As one of the Liangshan bosses, Chai Daguan is naturally qualified to participate in discussions regarding the government and army.
The imperial court sent 8,000 troops headed by Hu Yanzhuo, including 3,000 horse troops and 5,000 infantry troops. They were divided into three groups, front, middle and rear, and rushed towards Liangshan.
Tan Ma got the news and immediately sent it back to his hometown in Liangshan.
Official Chai listened for a while, ignored Song Jiang and others' countermeasures, and said with a smile to Qin Ming: "Commander Qin, when did the local imperial army become so rich, and they came with an army of three thousand horses?"
"this……"
Qin Ming was also speechless, shaking his head and saying: "The general is really unclear!"
As we all know, the Song Dynasty lost Youzhou and the horse breeding land in the northwest, and was the dynasty with the greatest shortage of horses in the history of the dynasty.
Even the Bianliang Forbidden Army does not have many cavalry troops. It is not expected that a mere Hu Yanzhuo can gather three thousand cavalry troops.
If they really let go, wouldn't the Song cavalry be able to fight with the Liao cavalry and the Jin cavalry in the future?
"High-ranking officials should not be careless. Hu Yanzhuo is the successor of the famous founding general Hu Yanzan, and his family background is definitely extraordinary!"
Wu Yong reminded from the side: "I heard that he is good at using double whips, and he has the courage that ten thousand people cannot do..."
"Don't, don't, don't mention anything to me about courage that is unworthy of all men!"
Official Chai waved his hands repeatedly and said amusedly: "Isn't Hu Yanzhuo a general in charge of the army? How does his martial arts have anything to do with the combat effectiveness of the army?"
"this……"
Wu Yong looked confused. He used to compare the combat effectiveness of the army with the combat effectiveness of the Jianghu.
Next to them, Song Jiang and Chao Gai also stopped discussing and looked over.
"Why are you looking at a certain family?"
Official Chai said angrily: "We should ask Commander Qin and General Huang who are the wise men. What are the local imperial troops like? Who are the heroes here who can compare with them?"
Qin Ming's face turned red and he said in embarrassment: "The local imperial army is indeed incompetent. I just don't know what the strength of Hu Yanzhuo's troops is?"
Huang Xin couldn't help but said: "The Forbidden Army has been corrupted for a long time. Not to mention the lack of training, the situation of empty pay is particularly serious. The lives of the officers and soldiers below are not very good!"
When the Liangshan leaders heard this, they immediately became energetic and high-spirited. If Hu Yanzhuo's troops who came to encircle and suppress were like this, then they would have nothing to worry about.
Chai Daguan laughed and said unceremoniously: "You two still don't want to go too far, so let's talk about it!"
When all the leaders in the lobby gathered their attention, he chuckled and said: "In a certain family's opinion, the Forbidden Army is not so much an army as it is the best day laborer!"
"In addition to their combat capabilities, they farm the land, deliver food and help buy vegetables, deliver invitations and play music and sing at the thirty-thousand-liang house. They are proficient in everything. It can be said that they are the most profitable army!"
As he spoke, he looked at Lin Chong and said with a leisurely smile: "Instructor Lin, do the Bianliang Forbidden Army look like this?"
Lin Chong's face suddenly turned red from holding back the pain, and he coughed repeatedly without making a sound, but the meaning was already very obvious.
Tsk…
All the leaders present were immediately in high spirits. They did not expect to hear such breaking news, and the worries and fears they had in their hearts had long since disappeared.
The Bianliang Forbidden Army has become the "most profitable army". One can imagine how bad the situation of the local Forbidden Army is.
Is there anything else to discuss?
"What do the senior officials think of this battle?"
Song Jiang was also confident and subconsciously asked: "What kind of strategy should we adopt?"
"Try it out first!"
Chai Daguan smiled and said: "If the generals and officers on the opposite side are willing to challenge each other, then they can swarm up and capture them!"
"What is your reaction? The two armies are using all possible means to fight, and you still want to say that the rules of the world are broken and the winner is not blamed!"
Chai Daguan was very rude and said with a smile: "If the officers and generals are not impulsive, we will find a suitable opportunity to fight with them hand-to-hand!"
"No matter how bad the officers and soldiers are, they have received certain military training, and there are sharp armors and weapons available for use. What we can rely on here is the bravery of our leaders and the bloody spirit of our subordinates!"
At this time, except for Qin Ming and Huang Xin's men who had undergone a little training, the rest of the Liangshan troops were at the level of group fighting.
Perhaps the sick Wei Chi and Sun Li were capable of training and commanding troops, but it was a pity that he was not taken seriously.
As for Xiao Li Guanghuarong, the so-called Qingfeng Village Wuzhi Village before was actually a leader of a militia with no rank. He relied on his own bravery and charisma to fight. As for his military literacy and commanding ability, don't expect too much.
Song Jiang subconsciously looked at Wu Yong, and Chao Gai also reacted the same way...
"What the official said makes sense, let's just follow the official's wishes and give it a try first!"
Wu Yong didn't have any good ideas. He used his knowledge and ability to calculate people's hearts, and he didn't understand the specific military strategy.
