Chapter 219

Zhang Jie met with Brother Chao Gai Gai and the others who had made up their minds to join.

'To make a proud person bow their head, one must fiercely surpass them in the direction of their pride.'

Zhang Jie, who learned the ins and outs, sighed in his heart.

What Brother Chao Gai Gai was most proud of was not his position as the village head of Dongxi Village,

nor the title of "Pagoda-Lifting Heavenly King" praised by villagers and greenwood friends,

but the strength he had honed for half his life, which was hard to find a match for.

And now, his proud strength was nothing in front of Lu Zhishen, who had cultivated the "Crazy Demon Staff Technique,"

which was improved from the "Subduing Demon Staff Technique," one of the seventy-two Shaolin stunts from the Heavenly Dragon World,

and was more suitable for his physique and spirit,

making him let go of the pride in his heart.

Heroes in Water Margin who were naturally gifted, combined with internal energy that could develop human potential, were simply a match made in heaven.

Wu Song, who could kill a tiger, and Lu Zhishen, who could uproot a weeping willow, were simply born with bodies for hard training and external skills,

and when practicing martial arts, they were like fish in water, their combat power incomparable to their former selves.

After sighing, Zhang Jie began to think about the arrangements for Brother Chao Gai Gai and the others.

Brother Chao Gai Gai and Liu Tang were both warriors with strength, so there was nothing to ponder;

he directly arranged for them to enter the new recruit training camp for training first.

After the training was completed, whether they would be infantry, cavalry, or navy,

would depend entirely on their performance and choices.

Bai Sheng was known as a "gentleman of the beams," which is to say a thief, with a thin figure and shifty eyes,

earning the nickname "Daylight Rat"; letting him go directly to the battlefield was simply sending him to his death.

However, Bai Sheng's acting skills were acceptable; when cleverly seizing the Birthday Gift, he disguised himself as a wine seller,

deceiving Yang Zhi, who was highly mentally tense and wary of all outsiders.

After joining Liang Shan, he also had many deeds of scouting for news and delivering information,

so after some thought, Zhang Jie decided to assign him to Liang Shan's intelligence department.

It just so happened that Zhu Gui, who was currently in charge of Liang Shan's intelligence department, had been complaining that the operation was too large,

needing to collect intelligence on the Great Song, and even paying attention to news from the Great Liao and Western Xia, and his subordinates were seriously understaffed.

'However, this "Star of Wisdom" Wu Yong...'

Regarding the arrangement for Wu Yong, Zhang Jie was troubled for a moment.

Wu Yong had always worn a feather fan and silk scarf, styling himself as a "Little Zhuge,"

but his actual talent was far from that of Zhuge Kongming.

Most importantly, Wu Yong's mind was extremely vicious, and he only used poisonous schemes.

The difference between him and Zhuge Kongming was:

Zhuge Liang: I use a small scheme to make him willing to submit and serve me.

Wu Yong: I have a scheme that can make his family ruined, his wife and children scattered, and force him to go up the mountain.

Looking at the entire "Water Margin," there were countless heroes who were ruined by him.

Wang Lun was one of the unlucky ones: when he and Lin Chong had a conflict,

Lin Chong hadn't made up his mind to kill him,

but Wu Yong directly said, "You must not hurt the leader's life!"

which made Lin Chong decide to kill him, ending his life with one blade.

Other "Jade Qilin Lu Junyi" and "Golden Spear Hand" Xu Ning were all victims under his hands.

But one thing had to be admitted: although Wu Yong's schemes were vicious,

he was indeed a core figure in Liang Shan's development and growth.

Without these leaders with various abilities that he "tricked" up the mountain,

Liang Shan would likely have been wiped out by the imperial court before waiting for amnesty.

Wu Yong was a typical example of Jianghu cleverness,

achieving his goals by any means necessary, without any moral bottom line.

'Should I kick him off the mountain?'

Zhang Jie couldn't make up his mind for a moment.

'Forget it, let's keep him.'

Zhang Jie pondered carefully and decided to keep Wu Yong on Liang Shan.

Although Wu Yong's mind was vicious, in the end, he was just a military advisor,

only responsible for making suggestions, and whether to use them depended on the boss's decision.

Song Jiang was obedient to Wu Yong, which allowed Wu Yong's poisonous schemes to succeed frequently.

But now it was different; the Liang Shan Village Master was him, Zhang Jie, not Song Jiang,

and the Liang Shan under his command was not comparable to the Liang Shan under Song Jiang.

Even if Wu Yong offered a poisonous scheme, he could completely choose not to adopt it.

'Moreover, having a vicious mind is not without its benefits!'

Zhang Jie's eyes became deep.

In any force, there are always some unspeakable things that need to be done,

such as assassinations, poisoning, monitoring subordinates, and interrogation by torture.

Just like how there is always a dark root beneath the light of the Fire Shadow,

light and darkness are always a pair of twins; there is no completely bright light,

nor is there completely dark darkness.

Among the scholars under his command, Chen Wenyun was a gentleman and wouldn't do such things.

Wang Lun was a guy who wanted to wash his reputation clean and was quite capable, but not suitable for such things.

Just as every piece of toilet paper has its use, no one is Louis XVI's hat—

completely useless; Wu Yong naturally had his place.

Only Wu Yong had just come up the mountain, urgently needing merit to gain a foothold,

and he had a vicious mind, not caring about public opinion at all, making him the most suitable person to do unspeakable things.

Of course, he would also discuss this matter with Wu Yong,

if he really only had vicious schemes but was bright himself,

and was unwilling to do such things, he wouldn't force him.

After all, a forced melon is not sweet, especially when doing such dark things.

'That's decided.'

After some thought, Zhang Jie decided on the destination for Brother Chao Gai Gai and the others.

"Wine, give me wine!"

In a tavern by the side of the road from Great Ming Prefecture to Bianliang, a slovenly,

disheveled man was holding a wine pot with blurry eyes, wanting to pour out wine.

But even after shaking it several times, not a drop of wine flowed out.

Clearly, all the wine in the pot had already entered his stomach.

"Guest, you have already drunk five pots of wine, you can't drink any more!"

The waiter serving on the side looked at the several wine pots lying on the table and hurriedly advised.

"Why, are you afraid I'll short you on the wine money?

Let me tell you, I have plenty of wine money!"

The man raised his head, took a piece of broken silver from his bosom, and slammed it onto the table with a "bang."

On the man's face was a palm-sized,

blue-purple birthmark, making him look exceptionally ferocious.

Who else could this be but the unlucky Yang Zhi, whose Birthday Gift was seized by Brother Chao Gai Gai and the others?

The waiter looked troubled: "Guest, it's not a question of wine money, it's a question of your body.

If you keep drinking like this, even an iron body won't be able to support it!"

The waiter could tell at a glance that this man had encountered difficulties and was drinking to drown his sorrows.

But if he kept drinking without restraint and drank himself to death, what would a small tavern like theirs do?

They were a proper tavern doing proper business, the kind that had reported to the county government,

not a black shop that opened a black shop and slaughtered guests in the physical sense.

It was only because this man was burly and looked like he had good skills,

otherwise, he would have had the heart to throw this man out directly.

Die wherever you want, just don't die in our shop,

encountering such a guest is truly the worst luck in eight lifetimes!