Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

(I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that there are also the hotel's general manager and head, the Zhu brothers, Zhu Gui and Zhu Fu.)

Unbeknownst to many, Liangshan had become a large stronghold with seven organized battalions (one cavalry, four infantry, and two naval forces), totaling 3500 soldiers!

And this number is constantly expanding! There's always a reserve force, just not enough generals!

After Jiang Jing took over as the chief steward of money and grain, he immediately arranged for the people to engage in side businesses in Liangshan.

With its vast expanse of water and mountains, this is a naturally beautiful place, ideal for aquaculture, fruit and vegetable cultivation, poultry farming, and even animal husbandry.

People live off the mountains and rivers; Liangshanbo has both mountains and rivers, so we must develop it quickly!

(Here's something to clarify: the "eight hundred li of water" mentioned in the original novel isn't an exaggeration; it actually existed historically. However, due to climate change, receding water levels, and the continuous accumulation of silt from the Yellow River, Liangshan Marsh has shrunk considerably. Please don't calculate its size based on today's Liangshan Marsh. How did this "eight hundred li of water" Liangshan Marsh come about? From the Five Dynasties period to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River experienced three major breaches, primarily in Huaxian, Yuncheng, Chan (part of Puyang City), and Pu (part of Puyang City). These breaches connected the waters around Dongping Lake with the Juye Marsh to the south, creating a vast, seemingly endless lake at the foot of Liangshan Mountain. This lake was then called Liangshan Marsh, and its area was eight hundred li.) This corresponds to the 800-li (approximately 400 km) Dongting Lake of that time. We all know that the area of ​​Dongting Lake has been shrinking, but it is currently still 2600 square kilometers. During the Qing Dynasty, Dongting Lake was over 6000 square kilometers, and it should have been even larger during the Song Dynasty. At that time, Liangshan Marsh was as famous as Dongting Lake, so we can reasonably infer that the area of ​​Liangshan Marsh during the Song Dynasty was also over 6000 square kilometers. This is roughly the same size as Shanghai today. Shanghai's area is 6340.5 square kilometers. Therefore, we can affectionately call the former head of Liangshan Marsh the mayor of Shanghai. Of course, the land area of ​​Liangshan Marsh is not large; according to historical records, it is roughly 30% land and 70% water.

The arrival of Wen Huanzhang relieved Zhu Wu and Qiao Daoqing, who quickly handed over the most important tasks to him. After all, their expertise lay more in military campaigns, while internal affairs were best left to Wen Huanzhang.

Wen Huanzhang was quite satisfied with the current situation in Liangshan. Compared with other places in the Song Dynasty, it did indeed have the feel of a paradise.

Therefore, Wen Huanzhang was also willing to stay here for a long time, just like An Daoquan. Now he sits at the Liangshan Free Clinic every day and has no desire to return to Jiankang Prefecture.

By the way, Wen Huanzhang also had another important job, which was to teach the leaders of the stronghold. Ren Yuan really didn't want the future leaders to be illiterate, so he forced every illiterate leader to go to Wen Huanzhang's literacy class for tutoring. There were also assessments, and if you failed the assessment, you would be publicly criticized throughout Liangshan. Although you weren't fined, it was still embarrassing.

After all, nobody wants their subordinates to get into arguments with others and be told, "Your commander is illiterate; he was publicly criticized throughout the mountain last time."

Therefore, everyone had no choice but to accept Ren Yuan's order. The two people who complained the most were Mi Sheng and Chen Da. These two idiots had very consistent performance, ranking last and second to last in the entire Liangshan. Even Wen Huanzhang, who was such a good-tempered person, was almost angered by them several times.

Ren Yuan, along with a group of craftsmen, through their efforts and improvements, successfully created a more convenient and lower-cost soap. (PS: Soap actually existed in the Song Dynasty. It was made by crushing and grinding natural soap pods (also known as soapberry, soapberry, or soap pod, commonly called soapberry) and adding spices and other ingredients to form balls the size of oranges, specifically for washing the face and body, commonly known as "soap balls." In Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were already shops specializing in soap. So this isn't exactly time travel or advanced technology; it just moved the timeline forward by about thirty years.)

This soap was an instant hit; it not only cleaned well but also smelled wonderful. Especially the big, dark-skinned Mi Sheng, who supposedly scrubbed himself clean with the soap until he got two layers of dirt off.

Of course, the soap business will still be done with Chai Jin. Given the good working relationship they had before in selling wine, this time Chai Jin will only take 10% of the profits. According to him, the rest is his investment in Liangshan, and if he ever encounters trouble in the future, Liangshan will have to lend a hand.

