Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Ren Yuan! Don't go too far!"

Wu Yong was truly devastated today; he never dreamed he would lose so miserably.

It's bad enough that the Yuncheng troops were wiped out, but the Jeju troops were also beaten like this?

But Ren Yuan ignored him; he needed to check on the situation of his own Second Battalion first.

“Brother! We have fulfilled our mission and wiped out an entire commander of the Jeju infantry! Not a single one escaped back to Jeju; they are all prisoners of war. The Ruan brothers are leading men to clear the area.”

Sun An arrived with Chen Da and Yang Chun, and quickly brought the situation under control. The dozens of Jeju soldiers seemed to be unwell and did not put up much resistance.

Somewhat to Ren Yuan's surprise, the bloodstains on Sun An and the others were almost negligible.

"No fierce battles?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised; commanding an entire garrison in Jeju was no simple feat.

In the Song Dynasty's military system, a full-strength infantry battalion consisted of 500 men, also known as a commander. The fighting strength of the Jizhou infantry was definitely stronger than that of Yuncheng.

Sun An's second battalion, consisting of only 500 men, was newly formed. Even with the addition of Ruan Xiao Wu and Ruan Xiao Qi's 300 naval troops, their numerical advantage was not significant.

In Ren Yuan's view, the Second Battalion might suffer a major blow this time.

It turns out they actually had it easier than the First Battalion.

"Hehe, brother, you don't know this. Brother Sun An had his naval brothers disguise themselves as civilians and bring food and drink to welcome the garrison of Jizhou. He put some croton seeds in the food, so... hehe, brother, you know what I mean."

"Yes, thank goodness it was croton. These Jeju defenders were still on guard, probably thinking it was sleeping pills. They even let our naval brothers try it first. If our naval brothers hadn't been so resilient, they wouldn't have fallen for it."

Yang Chun also said with a smile.

"We'll give those guys who tasted the food a bonus later."

Ren Yuan was in a good mood. Sun Anzhen truly deserved to be a Grand Marshal. He was both brave and resourceful. Liangshan was in dire need of someone like him!

"Brother, these dozens of people ran here despite their stomach pains. The rest were captured alive by Xiao Wu and Xiao Qi and are going to be transported to the village to be used as laborers."

"Great job! Your Second Battalion really made a name for itself this time!"

They wiped out an entire full-strength local army battalion with almost no casualties; that's quite an achievement if word got out.

"Wu Yong, right now, I have more than 600 people on my side, while your manor only has two or three hundred. The manor lord is still in my hands. Do you think I can destroy your manor?"

"So be smart and know your place. If money can solve the problem, why do you insist on using force? Are you even capable of that?"

Ren Yuan patted Chao Gai's back with his three-pointed dagger:

"Your Majesty, if I were you, I would replace the person who came up with this idea."

"Chief Ren, stop mocking us. I admit defeat today. Tell me, how much do you want?"

After seeing that the garrison of Jizhou had been defeated, Chao Gai had no more intention of struggling and resigned himself to his fate, choosing to spend money to save his life.

“No problem. We initially said 30,000 strings of cash, but now it’s doubled to 60,000 strings.”

"Chief Ren, you're joking. Sixty thousand strings of cash? My estate really doesn't have that much cash."

Chao Gai shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he truly couldn't afford it.

Although the Chao family estate was large and prosperous, the amount of cash was limited. Moreover, he couldn't just move all the cash out at once, otherwise, his business and the estate's daily expenses would not be able to continue.

"You're supposed to be a businessman, can't you even tell me whether to overcharge or negotiate?"

Ren Yuan could tell that Chao Gai had lost his spirit and didn't want to bother him anymore.

"Here's what we'll do: I need 40,000 strings of cash, and you can make up the rest with cattle, sheep, horses, and grain."

"You want cattle, sheep, horses, and grain?"

Chao Gai was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I heard you have quite a few horses on your estate, over sixty, right? As the mighty Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, you wouldn't buy inferior horses, would you?"

Ren Yuan even made a little joke.

Chao Gai did not speak. He did indeed have more than sixty horses, all of them fine horses from the north, which he had painstakingly collected over the years.

