Chapter 58: Heavenly King's Balance

When I returned to my residence, it was almost time to apply for the license.

In summer, the days are long and it takes more than an hour before dark.

Yang Chang closed his eyes and tried to rest on the bed, but he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

Some of the reasons were that he took a nap at noon, some were that it was too hot and he couldn't sleep, and he was also thinking about how to gain a foothold in Liangshan.

While I was thinking, I smelled a hint of ink.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Xiao Rang grinding ink. There was rice paper spread out on the table. It looked like he was about to write something.

"Sir, you are in a good mood."

"Brother Yang isn't going to sleep?"

"Hey, it's too hot to sleep."

"Haha, the terrain is high up in the mountain, it's already quite cool."

When Xiao Rang responded to Yang Chang, he had already started writing and his voice suddenly stopped.

When Yang Chang was watching short videos before, he often saw bloggers teaching and selling calligraphy, but he had never seen anyone writing on the spot, so he went forward to watch out of curiosity.

You don’t know until you see it. Only after you see it will you realize the difference.

The handwriting of Xiao Rang was elegant and graceful, which was incomparable to that of short video bloggers, and caused Yang Chang to admire it.

"Brother Yang also knows calligraphy?"

"I don't understand, but I can tell beauty from ugliness. Your calligraphy is majestic and very beautiful. You are indeed a master calligrapher."

"It looks good, but it's not my handwriting. This is Mi Fu's Shuhui Tie. The calligrapher is just imitating it."

"Sir, you are too modest. Not everyone can imitate. Can you imitate Mi Fu as well as you can?"

Xiao Rang was tricked by Wu Yong into going up the mountain, and he had no choice but to stay in Liangshan. He was just complaining to himself to vent his unhappiness, but he didn't expect that Yang Chang had a surprising idea, which immediately cleared up his depression and his mood improved.

"Brother Yang is really good at talking. Practicing calligraphy can help you calm your mind and spirit. If your mind is calm, you won't feel the heat. Do you want to try it?"

"No, it would be a waste of ink for me to write, by the way"

Yang Chang had just said halfway through his refusal when he suddenly turned around to look through his luggage, then took out the book "Yin Yang Geomancy", handed it to Xiao Rang and said, "Sir, you are very knowledgeable. There are some words in this book that I don't understand. Can you help me understand them?"

"Brother Yang, do you like the study of heaven and earth? I have very little knowledge of this subject. You'd better go and ask Mr. Yiqing for advice."

"But I'm not familiar with him, so I just want to take advantage of him."

"Well, I can help you figure it out, but I may not be able to give you a good answer."

"I just took a look at it casually. In fact, I haven't learned the basics yet. It's fine as long as the teacher is willing to teach me."

Making friends with literati through literati's affairs, and asking for advice from others is the greatest respect, so the two quickly became familiar with each other.

Most of the heroes in Liangshan are not good people. Yang Chang doesn't want to learn from Li Kui to make friends by jumping around. He learns Feng Shui simply because he is bored and wants to kill time in the mountains.

Last night in Songjiazhuang, Yang Chang picked up a dozen corpses of government soldiers, each of which dropped weapon skill experience, but when he checked the panel, he found that none of the skills were upgraded, which means that he picked up too few.

But it doesn’t matter, there will be many battles behind Liangshan, and there will be plenty of corpses to pick up.

When there is no fighting, you need to find something to kill time.

After dealing with the relationship with roommates, we still had the banquet for the next two days.

Chao Gai held a series of banquets, one to welcome Song Jiang to join the gang, two to rally people's hearts, and three to observe the new leader.

When Chao Gai saw that Song Jiang had many supporters, he was excited but also became wary, and he did not arrange seats for the new leaders.

It was not until Gongsun Sheng and Li Kui returned home to visit their relatives that Song Jiang raised the matter in public through Wu Yong, and Chao Gai arranged seats and assigned duties for the newcomers.

Song Jiang was elected as the second in command as expected by everyone, but all the important positions in Liangshan, such as cavalry, infantry, navy, money, food and logistics, were controlled by Chao Gai's former subordinates.

In addition, Chao Gai also denied Yang Chang's position as leader on the grounds that Yang Chang had no reputation in the world and choosing him as leader would damage the reputation of Liangshan. In this way, he declared his own leadership authority.

Chao Gai was unwilling to give it, and Song Jiang could not force him to give it.

Song Jiang felt guilty towards Yang Chang, and secretly asked Song Qing to persuade him, saying that Liangshan was still small at that time, and the number of leaders was under control, and he would have to wait until it grew stronger before he could arrange a position for him. Yang Chang responded that it didn't matter, and he didn't want to be an official in Liangshan, he just used the platform to pick up corpses.

In fact, if you are not a leader, you will miss out on many worldly matters and will be more free.

