Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

The conversation between Chai Jin and Ren Yuan came to an end.

It can be said that this was a very satisfactory conversation for both parties.

Chai Jin immediately wrote a letter, instructing Ren Yuan to take men to his estates to collect the items.

Ren Yuan also dispatched Shi Bao, Zhang Qing, Luan Tingyu, Bian Xiang, Yuan Lang and other members of his army who had not participated in the battle of Gaotang Prefecture overnight to escort the Chai family's assets to various villages.

Ren Yuan personally led Lin Chong to the main estate of the Chai family in Cangzhou.

After all, that's where the most stuff is, and where the most manpower is needed.

As for Chai Jin himself, he still needs to stay on the mountain and cannot move.

On the other hand, in Gaotang Prefecture, since the city was breached, apart from the fact that the chief official Gao Lian was captured by Liangshan and all the generals defending the city were killed in battle, the remaining officials who managed to escape did not lose their lives.

After the fall of Gaotang Prefecture, those people were initially afraid that the Liangshan army had not withdrawn, so they dared not go back. It was not until five or six days later that they dared to return to Gaotang Prefecture to take stock of the losses.

This inventory made them cry. The spoils from Liangshan were truly gone. All the treasuries were spotless, especially the granary, where even the rats were starving!

What's worse, when they got back, they discovered that the prefect had disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

There was no other way; this was a big deal, because Gao Lian was Gao Qiu's brother. If Gao Lian were gone, Gao Qiu would definitely be angry.

It's best to tell the higher-ups about this as soon as possible; you can't hide it from them forever.

Therefore, the remaining officials of Gaotang Prefecture wrote a letter recording the entire process of the Battle of Gaotang Prefecture, and then quickly sent it to the capital.

Tokyo, the residence of Grand Commandant Gao!

"Damn it! Liangshan! Liangshan!"

"And this Chai Jin, what a piece of trash! Just some damned bloodline from the previous dynasty! How dare he refuse my Gao family!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Gao Qiu was furious after receiving the letter!

Gao Lian was his younger brother, and Gao Qiu had high hopes for him, which is why he specially arranged for him to go to Gaotang Prefecture.

Now, their fate is unknown, how could Gao Qiu not be furious!

"Prepare the horses, I'm going to the palace!"

Gao Qiu was furious. He prepared to go to the palace to see the Emperor and beg him to do justice for him!

"Master, you can't go!"

His trusted subordinates quickly stopped him.

"Get out of my way! Don't stop me!"

"My lord, have you forgotten that the Emperor and the Grand Tutor have been spending every day together lately, and the Grand Tutor has made the Emperor very happy? If you go there now and still talk about Lord Lian's dereliction of duty and his unknown fate, do you think His Majesty will think you have failed in your duties?"

Gao Qiu kicked his trusted subordinate hard, but he still managed to say what he wanted to say.

"Ok?"

After hearing this, Gao Qiu calmed down.

Yes, lately that old geezer Cai Jing has been hanging out with the Emperor every day, making him all smiles.

If I were to go over there now and say something so unlucky, I would be clearly inferior to Old Master Cai who is still alive!

Damn it! I can't go!

"Then what should I do?"

"Master, Master Lian's fate is unknown, so I think you should have the Black-Clad Guards gather information as soon as possible. Moreover, since we know that Liangshan was responsible, you can have the Ministry of War issue an order to send a general to attack Liangshan!"

"If the men you send can take down Liangshan, then it will be your achievement!"

What this trusted subordinate said made a lot of sense, at least to Gao Qiu's liking.

“What you say makes some sense, but the problem is, my brother’s fate is unknown. What are we going to do?”

"My lord, I believe that Liangshan is nothing more than a band of bandits. I think they wouldn't dare to do anything to Master Lian. You can send someone over to tell those bandits that if they know what's good for them, they should release Master Lian. Otherwise, once the Song army arrives, they will immediately raze Liangshan Marsh to the ground!"

“Those strongmen are all in it for money. They won’t really be enemies of the court. I think Chai Jin must have bribed them to support him. If you send someone to tell these bandits about the stakes and promise them one or two official positions, they’ll be all eager to be recruited by you, given how wise and powerful you are.”

This confidant of Gao Qiu was truly a master at flattering him.

Even Gao Qiu, upon hearing this, thought, "Hmm, that makes a lot of sense! That's exactly how it should be!"

"Then tell me, who can represent us and go to Liangshan?"

Gao Qiu asked this trusted confidant.

The confidant said:

“I hope you will know, sir. I have a fellow townsman who works in the Prince’s mansion. He once told me that there is an ugly prince consort in the Prince’s mansion. Although he is very ugly, he is highly skilled in martial arts. I think he is very suitable to be sent to Liangshan to deliver a message.”

"Moreover, this man is also capable of leading troops. Master, you can let him lead the troops to Liangshan directly. Let's talk first, and if we can't reach an agreement, we can just fight!"

"Ugly Prince Consort? Let me think, isn't it that Xuan Zan?"

"Yes, yes. Sir, it is indeed him!"

Gao Qiu's confidant quickly nodded.

"Tell me, how much did you take from your fellow villagers to recommend and praise you to me?"

Gao Qiu wasn't stupid. Did he not know what his trusted subordinates were up to? They must have been bribed!

"My lord, my fellow villager gave me fifty taels of silver, hoping I could put in a good word for his master with you. I thought Xuan Zan was skilled in martial arts and of good standing, so I figured I could trust him..."

Gao Qiu's confidant quickly knelt down and said...

However, he was actually lying; he received one hundred taels, not fifty.

"Alright, this is the last time. Xuan Zan, shall we..."

Gao Qiu waved his hand, indicating that this time it would be let go.

He also knew Xuanzan's name; in fact, there was no one in the entire city of Tokyo who didn't know him.

Xuanzan was extremely ugly; he was just an ordinary junior officer in the Imperial Guard.

However, on one occasion, when a delegation from the Liao Dynasty came to exchange ideas with the Song Dynasty, they brought several archers who mocked the Song Dynasty for having no skilled archers.

Xuan Zan, who was on duty at the time, was furious and went up to fire a volley of arrows, defeating the archers and causing the Liao delegation to lose face.

This move caught the eye of the prince who was in charge of liaising with the delegation at the time, so even though he was ugly, the prince did not hesitate to bring him under his command and even betrothed the princess to him.

It's a pity that the princess is someone who values ​​appearance. On the wedding day, when she saw Xuanzan's appearance, she flew into a rage! If the prince hadn't been there, the princess probably would have called off the wedding!

Although she did not break off the engagement, the princess resolutely refused to let Xuanzan touch her, and the two were only husband and wife in name only.

Moreover, the princess repeatedly requested a divorce, but the prince refused. This led to a very strained relationship between the father and daughter, and Xuanzan's career was thus fraught with difficulties.

In this light, inviting this ugly prince consort to Liangshan is actually a pretty good idea!