However, Song Jiang from Yuncheng County met He Tao, the arresting envoy of Jezhou Prefecture, outside the Yamen that day, and learned that the thieves who robbed the birthday card were led by Chao Gai. Now Jeju County has issued a document asking Yuncheng County to send someone to arrest him.
Song Jiang hurriedly stabilized He Tao, and on the pretext of going home to rest, waiting for the magistrate to sit down and open the office, Song Jiang secretly flew to Dongxi Village to report the news. He never thought that when he went, someone from Chao Gaizhuang had already gone to Zhuangkong to ask questions in the village.
Only then did the farmers learn that dozens of Chao Gai's men had gone east before dawn.
Song Jiang saw that everyone in the village had been taken away, and he guessed that Chao Gai had already gotten the news. Chao Gai and others walked for another half day, and even if the county ordered troops and horses to pursue them, it was too late.
Immediately he returned to the county and led He Tao to see the new county magistrate Shi Wenbin.
He Tao also thought that the county magistrate had just opened the court, and there was no doubt that he was there.
The former magistrate of Yuncheng County has been promoted to another place because of his meritorious service.
Although Shi Wenbin, the newly arrived county magistrate, had only been in office for two months, he was an upright official and honest in his work. Shi Wenbin also tried his best to resettle some farmers who were displaced from their fields, so he was very popular among the officials and people of Yuncheng County.
Love.
When Shi Wenbin heard that the thieves who robbed the grand master's birthday card were actually under his rule, he quickly ordered the county lieutenant to go to Dongxi Village with two top-notch policemen and a hundred soldiers to catch the person.
They both have heads. One has the same surname and given name. He is eight feet forty-five feet long and has a tiger beard one foot and five inches long. His face is as heavy as jujubes, his eyes are bright as stars, and he looks like Guan Yun. People all over the county call him Beautiful Beard.
male.
The other one is named Lei Heng, who is seven feet five inches tall, has a purple-tang complexion, and has a beard with a fan ring. He is very strong and can jump over a three to two foot wide stream, so people all over the county call him the Winged Tiger.
He was born as a blacksmith in the county. Later he opened a mill house and killed cattle for gambling. Although he was righteous, he was only a little narrow-minded.
Both of them had learned martial arts well, so the squire in the county recommended them to be the police chiefs.
When Yuncheng County officials arrived at Dongxi Village, they did not expect that Chao Gai and his gang had disappeared, so they had to capture a group of neighbors and return to the Yamen for official duties.
Shi Wenbin was a rare parent who did not arrest people randomly just because it was the Grand Master's business. After careful interrogation, He Tao was asked to take the two Chao Gai villagers who did not want to live in poverty back to Jeju.
The rest of the innocent neighbors were released.
He Tao brought the two villagers back to Jezhou and forced them to confess. He learned that Chao Gai and his group had gone to Shijie Village to look for the three men of the Ruan family, and that they could match Bai Sheng's confession.
Shijie Village is close to Liangshan. He Tao was afraid of encountering Liangshan thieves, so he asked the prefect of Jeju to hire a bandit patrol officer and a commanding army.
Just as the army was about to come to Shijie Village, Yuncheng County reported that Liangshan troops had looted Dongma Village and killed all Baozheng and his family in Dongma Village. Most of the people in the village were coerced and sent up the mountain.
The leader was none other than Chao Yong, the son of Chao Gai, who was responsible for the robbery. Chao Gai again raised the banner of upholding justice for heaven in Liangshan and recruited troops everywhere.
He Tao learned that Chao Gai had gone to Liangshan, so he dared not take hundreds of people to capture him, so he had to report to Mingzhizhou again.
It was related to Cai Jing's birthday, and the prefect did not dare to shirk it. He also ordered Huang An, the commander of the prefecture's capital, and two other commanders to go to Liangshan to capture Chao Gai and others within a certain date.
After Liangshan's troops returned from Dongma Village, before the news spread, they visited several large houses that were harmful to the people in a radius of a hundred miles for several days, earning countless amounts of money and food.
Although there were crowds gathering in two places to resist, there were not many casualties as Lin Chong and other leaders took the lead.
After doing several very satisfying things, Liangshan's reputation for upholding justice gradually spread throughout the countryside. Every day, farmers from nearby villages whose fields had been expropriated came up the mountain to join the army.
On this day, all the leaders were discussing matters in the Juyi Hall. They saw a young man coming up the mountain and saying: "Jeju Prefecture sent officers, leading about a thousand men and horses, and riding four to five hundred large and small boats. I saw them on the stone
I live in Hudang in Jie Village and came here to report the news."
Chao Gai smiled and said: "After waiting for so many days, the officers and soldiers have finally arrived. These days, Liangshan has nearly two thousand men and horses, but there are not enough weapons. Their arrival has solved an urgent need. Can the leaders have a plan to make the officers and soldiers go alone?"
Can't we escape? Only in this way can I show my reputation in Liangshan."
Wu Yong shook his feather fan and said with a smile: "This matter is simple. Let the three men of the Ruan family hide in the reed swamps first. When the officers and soldiers get to the golden beach, we will send them to a pass. When they are far away from the water, Ruan
The brothers then led people to take away their boats. The large group of people then went through the gate and killed them, even if no one of them could escape."