Although I don’t think Chai Daguan’s words are very pleasant, after careful consideration, they make sense, so let’s give it a try.
The matter was settled in this way, and soon the front camp of Liangshan became lively, and the baggage and horses of the rear camp also set off, while Chao Gai and Chai Daguan stayed behind in the camp.
"Why don't you, high officials, go take a look?"
Chao Gai was bored and went directly to the clean and tidy back camp to talk to the official Chai.
"It's just noobs pecking each other, what's there to see?"
Chai Daguan said with a smile: "As long as Brother Gongming acts according to the previous plan, even if he fails to solve the invading army, it will not be difficult to teach them a lesson!"
"Anyway, Liangshan is protected by eight hundred miles of water. Even if you can't do it, you can just shrink back and hide, at least safety won't be a problem!"
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "With the current food reserves in the mountain, it won't be a problem to stay there for a year and a half!"
"These words from the high official are too depressing!"
Chao Gai shook his head and disagreed: "If we can win, we can't be careless, so that our Liangshan name can be even more famous!"
"I don't want Liangshan's name to be too loud!"
Chai Daguan shook his head and said: "The imperial court is a behemoth after all. Even if the officials and soldiers are corrupt and unable to fight, they can still send large numbers of troops to encircle and suppress them!"
"But Liangshan is just a cottage after all. The foundation is there. As long as you lose once, your vitality may be severely damaged, and you may even be unable to recover!"
Having said this, he shook his head and said with a smile: "There are already a lot of people in the village now. They can easily exceed 10,000, but they are quite a powerful force!"
"If the training is done properly, it won't be a problem to train at least 3,000 elite soldiers, not just 10,000 elite soldiers!"
Chao Gai was stunned when he heard this, but he couldn't help but feel excited. Seeing the official stop, he couldn't help but ask: "What's next?"
"The next step is to either raise high the flag of rebellion, or accept the imperial edict and become a vassal town!"
Chai Daguan's eyes were bright and he chuckled: "I think before that, don't make too much noise and don't expand too fast!"
"If you make too much noise, it will naturally cause continuous attacks from the imperial court. Unless you can continue to win, Liangshan will be consumed sooner or later!"
"As for not expanding too fast, Liangshan's territory is only so large, and its foundation is only so small. Once there are too many people under his command, the problem of food and grass alone will be very serious. When the time comes, we will have to attack the state and break up the county, which is no different from a rebellion.
Got it!"
Chao Gai was stunned again and didn't know how to answer the question for a moment.
As expected, he was born in the Huang family of the former dynasty. He spoke openly to rebel and shut up to separatist vassal towns. He had never dared to think about it before.
He just wanted to take advantage of the favorable terrain of Liangshan and drink a lot of wine and eat meat with his brothers. How could he have such far-reaching ideas?
"King of heaven, don't think it can't be done!"
Chai Daguan smiled and said: "The Heavenly King used to be the Du Baozheng of Dongxi Village, and he managed a population of several thousand. His relationship with the government should not be bad. How could he not know the living conditions of the people at the bottom?"
Chao Gai nodded and said: "There are too many excessive taxes, and there are also exploitations by local gentry and county officials. Generally, homesteaders with land can only make ends meet. If one mistake is not made, there may be a tragedy that destroys the family and destroys the family!"
"
"There are many waterways in Liangshan, so the situation should be pretty good!"
Chai Daguan smiled and said: "In a truly poor place, the situation is probably extremely bad. It is a fact that bandits were everywhere in the Song Dynasty. There are green forest villages comparable to Liangshan. Liangshan can survive by relying on developed waterways."
That’s right, why bother being the first person?”
Chao Gai nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying that the high officials were worthy of being descendants of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and they were admirable for their broad knowledge.
Chai Daguan laughed and invited Chao Gai to take a stroll in the rear camp. This nominal boss of Liangshan, who was born in Du Baozheng, had never been to the rear camp before.
Chao Gai was very generous and agreed, but what he saw next shocked him so much that he exclaimed that it was impossible.
Whether it's the clean and tidy sanitary environment or the planned beautiful and livable residential areas, Chao Gai is eye-opening.
Not to mention, the workshops related to ordinary life, such as sauce and vinegar workshops, canning workshops, etc., gave him an unreal feeling.
Is this still a bandit den?
Looking at these water conservancy-driven workshops, the daily output is not a small amount. If they are all sold, it will also be a lot of money.
He was especially surprised by the canning workshop. With canning, food can be stored for a much longer period of time. Even fools know the benefits of this for copycats.
Even the iron material workshop in charge of Tang Long, the golden leopard, has been able to produce various military supplies relatively smoothly, especially knives and guns, with the help of water conservancy agencies, with a fixed output every day.
The shipbuilding workshop presided over by Meng Kang of Yubangan was the largest. Chao Gai was stunned for a moment when he saw hundreds of people rushing in and out to build fishing boats.
The entire rear camp was busy, but thousands of people were busy in an orderly manner, with no sign of chaos at all. This kind of ability is quite remarkable...