xymnovel Chapter 129 Bumper Harvest
Chapter 129 Bumper Harvest
Wang Lun's initial purpose in going out was to rescue Song Jiang, but he ended up attracting many leaders such as Li Jun, Pang Wanchun, and An Daoquan.
Song Jiang and other leaders arrived in Jizhou before Wang Lun and were warmly received by Lin Chong.
Since Wang Lun was not present, Lin Chong did not make any decisions on his own, but simply arranged accommodations for Song Jiang and the others, leaving them to idle.
Upon Wang Lun's return, after a brief rest, he received Song Jiang and the other newly arrived leaders in the main hall of the government office.
Among these leaders, Wang Lun valued Li Jun, Pang Wanchun, and An Daoquan the most. These three men were extremely useful, and the Liangshan Flying Tiger Army would certainly need them to expand further in the future.
One is a miracle doctor, one is a leader of an online army, and one is a sharpshooter.
Both Pang Wanchun and Hua Rong are skilled archers, but Pang Wanchun is stronger, has a longer range, and knows how to teach soldiers. Combining the two will surely yield unexpected results.
As for Song Jiang and Li Kui, Wang Lun looked at the two dark-skinned men and didn't know what to do with them, feeling a headache coming on.
Song Jiang was also filled with mixed emotions. He knew that Wang Lun was already very powerful in Liangshan, but he didn't expect him to be this strong. Ever since he led Li Kui into Jizhou and saw the large number of soldiers and the fierce generals, Lin Chong, Yang Zhi, Guan Sheng, Huyan Zhuo, Qin Ming and others, all of whom were first-class masters and extremely loyal to Wang Lun, he felt a great deal of envy and jealousy.
When Song Jiang heard that Wang Lun had refused the imperial court's offer of amnesty, he was so angry that he broke out in several pimples on his face.
The leaders, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, caught up for a while before Wang Lun introduced Li Jun and other leaders of the Jieyang Ridge faction to everyone. Although Tong Wei, Tong Meng, and the others had already arrived in Jizhou, they hadn't received a formal introduction.
After introducing the leaders of Jieyangling, Pang Wanchun and An Daoquan were introduced to everyone.
Finally, Song Jiang, Li Kui, Xue Yong, and Hou Jian were introduced. These four did not belong to Li Jun's faction. Although they were acquainted with Li Jun and others, they could only be considered as members of Song Jiang's faction.
The number of leaders was increasing, but they were all clearly divided into factions. Chao Gai's faction, which had been painstakingly won over over a period of time, had gradually split apart, with most members remaining loyal to Wang Lun. Now, the Jieyang Ridge and Song Jiang factions had also emerged.
Wang Lun was having a headache, especially with Song Jiang, the "Timely Rain of Shandong." Song Jiang had old ties with many of the previous leaders, and he would often call people brothers and give them money for travel expenses, which led many people to call him "Brother Gongming."
After thinking for a while, he came up with a temporary solution for Song Jiang's future.
When the leaders saw that Wang Lun was about to speak, they all fell silent.
Song Jiang felt a pang of envy; he hadn't expected Wang Lun to be so intimidating, with all the leaders so obedient to him.
"Brothers, our Liangshan Flying Tiger Army has once again welcomed fourteen brothers, including Pang Wanchun, An Daoquan, Li Jun, and Song Jiang, further strengthening our forces. This is truly a cause for celebration. Today, we are holding this meeting to discuss our next steps in detail, and afterwards, we will hold a grand banquet to celebrate."
Wang Lun spoke first, and as soon as he finished speaking, all the leaders cheered in unison.
He continued, "Alright, now, Mr. Shi and Instructor Lin, could you please report on whether anything major has happened during the months I was away?"
Shi Wenbin sat to the left of Wang Lun. Although he was not ranked, he was in charge of the daily affairs of Jeju. Apart from military matters, he was in charge of all other matters, and his tasks were very heavy.
Lin Chong and other military officers admired him greatly and had no complaints. As for Wang Lun letting Shi Wenbin sit below him, the other military officers did not say anything either.
