Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 305 Departure
Zhao Zhen never thought that with a casual move, he would actually find a good man, whose martial arts skills were not much worse than those of the three Ruan brothers.

In March, Tian Gang summoned Yang Xiong from the north. Zhao Zhen was disappointed when he saw the news. After all, Zhao Zhen planned to send someone to the north to buy horses in a few days. With Yang Xiong's care, things would go more smoothly.

The next day, Zhao Zhen had breakfast early, and with the help of Hu Sanniang, he put on the willow-leaf bamboo armor, held a reed-leaf spear in his hand, and hung two iron-studded silver swords with seawater patterns on his waist.

While Hu Sanniang was putting armor on Zhao Zhen, she said, "Sir, please be careful when you go into battle. It's a pity that I can't swim, otherwise, I would always be by your side."

Zhao Zhen was at level 2, level 2, so he was no match for level 3 Hu Sanniang. After hearing this, he did not argue, but said, "When we built this manor, we deliberately diverted water from the valley. I asked Brother Tao Zongwang to build a fence in the valley, so you sisters can go there to play in the water in summer. I heard from Ruan Xiaoer that his wife is also a good swimmer, so you can ask her to teach you how to swim, but now she is pregnant, so I'm afraid it's not convenient."

Hu Sanniang said, "It's not a big deal. There are many fishermen's daughters in the county, and many of them want to come back to the water. I'll ask Sister-in-law Ruan to help ask."

Zhao Zhen nodded. He dressed neatly and rode to the back gate water fort under the protection of Yu Baosi, Jiao Ting, Zhang Qi and seven or eight other sumo guards.

In the water fort, Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi each led a team to gather 70 to 80 warships of various sizes. The heavy front commanders led by [Sangmengshen] Bao Xu and [Sai Mengben] Yan Shude took off their armor and boarded the ships.

Zhao Zhen used the warships as the lead ships. After three drum beats, the small boats went ahead, and the rest of the ships followed in order, heading for Shijie Lake.

When they reached the border of the fog, Zhao Zhen offered sacrifices to heaven and earth on the boat, burning paper and incense. The fog dissipated, and the two lakes were connected. When Ruan Xiaoer saw this, he ordered his men to wave the big red flag on the boat, and warships of all sizes poured into Shijie Lake.

After entering the lake, Ruan Xiaoer said, "Sir, Shijie Lake is not like Liangshan Lake. This place is vast and boundless, with reeds and water ports, many harbors and branches, and complicated paths. In addition, there are ponds and swamps, and many places are not suitable for large ships. We need to divide our forces here."

Wu Yong said: "Your brother is familiar with the geography here, so please tell us how to divide the troops."

Ruan Xiaoer said, "The boats are small and shallow, so they can sail anywhere in the reed marsh. Let Wulang and Qilang take the boats and take the shortcut first. If we meet the neighbors, we can find out about the current situation of Shijie Village. As for the remaining large boats, I will take them and sail in the deep water."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said, "What you said makes sense, brother." He immediately adjusted the fleet. Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, and Ouyang Shoutong, along with a group of navy soldiers, sailed their boats into the reed marsh.

Zhao Zhen and his companions also rowed their large boats to the other side. After about half an hour, they saw a small boat approaching from a distance, and Ruan Xiaoqi was standing on the bow. Soon, the boat came to the side of Zhao Zhen's boat, and Ruan Xiaoqi climbed up along the rope that was dropped.

After greeting, Ruan Xiaoqi said, "Sir, I have investigated the situation. The government troops that came here to catch thieves have already left. Only more than 20 soldiers are left to protect a few fishmongers to collect fish. These corrupt officials are shortchanging us, and the fish we catch every day, after paying the boat tax, is not enough for a family to eat."

"These people knew that what they did was hated by the people and the gods, and they were not loved by the villagers. So they occupied the old house of the second brother, cleaned it up, and collected fish there. They did not dare to stay in the village at night, but occupied the residence of the fifth brother in the lake and rebuilt the house."

After hearing this, Ruan Xiaoer said angrily, "We are going to get rid of these worms today."

Wu Yong also asked, "Have you been to the village, brother?"

Ruan Xiaoqi shook his head and said, "I met a few fishing neighbors, asked them some questions, and then came to report. My brothers and I should not show up in the village to avoid alerting the enemy. Brother Ouyang Shoutong led people to sneak into the village."

Soon, Ouyang Shoutong and Ruan Xiaowu led their people back here, accompanied by more than 30 large and small fishing boats, all of which were fishermen from Shijie Village. Today, when they were fishing, they met Ruan Xiaowu and others, and in order to prevent the news from leaking out, they brought them all here. When these fishermen heard that they were going to get rid of the thugs and soldiers who were harming the people, they did not resist and rushed to be the guide.

Ouyang Shoutong told the villagers what he had heard, and the fishermen said the same thing.

Wu Yong said, "If it's just these people, there's no need for any strategy. Brother Ruan Xiaoqi will take his men to occupy the old residence of Ruan Xiaowu in the lake and capture the soldiers who stayed behind. Then send a few fishermen to report that they encountered the Ruan brothers sneaking back from the lake and were fighting against the government troops at Xiaowu's old residence in the lake, so as to lure the soldiers to capture them. Brother Ouyang will take his men to capture the soldiers and escorts who are left in the village, and don't let any of them escape."

At that moment, everyone acted according to the plan.

