Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 336 Wu Yong: Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit! [1st Update]

"Young man, why are you so small?"

Duan Jingzhu stopped the handsome young man and questioned him:
"I've been to Zengtou City before, I used to be a big shot here..."

"Then was then, and the present is now!"

The handsome young man waved his hand: "Zengtou City is run by people from the Jin Dynasty. They have a stable source of goods."

"Longtou City was established by the Song people, how could it still be on its former scale? It's already good enough that it has these horses!"

"that's true……"

Duan Jingzhu thought the handsome young man made sense; in fact, most underground horse markets were only this size.

Zengtou City was able to become the largest underground horse market in the Hebei and Shandong area precisely because it had a stable source of goods.

But if that were the case, Song Jiang's brother would have made a fool of himself by mobilizing such a large force...

With only a handful of cats and kittens, it's not even enough to cover the food and fodder expenses. Isn't this like using a thunderbolt to kill a mosquito?

After the handsome young man finished speaking, he reached out to him for money:
"Give me back the remaining two hundred coins!"

"What, two hundred coins?"

Duan Jingzhu turned his back on him without hesitation, shooing away the handsome young man like a fly:

"Go away! Stop nagging here!"

The handsome young man grew anxious: "The price was agreed upon beforehand!"

"Pay me a deposit of one hundred coins first, and then pay me two hundred coins after I take you to Longtou City!"
"How can you go back on your word?"

"Who told you it was three hundred coins? It's clearly one hundred coins!"

Duan Jingzhu looked at Xue Yong, who was always eager to stir up trouble, and besides, he had come all the way with Duan Jingzhu, so of course he would help his own people:

"That's right, it's one hundred coins!"

Duan Jingzhu raised his broadsword, glaring fiercely at the handsome young man:

"What? You think you can extort us?"

The handsome young man instinctively turned and ran, only turning back to point at Duan Jingzhu and Xue Yong after running a dozen steps:

"You red-haired bastard, you just wait!"

"And that guy selling those 'powerful pills,' you just wait!"

Xue Yong picked up a stone and threw it at the handsome young man, who then ran away!

Duan Jingzhu and Xue Yong laughed heartily, and without taking it seriously, they went to the small horse farm to ask about the price.

They weren't really going to sell the horse; after asking the price, they shook their heads and refused, then rode off again.

On the way back, I passed by Sanchahe Port and happened to see the handsome young man talking to an old man who was fishing.

Duan Jingzhu and Xue Yong walked past as if nothing had happened, neither of them taking the mountain village boy seriously.

Upon arriving at Song Jiang's encampment, Duan Jingzhu and Xue Yong reported on what they had seen and heard in Longtou City.

"Only a few dozen good horses?"

Song Jiang frowned and looked at Dai Zong:
"Dean Dai, didn't you say that Longtou City was quite large when you went there last time?"

"Ah this..."

Dai Zong mumbled, "Brother, last time I was captured by three... somewhat burly men at Sanchahe Port."

"They carried me across the horse's back, and all I could see was the ground..."

"But it felt like we had walked for a long time, and there were quite a few people and horses on the road..."

"Later, I was locked in a dark room and severely tortured until I escaped..."

"I escaped at night. It was pitch black, completely dark, and I couldn't see anything..."

waste!

Song Jiang's face darkened:

I brought over 5,000 men, and you're telling me you didn't see them clearly?

"It doesn't matter."

Wu Yong stepped in to smooth things over:
"When a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength."

"Since Longtou City only has thirty or fifty men and fifty or sixty good horses, we can fight a battle with zero casualties."

"In the future, it will be a legend in the martial arts world that our Erlong Mountain destroyed Longtou City without losing a single soldier."

"That's how it should be."

Song Jiang had no choice but to back down.

He couldn't possibly punish his trusted general Dai Zong for this.

Dai Zong was actually neither good at literature nor martial arts, and he had all the bad habits of a bureaucrat, but he had a special skill—

The Art of Swift Movement!

As the saying goes, "one trick is all you need to succeed in anything." As long as Dai Zong had this one trick, his position under Song Jiang would be secure.

Song Jiang then consulted with Wu Yong: "Strategist, what do you think is the best way for us to deploy our troops without losing a single soldier?"

Wu Yong, fanning himself with a goose feather fan, said confidently:
"Brother, just do it like this, and like this..."

……

The sun sets over the Sancha River Port.

Several old men were fishing when they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves, and they all frowned.

Dozens of horses stopped on the shore, and a burly man with a white beard dismounted and asked a few old men:
"Old man, is Longtou City ahead?"

"Shh!"

The old man held up a finger to cover his mouth:
"Keep your voice down, you've scared all my fish away!"

The burly man with the white beard fell silent, speechless. The old man glanced at him.
"Your beard is all white, and you still call me 'old man'?"

The burly man with the white beard explained in a low voice, "I'm just over forty, and this beard was naturally white!"

The old man nodded: "The Dragon Head City is just ahead."

"However, you're a bit late at this time, so you'll most likely have to stay at his place."

"There is only one hotel in Longtou City, and the accommodation and food are much more expensive than outside."

"Why don't you find a village inn to stay at and then head to Longtou City tomorrow morning?"

