Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The news that bandits were wreaking havoc in Yiyang County spread quickly.

After the city gates were opened, the dead bodies were pulled out of the city in carts. The temperature had risen quite a bit by then, and many people felt hot even wearing coarse cloth clothes during the day. The bodies had been left in the city for a few days and had already begun to rot.

When the wind blew, the stench made many young and strong people pushing the carts unable to adapt and they vomited.

But more people were still numbly pushing the wooden planks covered with mats forward, and lying on the cart were their relatives.

Many merchants, travelers, and gangsters who traveled far and wide were silent when they saw the tragic situation in Yiyang. Several young knights who had just started out in the martial arts world and had a strong sense of justice threatened to kill the big thief Song Jiang and avenge the people of Yiyang, and were then dragged away by their commanders.

The words warning people not to act stubbornly were carried into people's ears by the wind, but the person responsible for reporting the news had already run away to the northern government office.

Henan Prefecture, government office.

The old trees in the courtyard were swaying, and their branches were blown over the eaves by the wind. The door below was wide open, and several generals in tight clothes with swords on their waists stood there with gloomy faces. Then there was the sound of hands slapping on the wooden table.

"The Fangshan bandit went to Yongxingjun Road, and then came back to do evil in Yiyang. He is provoking us. Do you think that no one in Jingxi can stop him?!"

The room was brightly lit. In the first seat sat the sturdy Zhai Jin, who was speaking indignantly. Below him on the right were his brother Zhai Xing, his nephew Zhai Cong, and Yang Wei, a general under Zhai Xing. On the left were several of his strong generals and his son Zhai Liang, who had just returned from Bianliang after delivering military intelligence.

Zhai Xing waited until his brother had finished venting his anger before he spoke: "Getting angry now will not help. The thieves have already fled to Ruzhou. There are many mountains and dangerous places over there, which is no less dangerous than Fangzhou."

"It would be great if the Prime Minister could send troops here." Zhai Liang said.

Zhai Jin glared at him and said, "The old lady is busy with many things every day, how can she handle everything quickly?" He paused and said, "It's a pity that Xin Xingzong, Wang Yuan and other generals of the Western Army have already returned, otherwise they would have been a help."

"You can call on the clansmen and local soldiers to help us." Zhai Xing said in a deep voice: "As long as the reward is enough, they will definitely not hesitate when they go to the battlefield."

"That's right, brother." Zhai Jin nodded, stood up, and took two steps: "Then let's do this. There are still a lot of weapons and armor in the warehouse. If we take them out, there will be enough for about 700 people."

"There are still some farmlands in Ruzhou." Zhai Cong, who was standing below his father, suddenly said, "These people may not be good at other things, but they are good at calling for help from friends. How about..."

"No." Zhai Jin didn't say anything. His father Zhai Xing waved his hand and said, "If you get involved in such a rotten and smelly place, you will never be able to get rid of the stench in your lifetime. It's better not to mention it again."

Zhai Xing tilted his head and thought about it, and finally did not insist.

After all, over the past few years, Kua Tian had caused countless people in various military states to lose their homes, and now his reputation has become infamous. He was just anxious to stop the thief first and didn't really want to have anything to do with him.

Zhai Jin looked at the faces of the others, nodded and said, "Let's start preparing. Recruit local soldiers and militia in three days. On the fourth day, we will march to Ruzhou and leave Song Jiang and other bandits in the west of Beijing."

Everyone answered yes in unison and then walked out of the government office.

……

Compared with the tension in Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou has always been shrouded in the shadow of Kuatianso.

The Rice Field Office developed rapidly at that time. After the west of Beijing, offices were established in Hebei, Shandong and other places, and later they were renamed Kuatian Office.

After Yang Jian's death, his successor Li Yan took his wealth-making ability to the extreme, robbing and plundering with impunity.

People in various places were complaining bitterly, but the government still had to obey the orders of the land-control office, and there was not even a place to complain. It was like the saying "crying to the sky and the earth, but no one answered" was true.

Ruzhou was one of the first places to be affected by the disaster, and its people suffered even more.

The Kongtong Mountain range, with its hills and forests stretching for who knows how many miles, had more than 20,000 bandits driving carts and leading soldiers scattered among them, like a drop of water entering a lake, without the slightest trace being seen.

The thieves, both big and small, restrained their minions and sat down in a cool place without setting up any tents. They ate the looted food, roasted the captured chickens and sheep, drank wine and boasted.

After the last batch of messy minions were settled, a sturdy figure quickly ran to the leader's position closest to the inside.

"What a place! What a place!"

Mu Hong ran to Song Jiang with an excited look on his face and said, "Brother, we have been in Ruzhou for only three to five days, and more than three thousand people have joined us voluntarily. This place is truly a blessed place."

