Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Brother Wang, why are you going up the mountain?"

Qiu Yu asked Wang Gang, "After all, the whole family is traveling up the mountain, so they must have encountered some difficulties."

"Alas, to be honest, my family was originally from Qingzhou. We were a happy family, but the prefect of Qingzhou, Murong Yanda, was tyrannical and collected a lot of taxes. My family couldn't pay, so they forcibly took away our oxen. My father was furious and argued with them, but he was beaten by the soldiers and later died of anger."

When talking about his family, Wang Gang's honest face revealed anger.

“Thanks to my cousin, who was a minor leader in Liangshan, he came to visit my family at that time. After learning about this, he gave my family five taels of silver so that I could handle my father’s funeral arrangements, and told me that I could bring my family to Liangshan.”

“We originally made our living by farming, so of course we can’t live without the land. But my cousin said that Liangshan could distribute land to the people. I thought about it and figured he wouldn’t lie to me. Besides, my aunt’s family is also on the mountain, so I brought my whole family here.”

Wang Gang briefly recounted his family's ordeal to Qiu Yu. Although he explained it simply, Qiu Yu could truly sense Wang Gang's hatred for the imperial court.

He really wanted to argue that people like Murong Yanda were only a minority, and that there were still many good officials in the Song Dynasty.

But he swallowed the words back. Firstly, officials like Murong Yanda were indeed not a minority.

Secondly, in order to conceal his identity, he could not speak well of the imperial court here.

"Alright, Gangzi, why talk about these unhappy things with Brother Qiu? The best comfort for your father is for our family to live a good life now."

Aunt Wang ended the topic, clearly not wanting her family to continue dwelling on hatred.

"Brother Wang, you just said that Liangshan will also give out land? Is that true?"

Qiu Yu didn't want to talk too much about matters related to the imperial court, fearing he would expose himself, so he could only talk about other things.

"That's right, Liangshan distributed land to us common people."

Wang Gang thought Qiu Yu didn't understand the situation at Liangshan, so he explained it to him.

"But how big is Liangshan's territory? There are so many people here. It's unlikely that they would give land to everyone. Liangshan, Liangshan, are you trying to deceive us?"

Qiu Yu felt that his acting skills were not bad; at least he portrayed a scholar's worries about the future quite vividly.

"Don't worry, Brother Qiu, Liangshan won't do that."

Wang Gang patted Qiu Yu on the shoulder, then lowered his voice and said to him:

“Brother Qiu, my cousin is a minor leader in Liangshan. He knows some things. I see you are a scholar, so I'll tell you this in secret, but don't tell anyone else.”

"Brother Wang, you're right, I definitely won't tell anyone."

Qiu Yu stated that he is a scholar, and scholars do not lie!

"Yeah, brother, you might not know this, but Liangshan has conquered a big island overseas. There aren't many people on that island, so after we go up the mountain, we'll be going to that big island. There are huge tracts of land there, more than you can share!"

"Besides, the reputation of Liangshan was earned by Chief Ren and his men through countless battles, bit by bit. How could they deceive us ordinary people? Don't you agree?"

"Moreover, my cousin has confirmed that the island really exists. After our family goes up the mountain this time, we will go to the island together with his family. Brother Qiu, I see that you are all alone. If you don't mind, you can come with us after you go up the mountain and become neighbors on the island together."

Wang Gang extended an invitation to Qiu Yu, mainly because Qiu Yu looked like a scholar. After he went to a new place and had his own land, Wang Gang hoped that Qiu Yu could teach his two children.

Although there are free schools on Liangshan Mountain, it's always good for children to learn more. When they grow up, they might even be able to help the chief!

After Wang Gang finished speaking, he didn't notice that Qiu Yu's eyes had already widened.

At this moment, Qiu Yu's heart was in turmoil!

Liangshan, Liangshan actually conquered an island overseas?

They also want to take all the people overseas!

What's going on?! Why is the imperial court completely unaware of this?!

"Brother Qiu, Brother Qiu?"

Perhaps noticing that Qiu Yu was lost in thought, Wang Gang found it strange and quickly called out to him twice.

"Brother Wang, I was just spacing out. What you said was just too shocking!"

Qiu Yu quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"Look, even you, a scholar, were shocked when you heard this, let alone me. When I heard the news, I didn't know what to say."

Wang Gang laughed when he heard this.

"My cousin said this, and my aunt can vouch for it, otherwise I wouldn't believe it."

"But Brother Qiu, you must keep this a secret. Look, right now, the imperial court is fighting with several other bandit leaders because those people have rebelled."

"Although the chief of Liangshan did not rebel, if the imperial court finds out that he has established a base overseas, it is estimated that the court will come to seize it by force!"

"Chief Ren risked his life to build a place for us common people to live; we can't let him be harmed by those people from the imperial court!"

Qiu Yu felt extremely uncomfortable looking at Wang Gang, who regarded Liangshan as a sacred place.

The people in front of me are all ordinary citizens of the Song Dynasty!

They should be loyal to the imperial court! How can they be so loyal to a bandit!

But why did these people come to Liangshan? They were all forced to by the imperial court!

If it weren't for the fact that the imperial court had taken away their cattle and killed Brother Wang's father, the Wang family in front of us would still be living a good life in Qingzhou. Why would they have ended up here?

So Qiu Yu was conflicted; he didn't know what he should say!

To say that Murong Yanda wasn't a member of the imperial court? To say that his incompetence was just an isolated incident?

Don't be ridiculous. He may be incompetent, but he's still the prefect of a major prefecture. You, Qiu Yu Niu, are just a county magistrate's clerk. What does that make you?

Besides, Qiu Yu is an upright man. He can't deceive himself. There are just too many people like Murong Yanda in the current court!

“Brother Qiu, you are a scholar. You will definitely be very popular after you go up the mountain.”

Seeing that Qiu Yu was silent, Wang Gang assumed he was still in shock, so he quickly told him some good news.

"Brother Wang, why do you say that?"

"You don't know this yet, do you? Because the chieftain's territory overseas is getting bigger and bigger, he needs more scholars to help him manage it."

Wang Gang patted Qiu Yu on the shoulder.

“Those officials in the imperial court are all ruthless; the chieftain certainly won’t employ them. Besides, the chieftain said he wants to create a clean and honest place for everyone, so the people he employs must also be honest and upright, just like us! Therefore, Liangshan is currently lacking in scholars and needs them!”

“Brother Qiu, you are well-read and knowledgeable. If you were an official, you would definitely be more capable than those corrupt officials in the court! But now, you don’t even have the travel expenses to take the imperial examination.”

"Brother, I think you shouldn't bother taking the imperial examinations. The court is rife with corrupt officials these days. Even if you pass the exams, you'll definitely be ostracized by them. You might as well just stay in Liangshan and become the magistrate of Liangshan."

"Putting everything else aside, if Brother Qiu becomes the magistrate of Liangshan in the future, I, Wang Gang, will be the first to agree! I'll feel at ease if you become the magistrate of Liangshan!"

Hearing Wang Gang's praise, Qiu Yu felt even more resentful.

The same person, when serving as an official in Liangshan, will be accepted and praised by the people; when serving as an official in the imperial court, will be rejected and insulted by the people.

What's wrong with this world?

It shouldn't be like this!

……