Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Liu Menglong! I asked you to mobilize and build ships, and this is the kind of thing you give me?"

A few days later, in Liu Menglong's water stronghold, Gao Qiu sat at the head of the table and gave Liu Menglong a severe scolding!

"Grand Commandant, it's not that I'm being lazy, but the Liangshan bandits launched a night attack a few days ago, causing me heavy losses."

Liu Menglong stated that this was not his fault.

"How many men do you have? Fifteen thousand! How many Liangshan bandits have? You're telling me you suffered heavy losses in a surprise attack by the Liangshan bandits! Liu Menglong, are you a piece of trash? Or are you just making fun of me?"

When Gao Qiu started cursing, he didn't give Liu Menglong any face at all.

Although Liu Menglong was humiliated and unhappy, he was just an ordinary commander, while Gao Qiu was the Grand Commandant, so he had no way to talk back to Gao Qiu.

"You've failed in your duties and even suffered a defeat, which has affected the morale of the army. Come on, drag Liu Menglong out and execute him!"

Gao Qiu felt angry when he saw those small fishing boats.

Gao Qiu, a high-ranking Grand Commandant, had subordinates who could only travel by fishing boat.

Who do you think you are?!

"Grand Commandant, this is unacceptable. To execute one's own general before even engaging in battle is an unprecedented rule."

Wang Huan couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up to stop him. Although Liu Menglong had indeed lost face, he didn't deserve to die like that!

"Grand Commandant, spare my life!"

Liu Menglong was stunned when he heard that he was to be executed.

Is this Grand Commandant Gao really that casual?

Liu Menglong thought to himself, "I spent a lot of money to get to the position of naval commander, and now they want to kill me just because I haven't had time to build ships yet."

Grand Commandant Gao, that's not what you said when you accepted my gifts!

You promised to guarantee my promotion to the military governor of Liangzhe!

"Hmph, out of respect for General Wang, he may be spared the death penalty, but he will not escape punishment!"

"Liu Menglong has failed in his duties. Effective today, you are stripped of your position as commander of the Nanjing Navy and demoted to commander of an ordinary battalion in the Jiangnan Navy!"

"Grand Commandant, changing commanders on the eve of battle is a major taboo in military strategy. If Liu Menglong is demoted, who will fill his vacancy? In my opinion, it would be better to let him redeem himself through meritorious service."

Gao Qiu's bizarre actions left everyone somewhat bewildered, with Wang Huan even directly stating, "Gao Qiu, stop messing around like this!"

"General Wang, I've already given you face by not killing this guy. Now, shouldn't you give me face in return?"

But Gao Qiu did not listen to Wang Huan's questioning this time, and instead coldly refuted Wang Huan.

"Thank you very much, Grand Commandant, for sparing my life."

Upon seeing this, Liu Menglong could only helplessly express his gratitude. It seemed that Gao Qiu was determined to cause him trouble today, so he might as well just accept it, otherwise, the trouble might be even greater.

Demoted from a commander to a battalion commander, Liu Menglong felt extremely wronged. All his years of hard work had almost turned to ashes!

It seems I need to hurry back and instruct someone to send Gao Qiu some more things, otherwise I'll probably lose my head next time.

"Then, who will replace Liu Menglong as Grand Commandant?"

Seeing this, Wang Huan knew there was nothing he could do. He could only ask Gao Qiu who would replace Liu Menglong.

"Well, as the saying goes, one should not avoid recommending relatives for the best. My two brothers, Dang Shiying and Dang Shixiong, are skilled in swimming and are exceptionally brave. I have decided to let Dang Shiying take over the position of commander, and Dang Shixiong will become a deputy commander."

Gao Qiu's "business as business" demeanor made Wang Huan roll his eyes.

Who doesn't know that the Dang brothers are Gao Qiu's confidants?

You, Gao Qiu, are truly cunning. With this, all 15,000 naval troops in Jinling will now belong to the Gao family!

Actually, it wasn't just because the Dang brothers were Gao Qiu's confidants; the more important reason was that the Dang brothers had given Gao Qiu a lot of benefits before this expedition! They hoped that Gao Qiu would make arrangements for them during this great battle.

