Xianxia version of Water Margin

…

Hujiazhuang, in Hu Rong's study.

After hearing Hu Cheng explain in detail the entire story of his trip to Shuibo Liangshan, including the fact that Jiang Hongfei and the Hu family insisted that Hu Sanniang become their concubine, Hu Rong's face turned ashen, but he dared to be angry but dared not speak.

After struggling for a long time, Hu Rongcai still asked in disbelief: "Is the military power of Shuibo Liangshan really that strong? Could it be that you fell into his trap of suspicion?"

Hu Cheng smiled bitterly: "I also hope that I was deceived, but even if I was deceived, Du Xing and other heroes and heroes couldn't all be deceived, right? At that time, nearly a hundred pairs of eyes saw the water in Liangshan There are tens of thousands of armored Qi warriors, and there are four armies of the horse army alone, whose leaders are Lin Chong, the leopard head, Shi Jin, the nine-patterned dragon, Tang Bin, the powerful warrior, and Yang Zhi, the green-faced beast."

The four horse army leaders Hu Cheng mentioned are all well-known in the world now, and they often work for heaven nearby. They are definitely not fake. From this point of view, most of the military power displayed by Shuibo Liangshan is Not fake.

"The refined salt in Shuibo Liangshan is really inexhaustible? Where did his family collect so much low-priced and good salt? Could it be that he snatched a batch of unpaid salt somewhere? Only what you see Will these be gone once they are sold out?" Hu Rong asked.

"What is Jiang Yan's status in the world now? How could he say anything that would discredit him and turn him from the leader of the world into the laughing stock of the world?" Hu Cheng said.

Hu Rong thought the same, unless Jiang Hongfei did not have such a high status in the arena, so he asked again: "Jiang Yan can really respond to everything in the arena? Fang La, Tian Hu, Wang Qing and many other heroes and heroes in the arena are all selling Jiang Yan's face?" "

"The one sent by Fang La was his direct uncle Fang Wei, and the one sent by Tian Hu was his direct brother Tian Bao. They both brought personal letters and gifts. Wang Qing came in person and even taught Jiang Yan how to punch. He didn't even dare to do anything. Let go." Hu Cheng said.

"Why did Jiang Yan hit Wang Qing?" Hu Rong asked.

"Perhaps there is some personal grudge. I heard Wang Qing say, 'Why don't you hit your little brother a few more times to calm down', but Jiang Yan didn't hit him. Later I heard people say that Jiang Yan is Wang Qing's sworn brother. This is true. If Jiang Yan hadn't protected Wang Qing from then on, how could Wang Qing have gained so much salt market with his current situation? The same goes for Fang La and Tian Hu. Jiang Yan favored them badly, otherwise each family would have been able to get a lot more salt. market." Hu Cheng said.

"Jiang Yan was afraid that the imperial court would be too tired to deal with only his family, so he wanted to support a few people who were as eye-catching as him and teach the imperial court to pay less attention to him." Hu Rong said.

"Those salt merchants also guessed like this, so they all saw that Jiang Yan was unfair, but no one said anything. After all, we are just businessmen. Even if we occasionally use swords and guns, it is to protect ourselves. We are not really like him. If you are like this, you dare to openly confront the imperial court." Hu Cheng said.

Hu Rong nodded: "It doesn't matter if you do business with strong men like them to make spiritual money, but it's not worth it if you ruin your innocence for this."

This time Hu Cheng didn't answer Hu Rong's words, obviously he didn't agree with what Hu Rong said.

Hu Rong noticed the change in his son's attitude.

Thinking about the current difficult situation of the Hu family, Hu Rong also understood why his son's attitude had changed like this.

After a moment of silence, Hu Rong asked again: "Is the refined salt really only 30 cents per catty?"

"If our Hu family completely cuts off the relationship with the Zhu family, we will definitely be able to get this price." Hu Cheng said.

"Now it is no longer a question of price, but which salt market will Jiang Yan give to my Hu family? If he gives me a salt market with convenient transportation and a large population, it is almost the same as giving my Hu family money. The Li family That's it." Hu Cheng added.

