Chapter 73: "Unhappy" Li Zhong, "Flower Field Mistake" Zhou Tong

Lu Zhishen came down from Taohua Mountain, carrying a water-milled Zen staff with an unhappy look on his face, and led Zhang San, Li Si and others to Qingfeng Village.

As expected, he was not liked by Li Zhong and Zhou Tong.

Although they did not fall out with each other, the two kings on Peach Blossom Mountain politely escorted him out of the mountain gate and gave him a lot of silver, but they felt sorry for asking him to surrender and be recruited by them.

"Tiger-fighting General" Li Zhong and "Little Bully" Zhou Tong were really scared by the big monk.

Think about it, my marriage was disrupted, and you said I forced her to marry you. I was not right, and I asked for the beating.

You, Lu Zhishen, have a big fist, you are right.

I, the little bully, dare not refute. If you ask me to swear, I will swear too. I will stick to my words and I will not harass Miss Liu.

But we brothers kept you in the mountain village with good food and drink, and then went down the mountain to rob to earn money for you. When you came back and found that your house had been robbed, it felt like shit.

Cao Jie looked at the depressed Lu Zhishen with a faint smile on his face. This monk was indeed a good man, but he was also a bit thick-skinned.

Is Li Zhong stingy?
Cao Jie didn't think so. Shi Jin used ten taels of silver to support Jin Cui Lian and her daughter. That was because he was a rich son of a landlord and had at least a hundred taels of silver in his pocket for travel expenses.

Li Zhong took two taels of silver, which he earned from selling medicine on the street. It was all hard-earned money, and might be most of his property.

You can't say that someone is "unpleasant" or look down on them just because of this.

As for how he later became the king of Taohua Mountain, he said that he went down the mountain to rob people to earn money, and he was reluctant to give away the many gold, silver and wine vessels in the mountain stronghold.

I want to do the splits again.

Zhou Tong used all the money in the village to marry his wife, but what is the value of gold and silver wine vessels? In their craftsmanship and art.

How could Li Zhong, who came from the lower working class, bear to melt down the good wine vessels and use them as silver?

Isn't this a waste of money?

All I can say is that people of different classes, world views and outlooks on life are different, so they can't pee in the same pot.

However, Li Zhong and Zhou Tong, representatives of the lower working class who resisted the oppression of the feudal dynasty, were also valued by Cao Jie.

But he was obsessed with becoming the "Human Emperor" and wanted to be a figure like the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and obtain unparalleled soul talent.

Naturally, we must learn from Taizu...

"That Li Zhongduan is so unhappy that it really irritates me."

After drinking a bowl of wine, Lu Zhishen slammed the bowl heavily on the table.

After pouring him a bowl of wine, Cao Jie comforted him, "Brother Zhishen, birds have their own ways, and beasts have their own ways. I'll give you a place to go. Take Erlong Mountain, and you will be the king of the mountain."

"I don't want to be bullied on Taohua Mountain. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and take action, which will ruin my brother's plan. Tomorrow I will go to Erlong Mountain..."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Erlong Mountain is high and dangerous. We can only conquer it with our wits."

"Brother Zhishen, you should just listen to my instructions! Don't try to be stubborn anymore."

Hearing Jiao Ting's words, Lu Zhishen snorted again, pouted his lips and clasped his fists, saying: "I will follow my brother's arrangements this time."

When he came, he had set up a flag, intending to take Peach Blossom Mountain for Cao Jie single-handedly and without fighting, but plans could not keep up with changes, which really made Lu Zhishen feel embarrassed.

He is a person who cares most about face.

At this time, Wu Song walked into the yard and clasped his fists and said, "Brother, Brother Zhishen, there is a man named Liu Taigong from Taohua Village at the foot of Taohua Mountain. I think he can become one of ours. Do you want to meet him?"

"Emperor Liu from Taohua Village?"

Lu Zhishen said in a deep voice, "Last year, I stayed in his village and helped him get rid of Zhou Tong who forced his only daughter to marry. You can call him over."

Cao Jie also nodded, and Wu Song immediately walked out and brought in a destitute old man.

This man had a daughter in his middle age and had worked hard all his life, so he naturally looked old, but in fact he was only in his fifties.

"Master Liu, do you recognize me?" "Oh! It's Master Zhishen..."

"Come here, this is my brother. Zhizhai is also my brother. If you have any grievances, just tell me and I will help you."

"Master Zhishen." Liu Taigong laughed bitterly, "The government has imposed a huge tax on our family. Even if we have a fortune, it's not enough for the tax collectors to exploit us! We can't survive, we really can't survive!"

