Chapter 147: The Letter

Having established his authority, Zhang Jie first divided the Liang Shan forces into infantry, navy, and cavalry units.

Although Liang Shan had only a few hundred people in total, the framework still had to be built first,

to facilitate future unified command and expansion.

Subsequently, he began to announce personnel appointments:

"Du Qian, Song Wan, Lu Zhishen, I appoint you as the leaders of the first to third infantry squads of Liang Shan!"

"Obey!"

Du Qian, Song Wan, and Lu Zhishen all bowed to accept the order.

Zhang Jie continued to announce: "Ruan Xiao Er, Ruan Xiao Wu, Ruan Xiao Qi,

I appoint you as the leaders of the first to third navy squads!"

"Your subordinates accept the order!"

The three Ruan brothers accepted the order solemnly.

After appointing the navy and infantry, Zhang Jie turned his gaze to Lin Chong, who was peerless with the spear and staff,

and who was ranked among the Five Tiger Generals of the Liang Shan cavalry in the original work:

"Lin Chong, I now appoint you as the cavalry leader!"

Although Liang Shan was located at Mount Shuipoliang, in the future, it would eventually have to gallop across the vast land.

And by then, a powerful, highly mobile cavalry force would be indispensable.

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Lin Chong, somewhat excited, cupped his hands to accept the order.

He hadn't expected Zhang Jie to value him so much, directly handing the cavalry over to him to command.

Zhang Jie was also helpless: there were hardly any horses on Liang Shan, let alone a cavalry force; they couldn't even form a horse troop.

Lin Chong's cavalry leader position was actually just a cavalry squad leader,

and a squad where most members didn't know how to fight on horseback, only how to travel on horseback...

Then Zhang Jie looked at Wang Lun: "Zhengdao, for now, I'll have to wrong you by having you serve as my military advisor."

"I am willing to die for my lord!"

Wang Lun, however, felt no loss of power and happily accepted the appointment as military advisor.

"Let's stop here for today; training will officially begin tomorrow.

Now I announce, dismissed!"

Knowing that today's events had given the soldiers too much of a shock,

Zhang Jie, needing to give them time to digest it, immediately announced the dismissal.

Lu Zhishen and the others went to get to know their respective subordinates, while only Wang Lun and Zhang Jie returned to the Hall of Gathering Justice.

With no one else around, Zhang Jie's expression became solemn:

"Zhengdao, why are there so many old, weak, sick, and disabled people among the Liang Shan troops?"

Among the people gathered today, the elderly and weak, the young who hadn't grown up yet,

and those who were thin and malnourished accounted for more than half; those with real combat ability were less than half.

This "First Village of Mount Shuipoliang" seemed to be somewhat unworthy of its name!

If it weren't for seeing that Wang Lun was genuinely surrendering, and that there was no other place on Liang Shan to hide troops,

Zhang Jie would have suspected whether Wang Lun was hiding some secret team or force.

Hearing this, Wang Lun couldn't help but smile bitterly and explain:

"My lord, most of these people are refugees, famine victims, or those fleeing the government's harsh taxes and levies.

Before I arrived at Liang Shan, there were already several hundred people reclaiming land and farming here in the Liang Shan marsh.

Unfortunately, there are no good seeds here, nor are there many iron tools or farming implements,

so the output is very low; they can only catch fish in the marsh to barely maintain a living, but fish don't sustain people.

In this way, they can barely avoid starving, but they can't form any combat ability at all.

Only the hundred or so people I specifically trained to guard against other water villages and government encirclement have combat ability.

The others just shout and cheer to build up momentum."

'So that's how it is.'

Zhang Jie understood inwardly.

He was, after all, a transmigrator from the 21st century, and he had been reborn into the Zhang family,

so he had some lack of understanding of the ordinary livelihood in an ancient world like the Great Song.

The Great Song had neither chemical fertilizers nor pesticides to inhibit pests and diseases,

nor did it have the high-quality hybrid rice seeds invented by the modern Shennong, Old Master Yuan,

and it lacked sufficient iron farming tools and large livestock like oxen; relying solely on human labor, the yield per mu was pitifully low.

Even in the fertile lands of Jiangnan, the yield per mu for top-grade fields was only 300 to 400 jin a year, equivalent to two to three shi.

And the raw land on Liang Shan had even lower yields; even with careful tending, it was only one or two shi.

And fishing, not to mention the risk of encountering storms and the like,

even if they caught enough fish, they still had to exchange them for various daily necessities and grain.

Because fish meat has low calories and is difficult to meet the human body's daily energy needs, long-term consumption easily leads to an energy deficit.

The people of the Great Song were not like the people of the 21st century who worried about losing weight.

In the Great Song, obesity is a true disease of the wealthy!

If a person can eat themselves until they are fat and bloated, their family must be wealthy or noble!

"Sigh! The common people have a hard life."

Learning the truth, Zhang Jie couldn't help but sigh.

"However, this is what I want to change!"

A sense of heroism surged in Zhang Jie's heart.

He had transmigrated once, and he had such a big cheat as the Shared Space;

he felt he should accomplish a great career and change this world, so as not to have transmigrated in vain.

Wang Lun was infected by Zhang Jie's heroism and bowed solemnly:

"I am willing to die for my lord!"

While Zhang Jie was busy sharpening his weapons and training his horses on Liang Shan, Wu Song also hurried back to the Zhang family in Yanggu County.

