Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Do I still have a choice?"

Ren Yuan was momentarily stunned by the sheer number of array names they recited.

"Pick one, brother."

Xu Guanzhong nodded.

"Then, let's use the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation."

Ren Yuan thought for a moment and realized that in the original novel, when Tong Guan attacked Liangshan, Liangshan used the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation to deal with him.

So he wanted to see if the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation that his Liangshan had set up now would be even more powerful!

"Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation? Not bad, not bad. Brother is a good choice. This formation is clearly divided into eight trigrams and secretly corresponds to the nine palaces, with countless variations. At the same time, it captures the mechanisms of heaven and earth and seizes the atmosphere of wind and clouds. It is very suitable to use it to summon Gao Qiu."

Hsiao Chia-hui expressed her approval of Ren Yuan's choice, and Hsu Kuan-chung and Chu Wu nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled. The entire army will prepare today, and we'll descend the mountain tomorrow to confront Gao Qiu!"

……

"Where's the food? How come there's only this much left?"

At this moment, Gao Qiu was looking at Zhou Ang, trying hard to control his anger.

"Reporting to the Grand Commandant, the ship is leaking, and then the Liangshan bandits launched a surprise attack, resulting in significant losses of supplies."

Zhou Ang answered in a humble voice.

"Aren't you the deputy chief instructor of the Imperial Guards? You can't even beat a Liangshan bandit? How much silver did you spend to get to this position?"

Gao Qiu's eyebrows were already furrowed into a "川" shape.

"Reporting to the Grand Commandant, the Liangshan bandits are cunning and will not engage in close combat with us. Moreover, they are excellent swimmers. I am not afraid of either horse or foot combat, but when it comes to the water... I am powerless to help them."

"Only the Nanjing Navy can deal with these water bandits; they are familiar with this kind of naval warfare..."

Zhou Ang licked his dry lips and spoke to Gao Qiu, but his voice grew softer and softer as he spoke.

"So you're saying it's because I put all the Nanjing navy in the central command, which is why you couldn't win after you joined forces?"

At this moment, Gao Qiu actually understood the implied meaning in Zhou Ang's words!

"The general will not dare!"

Zhou Ang didn't expect Gao Qiu to have figured it out, so for the sake of his superior's face, he could only say he dared not.

"Hmph, you're a piece of trash. Forget it, go down. When we face Liangshan head-on, kill a few more Liangshan bandits and that will be enough to atone for your sins."

After all, Zhou Ang was a skilled fighter, and since Qiu Yue had already displeased Gao Qiu somewhat, Gao Qiu didn't make things too difficult for Zhou Ang.

There has to be someone with strong fighting skills to protect oneself!

"Grand Commandant, Grand Commandant, this humble general has something important to report. Please excuse me."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ang decided to tell Gao Qiu about Xu Jing and the others' strange behavior.

"You said."

Gao Qiu looked at Zhou Ang's serious face. He was also unsure of Zhou Ang's thoughts, but he still asked the people around him to step back a distance.

"The ships that sank this time were all requisitioned by Liu Menglong. Moreover, it seems that Xu Jiedu and Li Jiedu knew that the ships were going to sink. They even told Xiang Jiedu not to board those ships. I think there are too many coincidences involved."

Zhou Ang spilled the beans, telling everything in one go.

Is that so?

Gao Qiu's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Absolutely true! I can vouch for it with my life!"

Zhou Ang is now clinging to Gao Qiu and refusing to let go, so let him offend others if he wants to!

"Come on! Follow me!"

All nine military commanders were present in the central command tent.

They were discussing the next steps in the defense and attack, but the maps provided by the imperial court were outdated, and they were unsure if they were accurate in some areas, so they had to send scouts to check them again.

"Oh, all the military governors are here."

Just as they were discussing, the curtain of the central command tent was lifted, and Gao Qiu, followed by the Dang brothers, Zhou Ang, and many armored soldiers, rushed in.

"Grand Commandant Gao, what are you doing?"

Wang Huan, as the head of the military governors, frowned as he looked at Gao Qiu's formation.

"General Wang, do you recognize this person?"

Gao Qiu looked at Wang Huan, sneered, and gestured to his men to bring Liu Menglong up.

Poor Liu Menglong had his shirt removed, was tied up tightly, and had a wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

Liu Menglong stared wide-eyed, twisting his body and making "woo-woo" sounds.

"Isn't this Commander Liu? Grand Commandant Gao, what is the meaning of this?"

Liu Menglong was demoted by Gao Qiu a few days ago, but now he looks like he's about to be beheaded.

"General, what should be the punishment for someone who deliberately requisitions dilapidated ships, causing serious losses to the army's supplies and soldiers, when the requisitioning of ships is carried out?"

Gao Qiu asked Wang Huan.

"He shall be executed."

There's not much to say about this; it was absolutely a serious violation of military law.

"Alright, the old general also thinks he should be executed. But what if someone knew there was something wrong with the ship but didn't warn their colleagues? What should they be punished for that?"

"Those who know but fail to report shall be punished with twenty strokes of the cane."

"Very good, old general, you said it yourself. Men, drag Liu Menglong away and behead him, and give Xu Jiedu and Li Jiedu twenty lashes each!"