Lu Zhishen smiled awkwardly, scratched his bald head, and said angrily: "The officials are forcing the people to rebel. The court really doesn't want people to live..."

"Alas! If I had known this would happen, I would have invited that mountain king to be my son-in-law last year, and I could have saved my family property. Now... my daughter is about to be sold to a wealthy family as a concubine..."

Lu Zhishen's face became even uglier.

Cao Jie comforted him, "It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost. What are Mr. Liu's plans for the future?"

"Sir, we really don't have the ability to donate grain to suppress bandits."

"Those who have strength will contribute strength, and those who have food will contribute food. Liu Taigong lives at the foot of Taohua Mountain, so he must know the real situation of Taohua Mountain. I wonder what the characters of the two mountain kings are like?"

Liu Taigong thought for a moment, looked at Lu Zhishen again, and said, "To be honest with you, Li Zhong, the Tiger-Fighting General, and Zhou Tong, the Little Tyrant, did not cause trouble to our neighbors. They only robbed merchants traveling north and south, and their lives were also hard."

"I heard that Zhou Tong wants to force your daughter to marry him?"

"Alas! He used twenty taels of gold and a piece of red brocade as a betrothal gift. I was too harsh on him last year..."

Jiao stood behind Cao Jie, his eyes widened immediately. "Oh my god, twenty taels of gold? Does your daughter have a golden vagina? You old man, you really look down on others!"

"..."

Liu Taigong was angry but did not dare to be angry, and could only smile bitterly.

Looking back now, I was really blinded by greed back then.

Zhou Tong chose an auspicious day and came to the village to become a son-in-law.

This shows that Zhou Tong followed the procedure of a formal marriage, and it was not a "bride kidnapping" in the usual sense, where he would just abduct the woman and run away to make her his concubine.

Moreover, Zhou Tong was going to be a son-in-law.

In the Song Dynasty, although it was common for a son-in-law to marry into the family, the status and position of a son-in-law was obviously very low. Zhou Tong took the initiative to become a son-in-law when he had an absolute advantage, showing his considerate side.

Next, Zhou Tong dressed in festive clothes, brought a group of followers, with wild flowers in their hair, and came to Liu Taigongzhuang to pick up the bride with music and music. When Zhou Tong met Liu Taigongzhuang, he also addressed him before "father-in-law" and after "Taishan", which was the minimum respect for the elders.

Unfortunately, Zhou Tong did not touch Miss Liu in the brothel, but touched the naked Lu Zhishen, and was then ridden on and beaten violently by Lu Zhishen.

Later, Lu Zhishen and Zhou Tong broke arrows as a vow, asking him to "obey me, throw away the old ones, and don't choose a good one."

Zhou Tong kept his word and never bothered Miss Liu again. He never looked for other women again. I wonder if it was because of the psychological trauma he had from this incident or because he was infatuated with Miss Liu.

Li Zhong was not unhappy, and Zhou Tong was not lustful.

They are just ordinary people who were forced to go up the mountain!

Dong Ping, the military commander of Dongping Prefecture, was good at using two guns and was braver than ten thousand men. He was also handsome and had a dignified appearance. People called him "the brave two-gun general and the elegant marquis."

Such a "middle-level figure" who was praised by Jin Shengtan as "a true hero, a true romantic, not even as worthy of mention as Wen Taizhen" actually did such a dirty thing.

At first, Dong Ping had a crush on the daughter of Cheng Taishou of Dongping Prefecture and sent people to ask for marriage many times. Cheng Taishou refused. When Liangshan launched a large-scale attack, Dong Ping asked Cheng Taishou again, clearly intending to take advantage of the situation. Cheng Taishou declined again, which made Dong Ping very angry.

Next, when Dong Ping went to battle, he was captured alive by Liangshan heroes and surrendered to Liangshan. After that, Dong Ping led a large group of Liangshan troops to capture Dongping Prefecture, and the first thing he did was to "kill the whole family of Cheng Taishou and take away the daughter."

Dong Ping did the things like "killing a whole family and robbing someone's daughter" without even frowning.

In the final analysis, the reason why Li Zhong and Zhou Tong are disliked is that they lack strength.

Cao Jie never judges people by their appearance. A general has his uses, a craftsman has his uses, and Li Zhong and Zhou Tong naturally have their uses too.

The clouds are in the blue sky and the water is in the bottle!
"Emperor Liu, if I give you another chance, would you be willing to marry your daughter to that 'little tyrant' Zhou Tong?"

(End of this chapter)