Speaking of this, Hu Cheng recalled with a look of regret: "There were so many heroes and heroes who participated in the meeting, but Hu's family didn't even get a piece of the salt market. Everyone else gained a lot, but in the face of those people's mocking eyes and Words, I wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into them."

"Confused! A man should be able to bend and stretch!" Hu Rong educated him.

"Father doesn't know. My personal honor and disgrace don't matter. I'm just afraid that if you and I make the wrong choice again, we will make mistakes. Jiang Yan can be where he is today and has destroyed countless wealthy families. How can I be sent to Hu's family?"

Hu Cheng knew that he had to say a few harsh words to wake up his father who had not yet seen the reality clearly.

Hu Rong was shocked!

In fact, he had realized that what his son said was not alarmist.

In fact, the reason why he chose to form an alliance with Zhujiazhuang in the first place was because he was afraid that members of the Hu family would go to trial.

But Hu Rong was a little unwilling. He was almost old, but his innocence had been stained, and he had to compromise the innocence of a pair of children.

After much hesitation, Hu Rong asked Hu Cheng: "Isn't Li Ying also betting on both sides? Why can his Lijiazhuang do it, but my Hujiazhuang can't?"

Hu Cheng knew that his father still wanted to play both sides without offending him, so he deliberately brought up Li Ying in an attempt to persuade him to continue betting on both sides.

Hu Cheng knew that this was a successful experience summed up by his father's decades of life experience. This set of successful experiences had made Hujiazhuang stand firm for decades, so his father still tended to use this set of successful experiences to solve this problem.

Hu Cheng was not angry because of his father's stubbornness. He believed that as long as he could explain clearly, with his father's wisdom, he would definitely make a wise choice.

"Uncle Li didn't throw himself into Liangshan. He just gave all his fields to Jiang Yan. In the future, most of his fields will be distributed to the tenants of his village. In this way, there will be a gap between his family and Shuibao Liangshan. There is no direct contradiction.”

"Uncle Li didn't marry into the Zhu family, but kept a distance that allowed him to move forward and retreat freely."

"In my opinion, rather than saying that Uncle Li was betting on both sides, it would be better to say that he was betting on neither side."

After listening to Hu Cheng's patient analysis, Hu Rong also realized that Li Ying did not help each other and always remained neutral. For this reason, he even did not hesitate to offend the Zhu family and give Shuibo one-third of Liangshan's wealth. This was different from both sides of him. There is a fundamental difference between the approach of everyone wanting to gain benefits, not wanting to give anything, and not wanting to offend anyone.

Thinking that Jiang Hongfei had compensated the Li family so that the Li family would make a lot of money instead of losing money, Hu Rong asked: "Then my Hu family should follow the example of the Li family and not help each other and remain neutral. Is that feasible?"

Hu Cheng didn't answer and asked instead: "Father is planning to break off the engagement with the Zhu family?"

"this……"

Hu Rong hesitated!

It's not that Hu Rong is reluctant to part with this marriage.

But, if his Hu family breaks off their engagement with the Zhu family at this time, and the Zhu family are not fools, how could they not know that his Hu family is betraying the Zhu family?

In this way, Zhujiazhuang might not stop fighting and annex Hujiazhuang.

And what if his Hu family didn't break off the engagement with the Zhu family at this time?

How could Jiang Hongfei believe that his Hu family would remain neutral?

This choice itself is a dead end, it can even be said to be a dead end.

After a long silence, Hu Rong asked: "Zhujiazhuang and I, Hujiazhuang, really have no chance of winning?"

Hu Cheng did not directly answer Hu Rong's words, but said: "If the temple is not the winner before the battle, it should be counted as more; if the temple is not the winner before the battle, it should be the less. More is the winner, less is not the winner, and what's more, What’s the point?”

Although Hu Cheng didn't say it explicitly, how could Hu Rong not know that what followed these few sentences was: "I will see the outcome based on this."

