Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 285: Peach Blossom Mountain Wu Yong Presents Armor
Zhao Zhen heard what Du Xing said and replied, "I have heard Brother Shi Xiu talk about this man before. Brother Shi Xiu praised him so highly. I think he is a good man. Brother Shi Xiu, please don't refuse. How about going to Jizhou in a while?"

Du Xing said, "That's what I wish for. I am now a deputy headman in the county, which is considered to be a good career. I would like to thank you, but I can't guarantee whether the recruitment will be successful or not."

Zhao Zhen said, "That's fine. I'm going to the north to buy some horses, and I have a brother to go with you. Visiting Yang Xiong is just a side trip. If brother Yang Xiong is happy, it's okay for him to stay there."

The few of them chatted for a while, and Zhao Zhen said, "Brother Du Xing must have had a hard time on the road, so go home early and rest. I will host a banquet for you two brothers next time you come back."

After hearing what Zhao Zhen said, the two of them hurried home.

Zhao Zhen then said to Zhu Wu: "Brother, since the scholar is not here, please pay more attention to the army."

Zhu Wu said, "Don't worry, sir. There is no commander in Jingyang Town right now, so there is no need for me to go to Dulonggang to assist in military affairs. I am planning to go to Wanzi City in the next few days to watch Coach Zhang train the new soldiers."

But Wu Yong brought two brave men, Shi Qian and Wang Dingliu, and more than twenty elite soldiers, riding on fast horses, and each leading a pack horse, to conceal themselves. They arrived at the border of Qingzhou with more than a hundred broadswords and ten sets of leather armor, and went straight to Taohua Mountain.

The journey lasted more than a day. When Wu Yong and his companions arrived at the foot of Taohua Mountain, they found that some ambushed minions had already arrived at the mountain to report their whereabouts.

As he was looking around, he saw the sound of gongs and drums on the hill ahead, and three to five hundred minions flashed out from the hillside, followed by two brave men, each holding a weapon in hand, and shouted loudly: "Where did you come from, you bastards? Leave some money if you know how to deal with it."

Shi Qian rode forward and bowed, saying, "Are you the [Tiger Fighting General] Li Zhong and the [Little Overlord] Zhou Tong in front of me?"

Li Zhong stepped forward and said, "It is us two. I wonder who you are from the underworld?"

Shi Qian said, "We are under the command of the great official Zhao Zhen of Liangshan County. Previously, you two gave us a piece of thousand-year-old peach wood. Now, on the orders of the great official, we are sending some armor and weapons to the two heroes to enhance their prestige."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhong and Zhou Tong rolled off their saddles, dropped their weapons, and stepped forward to fight with Wu Yong and others.

After the greeting, Li Zhong said, "I didn't expect that it was the military advisor who was here in person. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar."

As they spoke, Li Zhong and Zhou Tong led Wu Yong and his party up the mountain, slaughtered cattle and sheep, and arranged a banquet to entertain Wu Yong and his party.

At the banquet, the two men thanked Zhao Zhen again. Li Zhong said, "Captain Li Yun came to recruit us before, but we refused his kindness due to our casual personalities. Unexpectedly, he did not take it seriously and still took us to heart. When we return to the county, please express our deep gratitude to him for his kindness."

Wu Yong said: "What's the big deal? The great master is very generous and charitable. Although we can't get together, we still want to get to know each other. This time I came to Taohua Mountain to give you two brothers some weapons and armor, and I also have something to tell you two brothers."

Zhou Tongdao said: "Why do you need the military advisor to come here in person? Send someone to send a letter here."

Wu Yong said, "This matter is extraordinary, so it is better to talk about it in person. In the past few days, a team of imperial guards has been transferred to Qingzhou, led by a man called Yun Tianbiao. This man is very skilled in martial arts, and he has 500 machete fighters. The great official thought that this man came here to wipe out all the strongholds, so he asked me to tell the brothers to be careful and alert. If the brothers have contact with other strongholds, you can also go and inform them."

Zhou Tongdao said, "He is alone, how dare he come to wipe us out? Even the military commander Qin Ming doesn't dare to come to the mountains to capture us. Besides, there are mountains everywhere here, and the food and grass in the village are enough for one or two years. We can guard the village without fear of his attack."

