Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

“My lord, although Huang An is no longer capable of leading troops, I have heard that there are several heroes in our Jizhou Prefecture. There is no need to worry about having no one to lead the troops!”

After Wu Yong said that, the prefect would definitely ask, "Who is it?"

"I heard that He Tao, the official in charge of apprehending thieves in Yuncheng County, has already been tattooed on the face. Why not let him atone for his crimes through meritorious service?"

Wu Yong did this in an attempt to gain another ally, since He Tao was currently in a truly predicament.

"Yes, apprehending thieves is his responsibility, so who else could it be?"

The prefect continued to ask questions.

"Yuncheng County also has two very capable constables, one named 'The Bearded Gentleman' Zhu Tong and the other named 'The Winged Tiger' Lei Heng. I work in the same yamen as them and we are like brothers. I know their abilities very well!"

This time, it wasn't "The Wise One" Wu Yong who spoke first, but "The Righteous Protector" Song Jiang who recommended "The Bearded Gentleman" Zhu Tong and "The Winged Tiger" Lei Heng.

After all, Song Jiang had a very good relationship with the two of them, knew how capable they were, and wanted to bring them along to achieve this great feat.

"These two have done some good deeds before, what else are you preparing?"

"Liangshan Marsh is an 800-li waterway. Since Liang Zhongshu sent troops from afar, they certainly couldn't have prepared ships in advance. We can solve the ship problem on the spot. When the troops from Daming Prefecture arrive, we can cross the lake and attack directly!"

Wu Yong proposed a strategy of making preparations in advance.

"Alright, all approved. In addition, each prefecture and county should recruit two thousand soldiers to train outside Jizhou City in preparation for the arrival of Liang Zhongshu's troops!"

The prefect of Jizhou felt that with this arrangement and the help of Liang Zhongshu's troops, taking down Liangshan should be a piece of cake. When the birthday tribute was retrieved, he would naturally be recommended by Liang Zhongshu and rise rapidly in rank!

However, he not only underestimated the fighting strength of Liangshan Marsh, but also overestimated the fighting strength of the troops of Daming Prefecture.

Just after leaving the government office, Song Jiang spoke to Wu Yong, the "wise strategist," and said, "By the way, scholar, I have another acquaintance, a fine man, named Chao Gai, the 'Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King' of Dongxi Village. He's the local headman and has excellent martial arts skills. Why don't you recommend him as well..."

Upon hearing that Song Jiang and Chao Gai actually knew each other, Wu Yong was so frightened that he quickly interrupted Song Jiang, "I don't think that's possible! I teach in Dongxi Village and know Chief Chao. He doesn't want to be an official, he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to!"

If Song Jiang went to Chao Gai, wouldn't that expose the secret?

Song Jiang did not suspect Wu Yong's sudden and intense behavior, so he did not bring up the matter again. Instead, he and Wu Yong returned to Yuncheng County to deliver the message to Magistrate Shi Wenbin, "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong, and "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng.

After deciding to take action against Liangshanbo, the Jizhou Prefecture began to conscript soldiers continuously, and the officials in the villages and towns near Liangshanbo also began to forcibly requisition ships.

They even forcibly requisitioned many boats from Shijie Village, which is right next to Liangshanbo.

These unusual circumstances naturally did not escape Li Hanxiao's notice. The conscription of soldiers and the collection of ships meant that they were coming to attack Liangshan Marsh!

After all, if they weren't coming to attack Liangshan Marsh, they wouldn't need so many ships at all.

To find out what was going on, Li Hanxiao sent "White Day Rat" Bai Sheng down the mountain to investigate.

Although Bai Sheng, nicknamed "White Day Rat," was an idle man before, Li Hanxiao trained him after he went up the mountain, turning him into a qualified scout, teaching him tracking, counter-tracking, and so on.

You know, Bai Sheng doesn't have any special characteristics. On the contrary, he doesn't look like a courageous person. That's his biggest advantage. As long as he has some acting skills, he can just stand there and you don't need to ask what he's playing or what he does. He won't give himself away!

Such a talent, whether you ask him to play a petty thief, an illegal merchant, a thug, a gambler, an alcoholic, or a pimp, he can handle it all with ease. Such a talent only appears once every few thousand years. His qualifications are amazing!

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was impossible to become a high-ranking official to gather information. However, if you disguised yourself as a lowly and hardworking person to gather information, you would get accurate information every time, because only truly insignificant people can be so pervasive.

It is often the little people who are most easily overlooked!

Bai Sheng, nicknamed "White Day Rat," was quite efficient. He brought back news in the afternoon. He had impersonated a shrimp paste vendor to sell sauce in the kitchen of the Jeju government office. He chatted with the cook for a while, gave him some shrimp paste for free, and extracted information from him.

