The yard surrounded by bricks is very large, with several rows of houses inside, and there are lights on in several rooms in front.
The row of houses at the end was brightly lit.
From outside, Li Yunze could hear the clanging of ironware inside, the clanking of hammer heads, and a symphony of various sounds.
There were guards guarding the door, and there were people walking around in the yard.
Li Yunze jumped directly from the tree into the yard, avoiding the crowd, and went to the brightly lit backyard first.
He stood in the dark shadow and looked inside. There were four rooms in the backyard, and each room was very large.
In several rooms, there were hundreds of shirtless men forging iron, with a pile of finished and semi-finished weapons beside them.
All of these people were dark and thin, and the ribs on their bodies were clearly visible.
An old man with a hunchback walked around the room holding a whip.
The old man's face was wrinkled and he had triangular eyes.
He looked at people with a gloomy look, which made people panic.
He was followed by several guards with swords.
Li Yunze noticed that there were men working in the iron industry, secretly looking at the old man while they were working, with fear and hatred in their eyes.
And they all had marks of whipping on their bodies. Some of the thin men had inflammation on their backs, and the wounds looked red and swollen.
Li Yunze concluded that these blacksmiths must not have come willingly, and were either deceived or forced.
If so, it will be easier to deal with later.
Li Yunze went to look at the front rows again. Apart from women and iron men, there were more than 200 people left who should have been sent by King Xia from the military camp.
Once he found out the situation here clearly, he immediately went down the mountain.
The reinforcements that Yan Yi went to Hu Yangcheng to call for had also arrived.
Li Yunze asked a few guards to watch the hostages here, and he led the people up Yunxiu Mountain again.
When preparing to attack, he told his subordinates, "Some of those blacksmiths were captured. As long as they don't resist, don't touch them.
The remaining guards are to be killed without leaving any survivors. Try not to let them escape. "
"yes."
Yan Yi and the two guards first used Qinggong to climb over the wall.
After killing the gatekeeper, he quietly opened the door and let Li Yunze and others in.
After everyone came in, he quietly closed the door.
Li Yunze had already led people to a few houses in the front row. After a while, the sound of fighting came from the house.
The hunchbacked old man in the backyard was beating a blacksmith with a whip. Suddenly he heard the movement in the front yard and immediately rushed over with his guards.
But as soon as he walked out of the door, Li Yunze led people to kill him.
He first dealt with the few guards behind him, then looked at the hunchbacked old man and said to Yan Yi:
"Take him down and interrogate him carefully. If he doesn't fight, put him on a torture instrument. If he still insists on being stubborn, let him taste all six torture instruments."
When he came to explore the road just now, he knew that the old man had a sinister mind and was always ready to whip the blacksmiths who worked for him.
Since he likes beating people so much, let him have a taste of torture today.
Yan took the old man away and interrogated him personally.
The blacksmiths also stopped what they were doing and looked at Li Yunze expectantly.
I hope this powerful young man can save them.
They were all blacksmiths from various places. Some were deceived during the famine, and some were brought here directly after being knocked unconscious. Anyway, none of them came voluntarily.
When Li Yunze inquired, he found out that the longest among them had been here for five years. Many people have died from exhaustion in the past few years.
Because apart from eating and sleeping, they have to work the rest of the day, and they only sleep for three hours a day.
Blacksmithing is hard physical work. You work for so long every day, but you don't even get a full meal.
Even a tough man can't stand such long-term and high-intensity work.
Li Yunze watched them being tortured to a state of disgrace and sighed softly.
"Report your address, and I'll have someone prepare dry food and transportation for you, and I'll have someone take you back tomorrow."
Some people cried with joy after hearing this, and they all knelt on the ground, choking and saying, "Thank you so much, my benefactor."
An older man asked: "I don't know the name of my benefactor. When we get home, we will set up a longevity plaque for our benefactor."
Li Yunze smiled and shook his head. Just when he was about to say no, Yan Yi and Mr. Bai walked in.
