Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Once Ruan Xiaoer made up his mind, he sent someone to inform Li Hanxiao. Li Hanxiao did not expect that Wu Yong would find the mountain so quickly.

Li Hanxiao guessed at Wu Yong's purpose in coming; he was probably there to discuss robbing the birthday gifts together.

Li Hanxiao was also prepared to turn the tables on him, and ordered someone to bring him into the Hall of Righteousness and Brightness.

When Wu Yong arrived at the mountain, he saw that Liangshan had a completely new look, with well-organized fortresses and serious defenses everywhere. Wu Yong could tell that Li Hanxiao was truly capable.

At the second pass, he also saw two tiger-squatting cannons set up there. These cannons were rare items. Even if ordinary mountain strongholds wanted them, they had nowhere to get them. Even the imperial court didn't have many.

Although the Tiger Crouching Cannon was a bit small, it was still a cannon, which made Wu Yong's estimate of Liangshan's strength even higher!

Upon arriving at the Hall of Righteousness and Brightness, Wu Yong stopped in his tracks.

To be honest, everything he saw after joining Liangshan was quite shocking to him.

Including this plaque that reads "Upright and honorable".

Generally speaking, the meeting hall of these bandits who occupy the mountains is usually something like a "Hall of Gathering Righteousness" or a "Hall of Broken Gold." It's rare for someone like Song Jiang to be able to create a "Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness" like in the original novel.

However, it is extremely rare to find someone who dares to display the four characters "正大光明" (upright and honorable) on this plaque.

Wu Yong couldn't help but think to himself that Li Hanxiao, the leader of Liangshan, was probably no ordinary person. He was not someone to be trifled with. In just half a month, he had taken Liangshan, defeated the government troops, trained his soldiers, improved defenses, and gathered heroes. His ambitions were not small!

Wu Yong even believed that if he supported this person, this person would probably be much better than Chao Gai...

But it was precisely because of this momentary daze that he looked like a fool in front of Li Hanxiao, and didn't react for a long time.

"How dare you! How disrespectful you are to our chieftain!"

"Fire-eyed Suanni" Deng Fei roared from the side.

Wu Yong then realized what had happened, bowed deeply, and began to smooth things over, saying, "I was so impressed by your true hero that I forgot my manners. Please forgive me, Chief Li!"

"Chief, this is an old acquaintance of mine, 'The Wise Man' Wu Yong. He has learned about a lucrative matter from 'The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King' Chao Gai of Dongxi Village and wants to tell you about it."

Ruan Xiaoer explained from the side.

"I've long heard of the 'Strategist's' reputation. I wonder what kind of wealth he has that he's planning to give to Liangshan Marsh?"

Li Hanxiao asked the question knowing the answer already.

"Chief Li, please allow me to report!"

So, the "wise strategist" Wu Yong revealed the news about the birthday gifts.

Li Han smiled and deliberately said, "This birthday tribute is ill-gotten gains, so it's fine for us to take it. Thank you, Scholar Wu, for bringing the news. Someone, give Scholar Wu five hundred taels of silver as a token of our gratitude. We brothers will go and discuss the matter of taking the birthday tribute in a little while."

Wu Yong panicked upon hearing this. How could they just give him five hundred taels of silver to get rid of him? If that's the case, his plan will not succeed!

"Chief Li, I am not here for money, but only to join Chief Chao and Chief Li in taking the birthday gifts and joining our gang on the mountain!"

In his haste, Wu Yong revealed his true intentions.

Li Han smiled and understood Wu Yong's thoughts. This "wise strategist" wanted to use him as a pawn to steal the birthday gifts. As for his request to join Liangshan, it was probably because of his old habit of wanting to turn the tables.

“Now that I know about the birthday tribute, we brothers are all guilty. You, Wu Xuejiu and Chao Baozheng, are still good citizens. Why do you insist on doing these things with us? I will naturally retrieve the birthday tribute, but you two don’t need to be involved in this matter. Men, give Wu Xuejiu another thousand taels of silver and send him down the mountain!”

Li Han's tone was decisive, and Deng Fei had already pushed Wu Yong out of the Zhengda Guangming Hall. A henchman brought over a thousand taels of silver, which was to send Wu Yong down the mountain.

Wu Yong's plan completely failed, and he was now filled with frustration. He hadn't expected that Li Hanxiao would be so unethical, taking the information, giving him money, and then sending him away, while preparing to retrieve the birthday gifts himself.

Isn't this just putting yourself on the front for selling information?

Li Hanxiao understood. Since Wu Yong and Chao Gai were planning to rob the birthday gifts and even dared to come up the mountain to persuade them, it meant that they still had ambitions and would pose a threat to Li Hanxiao in the future...

