Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

However, this matter is still in the planning stages, and we will inform everyone only after the three Ruan brothers have finished preparing it.

Besides pearl farming, which is a lucrative business,

Zhao Yuan also exchanged other items from the system.

These were the methods for refining salt and making sugar that he had already overused when he read time-travel novels in his previous life.

The former bought coarse salt, refined it into refined salt, and quickly made several times the profit.

The latter, at that time, did not yet have the pure white granulated sugar of later generations.

The only available brown sugar, which is reddish-yellow or blackish, is a rare commodity and very expensive.

Although white sugar already exists in Fujian, it is yellowish in color, and the so-called white sugar only refers to a yellowish color with a hint of white.

Using the yellow mud water leaching method that Zhao Yuan obtained from the system, a large amount of snow-white sugar can be easily produced.

Liangshan has produced quite a lot of both, but hasn't exchanged them for money.

Instead, they are sold exclusively in four hotels in the four cardinal directions of the lake!

The moment refined salt and white sugar appeared in the hotel, they instantly attracted countless eyes.

Anyone in business could see the business opportunity in this.

But when they saw that Liangshan was selling refined salt and white sugar without accepting money,

Instead, they had to be exchanged for grain, livestock, medicinal herbs, cloth, animal hides, timber, pig iron, saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal, cow horns, and cow tendons, etc.

Many businessmen immediately backed out.

Many of these items are contraband.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Liangshan's acquisition of these things was part of a larger scheme, and no one would dare to get involved with Liangshan again.

But there were always those who were bold enough, or those who were used to private trading.

Only then did they dare to acquire these items and trade them with Liangshan!

Zhao Yuan had no choice but to resort to this barter system!

These items, which can be exchanged for refined salt and white sugar, are essential for the development of Liangshan!

Some were everyday items, while others were military supplies.

Although it can be bought with money,

However, Liangshan still needed to send people to specifically purchase them.

Secondly, some of the prohibited items inside are unavailable for purchase without proper channels.

Zhao Yuan then simply gave up on buying it himself.

Instead, they lured merchants from all over with refined salt and white sugar, and once they had collected these items, they delivered them to Liangshan!

During this period, relying on refined salt and white sugar,

Liangshan primarily purchased grain, followed by medicinal herbs and cloth.

Although the amount of pig iron was small, they still managed to obtain two or three thousand catties.

With raw materials available, Tang Long and the blacksmiths under his command no longer had to spend their days idly.

Their primary task was to forge enough weapons for the Liangshan soldiers!

When the army was expanded by dividing household registrations earlier, Liangshan was short of iron.

Although Zhao Yuan expanded the Liangshan infantry to seven districts,

Embarrassingly, nearly half of them were soldiers.

They had no suitable weapons and could only use farm tools instead!

Now we've finally acquired a good amount of pig iron, which will allow the soldiers to replace their farm tools!

As for armor and body armor, they relied on the animal hides they acquired.

Leather armor has also begun to be manufactured on Liangshan Mountain.

Better iron armor, such as black hammer armor, vermilion mountain-patterned armor, and gold-lacquered iron armor, all required the use of pig iron.

We can only start forging after all the soldiers have been equipped with new weapons, and if there is any pig iron left.

......

The group walked back to the Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

Bianxiang suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, brother, I ran into Brother Shi Qian when I came back. He asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that Instructor Lin has entered Yunzhou territory and will be back in the next day or two!"

Two months ago, when Zhao Yuan returned from Hebei,

Since Yang Lin was the only one at Yinma River, and fearing he might not be able to manage alone, they left Lin Chong there as well.

While training soldiers, they also began to plan the establishment of a horse market.

More than a month ago,

Jiao Ting took Pei Xuan's family and children to Liangshan.

Deng Fei then led the soldiers from both capitals to Yinmachuan to exchange for Lin Chong.

Judging by the time, Lin Chong should have returned ten days ago, but for some reason he has been delayed.

"It's good that Instructor Lin is back!"

Zhao Yuan laughed heartily, "Perfect, let's give him a surprise too!"

He was referring to the newly formed Sandu Cavalry!

Although they had previously acquired five or six hundred military horses from Huang An,

However, a small portion of them were either too old, or had other minor issues that made them unsuitable for riding on the battlefield.

Xu Ning personally spent three or four days selecting three hundred usable warhorses.

He then gathered and selected soldiers who could ride horses to form the cavalry of Sandu.

Liangshan now has ten capitals of soldiers fighting on land alone.

Seven of these were infantry units, each with 120 men.

The three capitals were each manned by cavalry, with one hundred men in each capital.

Lin Chong, despite being a cavalry commander, was previously only allowed to lead infantry.

Now that Liangshan finally has its own cavalry, Lin Chong must be very pleased to see this.

They'll definitely laugh out loud!