The burly man with the white beard chuckled, "Money is no problem. This whole trip back and forth has been too much trouble. Old man, we've come from afar and just want to find a place to stay quickly. A little more expensive is fine."

The old man shook his head and pointed:
"Whatever you want, just take the right-hand path at the three-way intersection."

"Thank you, sir!"

The burly man with the white beard thanked the old man and led dozens of horses toward the three-way intersection ahead.

The old fishermen exchanged glances:
"Money isn't the issue; they weren't after the money, were they?"

"Thirty-odd burly men, with over fifty horses—even if they sold them, would the money be enough to go around?"

"That guy with the white beard exudes an air of authority in everything he does. I bet he's a general who leads troops into battle!"

Several old fishermen chatted amongst themselves, and one of them packed up his things and left first.

He was just like an ordinary old fisherman, carrying his fishing rod and bucket, walking slowly along the roadside.

When they reached the fork in the road, the old man walked into the middle path, and after going in, he seemed like a different person.

After winding through the dense forest, we arrived behind a large rock where a horse was tethered.

The old man strode swiftly behind the large rock, put his things down, untied the horse, mounted it, and rode away...

……

Little Horse City.

The burly man with a white beard, his face flushed and neck thick, was haggling with the manager:

"This is my imperial... Jade-faced Black Steed!"

"A fine horse, and you're only giving me a thousand taels of silver?"

"No way! I won't sell it for less than three thousand taels of silver!"

The manager sat down and demanded the money back: "Three thousand taels of silver? Why don't you just rob us?"
"Old man, I can see you're getting old, your beard is all white. It must be tough for you to travel so far to sell horses!"

"I'll add five hundred taels for you, so how about fifteen hundred taels of silver?"

"Old man?"

The burly man with the white beard turned green:

"My beard was naturally gray; have you ever heard of premature graying?"

The argument went on for a while, then it got dark, and the burly man with the white beard said angrily:
"We're not selling today. We brothers have come all this way, let's find a place to have a drink first!"

Then the burly man with the white beard and his gang of brothers brought the horse to the hotel and tied it up in the courtyard.

Since it's a hotel located in a horse market, the hotel offers a horse care service in its courtyard.

The burly man with the white beard had the waiter feed the fodder to his heart's content, and the group ordered wine and dishes to eat in their room.

"Fizz!"

Inside the guest room, a shrewd-eyed hero inhaled the aroma:
"This dish smells delicious!"

"can not eat!"

The burly man with the white beard glared at him:
"I told you so, we have to be careful they don't poison the food and drinks!"

"I know, I'm just smelling it!"

The burly man with the bright, shrewd eyes chuckled as he rummaged through his pack and pulled out some dry rations, taking a big bite.

Another burly man opened his water bag and took a sip of water:

"Brother, why go to such lengths?"

"I've already checked. The men at the horse farm are all low-level thugs; they're not enough for us to kill!"

"The strategist said, 'Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit!'"

The burly man with the white beard also took out his dry rations to eat:
"Let's try to do this without losing a single soldier!"
"Brothers, now that we've infiltrated this place first, we must make the first contribution to show our abilities!"

Both burly men nodded in agreement.

The burly man with the white beard instructed them again: "Be alert tonight, and wait for the strategist's signal before taking action."

Although the two burly men verbally agreed, they were not convinced. What did such a small horse farm mean?
Even when hunting a rabbit, a lion uses its full strength. Does the cost of grain and fodder for five thousand men going back and forth mean nothing?
The main reason is that Liangshanbo had attacked Zengtou City before and knew how big Zengtou City was, so they subconsciously compared Longtou City, which destroyed Zengtou City, to Zengtou City.

Furthermore, Dai Zong had previously come to gather intelligence on the military situation and returned saying that Longtou City was quite large.

That's why Song Jiang attacked Longtou City with the same level of force as he attacked Zengtou City.

Who knew that the intelligence Dai Zong gathered was wrong? Song Jiang couldn't punish Dai Zong, so he said something like "a lion hunting a rabbit"...

Actually, they all realized it, but no one said it out loud.

Who doesn't know that Dai Zong is Song Jiang's staunch supporter?
Even Song Jiang didn't punish Dai Zong, so why should they object?

Although they didn't say it aloud, they inevitably harbored resentment, but it was suppressed by the burly man with the white beard.

The burly man with the big, shrewd eyes said, "I thought I could make a big splash and establish my reputation."

"I didn't expect there to be only a few big and small cats. It's so boring."

"I wonder when we'll be able to be granted amnesty."

"No hurries?"

The burly man with the white beard said calmly:

"If we win a few more battles, the imperial court will naturally grant us amnesty."

"Moreover, it's not just our Erlong Mountain; Cai Daowang's side has also made quite a splash."

"In my opinion, the imperial court will offer us amnesty in two or three years, or even as early as this year."

Another burly man said, "With Cai Daowang being so popular, we should have chosen him in the first place..."

"He doesn't want to be granted amnesty."

The burly man with the white beard sighed:

"I think he wants to follow the path of Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La."

The two burly men fell silent. The man with the white beard shook his head, put down his rations, and couldn't eat anymore.

The three burly men slept side by side, chatting idly, and stayed up until midnight.

"Ji'er——"

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound rang out from outside, and the three burly men scrambled to their feet:

Signal is coming!

(End of this chapter)