Chapter 1113: A happy marriage, a tragedy at the bottom of the cliff

In "Water Margin", most of the so-called heroes do not live up to their reputation.

There are only two or three people whom Su Mingzhe admires.

Among them, Lu Zhishen deserves to be one of them.

Among the many Tiangang and Disha, in addition to a few heroes that Su Mingzhe admires, there are also some heroes whose personalities are extremely likable.

For example, the 'Prodigal Son' Yan Qing and the 'Little Li Guang' Hua Rong.

When Su Mingzhe heard that the village ahead was Qingfeng Village, he immediately wanted to go in and take a look:
"Tixia, since there are such heroes here, it would be a pity if we don't meet them!"

Seeing that Su Mingzhe agreed with what he said, Lu Zhishen was happy, but he turned around and said with regret:
"Brother Su is right, but our identities are..."

Hua Rong was the "Wu Zhizhai" appointed by the imperial court, an official of the eighth rank.

However, the people of Liangshan were bandits who opposed the imperial court.

Visiting an imperial official as a bandit, isn't that courting death?

Su Mingzhe saw that Lu Zhishen was worried and immediately smiled:
"The captain is too pedantic! I didn't say that everyone should enter Qingfeng Village!"

"Let the leaders lead their troops to set up camp, and we will disguise ourselves. Who can recognize our identities?"

Lu Zhishen did not expect Su Mingzhe to be so skilled and daring. As a bandit, he dared to visit the imperial officials. This was the beginning of his return. He immediately admired him:
"Brother is right!"

Soon, everyone arranged their affairs.

Su Mingzhe, Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong, Chao Gai, Liu Tang, and Yang Zhi walked together and entered Qingfeng Village.

Qingfeng Village was built on the mountain. According to regulations, the village wall was 12 feet high and 20 feet wide.

There were wooden fences and chevaux de frise outside the city wall, as well as several arrow towers more than two meters high.

When the six people arrived at the place, they just said that they were guests from Jeju visiting Huazhi Village.

Soon, a handsome young man came out. Seeing the strangers, he asked in surprise:

"Which hero is looking for me?"

Su Mingzhe knew that this was the real owner, and he immediately bowed and said:
"I am Su Mingzhe from Jezhou. I passed by Qingfeng Village and heard from my brother, the chief, that there is a village leader named Hua here. He is a hero. I came here specially to visit him. I am sorry for any intrusion. Please forgive me, village leader Hua!"

"Su Mingzhe of Jeju? Could it be that you are the master of Liangshan, the 800-li marsh?"

When Hua Rong heard Su Mingzhe's name, he immediately guessed his origin.

Su Mingzhe nodded and acknowledged his identity, and then introduced Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong, Chao Gai, Yang Zhi, Liu Tang and others to Hua Rong.

"It turns out to be Brother Tixia, Brother Jiaotou, Brother Tianwang, Brother Zhishi, and Brother Liu!"

Hua Rong also likes to make friends with heroes all over the world.

The reputations of Lu Zhishen, Lin Chong and Chao Gai are no less famous than Su Mingzhe.

Hua Rong had already heard of them.

As for Yang Zhi, he became famous in the martial arts world because he killed Niu Er and lost the birthday gift.

Only the 'Red-haired Ghost' Liu Tang has no reputation.

However, Hua Rong still treated them with courtesy and directly invited the six people to his official office for tea.

Qingfeng Village has two chiefs, one civil and one military.

Among them, Liu Gao, the governor of Wenzhai, was a temporary official who was transferred every three years.

Hua Rong of Wuzhizhai is hereditary.

The Qingfeng Village, with a radius of one hundred miles, has always been guarded by the Hua family and is considered the Hua family's territory.

After Su Mingzhe sat down, he immediately told Hua Rong that he was planning to rob the Qingfeng Mountain stronghold:
"Brother Hua Rong, after I set up Liangshan, I was determined to stand up for the poor people in the world and fight against corrupt officials until death."

"For example, Liang Zhongshu of Daming Prefecture, this evil thief committed many evils, deprived the people of their wealth and provided for the treacherous minister Cai Jing. I, Liangshan, robbed the birthday gift and helped the people in Jingdong and Jingdong, saving more than ten thousand lives."

