xymnovel Chapter 52 The Song of Liangshan
Chapter 52 The Song of Liangshan
"My grandfather was born between heaven and earth, and he did not seek wealth or official position."
"Living a life in Liangshan Marsh, eating and drinking like an immortal."
The singing was melodious yet rugged, with the lyrics sung in an almost rap style.
It was Ruan Xiaowu.
The Nguyen brothers were in charge of ships and the navy and were highly valued by Wang Lun. This suited Wang Lun's tastes perfectly, as the three brothers loved working with water and would become like dragons entering the sea once they arrived at the harbor.
Furthermore, Wang Lun led his troops to rescue Chao Gai and the others, and even saved Ruan Xiao'er from the government troops. The three brothers were extremely grateful to Wang Lun.
Upon hearing that Wang Lun had returned from his trip, Ruan Xiaowu was the first to greet him, while Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaoqi quickly dispatched boats and led the fleet behind to transport the valuables that Wang Lun had brought.
"What a great word."
Wang Lun clapped his hands and laughed. Although the poem was written in a very straightforward manner, it had a kind of chivalrous spirit that suited his taste.
"Let the second child come ashore, and I'll teach him a song."
Wang Lun thought of a song that would be perfect for the heroes of Liangshan.
When Ruan Xiaoer saw Chao Gai waving, he rowed with all his might and reached the shore, where he quickly bowed to Wang Lun.
Wang Lun helped him up, then gathered the heroes behind him and said with a smile, "I have a song that I will teach you today, and from now on it will be our Liangshan Song."
Everyone looked at Wang Lun, thinking that Wang Lun had never sung before, so where did he get the songs from?
Wang Lun cleared his throat and sang loudly:
"The great river flows eastward, the stars in the sky point to the Big Dipper... A bowl of wine for a life-or-death friendship... When you see injustice on the road, you roar out! When it's time to act, you act! Bravely roam the land..."
After the song ended, although everyone thought the melody was strange, they all thought it sounded good, especially the lyrics, which perfectly captured the spirit of the Liangshan heroes.
Everyone applauded and cheered.
Wang Lun then taught everyone to sing the song line by line. Before he finished teaching them, Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaoqi arrived with more than a hundred naval soldiers. They surrounded Wang Lun and his leaders and began to learn to sing.
I taught until my throat was hoarse, and only then did everyone learn it.
Wang Lun then ordered the hundreds of people present to sing together, their voices deep and powerful, their momentum magnificent.
He nodded in satisfaction; this was the right way to enjoy the song.
Having a group of real bandits sing together would make the song even more flavorful.
It was past noon when the group finally unloaded the valuables that Wang Lun had brought onto the ship.
Wu Song and Wang Lun stood side by side on the boat, listening to Wang Lun describe the scenery in the mountains.
They arrived at the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, where all the leaders were waiting.
Wang Lun sat in the main seat and introduced Wu Song and Wu Dalang to the leaders. He then briefly recounted the events that had occurred in Yanggu County, especially mentioning the alliance with the Hu Family Village.
The alliance with Hu Family Village is of great strategic significance. Liangshan Marsh had never allied with any other force before, and now with Hu Family Village, it can be considered as having gained an additional force.
Wang Lun then inquired about the purchase of grain.
Chao Gai and Du Qian were in charge of this matter. Chao Gai was responsible for sending people down the mountain to purchase supplies, while Du Qian was responsible for allocating money and storing grain in the warehouse.
"In the past few days, we have been buying grain from all over the place, but we have only managed to buy about three thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), which is not much. Moreover, we have bought almost all the grain available in the nearby prefectures and counties. If we want to buy more grain, we can only do so from the government. The soup kitchens we have set up these days consume about ten shi per day, and our mountain stronghold consumes about twenty shi per day."
Du Qian was not good at handling such mundane matters, and he hesitated slightly when reporting on his work, carefully choosing his words.
