Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 264 Inquiry
At noon, Taoist Dong invited Zhao Zhen to stay in the temple and eat some plain noodles. During the meal, Zhao Zhen asked about Liu Taigong's daughter.

Taoist Dong smiled complacently and said, "Master, is there anything I can't do if I take action? I have already persuaded Master Liu. I have found out that Hu Cheng is the brother of your favorite concubine and he is already 70% interested. I have also given him an idea. I want him to move his family to Dulonggang and make them neighbors with the Hu family. Then he can take care of them from time to time."

"These past few days, Mr. Liu has been asking about the Hu family. If Hu Cheng has no bad record, the marriage will be settled."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen thanked Taoist Dong and then said goodbye and left.

After returning to Baishi Manor, Zhang Qi and other farmhands dispersed, and Zhao Zhen also went back to his room to rest for a while before going to the meeting room to handle official business.

In the hall, all the heroes arrived early and sat down on both sides. After greeting each other, Zhao Zhen sat at the head.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhao Zhen said, "I have asked you all to come here today for a few things. The first thing is to go to Yan'an Prefecture to bring Lu Zhishen's family here. The journey is long, and I wonder which brother is willing to go."

The six people in the hall who were good at gathering information and had rich experience in the underworld, including [Golden Leopard] Yang Lin, [Flea on the Drum] Shi Qian, [Stone General] Shi Yong, [White Day Rat] Bai Sheng, [Advancer] Li San, and [Golden Retriever] Duan Jingzhu, all stood up and vied to go.

Seeing that everyone was vying for the first place, Zhao Zhen smiled and asked Wu Yong, "What do you think, military advisor?"

Wu Yong said: "Sir, I think it is better for Brother Yang Lin to take a few companions with him. If we want to be absolutely sure, we can also let Li San go with them."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, brothers Yang Lin and Li San, for your hard work."

Zhao Zhen took out the letter Lu Zhishen had written long ago and handed it to Yang Lin, then said, "In addition to moving Lu Zhishen's family, there are two other things we need to do on this trip. These two things are not mandatory."

"The first one was mentioned by Brother Shi Jin, the Nine-Pattern Dragon. He has a master who is also the instructor of the Imperial Guards, named Wang Jin. I heard that he has joined the old Minister Zhong Jinglie of Yan'an Prefecture. Brother, I will go and find out. If we can find Wang Jin, we can see if we can invite him here."

"The second thing is also to look for someone. Brother Sun An once said that he had a brother named Qiao Lie who could call the wind and rain. Now he is on the run in the martial arts world. Brothers can go look for him."

Then he took out two letters and handed them to Yang Lin.

Wu Yong said: "Since this man knows magic and has escaped to Jianghu, I think he will disguise himself as Quanzhen to make a living. Brothers, you can ask more Taoists along the way. Even if he is not the one, if you can invite a Taoist, it will be worth the trip."

After hearing this, Yang Lin and Li San bowed in agreement. They then stood up, made some preparations, took five or seven servants with them, mounted their horses, left Liangshan County, and headed west.

Zhao Zhen continued, "From what Brother Bai Sheng said, the general of Jingyang Town, Yun Tianbiao, has been very obedient and has not made any unusual moves in recent days. I have discussed with the two military advisors and asked all brothers to take Liangshan County as the center and go around to look for heroes. If you see any, please come to Liangshan County. This will prevent you from missing heroes like the Tiger Fighting Captain Wu Erlang."

After hearing this, everyone agreed.

Zhu Wu said, "The four brothers do not need to choose a place. You can go together or alone. Each of you can bring five or seven companions. Just look for it in Dongping Prefecture, Dongchang Prefecture, Jizhou Prefecture, and Yizhou. There is a man in Dongchang Prefecture called [Purple Bearded Earl] Huangfu Duan. This man is good at judging horses and treating livestock. The great official has promised him a training position, in charge of treating livestock and breeding good breeds in the whole county. I think it will not be difficult to invite this man. How about asking brother Duan Jingzhu to invite him?"

Shi Qian said: "I am willing to go with brother Duan Jingzhu, so that we can take care of each other on the way."

Zhao Zhen said, "Alright, then Brother Bai Sheng and Brother Shi Yong will also go together, and you four can discuss the route on your own. The time limit is one month, don't delay too long." The four of them bowed and agreed. They said goodbye to Zhao Zhen and others and went down to prepare.

Only Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, Xiao Rang and Pei Xuan were left in the hall. Zhao Zhen told them that Ling Zhen would be the head of the artillery and bird gun divisions today and that he was planning to build a gunpowder and artillery workshop. Because he needed to purchase a lot of materials, he asked Xiao Rang and Pei Xuan to cooperate.

Xiao Rang said, "I have heard of gunpowder, but the county government will naturally cooperate with sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal and other materials. Casting cannons and bird guns will probably cost a lot of money. Does the great official have any rules?"

Zhao Zhen said: "Let's not talk about gunpowder and matchlock. The cost of making guns and cannons should not exceed ten thousand strings of cash. Brother, you can talk to brother Ling Zhen about it."

Xiao Rang responded. Then he said, "Sir, now that the villages have been rebuilt and the village heads appointed by the county have taken up their posts, should Dulonggang be assigned a township head?"

Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, do you have any candidate in mind?"

Xiao Rang asked, "How about [Scholar in White] Wang Lun?"

Wu Yong also said: "I will be the county school instructor. There are two instructors and one county school principal. In fact, we don't need so many people. Transferring one person will not affect the affairs of the schools in the county. Although Brother Wang Lun is not very generous, he is indeed capable. Letting him judge the affairs of the village is also a good use of his talents."

Zhao Zhen nodded in agreement and said, "There are many villages in Liangshan. Should we also appoint a village chief?"

Pei Xuan said: "Your Excellency is right. The township head is just a temporary official. His most important duty is to inspect the local area, monitor illegal activities, and ensure that the county's orders are delivered to the villages. Liangshan is vast, so we need to have a township head, or even two township heads."

Xiao Rang said, "After all, this position is newly created, let's see if it is useful. Liangcun Lizhang Sun Zheng is loyal, so why not let Sun Zheng take the position temporarily. Tian Dasheng will be promoted to Liangcun Lizhang, and the county will transfer a clerk to serve as deputy Lizhang."

Zhao Zhen said: "Let's do it this way, see the effect after implementation, and accumulate experience."

Zhu Wu stood up and said, "Sir, the county has recruited a lot of new soldiers these days, and they are all training in Wanzi City. There is only Coach Zhang now, and training new soldiers is time-consuming and laborious. Should we select a few people to go and help?"

Zhao Zhen said: "Please ask the brothers from the two camps of Xueshan Peak and Haoshan Peak to take turns to go and help us."

After hearing this, Zhu Wu nodded and sat down.

Xiao Rang said, "Sir, it's time to go to the salt fields to transport salt. Now [Pioneer] Li San is the visiting leader, [Tiger Claw] Yan Liu went to Hujia Village to be the deputy leader, and [Hidden Rabbit] Li Wang is the patrol leader in the government office. The position of the caravan manager is vacant. I wonder if you have any arrangements?"

Zhao Zhen thought about this, and after a moment's silence, he said, "Brother Yun is smart, but he is still young and needs help. What do you think, brothers?"

Pei Xuan said: "There are many heroes in the county, each with his own duties, it is indeed difficult to decide."

Wu Yong said: "Sir, I have a good candidate here."

(End of this chapter)