Chapter 185: Buying People's Hearts

"I don't know what these Liang Shan strongmen want to do."

In the drill ground of the Zhu Family Manor, the villagers who rushed from all directions were dressed differently, some tall, some short, some thin;

but what was similar was that there was an indelible worry on their faces.

What? Why were there no fat ones?

Well, in the Great Song, fat was a treatment only for the rich who were full all day.

Ordinary civilians struggled on the death line of starvation all year round and had no extra calories to grow fat.

People like those in the 21st century dieting to lose weight were unimaginable to them; they wished they could be as fat as possible.

After all, the fatter you are, the better your family background, and the less you need to worry about survival.

The greatest praise ordinary people had for a child was that they grew up white, fat, and chubby.

Of course, being as fat as the international friend David Dai was still a bit too much.

"Bandits, bandits!

They gathered us, nothing more than to scrape the land and collect money and grain!"

An old farmer who was quite knowledgeable and had seen the true style of bandits analyzed.

Compared to the tax collection of the county government, which could be considered sustainable fishing,

bandits who had today but no tomorrow always snatched everything they could snatch.

"Sigh!"

"How will we live in the future!"

Hearing this, the worry on the faces of the surrounding villagers became even more intense, and they were all worried about the darkness of the future.

"The Zhang Zhaizhu is here!"

Unfortunately, the development of things did not shift according to their will.

Following the shouts of several personal guards clearing the way, Zhang Jie walked slowly from outside the drill ground.

Facing this Liang Shan Zhang Zhaizhu who led the army to break through their Zhu Family Manor,

even if the servants were worried in their hearts, they still looked up at Zhang Jie.

"This is the Liang Shan Zhang Zhaizhu?

He doesn't look like it!"

Looking at Zhang Jie, who was dressed in a green shirt, not wearing armor, and looked like a gentle scholar,

and was actually a gentle scholar, the villagers were greatly surprised.

In their imagination, the Liang Shan Zhang Zhaizhu who could control these Liang Shan bandits, who were like wolves and tigers,

must be a peerless fierce man who was eight feet tall, eight feet around the waist,

with leopard eyes, a fierce look, eyes as big as copper bells,

and who had to eat several children in one meal.

"You don't know this, do you?

The Liang Shan bandit leader's nickname is White-Clothed Scholar, and he looks just like this scholar!"

Even if the future was uncertain, there were still people who couldn't suppress the desire to show off in front of others.

A servant who had been very close to the main Zhu family line, such as Zhu Long and Zhu Hu,

knew more about Liang Shan, and at the same time ran very fast,

escaping the capture of the Liang Shan soldiers, showed a proud look and popularized it to the ignorant bystanders.

Unfortunately, what he got was outdated old news,

and he didn't know at all that Liang Shan had already changed its leader.

Or rather, the Zhu Family Manor also didn't know that Liang Shan had already changed its leader,

moving from the old Liang Shan era of Wang Lun to the new Liang Shan era led by Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie: I want to build a new Liang Shan!

But this couldn't be blamed on them. In this era where information circulation was very slow,

let alone a Liang Shan, a green forest force in the corner of society, changing a new leader,

even if the Great Song changed an emperor, it would take several years to spread to all places.

This still depended on whether the local government promoted the news vigorously,

such as whether they issued notices, whether they actively let people go to the countryside to promote, etc.

In some remote places where the local government was not capable, or where local officials were lazy,

the people there didn't know how many emperors had been changed in their lifetime.

Step, step.

Facing the suspicious, hateful, or fearful gazes of all the servants,

Zhang Jie walked with a calm pace and stepped onto the earthen platform on one side of the drill ground.

"Everyone, I gathered you here to announce one thing."

Zhang Jie looked around at the worried, anxious, or expressionless servants below the platform and said loudly.

"Bring it up."

He waved his hand toward the platform, and immediately a personal guard brought up a box.

This box was exactly the sandalwood box that Wang Lun found in Old Master Zhu's room and was tightly protected.

Crack.

Zhang Jie opened the box, took out something like a letter from it, and held it high:

"Everyone should recognize this thing, right?"

