Chapter 34 Leopard Head, Little Tornado

In Cangzhou, the iconic building today is the "Zhenhaihou" iron lion, which is several feet tall and weighs hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In ancient times, this place often suffered from seawater backflow disasters, so the locals raised money to cast an iron lion, and a master cast the text of the "Diamond Sutra" in its abdominal cavity to suppress tsunamis and floods.

One day, an evil dragon was making trouble in the sea, and the waves were high and fierce. The Iron Lion roared, flew into the air and fought with the evil dragon. In the end, the dragon was defeated and never came out again, and the sea disaster was eliminated.

From then on, the Iron Lion was called the Sea-Suppressing Roar. It suppressed Cangzhou and no evil spirits dared to invade.

Cao Jie and his party looked at the steel behemoth from afar, then drove their horses along the official road. After crossing a large stone bridge, they saw a flat road in front of them. Under the shade of green willows, there appeared a manor that was no less noble than a prince's villa.

It is surrounded by a wide river, and on both sides are large weeping willow trees as thick as an adult's waist, with a white wall in the shade of the trees.

Turning the corner, we arrived at the front of the manor, which was indeed a large manor. There was a poem saying:

The door faces the Yellow Road and the mountain connects to the Azure Dragon.

Tens of thousands of peach trees blossom along Wuling Creek, and thousands of trees bloom in Jingu Garden.

In the Juxian Hall, there are rare flowers that never fade all year round; in front of the Baihui Hall, the eight festivals rival the beautiful scenery of Changchun.

There is a golden plaque with imperial edict hanging in the hall, and an iron certificate of oath in the home.

The red roofs and green tiles shade the nine-story hall; the painted buildings and carved beams make it truly a Sanwei Jingshe.

He is generous and charitable, and he recruits talents better than Tian Wen.

"Erlang, this Mr. Chai is a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty. Judging from his appearance, he is not someone we can cling to."

Ruan Xiaoqi smacked his lips and shook his head slowly.

In his opinion, to be able to build such a luxurious manor, the money must have been plundered from the people.

The three Nguyens did not hate the rich, but they hated the ruling class who were unkind, committed crimes and exploited the farmers.

What he said was quite right. Whether it was the Dashun Dynasty or any other dynasty, the large estate owners and landlords were particularly prone to land annexation. The final result was a vigorous movement to redistribute land.

As a member of the interest group, Chai Jin naturally also annexed land, but his main source of income was still business.

Border trade is a gold mine.

Jinshan, which made Cao Jie extremely envious.

This gold mountain is the trade surplus.

Dasong's military strategy for the north was to pacify Xixia first and then Yanyun. There had been no war between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty for more than a decade.

The word "annual tribute" sounds shameful, but compared to the tens of millions of strings of cash spent on military expenses to start a war, the annual tribute of tens of thousands of strings of cash is really just a drizzle for the wealthy Song Dynasty.

Moreover, the Song and Liao dynasties were able to carry out mutual trade without going to war.

They imported horses, furs, old ginseng, cattle and sheep from the Liao Dynasty, and exported tea, cloth, porcelain, etc.

The trade surplus between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty earned the Song Dynasty an unimaginable amount of money every year.

The annual tribute of tens of thousands of strings of cash was nothing compared to the huge trade surplus, which made the officials in the court put aside the word shame.

The court made the biggest profit, and the small portion that fell into the hands of border families like Chai Jin was enough for Chai Jin to squander.

The underworld is not black and white, it is about interests. Cao Jie knew that Ruan Xiaoqi was straightforward, so he smiled and said, "Seventh Brother, now he is the one who invites me, not me who comes to see him. If you are not happy, just go back. Can he still keep us?"

Lu Fang also laughed: "Haha, brother is right, at worst we can just walk away."

"Let's go! Now that we have dealt with this matter, we can go back and enjoy our lives."

The six men rode their horses to the front of the farm and saw four or five farmhands sitting on a wide plank bridge, all enjoying the cool air.

When they arrived at the bridge, Cao Zheng dismounted and stepped forward to salute, saying, "Brother, please tell the great master that there is a Cao Jie from Yuncheng who wants to see you."

The group of lazy farmhands sat on the stone pier, glanced at the motley horses of the people, and didn't care. They shook their heads and said, "You are unlucky. If the master was at home, there would be wine, food and money for you. He went out hunting this morning."

"I wonder when you'll be back?"

The farmhand waved his hand and said, "It's not certain when. It could be three to five days, or ten days or half a month. It's not like this is the only farm the master has."

"Didn't the great lord tell me? It was a hero named Cao from Yuncheng."

"What surname is Cao? The master didn't tell you. Come back in a few days. Maybe there will be some wine and meat for you."

Ruan Xiaowu sneered: "Erlang, it seems that it is just as Xiaoqi said, this is not a place we can come to!"