That was Zhao Yuan's original thought, but unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking...

Then Bianxiang smiled mysteriously and said, "I heard from Brother Shiqian that Instructor Lin has also prepared a surprise for you, brother!"

"A surprise prepared for me?"

Zhao Yuan paused for a moment, then suddenly realized and said, "Could it be that Yinmachuan has already acquired the first batch of horses, and Instructor Lin has brought them back?"

"I don't know either,"

Bianxiang scratched his head: "Brother Shiqian only said that it was a surprise that Instructor Lin prepared for you, but he didn't say exactly what the surprise was!"

"Shi Qian, you don't explain things clearly, you only inform people of half of it. Isn't that just making people curious?"

Zhao Yuan laughed and scolded, "I was even thinking of having someone call him back so he could explain himself to me!"

"Brother, actually, Brother Shiqian wanted me to keep this a secret from you for now,"

Bianxiang chuckled awkwardly: "Besides, something seems to have happened in Xucheng. Brother Shiqian and I exchanged a few words, and then he rushed over to check on (Wang Zhao). Even if you want to find him, brother, I'm afraid you won't be able to get him back before tomorrow or the day after."

"Xucheng? Isn't that where Brother Zhu Gui is located?"

Zhao Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then quickly looked at Hu Sanniang.

"Has no news come from Xucheng in the past two days?"

Zhao Yuan's first infantry unit is now considered his personal guard, and is usually led by Jiao Ting.

However, Jiao Ting, burdened with this important task, realized that while he was proficient in sumo wrestling, his skill with weapons was mediocre. Therefore, he hurriedly sought out instructors throughout Liangshan.

He was busy learning martial arts.

On Zhao Yuan's side, however, there always had to be a personal guard commander accompanying him on his flight.

Intrigued by this, Qiongying and Hu Sanniang arranged a duel.

Ultimately, Qiong Ying lost a move because she was too young and lacked strength, and was not allowed to use hidden weapons.

Therefore, he had no choice but to give up the position of commander of the personal guards to Hu Sanniang.

Her original responsibility for guarding the mountain stronghold was temporarily handed over to Qiongying...

Chapter 149 The North Shore Hotel is almost like a market.

"No, but today is only the fourth day. We should have a report from the scouts by tomorrow," Hu Sanniang replied after thinking for a moment.

The capital of Yunzhou was Xucheng, and the capital of Jizhou was Juye.

The intelligence hotels in these two cities were managed by Zhu Gui in the former and by Zhu Gui's brother, Zhu Fu, in the latter. They reported their findings every five days when there was nothing to do.

"Brother Shiqian is a cautious man. Since he rushed to Xucheng in such a hurry, something must have happened there,"

Zhao Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Immediately send some people from the hotel on the north bank of the marsh to Xucheng to check the situation."

"Brother, put it down. I'll go make the arrangements right now."

Hu Sanniang responded and hurriedly left.

Seeing Zhao Yuan's worried expression, Bian Xiang advised, "Brother, perhaps Shi Qian just misheard something? If there really was an emergency in Xucheng, Brother Zhu Gui would have sent someone to report it immediately."

"hope so......"

Zhao Yuan looked up towards Xucheng in the north, but a sense of foreboding lingered in his heart.

......

the next day,

No intelligence has come from Sukiyaki City yet.

On the contrary, Lin Chong's advance scouts arrived at the inn on the north bank and reported that Lin Chong's main force would arrive at the north bank of the marsh sometime this afternoon.

Upon receiving this news, Zhao Yuan immediately ordered Jinshatan to prepare boats.

He wanted to personally go to the north bank of the marsh to wait for Lin Chong.

"Brother, Instructor Lin isn't an outsider,"

Lu Zhishen disagreed, saying, "We can just wait at Jinshatan Beach, why go to the north bank?"

"Brother, you don't understand,"

Zhao Yuan recounted what happened yesterday: "Shi Qian said that Instructor Lin had prepared a surprise for me, and I just wanted to see it as soon as possible."

"In that case, I'll go with you!"

Lu Zhishen touched his bald head and boarded the boat with Zhao Yuan, Hu Sanniang, and several guards.

The ship had not yet approached the north shore.

Then they saw many carts and horses loaded with goods parked around the hotel.

With people coming and going, it had become like a market.

After Zhao Yuan and the others landed,

The manager of the North Shore Hotel hurried over to greet them.

"What's going on with these people?"

Zhao Yuan hadn't come down the mountain for over a month and was still a bit confused about the situation.

"Chief, these are all merchants who have brought goods to our hotel to exchange for refined salt and white sugar."

The manager replied, "I heard that the previous batches of goods that came from us made a fortune. These are all merchants who rushed here after hearing the news, wanting to get a share of the profits."

"These people are really bold. Aren't they afraid of being taken back to the government office for inspection?"