Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

Dengzhou.

An elderly man with half-white hair, accompanied by an old servant, walked out of the Dengzhou Prefectural Government Office.

Each of them carried only a simple bag. There was a carriage at the entrance of the government office, and the driver was waiting for them with great boredom.

"Hey you two, could we hurry up a bit? There are so many people going to Liangshan lately, and you've already wasted the whole morning."

The coachman was a young man, and the carriage looked like it was handmade by him. Although it wasn't very luxurious, it was very sturdy and durable. However, the young man seemed to regret taking the job from these two old men.

"Young man, you've already taken our deposit, how can you say that!"

Before the old man could say anything, his old servant was already very dissatisfied!

My master has been working diligently ever since he became an official, but unfortunately he has never been appreciated and has always been suppressed!

I finally had the opportunity to become a sub-prefect in Dengzhou this year, but before I could even take office, Cai Jing suddenly established the Great Lai Kingdom and overthrew the Zhao Song Dynasty!

Subsequently, the emperor established a new court in the west, the Ming Dynasty was added in the south, and the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong was further developed into the Great Yi!

That's right, the old servant's master is Zong Ze.

When Zong Ze arrived in Dengzhou, he heard the aforementioned news. He felt as if the sky had fallen. In his grief and indignation, he petitioned the prefect of Dengzhou, hoping to lead troops to defend the emperor and save the Song Dynasty!

However, this newly appointed prefect of Dengzhou, who had only been in office for a year, showed no intention of supporting the emperor, repeatedly making excuses and even saying to Zong Ze:

“Old Zong, your position as Tongpan was just appointed by the Song Dynasty. Now that the Song Dynasty is gone, you are no longer Tongpan. I don’t want to make things difficult for you because you are an elder, so please don’t make things difficult for me either.”

Zong Ze was furious. Was this still Dengzhou of the Song Dynasty? Was this still the prefect of the Song Dynasty?!

"How could you utter such treasonous words? You eat the emperor's food, you serve the emperor, you bear the emperor's burdens! Have you even forgotten that?!"

"Old Zong, how many years have you been in officialdom, and you've only barely managed to get the position of prefect this year? Have you ever thought that you're actually not suited to be an official?"

The prefect of Dengzhou did not take Zong Ze's words seriously. Although he had only been in Dengzhou for a year, he already knew who to listen to in Dengzhou.

“I’m in Dengzhou, and I listen to General Huyan. I won’t lie to you, but General Huyan listens to Dayi, so I listen to Dayi too. If something happens to Zhao Song, what right do I, as the prefect of Dayi, have to get involved?”

"You! You!..."

Zong Ze was so angry that he couldn't speak. He never expected that his superior had long been disloyal to the Song Dynasty!

"What Great Yi? It's just a bunch of strongmen playing around, and you actually took it seriously?! The Great Song Dynasty is the rightful heir!"

“Old Zong, I am not as learned as you, but I know that whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Go out and ask the people of Dengzhou who they think is good.”

The prefect of Dengzhou had mixed feelings looking at the old man before him, who was so earnestly defending the Song Dynasty, but he wasn't about to give in to the old fellow.

"The Song Dynasty is rotten to the core! Old Emperor, do you dare to swear to Heaven and your ancestors that you truly believe the Emperor is a wise ruler? If you utter even the slightest lie, may you be struck by lightning and your ancestral graves never rest in peace!"

"I……"

Zong Ze was momentarily stumped by the question. He wanted to say yes, but after thinking of his ancestors, he paused.

"Look, you claim to be a loyalist of the Song Dynasty, yet you also think the Emperor is not a wise ruler. What right do you have to criticize me? A good bird chooses a good tree to perch on. Can't I just not want to sink with the broken ship that is the Song Dynasty?"

"You, you only know how to talk big! Even if the Song Dynasty has its flaws, it is still the legitimate dynasty..."

“Old Zong, do you dare say such things to the Chai family? The descendants of the Chai family are on Liangshan. If you dare to stand in front of them and say that the Zhao Song dynasty is the rightful ruler of the world, I will give up my position as the prefect of Dengzhou for you to sit in.”

