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

It was because he was the only remaining heir on the main branch of the Yang family.

Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is having no offspring.

Yang Zhi felt that he had already let down his ancestors, so how could he allow them to die out and have no one to offer sacrifices to them?

Thinking of this, Yang Zhi, feeling utterly disheartened, had already decided to completely withdraw from the martial world.

Find a village, marry a village girl, and end the rest of your life there.

Just as he made this decision in his mind and prepared to get up and leave,

Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind me.

Yang Zhi turned around and saw a man he didn't recognize.

Behind the man were about a dozen soldiers carrying wooden boxes and shoulder poles.

The man cupped his hands and asked, "Is this Commander Yang? I am Zhao Dalang from Liangshan."

"So it's the leader of Liangshan,"

Yang Zhi, his face blank and lifeless, said, "I am Yang Zhi. I apologize for disturbing Liangshan for the past few days. I will now depart..."

Chapter 232 Yang Zhi Commits Suicide

"Just because the birthday tribute was lost, Commander Yang became disheartened?"

Zhao Yuan clapped his hands, and the guards behind him immediately opened all the wooden boxes and carrying poles that had been brought over.

The dazzling gold and silver ingots, gems and jade left Yang Zhi speechless.

"Commander Yang, do you know what this is?"

Zhao Yuan sighed softly: "This is the birthday tribute!"

"Birthday tribute?"

Yang Zhi was stunned for a moment, then his previously blank face gradually regained its light.

He asked excitedly,

"Chief Zhao, you retrieved the birthday gifts from the Liao people? Would you... be willing to return them to me?"

In the end, Yang Zhi realized he was in the wrong, and began to stammer as he spoke.

Zhao Yuan asked with amusement, "Give it back to you? Commander Yang, didn't Liangshan rob you of this birthday tribute?"

Yang Zhi fell silent. Liangshan wasn't the government. Even if they had snatched the birthday gifts back from the Liao people, why should they return them to him?

"Let me tell Governor Yang something else,"

Zhao Yuan reached into the wooden box and grabbed a handful of gold beads. Watching the glittering beads slip through his fingers, he shook his head.

"This is actually not the birthday tribute that you, Commander Yang, were escorting!"

"What?"

Yang Zhi was completely bewildered: "Does the chief mean that there are other people who were also escorting the birthday tribute?"

"When Prime Minister Cai Jing celebrates his birthday, naturally, countless people across the land want to curry favor with him,"

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "Officials everywhere, wealthy gentry and local bullies, anyone with connections, who wouldn't rush to give him gifts? Aren't these all birthday tributes?"

"However, the gold, pearls, and jade in these boxes are indeed birthday gifts that Liang Zhongshu of Daming Prefecture prepared to present to Cai Jing as a birthday present!"

"What exactly does the chieftain mean?"

Yang Zhi said unhappily, "If you want to ridicule me, then say so directly. Why play tricks on me like this!"

"Commander Yang, please don't misunderstand, the matter is actually like this..."

Zhao Yuan recounted how he and his companions went to Daming Prefecture, infiltrated the prefectural government office, and confessed to the theft of the birthday tribute.

"So, what I was escorting was just counterfeit goods?"

Yang Zhi was stunned, then flew into a rage and said,

"If I take those counterfeit goods to Tokyo and present them to Prime Minister Cai, won't I also be punished? How dare you harm me!"

As the blue-faced beast spoke, it prepared to charge forward and fight.

Zhao Yuan is not Lin Chong.

He and Yang Zhi didn't have much of a relationship to begin with, and on top of that, the blue-faced beast had been sitting there for three days without eating or drinking, so he was already physically weak.

Zhao Yuan simply pushed the blue-faced beast to the ground with a light touch.

"Harm you? Who do you think you are?"

Zhao Yuan sneered, "Yang Zhi, you keep claiming to be a descendant of the Yang family of Tianbo Mansion, but do you deserve that title?"

"The Yang family of Tianbo Mansion has guarded the northern frontier for four generations. Regardless of age or gender, all members of the family are loyal and brave!"

"Did they, like you, side with treacherous officials? Did they, like you, transport the people's hard-earned money to be offered to treacherous officials? Did they, like you, grovel before treacherous officials?"

"I..."

Yang Zhi slumped to the ground, his face deathly pale.

He wanted to refute Zhao Yuan, but suddenly realized that he had nothing to say!

"Commander Yang, your desire to revive the Yang family's reputation is not wrong,"

Zhao Yuan sighed, "But have you ever considered that even if you revive the Yang family by working for treacherous officials, would your ancestors in the afterlife really be happy?"

"I..."

Yang Zhi's lips moved for a long time, but he couldn't say a word.

Reviving the Yang family was something he had vowed to do since childhood, and it was also the goal he had been striving for all these years.

When he was young, Yang Zhi had considered this as well.

Punish the treacherous officials, kill the foreign enemies, and establish meritorious achievements just like our ancestors!

But as he grew older and encountered setbacks at every turn in officialdom,

Yang Zhi had long forgotten these past ambitions.

All that's left is figuring out how to climb the ranks in officialdom!

