Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"Son-in-law? Did I hear that right?"

Li Hanxiao and Hu Sanniang immediately felt as if they had been struck on the head.

Li Han smiled to himself, wondering what kind of address this was. Was the local custom in Hujiazhuang so peculiar? Could these two words be used so casually?

Or is this old man just a sycophant who, seeing that I am powerful and well-equipped, wants to curry favor with me and is trying to arrange a marriage between my daughter and me on the spot?

What kind of father is this?! I should have known better than to release him and let him continue to eat in jail at Zhujiazhuang!

"Dad, what did you say?"

As a woman, Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," had a face that was as red and purple as a boiled crab.

"What? You're already Chief Li's man, shouldn't I call you my son-in-law?"

Hu Taigong was quite puzzled.

"What are these?"

Li Hanxiao was utterly speechless!

"This... When the two of us came out, Zhu Long said it himself, that Chief Li had already... Is this really true...?"

"Flying Tiger" Hu Cheng was also a little confused. The version was too advanced, and the information didn't match up!

"That damned Zhu Long, he's slandering my innocence here! I'll fight him to the death!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," drew her twin swords, almost grinding her teeth to powder, ready to fight Zhu Long to the death.

"Sigh, little sister, you can't beat him!"

Upon seeing this, Hu Cheng quickly went over and pulled Hu Sanniang away.

“Grandpa, now the truth is out. I have no designs on your daughter whatsoever. I am completely innocent. You have wronged me by calling me your son-in-law!”

Li Han smiled helplessly.

Seeing that he had made a huge blunder, Old Man Hu was filled with shame and repeatedly said, "I was confused, I was confused, please forgive me, Chief Li!"

"It's alright, please come to the back and have some food and drinks."

Before Li Han's joke had even faded, Hu Taigong's face turned full of worry.

The old man originally thought that since his daughter and Li Hanxiao had become husband and wife, their Hu family village would have a powerful backer and would not be bullied by the Zhu family village. Even if they really couldn't make it on Dulonggang, they could at least go and seek refuge with Liangshan Marsh.

Now it seems that's not the case. What if Li Hanxiao leaves, and the Zhu Family Village comes to settle scores again?

We still have to hold on to this powerful figure. Since the story about Hu Sanniang and Li Hanxiao wasn't true, why not just go with the flow and bring them together?

Meanwhile, Li Hanxiao had already exchanged the two prisoners, so he could attack the Zhu Family Village without any scruples. On the other side, Zhu Long was still waiting on the suspension bridge for Li Hanxiao to discuss the next steps in detail!

"Commander Yang, we have already released the person. Doesn't that show our sincerity?"

Seeing that there was no response from Liangshan Marsh for a long time after releasing the Hu family father and son, Zhu Long took the initiative to call out and ask.

"Our Chief Li has shown his sincerity, but the conditions you've proposed still need to be revised!"

Yang Zhi shouted.

"What? It needs to be changed again... Alright, what are your requirements, Chief Li?"

Zhu Longxin thought that if he could get a little more money, he wouldn't mind.

"My chieftain Li said that your Zhu Family Village must send a hostage to Liangshan Marsh to show your submission. In addition, you must hand over 80% of your harvest!"

Yang Zhi's words shocked Zhu Long, who couldn't help but ask, "What? A hostage?"

"Not bad!"

"How is this possible!"

Zhu Longxin thought to himself, "This hostage is a person who is sent to the enemy or another country in ancient times. They are mostly princes or crown princes or other people of noble birth. King Zhuangxiang of Qin, King Zhaoxiang of Qin, and Prince Dan of Yan all served as hostages. Being a hostage is basically not something a human being can do!"

Now that Zhu Hu is dead, if we really send a hostage, it would have to be Zhu Long and Zhu Biao, and they might not come back alive!

Moreover, they have to hand over 80% of their harvest. That's outrageous! With only 20% of their income, Zhu Family Village probably can't even afford to support its army. How can they possibly turn their fortunes around?

This is outrageous! It's a completely unequal treaty!

"Commander Yang, this... this is not asking you to do something unreasonable. Although my Zhu Family Village is willing to cease hostilities and seek peace, we are not going to kneel down and surrender to your Liangshan. So there is nothing to discuss!"

Zhu Longyi shrugged.

"Our Chief Li has only one sentence: I am the butcher, and you are the fish on the chopping block. If you don't obey, then fight. I hope your Zhu Family Village can be just as tough when defending the city!"

Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," greatly admired Li Hanxiao's method. It essentially tricked the Zhu Family Village into a state of utter chaos. Li Hanxiao had never intended to negotiate from the beginning; he was merely taking advantage of the Zhu Family Village's eagerness to escape their predicament.

The saying goes, "Warfare is based on deception," and Li Hanxiao truly made full use of this principle in his military tactics.

