Liver in Water Margin, outlaw madman

Zhang Shan stood on the dock, watching until Lu Zhishen's tall figure completely disappeared into the lake before turning around.

The autumn wind blows over the village walls, and the flags flutter in the wind.

He glanced at the clouds rolling in the sky, then walked back without saying a word.

Back in the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, Zhang Shan did not sit down, but instead had someone call Li Si over.

Li Si arrived shortly afterward, walking hurriedly. Upon entering, he clasped his hands in greeting and called out, "Third Brother."

Zhang Shan cut to the chase: "Fourth Brother, how long can the mountain stronghold's food supplies last?"

Having been in charge of finances for a long time, Li Si knew these figures by heart. Without hesitation, he said, "We can only last for three months. If the merchants from the surrounding area can bring some grain with them next time they come to barter, then even with the gold and silver we have, it will only last for half a year at most."

He paused, then added, "This doesn't even include expenses like military pay, equipment maintenance, and fortification repairs; everything costs money."

Zhang Shan's brows furrowed into a knot.

He paced back and forth in the hall, his hands behind his back, secretly making plans in his mind.

Lu Zhishen will not be back for at least two months.

If Shi Jin were willing to bring his brothers up the mountain, then there would be enough food for hundreds more people.

The current resources of counterfeiters are simply insufficient to sustain their operations.

He walked to the window, pushed open the wooden window, and outside was a vast expanse of lake water, with the leaves on the distant mountain peaks already beginning to turn yellow.

It's almost autumn.

The wasteland surrounding Liangshan is being cultivated with all efforts.

But crops can't be rushed; the earliest we can harvest wheat is next summer.

Ultimately, it all depends on the whims of fate.

If there are a few more rains, or if it happens to be a drought year, the entire harvest of that season will be wasted.

Inside and out, up and down, the food, drink, and daily needs of hundreds of people all rested on Zhang Shan's shoulders.

Looking at his third brother's retreating figure, Li Si understood what he was worried about.

"Third Brother, there are a few wealthy families around here. I've had the brothers inquire about them. If all else fails, we'll borrow grain from them." Li Si knew why his third brother was frowning.

Third Brother is a man who doesn't say much, but he has more on his mind than anyone else.

Back when they were just scraping by on the streets, Third Brother always worried about what to eat every day.

Now that we've joined Liangshan, with more people and a larger territory, we have even more worries.

Outsiders only see the glory of the village chief, thinking that he sits on a high chair, eating and drinking well, and living a very happy life.

But Li Si knew that his third brother didn't care about the title of chieftain at all.

Zhang Shan turned around, a smile returning to his face, and walked over to pat Li Si on the shoulder: "Si Lang, tell me, which wealthy families are involved?"

Li Si's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had a nickname in the martial arts world: Green Grass Snake.

How many snakes in the world are as green as grass?

Bamboo Leaf Green.

It is highly poisonous, hiding in the grass; it remains still until it moves, at which point it can be deadly.

Li Si usually kept a low profile, managing the money and grain accounts, and seemed like an honest and upright person.

But few of those he targets manage to escape.

Li Si took half a step forward, lowered his voice, and counted out the items one by one:

"In Dongxi Village, there was a family surnamed Chao who owned a large business and had a far-reaching reputation."

"There's another family in Xixi Village, surnamed Zhao. They're quite wealthy, but their reputation is far worse than the Chao family's. They've done plenty of bullying and harassing, and everyone in the village hates them, but nobody dares to mess with them."

"There is a family in Songjia Village with a member who works as a clerk in the county government. Their surname is Song. This family is quite well-off."

Li Si rattled off more than a dozen stories in one breath, from Dongxi Village to Xixi Village, from Shijie Village to the outskirts of Yuncheng City, covering all kinds of villages, from near to far, and from distant to distant, categorizing them clearly.

Zhang Shan became increasingly surprised as he listened, and couldn't help but take another look at Li Si.

He only knew that Li Si was reliable, but he never expected that this brother had done so much work in the shadows.

This kind of information isn't something just anyone can get, and it certainly can't be figured out in a day or two.

"Si Lang, well done," Zhang Shan said sincerely. "How did you obtain this information?"