Ruan Xiaoqi led seven or eight boats and rushed into Ruan Xiaowu's old residence. The dozen soldiers in the house had long been slack, and had never expected that someone would attack the island. They were not prepared at all and were captured without even a decent resistance. They stripped these people of their clothes and escorted them to the cabin for guarding. They asked several soldiers of similar stature to change their clothes and pretend to be officers and soldiers to confront Ruan Xiaoqi and others.

Then Ruan Xiaoqi picked two familiar fishermen to go and tell them the news. When the leader of the fishing team heard that they had surrounded the Ruan brothers, he immediately called the men and drove away. After the soldiers left, Ouyang Shoutong led seven or eight soldiers disguised as fishermen to carry two baskets of fish caught from the fishing boat into the thatched house, waited for the fishmongers to come and weigh the fish, and tied up the four fishmongers in the house.

I asked a fisherman who came with me to identify it, and found that all four teeth were there.

The captain of the garrison saw from afar that 20 to 30 people on Gaobu were divided into two groups and fighting. It seemed that they had surrounded Ruan Xiaoqi and his gang. He immediately shouted, "Hurry up and row hard. If we catch these fugitives and make a contribution, we can be transferred out of this poor village."

The soldiers on the boat started to make noises and rowed harder. Some captains and sergeants stood at the bow and shouted, "Surround these bandits and don't let them get away."

When they reached the shore, without waiting for the boat to stop, a group of soldiers rushed to the shore, drew their swords and guns, and rushed towards Ruan Xiaoqi and others. At the first sight, Ruan Xiaoqi raised his fork and killed two people in a row. The soldiers also rushed forward, and before these soldiers could figure out the situation, the swords and guns were already on their necks.

Someone was sent to notify Zhao Zhen and others who were waiting on the big ship to sail over and count the people. Except for the two people killed by Ruan Xiaoqi, all of them were here.

Zhao Zhen said, "As agreed, we will sail to Shijie Village, and then ask the heavy troops to put on their armor and go to the village to deter others."

Everyone followed the order. The three Ruan brothers and the fishermen who had left at the beginning were all dressed neatly, with their heads held high, and walked around the village, looking like they were returning home in glory.

When the villagers saw the three Ruan brothers, they cheered loudly when they heard that they were now the captains of the Liangshan County navy and had returned to their hometown except for the greedy Yuyazi, and would reside in Shijie Village from now on.

Because of the fog, the imperial power did not reach the countryside. Although these villages far away from the county town had their own affiliations, the taxes were not sent to the court. Instead, the county magistrates and prefects used them as public money, and some even put them into their own pockets.

Therefore, the imperial court did not care which county government the village belonged to. This was also the strategy set by Wu Yong and Zhu Wu, to occupy more villages and leave the county seat alone. As long as the imperial army was not attracted, the county government's imperial guards would never be a match for Liangshan County.

After a show of force, Ruan Xiaoer led the village head Ruan Dian to see Zhao Zhen. Ruan Xiaoer said that Ruan Dian was actually a distant uncle of Zhao Zhen. When he saw Zhao Zhen, Ruan Dian fell to the ground and said, "Thank you very much, sir, for getting rid of a threat for us. From now on, everyone in Shijie Village will follow your lead. I wonder how many soldiers you have left to guard the village?"

As he said this, he looked at Zhao Zhen carefully, but he was worried that Zhao Zhen had few people left here, and Shijie Village was taken back by the soldiers of Jizhou Prefecture. At that time, I am afraid that a reckoning will be inevitable.

Zhao Zhen had someone help Ruan Dian up and said, "Don't worry, Village Chief. From now on, Brother Ruan Xiaowu will lead a whole army to garrison here, with thirty to fifty warships of various sizes, and recruit fifty to seventy people from the village. How about that, to make up a total of 400 people?"

Ruan Dian heard this and said with a smile: "In this case, we are relieved. With so many soldiers, we are not afraid of the Jeju Prefecture coming to seize us. Wu Lang and many soldiers are from the same village, so we are naturally willing to submit to you, sir."

As he spoke, Ruan Dian took out a village history book from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Zhen.

world log
In April, the entire Shijie Lake was occupied, and the entire Shijie Village surrendered, and the luck increased by +10.

Zhao Zhen encouraged Ruan Dian for a few words, and then sent Ruan Dian out of Ruan Xiaoer's old residence. Zhao Zhen flipped through the village history in his hand. There were 533 households in Shijie Village, distributed inside and outside Shijie Lake, and seven or eight settlements of various sizes. Every household had a fishing boat, and in addition to fishing and shrimping, each family also had three to five acres of fields and vegetable gardens.

After reviewing it, Zhao Zhen discussed with Wu Yong that it was still necessary to redefine the acreage and register it. Two people were selected from the county officials to serve as deputy village heads to supervise the village. Second, they also had to repurchase the fish caught by the fishermen.

The plan was decided, and Ruan Xiaowu and his deputy Ouyang Shoutong were asked to lead 250 people from Haiqiudu to move to Shijie Lake. After Zhao Zhen returned, he asked Tao Zongwang to bring people over to renovate Ruan Xiaowu's old residence in the lake into a water fortress, and soldiers were stationed in the lake to guard against people from Jizhou Prefecture. If there were few people, they would fight, and if there were many people, they would defend, waiting for reinforcements from the army.

After that, Zhao Zhen did not stop, but took the captives and the catch and sailed back to Baishizhuang Water Village. The next day, Xiao Rang took people to Shijie Village to measure the land and count the household registration.

(End of this chapter)