Transmigrating into a Turbulent Era as a Soldier, Starting with Marrying a Wife

Li Yuan waved his hand and said,

"Madam Xu, you've misunderstood."

"It's not that there's a problem with your armor, but that my current financial resources are limited."

"I haven't been able to equip all my brothers with armor, and I feel somewhat uneasy about it."

Hearing that this was the reason,

Madam Xu felt even more favorably disposed towards this Master Li.

She rarely saw an officer who used his own money to arm his subordinates.

Seeing that Li Yuan valued the lives of his men so much,

Madam Xu nodded secretly in approval.

After a moment's thought, she said to Li Yuan,

"Master Li, don't worry. I have a solution. Please wait a moment."

With that, she turned and went into the inner courtyard.

Before long, Madam Xu returned.

In her hands, she carried several items.

Li Yuan smiled when he saw them.

They were three heart protectors made of refined iron.

Madam Xu said generously,

"Master Li treats his brothers well, and I admire that from the bottom of my heart. Consider these three heart protectors my gift to you."

Li Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and thanked Madam Xu with a bow.

He took the three heart protectors Madam Xu handed him,

turned around, and gave them to Cui Ping, Liu Heihu, and Uncle Fu.

The heart protector was essentially a round piece of metal armor, with four ropes attached, that could be tied around the chest and abdomen to protect vital areas.

Having this on their chest would increase their chances of survival.

The three happily accepted the heart protectors and quickly fastened them around their waists.

Perhaps it was the sight of Madam Xu shirtless, forging iron, that was too captivating.

Li Yuan shook his head, pushing this emotion out of his mind for now.

He told himself that now was not the time.

Leaving the Xu family's ironware shop,

Li Yuan and his five companions walked down the street.

The shop assistant from the weapons shop on the front street stared at them in disbelief.

The armor they were wearing was clearly newly bought.

The shop assistant had assumed that the five of them would be furious and leave as soon as they saw that the craftsman was a woman.

But he hadn't expected that they would actually buy armor there.

The shop assistant had sharp eyes, and after a rough estimate,

he knew that this was a big deal worth thirty or forty strings of cash.

He hadn't expected that these soldiers actually had money.

If he hadn't been rude to them, wouldn't this business have been his?

If he had closed their deal, his commission would have been at least a string of cash.

Thinking about missing out on such a big deal, the shop assistant couldn't help but stomp his feet in regret.

Ignoring the dispirited shop assistant,

Li Yuan and his five companions drove the carriage out of the military fort and continued towards the county town.

This time, Li Yuan's goal was to find some ways to make money in the county town.

Those women kneeling at the gate were too pitiful.

Li Yuan wanted to give them a chance to survive as well.

Leaving the military fort, they headed south on the main road to the county town.

After walking for a while, they all felt a little strange.

For some reason, the number of pedestrians on the road seemed to be much fewer than usual.

They stopped an old man who was passing by and were about to ask him a question,

but when the old man saw Li Yuan and his companions carrying swords and spears, he trembled in fear and kowtowed repeatedly.

Upon closer questioning, they learned that

he had mistaken Li Yuan and his companions for bandits robbing on the road.

This made the five of them not know whether to laugh or cry.

Li Yuan explained the situation to the old man, and only then did he realize that they were soldiers, and he finally calmed down.

He told Li Yuan and his companions that

recently, various bandits had been causing a lot of trouble on the road.

Everyone was very careful, so those who could stay at home would not go out.

Li Yuan pondered slightly after hearing this news.

After seeing the old man off, Li Yuan and his companions continued on their way.

Weren't they afraid of bandits?

Of course not. Five soldiers carrying swords and spears, fully armed,

ordinary small groups of bandits really wouldn't dare to provoke them.

After walking for nearly half an hour,

they suddenly heard the sound of shouting and fighting ahead.

The five of them exchanged glances, and their hearts were all startled.

Li Yuan waved his hand, and Cui Ping, who was good at reconnaissance, ran ahead to check the situation first.

The other four quickly checked their weapons and armor.

Before long, Cui Ping ran back and said in a low voice,

"There's a small group of bandits ahead, five or six people, robbing a carriage."

"Head Li, should we help?"

Li Yuan asked in a deep voice,

"What kind of weapons do the bandits have? Were you able to see clearly?"

Cui Ping immediately replied,

"These bandits are all wearing coarse linen clothes, each wielding an iron knife. I didn't see any bows and arrows, and they don't have horses."

Li Yuan nodded and said,

"As soldiers, we have a duty to protect our hometown."

"Okay, let's go take a look and see where these bandits came from."

Li Yuan's decision to bring several of his men to kill bandits was also carefully considered.

As soldiers, they would eventually have to go to the battlefield.

The sooner they could adapt to fighting, the better.

Rather than being flustered and at a loss on the battlefield,

it would be better to bring them out in advance to hone their skills.

When Li Yuan heard that banditry had been rampant on the road recently,

he had the idea of bringing four of his men to practice on the bandits.

Today's equipment change was also to prepare for this.

Several of his men also understood this principle.

They all obeyed Li Yuan's arrangements.

Soon, Li Yuan and Cui Yong, two armored soldiers, took the lead, opening the way.

Cui Ping, Liu Heizi, and Uncle Fu followed closely behind at a distance of five steps to provide support.

The five drew their swords and spears, arranged themselves in a formation that could support each other, and approached the front.

Pushing aside the bushes, they saw five or six bandits wielding knives and swords, shouting and yelling.

They were pulling people down from a carriage.

The people in the carriage were struggling and crying incessantly.

A corpse was lying on the ground, and judging from the clothes, it should be the coachman.

Li Yuan didn't rashly let the four of them rush over.

Instead, he first picked up his bow and stood thirty steps away from the bandits.

He drew his bow and aimed his arrow, shooting at the bandits.

With the sound of the arrow piercing through the air, the bandits were startled.

But it was too late. The first arrow directly hit a bandit in the chest.

He screamed and fell to the ground.

His companions were shocked by the arrow and began to look around in a panic.

Li Yuan drew another feather arrow from his quiver, raised his hand, and shot another arrow.

This second arrow hit a bandit's thigh as he was running.

He rolled and fell to the ground.

Clutching his wounded thigh, he wailed in pain.

Li Yuan was about to shoot a third arrow, but at this time, the frightened bandits began to dodge in all directions.

Li Yuan saw that it was almost time. He had to leave a few heads for his men to practice.

So he drew his long knife and waved it forward, and the five roared and rushed over.

The bandits, who were suddenly attacked, were terrified.

Before the bandits could react,

Li Yuan and Cui Yong, relying on their armor, rushed directly into the bandit group, wielding their long knives and slashing fiercely.

Cui Ping and the other three, who were following closely behind, were not willing to be outdone.

Wielding their long spears and knives, they attacked and killed the remaining bandits.

The battle was short and intense.

There were only six bandits in total.

One was shot dead by Li Yuan's first arrow.

In just one exchange, two more were killed by Li Yuan and Cui Yong. The remaining one was still injured by an arrow. The two who were still alive turned to run.

Cui Ping and Liu Heihu caught up and stabbed them to death from behind with their spears.

Uncle Fu ran a little slower. By the time he ran to the front, the last bandit had also been stabbed to death by Liu Heizi.

Uncle Fu was annoyed and regretful that he had not been able to grab a bandit's head.