Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 572 Gap
But in Liangshan County, Zhao Zhen met Lu Junyi, the famous "Jade Unicorn" in Hebei.

After the greetings, Zhao Zhen spoke first: "I didn't expect to meet you today."

Lu Junyi said with a face full of shame: "If I had known this would happen, I would have surrendered to you a long time ago. Now I have ended up like this, I have lost my face a long time ago."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "If it weren't for this, how could the reputation of the official be further enhanced? Now the news is spreading in Hebei and Shandong that the official fought against five Jin generals."

Lu Junyi said: "It's not all my credit." Then, Lu Junyi recounted what happened in Lingzhou.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen and others praised them one after another: "These two supervisors are quite capable."

Lu Junyi said, "After this trip to Lingzhou, I became friends with the two chiefs Li Cheng and Wen Da, as well as [Vanguard] Suo Chao."

"These three are not like those corrupt officials who break their promises. They let me out of the city first, and then sent people to chase me. I learned that you are short of good horses, so when I left, I exchanged 600 good horses with Li Cheng and Wen Da, two supervisors, and sent them here as pack horses. I have quite a bit of wealth in my family, and I will give them to you all, just to get a place to stay."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "I will accept the horse. I really don't want your wealth. If it gets out, people will think I am after your money. Just stay in Liangshan. If you want to be an official, you can be a military commander here."

After hearing this, Lu Junyi quickly declined, saying, "I have no merit, how dare I take up such a high position? Sir, I dare not accept your kindness."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "If it were anyone else, there would be gossip. But you are different. Not to mention that you are famous all over Shandong and Hebei, but this time you killed Zeng Sheng, Zeng Suo, and Hari Tu in battle, who would dare to disobey you? When we were fighting against the Qingzhou bandits, we also saw the two flying knives in Zeng Sheng's hand."

After hearing this, Lu Junyi hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude, and Yan Qing beside him also followed suit.

world log
Name: Lu Junyi (hero, corresponding to the star of heaven)
Nickname: Jade Unicorn
Race: Terran

Reputation: 180 (One of the three best in Hebei, handsome, unrivaled in spear and stick skills, rich man in Daming Prefecture.)
Occupation: Martial Arts Master

Secondary occupation: wealthy businessman, rich man

Level: Level 6 and Level 1 (Strength 74, Commander 55)

Attributes: Strength 62, Constitution 71, Agility 61, Spirit 35
Skills: Cavalry level 6 (horse combat, physique +6), Fighting level 5 (competition and skill competition, physique +5).

Command skills: Fighting Generals Level 6 (fighting generals in front of the battle, morale +6 if winning, -6 if losing), Charge Level 5 (leading by example, morale +5), Supervising Taxes and Labor Service Level 3 (supervising taxes and labor service, strength +3), Accounting Level 3 (applying thousands to thousands, spirit +3), Leadership Level 2 (morale +2).

Martial arts: Spear and stick (Grandmaster, using spear and stick weapons to increase force +9, seven-step Bai Niao Chao Feng Spear, one-step Zhui Ma Jin Chan Spear, seventy-two-step Tai Zu Chang Staff), Sword (Transformation, using sword-type weapons to increase force +7, forty-five-step Water and Land Sword Technique), Fists and feet (Great Accomplishment, using fist techniques to increase force +6, thirteen-step Tong Bei Pi Gua Quan, thirty-two-step Tai Zu Chang Quan)

Mounts: Thunderbolt White Dragon Horse (Level 3), Soaring Cloud Horse (Level 2)
Equipment: 10-foot-long steel spear (level 3), golden unicorn spear (level 5), golden unicorn armor (level 5), and iron sword (level 2).

Name: Yan Qing (hero, the star of heavenly skill)

Nickname: The Prodigal Son

Race: Terran

Reputation: 80 (She is good at embroidery, playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, and can do anything. She is good at all kinds of local conversations, all kinds of arts and market talk. She is very clever and knows everything.)
Occupation: Prodigal

Secondary occupations: Servant, Hunter, Sumo wrestler
Level: Level 4 and Level 3 (Strength 50, Commander 15)

Attributes: Strength 45, Constitution 52, Agility 51, Spirit 40
Skills: Sumo level 5 (boxing and kicking skills, strength +5), Cleverness level 4 (knowing the whole story, spirit +4), Hunting level 4 (arrows drop prey, constitution +4), Scouting level 2 (getting information, agility +2)

