Liver in Water Margin, outlaw madman

The group walked up the mountain path and soon arrived at the council hall at the top of the mountain.

Without waiting for Wang Lun to greet him, Zhang Shan went straight to the head seat and sat down.

Lu Zhishen, carrying his monk's staff, swaggered to the bench on the left and sat down, while Lin Chong, holding a spear, slowly sat down on the right.

Wang Lun stood there, at a loss. After a moment's hesitation, he sat down on the bench opposite him, his hands tightly on his knees, his eyes darting away, not daring to look directly at Zhang Shan.

Du Qian and Song Wan followed closely behind, standing on either side of Wang Lun, heads bowed, not daring to utter a sound.

The three Ruan brothers casually found a place to sit down, their hands on their weapons, their sharp eyes scanning everything in the hall with disdain.

"Chief Wang," Zhang Shan began, his tone direct and without a trace of politeness, "how much money and grain does the stronghold currently have?"

Wang Lun was startled, a look of panic appearing on his face. He subconsciously turned to look at Du Qian, clearly unable to remember the exact number and not daring to speak easily.

Du Qian quickly stood up, bowed, and replied respectfully with a hint of helplessness: "Hero, the stronghold only has a little over a thousand strings of cash left. Even with the cloth and grain in the warehouse, the total amount is less than two thousand strings."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shan raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of surprise on his face.

This amount would be a huge sum for an ordinary family, but for the hundreds of people on Liangshan, it wouldn't even last a month. How could they possibly survive?

"So few?" Zhang Shan leaned forward slightly and continued to ask, "How do the hundreds of brothers on the mountain manage to live on a daily basis?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Lun's face instantly turned bright red. He looked embarrassed, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. He lowered his head further and further, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Seeing this, Du Qian quickly stepped forward and spoke on Wang Lun's behalf, his tone increasingly helpless: "To be honest, my brothers are barely surviving. Lately, fewer and fewer people are passing by the foot of the mountain, and the supplies we can plunder are even scarcer. The warehouses are already empty."

"Hehe." Zhang Shan chuckled lightly, his tone undisguisedly mocking. "It's quite something that Chief Wang could manage to drive several hundred brothers to the brink of starvation while guarding such a treasure as the Eight Hundred Li Water Margin."

Wang Lun suppressed his shame and anger, lowered his head, and explained in a soft voice: "I am just a weak scholar, with no strength to even kill a chicken. My brothers Du Qian and Song Wan are also only so-so in martial arts. They can only make a living by robbing some lone travelers. We really dare not go against the grain and provoke the powerful."

"Bah! You coward!" Lu Zhishen could no longer contain himself. He slammed his fist on the table, stood up, shouldered his staff, and his face was full of anger. "No wonder I haven't had a single decent opponent on my way up the mountain!"

The three Ruan brothers exchanged glances, their faces showing surprise.

They had made a living by fishing in Shijie Village since childhood and knew the wealth of the Liangshan Marsh. They never expected that Liangshan, with such good conditions, would fall to such a state that they could not even solve the problem of feeding their brothers.

Zhang Shan was also puzzled, his brows furrowing even more as he looked at Wang Lun and asked, "Chief Wang, with this vast Liangshan Marsh, the fish alone should be enough to feed thousands of people. Why are you in such dire straits?"

Wang Lun lowered his head even further, his voice barely audible: "None of us brothers know how to fish. Besides... besides, we've already become outlaws. If we were to engage in such a lowly profession as fishing, it would damage our image, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out."

Zhang Shan was truly stunned. His eyes widened, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

He finally understood that Wang Lun didn't see becoming an outlaw as a way to make a living at all; instead, he treated it like a game!

"Alright, enough of this nonsense." Zhang Shan's surprise vanished, his tone becoming decisive. He stopped arguing with Wang Lun. "We came up the mountain to settle down and find refuge. Leader Wang deserves credit for founding Liangshan, but his mismanagement led to this predicament. From now on, you'll serve as our strategist on the mountain, how about that?"

Along the way, Wang Lun was first intimidated by force and then humiliated by his incompetence in management, and he had already prepared himself to lose his position as the chieftain.

But when the moment actually came, his fragile pride still couldn't let go. He sat there silently, his face turning pale and then red.

