Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"What a fine horse! What a fine horse! I never expected such a behemoth to be so obedient. It's a treasure bestowed by heaven!"

Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," looked at the fallen tree, stroked the mane of his "One-Zhang-Black" horse, and shouted excitedly.

“I, Li Hanxiao, keep my word. This horse is my sincere offer to make friends with you, Chief Du Xue.”

Li Hanxiao walked closer, looked into the eyes of "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue, and then, before Du Xue could speak again, he silenced him with a kiss.

"This horse was a gift from a friend, and there is no other grudge involved. Chief Du Xue, please don't think that you have received a favor from me. It's just that I admire heroes like you and am willing to give it to you. If you are willing, send a ferry to take us across the river, and that will even things out, how about that?"

Although Li Hanxiao said that, in Du Xue's eyes, arranging a ferry for them to cross the river was a piece of cake.

This "one-zhang-black" steed is priceless. Who knows how much time, effort, manpower, and resources Li Hanxiao spent to acquire this steed, which he described so casually?

The two sides' contributions were not equal. Although Li Hanxiao said this, perhaps to put his "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue at ease, Du Xue still felt in his heart that he owed Li Hanxiao a lot and had to repay him.

This was also Li Hanxiao's scheme. He had long seen through Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," as a grateful person. With such a person, you can only take advantage of his grateful heart. You have to make him owe you more and more, until he can never repay it, and in the end, he can only repay it with his entire life.

"Chief Li... this is truly righteous, making Du Xue feel utterly ashamed. If there is ever any need for my services in the future, Du Xue will certainly lend a hand..."

Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," couldn't repay Li Hanxiao's favor anytime soon, so he could only keep it in his heart and repay it later!

"Alright, please send a boat to take us across the river, Master Du!"

Li Hanxiao wasn't in a hurry. Some talents couldn't be won over overnight. The most direct example was Zhuge Liang during the Later Han and Three Kingdoms period, who was only persuaded to come out of seclusion after Liu Bei visited him three times.

Patience is essential for attracting top talent. Recalling the many time-travel novels Li Hanxiao had read in his later years, the protagonists were all ambitious and driven, but they all had an attitude of "those who obey me prosper, those who oppose me perish" towards talented people. This was utter nonsense because they didn't know that half of ambition is patience. If you adopt the "those who obey me prosper, those who oppose me perish" approach and have no patience to treat the virtuous, the result will only be pushing them to the opposite side.

In other words, if they weren't the main characters, they would have died a hundred or eighty times over.

Li Hanxiao was different from those guys; he had patience.

In his previous life, Li Hanxiao was a special forces soldier, but he was originally an artistic soldier who came from a cultural troupe. Although he had the ambition to join the army, he lacked opportunities. In addition, he did have some achievements in the arts. Although he always longed for the combat troops, he was still assigned to the cultural troupe.

Later, under special circumstances, he was drawn into a battle during a border visit, where he cooperated with the combat troops to quickly wipe out an enemy stronghold with extremely quick reflexes.

It was for this reason that he applied to be transferred to this combat unit and started training from scratch, which gave him the opportunity to realize his great ideal of killing the enemy and serving his country.

Later, when the troops entered another country to fight against drug lords, the captain who covered his comrades' retreat was unfortunately killed. The enemy cruelly cut off his head and hung it up for public display.

Li Hanxiao was enraged by this. Despite his short time in training and combat, he went to the enemy camp alone and lay in ambush in the nearby swamp for three days and three nights, drinking sewage and eating insects. He finally got his chance and, after annihilating more than forty enemies, successfully brought back the captain's head and destroyed an enemy drug production site.

His greatest strength was his patience. His former superior praised him as "unyielding and indomitable." He, in turn, believed that he was very similar to Liu Bei, indomitable and persevering.

Now, if he doesn't even have patience when facing Du Xue, how can he possibly save the Han dynasty from being invaded by foreign tribes?

"Alright, I'd like to deliver it myself. Prepare the boat!"

Although Li Hanxiao's actions did not completely win over "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue, they greatly improved the relationship between the two. The fact that "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue personally saw Li Hanxiao and the others off showed that he already considered them friends.

Even among them, Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," held a slight reverence for Li Hanxiao.