"Now Envoy Yang has been implicated by us and has nowhere to go. He is unwilling to go to Liangshan to rest. I have no choice but to think of the Qingfeng Mountain Stronghold that has committed many unjust things. I want to annex them and then give Envoy Yang a place to stay."

"So that's how it is!" After hearing this, Hua Rong looked at Yang Zhi, who looked a little lonely. Remembering that they were both military generals of the Zhao Song Dynasty, he couldn't help feeling sad.

Throughout the Song Dynasty, people have been advocating: "Only those who can have their names called out outside the Donghua Gate are real men."

As for military officers and generals, they were often tattooed or given names to humiliate them.

This makes the position of military generals particularly embarrassing.

Thinking of this, Hua Rong's heart burst out with righteousness:
"Brothers, Qingfeng Mountain is quite powerful. Not only does it have over a thousand soldiers and horses, but it also has three leaders with great martial arts skills. They are guarding the dangerous mountain pass, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack! I wonder how many soldiers and horses Liangshan has dispatched to attack Qingfeng Mountain?"

Su Mingzhe couldn't help but laugh and said:

"What Brother Hua Rong said is exactly what I am thinking. If we attack Qingfeng Mountain by force, I am afraid we will suffer heavy losses, which is not what I want. So, I plan to use wits to defeat him and send people to find a small path and quietly go up the mountain!"

“I’m afraid this won’t be easy!”

Hua Rong thought Su Mingzhe wanted to ask him for directions, so he smiled bitterly and said:

"There are three checkpoints on Qingfeng Mountain. The first two are easy to pass. They are guarded by dozens of people, and you can also climb over from the nearby mountainside ridges."

"But the third pass has steep cliffs on three sides, which are as smooth as a mirror. The third pass is set on the steepest mountain road, so we can only attack by force!"

"Brother Hua Rong, you don't know the methods of Liangshan. The so-called cliffs are like flat ground for us!"

Su Mingzhe laughed and simply invited Hua Rong to watch him attack Qingfeng Mountain tomorrow.

Hua Rong also wanted to see the strength of the two top bandits in Jingdong, so naturally he would not refuse.

Subsequently.

Hua Rong held a banquet and invited six mountain stronghold leaders to drink.

On the second day.

Hua Rong only brought four trusted followers and followed the six people to the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.

When he saw that Liangshan had only sent two hundred people, he was extremely surprised.

"Brother, I heard that you have over 10,000 soldiers in Liangshan. Why did you only bring 200 people with you?"

This time, before Su Mingzhe could speak, Lin Chong smiled proudly:
"It's just a small mountain stronghold. Two hundred people are enough for Liangshan!"

Lin Chong was afraid that Hua Rong would not believe him, so he immediately ordered the leaders, big and small, to start looking for a mountain path and climbing the cliffs.

Since last year, Su Mingzhe has been selecting the best soldiers from Liangshan for training.

And the 300 people he brought with him on this expedition to Qingzhou were all comparable to the special forces of later generations.

Climbing the cliffs is like playing house.

Soon, Lin Chong took the lead and reached the top of a mountain.

After the capstan was set up at the top of the mountain, in less than an hour, twenty of the two hundred men were left to guard the baggage and horses, while the others followed them up the mountain.

When it was noon.

The group had already jumped over several ridges and arrived at the last cliff of Qingfeng Mountain Village.

When Lin Chong reached the bottom of the cliff, he suddenly turned back, with an expression of pity on his face, and reported:

"Brother, there are so many corpses here!"

When Su Mingzhe led the leaders over, they saw that the entire bottom of the cliff was covered with white bones. It was a thick layer, and there were probably thousands of people dead.

Lu Zhishen had a fierce appearance but a kind heart. He could not bear to see such tragic events. He was so angry that he picked up his Zen staff and slammed it hard against the cliff:

"My brother said before that the three leaders of Qingfeng Mountain like to eat human hearts, but I didn't believe it! Now it seems that these three bastards are worse than animals. When we get to the mountain later, I will skin them alive!"

"Brother Tixia, let me kill one too, otherwise, I will be filled with anger!"

Hua Rong always boasted himself as the patron saint of the area within a hundred miles, but such a horrific tragedy happened right under his nose.

This made him feel furious, and he wanted to kill all the bandits on the mountain.

(End of this chapter)