"But what can I do?"

Yang Zhi said blankly, "Now that treacherous officials are in power in the court, what can a lowly military officer like me do?"

"You had no other choice? So you went to rely on treacherous officials and became their lackey?"

Zhao Yuan said coldly, "First it was Gao Qiu, then Liang Zhongshu, and then Yang Zhishi. I don't need to say more about how it feels to be a dog!"

"During these three days, you stayed in the Liangshan army camp. Do you know what those nearby civilian camps are for?"

Yang Zhi shook his head. For the past three days, his mind had been preoccupied with the birthday tribute, and he had no time to think about anything else!

"These are all disaster victims from Hebei! Back then, our ancestors guarded the northern lands and protected these people!"

Zhao Yuan said in a deep voice, "But last year, Hebei suffered from floods, and the imperial court did not care about them. These Hebei disaster victims had no choice but to go south to survive and gathered outside Xucheng City!"

"The prefect of Yunzhou, Cheng Wanli, asked the imperial court in Tokyo for money and grain to relieve the disaster victims, but was instead reprimanded by the court!"

"Is the Song court ignoring these disaster victims because it lacks money or food?"

"If there's no money or food, then where did this birthday tribute come from?"

"These disaster victims, without food or water, gathered in Xucheng, and then a plague broke out. The prefect of Yunzhou could only let them fend for themselves!"

"It was our Liangshan who brought them to the north bank of this marshland. We not only provided them with free food and lodging, but also invited a divine doctor from Jiankang Prefecture to treat their plague free of charge!"

“Just these Hebei disaster victims alone cost Liangshan an extra one or two thousand strings of cash every day.”

"The birthday gifts stolen from Daming Prefecture this time are meant to subsidize these disaster relief camps!" 140

"Commander Yang, if you feel you have a clear conscience, then take all of these birthday gifts."

Zhao Yuan said in a deep voice, "I keep my word, and no one will stop you!"

"I..."

Yang Zhi stared blankly at the gold and silver jewelry before him.

In the past, when he saw these things, all he could think about was his own official position and future prospects.

But after Zhao Yuan's explanation...

Looking at these things now

But he seemed to see the blood and sweat of countless poor people in it.

"I don't want it anymore..."

Yang Zhi stood up expressionlessly and waved at Zhao Yuan.

"Thank you, Chief Zhao, for your wake-up call. Only today do I realize that all my hard work over the years has turned out to be the result of being an unfilial descendant of the Yang family!"

"I, Yang Zhi, am also a descendant of meritorious officials! How much blood and how many lives our Yang family has shed for this court! How many of our ancestors died on the battlefield!"

Yang Zhi cried out in grief and indignation, "Even I have some skills, and I also want to serve my country with utmost loyalty. But those high-ranking officials and treacherous ministers treat me like a lackey. When I'm useful, they reward me with some bones, but when I'm no longer useful, they kick me aside!"

"My life, Yang Zhi's life, has been a complete disgrace!"

Accompanied by this final, heart-wrenching cry,

Yang Zhi suddenly turned around and ran to the edge of the marsh in a few steps.

Then, with a "plop,"

He jumped right down!

Chapter 233 The Liao Kingdom marches south to attack Liangshan?

what?

Is it because verbal attacks are too powerful?

How could Yang Zhi have committed suicide by jumping into the water?

Zhao Yuan was stunned for a moment.

He quickly ran to the shore and jumped into the water.

They pulled Yang Zhi out of the water!

"Commander Yang, Commander Yang..."

"Cough cough!"

Yang Zhi spat out two mouthfuls of water.

He then opened his eyes and said with a pained expression,

"Chief Zhao, why are you saving me! I've done so many wrong things, I'm no longer worthy to be a descendant of the Yang family!"

Uh, I guess I went a bit too far just now!

After thinking about this, Zhao Yuan pondered for a moment,

But suddenly he stood up.

"Commander Yang, you are absolutely right about one thing: you are truly unworthy to be a descendant of the Yang family!"

Zhao Yuan sneered, "Did your Yang family's ancestors, when they fought against the Liao people, act just like you? Did they immediately seek death whenever they encountered a setback?"

"I..."

Yang Zhi was suddenly stunned.

"Commander Yang, on Liangshan, Instructor Lin was framed by Gao Qiu and almost lost his family; Instructor Xu was framed by Gao Kan and almost lost his life in Hebei."

Zhao Yuan slowly said, "The other brothers also joined Liangshan because they saw how difficult the world was and how hard life was!"

"When it comes to the difficulties you've encountered in life, none of them have had fewer than you!"

"But none of my brothers ever thought of ending their own lives! They were all willing to risk their skills and use their strength to change this corrupt world!"

“But…but I am from a family of loyal and righteous people. How can I betray the court and join the outlaws?” Yang Zhi said with difficulty.

Zhao Yuan asked, "Commander Yang, your ancestor, General Yang Ye, was a general of the Song Dynasty from the very beginning?"

"My ancestor was originally a general of the Northern Han Dynasty. He only surrendered to the Song Dynasty when Emperor Taizong destroyed the Northern Han..."