Ruan Xiao'er, puzzled, asked Li Han with a smile, "Chief, my friend has come to deliver a message, wanting to join Chao Gai's gang. Isn't that a good thing? He's resourceful and wise, known in the martial world as 'The Wise Star,' and 'Chao Gai, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King,' is also a renowned good man! If they joined Liangshan, wouldn't it be even more prosperous? Why do you say that?"

Li Han laughed and stood up to explain, "It's easy to draw a dragon or a tiger, but hard to draw their bones; it's easy to know a person's face, but hard to know their heart. Although Erlang and Wu Yong are friends, he doesn't know what kind of person Wu Yong is, or what kind of schemes he's plotting."

As Li Hanxiao spoke, he waved his hand, and Ma Bian stepped out from the side.

“Brother Ruan, when the chief sent Ma Lin and Bai Sheng to Chao Baozheng’s manor to test the waters that day, he also ordered me to secretly go down the mountain to monitor every move at Chao Baozheng’s manor. I overheard their conversation. Do you know that Wu Yong used us in Liangshan to actually use us as pawns? Wu Yong actually wanted to use the delivery of the birthday gifts as a way to gain entry into Liangshan with Chao Gai. Then he persuaded and divided everyone, causing us to turn against Chief Li and ultimately become the host!”

Seeing Ruan Xiaoer's surprised look, Ma Bian added, "By the way, the first people Wu Yong tried to turn were the three Ruan brothers."

Although Li Hanxiao had intended to test Wu Yong, the "wise strategist," and Chao Gai, the "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King," he was unwilling to kill innocent people. Even if they were intent on taking the birthday gifts, it was not a reason for Li Hanxiao to harm them, since they had no past grievances or recent enmities.

Even if Wu Yong came up the mountain to persuade Li Hanxiao to retrieve the birthday gifts, it doesn't mean anything.

Therefore, after sending Ma Lin and Bai Sheng to probe, Li Hanxiao sent Ma Bian to secretly monitor them.

Li Hanxiao needed to figure out whether these two people posed a threat to him.

Ma Bian was an assassin by trade, and a top-tier one at that. Hiding his whereabouts and leaping across rooftops were second nature to him. He lurked on the roof of Chao Gai's house and thoroughly understood every word of the conversation between Wu Yong and Chao Gai, reporting it to Li Hanxiao without missing a single detail.

Li Hanxiao then realized that Wu Yong was still as vicious as ever, and had already set his sights on him. It was a matter of mutual benefit, and Li Hanxiao's actions were Wu Yong's own doing.

However, judging from Ma Bian's report, Chao Gai, the "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King," did not collude with Wu Yong. Chao Gai did not agree with Wu Yong's selfish ideas that harmed others, so Li Hanxiao did not intend to do anything to Chao Gai.

"Huh? This... I never expected this..."

Ruan Xiaoer was very surprised and startled. He and his two brothers were straightforward men who never expected so many twists and turns, let alone that Wu Yong was using them as pawns!

"So...I've...let the wolf into the house?"

Ruan Xiaoer scratched his head, saying in disbelief.

"Haha, Erlang, don't worry about it. To tell you the truth, Brother Liu Tang, the 'Red-Haired Devil,' told me about the birthday tribute. This was my plan to make Wu Yong's evil intentions impossible to carry out. You are not guilty!"

After comforting Ruan Xiaoer, Li Hanxiao said to Ma Bian, "Brother Ma Bian, Wu Yong has been turned away by us, so he will definitely not let this go. He is a man of many talents and will never let a grudge go unpunished. Go to Dongxi Village to continue gathering information and report back to the mountain!"

"Yes!"

Ma Bian agreed and immediately went down the mountain, taking a detour on horseback to get back to Dongxi Village ahead of Wu Yong. Wu Yong was riding a donkey, which was too slow to catch up with Ma Bian.

Wu Yong looked at the thousand taels of silver on the donkey's back, feeling both angry and amused.

If he were willing to live a peaceful and quiet life, this thousand taels of silver would be enough for his entire life's expenses.

However, he was by no means a law-abiding person; when he saw the silver, he felt only insult.

Li Hanxiao is really underestimating himself!

Despite his own great talent, Li Hanxiao only asked for information, gave him money to get rid of him, and rejected his offer to join the group!

Wu Yong had originally thought that if Li Hanxiao was truly a hero, what harm would it do for him, Wu Yong, to assist him?

Could it be that Wu Yong is inferior to those people on Liangshan Marsh?

As it turned out, Li Hanxiao didn't even think much of him!

Thinking of this, Wu Yong wanted to prove whether he was stronger or Li Hanxiao was more powerful.

Amidst the bumpy ride of the donkey, he seemed to have figured out a new plan.