Commander Skills: Bravery Level 3 (Leading the troops, morale +3), Charge Level 2 (Leading the troops, morale +2)

Martial arts: Fists and kicks (great success, using fists and kicks gives +6 force, thirty-six clever strikes, seventy-two magical grabs, one hundred and eight mysterious punches), crossbows and arrows (great success, using crossbows and arrows gives +6 force, goose shooting), spears and sticks (minor success, using spears and sticks gives +5 force, forty-two walker sticks)

Equipment: Eyebrow-high pole (Level 2, made of 100-year-old ash wood that Yan Qing accidentally found), Sichuan crossbow short arrow (Level 4, also known as Flying Swallow Crossbow, light and silent when fired)

After seeing the two men's nature, Zhao Zhen asked them to stand up and said, "Now I have occupied the outer part of Kouzhou. I am concerned that Gao Rang, the governor of Kouzhou, is Gao Qiu's brother, so I cannot kill him, lest he become desperate and instigate the emperor to send troops. That is why I let him go."

"Now I intend to force Gao Rang to leave, do you dare to go?"

After hearing this, Lu Junyi cursed: "It's all these corrupt officials who are harming the innocent people and bringing disaster to the common people. I am not talented enough, but I want to be their enemy."

"Okay!" Zhao Zhen shouted. "Since you are willing to go to Kouzhou, please let you be the military commander and Brother Yanqing be the militia commander. In this way, together with the troops of Wei Yangyin's camp, Kouzhou will have 5,000 troops, which will be enough to support us if there is any emergency."

After hearing this, Lu Junyi and Yan Qing wanted to pay their respects again, but Zhao Zhen quickly stopped them, saying, "Kouzhou is in Hebei after all, and we can't say for sure what will happen in the future. You should first choose a house in Liangshan City as your place of residence."

"Today we are welcoming you. After a few days, when the military advisor has recruited soldiers, we will invite you to take up your post."

That night, Bai Shi Manor made a big fuss to celebrate Lu Junyi's surrender.

In the following days, Zhao Zhen hosted banquets for the two of them many times, and generals from all over Liangshan took turns to accompany them.

Zhao Zhen wanted Lu Junyi to show his skills, so for several days, they competed in martial arts and skills. Everyone admired Lu Junyi very much.

During this period, Zhen Dayi escorted a group of farmhands behind him to Liangshan County.

Since all the counties in Jingdong Road had government-run treasuries, Lu Junyi reported this to Zhao Zhen, who released most of the farmhands and gave them some money for their livelihood. The county magistrate Wang Gongren and the chief clerk Tang Ting worked together to settle the people, some to work as farmers, and some to do business.

For those who did not want to leave the Lu Mansion, Lu Junyi paid for a few farms with good water and grass and settled them down.

Zhao Zhen was very happy when Lu Junyi bought land and houses. Nowadays, the sale of land has been liberalized. What the government needs to do is to collect taxes and prevent collusion between officials and gentry to shift taxes. In addition, the government must ensure that half of the land is in the hands of the government and rented to households of the fourth and fifth grades. It is imperative that all farmers have land to cultivate. Fortunately, after the fog has been dispelled in the entire Jingdong Road, there are many wastelands, which are enough to support the situation.

As for the more than 30 supervisors of the Jieku in Lu Junyi's family, along with their assistants, Zhao Zhen took them over and sent them to various prefectures and counties. This was just right to allow supervisors to move between the various Jieku to avoid breeding pests.

The establishment of a government-run treasury was not Zhao Zhen's intention to compete with the people for profits. It was just that the profit of the treasury business was too huge, and many people pledged their treasures for the purpose.

After all: the warehouse is full of storage tanks, the oil mill is full of oil, the brocade is filled with thousands of boxes, the pearls are weighed by the bucket, and the rice is filled in the warehouse.

In this way, Zhao Zhen took over the Jieku, along with salt, copper, iron, money houses, wine and vinegar, and put them under government management.

As for the 600 war horses sent by Lu Junyi, Zhao Zhen ordered 500 of them to be sent to Lu Junyi's army.

After Huangfu Duan had taken a look, he came to report to Zhao Zhen that among the batch of horses sent by Lu Junyi, there were actually five high-quality horses.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen sent someone to invite Lu Junyi to come over. Zhao Zhen asked, "Sir, I didn't know that the horses you sent included four thousand-mile horses."