"Old Steward, this is the young master's letter."

Wu Song carefully took out a letter from his inner garment and handed it to the Zhang family's old steward, Zhang Zhong.

"The young master's letter?"

The old steward solemnly took the letter from Wu Song's hand.

Rip.

He went into the side room, took out the letter, and read it carefully.

"Quickly go to the workshop and call Lu Congyi and the others."

After reading the letter, the old steward instructed a young servant in the house.

"Yes, Steward."

The servant accepted the order and left.

A short while later, the Five Righteous Ones of Cangshan, led by Lu Congyi, hurried over from the workshop.

"Old Steward, has the young master sent a letter?"

Lu Congyi cupped his hands and asked, with Song Yunlong and the others behind him.

Well, ever since they saw Zhang Jie speaking eloquently in the county office,

and sentencing Sun Erniang, Zhang Qing, and the others—who were "beasts that ate people"—to death after imprisonment,

Lu Congyi and the others concluded that Zhang Jie was definitely not a person who would stay in a pond; one day he would soar into the sky.

Therefore, they gave up the idea of going to Bianliang to seek a noble person to rely on, which had little hope,

and directly pledged their allegiance to Zhang Jie.

And Zhang Jie, who was short of manpower, did not refuse.

However, because Zhang Jie was about to travel the world at the time and couldn't take too many people with him,

he arranged for them to wait at his old home in Yanggu County.

During this waiting period, the old steward discovered that Lu Congyi and the others

were indeed as Zhang Jie said in his letter: upright in character and quite capable,

so he arranged for them to guard the crucial workshop.

It was true; if they didn't have enough confidence in their own abilities, how would they dare to go to Bianliang?

Aside from a few like Gao Yanei, most of those nobles were just evil, not stupid.

"That is correct.

The young master has found a place to stay at the Liang Shan marsh. You all must immediately inventory the machinery in the workshop,

summon all the masters, and we will go to join the young master in a few days."

The old steward continued to instruct.

"Yes."

Lu Congyi, whose heart was burning with excitement, knowing the opportunity had come, responded loudly.

The old steward, somewhat worried, urged: "Other floating wealth doesn't matter,

but those mechanical design drawings and the masters themselves must absolutely not have any mistakes!"

He knew how much Zhang Jie valued those great craftsmen.

To put it bluntly, he believed that in Zhang Jie's eyes, even if the five Lu brothers were doubled,

they would still be far inferior to those few craftsmen who could skillfully produce gun barrels.

Song Yunlong grinned: "Please rest assured, Steward, we brothers understand."

After the old steward sent off the Lu brothers,

Pan Jinlian also received the news that Zhang Jie had written a letter, and she hurried over.

And following behind her was Yan Poxi, who had already been taken into the house by Zhang Jie.

"Uncle Zhong, does the young master have any instructions in his letter?"

Pan Jinlian asked somewhat nervously.

Yan Poxi also showed anticipation in her eyes.

The old steward recounted the contents of Zhang Jie's letter:

"The young master has already found a place to stay, and wants us to hurry over as soon as possible."

"Then let's set off quickly!"

Having never been separated from Zhang Jie for such a long time,

Pan Jinlian, whose longing grew with each passing day, didn't want to wait even for a moment.

"That's great!"

Yan Poxi was also exceptionally jubilant.

Although she didn't have the deep feelings for Zhang Jie that Pan Jinlian had,

the "stick education" during the time Zhang Jie left Yanggu County had thoroughly conquered her,

making her very much look forward to the day of reuniting with Zhang Jie.

Only in the days with Zhang Jie did she understand why women all needed a man.

"Poxi, let's go pack our luggage right now!"

The impatient Pan Jinlian took Yan Poxi to pack their luggage.

The entire Zhang family, because of Zhang Jie's letter, started to operate rapidly like a started machine.

"Selling steamed buns!

Fresh out of the pot, piping hot steamed buns!"

On the streets of Yanggu County, the short-statured Wu Dalang was carrying a load of steamed buns and calling out to sell them.

"Hey, steamed bun seller, give me two steamed buns."

A man was hooked by the tempting wheat aroma emitted by the steamed buns, stirring the glutton in his stomach.

"Coming right up!"

"Here are your steamed buns."

Wu Dalang nimbly took two steaming hot buns from his load,

wrapped them in oil paper, and handed them to the man.

"Sold two more steamed buns."

Putting the few copper coins the man used to buy the buns into his pocket, Wu Dalang felt wonderful inside.

"Selling steamed buns! Piping hot steamed buns!"

After putting away the copper coins, he picked up his load and continued to call out.

"Brother!"

Suddenly, a voice filled with longing and excitement sounded behind him.

"My brother accompanied Young Master Zhang to the capital for the imperial examination; he should still be in Bianliang now,

so why do I vaguely hear his voice?

Could it be that I've been too hardworking these days and am hallucinating?"

Wu Dalang wiped the sweat with the white towel on his shoulder and muttered.

"Brother, it's me, Wu Er!"

Seeing that Wu Dalang didn't react, Wu Song eagerly walked in front of him.

"Brother, it really is you!"

Confirming that the person in front of him was indeed Wu Song, Wu Dalang hurriedly unloaded the load from his shoulder and ran toward Wu Song.

"Brother!"

"Brother!"

The two brothers, reunited after a long separation, had tears in their eyes, filled with immense joy.