Think about it again, even before the war started between Shuibo Liangshan and Zhujiazhuang, Jiang Hongfei had sent spies into the three of them. He had already made Lijiazhuang decide not to help each other, and Hujiazhuang was wavering and had basically collapsed. The alliance between their three villages.

In this case, let alone Shuibo Liangshan's overwhelming military power, even if it didn't, Zhujiazhuang's defeat was probably certain.

Thinking that Zhu Chaofeng could be regarded as a hero, but the whole family had to fight, and even before the fight started, they were doomed to lose, Hu Rong couldn't help but sigh!

But when he thought about it again, if he made a mistake in this step, his fate would not be any better than Zhu Chaofeng. How could Hu Rong still be in the mood to worry about his sworn brother?

After going through this matter several times from beginning to end, Hu Rong, like Hu Cheng, could not find any other way out.

In the end, Hu Rong could only ask weakly: "Jiang Yan wants his sister to be his concubine... is it really not negotiable?"

Hu Cheng shook his head: "I really can't think of another way to go."

Hu Cheng took a deep breath and said with some self-reproach: "My family did too much wrong before. Now if we don't hand over this declaration of surrender, how can Jiang Yan believe in the sincerity of my Hujiazhuang to surrender?"

Hu Cheng added: "Now that Jiang Yan has opened his mouth, it will be difficult to take it back."

Hu Rong also knew that some people who were involved in the world took their reputations seriously, so Hu Cheng's guess was not impossible.

After hesitating for a moment, Hu Cheng looked at Hu Sanniang, who was still diligently practicing martial arts and magical powers in the courtyard, and said leisurely: "If I am not wrong, if Jiang Yan wants a younger sister, he might as well teach a lesson to his ignorant younger sister. It’s even harder to teach Jiang Yan to change his mind.”

Hearing what Hu Cheng said, Hu Rong said worriedly: "Then if your sister gets married, will she suffer?"

"No. I have inquired about it. Jiang Yan treats his concubines very well, and his family is very harmonious. None of his concubines are mean people. Furthermore, my sister's martial arts and supernatural powers are not fake. How can you suffer?" Hu Cheng said.

"There's another advantage. Although Jiang Yan has many concubines, he has never established his first wife. If my sister can please Jiang Yan, she might become Jiang Yan's first wife." Hu Cheng added.

"What if I become Jiang Yan's wife? I'm just a strong man's wife." Hu Rong said with low interest.

Unexpectedly, Hu Cheng shook his head: "My father and I have different views."

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Hu Rong asked.

"From what I see in Jiang Yan's behavior, his ambition is definitely not small, and he seems to be someone who will achieve great things. Maybe marrying my sister is a blessing in disguise," Hu Cheng said.

"You mean...Jiang Yan might be able to achieve something big?" Hu Rong pointed to the sky.

Hu Cheng nodded:

"In the past few years, I have traveled south and north. What I have seen is that behind the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, there are actually many problems and signs of decline. The emergence of Jiang Yan, Fang La, and Tian Hu is proof. If there was peace and prosperity, where would it be? If these strong men are allowed to flourish, even if they appear, they will be wiped out quickly."

"But if you look at today, Jiang Yan has clearly become arrogant, but the imperial court does not dare to send an army to encircle and suppress him. Fangla's Manichaeism is a religion that teaches people to rebel, and the imperial court does not dare to ban it. And Tian Hu , it is already said that he is the son of the dragon, and that whoever destroys the Song Dynasty will come out where the dragon and the tiger meet, so what can the court do to him?"

"My family lives here in Liangshanbo, and I know better than anyone how high Jiang Yan's prestige is in this area. If he ascends to the top and shouts, his followers will gather. Within a month or two, I am afraid he will gather dozens of people. Thousands of people.”

"Looking at Jiang Yan's men again, they are both civilized and military, and they are all equipped with four beams and eight pillars. Now, Jiang Yan has an endless way to make money. The trend of water in Liangshan will definitely become bigger and bigger."

Having said this, Hu Cheng looked at Hu Rong and said with stern eyes: "These are not the things I like most about him."

"Then what do you value most about him?" Hu Rong asked.