Lu Junyi said, "To be honest with you, sir, these four horses were all obtained in Lingzhou. There were originally five horses, and one of them was given to Suo Chao. I shamelessly asked Li Cheng and Wen Da for these four horses. Because of my deeds, I was able to exonerate them, so they gave me these four horses."

Zhao Zhen thanked him profusely and asked Zhao Xing to bring a set of twelve peony bone-carved floor screens to Lu Junyi as a return gift. After seeing Lu Junyi off, Zhao Zhen followed Huangfu Duan to the stables and looked at the four horses one by one.

A melon-yellow horse, a black horse, and a dark red horse, all of which were second-class BMWs. These three horses all had straight and long heads, short ears, long limbs, solid bones, and deep and broad chests. At first glance, they were all BMWs that could travel a thousand miles.

If Zhao Zhen had not had the ability to detect clearly, he would not have thought that this last horse was a thousand-mile horse. But he saw that this horse was as thin as a dry wood, as black as black gold, and its hair was curled up like felt, with a strange shape.

Zhao Zhen asked: "This horse looks weak and frail, and is about to fall down in the wind, but it is actually a fine horse."

Huangfu Duan said, "Sir, this horse has a name, called [Boneless Black Dragon Colt]. It is a unique breed of horse. Although its body is skinny, its feet are extremely strong. It can travel a thousand miles a day, and is not inferior to the Night Jade Lion."

world log
Black dragon colt (thin as a withered tree, black as black gold, with fur curled up like felt.)
Race: Horse
Level: Level 4 and Level 1

Attributes: Strength 40, Constitution 30, Agility 52, Spirit 30
Skills: running, biting, kicking, camouflage

Chen Liqing, who was following, heard this and said, "This horse doesn't even look as good as my Cloud-piercing Lightning. How can it compare to your Master's Jade Lion Shining in the Night?"

Huangfu Duan said: "If Madam doesn't believe it, you will know after a competition."

Hu Sanniang on the other side also said, "I don't believe this horse is a thousand-mile horse. Sister, why don't you ride the Cloud-piercing Lightning and I ride this Black Dragon Colt? Let's have a competition and test the horses."

Chen Liqing said, "Little sister, how about you ride on the master's jade lion, and the three of us try it together?"

Tu Qiao clapped her hands and said, "This is great. No horse can match your Jade Lion of Night. I don't believe that this skinny horse is so powerful."

After the three of them finished talking, they decided to go from Baishi Manor to the red leaf tree in Dongxi Village, make a round trip, and pick a red leaf as a proof.

Zhao Zhen also wanted to see the capabilities of this black dragon horse, so he acted as a referee.

The three of them set out from Baishishan Valley, circled the city half a circle, and traveled more than twenty miles. Zhao Zhen sat down and waited in the Grinding Knife Pavilion. After about a cup of tea, Tu Qiao rode the Zhaoye Jade Lion and rushed into the manor first, followed by Hu Sanniang riding the Chugu Mo Dragon Horse. The third one was Chen Liqing, who spoke first.

After a competition, everyone looked at this [Black Dragon Horse] with new eyes.

Back to Daming Prefecture, after dealing with the envoys from the Jin Kingdom, Daming Prefecture has returned to its former glory.

The court neither rewarded nor punished Liang Zhongshu and Huang Zhensheng. The eunuchs Li Cheng and Wen Da were demoted to the position of training envoys, but they were still in charge of the troops.

Because the commander of the army, Zhang Kui, died, Gao Qiu recommended a man to take up the post. This man was also a fierce general who had served at the border. His surname was Dongfang and his given name was Hui. He was as strong as a tiger. Because he was good at using an iron square beam, he appeared and disappeared without a trace and was invincible. Everyone called him "General Tie Fangliang".

Since he took office, he has not taken Li Cheng and Wen Da seriously, and has often criticized them for their incompetence in the army, saying that 20,000 imperial troops could not defeat 5,000 Jin troops, and he has also slandered them in his words. In this way, he took back the power of commanding the troops from the two and treated them as ordinary militia commanders.

Because Li Cheng and Wen Da were demoted and under the supervision of Dongfang Hui, they dared not speak up for themselves and felt aggrieved and resentful every day.

