Chapter 39: Divine Medicine Opens the Way, Breaking Through the Liao Dynasty
Cao Jie has already gained some experience in both theory and practice on how to win over heroes in the martial arts world.

In this regard, it is worth learning from Song Jiang.

His three weapons to win people's hearts are actually money, sex and fame, but he has to serve different dishes to different people and hit the key points to have a fatal effect.

Let’s talk about money first.

Song Jiang was very generous with money. He "distributed coffins and medicine, and was willing to help the poor." He was the most generous person in the entire Yuncheng.

He would give Xue Yong five taels of silver for a street performance; when he saw Yan Po and her daughter living in a foreign land, he took on Yan Gong's funeral without hesitation and gave them ten taels of silver for living expenses; he promised to give a coffin to the lonely old man Wang Gong who sold medicine; he would give tips to unemployed vagrants like Tang Niu'er every now and then, and so on.

He used the money to earn a good reputation among the people, and a large group of poor seedlings were waiting for the "timely rain" with their mouths wide open.

Let’s talk about color.

In order to win over Qin Ming, Song Jiang and Wu Yong did not hesitate to set up a vicious plan to kill Qin's family. After beating Qin Ming with a stick, they immediately handed him a carrot: let him become a groom on the night of his wife's demise.

The girl was Hua Rong's sister, and Song Jiang arranged the marriage on behalf of her brother.

Hua Rong is a handsome man at a young age, and I believe his sister Hua is also a beauty.

Qin Ming turned a disaster into a blessing and got the beauty. He must feel that life's ups and downs are so fucking exciting!
Before, he had sworn something like "I am a court servant in life and a court ghost in death", but in front of "lust", he immediately surrendered and even dragged his apprentice Huang Xin into the water.

As for those generals who surrendered from the imperial court, Song Jiang used "name" to appease them.

These people were already senior officials in the imperial court. They had seen a lot of money and could not be easily moved by beauty.

Most people who don't love money or lust value "reputation". Their ideals in life are similar to Yang Zhi's: "to fight on the frontier with a sword and a gun to win a title for a wife and children".

If you want to be a big brother, you must not only be able to judge people, but also think about what others think, worry about what others worry about, and be respectful to others.

Although it's a bit hypocritical, it's not shabby to start a business.

Besides, I am not Song Gongming, who really leads my brothers to start a business and get rich.

Deng Fei, the "Fire-Eyed Suanni", and Meng Kang, the "Jade Banner", were just ordinary people who could not make a living at the bottom of society. How could they bear Cao Jie's caring and meticulous concern?

He then used his eloquent tongue to analyze the pros and cons of highway robbery and business. The overwhelming wealth from international trade had already made the two of them dizzy and dazzled by the huge gold pie.

"It is a blessing for me that my brother chose me to drink from Machuan!"

At Yinmachuan Stronghold, Deng Fei invited Cao Jie to sit on the first chair in the middle of the Juyi Hall, bowed down, kowtowed three times, and said excitedly:

"Brother, why don't you become the leader of this village? I am willing to help you make the cause of conquering the Liao Kingdom bigger and stronger, and create brilliance."

There are two gathering halls in Water Margin, one of which is located in Yinmachuan.

Hearing Deng Fei's words, Ruan Xiaoqi was the first to laugh, and everyone followed suit.

Deng Fei was lifted up by Cao Jie's hands. He couldn't help scratching his head, his red eyes flickering: "Brother, why are you all laughing at me? But what did I say wrong?"

Cao Jie smiled and put Deng Fei in the top position.

Cao Zheng was an honest man, and he explained, "My brother wouldn't want to be the leader of Liangshan, so how could he seize your stronghold and become a bandit?"

"Brother has great ambitions, how can he be trapped in a mountain. If brother becomes the leader of your Yinmachuan, wouldn't that be like a dragon swimming in shallow water or a tiger falling into the plain?" Lu Fang also explained.

Deng Fei patted his head and suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. Yinmachuan is indeed too small. Only the huge Song and Liao countries can accommodate my brother's ambitions... If my brother wants to do big things, he must take Deng Fei with him..."

Cao Jie smiled and said, "Aren't we doing something big right now?"

"Yes, yes, yes...we are doing something big."

Meng Kang brought some wine and meat, and everyone drank and chatted, having a great time.

At the banquet, Cao Jie asked casually, "Before I came to Liao, I heard people in Cangzhou say that bandits gathered in Yinmachuan. They not only intercepted passing caravans, but also ate people. They said that your red eyes were caused by eating human flesh, but I didn't believe it."