"What I like most is that he is very organized and not impatient."

Feeling that this was a bit too general, and his father might not be able to understand it, Hu Cheng further explained: "I have seen Fang La's people, Tian Hu's people, including that Wang Qing, and heard about them. My feeling is that all three of his families are extremely impatient in doing things, wishing they could overthrow the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop and seize the country and state of the Zhao family. However, Shuibo Liangshan, which is stronger than his three families, has always acted steadily and never made any rash advances."

Hu Cheng didn't say anything, Hu Rong didn't notice yet.

After hearing what Hu Cheng said, Hu Rong felt the same way.

Hu Chengchang thought: "If Jiang Yan can really achieve something big, and my sister can become Jiang Yan's wife, then my Hu family..."

Hu Rong interrupted Hu Cheng's dream: "You still don't know what kind of temper your sister is? Even if Jiang Yan can achieve great things, she will probably... Sigh~! Forget it, what's the use of talking about this now? How can my family have any choice? , just take it one step at a time."

Although he didn't want to take this step, Hu Rong, who really had no way out, still said: "Go and call your sister."

Soon after Hu Cheng went out, he called Hu Sanniang in.

Hu Sanniang, who still had sweat on her face, asked as soon as she came in: "Dad, what are you doing with me?"

Hu Rong looked at the daughter he had loved so much since she was a child, and he really couldn't explain why he wanted her to marry a strongman as a concubine.

But for the sake of the lives of the Hu family, Hu Rong still asked Hu Cheng to tell Hu Sanniang his experience of this trip again.

Originally, Hu Sanniang was still listening to it with great interest, and she was still a little yearning for the Heroes Conference. She thought it would be interesting to go and see it.

Unexpectedly, Hu Sanniang listened and heard that Hu Cheng said euphemistically that because she clamored to capture Jiang Hongfei, Jiang Hongfei insisted that she be his concubine. If the Hu family dared not agree, the entire Hu family would be destroyed.

Hu Sanniang raised her eyebrows and said, "Afraid of what he might do, the soldiers will come and cover him up with water and earth!"

Hu Cheng shook his head: "Sister, I think it's too simple. I went to see it myself. Even if my three families and several other small villages are united and work together, they are no match for Liangshan. What's more, none of us want to throw ourselves into the water." Those from Boliangshan and those who have made up their minds not to help each other."

Hu Sanniang was filled with indignation and said: "Who wants to surrender to the enemy? Who wants to stand by and watch?"

Hu Cheng is a bit hard to say.

Hu Rong, on the other hand, said quite confidently: "It is my Hu family who wants to surrender to the enemy, and it is the Li family who wants to stand by and watch. The Zhu family is definitely defeated. Are you satisfied this time?"

"this……"

For a moment, Hu Sanniang really didn't know what to say.

Hu Rong hardened his heart and said: "My father has already decided to marry you to the master of Jiangzhai. As a sign of my Hu family's sincerity, you can pack up and your brother will send you to Liangshan tomorrow morning." Married to the leader of Jiangzhai."

I don't know whether it was because he had no face to see Hu Sanniang, or because he was afraid that he would make a decision that would harm the entire Hu family because of his soft heart. In short, after saying these words, Hu Rong left his study room as if he was running away.

Only Hu Cheng, who was preparing to deal with the aftermath, and Hu Sanniang, who was at a loss, were left there...

…

I really want to take a day off! I even thought of reasons to convince myself.

It has been on the shelves for more than 20 days, and I haven't slept before 2 o'clock a day. It's hard enough, and I won't miss this day.

Anyway, today's workload has been completed. It doesn't make much difference whether I add this chapter or not.

It’s already written at this point, and it would be meaningless if I didn’t update it.

More updates on this chapter may not necessarily result in more monthly passes.

Why don't you keep this one and send it out in two days, just as an extra update, and ask for more monthly tickets.

…

In short, when people want to be lazy, they can really think of many excuses to convince themselves.

But in the end, my willpower defeated my laziness.

Sorry, today's second chapter is a bit late. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting.

Also, please give me a monthly pass.