Of course, the soap business wouldn't be as profitable as selling wine. For Chai Jin, this was just icing on the cake, but for Liangshan, it was definitely a lifeline.

Ren Yuan naturally agreed, but in the end he still gave Chai Jin 20%. After all, if they were to cooperate in the long term, he couldn't let anyone feel like they were being taken advantage of. Chai Jin made a concession, but he had to give it back. He couldn't just accept it without feeling at ease. That's business, that's the way of the world!

In short, thanks to the joint efforts of the entire village, Liangshan is becoming more and more prosperous. More and more people are willing to join Liangshan. The local bullies and gentry are now behaving themselves and dare not be high-profile. If anyone is high-profile, Liangshan will beat them up!

During this period, another very important figure joined Liangshan, namely Duan Jingzhu, the Golden-haired Dog.

This man, who was traveling to the north to sell horses, bought a lot of horses at once, but was robbed by an unknown force on the way! His men were all killed or wounded, and he himself was seriously injured. He fled alone and happened to stumble into a tavern at the foot of Liangshan Mountain. He was rescued by Zhu Fu and then went up the mountain at Zhu Fu's recommendation.

After learning that he was Duan Jingzhu, Ren Yuan immediately came to the scene. Upon learning that Duan Jingzhu had several horse trading routes, he immediately offered to keep Duan Jingzhu as the leader, specifically in charge of the Liangshan horse trade. Moreover, Ren Yuan promised Duan Jingzhu that he would find the force that robbed his goods and avenge him and his brothers.

Duan Jingzhu was grateful for Liangshan's life-saving grace and for Re Renyuan's patronage, so he immediately agreed to buy horses for Liangshan as soon as he recovered from his injuries.

Several months passed just like that, and before we knew it, it was the end of summer again.

On this day, Shi Qian suddenly rushed to find Ren Yuan.

"Brother! It's an urgent message from Master Chai!"

Ren Yuan thought there was a problem with his business, but when he opened the letter, his expression changed drastically.

"Shi Qian! Where is our nearest intelligence point near Tokyo?"

"There is one about fifty miles from Tokyo. There are more than a dozen people stationed there."

Shi Qian thought for a moment and then said.

"Have Bai Huang contact them using the peregrine falcon! Go into the city immediately and go to the home of Zhang, the instructor and father-in-law of my senior brother Lin Chong! Tell him that Lin Chong is alright, and that my sister-in-law must not take her own life!"

The government's checks in the Tokyo area are extremely strict, so the Liangshan intelligence station has never been able to get in. They can only set up a post outside Tokyo, so they are really out of touch with the news from Tokyo!

Furthermore, the current trajectory of the martial arts world has changed from what Ren Yuan remembered, which has truly caught him off guard this time.

I was planning to go to Tokyo this fall, but who would have thought something like this would happen so soon!

"Brother, is Lin Chong the Imperial Guard's spear and staff instructor nicknamed 'Leopard Head'?"

Shi Qian was also a little stunned. That person was actually his elder brother and senior brother?

"He's different from Instructor Wang. His martial arts were passed down from my master. Although we didn't kowtow or offer tea, he's still a true senior brother. Go quickly!"

Ren Yuan got anxious and quickly explained, then picked up his three-pointed knife and prepared to go down the mountain.

"Brother, where are you going?"

This was the first time Shi Qian had seen Ren Yuan so anxious.

"I'm going down the mountain to pick someone up. I reckon my senior brother is almost at Zhu Gui Hotel."

"Then I'll go with my brother! I still have two carrier pigeons here, I'll release them immediately to notify Zhu Gui and Bai Huang!"

Shi Qian quickly released a carrier pigeon to notify the person.

"Yes, and then, we must immediately find a way to plant our people in Tokyo. No matter what, we must obtain intelligence from there as soon as possible!"

"Yes!"

Shi Qian felt that the burden on his shoulders had become heavier, and at the same time, he also felt a sense of crisis.

The scout battalion has probably gotten too complacent with everything going smoothly lately! No, we need to hurry! Otherwise, my brother will be unhappy.

As for Ren Yuan, he didn't actually have much dissatisfaction with the scout camp; he was just particularly surprised.

Is the martial arts world still the same one he knew?

What happened to Lin Chong's adventures in the snow at the mountain temple? How did he end up burning down the hay yard in the middle of summer?

Who rewrote the script?!

Forget it, never mind! Senior Brother, wait for me!