Huangfu Duan's Unresolved Mental Issues; Duan Jingzhu Heads to Liaodong

Chapter 89 Huangfu Duan's Unresolved Mental Issues; Duan Jingzhu Heads to Liaodong

Luo Zhong turned to Xiao Rang and the others and said, "You are the main force this time with the birthday tribute. I will be responsible for protecting you!"

Luo Zhong is a man who appears cold on the outside but is warm on the inside. Although he is naturally arrogant, his enthusiasm for others may stem from the pride inherent in the Luo family. This pride comes from his confidence in the Luo family's spear!

Xiao Rang and the others also bowed to Luo Zhong!

Although Luo Zhong went along, Song Jiang still said, "No matter what, this matter is still risky. We should take the birthday gifts if we can, but if the risk is too great, we can abandon them and return! Your safety should be our top priority!"

These words warmed the hearts of the group!

Song Jiang then said to Shi Qian and Bai Sheng, "Brothers, you have many tasks to complete this time, so please be careful!"

The two men clasped their hands in a fist salute and said, "We will never betray Liangshan, we will never betray our brother!"

Song Jiang then said to Zhang Shun and the others: "The waterway will be led by four brothers, Zhang Heng, Zhang Shun, Ruan Xiaowu, and Liu Tang, with ten fast boats and one hundred 'Dragon Kings'. We will depart from Liangshan Marsh, travel along the Yellow River, and then change course to the Hangou section of the Grand Canal. The water here is turbulent, so please be careful!"

The four men stood up, clasped their hands in a fist salute, and said, "We will definitely complete our mission!"

Song Jiang laughed and said, "If the birthday gifts fall into the water, just do your best. But remember, your own safety comes first. If things get dangerous, evacuate immediately!"

With expressions of emotion on their faces, Song Jiang then addressed the others: "Wang Dingliu and Li Yun will form one group, and Lei Jiong and Ji Ji will form another. Buy some carriages from Jizhou Prefecture, take some brothers to the 'Haofeng Ferry' on the Yellow River, and wait for Zhang Shun's return. Then, travel by land from Jizhou Prefecture and transfer to waterway to reach Liangshan!"

The route of Prefect Cai Jiu's birthday tribute was secretly delivered to Song Jiang by Dai Zong!

After repeated discussions between Song Jiang and the others, they finally decided to take action at the Han Canal!

Song Jiang stood up and said, "Time is of the essence. Brothers, please rest well today and we'll set off tomorrow!"

Seeing that Huangfu Duan and Duan Jingzhu seemed to have something to say, Song Jiang smiled and said, "When discussing matters, feel free to speak your mind!"

Duan Jingzhu said, "I'd like to go to Liaodong with Huangfu!"

Song Jiang thought to himself, if Huangfu Duan couldn't resolve his inner conflict, he probably wouldn't be happy even after joining Liangshan. Having lingering attachments in one's heart isn't a good thing in the long run. So he nodded and said, "Alright!"

Huangfu Duan was taken aback, not expecting Song Jiang to agree so readily. He bowed and said, "Thank you for your trust, brother!"

Duan Jingzhu said with emotion, "In the past two days, I have discovered that Liangshan has few horses, and they are not good horses. Although Liaodong is located in the far north, its horses are of excellent quality. I think that if we transport horses from Liaodong, we can build an excellent cavalry army."

This is easy to say but extremely difficult to do. To get horses from the Jurchens, one would have to go through Shanhaiguan, Yanjing, Hebei and Shandong. It would probably take at least a year and a half to complete!

Suddenly, Song Jiang thought that if he set off directly from the Bohai Sea or the Yellow Sea and traveled by sea to Liaodong, just like the later migration to the Northeast, not only would it save a lot of time and distance, but it would also greatly ensure safety. However, the sea was rough and there were many unpredictable things that could happen!

However, since they would definitely be going through Yanjing on their way to Liaodong, and fearing that the two might encounter danger on the road, Song Jiang said, "Brother Shiqian, choose five clever brothers from 'Shadowless' to accompany Huangfu and Xiao Duan!"

He then said to Ma Ling and Shan Shiqi, "Both of you are highly skilled in martial arts. Liaodong is a long way away and not part of our Great Song territory. You must protect them and act with caution!"

He said to Wu Yong, "Give Xiao Duan and the others a thousand taels of gold and silver notes as travel expenses. If there are any good horses, you can buy them as well. They can decide for themselves!"

Huangfu Duan and Duan Jingzhu were a little choked up and didn't know what to say for a moment!

Song Jiang waved his hand and laughed, "Go early and come back early. We'll be waiting for you all to return for the New Year!"

Song Jiang then asked Meng Kang, "Brother Meng Kang, could you build a seagoing vessel?"

Meng Kang hesitated for a moment and said, "I can build seagoing ships, but the keel needed for them is extremely difficult to find!"

Song Jiang thought for a moment and said, "We will spend a large sum of money in your name to purchase the ships. This matter is urgent and must be built no matter what. If we don't have enough manpower, we can hire more; if we don't have enough money, we can allocate more!"

