated to farm, otherwise keeping them all in one place could easily cause trouble.

With an idea in mind, Li Qingyun smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Brother Chen. I have prepared wine and dishes at my residence. Please be sure to bring my brothers to the banquet with me, Brother Chen."

"to make!"

Chen Da did not refuse. After leaving about 50 of his Chen family soldiers to guard the prisoners, he led the remaining two hundred or so Chen family soldiers to Li Qingyun's mansion, where they feasted.

"Brother Chen, I'd like to offer you a toast with tea instead of wine!"

Li Qingyun raised his teacup and clinked it with Chen Da's, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you very much, Brother Chen, for your help in resolving the crisis in Ding'an County."

"Magistrate Li, you're too kind."

"I'm afraid I'll need Brother Chen to take on more responsibility later on and help me clear out the fleeing routs."

Li Qingyun made his request at the opportune moment. Although Xie Cang's defeated army had been defeated, the fleeing soldiers were also a big problem. Those who escaped into Cangmang Mountain were not so bad, as they might not be able to leave Cangmang Mountain alive. However, those who remained in Ding'an County were a real problem. If they were to regroup, even Li Qingyun would have a huge headache.

"Don't worry, Magistrate Li, we will definitely help!"

"That's good!"

After a hearty meal, Chen Da was settled in a guest room, but instead of lying down, he stood in front of the door waiting for something.

Before long, a soldier from the Chen family army named Ge Li hurriedly ran over and saluted Chen Da: "Deputy Commander."

Chen Da nodded and asked, "What were our army's losses today?"

Chen Dao would arrange for someone to teach everyone who joined the Chen family army to read and write. However, most of the soldiers in the Chen family army were not enthusiastic about learning to read and write, so they learned to read very slowly.

Only Ge Li, who was learning extremely quickly, was assigned as one of the clerks of the Chen family army, specifically responsible for compiling statistics on the Chen family army's battle achievements and casualties.

"Battle losses are manageable!"

Gerry quickly reported: "In today's battle, a total of 10 soldiers were seriously wounded, 30 were slightly wounded, and no one died."