Since Wu Yong's plan to persuade Li Hanxiao to take the birthday gifts in order to join the bandits had failed, he might as well turn the tables and shift the blame to the east.

Li Hanxiao is definitely going to retrieve the birthday gifts now, and he wants Yang Zhi and Li Hanxiao to fight desperately first.

Even if Li Hanxiao is capable and manages to deal with Yang Zhi, he will likely suffer heavy losses.

And what about Wu Yong? He turned the tables on them, ordering other mountain strongholds to seize the birthday gifts. After Li Hanxiao and his group won, he would then act like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, and kill Li Hanxiao!

They could even leak this information to more than one mountain stronghold, inciting them to fight over the birthday gifts. Yang Zhi and Li Hanxiao didn't care about anything else; two fists can't fight four hands!

He and Chao Gai, on the other hand, added an extra layer of insurance after the oriole was caught. No matter how many people from the mountain stronghold came, they would only target the one who ultimately seized the birthday gifts, creating a situation where the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits.

This plan coincided perfectly with what Li Hanxiao and Wen Huanzhang had in mind.

As for how to persuade the bandits from other mountain strongholds, Wu Yong now had a plan, after all, the thousand taels of silver were right there...

However, there is still a difficulty. Although his idea is like raising poisonous insects, making these people fight each other to seize the birthday gifts, and the survivors will definitely suffer heavy losses, he and Chao Gai probably still can't handle it.

We still need more manpower!

Wu Yong still needs to find a way to recruit some helpers for this plan to work.

When they returned to Dongxi Village, Wu Yong met with "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King" Chao Gai and told him that Li Hanxiao had given them a thousand taels of silver as a bribe, but still did not agree to let the two of them join the group. Chao Gai was very disappointed.

"Since no one will help us, how can the two of us obtain this birthday tribute?"

Chao Gai still wanted to take the birthday gifts, but considering the difference in strength, he actually backed down.

"Brother, there's always a way. If we can't persuade Li Hanxiao, can't we persuade someone else?"

Wu Yong's words piqued Chao Gai's interest, and Chao Gai quickly asked, "What do you mean by 'scholar'? Shall we go ask other hilltops?"

Wu Yong smiled sinisterly, "Now that things have come to this, Li Hanxiao is bound to go and take the birthday gifts. It's hard to say who will win between him and Yang Zhi. If we can persuade a few more mountain strongholds to come, we can not only deal with Yang Zhi, but also with Li Hanxiao. They can even fight each other to the death, and then we can be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"

"what?"

Chao Gai had just caught up with Wu Yong's line of thought, but now he couldn't keep up anymore and was left far behind.

"This, isn't this right?"

Chao Gai thought to himself that there was nothing wrong with this method; it was somewhat like using one tiger to devour another. However, doing it this way was a bit despicable and did not conform to the code of chivalry!

“What’s wrong, Brother Chao? Think about it carefully. Why won’t Li Hanxiao let us join Liangshan? He just gave me money to get rid of me. That means he wants to take all the birthday gifts for himself! Aren’t all these mountain strongholds the same? They occupy the mountain as kings, rob and plunder, and claim to be robbing the rich to help the poor and the needy. Have you ever seen them actually do these things? It’s just empty talk. In essence, they are no different from those traitors who harm the people. Even if a thousand or eighteen die, it doesn’t matter!”

"Moreover, if we obtain this birthday tribute, we should naturally return it to the people. This is for the sake of the people. As the saying goes, he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Brother, aren't the people more important than so-called chivalry? Brother! This is a matter of righteousness. Since ancient times, those who do great things have always had to sacrifice something. A petty person is not a gentleman, and a man without ruthlessness is not a true man!"

Wu Yong's seemingly plausible but ultimately misleading words directly brainwashed Chao Gai. His main ideas were twofold: first, these people were not good people and would not return the birthday gifts to the people, so there was no need for him to feel guilty about using them.

Secondly, Wu Yong emphasized that if they took the birthday gifts, they could return them to the people, which was doing a good deed for the common people, something that other mountain strongholds could not do.

He was using the so-called "righteousness" to pressure Chao Gai, making Chao Gai feel at ease agreeing to sacrifice those people as cannon fodder for the sake of the so-called "righteousness," which was actually a confusion of concepts.

Chao Gai was now forced to agree by Wu Yong's so-called "righteousness," because no one wanted to admit that they had disregarded the so-called "righteousness," especially someone like Chao Gai who genuinely cared about such things.

"Alright... Since that's the case, I have nothing more to say. For the greater good, let's do this once and for all. After it's done, we'll distribute the birthday gifts to the people, and you and I will keep a little for ourselves. Let's find a secluded place and live out the rest of our lives in peace, how about that?"