Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 664 Hornet Ridge

As for Crown Prince Li, Zhao Zhen followed everyone's advice and executed him openly.

If it were in the past, Zhao Zhen would have wanted to recruit this man. Unfortunately, when Guan Sheng sent someone to persuade him to surrender, the three of them turned a blind eye. So, he had no choice but to kill this Prince Li as well.

As for the captured bandits, except for three confidants, they were all sent back to their hometowns and became good citizens again.

The achievements of Guan Sheng and others were also recorded in a book, and all the strong soldiers who went to the expedition were given gold, silver, cloth and silk.

When the prefects of Zibo and Qizhou were expelled, they were not allowed to take away the granaries and government warehouses.

However, Zhao Zhen did not send Jiang Jing, Du Xing and others to take an inventory.

While the bandits in Huazi Mountain were being wiped out, they called the Censor [Iron-faced Man] Pei Xuan, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue [Little Tornado] Chai Jin, and the Deputy Envoy of the Ministry of Finance [Divine Calculator] Jiang Jing to go together. The escorts were [Out of the Forest Dragon] Zou Yuan and [One-horned Dragon] Zou Run, who led the armor-breaking axe and 500 people.

Rewarding soldiers was only one of the tasks; the other was to inspect local areas and register government treasuries and granaries.

At the same time, Chao Gai, the [Heavenly King Holding the Pagoda] of Xuzhou, also sent Chen Da, the [Tiger Jumping over the Stream], to send the [Four Pangs] who had fled to Huangfengling in Xuzhou, and his military advisor Jia Huzheng.

The eldest of the "Four Pang Tais" was Pang Taishu, the second was Pang Tailiang, the third was Pang Taipu, and the fourth was Pang Taibiao. All four brothers were from Yizhou and were hunters. Because of the tiger plague in Yishui County, the county magistrate arrested the hunters and ordered them to catch the big tigers in Yiling Mountain. If they did not meet the deadline, they would be released from the government and severely punished and shackled.

The four brothers had hunted big beasts before, so it was inevitable that something bad would happen. The four brothers returned home, fixed their bows and arrows, and took their iron forks. The four of them ran straight to Yiling Mountain, put down their bows, and for seven or eight days, there was no movement. The four brothers didn't know how many sticks they had to eat.

The magistrate pressed them hard, and the four could not stand it. Fortunately, none of them had married, and they had no family to burden them, so they simply packed up their belongings and fled the county at night, hiding for many days. One day, they passed by Huangfeng Ridge and ran into the mountain leader [One-eyed Wolf] Diao Fei, who robbed the passing merchants back to the mountain.

Seeing that the four men were carrying packages, he naturally did not want to let them go, and shouted, "You bastards, leave money for the passage if you know how to deal with it, or you will lose your life here."

The four Pang brothers had already been bullied and had been hiding for many days. Today, they were robbed again and were furious. They shouted, and four of them, with four steel forks, rushed forward to kill desperately. This Diao Fei was originally a poor man. In order to gamble and kill someone, he gathered fugitives on Huangfeng Ridge and became a bandit.

Relying on the strategic location of Huangfeng Ridge, the government troops failed in several attempts to encircle and suppress the rebels. They harassed the villagers and robbed passing merchants, and their power grew stronger and stronger.

In the past, when he met merchants, he had never seen anyone dare to resist. But today he met the four Pang brothers, who took away the package and rushed forward together. Before he could react, Pang Taishu was stabbed to death.

Pang Tailiang raised his steel fork and shouted, "If anyone is unwilling to obey, the people on the ground will be like him."

When the minions saw that Diao Fei was killed, no one dared to resist and they all surrendered.

The four men settled down in Huangfeng Ridge. Later, when they went down the mountain to rob, they met two guards, who saved the scholar Jia Huzheng and made him the fifth in command. Under Jia Huzheng's arrangement, except for the passing officials, they only charged 10% of the money and goods from the passing merchants and did not bother the villagers.

After the reputation spread, many farmers in the surrounding areas who had trouble with their families came to seek refuge. Jia Huzheng also suggested that the slope behind the mountain be reclaimed for planting crops and grazing, and Huangfengling gradually developed into the largest bandit group in Xuzhou.

During this period, after Xuzhou was stabilized, they began to clear out the bandits who occupied the mountains. Several places near the county town had been wiped out by Chao Gai and others, leaving only the most prominent Huangfeng Ridge.