Zhu Chaofeng, who had been listening from the city tower, was furious and shouted, "Boss, come back! This is too much! Let's fight them!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," immediately shouted, "Fine! So it's the Zhu Family Village that doesn't want to negotiate anymore! Soldiers, attack the city!"

The Liangshan troops, who had been prepared in advance, immediately launched an attack. The three tiger-squatting cannons placed in front of the formation opened fire at the same time, and countless projectiles were hurled directly at the top of the Zhu Family Village, knocking down more than a dozen village men like wheat being harvested.

"Wait a minute!"

Zhu Long shouted loudly, trying to stop the battle, because he hadn't expected Liangshan to have cannons! How could they fight like this?

However, Liangshan had no intention of negotiating, so what effect could his shouts have? "Flowery Monk" Lu Zhishen gathered all the strength he had been holding back for a long time into his legs and moved with lightning speed. It was hard to imagine that someone of his size could have such a swift speed!

As Zhu Long watched Lu Zhishen rush onto the suspension bridge and head straight for him, a vivid idiom immediately came to mind: "like wolves running and boars charging."

"Look at the monk's staff!"

Zhu Long watched as the iron staff swept towards him with a whoosh, creating a whirlwind that even swept up fallen leaves from the ground.

He hurriedly raised his spear to block, and almost instantly, his spear transformed into a bow. Under the immense force, he and his horse fell onto the suspension bridge!

Even if Zhu Long hadn't been injured, let alone if his arm was, he still couldn't withstand Lu Zhishen's immense strength, not even with a warhorse!

"Oh!"

Lu Zhishen charged ahead and beat Zhu Long and his horse to the ground, but he was not in a hurry to kill Zhu Long. Instead, he picked up his iron staff and rushed toward the closing gate of Zhu Family Village.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Boom!"

The brute monk swung his iron staff and slammed it heavily against the two doors twice. The first blow sent the soldier closing the doors to the ground by the force of the winch. The second blow broke the hinge of one of the doors, and the half-door collapsed with a creak, crushing the villagers who were pushing the door behind it into a bloody pulp!

"Wow!"

Zhu Long struggled to his feet, vomiting a mouthful of foul blood. Lu Zhishen's single blow with his staff had caused him internal injuries, and he could barely get up, let alone fight.

"Ok!"

Just then, "Blue-Faced Beast" Yang Zhi charged in on horseback, his twelve-foot steel spear pointing forward. With a single thrust, he pierced Zhu Long's throat, trachea, larynx, whatever kind of tube it was, leaving no way to save him.

"Hold them off!"

At this moment, Zhu Chaofeng's eyes were red. Zhu Long's death did not cause him any emotional fluctuation. All he wanted to do now was fight, fight these Liangshan bandits, and he was willing to give everything!

The guards of Zhu Family Village went to stop the Liangshan army from rushing into the gate, but the drawbridge was lost. "Golden Wings of the Clouds" Ou Peng and "Iron Flute Immortal" Ma Lin cut the iron chains of the drawbridge immediately, causing the Zhu Family Village to lose control of the drawbridge. The gate was also violently dismantled by Lu Zhishen, the "Flowery Monk". They could no longer stop them.

"You old scoundrel from the Zhu family! Where do you think you're going!"

Just as things were peaceful behind him, two thunderous shouts rang out again. Zhu Chaofeng turned around in surprise and saw two burly men wielding three-pronged steel forks charging toward him.

Although some of the guards tried to stop them, they were clearly no match for the two of them. The two of them were like tigers among sheep. Under their steel forks, the guards were like ants, only able to take the beating and unable to fight back.

These two were the brothers Xie Zhen, nicknamed "Two-Headed Snake," and Xie Bao, nicknamed "Double-Tailed Scorpion," who had infiltrated the Zhu Family Village long ago. Li Hanxiao had told them beforehand that upon hearing the cannon fire, they should coordinate from within and without to take over the Zhu Family Village. It was at this moment that the two of them came out to fight.

Previously, the two brothers disguised themselves as hunters and sneaked into Zhu Family Village, hiding in the home of an old man named Zhongli who was not a member of the Zhu family. Old man Zhongli had long resented the Zhu family's domineering behavior, so he let them hide there.

"Quick, stop them!"

As Zhu Chaofeng watched these two menacing figures draw ever closer, his face grew increasingly pale.

"Death to the old thief!"

"Two-Headed Snake" Xie Zhen and "Double-Tailed Scorpion" Xie Bao, wielding steel forks, charged up the city wall. The villagers, seeing how powerful the two were, were so frightened that they abandoned Zhu Chaofeng and scattered in all directions.

After all, this is a time of ruin and death for Zhuang, so why bother protecting him? Everyone should look after themselves!

"ah!"