Yan glanced at the blacksmiths and said, "Master, the old man recruited him and said he was from King Xia. These people are all good blacksmiths that King Xia found from all over the country to make weapons for him."
His voice was neither high nor low, but it was enough for these people to hear clearly.
Li Yunze slapped the table and cursed: "For a prince of a fiefdom to do such an unscrupulous thing for his own selfish desires, it would be an exaggeration to say that he would be cut into pieces with a thousand cuts."
He then said to the blacksmiths: "You don't have to worry. I will never break my promise when I tell someone to send you back."
At this time, Mr. Bai put forward a different opinion, "Sir, these blacksmiths were found by King Xia with great difficulty.
We will kill everyone here today. Prince Xia will definitely be furious if he finds out.
If you send the blacksmith he finally found home, King Xia will never give up so easily.
He couldn't find us and must have thought it was these blacksmiths who did it.
If he goes crazy, the blacksmiths' families may be affected. "
Li Yunze frowned and said helplessly: "Sir, you are right, what should we do now? We can't let these blacksmiths stay here anymore, right?"
Bai Yuannian thought for a moment and said, "Young master, why don't you take them to your village first and let them return home after a year and a half? By then, Prince Xia will have forgotten about this and they will be safe."
Li Yunze looked at the blacksmiths, "What do you think? Do you want to come with me first? It's okay if you don't want to. I will prepare the transportation and dry food for you, and you can make your own decision."
The blacksmiths were shocked when they heard that the person who imprisoned them here was actually the famous Prince Xia.
They were even more afraid that their family would be harmed after escaping this time, and they did not dare to go back.
The blacksmiths discussed it and decided to follow Li Yunze, but they were afraid that so many of them would be too troublesome for their benefactor.
The older blacksmith asked: "Benefactor, would it be inconvenient for more than a hundred of us to follow you?
Or we can find a hilltop to stay for a while, and then we can go home after the wind has passed. "
Li Yunze said cheerfully: "My house is big, so there is no inconvenience. If you feel embarrassed, just go there and help with some work. But don't worry, it's not a heavy job."
"Thank you so much, my benefactor."
Those men rushed to express their opinions again, "Benefactor, we can work and are not afraid of exerting our strength. Whatever we need to do in the future, our benefactor's instructions will be followed."
Li Yunze smiled and nodded. He didn't plan to let these people strike.
Their bodies, if they continue to do this, they may be dead.
He plans to let these blacksmiths work as teachers at the base to help him train some blacksmiths.
These people are very good at their craftsmanship. If they can teach some apprentices, then their army will not be short of equipment in the future.
Li Yunze took some wound medicine and gave it to the blacksmith, asking them to clean the wound.
Apply the medicine. Now that the weather is getting hotter and hotter, the inflamed wound will not be treated.
The rotten area will become larger and larger, and by then it will be too late to use any medicine.
The blacksmiths took the medicine and kowtowed to him gratefully.
Li Yunze said in a gentle tone: "Don't be so polite. Go clean the wounds quickly. After we get down the mountain, I will have someone grab some medicine for you."
"Thank you so much, my benefactor. Thank you so much."
Early the next morning, they packed their things and prepared to go down the mountain.
All the finished and semi-finished weapons were hauled away and loaded into ten carriages.
Yan Yi came over to ask for instructions, "Master, what should I do with the hunchbacked old man?"
Li Yunze was cleaning a sword and said without raising his head: "Kill him."
"Yes." Yan went out as soon as he got the order.
Li Yunze took the sword out of its scabbard and gently touched the pattern on it with his hand.
This sword is all crystal clear and snow-white, with a faint cold light flowing on it. There is a flying phoenix carved on the scabbard, which is lifelike and vivid.
The sword was found by Yan Yi in the hunchbacked old man's room. He took a liking to it at first sight and planned to take it back and give it to Tongtong.
He has been out for two months and misses her often.
I wonder if that girl misses him as much as he does?
