All those who come to Liangshan are brothers.

Song Jiang was secretly amazed that Wang Lun had such an experience. He figured Wang Lun wouldn't dare to lie to him, but this guy was still too cowardly!

Pei Xuan, the iron-faced clerk, was an interesting man. Song Jiang smiled.

After sending Wang Lun away, Liu Tang led the soldiers back to the open space, leaving only Song Jiang, Chao Gai, and Wu Yong on Jinshatan!

"Brother, the population of Liangshan is much larger than before, and we are running out of food!" Wu Yong said worriedly. Based on the previous population, apart from the food from Lai Wu's family and the batch of food sent by Chao Gai, Liangshan could have enough to eat for several months. But now there are eight or nine hundred more people, and we are afraid that it will only last for a month at most!

Chao Gai laughed and said, "There's no need to worry about the grain. Those several hundred bushels of grain should already be on their way and arrive at Liangshan today! I'll send another hundred bushels of grain up the mountain in two days!"

Chao Gai was so generous, but this was not what Song Jiang wanted to see. Even with Chao Gai's vast wealth, he couldn't afford to spend so much. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He needed to find a way to make money, otherwise he and Chao Gai would eventually run out of money. Moreover, if someone with ulterior motives saw Chao Gai frequently sending grain to Liangshan, it would be extremely disadvantageous for him!

But making money can't be rushed. He has ideas, but there's a shortage of craftsmen, which is unavoidable.

As for robbing merchants? Song Jiang never even considered it. He wasn't a bandit. Whether the merchants were rich or poor, they had earned their money themselves, so there was no need to rob them! But corrupt officials were a different story!

Putting aside his troubled thoughts, Song Jiang said, "I'll trouble you with the food for now, brother. With so many people, we need to redistribute them!"

The three discussed the details carefully and then went to the open space! Compared to before, there were many more people in the open space. The Liangshan rookies stood on the left with excited expressions, while Chao Gai's eighty servants, Song Jiang's twenty servants, and a group of villagers from Xixi Village stood on the right. As for Wang Lun's group, one group had already taken hoes to clear wasteland and plant crops, while the other group had taken axes to cut down trees and dig stones!

Seeing the rookies standing tall and proud, full of vigor, Song Jiang nodded. Finally, they were starting to look like a proper army!

Seeing the rookies' excitement, he said loudly, "You all did very well today! I'm very pleased to see your growth! Your courage and fighting spirit in the face of the enemy tell me that the training I've given you these past few days has not been in vain! You are all granted a day off tomorrow!"

Upon hearing that they could rest for a day tomorrow, the newbies cheered. They get up early and go to bed late every day, so it's impossible not to be tired. They also have to spend two hours a day reading and writing, which is fulfilling but also boring!

Seeing the newbies' happy expressions, Song Jiang said, "You can't skip the two hours of study tomorrow, and you must continue your morning run!"

A chorus of groans erupted, and Song Jiang smiled smugly, continuing, "The day after tomorrow, your training intensity will increase, and we'll add some new training exercises!"

The wails below grew even louder. Song Jiang laughed and said, "Tonight, to celebrate our Liangshan's first victory and to welcome many new brothers and sisters to our Liangshan family, we'll have a bonfire party. Everyone needs to pitch in and help!"

Seeing that everyone, including Chao Gai and Wu Yong, looked completely bewildered, Song Jiang knew they probably hadn't heard of the term "bonfire party," so he explained, "It means we'll light a fire, and everyone will gather around it to drink and eat meat. You can sing and dance, and you can tell your stories. In short, from this afternoon to tonight, you're all free! No training, and no studying or writing!"

Everyone was overjoyed and shouted, "Long live the captain! Long live the captain!"

Seeing how easily satisfied these newbies were, Song Jiang was quite pleased. Sometimes, the simpler a person is, the better. If one's mind is too complicated, one's thoughts tend to be numerous, and dealing with them becomes tiring!

He smiled and said, "You all rest for a bit. When the grain, pigs, and sheep sent by King Chao arrive, you all go and help carry them over. Today, we'll slaughter pigs and sheep and have a good feast! Erlang, you take the brothers who are good at swimming to the lake and catch plenty of soft-shelled turtles, shrimps, and crabs to go with our drinks!"

Ruan Xiaoer clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "I'm sure you'll be satisfied with your meal today, brother!"

After saying that, he shouted, "Brothers, come with me!"

Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi, along with the only forty-two Liangshan naval soldiers, hurriedly followed Ruan Xiaoer towards Jinshatan!

Song Jiang gestured for the remaining rookies to quiet down and sit down to rest!

