Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

Chapter 142 I'll take you to get rich!

Liangshan is becoming more and more prosperous!

They now have 5 cavalry battalions, 7 infantry battalions, 6 naval battalions, and 2 guard battalions, a total of 20 combat battalions!

In other words, the minimum number of combat-ready soldiers is... 10,000!

Including other auxiliary troops and reserve civilians, the total number of Liangshan soldiers exceeded 20,000!

At this size, it's practically within easy reach of the location of the number one bandit stronghold in the north.

Of course, Liangshan is relatively low-key and develops quietly, unlike that guy in neighboring Hebei who likes to jump around and is always trying to be a show-off.

The more prosperous Liangshan became, the more desolate a certain person at the foot of Liangshan appeared.

This person was none other than Chao Gai, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King of Dongxi Village.

Ever since being attacked at the Feast at Hongmen and by Ren Yuan, Chao Gai seemed to have lost his soul.

Not only has he lost confidence in his martial arts skills, but he's almost lost confidence in himself as well.

Fortunately, Wu Yong, the master of motivational speeches, was still around, constantly feeding Chao Gai motivational speeches, which barely managed to save Chao Gai.

But now Chao Gai is indeed facing a big problem: he doesn't have enough money on his estate.

Last time, Ren Yuan confiscated almost all the cash from Chao Gai's estate, as well as a lot of cattle, horses, and fodder, which dealt a heavy blow to Chao Gai's property.

So he had to sell some of his properties and land to barely make ends meet.

However, it is clear that Chaojiazhuang's influence in Dongxi Village is now far less than it used to be.

Xixi, next door, has Liangshan as its backer, so life is very comfortable. In the past, people in Dongxi thought that listening to Chao Gai was also acceptable, but without comparison, there is no harm. Compared with Xixi, which is protected by Liangshan, the gap between Dongxi and Xixi becomes apparent.

Therefore, many villagers in Dongxi Village have already secretly contacted Liangshan.

Chao Gai wasn't unaware of this, but the problem was, even if he knew, it wouldn't have mattered. What could he possibly do to join the Liangshan bandits?

"Keep it straight! Keep it straight!"

On this day, Chao Gai was lying around in the courtyard basking in the sun when he was startled awake by Wu Yong's voice!

"Is it a scholar? What happened?"

When Chao Gai saw that it was Wu Yong, he lay back down.

Anyway, you never come here for anything important.

"Guard! Great news! Get up!"

When Wu Yong saw Chao Gai's half-dead state, he didn't care too much. Anyway, Chao Gai had been in this half-dead state for a while, and he was used to it.

"What good news? Ren Yuan is dead?"

Chao Gai asked.

"Huh? When?"

Wu Yong was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed! Good! That guy deserved to die!

Why are you so happy that he's not dead?

Chao Gai poured a bucket of cold water on Wu Yong, which sobered him up a bit.

Oh right, Ren Yuan isn't dead yet... It's okay, it's fine if he doesn't die!

Anyway, it won't affect my important business.

"Guardian, listen to me, this is absolutely a great thing!"

Do you know Grand Tutor Cai of Tokyo?

Ignoring Chao Gai's reaction, Wu Yong launched into explaining his plan:

"Grand Tutor Cai has a son-in-law who works in Daming Prefecture. Everyone calls him Liang Zhongshu. Every year, this guy goes to extort some kind of birthday tribute and then sends it to his father-in-law."

"However, the birthday tribute has not been delivered in recent years; it has been intercepted along the way!"

"So I think we can also rob this year's birthday tribute! Anyway, it's all the people's hard-earned money that Liang Zhongshu has plundered. We are the people, we are the common folk, and we should take this money back!"

Wu Yong described the robbery in a very dramatic and moving way.

Chao Gai glanced at him and shook his head.

"Their birthday gifts are definitely meant to be birthday presents. What good would it do us if we robbed them? We can't sell them anyway. Let's not do this business."

"You don't know this, but I've found out that this year's birthday tribute consists mostly of cash and jewelry, totaling 10 strings of cash..."

"How many?"

Chao Gai, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up straight, his eyes shining as he stared at Wu Yong.

"10 strings of cash..."

Wu Yong swallowed hard and said.

"That Liang Zhongshu is truly despicable! How could he plunder the people's wealth? We must reclaim it for the people!"

Chao Gai's tone was very firm, just like a hero who wanted to rid the people of a scourge.

Of course, if the light in his eyes were toned down a bit more, he would look even more like the real person.

"So, are you going to listen to me now?"

Wu Yong felt particularly smug. Hehe, you were so dejected, didn't you? You immediately woke up!

"Please teach me, scholar."

Chao Gai respectfully invited Wu Yong to take a seat and let him speak.

"I've already found out. The one in charge of escorting this time is Yang Zhi, the Blue-Faced Beast, a new guard from Daming Prefecture and a former military commander, a descendant of the Yang family. It's said that he's proficient in all eighteen martial arts and is a very difficult opponent."

"What about the others?"

Chao Gai then asked.

"That's all. The rest are all Liang Zhongshu's own trusted retainers. I heard he even sent a wet nurse to be a military supervisor!"

Wu Yong shrugged.

"Yang Zhi is really stupid! How could he tolerate this?"

Chao Gai had never met Yang Zhi, but he had heard of the great name of Tianbo Mansion. He never expected that the heir of Tianbo Mansion would live such a humble life.

This job is open to anyone who wants it; if he were Yang Zhi, he definitely wouldn't take it.

"There's nothing we can do. Yang Zhigang hasn't been working for Liang Zhongshu for very long, so whatever his superiors tell him to do, he has to do."

Wu Yong ignored Yang Zhi's reaction and continued to ask Chao Gai:

"Guardian, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I'll take you to get rich!"

That's 10 strings of cash! 10 strings of cash!

With these 10 strings of cash, it won't be a problem for the Chao family to regain dominance over Dongxi Village!

If it's just Yang Zhi alone, he should rob it! Only a fool wouldn't!

"Just the two of us? Isn't that a bit risky?"

Chao Gai thought about it and felt that it was a bit inappropriate. Yang Zhi was, after all, a descendant of the Yang family, and his martial arts skills must be quite good.

"Of course not. There's you, me, Liu Tang, Tie Niu (though he lost half an arm, he can still fight), Bai Sheng, and that Han Bolong who came to join us not long ago. That makes six people!"

"Then I have two old friends, one called the 'Master Scholar Xiao Rang' and the other called the 'Jade Arm Craftsman Jin Dajian.' Although their names don't sound like martial artists, they can wield spears and clubs. If I bring them in too, we'll have eight people!"

"Then, in Jiangzhou, there's Dean Dai Zong, who's familiar with me and is a member of both academies. He's not only skilled in light-footed kung fu, but he's also good with spears and staffs. I'll bring him in too, and then we'll have nine people!"

Wu Yong became more and more excited as he spoke, and the scene he described was so vivid!

"Guardian! Nine people! Nine stars aligned! Look! This great thing is going to succeed!"

Chao Gai was also filled with excitement upon hearing this!

How well the scholar put it!

Nine stars aligned! Wonderful! That's so auspicious!

It seems that God is preparing me to accept this 10 strings of birthday gifts!

Are you absolutely sure everything will go smoothly?

Of course, to put his mind at ease, Chao Gai still asked Wu Yong.

"Don't worry, Chief, the plan is all here."

Wu Yong tapped his head with his hand and then said:

"As long as they set off, I have a way to get the route map. We're going to get our hands on this birthday tribute this time!"

Wu Yong, fearing that Chao Gai wouldn't believe him, patted his chest forcefully.