Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The quarrel in the court lasted for several days. The pro-Qi faction led by Cai Jing and Zhao Liangsi and Zheng Juzhong and others engaged in endless verbal battles. Zhao Ji was very impatient with this and simply issued an edict to send Wuyi doctor Ma Zheng and Pinghai naval officers Liu Liang and Wang Mei, together with Gao Yaoshi and others, to cross the sea to Liaoyang Prefecture to discuss matters with Qi. Everyone still went out to sea from Dengzhou, and ordered the Dengzhou navy to be prepared.

But there was nothing they could do. The impact of this matter was so great that even though the imperial edict had been issued, people from all walks of life continued to speak out. Deng Xunwu, the ruling member of the Privy Council, and others wrote to the emperor to argue the disadvantages of having a hostile relationship with Liao, and advised that the two countries should maintain peace and not start a war lightly. They also said that Qi was a small country and would definitely be destroyed by Liao. If the Liao ruler questioned them, what would the government say?
This made Zhao Ji very unhappy, and he spent several days painting and writing in the imperial study, ignoring state affairs.

Soon, Tong Guan wrote a letter to the emperor on the strategy of pacifying Yan, saying, "Yunzhong is the root, Yan and Ji are the branches and leaves. We should divide our troops to harass Yan, and then use heavy troops to take Yunzhong." He wrote more than a thousand words.

It just so happened that An Yaochen, the commander of the Guang'an Army, also wrote a letter to discuss the Yanyun incident, saying: "The eunuchs are in charge of the government and are the ones who are initiating the great plan. If the Yanyun campaign starts, the border conflict will start; if the eunuchs are in power, the imperial power will be weakened." The article was concise and well-written, and he also wrote a few words to accuse Tong Guan and Cai Jing of colluding to control the government, and Zhao Liangsi of having evil intentions and intending to provoke border troubles.

After reading it, Zhao Ji praised it highly, but still did not make a final decision. The scheduled itinerary of the diplomatic envoy remained unchanged, but he still gave An Yaochen the official position of Chengwulang.

Time passed slowly, and the imperial edict was issued when the weather turned cold. People in Dengzhou did not dare to neglect the imperial order. Wang Shizhong, the governor of Dengzhou, immediately called for the judge Zong Ze.

"The emperor wants the navy to go across the sea to Liaodong for the second time. The angel will come in the spring of next year. However, there is a big thief Song Jiang in Dengzhou who is robbing houses in Erlong Mountain. If the angel comes, he will definitely harass us. I hope the judge will work together with me to wipe out this thief and restore peace to Dengzhou."

Zong Ze was not yet 60 years old, with a square face and ruddy complexion. He nodded quickly after hearing this: "I have had this intention for a long time. I have been busy with government affairs for some time. Now that the emperor has issued an order, I am willing to cooperate."

Wang Shizhong was delighted: "In this case, I will leave everything to the judge. I will go to Pinghai Navy to supervise the training of the navy officers and soldiers. Don't let the last incident happen again."

Zong Ze agreed immediately and went to make preparations. Wang Shizhong hurriedly led a team of soldiers to pacify the naval forces. He was deeply ashamed of having to return halfway during his previous mission, and of course he would not let this happen again.

It took some time for the troops to prepare, but the news of the dispatch leaked out.

……

Climb Yunshan Mountain.

The cold wind was blowing on the top of the mountain. The sound of insects had disappeared last month. The withered and yellow leaves kept falling as the branches swayed. Groups of bandits walked across the mountain path arm in arm, laughing. They found a house to play and made money. The mountain was gloomy and cold. Except for a few men guarding the village wall, few people could persist in patrolling the village.

In the Juyi Hall, Sun Xin, Le He and others were singing country tunes loudly, Mu Hong, Li Kui, Zou Yuan and others were drinking from jars of wine, and Zou Run, Mu Chun, Jie Zhen, Jie Bao and others who were surrounding them were cheering loudly.

At the top, two figures were sitting side by side, and voices could be heard from time to time.

"Mr. Jialiang, I really don't want to let you go." Song Jiang pulled Wu Yong's hand and squeezed it hard, then sighed, "But if I leave you here any longer, I'm afraid that Brother Tianwang will blame me for not understanding the ways of the world."