That day, the two of them made an appointment to visit Suo Chao.

Since Suo Chao returned to Daming Prefecture, he had been recuperating at home due to an arrow wound in his body, and was unaware of the changes in the army.

I met Li Cheng and Wen Da today, so naturally I hosted a banquet for them.

As Li and Wen drank a little too much, Wen Da said, "I have never felt so depressed in my life of military service."

After hearing this, Suo Chao couldn't help but ask, "Captain, why do you say that?"

"Captain General? Hey, now Li Chengdu and I have been demoted to the position of commanders of militia, so we are not qualified to be commanders." Wen Da rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Zhongshu has always relied on my two elder brothers. How could this happen?" Suo Chao asked.

Li Chengdao said, "It's still Lingzhou's business. First push Lu Junyi to take the blame, then eliminate our two duties, and this will calm the anger of the Jin people. Brothers, if you don't get hurt, stay away from this matter, I'm afraid you will also be blamed."

Wen Da said, "Hey, now there is a new commander of the army, and he is a martial arts expert. Li Cheng and I are in an awkward position and are not well received. If you change your status, maybe you can be valued."

Suo Chao heard this and said angrily: "I never cling to others. I only get promoted by fighting on the battlefield."

Li Chengdao said, "That's right. Brother, who wouldn't praise your martial arts? When you competed with Yang Zhi, you really showed off in front of the people of Daming Prefecture. I heard that Yang Zhi is now the deputy commander of Qingzhou in Jingdong Road, but you are still in the lower ranks of the army and are not being used."

Wen Da said, "Brother, you and I were just military commanders at first, and we were promoted only because the Minister of the Central Secretariat came here to take up the post. Brother Suo Chao is a straightforward person who refuses to curry favor with others. Although he is a martial arts expert and has made contributions in suppressing the bandits in Yanshan, isn't he still a military commander?"

"What's more, the imperial court does not want to be at odds with the Jin Kingdom, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for the two of us to recover. Now I'm still a militia commander, and I'm afraid I'll be demoted again in the future. Don't you see that Dongfang Hui is targeting us everywhere?"

Li Cheng heard this and said with a wry smile: "I wanted to earn some credit, but I didn't expect to end up in such an embarrassing situation."

Suo Chao heard this and said, "The imperial court has always been weak against the Liao Kingdom. The Jin Kingdom was able to defeat the Liao Kingdom step by step, and the imperial court dared not make enemies. Do you two brothers have any plans?"

Li Cheng gritted his teeth and said, "If I resign, I'm afraid I'll be schemed against even more. I've been thinking over and over again these past few days, and I'm planning to ask the Minister of the Central Secretariat for an order to lead troops to patrol the area. After I leave the city, I'll take my trusted family members to Liangshan to avoid disaster."

Wen Da was horrified when he heard this and said, "Brother, once you go to Liangshan, it will be hard to come back. The situation is unclear now, and I am afraid that one day in the future the imperial court will send troops to attack Liangshan."

"Brother, we can't even take care of the present, how can we think about the future?" Li Chengdao said.

"Since I have said this today, I will ask for your order tomorrow. The two brothers should make plans early to avoid regrets in the future."

Wen Da was hesitating when Suo Chao said, "I'm recovering at home now, and no one is paying attention to me. It's a good opportunity for me to go with my brother."

Wen Da was surprised and asked, "Now that I haven't punished you, why do you want to leave?"

Suo Chao said: "Although I am a rough man, I also know the truth that if merits are not rewarded, good deeds will be disappointed. Now that Brother Li Cheng is going, we can support each other."

After hearing what Suo Chao said, Wen Da gulped down the large bowl of wine in front of him, and said with red eyes: "You two have left, but I am left here to suffer. Why don't we go together? With our abilities, are we still inferior to Yang Zhi?"

"Let's go together, let's go together." Li Cheng shouted.

The next day, Li Cheng and Wen Da left Suo Chao's house and went to Liang Zhongshu's mansion together to ask for an audience.

Liang Zhongshu saw the two men in such a state of disarray, and frowned, "Why are you in such a state?"

Li Cheng and Wen Da heard this and cried, "Sir, we are not tolerated by the military commander Dongfang Hui. We have made many contributions under your command. Please allow us to lead the troops out of the city to patrol the local areas to avoid Dongfang Hui's control."

(End of this chapter)