The two stood side by side at the bow of the boat. Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," spoke up, "I thought that this filthy and turbid world should no longer have people like Chief Li. I didn't expect that I was wrong!"

"How to say it?"

Li Han asked with a smile.

"You keep your word, and you truly are a person of great loyalty and affection!"

Du Xue, nicknamed "Nine-Headed Lion," looked at Li Hanxiao with an expression that seemed to say he had seen through Li Hanxiao.

"Shouldn't this be something everyone should do? Just because the world is going downhill and many people can't do it doesn't mean you think those who can are extraordinary and superior to others. In reality, these are just the basic human principles that we should follow. It's not that only the wise have these qualities; everyone has them. The wise are just able to keep them from being lost..."

At this moment, Li Hanxiao couldn't help but think of so many things. These were once the most basic things. After the bottom line was constantly lowered, would someone who could do these basic things be regarded as a moral model and benchmark?

Is this right?

However, there is no limit to how low a person's bottom line can go. If that continues, what will the final outcome be...?

"I, Du Xue, don't care about others, nor can I manage them all, but I admire you, Chief Li. I, Du Xue, consider you my friend!"

Du Xue, nicknamed "Nine-Headed Lion," didn't seem to understand Li Hanxiao's words. He simply clasped his hands in a fist salute to Li Hanxiao.

Li Hanxiao returned the greeting, and "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue then asked, "Chief Li, what is Liangshan Marsh really like? What are your brothers like?"

Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," stumped Li Hanxiao with his question. He knew very well what kind of people each person on Liangshan should be.

But this sudden realization left him speechless, unsure how to begin...

I don't know how to say it...

For some reason, Li Hanxiao suddenly started singing a song he had heard in his previous life...

"The landscape is not a painting, but a beautiful one."

Heroes and warriors overlapping

Chivalry is like wine, stronger than wine.

Men drink freely, their passion burning brightly.

The mountain village is like home, even better than home.

Drinking wine by lamplight, the three armies rejoice.

Brothers are not blood relatives, but their hearts are closer.

They will always be together in this life and the next.

The human world is just like a lake.

A boat of friendship sails to the other shore

The world is like a mountain stronghold

Brothers from all corners of the world come to the alliance...

The lyrics and melody of Li Hanxiao's song were very easy to understand, and Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion" next to him, didn't have any "generation gap" problem in understanding it either; he understood it too.

He even listened intently, imagining in his mind what Liangshanbo was like, the scenes described in Li Hanxiao's song, and even feeling a sense of longing...

Perhaps these are also what he was looking for in the canal gang...

However, rather than being a tightly organized group, the Grand Canal Gang was more like a group of people who came together because of common interests and would stop at nothing to protect and expand their own interests...

They are not a group of like-minded people who share the same ideals and are willing to fight for them together.

Perhaps when everyone on Liangshan first came up the mountain, they didn't all share the same ideal.

However, Li Hanxiao was able to ensure that they shared the same ideal after they went up the mountain...

"Chief Li, what you sang was just like Du Xue's lifelong wish... The boat has reached the shore, let's see Chief Li off!"

Du Xue, the "Nine-Headed Lion," seemed to awaken from a dream.

"Although the ship has reached the shore, we still have a long life ahead of us. Until we meet again!"

Li Hanxiao and "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue clasped their hands in farewell. Li Hanxiao then led everyone back to Liangshan Marsh, and "Nine-Headed Lion" Du Xue also returned home.

Although they seem to be on completely different paths and never seem to intersect, fate is a very strange thing. It can always intertwine two seemingly unrelated people. As long as you untangle the seemingly messy ball of fate little by little... you can find a way.

While Li Hanxiao was leading his men back to Liangshan, Zhang Shuye, who had just been promoted to Prefect of Jizhou by Grand Tutor Cai Jing, arrived in Jizhou with his two sons to officially assume his post.

Zhang Shuye was both a scholar and a warrior, and was considered a capable person and minister in history. Before he came to Jizhou Prefecture, Cai Jing specially sent someone to tell him that his primary task this time was to suppress the bandits, specifically the bandits of Liangshan Marsh.

If Zhang Shuye succeeds in suppressing the bandits, then Cai Jing will have no need to continue to suppress him, and his future will naturally be promising.

