Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 492 Scouting
At that moment, Gao Shide endured the pain and asked people to count out the tens of thousands of strings of money in the treasury and give them all to Gai Tianxi. Tens of thousands of strings of money were not all gold and silver. Xingren Prefecture produced silk, so Gao Shide naturally looted a lot of it. He asked Gai Tianxi to escort two thousand pieces of fine silk and six thousand strings of gold and silver ingots to the border to stop the war.

Gai Tianxi said, "I will go there in person to see what kind of person this Prime Minister Zhao is. Liang Dujian will stay in the city to guard against any unexpected events. Please ask Prime Minister to dispatch the defense officer Zhang Jinbang to accompany him."

Gao Shide listened and nodded.

After bidding farewell to Gao Shide, Gai Tianxi and his entourage escorted the carriages and left the city, heading towards Zhao Zhen's camp. Also accompanying them was Gao Shide's confidant Fu Ji.

This Fu Ji was none other than the younger brother of Fu An, the "Gan Touniao". Fu An had plotted to murder Lin Chong and had him killed in Cangzhou prison. Gao Shide stayed by his side and acted as a hanger-on.

Seeing this huge fortune being given to others, Fu Ji volunteered to go to Fan County in front of Gao Shide.

There was no further conversation along the way, and the group arrived at Zhao Zhen's camp.

Gai Tianxi handed over his name card and collected his weapons, then he met Zhao Zhen under the guidance of a soldier.

After the greeting, Zhao Zhen asked, "Why does the judge want to see me?"

Gai Tianxi said, "I came here to deliver the military funds you requested, and to talk about General Gao's protection of Pu Hong."

"Pu Hong went into the mountains and never came back, only finding a few corpses. The lord has already planned to inform Senior Brother Pu Hong. At that time, Senior Brother Pu Hong and others will also go into the mountains to search, and they will inevitably enter the territory of Liangshan. They all came from overseas and have not received any education. They all rely on their martial arts, which is why they are favored by the Grand Marshal and hired as guards. I am here to inform you in advance, and I hope you will not blame me."

Zhao Zhen listened, thought for a moment, nodded and said: "That's fine. As long as he doesn't do anything evil, no one will trouble him."

After hearing this, Gai Tianxi bowed and said goodbye.

After seeing off Gai Tianxi and his party, Chao Gai said, "Sir, this Magistrate Gai seems to have something else in his words."

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "It seems like he is reminding me to be on guard against this monk Pu Hong. But there is no need to worry too much. There are many heroes in Liangshan. Who can be afraid of this guy?"

After that, I no longer cared.

"Brothers, you have been confronting Liang Heng here for many days, and the soldiers have worked hard, so we must reward them. Today, we just happened to get some fine silk. According to the list, you can reward them with half a piece to three pieces of silk as a reward."

Soon, the soldiers heard the reward and cheered loudly.

After resolving the confrontation between the two states, Zhao Zhen did not stay any longer and returned to Baishi Manor early the next morning.

Before he could rest, Li San and Wang Dingliu, who were sent by Zhao Zhen to Qingzhou for intelligence, came to the village to pay a visit.

Zhao Zhen quickly invited the two to come forward. Before they could greet each other, Zhao Zhen asked, "What news have you two heard?"

Wang Dingliu was the first to speak: "Sir, we have been investigating in Qingzhou for many days. Other places are fine, but there is a place in the northwest called Zhengyi Village, which does not obey Song Jiang's control. Ma Yuan once sent more than a thousand people to suppress them, but he was defeated. After that, Yun Tianbiao from Zibo Prefecture attacked from time to time, but Ma Yuan did not dare to divide his troops, so the matter was left unresolved. This place may be of use to you, Sir."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but ask, "How could a village resist more than a thousand Qingzhou bandits?"