When Zhao Zhen occupied Xuzhou, the [Four Pang brothers] heard about the changes in Xuzhou. The four brothers also discussed whether to take the initiative to go down the mountain and surrender.

Military Advisor Jia Huzheng said: "We took the initiative to go down the mountain, but I am afraid we will not be able to use it."

The eldest brother Pang Taishu said, "No, Lord Zhao is not a corrupt official in the court, and he has never treated the heroes who came to him badly. When we heard that the great official was recruiting talents, we also thought about going to him. It's a pity that there are many old and weak people in the mountains, and it's not easy to leave them behind, so we never left. Now that this place belongs to Liangshan, why don't we go and join him?" The second brother Pang Tailiang and the third brother Pang Taipu also said, "What the eldest brother said is right. Now we have this opportunity to be an honest official. Why should we suffer in the mountains?"

"I heard that Liangshan has a lot of rules, and being an official won't be as free as it is now." The fourth brother Pang Tai said.

After hearing this, Pang Tai Pu said, "What's so good about being in the mountains? All you see every day are stupid villagers and insects all over the mountains. There's no place to listen to music."

Military advisor Jia Huzheng said: "Although the mountains are not as good as the city, there are no corrupt officials. In the end, we are the ones who make the decisions. If we rush over now, I am afraid that Mr. Zhao will not take us seriously. It is better to wait for him to come and recruit us, so that we can have room for maneuver."

As a result, the Pang brothers from Huangfengling put their plan of going down the mountain on hold.

Not long after, they learned that Chao Gai led his troops to kill Xiang Yuanzhen, one of the ten famous military governors. After hearing this, the four stopped going down the mountain to rob people, fearing that they would attract the Liangshan army to suppress them.

After Zhao Zhen defeated the imperial army, the five people from Huangfengling were worried for a long time, but the government army still ignored them.

Just when the five men could not bear it any longer, [Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King] Chao Gai sent people to persuade them to surrender. Without saying a word, the five men left Jia Huzheng to guard the mountain, while Pang Taishu and three others packed up a load of gifts and followed the surrendered Liangshan captain down the mountain to Pengcheng to meet Chao Gai.

At the Pengcheng garrison camp, Chao Gai met Pang Taishu and his four companions and laughed, "Brother Peng Qi and Han Tao, it seems that the three of us, Chen Da, Yan Shun and I, have won."

Peng Qi and Han Tao smiled bitterly and said, "Brother is indeed very insightful. We two are willing to accept the loss and bring two bottles of imperial wine each tonight."

Seeing that Pang Taishu and the other three were full of doubts, Chao Gai told them about the bet among the five people on whether the four of them could come.

After hearing this, Pang Taishu thought Chao Gai was dissatisfied, and hurriedly said, "Although we brothers have become bandits in Huangfeng Ridge, we have not killed anyone. We have heard of the king's reputation for a long time, but no one has introduced us, so we hesitated. When General Chao killed Xiang Yuanzhen, we also heard about it. Now that the general has recruited us, how dare we hesitate."

Chao Gai said, "I have also heard of the reputation of Huang Feng Ridge when I was in Xuzhou. I know that you five are not cruel people. If not, I would have sent troops to wipe you out long ago."

"Since you have surrendered today, I will forgive you for what happened in the past. In the future, do you want to join the army or go down the mountain to become a rich man? If you want to join the army, you still have to go to Liangshan Mansion and meet the king before you can decide on your position."

After hearing this, Pang Taishu said quickly, "We are willing to serve the king."

Chao Gai nodded and held a banquet at night to entertain the four Pang brothers.

The nine of them finished the four bottles of imperial wine brought by Peng Qi and Han Tao in no time. Chao Gai smacked his lips and said, "This imperial wine is fragrant and delicious, but it's a pity that there is not enough."

Peng Qi said, "This wine was given to the king by the imperial court when Song Jiang was first conquered. We were lucky enough to get a few bottles, but there will be no more in the future."

Chen Da said, "I heard from Brother Zhu Wu that Concubine De Tong's [Taiping Tower] has the recipe for the imperial wine. We'll be able to drink it in a few days."

Jinmaohu Yanshun asked, "Can we buy this wine at Taipinglou in the future?"

Chen Da shook his head and said, "That's not the case. I heard that the four wines, Puzhong Wine, Suhexiang Wine, Lutou Wine, and Changchun Fa Wine, are still brewed in the inner winery and not sold. They are only used for rewards. The wine sold in Taiping Tower is called Guangzhong Wine, which is a unique wine of Tong Shumishi's family."

(End of this chapter)