Seeing this, Du Qian dared not hesitate for a moment. He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Zhang Shan and the others, his voice filled with emotion: "Thank you all, heroes, for sparing our lives! If you hadn't come, Liangshan would probably have disbanded completely in no time!"

Song Wan also realized what was happening and quickly knelt down, kowtowing and echoing, "Yes! Fellow heroes, you have saved us brothers from dire straits. We are deeply grateful and will obey your every command!"

Seeing his two most capable brothers kneeling on the ground, Wang Lun's last shred of hope and stubbornness completely collapsed.

He was a scholar and unwilling to engage in such a casual, kneeling act of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), but now that things had come to this, he had no choice.

He slowly stood up, staring at Zhang Shan and the others, bowed deeply, and said in a tone that was both unwilling and helpless: "I am Wang Lun, and I thank you all for sparing my life."

After speaking, he lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, as if summoning immense courage, and then asked, "But among all you heroes, who will sit in the position of leader of Liangshan Stronghold?"

His head was lowered tightly, he dared not look up, and his voice was very low, but there was a subtle, almost imperceptible thought hidden in his words.

He wanted to sow discord among Zhang Shan, Lu Zhishen, and Lin Chong. If they fought amongst themselves, he might still have a chance to regain control of Liangshan. His thoughts were ruthless.

"You scoundrel, what evil scheme are you plotting!" Lu Zhishen was incredibly astute; he immediately understood Wang Lun's implied meaning. His eyes widened, and he pointed at Wang Lun, angrily shouting, "How dare you sow discord among us brothers! If it weren't for Third Brother saying you're still useful, I would have killed you with a single blow of my staff!"

After cursing, he turned to look at Zhang Shan, his anger instantly vanishing and replaced by a simple, honest smile. He said loudly, "Third brother, you shall be the leader of this stronghold! I am a rough and uncouth man, only interested in drinking, martial arts, and fighting for justice. How could I possibly manage the trivial matters of the stronghold? Letting me manage things is worse than killing me!"

"Third brother," Lin Chong quickly stood up, cupped his hands to Zhang Shan, and said in a sincere and firm tone, "We can only feel at ease entrusting the leadership of this stronghold to you. If it weren't for you, my family would have been in grave danger long ago. We are able to have a safe place now entirely thanks to you. You are the rightful leader of this stronghold."

Wang Lun knelt on the ground. Upon hearing these words, he could no longer hold back and trembled slightly. He hadn't expected that his provocation would not only fail but also make the friendship between the three of them even more apparent.

He was both anxious and frightened, and with a thud, he knelt heavily on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "I had absolutely no intention of instigating anything! It's just that this mountain stronghold cannot be without a leader for even a day. I was only asking casually, and I had no malicious intent. I beg you heroes to see the truth!"

Looking at Lu Zhishen and Lin Chong, and seeing their sincere expressions and deep affection, Zhang Shan no longer hesitated to refuse. He suddenly stood up and said loudly:

"Since my two elder brothers are unwilling to deal with these mundane matters, then I will not refuse. It's merely the title of a mountain stronghold leader!"

"Good! Good!" Lu Zhishen laughed heartily, patting Zhang Shan on the shoulder. "Third brother, you are truly talented. If I were to become the leader, I'm afraid I wouldn't be as good as Wang Lun. In that case, I would definitely bring down Liangshan!"

Lin Chong smiled too, a long-lost look of relief on his face: "With Third Brother here, we finally have a place to stay. I'll go down the mountain now and bring up our families and brothers who are still here."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work, Second Brother." Zhang Shan nodded with a smile, his eyes full of gratitude. "With you two elder brothers here, I have the confidence to do things my way. The future development of Liangshan will depend on you two elder brothers and all the brothers."

The three Ruan brothers also stood up and bowed to Zhang Shan, saying, "We are willing to obey the chieftain's orders!"

Du Qian and Song Wan quickly kowtowed, saying, "We are willing to obey the chieftain's orders!"

Wang Lun knelt on the ground, looking at the scene before him, his heart filled with doubt and confusion.

He simply couldn't understand what Zhang Shan, a nobody, possessed that could make two fierce generals like Lu Zhishen and Lin Chong willingly submit to his orders.

He couldn't help but raise his head and steal a glance at Zhang Shan, who was standing in the main seat.

This doubt, like a seed, quietly took root in Wang Lun's heart.

What kind of person is Zhang Shan?