"...It is a blessed land for us." Song Jiang looked inexplicably sad: "It may not be a blessing for the people and the court."

The sunlight filtered through the tender green leaves, casting mottled shadows on the people below. Mu Hong's smile froze, and he inexplicably didn't know what to say.

Wu, who was standing next to him, stroked his beard and sighed, "The government is harsh and cruel, and it devours people and their families. If it weren't for the law, who would be willing to smear their innocent body in this outlaw forest?"

Mu Hong looked at Song Jiang, then at Wu Yong, and opened his mouth to speak but stopped. After a while, he muttered, "Brother, military advisor, we are just hanging out in the green forest now, why should we care about the government so much?"

Song Jiang shook his head: "You can't say that. Although we are in the Green Forest, we are just enforcing justice. When we encounter such a tragic incident, we must intervene."

Wu Yong raised his eyebrows: "Brother, what are you doing..."

Song Jiang reached out and scratched his long beard: "Bring a few officials with bad reputations here, and hang them on the roadside as a warning to the public. Then the people of Ruzhou will know that we are a righteous army."

Mu Hong was stunned for a moment. Wu Yong nodded with a twinkle in his eyes. He turned to look at Mu Hong's puzzled face and smiled. He walked over and whispered, "Brother, you think our reputation is not loud enough, so you are trying to build momentum."

Mu Hong began to understand a little. His brother always talked about surrendering, but the prerequisite for surrendering was that you had to get the emperor's approval. Their reputation in Jingxi Road was still a little low, so they had to make some noise first.

However, they didn't know that their names had already been reported to the capital, but due to the long journey, the people who came to recruit them had not arrived yet.

"I will go and inform a few leaders, break into a few of his cities, and capture the people and chop them up." Mu Hong, who had figured it out, patted his chest and thought for a while: "Brother, where should we attack first?"

Song Jiang looked at Wu Yong and saw that he was also looking at him. He then hesitated for a moment and looked towards the south: "Lushan!"

The early summer light made the mountains and fields look emerald green. The active thieves came out of the forest where they had been hiding one after another and headed towards the Lushan County in the south in a mighty force.

It was at this time that the brothers Zhai Jin and Zhai Xing, who had assembled their troops and equipped their weapons, entered the territory of Ruzhou with hundreds of organized cavalry and 5,000 carefully selected infantry.

The sunlight shone on the woods on both sides. The smooth and straight official road was shaded by the trees. The caravans and travelers passed by stepped aside to let the army with flags pass quickly first.

The rumbling footsteps kicked up a cloud of dust, causing those who were trying to avoid it to cover their mouths and noses with their hands. War horses were guarding the brothers in the center of the army who looked similar, and their cold spears were reflecting the bright light.

The scouts were riding fast horses on the road. When they saw the dust raised by the marching army, they whipped their horses and rushed towards the general who was in the center of the army.

"General, there are no traces of bandits within the twenty miles around Liang County ahead."

"No?" Zhai Jin and Zhai Xing looked at each other. Zhai Jin frowned and said, "It seems that the bandits did not attack the state capital directly as we expected. They either continued to move eastward to the area from Longxing to Yingchang Prefecture, or they moved south to Lushan to the vicinity of Ye County."

"He is someone who can resist his desires."

Zhai Xing shook his head. "Although I knew that Song Jiang was quite courageous and gave up the Fangshan stronghold he had managed for several years, I never thought that he could resist attacking the prosperous state capital. He is a potential thief."

Zhai Jin also sighed and nodded. He had fought with this bandit several months ago, but only killed the third in command of their stronghold and captured a leader. After a few battles, this guy ran away when he saw that he was at a disadvantage. He had a premonition at that time that this guy would become a trouble.

At first, he could stand by and watch him wreaking havoc on the Yongxing Army Road, but he never expected that this guy would come back to kill him again. Not to mention that the officials in Yiyang lost their lives, he was afraid that his position as the first general would be demoted because of him, so he was not in a good mood along the way.

Afterwards, the two brothers led their troops to Liang County, the capital of Ruzhou, to replenish their food and grass, and without resting, they led their troops directly southward.

However, an urgent military intelligence report was received within three days.

Lushan County was broken into by the thief Song Jiang, the treasury was looted, the county magistrate and county lieutenant were killed at Caishikou, and people from all walks of life in the city were killed. Their heads were impaled on bamboo poles and lined up dozens of feet away from the city gate.

"This guy..." Zhai Jin looked at the military situation in his hands with a complicated expression and sighed, "He is going to make a big fuss."

Zhai Xing took the intelligence and looked at it, then smiled and said, "You know what, I really admire what he did."

"...Brother." Zhai Jin looked at him helplessly.

Zhai Xing smiled and shook the papers in his hand, making a rustling sound. "Because he dared to chop up those leech-like dead men in Kuatian and stick them with bamboo poles, I will give him a shout-out."

