Water Margin official

Seven days later, Cui Ye, who rushed to Zengtou City in Lingzhou to inquire about the news, rushed back.

This man stood in the Juyi Hall, clasping his fists and saying: "Brothers and brothers, I have heard clearly."

"There are more than 2,500 farmers in Zengtou City. One of them is the Zeng family. The leader is named Elder Zeng. He moved here more than ten years ago and gathered many farmers here."

"Elder Zeng had five fierce sons, known as the 'Five Tigers of the Zeng Family'. He also recruited two teachers to teach them martial arts. One was named Shi Wengong and the other was named Su Ding." Cui Ye said. Here, he glanced at the leader of the village who was sitting in charge, and continued: "It is said that Shi Wengong and Su Ding both have courage that is unworthy of all men."

Zhang Zhengdao nodded and said: "That Shi Wengong is the fellow disciple of Lu Junyi, the 'Yu Qilin' of Hebei Daming Prefecture. He studied under the 'Iron Arm Golden Sword' Zhou Tong. Their senior brother is Lin Chong, the instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Army in Tokyo, 'Leopard Head'. He is very good at using guns and sticks, and his martial arts skills are indeed superb."

The leaders had certainly heard of the names of Lu Junyi and Lin Chong, and after hearing this, they all stopped their contempt for Zengtou City.

Cui Yedao: "Now there are three to four thousand people gathered in Zengtou City. They have set up five fences in the east, west, south, north, and middle to guard the market town."

"When we entered Zengtou City, it turned out that there was a huge horse market there. After asking about it with the local Han merchants, I found out that the elder Zeng was a Jurchen from the North. He came to our country in the Song Dynasty as a horse trader in the early years. Come on foot, more than 2,500 households have gathered."

"Most of these dealers are Jurchens, who make a living by selling horses. The horse trading in Hebei, Shandong and other places is all dominated by Zengtou City."

Cui Ye slowly introduced: "If outsiders don't know the local situation and come here from the north to sell horses, they will be accused of being a 'horse thief' by the people in Zengtou City and the horses will be robbed. Even if the owner complains, When we arrived at the Lingzhou Yamen, the prefect just made random excuses and never dared to take care of it."

"It seems that Zengtou City started by selling horses." Wen Huanzhang suddenly realized: "No wonder a town with less than three thousand households can raise four to five thousand military horses."

"Brother Cui Ye, please take a seat." Zhang Zhengdao looked around at the leaders of the Juyi Hall and said solemnly: "That Zengtou City is so domineering and so arrogant that it robbed the horses that Mr. Chai Daguan gave to my village. Revenge must be avenged."

Ling Guang stood up and shouted: "The army attacking the mountain has been practicing for a long time and has never made any profit. I am willing to lead the army to conquer Zengtou City and avenge the horse seizure."

The new leader, Li Kui, also shouted loudly: "I, Tieniu, are also willing to go and chop off a few of his bird heads with the ax in my hand to vent my anger on the village."

Wen Zhongrong and others also stood up to ask for a fight.

Zhang Zhengdao waved his hand for everyone to sit down for the time being, and said with a smile: "I already know your brothers' intention to fight."

"It's just that we in Liangshan have few soldiers and food, and it is approaching the cold winter. It is really difficult to support such a war. But the revenge of the horse must be avenged." Zhang Zhengdao glanced at Wen Huanzhang sitting on his left, and then continued: " The military advisor proposed a strategy and sent people to Zengtou City to buy horses under the guise of Yunzhou Prefecture. After they transported the horses, I robbed them halfway in Liangshan and showed Zengtou City something powerful."

"Brother Cui Ye, how did you find out about the road from Zengtou City to Yunzhou? Where can we ambush the troops?" Zhang Zhengdao asked.

Cui Ye quickly stood up and replied: "For the report to the leader of the village, my little brother has inquired along the way. There is a village fifteen miles southeast of Gaotang City, called Jiatan Town. It is the only way to go from Lingzhou to Yunzhou. Here The road is dangerous and there are trees on both sides of the road, so you can set up an ambush."