The moment they saw this thing,

the servants who were whispering to each other suddenly quieted down,

like ducks whose necks had been pinched, unable to speak, and the entire drill ground was silent.

Thump!

Thump!

The next second, several village elders knelt on the ground, begging bitterly:

"Great King, it's not that we are unwilling to repay these debts,

but we really can't take out the money and grain. We hope the Great King can give us some time!"

'I, Zhang Jie, have also become a Great King of the mountain.'

Listening to the address of the several village elders to him, Zhang Jie laughed in his heart.

"We hope the Great King can give us some time!"

Others followed suit and begged.

The thing in Zhang Jie's hand was clearly an IOU.

It was written on it: Zhu Laosi of the Zhu Family Manor, because his mother died of illness,

borrowed ten guan of copper coins from Old Master Zhu as funeral expenses.

The Old Master was merciful and specially approved that Zhu Laosi did not need to pay back thirteen for nine, but twelve for nine.

Below it was also written: Because Zhu Laosi had not repaid the principal for several years,

and only repaid part of the interest, he still owed the Old Master thirty-four guan, eight hundred and sixty-five wen!

Below the IOU, there was a fingerprint pressed with red ink.

And in the box beside Zhang Jie, it was full of IOUs of the people of the Zhu Family Manor owing Old Master Zhu money!

After seeing these IOUs, Zhang Jie knew why the Zhu Family Manor had so much more cohesion than other villages.

This Zhu Chaofeng, Old Master Zhu, was actually using high-interest loans,

and the debt relationship generated by rolling interest that the servants could not pay off,

to make most of the strong men in the Zhu Family Manor become debtors who owed him money,

and then firmly grasped the Zhu Family Manor in his hands.

And because he widely recruited guards and instructors, and had three powerful sons,

these poor people who owed high-interest loans couldn't even fight to the death, and could only be manipulated by him.

"Great King, please be kind and give us some time!"

Seeing Zhang Jie lost in thought, the servants thought he was thinking about how to ask for money, and begged one after another.

"Who said I came to ask for money?"

Zhang Jie smiled and tore the IOU in his hand into two halves.

"This, this..."

The servants were in disbelief, and at the same time, some kind of almost impossible thought rose in their hearts.

"I came to the Zhu Family Manor, not to exploit or invade you,

but to overthrow the Old Master Zhu who exploited you and liberate you!"

Zhang Jie took a torch from a personal guard,

another personal guard poured a jar of tung oil into the sandalwood box,

and then Zhang Jie threw the torch directly into the sandalwood box full of IOUs.

The flames burned fiercely, and the IOUs inside turned into ashes in the raging flames.

The eyes of the servants, reflecting the raging flames, also burned with flames

—the name of this flame is, hope!

"Overthrow the Old Master Zhu who exploited us!"

"Overthrow the Old Master Zhu who exploited us!"

The servants, feeling the heavy burden on them, cheered one after another,

and the look in their eyes toward Zhang Jie was slowly filled with fanaticism.

"This Liang Shan Zhang Zhaizhu is a person with a big heart and big ambitions!"

Several knowledgeable village elders sighed.

They knew that Zhang Jie's move was to buy the hearts of their Zhu Family Manor, but they were still willing to support Zhang Jie.

Just because Zhang Jie was the only one willing to give up the benefits he had obtained and distribute them to these poor ghosts.

The cheers of the strong men shook half of the Zhu Family Manor, making the servants who were in debt excited,

and also making the small number of Zhu family loyalists tremble with fear, all finding places to hide, not daring to make trouble again.

Zhang Jie also nodded slightly with satisfaction: those who could borrow money from Old Master Zhu

were either strong men with land or strength; they were the most powerful group in the Zhu Family Manor.

With their support, their Liang Shan could be considered to have stood firm in the Zhu Family Manor,

and would not be a wandering army easily driven away by people using schemes of inside-outside cooperation.

As for the other gamblers, idlers, hooligans, and ruffians without land,

the shrewd Old Master Zhu would not lend them money!

"Long live the Zhang Zhaizhu! Long live the Zhang Zhaizhu!"

The Liang Shan soldiers who maintained order also cheered one after another. ===== CHAPTER 186 =====

The Liang Shan soldiers maintaining order also cheered one after another.