As luck would have it, the Dang brothers gave more than Liu Menglong did.

Furthermore, since the Dang brothers were close associates of Gao Qiu, their influence was naturally different.

Originally, Gao Qiu only intended to arrange for them to join the Nanjing Navy as deputy commanders.

Who would have thought that Liu Menglong would actually lose the first round!

He's given us such a chance, if Gao Qiu doesn't seize it, wouldn't he be letting the Dang brothers down?

So, when you're out in the game, you can't just rely on your fighting skills. What good are fighting skills? Liu Menglong was considered a particularly capable leader of the naval forces, but he still got taken down by Gao Qiu.

Moreover, Liu Menglong barely managed to gather more than 500 ships, while two days later, Niu Bangxi arrived at the army's rendezvous point with a full 1,500 ships!

These 1,500 ships varied in size, including warships, merchant ships, and fishing boats.

Niu Bangxi was ruthless and seized all the boats that were recently passing by on the Yangtze River. He seized them as he went, and eventually accumulated 1,500 boats!

Why was Niu Bangxi working so hard? Because he was always worried that he would be criticized if his ships weren't as numerous as Liu Menglong's. To avoid that, he really went all out this time, thoroughly inspecting the entire Yangtze River!

When Niu Bangxi arrived, Gao Qiu felt even more certain that he had been right to demote Liu Menglong.

Look, they're both in the shipbuilding business, but Niu Bangxi is just an ordinary captain, yet his achievements are several times greater than Liu Menglong's!

Comparing yourself to others is just infuriating!

So when Gao Qiu was pleased, he promoted Niu Bangxi to deputy commander as well!

He was particularly proud of himself, and went around saying that he was fair in rewarding and punishing people!

Wang Huan and his associates had no control over Gao Qiu, so they chose to ignore him, preferring to stay out of it.

Inside Xu Jing's tent.

"Brother Xu, we're going into battle tomorrow. Are you sure Liangshan can hold off so many of us?"

Li Congji and Xu Jing are best friends, and they can talk about anything.

Last time Xu Jing was in the capital, he suggested that if they lost the battle, the brothers should not take their own lives. He said that the young men of Liangshan were quite good and that it would be good for them to retire on the mountain.

However, his proposal was rejected by several military governors, led by Wang Huan.

After all, before meeting the person, Wang Huan and the others wouldn't set aside their pride based solely on Xu Jing's one-sided account.

They've already been recruited by the government once; if you want them to return to banditry, they'll have to feel it's worth it!

Moreover, they didn't tell Yang Wen and Han Cunbao about this, because these two people weren't from a pure bandit background, and they didn't have any bandit sentiments.

But Li Congji is different.

Li Congji and Xu Jing were so close they could share a pair of pants; Li Congji was willing to believe whatever Xu Jing said.

Therefore, Li Congji was willing to follow Xu Jing and go for something big.

"Our 130,000 men may seem like a lot, but the number of people on Liangshan Mountain is no less than ours!"

"Moreover, you may not know that there are many masters on Liangshan Mountain, many of whom are former government military officers."

"Do you think those former military officers would have been so willing to follow Ren Yuan if he were just a bandit?"

"Brother, listen to your older brother. This time, you just come with me and pretend to be a brother."

Xu Jing tried to persuade Li Congji. He could understand not being able to persuade anyone else, but he could at least persuade Li Congji to act with him!

Otherwise, that brat Ren might laugh at me for having no ability at all!

"Okay, I'll listen to you, bro. But if we end up fighting, how will we prove we're on the same side?"

Li Congji was tempted, but he still needed to confirm the details.

"It's simple. When you meet the leader of Liangshan, just ask him for Imperial Jade Liquor."

Xu Jing recalled the code Ren Yuan had given him when he left, and his expression became incredibly complex.

"Imperial Jade Liquor? This code is interesting. Could it be that Ren Yuan has drunk wine from the palace before?"

When Li Congji first heard this code, he was a little confused, but he still found it quite amusing.

"Brother, if I ask them, what will they say?"

"If you ask, they'll tell you it's 180 yuan a cup..."