Chapter 221: Zong Ze Guards Liangshan Lake

The "Strategies of the Warring States" records: "Shandong soldiers wore armor and helmets to fight. Qin soldiers threw away their armor and rushed to the enemy naked, carrying heads in their left hands and prisoners in their right hands."

Zong Ze was well-versed in poetry and literature, and he was well aware of the Qin people's desire for war.

The letter in his hand recorded the war between Jin and Liao in a plain style, which made him imagine the terror of the Qin people.

That was the Battle of Yique which took place during the Warring States Period.

On one side was a phalanx of more than 200,000 Han-Wei allied forces armed to the teeth; on the other side was a hundred thousand naked Qin troops running wildly with heads hanging from their waists.

The regular armies of Han and Wei had never seen such a terrifying opponent and were defeated and fled by the Qin soldiers whose number was less than half of theirs.

What’s even more terrifying is that the heavy rain caused the river to surge, blocking the coalition forces’ retreat route.

Thus, 240,000 elite soldiers were completely wiped out by a group of "barbarians without martial ethics". It was the kind of "complete annihilation" in which there was not even a single person who went back to describe the horrors of the war!
"Sir, you are a capable minister who can govern the country. You should be able to see that the Liao Kingdom is going to fall. In less than ten years, the Jin people will march south. Ten years later, you will be seventy years old. I wonder if you will still be able to pick up your sword and mount your horse to keep the invaders out of the country?"

Cao Jie spoke calmly and without haste, and everything he said was well-reasoned and well-founded.

The Song Dynasty was in tatters, but the enemy was growing stronger.

The Five Barbarians' Invasion of China seemed to be happening right before our eyes.

Zong Ze was a man who could think ahead. He glanced at Cao Jie and said with his hands behind his back, "Each generation has its own responsibilities. I believe there will be someone who can turn the tide and revive the Song Dynasty."

“I hope so!”

"If you are willing to surrender, it will be a blessing for Shandong and the whole world. I will give you titles for your wife and children as well as taking things from your sack. If you surrender one day, I will serve as your staff, resist the Jin people, turn the tide, and I may even be made a marquis or a prime minister."

Cao Jie is trying to win over Zong Ze, and in the past six months, Zong Ze has also been promising him a lot.

Unfortunately, Cao Jie had already seen through history and was not moved at all.

"The Song ship is rotten, and I don't want to sink into the bottomless abyss with it. Sir, why don't you help me rebuild a brand new ship and sail towards the light. By then, the old will have a place to live, the strong will have a place to work, the young will have a place to grow, and the poor, widowed, lonely, disabled and disabled will all be taken care of... This is the way of the great way! What a prosperous age it will be! Sir, you will be the second Taigong Wang."

"Bah! Are you worthy enough to compare yourself to King Wen?"

Both of them are determined people and neither of them can convince the other.

After talking too much, they started arguing again.

But for Cao Jie, keeping Zong Ze stable is enough.

It doesn't matter if he is unwilling to help me start my own business, as long as he doesn't work as an official in the Song Dynasty and doesn't cause trouble for me.

One is Zong Ze and the other is Han Shizhong, just take down these two.

There will be half the obstacles in the future.

As for Yue Fei, he is too young and his stage will only come in a dozen years.

In the inner house, the banquet has been set, with eight hot dishes, eight cold dishes, and a pot of old wine. Cao Jie's women either act as maids or keep him company.

"Miss Liu!"

When he saw Liu Hui Niang, Zong Ze put away his cold expression and showed a kind smile.

"Old man, don't bother me. I can't show you the data."

Zong Ze didn't care at all, he actually raised his glass to toast her, and said with a smile: "I especially like people with outstanding abilities. Although you are a woman, you have extraordinary talents, not inferior to Shen Mengxi in any way. I toast you a glass."

"Drinking is fine, just don't try to use my artillery." "I'm just a little curious! Today is your family dinner, since you invited me, then I am an elder. Boy, you see I'm almost sixty years old, and I've been a little powerless lately. I won't live long! I just want to see what a real firearm is before I die..."

Zong Ze started to play the emotional card.

Cao Jie personally poured him more wine and said with a smile: "You will live a hundred years, and you still have at least forty years to live!"

"Everyone knows their own business! It's useless! Just consider it as fulfilling my last wish."

"Jiang Taigong came down the mountain to assist King Wen at the age of eighty, and you are sixty, in the prime of your life."

"boom!"

Zong Ze put the wine glass heavily on the table, puffed his beard and glared at me, "You are a stubborn kid, aren't you? You tricked me into going up the mountain and left me alone for more than half a year. You are not a human being! You are not a human being!"

"What can I do if the master is unwilling to assist me?" Cao Jie spread his hands, acting like a scoundrel.

"Okay! Liangshan has thousands of soldiers and nearly 10,000 registered households, so it can be considered a large county. But the management is a mess. What do you think of me being the county magistrate?"

"Sir, you are not going to pretend to surrender and find out the strength of Liangshan!"

"So what?" Zong Ze said angrily, "You are right. I believe I have the talent of a great master. Not to mention sixty, even if I am seventy or eighty, I can still govern a region and revive the Song Dynasty. The small Liangshan is just a stumbling block in my life!"

"Sir, you are still strong despite your old age." Cao Jie stood up, bowed, and said:

"Then please let me serve as the Marquis of Liangshan. I have two suggestions. The first is education. There are many rude people on the mountain. I hope you can teach them to become talents. The second is the herdsmen. Although the surrounding people have come to us, without management, there is no cohesion..."

Zong Ze had a dark face. He was on a pirate ship and was unwilling to die. The court was in chaos and the Jurchens were rising. This old man really wanted to live a few more years for this world.

Soon, the news that Zong Ze was guarding Liangshan spread throughout the mountain.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there are disputes.

There are tens of thousands of people on Liangshan, and there are more or less frictions and conflicts among them.

In the past, problems were solved violently. If there was a conflict, they would fight to resolve it. If the conflict could not be resolved, the leader would beat up both parties and give them a sweet treat, and that would be considered the problem solved.

Now that Zong Ze is in charge, we can solve those complicated people's livelihood issues rationally and well-foundedly.

That night, Cao Jie set up a small government in Liangshan, with Zong Ze as the chief officer, "Iron-faced" Pei Xuan transferred back from Qingfeng Mountain to serve as a judicial officer, Xiao Rang as a clerk, and Li Jun concurrently as an inspector.

Although there is a trend towards separation of military and political affairs, it actually still serves the military.

Thousands of soldiers are going to settle down on Liangshan Mountain.

With a woman and offspring, you have a home and a sense of belonging.

If you live a chaotic and carefree life as a bandit, drinking from big bowls of wine, eating big chunks of meat, and dividing gold with big scales, you may seem to be living a happy life, but in fact you are a group of scattered sand.

How can this business grow bigger and stronger?

At nightfall, Cao Jie finally finished the work at hand.

Chen Liqing had been waiting for a long time, and she hugged Cao Jie's arm and said in a tender voice: "Husband, it's getting late."

Cao Jie was still in shock. He silently withdrew his arm from the mountains, took the letter from Liao and sat back at the desk. He said with a straight face, "If you have something to say, please tell me. Does my cheap father-in-law feel that he is doing well again?"

(End of this chapter)