Zong Ze was speechless. He really hadn't expected that a prefect of a prefecture would be so disloyal to the Song Dynasty!

"Old Zong, you've studied for so many years, don't you know the principle of not commenting without knowing the whole story? Here's what we'll do: go to Liangshan yourself and see how this so-called strongman treats the common people!"

"I won't mention that he recently took back Yanyun, or that this is bullying the Zhao family. They're holding the imperial examinations soon, so if you want to try, go ahead and see how they conduct the exams!"

"My temple in Dengzhou is too small, so I won't keep you any longer."

The prefect of Dengzhou pointed out a path to Zong Ze, but whether Zong Ze went or not was none of his concern. In any case, he would never give Zong Ze the position of vice prefect of Dengzhou.

Although Zong Ze was furious, he was helpless. After all, the prefect had been in Dengzhou for a year and had established a foothold, while he had only just arrived and was forced to leave.

He originally wanted to go directly to the Western Army to find Zhao Ji, but the words of the Dengzhou prefect kept lingering in his mind. So he and his old servant discussed it and decided to go to Liangshan first to see how a group of strongmen were conducting the imperial examinations!

That led to the scene at the beginning where he hired a car.

"I have received the deposit, but you two are too slow. If it were anyone else, they would probably be halfway there by now. There are a lot of people going to Liangshan recently, and you two are delaying me from making an extra trip!"

"you……"

The old servant wanted to say something, but Zong Ze stopped him:

"Young man, I'm sorry, we're old and can't compare to young people. How about I give you more money?"

"That won't do. Whatever it is, is what it is. Don't get me into trouble."

The driver quickly waved his hand, then got out of the car and helped the two old men back in.

"Harm you? What do you mean by that?"

Zong Ze was a little puzzled. Wouldn't it be better to give more money?

"Old folks, we've recently been sending people to Liangshan to participate in the first imperial examination of Dayi. The Liangshan camp has long had regulations regarding travel expenses; no one is allowed to increase the price privately. If you two give me more, I'll have a hard time explaining it. Buckle up, let's go!"

After the two were settled, the driver returned to his seat and began to drive.

"Confess? You don't mean all this money went to Liangshan? How much did they take? Eighty percent?"

Zong Ze said subconsciously.

"Hey!!"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the coachman immediately stopped the carriage and glared at them with displeasure.

“I’m telling you two, you’re both getting on in years, could you please stop talking nonsense? Before the Prince established his kingdom, he often encouraged us to do some business. Our generation from Jingdong East Road driving to Liangshan was a legitimate business that the Prince came up with back then!”

"In our line of work, everyone knows that as long as you pay a horse rental fee once a year, and then half a percent of the profits every month; or you don't pay a horse rental fee, but only 15 percent of the profits every month, you can run business all over Dayi. To say that you have to pay 80 percent of the profits is to slander the Prince, or to slander Dayi?"

"Young man, how dare you speak to my master like that? My master was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the sixth year of the Yuan You era of the Great Song Dynasty..."

Before the old servant could finish speaking, the coachman interrupted him:

"Old man, ambition knows no age, ignorance is a waste of a hundred years. A scholar who passed the imperial examination in the sixth year of the Yuan You era is now so poor? Doesn't this just show the incompetence of the Zhao Song court?"

"Isn't it because you feel hopeless in the Song Dynasty that you're going to Liangshan to take this imperial examination? If you were already a high-ranking official in the Song Dynasty, would you have gone?"

"Now that you two are sitting in my car, you have to listen to me. I don't care who you are, but if I hear you being disrespectful to the Prince, Liangshan, or Dayi again, I'll refund your deposit right now and I'm not doing business with you!"

"It was our fault, young man. I apologize. Please drive with peace of mind."

Zong Ze gestured for the old servant to stop talking, then apologized and reassured the coachman.

"That's more like it. You two, buckle up, giddy up—"