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

Seeing that the Mandarin Duck Formation had already inflicted a great defeat on the county government soldiers in their first battle,

They were all overjoyed.

Lin Chong, standing to the side, frowned and said, "It's a pity that some soldiers are still not well trained. When the county yamen's cavalry drew their bows just now, the captains had already ordered them to return to their posts, but some soldiers were still left outside the shields. If that hadn't happened, they wouldn't have been injured!"

"Instructor, don't forget, these were originally bandits from the mountain stronghold. To be in this state now, they can barely be considered elite soldiers even among the Western Army!" Lu Zhishen laughed heartily.

· ·······Requesting flowers· ········

"Why can a commander only be considered an elite force? I wonder where these soldiers fall short compared to the elite troops of the Western Army?" Sun An asked curiously.

"Those elite Western Army soldiers have fought against the Western Xia army for many years. They have all come through countless battles, and their mere aura is enough to surpass many others."

Lu Zhishen thought for a moment and replied, "These soldiers in front of us are still lacking in training. They are fine when they are winning, but once they encounter tough opponents, they will probably be the ones to collapse like they just did."

“Brother is right,”

Zhao Yuan couldn't help but nod and say, "Today we are facing only ordinary soldiers from the county government, not even the local troops, let alone the Imperial Guards and the Western Army."

"After we return this time, we must be wary of the soldiers becoming complacent and arrogant; they still need to be properly trained!"

......... ......... ...

The four chatted for a few minutes.

Seeing that the county government soldiers and the retainers of Chao Gai's mansion were already beginning to collapse,

They fled in a chaotic frenzy towards Dongxi Village.

Zhao Yuan was too lazy to pursue, so he ordered his soldiers to rest on the spot.

They checked the wounded soldiers' injuries and tallied the battle results.

The results came out quickly.

There were six wounded in total, all of whom were shot by stray bullets because they did not have time to hide behind the rattan shields.

Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured and they only needed to rest for two days back at the mountain stronghold.

On the other hand, the county government troops were routed too quickly.

In the end, only sixteen people were killed and nine wounded soldiers were captured!

However, considering that Zhu Tong and Lei Heng only brought a little over eighty county government soldiers,

That's a third gone!

Zhao Yuan was immediately much more satisfied with this result.

"It's a pity that Liangshan has no horses and can't form a cavalry. Otherwise, if we had just sent a cavalry unit to cut off their retreat and the infantry had pressed forward to kill them, we could have completely annihilated this group of county government soldiers!" Sun An sighed.

"It's alright, the result is just right now,"

Zhao Yuan said with a smile, "The end of the year is just around the corner. If we wipe them out today, the prefecture will be shaken and may even send troops to fight during the New Year."

"As things stand, we've only raided one village and injured some county government soldiers. Those high-ranking officials in the prefecture will definitely not take us seriously. Even if they send troops to wipe us out, it will probably be next spring when the flowers bloom!"

"We can take advantage of this time to recruit soldiers and train them! When the government troops arrive next year, we'll give them a crushing defeat and show the might of Liangshan!"

Chapter 86 Who forced whom to join the Liangshan bandits!

Zhao Yuan led his troops to block the entrance to Dongxi Village.

The original concern was that the county government soldiers might return.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng had already lost their courage.

However, Chao Gai was unwilling to send his servants to their deaths.

No one dared to step out of Dongxi Village again.

An hour later,

Seeing that Li Baozheng's money and grain had all been transported,

Zhao Yuan thanked all the villagers who had helped him.

He then led his troops back to the shore of the marsh.

On the way, Lin Chong worriedly asked, "The villagers of Xixi Village helped us transport grain, will the Yuncheng County government make things difficult for them?"

“Brother, no matter what, even if they don’t help us transport grain, the Yuncheng County government will still make things difficult for them.”

Zhao Yuan sighed: "Brother, don't forget the thousand acres of fertile land belonging to Li Baozheng's family."

"What my brother means is..."

"Regarding these three thousand acres of land, although I initially instructed the tenant farmers to select elderly individuals to oversee the allocation of the land,"

Zhao Yuan said helplessly, "But the Li family's land deeds have all been burned, leaving only an orphan and a widow, and three thousand acres of land. How could the Yuncheng County government possibly let such a large piece of meat go?"

"Even if those tenant farmers divide up the land themselves, it won't be long before the officials of Yuncheng seize it all!"

"Then why are you letting them divide the land? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?" Lu Zhishen asked, puzzled.

“In the eyes of the villagers, Liangshan is still considered a band of thieves. Even though we cleared the name of Xixi Village last night, how many of those villagers are willing to join the stronghold?” Zhao Yuan asked.

“There seem to be only about ten villagers,” Lin Chong replied.

“That’s it. Who would willingly join the bandits if they were driven to desperation?” Zhao Yuan sighed.

"But what does this have to do with dividing the land?"

“Those tenants already had nothing. If the government directly takes over the Li family's land, they will simply continue to work as tenants for the government, just like before.”

Zhao Yuan said softly, "But what about now? In the past few days, after they have divided up the land, they will naturally regard it as their own property. When the government comes to seize the land, what do you think they will think, brother?"

"Of course I'm unwilling and angry!"

After Lu Zhishen finished speaking, he suddenly understood.

"Brother, are you trying to force them to join the Liangshan bandits?"