Wen Huanzhang nodded and said: "The options are here."

Zhang Zhengdao straightened his body and said loudly: "Wang Lun, brother Gong."

When Wang Lun heard the words, he all stood up and listened to the order.

"You two pretended to be the chief clerk of Yunzhou Prefecture and went to Zengtou City to buy horses. You said it was the order of the prefect Liang Shijie. Remember, you only bought a hundred good horses from the North. No more, no less." Zhang Zhengdao asked: "You can first pay a part of the deposit to gain the trust of Zengtou City, and then ask them to send people to transport these one hundred good horses to Yunzhou City."

Min Gong shouted loudly: "Obey the order!"

Wang Lun hesitated for a moment. Although he had doubts in his heart, he could only say: "Wang Lun obeys the order."

"Ling Guang, Wen Zhongrong, Cui Ye, and Li Kui listened to the order. The four of you will lead the 'attack mountain' army of 500 people. They will set up an ambush in Jiatan Town and seize all the 100 good horses. You must not One horse is missing." Zhang Zhengdao continued to pass down the general's order.

The four leaders were overjoyed, and they all stood up and clasped their fists to accept their orders.

"The rest of the leaders, guard the stronghold and don't make any mistakes." Zhang Zhengdao also stood up and shouted loudly: "This is the first time we raised troops in Liangshan. We did not disturb the local and state capitals along the way. We only brought back a hundred good horses to show off to us. Shanzhai is famous."

All the leaders stood up and shouted: "I will obey my brother's order."

The owner of Liangshan Park gave an order, and everyone from the top to the bottom of the stronghold moved out.

Five hundred strong men from the attacking army, neatly organized, each armed with swords and guns, boarded Ruan Xiaoer's naval vessel, crossed the water, and landed at the Dongshan Hotel managed by Zhu Gui.

For the sake of caution in sending troops this time, Zhang Zhengdao decided to lead the team in person to earn the horses from Zengtou City.

In order to deal with the elite soldiers transporting horses in Zengtou City, Zhang Zhengdao brought all the forty strong bows that the village had, including twenty or thirty fishing nets, for use in ambush.< /p>

Wen Huanzhang and several leaders who stayed behind in the village came to see him off.

After sending Zhang Zhengdao off the boat, Wen Huanzhang said again: "Master of the village, if something cannot be done, return to the village immediately. Do not act recklessly and look for good opportunities in the future."

Zhang Zhengdao smiled and said: "Don't worry about the military advisor, I will reflect on myself."

Ruan Xiaoer said to Ling Guang and others: "Brothers, we must protect the leader of the village."

Li Kui touched the ax in his hand, made a crisp sound, and shouted: "As long as I, Tieniu, are here, I will definitely not hurt my brother, the leader of the village. If I do, I, Tieniu, will chop off that man's head." Avenge my brother."

Zhu Gui scolded: "Tieniu, you are talking nonsense again. If someone hurts the leader of the village, I will chop off your head first."

Li Kui grinned and said: "That's not possible. If you chop off my bird's head, why should I drink wine?"

Everyone laughed when they heard this. Wen Zhongrong raised the zhangba spear in his hand and said, "Don't worry, second brother Ruan, I will definitely protect my brother."

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Zhengdao raised his hands and said to the leaders who were seeing him off: "Liangshan Dazhai will be entrusted to you brothers."

Everyone also clasped their fists and shouted: "Take care, Master!"

Zhang Zhengdao got on his horse, waved his hand, and said energetically: "Let's go."

Ling Guang, Wen Zhongrong, Cui Ye, Ni Gong, and Wang Lun all got on their horses, commanded five hundred strong soldiers, and headed north.

Li Kui couldn't ride a horse, so he followed the minions with a pair of axes, looking here and there.

More than five hundred people, carrying weapons and dry food on their backs, traveled at dawn and stayed overnight. They only took the less traveled path and did not enter the city. It took them four full days to reach the beach fifteen miles southeast of Gaotang Prefecture. Town.