Wang Lun nodded. Liangshan Marsh now has about two thousand soldiers. Initially, there were seven or eight hundred. Later, He Tao led his troops to attack and captured more than three hundred people. None of them were released and they were all added to the Liangshan Flying Tiger Army.
Later, when Chao Gai was besieged by the soldiers of Jizhou, Wang Lun went to his rescue and captured more than 200 villagers from Dujiazhuang.
Wang Lun continued to recruit refugees and ordinary people from various places at the foot of the mountain, and hundreds of people came one after another.
The entire army now consists of two thousand people who train every day, expending a great deal of physical energy, and they don't hold back when it comes to food.
One shi of grain is about sixty kilograms. It is normal for the soldiers on Liangshan to eat twenty shi a day.
In addition, the daily consumption of food in the soup kitchens is quite large. If we were to raise tens of thousands of soldiers in the future, we would not be able to do without food.
"What's this about buying grain from the government?" Wang Lun asked, puzzled.
Chao Gai stepped forward to explain: "Our dynasty has established granaries in various regions where the government stores grain to prepare for disasters and wars. Most of the money for purchasing the grain comes from the imperial court, which has tempted local officials. The simplest way is to use the excuse of loss or mold and rot to secretly move the grain out of the granaries and sell it, and the money will naturally go into the pockets of the prefect or magistrate."
Wang Lun nodded. This method of embezzlement was relatively simple and safe. After all, grain loss was very common, and as long as the county magistrate kept the accounts in order, it would be difficult for anyone to find out.
"So all this grain is traded on the black market. The buyers are either wealthy merchants from various places who buy low and sell high, or various mountain strongholds. The prefects and magistrates in various places are well aware of this, but they turn a blind eye, after all, it involves their money."
Chao Gai continued to explain that he had once been a wealthy man in his region and was very familiar with the ins and outs of the business.
Wang Lun made up his mind: "Then let's buy from the government. Quickly send people to the black markets in the nearby prefectures and counties to trade. Buy as much as we can. Now that we have so much gold and silver, what's the use of keeping it if we don't use it to buy these supplies?"
Chao Gai and Du Qian immediately clasped their hands in agreement.
Wang Lun glanced around and saw Wu Dalang cowering in the back of the crowd. Even standing, he was about the same height as the seated leaders.
"Wuhan University".
Wang Lun then called him out.
Wu Dalang respectfully stepped forward, bowed, and stood in the center of the Hall of Righteousness, which made him appear even shorter.
"You make excellent steamed buns, which are both delicious and easy to carry. Therefore, I would like you to join the kitchen of Liangshan Rear Village, where you will be in charge of making steamed buns. I will assign you some people; you only need to teach them and then you will be in charge of directing them."
Wang Lun knew the principle of making the best use of people. Wu Dalang was good for nothing, so it was impossible for him to join the Flying Tiger Army. The only option was for him to work as a cook in the kitchen, which was a less demanding job and would be easier to explain to Wu Song.
As expected, Wu Song and Wu Dalang were both overjoyed by his arrangement.
"We already ranked the members at the previous small gathering at Liangshan, but now that we've added several new leaders like Zhishen, Yang Zhi, Cao Zheng, and Wu Song, I think it would be better to temporarily rank them after the three Ruan brothers. Later, as more people join the group and everyone contributes, we can rank them according to the previous performance system. What do you think?"
Lu Zhishen and the others naturally had no objections; their ranking didn't matter, as they were all just following Wang Lun's orders.
Lin Chong and Chao Gai ranked second and third, respectively, and neither of them had any objections.
Wang Lun smiled and said, "Today, Liangshan Marsh welcomes Wu Song to its side. We are delighted and should celebrate."
Everyone cheered, drinking and eating meat; naturally, they were happy.
Wang Lun waved his hand: "Men, prepare a feast, serve wine, and play music!"
For a time, the hall was filled with the clinking of glasses and the aroma of wine, as lively as during the Chinese New Year.