Li Si smiled and said, "Third Brother, you can easily find out by asking the people on the mountain, the fishermen by the lake, and the merchants who come and go. I had people compare the information from various sources and pick out the closest match. I also had a few clever brothers go down the mountain to secretly verify it again."

Zhang Shan nodded, a deeper meaning creeping into his eyes.

"Make a note of all of these, and later pick a few with bad reputations to deal with."

Zhang Shan knew, of course, that now was not the time to act.

Liangshan's foundation is not yet solid, and Lu Zhishen is not here. Taking action rashly would only alert the enemy.

But that doesn't mean it won't change in the future.

If the imperial court doesn't care, and the local government doesn't care, then let him take charge.

Rather than letting the wealth and grain of those wealthy families be plundered by the Jurchens or Liao people in the future, it's better to keep them in our own hands and use them where they're needed.

Just as Li Si was about to say a few more words, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Zhu Gui rushed in, his thin face beaming with joy, his wrinkles crinkling together. He immediately shouted, "Chief! Several heroes from the foot of the mountain have come to join us!"

Zhang Shan turned his head and, seeing his appearance, couldn't help but laugh: "What kind of hero is he that Brother Zhu Gui needs to personally run up the mountain to report to him?"

Zhu Gui rubbed his hands together, his voice rising several decibels with excitement: "Two fine, robust heroes! They are both well-known figures in the martial arts world."

Zhu Gui managed the inn on the south side of Liangshan, where he was responsible for gathering intelligence and guiding heroes. He had seen many people come and go over the years, but few could excite him so much.

"Oh? What's your name?" Zhang Shan also became interested.

He didn't expect that someone would actually come to join Liangshan.

Zhu Gui laughed so hard his eyes almost disappeared, and said, word by word, "One is named Han Bolong, and the other is named Jiao Ting. Their physiques, their bearing, wow, they're both so robust!"

Upon hearing these two names, Zhang Shan almost jumped up.

His mind went blank for a moment, and all the plot points from the original work came flooding back to him.

Han Bolong and Jiao Ting were mortal enemies in the original novel.

Jiao Ting was a master sumo wrestler; he even managed to knock Li Kui to the ground, leaving him completely subdued.

Han Bolong was also a hero, but unfortunately he wasn't smart enough. He was later killed by Li Kui with an axe, dying unjustly.

Unexpectedly, these two people came to Liangshan together.

"Where is he?" Zhang Shan asked as he walked out.

"I'll wait on the Golden Beach. I came up the mountain first to inform my brother, so I won't delay," Zhu Gui said hurriedly.

Zhu Gui knew this perfectly well.

Ordinary henchmen have their own rules when they go up the mountain.

When heroes come to join us, the chieftain must personally greet them; this courtesy is indispensable.

Otherwise, if people travel a long way only to be disappointed and leave without even seeing the chieftain, the loss would be enormous.

As Zhang Shan walked out of the Hall of Righteousness, he ran into Lin Chong returning from the training ground, carrying his eighteen-foot spear and with beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Second Brother, come down the mountain with me to pick up two people," Zhang Shan called out.

Lin Chong didn't ask any more questions, wiped his sweat, and followed.

The three of them passed through several checkpoints and went down the stone steps to the Golden Beach Ferry.

From a distance, two burly men could be seen standing on the shore.

His physique stood out like two iron towers in the crowd.

In this day and age, people with such a physique are either from military families or are heroes born with superhuman strength.

Ordinary people can't even get enough to eat, how can they grow up to have such a physique?

Zhu Gui quickly took two steps forward and introduced them, pointing to Zhang Shan and saying, "Brothers, this is our Liangshan leader, known in the martial arts world as 'Little Heavenly Duke' Brother Zhang Shan."

Jiao Ting clasped his hands in greeting first, his voice booming like thunder: "I am Jiao Ting, greetings to Brother Zhang Shan!"

Han Bolong also clasped his hands in greeting, but addressed him slightly differently: "I am Han Bolong, greetings to Brother Tiangong!"

The two men lowered their heads, secretly observing Zhang Shan.

Before they came, they actually had some doubts.

Although I had heard of the name "Little Heavenly Emperor" in the martial arts world, I always felt that it was somewhat exaggerated.

But as they walked up from Golden Beach, their views changed.

The initial slight disdain had been unconsciously put away.