Meng Kang bowed and said, "Brother, there is a man named Ye Chun who is extremely skilled in shipbuilding. I am ashamed to admit that my shipbuilding skills are inferior to his. However, he is arrogant and may not necessarily join our Liangshan."

Song Jiang thought for a moment and asked, "Is it Ye Chun from Sizhou?"

Meng Kang nodded and said, "It is indeed this person. I didn't expect you to know him, brother."

Song Jiang nodded and said, "Tomorrow, I would like to ask you to go down the mountain to find Ye Chun and ask him if he has any good keel. If he does, ask him to help us build a batch of good ships. Money is not a problem. If he doesn't have any, ask him to help us build a batch of fast ships. If possible, you can ask him to come to Liangshan to build them together. We can do this often."

After saying that, he smiled mysteriously and said, "Once you're on Liangshan, it won't be easy to get back down."

Meng Kang laughed and bowed, saying, "Brother, I'll take care of it right away."

With today's business concluded, Song Jiang was also somewhat tired, so he dismissed all the leaders and planned to rest for a while.

After everyone dispersed, Song Jiang shook his head and went to the door of Liu Huiniang's room. Song Jiang had previously instructed that Liu Huiniang be treated well, and he had specially transferred two maids from Wu Qianhu's mansion to serve her. After all, she was a young lady from a wealthy family, and it would be bad to neglect her. Song Jiang instructed the two maids that they should try their best to meet any requests Liu Huiniang made. Liu Huiniang was not a difficult person, and she did not deliberately make things difficult for the two maids, so the two maids were not too tired.

Song Jiang knocked on the door.

"The door is open, please come in," Liu Huiniang's voice came from outside.

Song Jiang gave a wry smile, pushed open the door, and saw Liu Huiniang writing on the table.

Song Jiang really wanted to see what Liu Huiniang had written, but after hesitating, he gave up the idea.

Liu Huiniang turned to look at Song Jiang and asked, "Is there something you need?"

Song Jiang shook his head and said, "Does it suit your living conditions?"

Liu Huiniang said calmly, "It's alright. If there's nothing else, please close the door." Then she continued writing.

Song Jiang was somewhat embarrassed, and Liu Huiniang then gave him the order to leave, so he had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Before leaving, Song Jiang hesitated for a moment, but still said, "If you want to leave Liangshan, I will send someone to take you to wherever you want to go."

After Song Jiang left and closed the door, Liu Huiniang chuckled and said, "What a fool."

Not long after they left, Liu Tang came to find Song Jiang and said, "Brother, Brother Song Qing has come up the mountain to see you!"

Song Jiang was taken aback. Unless absolutely necessary, Song Qing would not take the initiative to contact him, let alone come to Liangshan!

Thinking of this, Song Jiang hurried to the hall. Seeing Song Jiang arrive, Song Qing quickly stepped forward and said, "Brother, Magistrate Shi has urgent business with you. He must find you no matter what. Come with me to Yuncheng County!"

Song Jiang didn't delay and said, "In that case, I'll go with you!"

Turning to Wu Yong, he said, "Sir, even though I'm not at Liangshan, the brothers should still proceed as usual tomorrow!"

After saying that, he hurriedly left the hall with Song Qing!

It was the next morning when they arrived at the Dancheng County Government Office. Inside, Zhu Tong was standing next to someone, but Lei Heng was nowhere to be seen; he had disappeared somewhere.

Shi Wenbin sat in the hall with a frown on his face. It wasn't anything that was bothering him so much!

Song Jiang looked closely and realized that this man was the steward of Chen, the richest man in Dancheng. What brings him here today?

Upon seeing Song Jiang arrive, Shi Wenbin nodded and said, "Gongming, it's good that you've come!"

Butler Chen stood up, took out a letter from his pocket, placed it on the table, and then carefully retreated, standing there anxiously, looking panicked and helpless.

Shi Wenbin picked up the letter and said, "We've all read this letter; take a look."

Song Jiang stepped forward, took the letter, and opened it. After reading it, his brows furrowed. The letter was simple: "The stronghold is short of food recently. We have specially requested 50,000 taels of gold and 5,000 shi of grain from Master Chen. We will send someone to collect them in three days." It was signed by Di Lei of Qingyun Mountain.

Song Jiang thought of He Jian, whom he had killed in the dense forest before returning to Dancheng. He was also from Qingyun Mountain. He never expected that they would set their sights on Chen the wealthy man.

Shi Wenbin, his brow furrowed, asked, "Gongming, what are your thoughts?"

Song Jiang said calmly, "These bandits from Qingyun Mountain are indeed lawless and extremely arrogant."

Shi Wenbin sighed and said, "The bandits of Qingyun Mountain number nearly 20,000, yet the imperial court has always turned a blind eye. Now they dare to be so audacious as to openly extort money from my Yuncheng."

Song Jiang glanced at Steward Chen and asked, "How did this letter get here?"

Butler Chen said with a bitter face, "Early yesterday morning, a servant opened the front door to sweep the floor and found a letter stuck in the door with a dagger. When he opened it, he found that it was from Qingyun Mountain asking my master for money."