If the bandit suppression fails, Zhang Shuye himself should know his fate...

Therefore, for Zhang Shuye, he was risking his life to brave the danger; if he failed, he would surely perish.

Therefore, upon arriving at the destination, he went straight to the government office and summoned civil and military officials of all ranks to discuss matters.

Since he was determined to tackle the tough challenge of Liangshan Marsh, he wasn't stupid; he asked Cai Jing for some power.

What power was it? It was the power to employ people. Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. No matter how capable Zhang Shuye was, he still needed someone's help to successfully annihilate Liangshan Marsh.

According to him, the government of Jeju Prefecture had already collapsed halfway before he even arrived. Huang An, the highest-ranking military officer of the militia, was injured during the campaign against Liangshan Marsh. First, his knife wounds became infected, and he had an arm amputated. Then, he was bitten by a dog, contracted rabies, and died from convulsions.

The capital of Jizhou was Juye, which governed four counties: Juye, Jinxiang, Rencheng, and Yuncheng. Most of the military officers under its jurisdiction were gone. The four cavalry captains of Yuncheng County, Zhu Tong, known as "Beautiful Beard," Lei Heng, known as "Winged Tiger," Zhao Neng, and Zhao De, were either dead or captured by the enemy, and their fates were unknown.

The officer in charge of apprehending thieves, He Guan, also died at the hands of the enemy, as did Gou An. Basically, all the military officers in charge of Jeju were gone.

The civil service was also largely vacant. After the previous prefect of Jeju was dismissed and exiled, his old staff, seeing that things were not going well, all resigned and returned to their hometowns.

By the time Zhang Shuye arrived, Jizhou Prefecture was just an empty shell! There was nothing left; there were more people eating than working, and only three shifts of yamen runners remained!

This may not necessarily be a bad thing. As the saying goes, "no destruction, no construction," this has given Zhang Shuye an opportunity to build his own new team.

During his probationary period, Zhang Shuye wrote to Cai Jing, saying that he had no problem suppressing bandits, but he needed some autonomy. He should be given the authority to appoint and dismiss officials under the jurisdiction of Jizhou Prefecture. In addition, since there was no one available in Jizhou Prefecture, as long as Zhang Shuye took a liking to someone in a nearby prefecture and they were capable, Cai Jing should give him priority in transferring them to his service.

Furthermore, it was necessary to exempt Jeju Prefecture from taxes for three years. Zhang Shuye was very clear that Jeju Prefecture had too many exorbitant taxes. The "rice paddy tax" was a particularly bad law in Jeju Prefecture, and the people were already struggling to survive, which led to frequent rebellions.

To fundamentally prevent the common people from rebelling and joining bandits, the key is to provide them with a way to survive. Otherwise, if you are busy suppressing bandits while the local tax collection system remains unchanged and continues to be exorbitantly levied, wouldn't that result in "the front lines being in dire straits while the rear is feasting"? You would be forcing the common people to rebel and join bandits, continuously providing Liangshan Marsh with soldiers and provisions!

It can be said that Zhang Shuye was a formidable figure. He had a sharp eye for problems and saw the root of the matter. Originally, Cai Jing was not planning to delegate power to Zhang Shuye, but a report came from Yunzhou Prefecture that Li Hanxiao, a Liangshan bandit, had wiped out the three villages of Zhujiazhuang, Lijiazhuang, and Hujiazhuang in Dulonggang.

Cai Jing had not expected the Liangshan bandits to be so audacious. Having just robbed the birthday gifts, they were now ransacking the villages. So he granted them the authority Zhang Shuye had suggested, giving them the power to do everything in their power to wipe out Liangshan.

When Zhang Shuye arrived at Jizhou Prefecture, he found that the people remaining in the prefectural government office were all scoundrels, useless idiots, and incompetent officials who held positions without doing any work. None of them were capable or had any real talent.

Zhang Shuye understood immediately. The first thing to do was to find capable people to work under him. He needed to find them not only locally, but also by bringing in capable people from other places. Otherwise, the current strength of Jizhou Prefecture was too weak and easy to bully. It was no match for the Liangshan Marsh.

So he immediately wrote a “recruitment notice” and had his servants post it in the city and in the prefectures under his jurisdiction.