Chao Yong said again: "There are few horses in the village. When they come to attack, the horses will be in Shijie Village. The three men of the Ruan family can go and fetch them in one group."
Chao Gai said with a smile: "There are a group of brothers here who are like wolves and tigers. The officers and soldiers are just chickens and dogs. Everyone listened to the order. Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaowu hid in the reeds. After the officers and soldiers went up the mountain, they robbed the officers and soldiers' boats.
, cut off their retreat, Ruan Xiaoqi led people to Shijie Village to get their horses. The rest of the leaders followed me to the stronghold to defeat the enemy."
Let's talk about the Jeju capital commander Huang An and the thief-catching inspection team of the government led the three command troops to Shijie Village. It took two days to requisition more than a hundred large and small boats in villages near and far. Then they led the people to get on the boats and waved flags to accept them.
Shouting, come to the golden beach.
The village, which was originally filled with the crowing of cocks and the barking of dogs, was filled with chicken feathers after the officers and soldiers left, and they were moaning incessantly.
Although his men captured a lot of poultry from the village to show their respect, Huang An was used to the skills of chefs in restaurants in the city, so how could he get used to the village food. So as soon as he gathered enough ships, Huang An ordered his troops and horses to kill Liangshan.
Looking at the maze-like waterways in Shijie Lake, the Jeju officers and soldiers who came to Liangshan Water Lake for the first time were immediately disoriented.
After finally getting out of Shijie Lake, we arrived at Liangshan Water Park, only to find that there were reeds as tall as one person everywhere and the roads were complicated.
Although Huang An served in Jeju, there were bandits hiding in the rivers of Liangshan, but because Liangshan had a complicated terrain and was located at the junction of several state capitals, the states were passing the blame to each other and no one came to suppress the bandits.
Therefore, Huang An never came to Liangshan Shuibo, but he had heard many times that bandits were rampant in Liangshan and often went out to robber.
After entering the reed marsh, there are reeds as tall as a person on both sides. What is behind the reeds is completely invisible.
After walking not far, I heard a sudden sound in the reeds.
An officer and soldier shouted: "Be careful, someone is shooting arrows."
Huang An was so frightened that he fell on the boat and grabbed a soldier in his hand to block him.
"Plop"
"Plop"
There was little space for hiding on the boat, and the officers and soldiers behind were pushing and shoving to hide under others. Those who knew how to swim did not hesitate to jump into the water and hide under the boat.
The fishermen who were forced by the officers and soldiers to drive the boat looked at the officers and soldiers in a mess, suppressed a smile and said: "Sir, it's just a group of egrets."
When Huang An was frightened, he dared to raise his head and saw a group of egrets flying in the sky. Then he angrily let go of the soldiers he was holding.
The soldier who was caught by Huang An to block the arrow just now was so frightened that he almost kicked Huang An into the water. Fortunately, the fisherman warned him and stopped. After Huang An let go, he quietly moved a few steps away.
This will save you from being caught trying to block an arrow later.
Huang An was sweating on his forehead when he looked at the officers and soldiers in a mess.
This trip nominally brought the troops of the Third Command Troop, which should have numbered 1,500 people. However, in fact, excluding the quota of people who were paid on weekdays, the Troop of the Third Commander's Troop did not even have a thousand soldiers, and many of them were old and weak.
I heard that Liangshan was recruiting more than a thousand troops these days. Fortunately, it was not long. Huang An concluded that Liangshan was short of troops and weapons, otherwise Huang An would not have dared to attack Liangshan with such a small number of troops.
However, looking at the endless reed marsh at this time, Huang An was also a little timid. If Liangshan did not confront them with open swords and guns, but just hid in the reed marsh and made a sneak attack, it would be hard to say whether they would win or lose.
Huang An glanced at the officers and soldiers behind him, thought for a while and said: "Wang Nan, you lead people to explore the road ahead, lest the army be ambushed by grass bandits."
Those who were hit were immediately frightened and their faces turned pale. They just looked at Huang An and did not dare to disobey the military order. They had to beat and scold the soldiers who jumped into the water to pull them up and move forward cautiously.
There were some disturbances along the way, and the officers and soldiers were in a panic. Fortunately, there were no dangers along the way, and there was no surprise attack by the Liangshan troops.
Turning out of the reed swamp and looking at the unobstructed view of the lake and the golden beach just around the corner, Huang Anxin felt relieved and said with a smile: "They are just grass bandits who don't know the art of war. Let's leave this place unused and let us march straight in.
When we arrived at Jinshatan Beach, all the soldiers listened and said, "If you kill a bandit, you will be rewarded a thousand guan. If you catch the bandit leader Chao Gai, you will be rewarded 1,000 guan."
When all the officers and soldiers heard that Chao Gai had rewarded him with a thousand guan, they immediately put aside their earlier timid attitude and rushed to the golden beach following Huang An. The officers and soldiers of Yidu who were left guarding the ship by Huang An secretly cried out that they were unlucky.
The thatched houses built on the golden beach had all been demolished at this time. Huang An lined up on the golden beach and rushed towards the mountain without stopping.