Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

As dawn broke, the last oxcart, loaded with grain, was pushed onto the fishing boat.

In the latter half of the night, the Liangshan heroes made countless trips with their warships, large and small, before they finally managed to transport all the spoils back.

The villagers of Xixi Village who hadn't gone up the mountain had been persuaded to go home by the Liangshan heroes, while those who were preparing to go up the mountain had already boarded boats to the marshland with the money and grain they had seized.

The group waiting on the shore now consists of Ren Yuan and his main force that came down the mountain this time; they are responsible for staying behind to cover the rear.

To be honest, last night's operation caused quite a stir. Although no one went to the city to report the incident via the side road, it's unlikely that no one in Dongxi Village, which is only separated by a stream, heard the commotion.

Therefore, Ren Yuan was always on guard against a sudden attack from Dongxi Village.

After all, this Chao Gai, the Heavenly King, was no pushover either.

Chao Gai was a man of loyalty, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the initiative to save Bai Sheng after the birthday tribute, nor would he have wanted to give up his position as soon as Song Jiang joined the mountain.

But Ren Yuan knew very well that Chao Gai's loyalty was only for people he knew, and it wasn't about righteousness; it was just the kind of loyalty an older brother would show to his younger brother.

Moreover, it must be said that he is capable. He has managed the entire Dongxi Village quite well. For many years, the head of Xixi Village has only dared to act arrogantly in Xixi Village and has never dared to provoke Dongxi Village.

In Ren Yuan's view, Chao Gai was one of the more established figures in the Song Dynasty's martial arts world, so he had his own arrogance. He was rather average in terms of treating people with respect and courtesy, far less adept at winning people's hearts than Song Jiang. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been later sidelined by Song Jiang.

Furthermore, everyone in the underworld knew him as a private merchant who profited from the spoils, but he also held the official position of a village head and had close relationships with county officials and security officers such as Song Jiang, Zhu Tong, and Lei Heng. It can be said that he was a representative of those who had connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds during this era.

Combining these two factors, we can infer that Chao Gai was someone who cared a lot about his reputation and respected the etiquette of both the legitimate and underworld circles. Simply put, his behavior was objectively quite flexible.

He can engage in illegal activities in secret, and he can also openly switch identities to double-cross others. Ultimately, the identity he chooses to reveal depends on which identity can maximize his benefits.

Therefore, Ren Yuan was already prepared to fight Dongxi Village.

But to his surprise, they didn't see any people from Dongxi Village until the last group of them boarded the boat!

"Strange, how could Chao Gai have held back?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised. In his opinion, Chao Gai should have taken the opportunity to make a fortune, but the henchmen monitoring the road conditions in Dongxi Village reported that there had been no movement all night.

"Is it possible that Chao Gai learned of the news, but for some reason, he didn't have time to take action?"

Yuan Lang pulled out and put back the two steel-making spears many times. He hadn't had enough of fighting in Xixi Village, and he was thinking about another match.

"That's quite possible."

Ren Yuan agreed with Yuan Lang's speculation, because Chao Gai was indecisive, so it was very likely that something had happened on their estate.

That's exactly the case!

At this moment, in Dongxi Village, Chao Family Manor, Chao Gai's expression was uncertain, as if he were making a particularly difficult decision.

"Brother! Don't hesitate! Let's launch a surprise attack before the Liangshan bandits leave! Then we'll be credited for suppressing the bandits!"

“That’s right, brother! We know better than anyone how many men Liangshan has. The commotion in Xixi right now must be their doing. Now that both sides are exhausted, we should go and pick up the spoils!”

Two men dressed as lackeys were trying to persuade Chao Gai.

These two men were Wang Lun's trusted confidants, especially skilled with words; they could make black seem white and the dead seem alive. Wang Lun himself went to Jizhou City, but before leaving, he gave these two men a sum of money, instructing them to deceive Chao Gai, hoping to use Chao Gai to counterbalance Ren Yuan, or at the very least, to annoy him!

Wang Lun's reason was simple: how could he allow others to sleep peacefully beside his bed?

So the two men told Chao Gai the story of how Ren Yuan and his men seized the mountain stronghold.

Of course, in their story, Ren Yuan is portrayed as a bully, a bandit, an unjust person, and someone who doesn't follow the rules of the underworld.

As for Chao Gai, he was a man of great righteousness. At this time, as the head of Dongxi Village in the Song Dynasty and the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King of the Shandong Green Forest, Chao Gai wanted to avenge them, both for public and private reasons!

As for the reward, Wang Lun left two pieces of gold, each weighing 20 taels, but the two servants only gave Chao Gai one piece! They planned to divide the remaining piece after the deed was done.

"No!"

"Guardian, don't trust these two people!"

Chao Gai was actually considering being persuaded by the two men, but just as he was about to agree, his friend, who had recently returned, rushed in with the help of a man dressed as a teacher at his house and stopped Chao Gai from doing so.

"Mr. Jia Liang is here, please have a seat!"

Chao Gai was still polite to this man, and even the two henchmen under Wang Lun treated this scholar with respect.

After all, all other professions are considered inferior except for studying, and the Northern Song Dynasty valued literature over military affairs, so scholars also had a certain status among the common people.

This man was none other than Wu Yong, nicknamed the "Mastermind".

As for Wu Yong, you could say he was no good, since he did have some ability to devise strategies, but you could also say he was good, since some of his plans were truly awful.

When I read "Water Margin" in my previous life, I really didn't think Wu Yong was that great. I felt he was far inferior to Zhu Wu!

When Wu Yong rushed in, after hearing Wang Lun's men urging Chao Gai to send troops, he quickly advised Chao Gai to refuse.

“Zhang Zheng, I’ve already gathered a lot of information outside. If what these two say is true, then Liangshan is currently very powerful. We shouldn’t go up and confront them head-on.”

“Mr. Jia Liang! We know Liangshan better than you do, and we know the fighting strength of the Liangshan forces!”

“If you really understood, your Chief Wang wouldn’t have been driven away in such a sorry state, and then let you come here to fool the village head.”

Wu Yong retorted without hesitation, saying that he had met Wang Lun before and that he was just a poor, pedantic scholar with a sharp tongue and a thick skin but no substance.

“Although something happened in Xixi, the village head and our territory are all in Dongxi. Besides, Liangshan can’t take the land deeds with them. Even if the village head of Xixi Village is really gone, wouldn’t it be better for us to go and take over the land deeds? Why fight to the death? In my opinion, we don’t need to go to Xixi Village so soon. Moreover, that Ren Yuan has a big reputation in the Jianghu, and it’s not easy for us to deal with him.”

Wu Yong believed his deduction was correct, and he thought that he should remain unchanged in the face of all changes.

This caused Chao Gai a lot of trouble. On the one hand, he wanted to gain an advantage, but on the other hand, he was still unclear about Ren Yuan's fighting strength and was afraid that his side would suffer losses.

After all, most of the Liangshan men who came down the mountain that day had surrendered, and the others had never seen Ren Yuan and his men. These two small fry didn't even know what Ren Yuan's weapon was.

If you don't even know what weapons you're using, what's the point of asking about martial arts?

"Don't rush to take the presidency. Go to Xixi Village in a couple of days. Then I'll go find a few old friends. With them joining us, we'll be even stronger!"

Chao Gai was persuaded, so he wasn't in a hurry, which is why Ren Yuan didn't wait for him.

The two groups of people actually missed each other!

I wonder if Chao Gai will regret not being more decisive that day when he learns of Liangshan's gains!