Gao Qiu clapped his hands as he gave the order.

"Gao Qiu, what do you want to do?"

Zhang Kai found Gao Qiu annoying, and upon hearing that Gao Qiu not only wanted to kill people but also to attack the military governor, Zhang Kai immediately confronted him.

"That's right, Gao Qiu, what do you mean?"

Wang Wende also looked down on Gao Qiu, and now he spoke up to criticize him.

"Grand Commandant Gao, Liu Menglong, Xu Jing, and Li Congji, what have they done wrong?"

Wang Huan frowned deeply. Gao Qiu had just asked him a few questions and was going to give those punishments to Xu Jing and the others. Could it be that...

"Hehe, old general, this time I have evidence. Zhou Ang, you tell the old general, what happened when you crossed the lake?"

This time, Gao Qiu seemed particularly confident, and he directly summoned Zhou Ang.

"Zhou Ang, we just saved you, otherwise your troops and supplies would have been wiped out. Now, what do you want to say?"

Xu Jing's expression remained unchanged as he looked at Zhou Ang and spoke.

"That's right, Zhou Ang, what are you trying to say? I'm warning you, don't talk nonsense."

Li Congji looked at Zhou Ang, his tone also unfriendly.

"Generals, when we were crossing the lake just now, the boat I was on leaked halfway and was then attacked by Liangshan bandits, which led to the loss of supplies and personnel."

Zhou Ang looked at the military governors glaring at him, swallowed hard, mustered his courage, and then said loudly:

"Those ships were all requisitioned by Liu Menglong. Before we set off, Xu Jiedu specifically told Xiang Jiedu not to take those ships, but he didn't tell me."

"Therefore, I suspect that Liu Menglong is a spy for Liangshan, who deliberately looted some abandoned ships. And since Xu Jiedu went to Liangshan to seek amnesty, I suspect that Xu Jiedu has also surrendered to Liangshan!"

"Xu Jiedushi, what do you have to say?"

Gao Qiu looked at Xu Jing with a cold smile.

"That's it?"

But to Gao Qiu's surprise, Xu Jing didn't care about the accusation at all.

He waved his hand and said calmly:

“Zhou Ang, I’m sixty-five years old this year. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice. I didn’t go on those ships simply because of my intuition. This intuition has saved me many times on the battlefield. You’re still young, you don’t understand.”

"Besides, if I were a member of Liangshan, I could have easily chosen not to save you and let your entire army be wiped out. Don't forget, your men and supplies were mostly saved by me. If I had joined Liangshan, wouldn't it have been better to just watch you get killed? Why would I have saved you?"

As Xu Jing spoke, he walked up to Liu Menglong and removed the cloth from his mouth.

"As for why Liu Menglong only plundered wrecked ships, let him explain it himself. Liu Menglong, have you really joined Liangshan?"

"No! No!"

Liu Menglong was extremely grateful to Xu Jing for restoring his ability to speak!

He quickly kowtowed, speaking as he did so, his forehead turning red instantly.

"Generals! I truly did not know there was a problem with those ships. The Grand Commandant was in a hurry, and the water fortress and shipyard were attacked by the Liangshan bandits. We simply had no ships available!"

"I had no choice but to requisition boats from the villages near Liangshan, and that's how I fell into their trap! I'm definitely not a spy for Liangshan! You have to believe me!"

"Well, Grand Commandant Gao? The matter is clear. Is this the time for infighting? Have you forgotten why we came to Liangshan?"

"Or do you find us an eyesore and have been wanting to get rid of us for a long time? Want my soldiers? My military tally is right here, come and take it!"

Xu Jing looked at Gao Qiu with an expression that said, "What can you do to me?"

Behind him, the military governors, including Zhang Kai, who were originally from bandit backgrounds, also looked displeased. Han Cunbao and Yang Wen looked as if they wanted to say something, but in the end, they said nothing.

The atmosphere in the tent became even more tense. No one spoke, except for the constant kowtowing of Liu Menglong.

"Haha, how could that be? I've always believed that the old generals are the pillars of the nation."

Gao Qiu suddenly laughed, and it was a chilling laugh;

"Now is certainly not the time for infighting. We must not fall into the trap of Liangshan. We must trust each other and work together to share the Emperor's burdens."

"But he still has to be punished. Here's what we'll do: Liu Menglong's poor performance led to heavy losses for the army. He's stripped of his battalion commander position and demoted to a cook in the navy as punishment. Generals, you have no objections, do you?"

Xu Jing looked at Gao Qiu but didn't say anything.

Liu Menglong and he weren't close, so sparing his life was already a big favor.

"As for General Xu, since you have visited Liangshan once, how about you serve as the vanguard of the army when we go out to fight next time?"

"Let me see if your intuition can save your life on the battlefield again, General."

"I'm OK."

Xu Jing looked at Gao Qiu and smiled mockingly.

"Because I am not like someone who, for his own safety, mobilizes all his online army around himself, leaving others with no troops to use, and ultimately suffers heavy losses."

"If the old general has no objections, then we won't disturb you any longer to continue discussing military matters."

Gao Qiu pretended not to hear Xu Jing's sarcasm and turned to leave with his men.

However, after he turned around, his face instantly darkened.

Those military governors deserve to die!