Chapter 179

"Zhu Family Manor!"

Hearing this name, fiery gazes bloomed in the eyes of Song Wan, Du Qian, and the others.

Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong, and other generals who came from Bianliang with Zhang Jie might not know what kind of place this Zhu Family Manor was,

but for those who had lived on the Water Park of Liang Shan for many years, the name Zhu Family Manor was like thunder to their ears.

The hill Zhang Jie marked on the map was called Dulong Ridge,

and this area of thirty miles was all the territory of one manor, the Zhu Family Manor.

The head of the Zhu family was called Zhu Chaofeng, and he had three sons, known as the Three Heroes of the Zhu Family.

As landlords and gentry, the Zhu family had accumulated countless wealth over the years.

If they could take down the Zhu Family Manor, Liang Shan's financial situation would inevitably improve greatly.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought about the Zhu Family Manor in the past, but unfortunately, this Zhu Family Manor had seven or eight hundred households,

all of whom were tenant farmers of the Zhu family, and the manor itself had one or two thousand manor guards who could pick up swords and go into battle.

Added to that were the hired guards, instructors, and the three sons of Old Master Zhu who were skilled in martial arts,

it was truly a hard bone that would break a few teeth if one tried to gnaw on it, so they dared not harbor any ideas about it.

But today's Liang Shan, under Zhang Jie's leadership, could be said to have been reborn,

its combat power greatly increased, and taking down the Zhu Family Manor would be a piece of cake!

A flash of excitement also crossed Zhang Jie's eyes; this Zhu Family Manor was rich, very rich, extremely rich!

According to the relevant descriptions in "Water Margin" and the intelligence analysis he had sent Zhu Gui to collect these days,

the Zhu Family Manor was a quite wealthy landlord and gentry armed force.

The wealth of the Zhu Family Manor was divided into three main parts: grain, gold and silver, and livestock:

It is rumored that there were a full 500,000 shi of grain;

among the livestock, there were over 500 good horses, and countless cattle and sheep.

Calculated according to the prices of the Great Song at this time, the grain alone was worth hundreds of thousands of guan,

and added to the gold, silver, treasures, and livestock, the total value was extremely considerable.

If one added the Hu Family Manor and Li Family Manor next to it,

the total wealth of the three families was said to reach a terrifying 3 million guan.

Brother Chao Gai Gai and the seven others plotted to take the Birthday Gift, carrying the Great Song court's wanted notice on their backs,

and had to become bandits, yet they only obtained 100,000 guan,

and the profit from Song Jiang attacking the Zhu Family Manor was actually 30 times that of Brother Chao Gai Gai's plot for the Birthday Gift!

One can only say that this robbery, especially robbing with an army,

is truly a high-risk, high-investment, and high-return endeavor,

failure means the elimination of nine generations, and success means becoming a prince, general, or founding emperor, establishing a new dynasty.

Zhang Jie didn't ask for the Zhu Family Manor's wealth to be truly this astonishing,

as long as there were a few hundred thousand guan, it would be enough for him to continue his plan.

Moreover, in the Great Song, where grassroots governance ability was low, there might not be many manors richer than the Zhu Family Manor,

but there were countless ones only slightly inferior to it; Zhang Jie could completely win by quantity.

Thinking this way, Zhang Jie had Wang Lun distribute the intelligence collected by Zhu Gui to the various generals.

"My Lord, please give the order!"

The generals like Lin Chong, who had seen the intelligence, requested to fight one after another, their fighting spirit high.

"The Zhu Family Manor is a strong enemy, everyone must not underestimate them!"

Seeing Du Qian and Song Wan becoming a bit carried away, Zhang Jie reminded them in a deep voice.

The Zhu Family Manor was definitely a very formidable existence; in "Water Margin,"

the Liang Shan heroes attacked it three times, and in the end, they only took it down by relying on internal and external cooperation.

Trying to take the Zhu Family Manor by frontal assault was definitely not an easy task.

The Zhu Family Manor was actually a "village with integrated fortress," mainly for defense and self-protection,

primarily for living, avoiding war, and having the entire clan gather together to live;

secondly, it was for self-defense; if outsiders came to harass or rob,

the clan members would gather together to carry out self-defense and counterattacks.

The kind of Fujian earth buildings that were particularly famous in the 21st century, with walls several meters thick,

and capable of housing a whole village in one building,

their initial function was similar to this situation,

which was for the local people to gather and live together to defend against the harassment of bandits.

"We subordinates understand."

Hearing the warning in Zhang Jie's words, Du Qian,

Song Wan, and the others, who knew he never spoke without purpose, couldn't help but take the Zhu Family Manor more seriously, yet their fighting spirit remained high.

Zhang Jie couldn't help but nod slightly with satisfaction: the great man said it well,

one must despise the enemy strategically and respect the enemy tactically.

Despising the enemy strategically means that the analysis of the enemy must be positioned high, and the summary and judgment must be thorough.

One must objectively and comprehensively analyze the enemy, find the enemy's essence, weaknesses, and shortcomings,

and then establish the confidence and determination that the enemy will be defeated and one will win.

Respecting the enemy tactically means being very flexible in the process of struggling and maneuvering with the enemy,

fully grasping the enemy's situation, not fighting battles without certainty, using flexibility,

avoiding unnecessary sacrifices, and even more so, not underestimating the enemy,

accurately grasping the enemy's information, and fighting if one can win, and leaving if one cannot.

Following Zhang Jie's order, the giant beast that was Liang Shan, which had been sharpening its claws for several months, began to move,

and every person, every soldier, and every general began to act in an orderly manner.