"Good horses from the North cost 100 strings of cash each. I want 60 horses from you, which is 6,000 strings of cash. Also, give me 5,000 shi of grain, which costs 2 strings of cash per shi, making it 10,000 strings of cash. For the remaining 4,000 strings of cash, I want cattle and sheep. You can decide the quantity yourself."

"it is good."

Chao Gai thought about it and realized that he could accept it this way.

"Lord Baozheng, this..."

Wu Yong tried to struggle a bit more, but Chao Gai interrupted him.

"Scholar, stop talking. Just do as Chief Ren orders."

"……well!"

Wu Yong could also see that Chao Gai had been dealt a heavy blow and was now truly demoralized.

What could he say? His brother was about to surrender! What was the point of fighting then?

Wu Yong could only lead Liu Tang aside and let the people from Chao Family Village handle the compensation issues. After all, he was just an advisor to Chao Gai and couldn't command the entire village.

After the steward surnamed Chao from Chao Family Manor came out and confirmed the compensation with his manor lord, he looked pained, but still ordered his servants to make preparations quickly, since the manor lord was still in someone else's hands.

Moreover, these hundreds of strongmen are all armed with knives and guns; if we don't give it to them, they might just break into the manor and rob us.

However, Ren Yuan has no intention of breaking the manor for the time being.

Because Chao Gai and his men are still somewhat useful for the time being.

After all, the birthday tribute wouldn't be possible without them. (Fellow heroes, keeping Chao Gai alive is for unlocking the birthday tribute event, not out of mercy. Please stop leaving random comments.)

Once inside the Chao family manor, after bringing out most of the items that needed to be compensated, Ren Yuan didn't waste any time and used his sword to untie Zhu Tong's restraints.

"You can leave now. This time, we're even."

"You really won't kill me? You know, letting a tiger return to the mountain..."

Chao Gai felt that he might be being underestimated.

"Give me a break. If you're going to release a tiger back into the mountains, it has to be a real tiger, right? Are you one?"

Although he was thinking of having them deliver the birthday gifts, he couldn't say it out loud.

Therefore, Ren Yuan could only say, "Yes, Chao Gai, I do look down on you."

"So that's how it is. I treated you like a monstrous flood, but you didn't take me seriously at all... Hehehe, from now on, I, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, will become a laughing stock in the martial arts world."

Chao Gai sighed deeply, as if he had aged ten years. Zhu Tong, who was beside him, couldn't bear to see his friend like this, and quickly reached out to support him.

"The martial world isn't all about fighting and killing... Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Just be a good landlord and as long as you don't oppress the people, Liangshan won't bother with you. Remember that!"

"I've said everything I need to say. You'd better watch yourself. If I catch you again, it won't just be a matter of more money, you understand?"

Ren Yuan mounted his horse and gestured for the others to pack up their spoils and prepare to return to the mountain.

Let's leave the people from Dongxi Village like this for now.

After all, we arrested so many Jeju soldiers today, so we need to find out what exactly happened in Jeju.

Could it be that Wang Lun has made a fortune in Jeju?

(PS: Here's something to add. Many people say that cattle were very important in ancient times and shouldn't be killed. Let me clarify. First, every dynasty had laws against killing cattle, which is correct. However, there are always ways to circumvent these laws. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the law stipulated that "those who kill cattle without cause will be punished with three years of hard labor." But, money talks. The *Song Huiyao* records that the price of a cow was around seven to ten strings of cash, and the beef after slaughter was at least two to three hundred catties. One catty of beef could sell for one hundred to one hundred and twenty coins, and the hide could also be sold. In total, one could earn about thirty strings of cash, a very lucrative profit. Therefore, many people were tempted by this.) Disregarding the law, by the time of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the slaughter of cattle was rampant, especially in the Jiangnan region, where "entire villages ate cattle." Emperor Zhenzong wanted to punish these people, but found the numbers too large, and ultimately gave up. Because these cattle slaughterers, in order to earn more money, would raise more cattle, indirectly stimulating the development of animal husbandry, the Northern Song Dynasty later established a beef tax in various prefectures, which was levied for over seventy years. Therefore, the story in *Water Margin* about eating beef is not problematic, as long as you don't eat it openly in big cities. In rural areas or sparsely populated places, beef can indeed be eaten freely. If you still don't believe it, you can check; it's not like other online articles that say you can't slaughter cattle, so you really can't.