Deng Fei burped and said angrily, "Those thieves, after losing their business with me, are making up stories about me. My red eyes are the result of practicing fire qi, how can they be caused by eating human flesh? Let me know who it is, and I will blind his eyes with a puff of smoke."

"You know what, my brother's red eyes are really scary. I'm scared when I see them."

Lu Fang, a hero with extremely high growth attributes, has a low martial arts value now, and his realm is only a small success in refining essence. He is very good at using Fang Tian Hua Ji, and his horse fighting skills are amazing. Seeing Deng Fei, a hero who has achieved success in cultivating qi, today, he naturally admires him and praises him:
"And that fire and smoke move was really unexpected. I saw it from afar and was really scared. Only Brother Ruan is so powerful that he is not afraid. If it were me, Lu Fang, I would have been torn to pieces long ago."

"It's just a ball of hot air. It can scare ordinary people, but it's useless when it comes to heroes like my brothers."

The best way for heroes in the world to enhance their friendship is to flatter each other.

In a short time, they became like real brothers.

With Yinmachuan in hand, they had a small base in the Liao Kingdom.

Mr. Chai's caravan quickly gathered here, and then extended like tentacles to various prefectures of the Liao Dynasty.

Although the Khitan Liao Dynasty was descended from the Xianbei, it was actually a highly sinicized nation. It was deeply influenced by Confucian thought and culture and was proficient in poetry and song.

They even call themselves China and claim to be the descendants of Yan and Huang who inherited the orthodox tradition of the Tang Dynasty.

By the end of the dynasty, the chaos in its administration was even more serious than that of the Song Dynasty.

The Liao nobles were addicted to enjoyment, and the ruling class was corrupt and incompetent, which gave Cao Jie and Chai Jin the opportunity to undermine the Liao Dynasty.

The specific situation is similar to when the Soviet Union collapsed, demons and monsters were rampant.

Their nobles have become corrupt and decadent, their buttocks have become so fat that they can no longer sit on the saddles, their arms can no longer draw bows or raise swords, and they can only hug those beautiful women.

[The medicine] is a miracle drug. For those Khitan nobles who have enjoyed a lifetime of luxury, they are willing to exchange any amount of gold for this miracle drug that can enhance men's sexual function.

Anyway, they are so rich that all they have left is gold.

But Cao Jie and Chai Jin had already agreed that this [medicine] would only be given away and would not be sold.

Everyone knows that free things are more expensive.

With [Yao] paving the way, the "Yanzong" caravan quickly became famous in the Liao Kingdom and became very successful.

A month later, it was already September in the lunar calendar. The weather was clear and cool, and it was the most prosperous time for business.

A caravan from Zhongjing Dading Prefecture secretly brought back a cart of treasures.

Deng Fei stretched out his hand and pulled open the tarpaulin covering it. His red eyes suddenly widened and he said in horror:

"Brother, this... this thing can be bought? Those Khitan nobles are crazy! They must be crazy!"

On the car were not gold, silver or jewelry, but three complete sets of heavy fish-scale armor.

No matter which dynasty it was, privately possessing armor and crossbows was a serious crime.

According to the criminal law of the Tang Dynasty, the crime of privately possessing a set of armor was the same as that of possessing three crossbows. If the number exceeded three sets of armor or five crossbows, the offender would be hanged.

In the future, Nurhaci started an army with thirteen sets of armor and established the Qing Dynasty which lasted for hundreds of years.

Cao Jie didn't know whether the Khitans were crazy or not. He only knew that having these three sets of fish scale armor was equivalent to having three more powerful leather refining masters.

"If Song Wan wears heavy armor, he can definitely become a formidable general."

'It's too heavy for me!'

The palm of your hand gently strokes the fine surface of the nail. The nail plates fit together and overlap each other. There is a softness in the hardness. Wearing it will not affect your movement at all.

As for the appearance, it looks like the armor of the Tang Dynasty, but the Khitan culture is revealed in the patterns. The dark color gives people a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

If you look more closely at each scale, you will find that there are condensed steel warts on them, as well as layers of patterns that look like tree rings, faintly emitting a cold glow.

"Deng Fei, collect the armor, disassemble it into small parts, and transport it back to Liangshan secretly!"

"Yes, brother."

Deng Fei was so excited that he couldn't express it in words after getting such a powerful weapon. His red eyes became even redder...

(End of this chapter)