Song Jiang then asked, "What is Lord Chen's opinion?"

The steward hesitated for a moment before replying, "Master means to report to the authorities. After all, 50,000 taels of gold is no small sum. Although Master is wealthy, 50,000 taels of gold would indeed require selling off his entire fortune to raise. However, Madam's intention is to sell everything she owns to pay the 50,000 taels and avoid disaster."

"A woman's view." Song Jiang strongly disagreed with giving money, but if the wealthy Chen family thought that money should be given in exchange for peace, Song Jiang would not say anything. But now that the wealthy Chen family chose to report to the authorities, it was clear that they did not want to be the fat sheep. At that time, Wen Bin, as the local official, had to step in, even if Qingyun Mountain was powerful.

This time the matter was quite serious. Apart from those who were on duty or patrolling the streets, almost everyone in the yamen came to the Chen family's house, including Shi Wenbin, the county magistrate, the county lieutenant, Song Jiang, and the three chief constables.

It's true that Chen was the richest man in Dancheng, but he wasn't the kind of person who was rich but heartless. He often did good deeds. More importantly, Chen could have moved his whole family to Jizhou Prefecture, but because he was born and raised in Yuncheng, he didn't want to move there. He stayed in the city, which boosted the local economy and made him a major taxpayer in Dancheng, ensuring that the city's overall development wasn't too backward. This is why Song Jiang didn't want him to be threatened by Qingyun Mountain.

At the Chen family's house, the wealthy Chen was pacing back and forth in the hall with a worried expression, his inner turmoil written all over his face. Madam Chen was also sitting there sighing. The wealthy Chen had a son and a daughter. His daughter was at home with Madam Chen, while his sons were away and had not yet returned. The other servants were also sighing and lamenting. With such a major event happening, it would be a lie to say that they weren't nervous.

Shi Wenbin took a sip of tea and asked, "Master Chen, I understand what happened. Now it's time to see how to resolve it."

Before the wealthy Chen could speak, Madam Chen said, "Either give us money, or wipe out Qingyun Mountain. These are the only two options. Our Chen family cannot afford Qingyun Mountain's retaliation."

Shi Wenbin was rebuffed. Eradicating Qingyun Mountain wasn't something that could be solved with mere words. They actually numbered nearly 20,000, which was almost the entire population of Yuncheng County.

Shi Wenbin didn't know how to answer. Guaranteeing that the Chen family would be safe was just talk; it wasn't that easy to do. If Qingyun Mountain really wanted to seize the Chen family at any cost, even the small county of Yuncheng might not be able to stop them. When the city fell, everyone would suffer. To wipe out Qingyun Mountain, even if Jizhou Prefecture and Yizhou Prefecture sent troops together, it wouldn't be enough. The imperial court would have to send troops. But right now, the imperial army was tied up at the front line by the Western Xia army. Where would they find the spare strength to suppress bandits?

After thinking for a while, Shi Wenbin felt a chill run down his spine. He subconsciously glanced at Song Jiang, who was tasting the tea. To be honest, Chen Da Hu's tea was really good, top-grade Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao. Rich people certainly know how to enjoy life.

Noticing Shi Wenbin's gaze, Song Jiang put down his teacup and looked at Shi Wenbin, who was looking at him with pleading eyes.

Song Jiang said somewhat helplessly, "Madam Chen has said a lot, but I have a way that will not require paying money and will not cause any retaliation later."

Mr. Chen's eyes lit up, and he said, "If that's really the case, I will definitely reward you handsomely."

Madam Chen was somewhat skeptical and questioned, "I wonder what method Clerk Song has? Could you tell me?"

Song Jiang nodded and said, "There's a saying that goes, 'A single punch can prevent a hundred more.' It's about letting them know fear and pain, and making sure the price they pay is something they can't afford. That way, they won't dare to come back."

Shi Wenbin felt that Song Jiang's words were a bit too arrogant. The two counties had ignored Qingyun Mountain's trust because they thought that Qingyun Mountain would not dare to attack them. In the end, the wealthy households and county government offices in the cities were looted and all the people in the wealthy households and county government offices were killed!

However, Shi Wenbin also thought that Song Jiang was indeed capable of creating miracles, so he believed him to some extent. Chen the landlord and his wife looked at each other, somewhat doubting Song Jiang's words.

Song Jiang smiled and continued, "In the next few days, I would like to trouble Master Chen to pack his family's belongings and move to the county government office. That is the safest place. If any thieves come in three days, just refuse them. You can leave the rest to Magistrate Shi."

"Ah, a misunderstanding?" Shi Wenbin saw Song Jiang speaking with such high spirits, but then he ended up saying that he could handle it!

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Shi Wenbin didn't know how to say them. Song Jiang didn't say anything more either, and stood up and said, "We will come again in three days. In the next few days, you should pack up your valuables. The bandits of Qingyun Mountain are always true to their word. If they say they will come in three days, they won't come. Nothing will happen."

After saying that, he turned to Lei Heng and said, "I'll trouble you, Chief Lei, to lead four constables to guard this place for the next few days. The real work will begin in three days."