"Even if they really did join the Liangshan bandits, it wasn't because I forced them, but because the government forced them,"

Zhao Yuan countered, "If the Yuncheng County government hadn't coveted the Li family's land and had simply given it to the tenants, they naturally wouldn't have wanted to join the Liangshan bandits."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, and Sun An

A moment of silence fell.

The group rushed to the shore.

The three Ruan brothers had already transported all the money and grain back to their mountain stronghold.

They were just waiting for Zhao Yuan and his four companions, along with their soldiers.

"Congratulations, brother! You've won a great victory in your first battle after descending the mountain!"

Ruan Xiaowu laughed heartily.

Ruan Xiaoer, standing to the side, glanced at the soldiers.

"Brother, the soldier is covered in blood, has he run into trouble?"

"Yes, we just encountered the county government's troops, and there was a fierce battle between them,"

Zhao Yuan recounted the battle that had just taken place.

The three Ruan brothers couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Mandarin Duck Formation.

The group boarded the boat and traveled along the waterway back to Liangshan stronghold.

In this campaign to Xixi Village, only six soldiers were wounded in total.

However, he brought with him a fortune of ten thousand taels of silver and more than nine thousand bushels of grain.

The entire Liangshan area was naturally filled with jubilation.

All the leaders entered the Hall of Righteousness with beaming smiles.

"This victory is entirely due to the excellent teamwork of all the brothers,"

Zhao Yuan looked around at everyone and said, "Brother Du Qian, Brother Song Wan, you two should quickly put all that money and grain back into the warehouse, and then, just like last time, take out five thousand strings of cash and distribute them to the leaders and brothers on the mountain."

"Also, have the kitchen slaughter some pigs, sheep, and fat chickens, as well as drinks. Everyone except those on night duty can drink to their heart's content. Tonight, let everyone have a good celebration!"

"Don't worry, brother, we've got it."

Du Qian responded, and Song Wan, standing to the side, laughed.

"In just four or five days, they made two fortunes. The brothers of Liangshan were overjoyed!"

"The New Year is just around the corner, so naturally everyone should be happy,"

Zhao Yuan finished speaking with a smile, but then said in a serious tone,

"Although our expedition to Xixi Village was a great victory, it also exposed many problems that we need to correct in the future, otherwise Liangshan will stumble sooner or later!"

"Please explain, brother!"

Everyone quickly suppressed their smiles and listened attentively...

"One issue is intelligence. Before attacking Xixi Village, we only knew that the village was rich in money and grain, but we didn't know that Li Baozheng was hoarding grain! If it weren't for the help of the villagers of Xixi Village, we don't know how long it would have taken to transport those 10,000 shi of grain!"

"Brother, this is all Zhu Gui's fault. Please punish him!"

Zhu Gui quickly stood up and apologized.

"Brother Zhu Gui, don't panic. This isn't to accuse us, but simply to point out the problem so we can avoid making similar mistakes next time!"

Zhao Yuan gestured for Zhu Gui to sit down, and then continued speaking.

"Secondly, when we attacked Xixi Village, we were only concerned with guarding against reinforcements from Dongxi Village, but we forgot that we also had to stop them from sending a message to Yuncheng. If we had laid an ambush in advance and intercepted the messenger, there would have been no reinforcements from the county government."

"Thirdly, the soldiers are not well trained, and the Mandarin Duck Formation is not yet fully operational. Those who were injured were wounded by stray arrows because they disobeyed the captain's orders. Once they recover, they will be rewarded for their merits and punished for their mistakes!"

Seeing that Zhao Yuan raised questions from various aspects,

Everyone then felt relieved.

They each shared the problems they had discovered.

After some discussion, the first issue to be resolved was the intelligence problem.

At present, Liangshan only has one inn north of the marsh to gather intelligence.

That was Zhu Gui's family.

However, very little is known about the other sides of the lake.

For example, the Xixi Village we acquired this time is located on the east bank of the 1.9-meter-long waterway.

If there were already hotels there gathering intelligence,

Surely he must know about Li Baozheng's purchase and hoarding of grain!

"Brother Zhu Gui, no one is as good at running a hotel or gathering intelligence as you. This matter needs to be handled by you!"

Zhao Yuan pondered for a moment, then spoke.

"I plan to build three more hotels along the banks of Liangshan Marsh, one each in the east, west, south, and north, so that we can be notified immediately if anything happens in any direction."

"In addition, Liangshan Marsh is divided between Yunzhou and Jizhou. If the imperial army wants to wipe us out, it should be sent from these two prefectures. There should be an inn in each of these two prefectures to gather information about the imperial court! In case something happens, Liangshan will not be caught off guard!"

"Brother Zhu Gui, what do you think?"

Chapter 87 Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, who made great contributions

Zhu Gui was naturally extremely excited by Zhao Yuan's words.

During Wang Lun's time, he was only considered a minor leader.

Later, because Lin Chong went up the mountain, in order to restrain him,

Wang Lun promoted Zhu Gui to be a leader.

After that, Zhao Yuan became the leader of Liangshan.

Although Zhu Gui held the eighth position, he was still only responsible for managing that hotel.

Although he also held the position of intelligence chief, he only had four or five men under his command.

Now, according to Zhao Yuan's words...

There is one family each in the east, west, south, and north of the water marsh, and one family each in Yunzhou and Jizhou.

Then the number of hotels under Zhu Gui's control increased to six.