Li Zhong said, "Brother, since the great master has come to report, we will just go to each village and tell them. Military Advisor, I wonder what level of martial arts Yun Tianbiao is at?" Wu Yong was afraid that the two would slack off, so he said, "Brother Lu Zhishen has seen him use weapons from a distance, and his martial arts are really good. He uses a 81-jin Qinglong Yanyue steel knife and rides a Dawan white horse, with a dignified appearance. It's just that he doesn't get along with our great master and is no match for him, so he took the way of General Tong Guan and came to Qingzhou to suppress the bandits. After all, this matter is because of the great master. Thinking that the two brothers are also righteous men, I came to report to you."

Sure enough, after hearing what Wu Yong said, Li Zhong and Zhou Tong said seriously, "Thank you for your concern, sir. We will be very careful these days."

As the five of them drank and chatted, they talked about their own affairs. After a night's rest, on the second day, Li Zhong sent two teams to Qingfeng Mountain and Baihu Mountain, and Wu Yong also sent Shi Qian and Wang Dingliu to follow them separately.

After the two teams left, Wu Yong asked, "I've heard there's a Qingzhen Mountain here, why don't you go and tell them?"

Zhou Tong said angrily, "Military advisor, you don't know that Qingzhen Mountain is the largest place in Qingzhou. Ma Yuan and the other six people have occupied it and gathered many people and horses. They claim to have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. Not only do they rob houses, but they also don't have any sense of justice. Even small people like us are bullied by them."

Wu Yong said: "We are all heroes, why do we have to do this? Since Qing Zhenshan is so shameless, let's just ignore him."

Li Zhong and Zhou Tong were afraid that Wu Yong would be bored on the mountain, so they led him to see the scenery around the mountain.

After walking for a while, Wu Yong secretly said in his heart: This is indeed a Peach Blossom Mountain, it is strange and dangerous on all sides, there is only one road leading up, and there are overgrown weeds all around.

At night, Shi Qian and Wang Dingliu followed the Taohua Mountain minions back to the mountain and told Wu Yong about the situation of the two mountain strongholds.

Shi Qian went to Qingfeng Mountain and met the village leader Yan Shun. Yan Shun heard that Shi Qian was under the command of Zhao Zhen, the Little Mengchang of Liangshan County, and asked him a few more questions, with a hint of intimacy in his words.

After hearing this, Shi Qian quickly spoke of Zhao Zhen's merits. He said that there were many brave men in the county, and he was very happy to see them training soldiers and competing with each other with spears and sticks every day.

After hearing this, Yan Shun made up his mind to surrender to Zhao Zhen with his entire camp. Shi Qian comforted him, "Don't worry, brother. There are two more brothers coming this time. Wang Dingliu has gone to Baihu Mountain, and Wu Yong, the military advisor, is still in Taohua Mountain. I will go back and report, and ask the military advisor to talk to you in detail. With so many people, crossing states and prefectures, this is no small matter."

Yan Shun heard this and said to Shi Qian, "Brother, please wait here. Please ask the military advisor to come here quickly to discuss this matter."

After that, he invited Shi Qian to drink three cups of wine, and rewarded the Taohua Mountain minions who were waiting outside the courtyard. He then escorted everyone down Qingfeng Mountain.

Besides, Kong Ming and Kong Liang from Baihu Mountain also saw Wang Dingliu and his gang. After reading Li Zhong's letter, they did not take it seriously. They also saw that Wang Dingliu was small and thin and did not look like a brave man, so they sent Wang Dingliu and his gang down the mountain.

The two brothers said, "We have heard rumors that [Little Mengchang] Zhao Zhen has a great reputation, so we don't want to recruit such a small warrior. I'm afraid he has no martial arts skills. Since Yun Tianbiao is no match for Liangshan County, I don't think he is that powerful either."

Wang Dingliu was a meticulous person, so he could see that Kong Ming and Kong Liang were not serious about their work. He was worried about his work not being done well.

As they were walking, a big man flashed out from the forest and shouted, "I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to pass through here, you have to leave money. If you know what's good for you, leave money quickly, or you will lose your life."

(End of this chapter)