Shi Wenbin then spoke first: "As instructed by the chieftain before his departure, General Qin Ming and I took over all the iron and saltpeter mines in Jizhou. The amount of minerals obtained was not much, and they have all been transported into the city and handed over to the brothers Tang Long and Ling Zhen."
Wang Lun was overjoyed. He had acquired all the iron ore and saltpeter from Jeju Island, and they would be producing them in the future. This would be enough for Tang Long and Ling Zhen to use for a while.
"In the past few months, some people have cried out for justice. I sent people to investigate in detail. We raided three households of evil merchants and seized 180,000 strings of cash and more than 10,000 shi of grain. All of it was put into our Flying Tiger Army's warehouse. Leaders Du Qian and Song Wan have counted and put it into the warehouse, and there are no errors," Shi Wenbin reported again.
Wang Lun nodded in agreement. He suggested that these unscrupulous merchants should have their money and grain confiscated, and that the land, apart from being distributed to the persecuted people, should be used by the army for farming.
"Since we occupied Jeju Island and began cultivating the land, we have achieved a bumper harvest this month. Most of the grain has been harvested, and we are working hard to process the remaining grain. According to rough estimates, Jinxiang County has collected 200,000 shi of grain, Rencheng County has collected 150,000 shi, Yuncheng County has collected 100,000 shi, and Juye County has collected 100,000 shi. In addition to repaying the 30,000 shi of grain that the people had previously lent us, these counties collected 55,000 shi of taxes. Our land reclamation office has collected 200,000 shi of grain. In total, the Flying Tiger Army has harvested a total of 285,000 shi of grain this time."
Shi Wenbin was very excited when he reported on this work. Such a high yield and such a large amount of grain were things he had never imagined when he was a county magistrate.
In the past, most of the harvested grain was taken by landlords due to land consolidation, and very little was handed over to the county and government offices.
Wang Lun was also very excited and took the lead in clapping. The other leaders cheered as well. Although they knew that this year's harvest was bountiful, they did not know that the yield was so amazing.
"Excellent." Wang Lun beamed. "The high yield is inseparable from Mr. Shi's strategic planning and the concerted efforts of all the brothers. How about we give Mr. Shi two credits and all the brothers one credit?"
Everyone cheered in unison. Of course, this was not due to the efforts of Song Jiang, Li Jun, and other later figures, which made them quite envious.
After Shi Wenbin finished his report, Lin Chong continued, "Brother, in the months since you left, the brothers have been training diligently, rain or shine, except when they went out to cultivate the land. All the troops have been working hard. In addition, we recruited three thousand soldiers. Originally, many people signed up, but after discussing with Yang Xianfeng, Guan Xianfeng, and others, we all agreed that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to soldiers. Therefore, we selected three thousand from among those who signed up."
Wang Lun nodded approvingly and said, "That's right. If one person can't make up their mind about something, then several people should discuss it together. Instructor Lin, Vanguard Yang, Vanguard Guan, Vanguard Qin, and Vanguard Huyan are all capable of being famous generals. With you all here, I feel very reassured."
Lin Chong added, "The imperial court has been relatively quiet these past few months, but Prefect Zhang of Yunzhou has been recruiting soldiers and training them daily. It's possible that he's targeting us."
Wang Lun laughed and said, "Needless to say, Zhang Shuye is definitely coming for us. He is loyal to the court and a capable man, so he should not be underestimated. However, we have elite troops and am not short of food supplies. We only need to be wary of his small Yunzhou."
Guan Sheng felt a little more at ease. He was afraid that Wang Lun might suddenly propose to attack Zhang Shuye. Although he had joined Liangshan and greatly admired Wang Lun, Zhang Shuye was also someone he admired. If a real fight broke out, it would put him in a difficult position.
"However, now that everything is ready, instead of training all day long, we should take the Flying Tigers out for a battle."
After Wang Lun finished speaking with a smile, everyone looked at him, some with joy, some with worry, their expressions varied.