Knowing that Song Jiang had more to say, everyone quickly quieted down. Song Jiang looked at the villagers of Xixi Village and smiled, "Fellow villagers, now that you've joined my Liangshan, you're family. I, Song Jiang, thank you for your trust in me, and I believe that with you all, Liangshan will only get better and better!"

If people of later generations heard these words, they would only scoff at them. Only a fool would believe such hypocritical and bureaucratic talk!

But in ancient times, these villagers were surprisingly receptive to this approach! Although many of them were illiterate and illiterate, they could understand the meaning behind the words. Although Song Jiang's words were different from what they had heard before, so what? In the past, the village head only thought of exploiting them, but now Song Jiang could say such things, which moved them to tears of gratitude. They wished they could kneel down and kowtow to Song Jiang immediately!

Liu Zhi stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Clerk, thank you and the village head for your righteous help and for taking us in! But we have a large population, and it would be unreasonable for us to just eat every day without doing anything!" These words were first taught to Liu Zhi by Song Jiang, and then Liu Zhi brought them up in front of everyone!

Before Wang Lun joined Liangshan, Song Jiang, Chao Gai, Wu Yong, and Liu Zhi had a good discussion about how to settle the villagers of Xixi Village!

Song Jiang's idea was not to care about the number of people. Anyone willing to join the Liangshan army as a rookie could join, but standards for physical fitness and age should still be set. Those who were not willing could do other things. Those with special skills or talents would be even better and would be given priority!

There's not much else to Liangshan, but there's an unusually large amount of work going on, with vast tracts of land uncultivated and left untouched for planting rice.

Repairing houses and moving stones and timber all require manpower. Raising pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese also requires professionals; otherwise, we can't always rely on Chao Gai! Self-sufficiency, driving productivity, is the only way for Liangshan to prosper!

If Song Jiang relied solely on Wang Lun's surrendered soldiers, who were mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled, there would be very little they could do. Among the villagers of Xixi Village were dozens of teenagers, and Song Jiang wouldn't expect them to do anything either!

There's a saying that half-grown boys can eat their fathers out of house and home. These kids are at the age when they're growing and have huge appetites, but they can't do much. For Song Jiang, that's what it means to support them!

As for them, they should study diligently. If they dare not study hard, they will go hungry!

I don't expect you to be talented, but you must work hard and be serious!

As for the others, they can only work. Unless you're over sixty-five, in which case Song Jiang might support you, you'd better work diligently. As long as you're hardworking, you definitely won't go hungry. As for making money, there won't be much in the early stages. After all, Liangshan's main focus right now is training soldiers, buying grain and horses, and forging armor and weapons. All of these expenses cost a lot of money, so there's really not much left for them! They certainly won't be allowed to freeload! It's fine to support them for a day or two, but in the long run, they'll inevitably become lazy and unwilling to work!

Every day, a fixed amount of work must be allocated according to gender and age. Those who exceed the quota will receive extra food as a reward to prevent anyone from slacking off. It's not that Song Jiang doesn't trust them and forces them to do a fixed amount of work, but when everyone receives the same amount of food regardless of how much they do, the labor efficiency and production efficiency will only decrease. He has a vivid memory of the lessons learned from the "iron rice bowl" system!

Many aspects are still not perfect, and we can only adjust and formulate rules gradually. For now, this is the best we can do!

The land would be cultivated by the villagers, and after cultivation, Liangshan would be responsible for allocating it. After seven years of continuous cultivation, the villagers could purchase the land with grain, making it their own. However, they would have to hand over 30% of their grain each year, and the rest would be theirs. Liangshan could purchase more land from them if needed. This can be considered a borrowing from the land contract system of later generations! Of course, Song Jiang did not plan to implement this for the time being. He would wait until Liangshan expanded its scale further. This was just his initial idea!

After all, only when ordinary people have land can they feel at ease, have security, and have a sense of belonging deep in their hearts!

Liu Zhi's attitude represented that of all the villagers of Xixi Village. Song Jiang looked at the pale-faced villagers and laughed, "Alright, since everyone is so eager, let's have a good meal today, and start working tomorrow. Those who know how to farm can go to the east to cultivate fertile fields. Those who are strong can help the craftsmen repair houses and move stones and timber. You will all have three meals a day, and those who are capable will be given more work. Any extra food can be taken to your family or stored for yourselves! If anyone has any other skills, such as carpentry, blacksmithing, shipbuilding, leatherworking... you can also tell Professor Wu directly. Liangshan is currently short of skilled workers, and the pay will be satisfactory."

