xymnovel Chapter 6 Small Gathering
Chapter 6 Small Gathering
Flames soared into the sky outside the Golden Beach, turning the river water a deep red.
Half of it was due to the reflection of the flames, and the other half was due to the continuous bleeding.
Despite the joy of defeating He Tao and winning the bet against Chao Gai, Wang Lun felt a pang of reluctance.
In this battle, because he ordered people to improve the bow and arrow and urgently and simply improved the gunpowder, at least eight hundred people lost their lives because of him.
Sitting in the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, Wang Lun was slightly lost in thought.
Chao Gai and the others followed Lin Chong in.
Lin Chong was in high spirits. Since joining Liangshan, he had only done petty things like robbing and looting wealthy merchants on the way. He had never won such a great victory.
He slammed He Tao to the ground and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Chief, this is He Tao, the arresting officer of Jizhou. I have captured him."
Wang Lun laughed heartily: "Instructor Lin has excellent martial arts skills."
Lin Chong clasped his hands and said, "This is all thanks to the chief's strategic planning. The bows and arrows that the chief ordered to be modified have shown great power, and the gunpowder has also capsized the government soldiers' fishing boats. Hahaha, especially since the chief first sent a henchman to the shore to pretend to be captured, thus leading He Tao and the others to Huilong Bay."
The place where the ship was just destroyed is Huilong Bay. Because most of the waterways in Liangshanbo are narrow, only Huilong Bay is wide enough that even a dragon could turn around here, hence the name Huilong Bay (Returning Dragon Bay).
Chao Gai, Wu Yong, and the others were astonished. First, they were surprised that Wang Lun knew how to modify bows and arrows. Second, they were surprised that Wang Lun knew how to use gunpowder, and that its power was much greater than that of ordinary gunpowder. Third, they were surprised that Wang Lun had already sent someone to guide He Tao.
Given his profound knowledge of both natural phenomena and military affairs, why was Wang Lun not well-known before?
Wang Lun smiled: "Oh? Which brother had the guts to guide He Tao?"
A henchman quickly stepped forward and knelt down: "Chief, this humble one is Zhao Si."
Upon seeing this man, He Tao realized that he was the same henchman who had led him into Liangshan Marsh. It turned out that everything had been planned in advance. He was immediately disheartened, realizing that his failure was already predetermined from the start.
Wang Lun was overjoyed and said, "What a Zhao Si! He's brave and resourceful, and he's completely fooled He Tao. Here, I'll give you twenty taels of silver. From now on, you'll stay by my side."
Zhao Si quickly thanked him, glared at He Tao smugly, and stood casually to the side. Now he was considered a trusted confidant of the chieftain, and his future rise to prominence was just around the corner.
Wang Lun glanced at He Tao, thinking that this man couldn't die yet; keeping him alive might be of great use. He waved his hand and said, "Lock He Tao up first, and we'll interrogate him slowly when we have time."
The henchmen dragged He Tao away.
Wang Lun looked at Chao Gai and the others with a smile: "King Chao, are you willing to admit defeat?"
Chao Gai lowered his head in shame: "Chief, I am completely convinced."
Wu Yong's expression changed. He knew that Chao Gai had always been kind and benevolent, but he did not expect him to submit to Wang Lun so easily.
But the fact remains that they lost the bet, and for now, they can only give in temporarily and think of another way later.
He stepped forward and smiled, "Chief Wang's strategic planning is truly admirable. But I wonder about the bow, arrows, and gunpowder?"
Wang Lun knew that Wu Yong, a man of deep cunning, would not easily submit, so he laughed and said, "Alright, why not show you the bow and arrow? As for gunpowder, I'm still working on improving it, and I'll show you later."
With a wave of his hand, Song Wan brought in a newly made bow and arrow. Although the workmanship was rough, it had many improvements over ordinary bows.
Everyone gathered around to watch, marveling at the sight.
At this moment, Zhu Gui entered the Hall of Righteousness and reported: "Chief, in this battle, we killed 780 enemies and captured 230, all of whom were imprisoned in the water dungeon."
Wang Lun nodded: "All the leaders have worked hard, and all the brothers have also worked hard. As previously agreed, the compensation will be distributed according to merit."