"Fifth brother, please forgive the little devils at the door just for once! When I see Chai Jin, I will definitely have a good talk with him."

Cao Jie stretched himself on his horse, and looking ahead, he saw two yamen runners escorting a disheveled prisoner walking towards him. He raised his eyebrows, thinking that it was better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early.

"I am indeed the destined protagonist! I have met you, and you are destined to serve me."

Although he recognized the person's identity, he remained calm.

Not long after, Cao Zheng looked at the criminal with the golden seal on his face seriously, and asked in shock: "Master? You... why are you like this?"

The prisoner had a leopard head, round eyes, a swallow chin and a tiger beard, and was eight feet tall. He was about thirty-four or thirty-five years old. Although he was wearing shackles and looked extremely miserable, there was a gleam of brilliance in his eyes.

"Cao Zheng? Why are you here?"

"Brother!" Cao Zheng did not answer. He turned his head and said loudly to Cao Jie, "My master, Master Lin, is here."

As soon as the voice fell, San Ruan and Lu Fang looked over at the same time:
"But the instructor of the 800,000 imperial guards, Leopard Head Lin Chong, is here?"

Lin Chong didn't recognize the heroes, but they were his apprentice's friends after all. He clasped his shackled hands and said, "It's Lin Chong!"

"Master Lin, what have you done wrong?"

"It's a long story!"

Lin Chong briefly recounted the whole story of what had happened. The three Ruan brothers were so angry that they gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists in anger.

Cao Zheng asked Cao Jie for two bottles of hemostatic medicine, and while applying the medicine, he said, "Master, this is my brother, his surname is Cao and his name is Jie. He is the King of Hell of Yuncheng, Little Mengde."

"Ah! It turns out to be the enemy of the King of Hell who can revive the dead!"

Although Lin Chong was far away in Tokyo, he had heard of his name.

But many of the nicknames in the martial arts world were exaggerated and did not count. He also did not know whether this King of Hell had the medical skills to bring the dead back to life.

But when you are in the world, everyone carries you in a fancy sedan, so a word of praise won’t be too much.

Cao Jie clasped his fists towards him and said, "Master Lin, are you here to look for Master Chai as well?"

Lin Chong smiled bitterly and nodded.

"Well, he seems to be back."

Sure enough, at the end of the avenue, a group of people and horses came galloping towards the village, with an official in the middle, riding a snow-white curly-haired horse.

The man on the horse had dragon eyebrows and phoenix eyes, white teeth and red lips, three teeth covering his mouth and a moustache. He was about thirty-four or thirty-five.

He wore a black gauze scarf with a cluster of flowers on the corners, a purple robe embroidered with dragons and clouds, a delicate belt inlaid with precious jade tied around his waist, a pair of green black court boots with gold thread, and carried a bow with a pot of arrows. He led his followers and rushed to the village.

"Who is this man in the shackles?"

He stopped his horse and immediately looked at Lin Chong who was wearing shackles, while he ignored the others.

"I am a villain, Lin Chong."

"But Leopard Head Lin Chong, the instructor of the 800,000 imperial guards... Oh no!"

Chai Jin jumped off his horse and held Lin Chong's hand.

"May I ask your name, sir?"

"My surname is Chai Jin, and I am also known as the Little Tornado. I have heard of Master Lin's great name for a long time. I also learned that you offended the Grand Commandant Gao Qiu, lost the case, and were exiled to Cangzhou. I am sorry that you passed by my humble home and did not know about it."

"The criminal Lin Chong was exiled here. I dare not."

"Hey! In my eyes, there are only heroes and bears, no criminals. Come, invite Master Lin to come to my farm for a drink!"

He took Lin Chong's hand and walked towards the village.

There are poems:
The pavilion of noble character of the ages gathers here, and all heroes are astonishing. If Zhishen had not saved Lin Chong from death, how could Chai Jin have gained such a great reputation? The men are fierce, the horses are fierce, and they meet to compare their skills and expertise. Unfold the hands that can bind tigers and slay dragons, and come to fight the man who can move mountains and cross seas.

Just as Lin Chong was about to introduce his apprentice Cao Zheng and his group, Ruan Xiaoqi burst out laughing: "Master Chai, why don't you ask my brothers' names?"

Chai Jin frowned slightly, looked at everyone, and said with a bow, "May I ask your names, brothers?"

Cao Jie sneered: "You sent me several letters to invite me here, how come... Wang Lun didn't describe our appearance to you?"

"ah!"

Chai Jin stared at Cao Jie, and was surprised to see that he was a young man with a heroic spirit and a unique charm. He let go of Lin Chong's hand and ran towards him:

"But Yuncheng Yanwangdi, little Mengde, I was blind and didn't recognize the great man. I am guilty..."

(End of this chapter)