Song Jiang's words made the group's eyes light up; they had hit the nail on the head. Some of the people with other skills wanted to stand up on the spot!

Song Jiang waved his hand, signaling them to calm down, then paused and continued, "See those people over there?"

They knew that the Liangshan army had defeated the foreign enemies, and they were all envious. However, since they were newcomers, they didn't dare to ask. But when Song Jiang brought it up, they all stared at him with wide eyes!

Song Jiang said solemnly, "War is a matter of vital importance to the state; it is a matter of life and death, a road to survival or destruction. It is imperative to consider it carefully. If you do not have the corresponding strength to protect you, what will happen if you encounter someone even more ruthless and cunning than that villain Liu Zhi?"

They knew this principle without Song Jiang saying it, and these people seemed to be doing actions they had never done before! But it has to be said, how should I put it? Yes, they were very synchronized. So many people were moving as if it were done by one person, their movements were completely identical, with no one moving faster or slower than the other!

More importantly, these people have better food! Much better than them. Every meal is either fish or meat, and they can eat their fill. They don't seem to have to do any labor; they just do these kinds of tasks every day! And those tasks don't look that difficult!

Of course, most importantly, these people had resolute expressions on their faces, and each of them was full of positivity and seemed to be full of hope for the future. This was something I had never seen on their faces before, and perhaps it is hard to see in other places either!

Thinking about this, they were filled with anticipation for the future!

"Those who join the Liangshan rookie army will receive eight qian of silver per month, three meals a day, and will train just like them every day!" Song Jiang announced the treatment for joining the Liangshan army. Of course, not just anyone could join. First, one had to be between sixteen and twenty-eight years old, which was a hard requirement. Next, there was a physical fitness test. Those who did not meet the requirements could only join the reserves first. They still had to work every day, but could train on their own when they had time. They would be tested again when they passed the physical fitness test!

The treatment was really good, and some people immediately asked to join the Liangshan army. The next day, Song Jiang and the others went to Liu Tang and the three Ruan brothers for assessment, while the rest of the laborers went to Wu Yong.

The assessment wasn't too difficult. There was a physical fitness test, which was running. You had to run five kilometers in the time it takes to burn an incense stick to pass. Then there was an endurance test, where you had to stand at attention for half an hour without moving. Next was a strength test, where you had to swing a broadsword forward twenty times, each swing requiring full force. If you passed all of them, you would be accepted!

As for accommodation, there are limited houses available right now, so it's impossible for each family to live in a separate room. The men have to live together and the women have to live together, with twenty or thirty people in each room. Even so, all the houses are still full!

As for Wang Lun and the others, they can forget about having a house to live in. They should just obediently use the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed!

The craftsmen built houses every day, and even so, the sudden increase of several hundred people was unexpected!

Everything had been announced, and Song Jiang told them to go about their own business. However, he still had an important matter to attend to: he hadn't met Xiao Rang and Jin Dajian yet!

"Brother, allow me to introduce you. This is the renowned scholar Xiao Rang!" Wu Yong pointed to a man who looked like a scholar and introduced him. Song Jiang looked at Xiao Rang; he was a scholar with a refined demeanor, wearing a light yellow robe.

"This is the jade-armed craftsman Jin Dajian!" Wu Yong pointed to another person and said. Compared to Xiao Rang, this person had less of the scholar's temperament, but more of a heroic spirit. He wore a short shirt, his arms were very thick, and his ten fingers were covered with calluses!

Both men were old friends of Wu Xuejiu and were quite familiar with him, which is why Liu Tang was able to invite them up the mountain so easily!

Previously, Liu Tang was ordered to invite the two to Liangshan to join the righteous cause. Song Jiang had originally wanted to meet the two, but the timing was not good. Wang Lun, that scoundrel, actually came to Liangshan, so Song Jiang had no choice but to deal with him first!

After dealing with Wang Lun, Song Jiang settled the villagers of Xixi Village. Only after finishing a series of tasks did he have time to meet the two men!

"Brother!" Xiao Rang and Jin Dajian bowed to Song Jiang!

"Brothers, I've long admired your names. Welcome to my Liangshan family! From now on, the task of writing documents and seals will be entirely entrusted to you two!" Song Jiang said sincerely.

Unlike a few years later when they faced setbacks everywhere and were eventually tricked into joining Liangshan for a mere 50 taels of silver just to make a living, the two were now full of vigor and ambition. Who doesn't dream of youthful arrogance, riding a white horse, and wielding a sword to roam the world? When Wu Yong said that they could put their talents to good use on Liangshan, they trusted Wu Yong and went to Liangshan with their families without hesitation!