It turned out that the prefect of Jizhou Prefecture somehow found out that the birthday tribute had been robbed by Liangshan Marsh, and was preparing to inform Liang Zhongshu so that they could send troops to attack Liangshan Marsh together.

Jizhou Prefecture has been crippled by Li Hanxiao, so Li Hanxiao is not afraid. However, Liang Zhongshu's Daming Prefecture is still a prefecture with a strong army. Although Li Hanxiao can underestimate them strategically, he cannot underestimate them tactically.

So he consulted with Wen Huanzhang.

Wen Huanzhang thought that the troops of Jizhou Prefecture were not a concern and were too easy to deal with, but the troops of Liang Zhongshu's Daming Prefecture had long been stationed on the border to resist foreign aggression and were used to battles. They had some elite soldiers and generals and should be taken seriously.

He also said there were two ways: one was to defend, taking advantage of the 800-li (approximately 400 km) of waterways, and wait for them to tire themselves out, so that they would all die in the waters.

However, there is still a problem with this approach: the three Ruan brothers have not yet fully trained the newly formed Liangshan Marsh navy.

Li Hanxiao pondered for a moment. If he could add his firearms troops to provide support on the water, it might make up for this deficiency. After all, the troops of Daming Prefecture were not a powerful naval force, and their combat effectiveness in the water was also very limited.

Another option was to launch a proactive attack. Wen Huanzhang's idea was that although Daming Prefecture was not particularly far from Liangshan Marsh, it would still take some time for their troops to reach Liangshan Marsh.

Let's just take them down one by one. First, we'll wipe out the troops from Jeju Prefecture, then we'll ambush and kill the troops from Daming Prefecture on the way, and show off our power!

With the troops currently under Li Hanxiao's command, it's not impossible for him to achieve this.

"To be honest, I'd like to split our forces into two groups and make a name for ourselves in one battle. Right now, Liangshan's reputation is still small. Brother Bao Xu doesn't even know that I was in charge of Liangshan before. Many people still remember me as someone who broke through four passes at the Imperial Fragrance Pavilion in Tokyo. I need to fight a brilliant battle to recruit heroes from all over the world and let these prefectures and counties far and wide know that Liangshan is not to be trifled with!"

Li Hanxiao expressed his thoughts, and Wen Huanzhang nodded, "That's right, what you say makes sense, my lord. According to Bai Sheng, He Tao is leading his officials to forcibly conscript laborers and boats in various villages, while the two constables from Yuncheng County are responsible for leading troops to garrison the military camp outside Jizhou City. If we want to defeat them one by one, we should first send someone to kill He Tao. Maybe we can even recruit some people to go up the mountain, and then launch a surprise attack on the military camp outside Jizhou City to wipe out their manpower! We might even be able to take Jizhou City in the process!"

"No!"

Li Hanxiao did not approve of Wen Huanzhang's aggressive tactics, because for the time being, none of the other four bandits from the original novel had risen up to relieve the pressure on the imperial court.

The saying goes, "Build high walls, store up grain, and delay declaring yourself king." Li Hanxiao's strength is not yet sufficient. If he were to start conquering cities and seizing territories at this moment, he would become a target for attack!

"We cannot take Jeju City yet; it's not the right time. We are not yet strong enough, so there's no need to rush!"

Hearing Li Hanxiao's words, Wen Huanzhang also smiled, "What you say is true, my lord. I was just saying it casually. Now is indeed not the time to take Jizhou City!"

"Bai Sheng, how many people are around He Tao?"

Since he had already decided to make his move on He Tao first, Li Hanxiao naturally wanted to find out about the people around him.

"We're taking thirty or forty officials with us. Tomorrow we're going to Shijie Village to forcibly requisition laborers and boats."

"White Day Rat" Bai Sheng replied.

"Chief! We three brothers request an audience!"

At this moment, the three Nguyen brothers walked into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, their faces filled with anger, and anyone could tell that something was wrong.

"What's wrong with the three brothers?"

Li Han asked with a smile.

"That He Tao is too much. He went to Shijie Village to forcibly conscript laborers and boats, and injured many people who were going to marry him. He took a fancy to my wife's younger sister and insisted on taking her as a concubine. When her family refused, they were beaten up. He even threatened that if they didn't comply when he came back tomorrow, he would capture all the men, women, and children in the village!"

Ruan Xiaoer, nicknamed "Standing Tai Sui," gritted his teeth and spoke out against the injustice done to the villagers and his sister-in-law.