"Brother Song Jiang, rest assured. The Heavenly King is not that kind of person." Wu Yong had drunk some wine and smelled a little drunk. He smiled and said, "Besides, there are many people there and there is little danger. It won't be a big deal if I don't go back for a while."

"That's good." Song Jiang sighed, "I'm afraid that the Heavenly King will blame me for leaving you here for such a long time." He looked down and saw a few new faces talking together, "If it weren't for the professor, I wouldn't be able to expand the village."

Kong Ming and Kong Liang felt something was wrong. They looked up and saw Song Jiang looking at them. They raised their wine bowls and took a sip. At the same time, they urged the people around them, "Brother Wu Song, keep talking. How did you survive the flying centipede?"

"Yes, Brother Wu Song, speak quickly." The man named Zhang Qing also urged.

"This is brother Song Jiang's own ability. I just helped to come up with some ideas and united the mountain strongholds in several surrounding military states." Wu Yong showed a satisfied smile on his face and stroked his beard: "If it weren't for brother's great reputation, how could these heroes join Erlongshan so easily? They don't deserve brother's praise." As the two were talking, someone ran in like a whirlwind. Song Jiang and Wu Yong were chatting when they suddenly felt a black shadow standing in front of them, and then the wind blew on their faces, and their beards fluttered.

Song Jiang calmed down and said jokingly: "Brother Dai Zong, why are you so anxious? Is there a flood somewhere?"

"My brother, don't make jokes at this time." Dai Zong said hoarsely. Feeling thirsty, he looked at the table, grabbed the wine pot, opened the lid, drank a big gulp, took a breath, wiped his mouth, and said, "There is something wrong with the government troops in Dengzhou. I heard in the city that they are coming to attack us."

After saying that, he gasped.

The sounds of singing, talking and drinking suddenly stopped, and a few rough men looked over here.

Before Song Jiang opened his mouth, Wu Yong's expression changed: "Is the news accurate? Have you checked near the military camp?"

"How come there isn't any?" Dai Zong looked at Song Jiang while speaking. "After hearing about it, I went straight to the granary in the city. There were carts loading grain there. I also went to the military camp outside the city. The soldiers in the camp were preparing for war. I'm afraid they will go out soon."

Pong bang——

The wine jar smashed to the ground and broke into several pieces. Li Kui's eyes were red and he wiped the black hair on his chest: "Who dares to mess with us!" He said to Song Jiang: "Don't worry, brother, let Tie Niu lead the people down the mountain, kill the bird official of Dengzhou first, and then go to Tokyo to seize the bird throne of the bird emperor, so that brother can satisfy his desire to be an emperor."

"Nonsense! Get out of here, you black bastard."

Song Jiang glared at him, but Li Kui was not angry. He just walked aside angrily, mumbling something. This timely rain turned to Dai Zong and said, "Brother, do you know who is leading the army?"

"It is said that Zong Ze, the prefect of this prefecture, is the governor."

Song Jiang blinked and looked at Sun Li who was sitting quietly in the corner. The yellow-faced man was silent for a moment and shook his head: "Zong Tongpan has been here for a short time, and I don't know what kind of person he is. I only know that he is a good official who speaks for the people. Many people in Dengzhou have saved rent that was imposed on them out of thin air because of him."

"Since he is a good official, let's spare his life." Li Kui listened to him and turned around and shouted.

"Tie Niu! If you keep talking, get out."

"...If you don't want to talk, then don't talk." Li Kui turned his head away and complained, "This one can talk, that one can talk, but I have to be dumb."

He thought he spoke softly, but his voice was so loud that his complaints could be heard. Song Jiang did not argue with him, but just looked at Wu Yong and said, "Professor, the stronghold is facing an attack by the government troops. Why don't you leave before they come? If it's too late, it will be difficult to leave."

Wu Yong shook his head and said, "Brother, if the government troops had not come to attack me, I would have left. But now that the government troops are coming, I cannot leave no matter what. Otherwise, people will criticize me for being disloyal."

Song Jiang looked at him for a few seconds and nodded: "Okay, let's fight the government troops together!" (End of this chapter)