He stopped laughing and said, "But you don't have to worry. I have never said that I would excuse his crimes. Breaking the city, killing people, and looting are unpardonable crimes. He should be captured and sent to the capital to be punished according to the law."

Zhai Jin nodded: "That's exactly the point."

At that moment, the two brothers organized their troops and marched south to Lushan. However, Song Jiang had already taken his men to the mountains. With the help of two leaders, Jie Zhen and Jie Bao, who were born as hunters, he found a road and turned back to the north through the mountains.

"A surprise attack..." Zhai Jin listened to the scout's report, looked at the mountain and pointed with his whip, "This thief is quite capable, but he thinks it's too simple. If he ran all the way from the mountains to Dengzhou and then to Nanyang, it would be difficult for us two brothers to catch up. But it's much easier now."

He turned around and shouted: "Order the entire army to march north to Longxing immediately!"

The messengers in the army ran back and forth, the sound of the orders was heard far away, and the military horns blew long notes. Those selected soldiers and militiamen did not complain, they picked up their guns and held their shields, turned around and followed the flag back.

……

In Changge in the east, officials of all ranks stood in a row and looked respectfully at Su Yuanjing who got off the boat. After receiving the imperial edict and joining the escorting troops, the palace marshal set out from Bianliang by boat and sailed along the Huimin River to Yingchang Prefecture.

"I am Chen Qi, the magistrate of Changge County, and I am here to welcome the angel. The angel has come a long way, and I have prepared a banquet. Please move a little and come over to have a chat."

Su Yuanjing said solemnly, "Your Excellency is very thoughtful, but I am busy with official duties and dare not neglect it. Please prepare your carriages and horses, and we will set off to the west."

"This……"

The officials in Changge City were a little at a loss. They looked at each other for a while, and tried to persuade Su Yuanjing a few words. Seeing that he was still determined to set off, they called people to help prepare the carriage.

He selected another three hundred soldiers and handed them over to the Dang brothers. After Su Yuanjing set off westward, he turned back with a sigh.

Finally, an important official came to Beijing, but unfortunately I failed to curry favor with him...

……

The candlelight burned quietly in the military tent, with occasional sounds of writing and drawing. Amid the flickering lights, a majestic figure stood up. The other three people looked at him and saw him walk to the feng shui map and point at the map with his hand.

"The scouts found Song Jiang's traces in the mountains. From here, it is the shortest way to Longxing County. I guess his next step is to do the same thing as Lushan in Longxing County."

Zhai Xing retracted his finger and turned around: "Although from a selfish point of view, I still hope that this group of thieves can kill a few more insects in the field, but the harm they have done to the people is too much, so it is better to defeat them here."

He clapped his hands and pressed on a shadow. "Broken Cloud Cliff, also known as Broken Scale Cliff locally, has many trees, tall and dense grass, and many winding paths. It's a good place for an ambush."

Zhai Jin stood up and walked over, took a look, and thought for a moment: "Good, I'll do as you say, brother."

……

The wind rolled up the clouds and mist, and the clouds and mist on the mountains near Lushan were blown forward.

In the cave, Song Jiang stood up from where he was lying, touched his wet hair, and a helpless expression appeared on his face.

A trusted henchman brought warm water and helped his boss wash up. Then he left. Song Jiang shook his dizzy head and walked to the more spacious cave outside.

Torches were lit and held by the minions. When the dozens of men of different shapes and sizes waiting here saw him coming, they stood up quickly, clasped their fists and said, "Brother!"

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers." Song Jiang smiled and went to sit on the big bluestone in front. "I asked someone to call all the brothers over. I want to talk about the attack on Longxing County."

Glancing down, in the flickering light of torches, a group of strong men had expressions of some happy and some indifferent on their faces.

Song Jiang pondered for a moment and said, "We have made a big fuss here, but wandering around all day is not a good idea. In my opinion, when we capture Longxing this time, we should kill the official in charge of the fields, but we should keep the county magistrate to help us connect with the court."

"Brother, are you going to recruit us again?!"

A resounding voice was heard, and Wu Song, dressed as a monk, came out, his face full of indignation: "This court is rotten from top to bottom. My brother keeps talking about surrendering all day, which only makes the hearts of the brothers cold."

Sun Li turned his head slightly and glanced at him without saying anything.

"That's right, what the hell!" Li Kui walked out, patting his open chest: "If it were me, we should just do as we did before, conquer Longxing and kill the county magistrate. Even if my brother is crowned emperor, we are all generals.

Longxing is such a good place name, it would be a pity if it were not like this! "

"Not bad!"

"Tie Niu is right!"

The crowd below suddenly started to make noises, and Song Jiang in front narrowed his eyes slightly. (End of this chapter)