"Not only that, this official in charge of catching thieves, who is usually never seen doing anything for the villagers, came to the countryside this time like a bandit. He robbed whatever he could find, taking away the pigs, horses, donkeys, and mules from the villagers' homes, claiming that the government was requisitioning them. He even stole the chickens and ducks they raised, and the fish they caught. He's a real beast!"

Ruan Xiaowu, nicknamed "Short-lived Second Brother," also cursed angrily.

"Chief, we three brothers request permission to kill them when they come again tomorrow!"

"Living Yama" Ruan Xiaoqi had already pulled out a gleaming dagger and was brandishing it in his hand.

"These are the imperial officials specifically tasked with apprehending thieves. I think they're even worse than thieves! We were just discussing how to make our move when you three brothers showed up. Fine, Shijie Village is your hometown, your hometown. You three will have to vent your anger here. Tomorrow, you three will take the navy and ambush them in Shijie Lake. Just wait for them to come, and then kill them all! Bring that He Tao back to me. I want to see if this man who eats the people's blood and sweat has a black heart hidden inside!"

Li Han gave the order, and the three Ruan brothers were all smiles, replying, "Yes!" They then returned to the water fortress to mobilize their troops and prepare.

Just after Li Hanxiao finished instructing the three Ruan brothers, he turned to Wen Huanzhang and said, "He Tao has plundered and looted so much of the people's wealth, and most of it is probably in his house. We should find a way to take back the stolen goods from his house and distribute them to the people!"

"Chief, I know him. I know his family lives in a large courtyard on the west side of Jizhou City. They already had a lot of wealth! Now they've plundered so much money from the people, they're probably rolling in riches!"

Bai Sheng, nicknamed "White Day Rat," knew where He Tao lived and immediately spoke up.

"Alright! Day Rat, tomorrow you take 'Red-Haired Devil' Liu Tang and fifty henchmen, and under the cover of night, empty his house!"

Li Hanxiao would show no mercy to such beasts who exploit the people and plunder their wealth!

"My lord, what do you think of the military camp outside Jeju City?"

Wen Huanzhang then inquired about the troops in the military camp. Li Hanxiao stroked his chin, considered for a moment, and said, "There aren't many of the original Jizhou soldiers left. Most of them were forcibly conscripted to work as laborers. They don't want to fight; they were forced into it. Zhu Tong and Lei Heng are leading troops there. We should try to kill as few people as possible. Once we capture Zhu Tong and Lei Heng alive, the others will naturally scatter and go home!"

These ordinary people are pitiful. They have no military training and are forced to fight to the death. They have no choice but to go. Li Hanxiao does not intend to kill them, but rather to make them his supporters and bestow favors upon them.

"Our lord is truly benevolent! This move will not only defeat the enemy but also win the hearts of the people!"

Wen Huanzhang couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course, the will of the people cannot be deceived or abandoned. Those who have achieved great things throughout history have all placed the people at the core!"

Li Hanxiao recalled the era he once belonged to and couldn't help but sigh.

"As for the troops of Daming Prefecture, I wonder who will lead them? Does Mr. Wen have any thoughts?"

Li Hanxiao knew that Daming Prefecture had many fierce generals, including Suo Chao, the "Vanguard" among the 108 heroes, and two military commanders, one named "Wen Dadao" Wen Da and the other "Li Tianwang" Li Cheng. Both of them were praised as "unmatched in bravery" in the original work, and their strength was indeed not bad.

"In my opinion, Liang Zhongshu might not even look down on Liangshan, and he would never send high-ranking officers to attack Liangshan."

Wen Huanzhang knew this minister's personality very well. He was arrogant and looked down on the common people, especially high-ranking military officers. He even thought that sending them to suppress bandits would be beneath his dignity.

Their contempt will become an opportunity for Li Hanxiao to exploit.

Li Hanxiao considered Wen Huanzhang's idea and concluded that it was unlikely that Wen Da and Li Cheng would come. On the contrary, the chances of "Vanguard" Suo Chao coming were much higher. He was a junior officer with a low rank, but his fighting skills were still good. In addition, he truly deserved the title of "Vanguard." He did not care about gains or losses in battle and was always the first to fight. He was the most suitable person to come and fight Liangshan.

If it really is Suo Chao, this "vanguard," who attacks Liangshan, then he'll be easy to deal with. After all, this guy is brave but reckless, only interested in fighting and brawling. If we use a few tricks on him, we can easily deal with him.

“What Mr. Wen said makes sense. We should deal with the government of Jizhou first, and then fight the troops of Daming Prefecture. In the meantime, the brothers in the stronghold must intensify their training. After all, we cannot guarantee that after this battle we will not be besieged by the imperial army again!”