Liangshan was a complete small society. At that time, the total number of leaders, minions and their families exceeded 30,000. Except for the grand banquets and gatherings of leaders on the mountain, each family and village usually cooked in their own small stoves.

Xiao Rang's parents were both in the mountains, and the ten followers assigned to him by Chao Gai cooked, cleaned and served them every day.

Yang Chang and Xiao Rang lived in the same dormitory and received guidance from the other party in the art of Feng Shui. Yang Chang used his skills as a chef to return the favor and often went to the kitchen to cook delicious pasta.

Of course, he often gave these delicious noodles to Old Man Song.

If he did not get the status of leader and was forgotten by Song Jiang over time, Yang Chang was afraid that Song Jiang would not take him to the battlefield, so the nepotism relationship had to be maintained.

Liangshan has been peaceful since Yang Chang went up the mountain in August.

The days passed one by one, until the end of the year when Shi Qian stole the chickens from Zhu Family Village. Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu came to the mountain to report the news and ask for help, which broke the brief peace.

Chao Gai was furious when he heard this and wanted to kill Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu who pretended to be from Liangshan. However, he was persuaded by Song Jiang, Wu Yong and others and forced to start a war.

The population of Liangshan was expanding and it would take time to digest and absorb the population. Chao Gai planned to lead the army down the mountain himself, but he was afraid that power would fall into the hands of others if he went down.

After much deliberation, he divided his forces into two groups to check and balance each other and compete for credit.

The first group included Song Jiang, Hua Rong, Li Jun, Mu Hong, Li Kui, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, Huang Xin, Ou Peng, and Yang Lin, a total of ten leaders, three thousand followers, and three hundred cavalry.

The second group included nine leaders, including Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Dai Zong, Zhang Heng, Zhang Shun, Ma Lin, Deng Fei, Wang Ying, and Bai Sheng, who also led three thousand followers and three hundred cavalry.

Qin Ming was formerly the commander of the Qingzhou Command. He is currently the general with the highest military rank and the most combat experience among all the leaders of Liangshan.

Chao Gai assigned him to Lin Chong's command, and also gave Lin Chong his "eyes" Dai Zong, making it clear that he did not want Song Jiang's group to take all the credit, but in order not to make it too obvious, he put Hua Rong under Song Jiang's command.

Lin Chong and Wang Lun supported Chao Gai. Although Lin Chong was not as close to Chao Gai as Liu Tang and the three Ruan brothers, they were still Chao Gai's confidants and confidants. If they captured Zhujiazhuang, it would be no different from Chao Gai leading his troops down the mountain.

Song Jiang received the military order from Chao Gai and went to Song Taigong's residence at night to say goodbye.

After some explanation, Song Taigong suddenly mentioned Yang Chang and said earnestly: "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield. Sanlang, you must be cautious when you take charge for the first time. Remember to bring Yang Chang with you and keep him by your side to protect your safety. I trust this boy."

"he?"

If the old man hadn't mentioned it, Song Jiang would have forgotten that Yang Chang was in the mountain. However, considering Yang Chang's 'poor physique', he shook his head and replied: "Yang Sanlang is weak and it is harder for him to recover from injuries than ordinary people. It is precisely because the swords on the battlefield are blind that I don't plan to take him with me."

“Must bring it!”

"why?"

"That kid has a heroic spirit. How can we let him become a leader if we don't give him a chance to make achievements?"

"But Shiro said he didn't care."

"Confused."

Before Song Jiang could finish his words, he was interrupted by the old man, "If you and Chao Gai don't give it to him, can he take the initiative to ask for it? He is still living with Xiao Rang, and we, the Song family, should be grateful."

"Well, I'll listen to my father. I'm just afraid that Sanlang will feel a little wronged as my personal soldier."

"He doesn't have to charge into battle, so he won't be easily injured. He won't feel wronged."

"Don't worry about it, I'll go find him right away!"

Old Man Song was able to be so persistent thanks to Yang Changping's concern and care, and Song Jiang couldn't refuse for both emotional and logical reasons.

The next day, the army went down the mountain, and Song Jiang set up camp a mile in front of Dulonggang. He then went to the tent to discuss sending spies to explore the way.

Li Kui spoke nonsense and volunteered to warm up the situation, but as expected, he was driven out of the central army. Song Jiang finally appointed Shi Xiu and Yang Lin as generals.

Yang Chang stood beside Song Jiang, listening to Yang Lin and Shi Xiu's infiltration plan. He suddenly became worried about Yang Lin because this guy was planning to pretend to be a wizard who could exorcise demons.

Last year, when passing by Hujia Village, Yang Chang disguised himself as a Taoist priest and tricked Zhu Biao into taking the [Fox Fragrance Sand]. This was a cause and effect that was planted in advance.

Ximen Qing was able to kill Wang Po after taking the [Throbbing Pills], so the power of this [Fox Fragrance Sand] must be quite strong. I wonder if Yang Lin will suffer the consequences.

(End of this chapter)