The war machine began to operate, sharpening its claws and wanting to suck blood!

At night, Zhang Jie, who had been busy all day, prepared to rest.

Although he had just set a big plan, he was not impatient at all, and everything was as usual.

If the Liang Shan he had strengthened couldn't even take down the Zhu Family Manor,

then he shouldn't even think about overthrowing the Great Song, and should just hit his head against a piece of tofu and commit suicide.

The reason he solemnly warned the generals not to underestimate the enemy,

was merely out of concern that the casualties would be too great.

These soldiers of Liang Shan were all his precious treasures, and the death of even one would make his heart ache for a long time.

Pan Jinlian was serving him as he bathed and changed clothes.

Although Zhang Jie had repeatedly stated that he could complete these things himself and didn't need anyone to serve him,

Pan Jinlian still insisted on helping him in the capacity of a maid.

Regarding this, Zhang Jie could only acquiesce.

Splash, splash.

Warm hot water slid down from Zhang Jie's shoulders,

allowing his arms, which had been laboring over documents all day, to be soothed.

Zhang Jie finally understood why there were so many emperors in history who were considered wise and martial when they ascended the throne,

but after not long, or in their later years, began to neglect government and rot.

Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, who was called by everyone as dying before the An Lushan Rebellion,

and could be compared to Tang Taizong Li Shimin, was one such person.

Kangxi, who was regarded by the remnants of the Manchu Qing as the so-called "first holy ruler of all time," was also one such person.

An An Lushan Rebellion crushed the Kaiyuan Golden Age that Tang Xuanzong was so proud of.

And if Kangxi hadn't had a good son, Yongzheng, to patch things up for him afterward,

the Manchu Qing might not have had three hundred years of national fortune.

To be a wise leader, there are too many things to manage.

From the training and recruitment of the army, the preparation of weapons, and the distribution of military pay,

to how much land the people plowed and how many seeds needed to be prepared, everything had to be managed.

It doesn't need to be completely detailed, but one must have an understanding of the overall situation.

Otherwise, if the top relaxes, the people executing at the bottom will also involuntarily relax.

And once relaxed, it is very difficult to get tense again.

Not to mention that once there is no supervision, the people below will start to steal from the treasury.

This is human nature; even Zhang Jie had no good solution, and could only try his best to ask about everything.

Among all the emperors, except for a few supermen like Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang who had extraordinary energy,

and also had a strong desire to ask about everything, others must have assistants.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang was unable to keep up in his later years,

and had to establish various secretarial agencies to help him read various documents,

and give preliminary processing opinions, while he himself was responsible for exercising the final decision-making power.

Because he used a vermilion brush, this was the origin of the "power of red approval."

'This emperor position is hard to hold! It's even harder to be a good emperor!'

Zhang Jie, immersed in the hot water enjoying the bath, sighed in his heart.

'However, who told me I'm a cheater?'

The next second, a smile appeared on his face.

Just the martial arts shared from other Zhang Jies currently,

could guarantee that he would live to be over a hundred years old without his energy fading.

If a few more Zhang Jies from Xuanhuan,

Xianxia, High-Martial, or even Sci-Fi worlds came to the shared space later,

wouldn't governing a country like the Great Song be easy?

Clones, primordial spirits, artificial intelligence, etc., could all process large amounts of information in a short time.

And sufficiently powerful personal strength could ensure that his will could be well implemented.

"Young Master, I heard that you have encountered some difficulties on the mountain?

This is a little of my savings, I hope it can help you, Young Master."

While Zhang Jie was thinking, Pan Jinlian took out a small box and said hesitantly.

As she carefully opened the box, inside were all the gifts Zhang Jie had given her over the years,

such as hairpins, jade pendants, gold hairpins, and so on.

And at the bottom of the box, there was also a small stack of new or old Jiaozi.

These were the wages she had saved by scrimping and saving: her previous job was a maid,

and Zhang Jie was not a slave owner, so naturally, like other servants, he paid her wages.

And ever since the shared space came and Zhang Jie took her into his room, he also gave her pocket money every month.

Looking at these things, Zhang Jie's expression couldn't help but sink:

"Jinlian, this is a matter between us men, you don't need to interfere."

Although he had encountered a small difficulty for the time being,

it was not yet to the point where he needed to use the private money Pan Jinlian had saved by scrimping and saving.

And in fact, he exposed the financial situation in front of the generals today,

also to stimulate their fighting spirit; the actual situation was not that grim.

How could a man as steady as him not leave a little bit of a backup plan?

"Now you blame me for interfering, why did you always let me interfere before?"

Having followed Zhang Jie for so many years and understanding his thoughts, Pan Jinlian relaxed,

and rolled her eyes at Zhang Jie, who was proud and still acting innocent.

"And, you even asked me to be with Sister Yan Poxi, you bad guy!"

"Hehe."

Zhang Jie, whose secret had been exposed, giggled twice, trying to muddle through.

The Monkey zodiac is good, he likes the Monkey zodiac the most~

"Young Master, time for a midnight snack."

A while later, Yan Poxi arrived carrying a food box that was still steaming.

"What midnight snack?

I, your Young Master, am going to eat people tonight!"

Zhang Jie made a hungry tiger pounce, directly stripping the two beauties into little white sheep.

And in the end, Zhang Jie, who wanted to eat people, was eaten instead...

A wisp of cloud drifted in the sky, covering the bright moon.

It seemed that even the moon felt a hint of shyness at the absurd things Zhang Jie did...