Two steel forks pierced into Zhu Chaofeng's abdomen simultaneously. The old thief stared wide-eyed, looking incredulous. Erjie flicked the forks, throwing the old man's corpse off the city wall, where it shattered into pieces.

With Zhu Chaofeng and Zhu Long dead, the Zhu Family Manor's servants were leaderless and scattered like birds and beasts. Since they were not from the Zhu family, there was no need to perish with them. Upon seeing the Liangshan soldiers, they threw down their weapons, knelt down, and surrendered with their heads in their hands.

Those branches of the Zhu family who wanted to rebel were all wiped out by the Liangshan army. The people in Zhu Family Village hated the Zhu family the most and did not help them. Li Hanxiao personally ordered that after entering Zhu Family Village, no one should disturb the people. However, if anyone dared to kill civilians or take their property, he would personally kill them with his three-pointed double-edged sword!

In addition, Li Hanxiao sent people to open the warehouse of Zhujiazhuang and distributed grain to the people in the village as a form of compensation, according to the amount of one dou of rice per person per household.

Li Hanxiao's actions quickly won over the hearts of the people of Zhujiazhuang. The original farmers and tenants of Zhujiazhuang stood up to support Li Hanxiao, much like welcoming the king's army with food and drink. Even some of the Zhu family's collateral branches, who had been hiding scattered throughout Zhujiazhuang, were brought to the Liangshan army by the people. Li Hanxiao categorized them according to the level of public resentment and handed them over to the people of Zhujiazhuang to deal with themselves.

Li Hanxiao went to see the warehouse of the Zhu Family Village and was greatly shocked.

The original text says that after the attack on Zhu Family Village, Song Jiang "obtained 500,000 shi of grain." However, Li Hanxiao's on-site investigation revealed that while Zhu Family Village did indeed have a lot of grain, it wasn't as exaggerated as described in the original text.

One shi in the Song Dynasty was roughly equivalent to a little over 92 jin in later times. Even if it was 92 jin, how many jin would 500,000 shi be?

Forty-six million catties of grain—that's an astronomical figure!

The last person to hoard so much grain in his own home seems to have been Dong Zhongying, the Grand Tutor of Dong Zhuo, during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. He stored enough grain in Mei Wu to last for more than thirty years...

If the Zhu Family Village had such financial resources, they might as well rebel. The combined grain reserves of all the official granaries in the entire Jingdong West Circuit probably wouldn't even amount to what they have.

Although it wasn't quite that exaggerated, Li Hanxiao sent his troops to count it. There wasn't 500,000 shi of grain, but with all kinds of new and old rice combined, there was at least 60,000 to 70,000 shi of grain.

That's quite a lot, over six million catties of grain. This probably doesn't even represent the amount that the Zhu Family Village has accumulated over many years; it could be the wealth accumulated by Zhu Chaofeng over several decades. After all, grain has a long shelf life if stored properly. Historically, there have been instances where the grain from the Sui Dynasty was still not finished by the time of Emperor Taizong of Tang...

Even moving Li Hanxiao back would be a problem. Originally, "Blue-faced Beast" Yang Zhi said that the method of distributing one dou of rice per person was too extravagant. But after seeing the wealth and resources of Zhu Family Village over the past few decades, Yang Zhi suddenly stopped feeling sorry for the people.

This is without even adding up the various movable and immovable properties, gold and silver treasures of the Zhu Family Village. If you add them all together, the income would be astronomical!

Li Hanxiao finally understood why Song Jiang attacked the Zhu Family Village three times in the original story. If it were him, he would have attacked even if it meant breaking his front teeth. This was a treasure trove, and once it was conquered, the profits would definitely be enough!

However, Li Hanxiao also speculated that these mountains of money and grain might contain the blood and tears of countless working people. After all, the Zhu family were not kind gentlemen, but local tyrants and bullies. This was all the hard-earned money they had plundered from the people.

Who knows how many ordinary people's bones were piled up to build such a tall warehouse...

Li Hanxiao had successfully captured Zhujiazhuang, while in Xigang, Zhu Biao and "Iron Rod" Luan Tingyu, along with their remnants of less than a thousand men, had become the only armed force Zhujiazhuang had outside. Only after eliminating them could Zhujiazhuang be considered completely conquered by Li Hanxiao.

Seeing that the Liangshan troops surrounding them were showing signs of attacking, Zhu Biao and "Iron Rod" Luan Tingyu knew that this time they probably couldn't escape. The only options now were to either surrender or die on the battlefield.

Zhu Biao absolutely could not surrender, because he had already seen the black smoke rising above Zhu Family Village, and he knew very well that he was probably the last member of the Zhu family.

With his father and elder brother dead, there was no need for him to live on alone. If he could kill a few more Liangshan people before he died, it would be like taking a few more down with him.