Wang Dingliu said, "Sir, this Zhengyi Village is called one village, but it is actually composed of three villages. One village has no less than three to five thousand households, and the three villages are Guihua Village, Liren Village, and Zhengyi Village, all of which are Hui people. They moved here and have been multiplying and living here for more than a hundred years, and their customs have not changed. They are brave and fierce, and no one from the surrounding villages dares to provoke them. Each village has no less than three thousand strong militiamen, and the Qingzhou bandits were unaware of their details, so they were defeated." "Let me find out. Each of the three villages in Zhengyi Village has a leader. The leader of Guihua Village is called Harlansheng, and the leader of Liren Village is Harlansheng's brother, called Harunsheng. There are two leaders of Zhengyi Village, one is called Sha Zhiren and the other is called Mian Yixin. These four people are all good in martial arts."

"Especially this Harlansheng. It is said that when Harlansheng was born, the whole room was filled with the fragrance of orchids, so he was named Lansheng. It is said that when he was twelve years old, he went to play in the Zhenwu Courtyard at the foot of Erlong Mountain. He fell asleep in the Ling Palace and dreamed that the Lingguan gave him a jade crab. Lansheng ate the jade crab and stung his right hand, but was awakened by his companion's shaking. Because of this, his right arm became so powerful that he could use a one-legged bronze man weighing 75 kilograms. His right hand moved like a flying bird, but his left hand could not be used."

Li San also said: "The leader of the Qingzhou bandits was killed by his bronze statue. We two were planning to pay a visit to this man, but the Sanzhuang militia would not allow us to approach, so we came back to tell my husband."

Zhao Zhen heard this and took it to heart, but he had no idea what to do. He said, "You two have done a great job in reporting the incident. Now that you have returned, you will be rewarded. You can rest for two days. I still have room for you."

Wang Dingliu heard this and said, "Sir, we two are only doing the work of gathering intelligence. We are used to running back and forth. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Li San also echoed.

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded, saying, "Brother Wang Ding, you have gained a lot of experience in the army, but now you have a place to go, and you really need to contribute."

"Just give your orders, sir." Wang Dingliu replied.

Zhao Zhen said, "There is a battalion of the Heqing Army in the state, which is responsible for the defense, dredging and protection of various rivers. Originally, a person was promoted to be the supervisor, but unfortunately, his ability as a commander was not good enough. Now he has been demoted to Yuhou. How about you become the commander?"

Wang Dingliu was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately thanked him, saying, "Don't worry, sir. I was in my hometown and served in the army. I don't claim to know everything about the river, but I understand it all."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded repeatedly: "Well, take a rest for two days, go home to see your father, and then take my order and go to take up your post."

Wang Dingliu thanked him repeatedly.

"As for Brother Li San, you need to go to Bian Jing and find out the whereabouts of Brother Dai Zong. He has been gone for many days, and logically, he should have returned long ago."

After hearing this, Li San said quickly, "Sir, there is no time to lose. I will go right away."

Just as Zhao Zhen was about to speak, he saw Zhao Ji leading Dai Zong in.

When Zhao Zhen saw this, he smiled and said, "Just when I was talking about my brother, he came back."

"I'm sorry to have worried you, sir. I went to Bian Jing and should have come back earlier. But General Gao met Wanqi Rong and kept me in his mansion and wouldn't let me leave. He only released me yesterday." Dai Zong replied.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said to Wang Dingliu and Li San, "You two can go down and have a rest."

The two men left, and Zhao Zhen then asked, "Why did General Gao keep you here?"

"Sir, I reported to the Grand Commandant the news that Wanqi Rong had revealed about the Qingzhou bandits' plan to go out to sea. After hearing this, Grand Commandant Gao met with Wanqi Rong. He then took Wanqi Rong to the Grand Tutor's residence. I don't know what we talked about. After the Grand Commandant returned to the residence, he did not summon me, but just let me rest in the residence."

"For many days, I was not allowed to go out. Yesterday, they suddenly summoned me and told me that they had agreed on a reward for the lord, and asked me to go back to the state to inform the lord, and the angel would be here soon."

(End of this chapter)