Zhu Gui clasped his hands in agreement, paused, and said, "One hundred and fifty of my Liangshan brothers died, sixty were seriously injured, and thirty were slightly injured."
Wang Lun exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, how come so many people have died?"
Zhu Gui glared at Chao Gai and said, "Of the four hundred men led by the chieftain, only a dozen or so were lightly wounded. The rest, dead or seriously injured, were all... Chao Tianwang..."
Wang Lun glanced at Chao Gai thoughtfully, but remained silent.
What's the point of saying anything now? Let's wait for Chao Gai to speak.
Chao Gai looked ashamed and clasped his hands, saying, "Chief, it was my poor leadership that caused the deaths of so many brothers. The compensation money mentioned earlier all fell on my head. Since you want to join us, I will offer up the birthday tribute that I robbed. After deducting the gold and silver that you brothers received, there should still be fifty or sixty thousand strings of cash left."
Wang Lun remained calm and collected. The birthday gifts were worth 100,000 strings of cash. Anyone who has read "Water Margin" knows that Chao Gai only took out half of it, which means he had a backup plan.
He smiled slightly: "He Tao's attack on Liangshan was originally caused by the birthday tribute. Now that King Chao has entered Liangshan, I will accept the birthday tribute."
He looked at everyone and said, "All the leaders have made contributions. Later, Zhu Gui and Song Wan will discuss and reward them. Instructor Lin captured He Tao alive, so in my opinion, he should be credited with the greatest merit."
Lin Chong quickly refused: "No, if we're talking about who deserves the most credit, it all goes to the chief. I was just following the chief's orders and dare not take credit for it."
Everyone agreed.
Wang Lun smiled and said, "In that case, I'll take the credit. But I won't accept any reward. I'll just have a few more drinks with King Chao tonight."
He scanned the crowd and said, "Liangshan is currently short of manpower. In my opinion, we should first arrange our seating order, and later, when there are more leaders, we can arrange our seating order according to military merit. What do you think?"
After this battle, Wang Lun's prestige became unmatched, and naturally, no one had anything to say about him.
He pondered for a moment, then said, "According to our previous bet, since I won, I will sit in the first seat, Lin Chong in second, Chao Gai in third, Gongsun Sheng in fourth, Wu Yong in fifth, followed by Du Qian, Song Wan, Zhu Gui, Liu Tang, and the three Ruan brothers. What do you say?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Gongsun Sheng, who felt guilty. He hadn't done anything, and Wu Yong had always been more favored by Chao Gai, so how could he be ranked above Wu Yong?
He simply didn't want to ask any questions, glanced at Wu Yong, and nodded in agreement.
"Hahaha, great!" Wang Lun was overjoyed. He had won a great victory in his first battle after transmigrating and had become the elder brother of Chao Gai and Lin Chong. To celebrate, he shouted, "Zhu Gui, have you prepared a feast? We have won a great victory and our twelve leaders have gathered together. This is a cause for celebration. Please take your seats, leaders."
Zhu Gui had already ordered a banquet to be prepared.
Needless to say, there was plenty of delicious fish in Liangshan Marsh, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Chao Gai and the others were shocked to find that Liangshan Marsh had everything, and they repeatedly toasted Wang Lun.
The most shocked person was Wang Lun. He never expected that the food in the Song Dynasty would be so delicious, especially the fish. He kept eating with his chopsticks, his mouth full of oil.
Although the winemaking techniques in the Song Dynasty were much more advanced than those in the Tang Dynasty, to him it tasted like ordinary modern rice wine, with little to no alcohol flavor.
Therefore, drinking alcohol is like drinking water; one can drink three hundred cups at a time.
Halfway through the drinking, he suddenly thought of Wu Song, the man of great drinking capacity from the Water Margin. He wondered where Wu Song was now. If he were by his side, he would be fearless.
Wang Lun held his wine cup, thinking that the most urgent task was to quickly gather masters like Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, and Lu Junyi to strengthen the Liangshan forces.
As for the so-called "Timely Rain" Song Jiang?
Wang Lun snorted coldly, "Go find somewhere cool to stay."