Chapter Thirteen: The Tiger and Leopard Brigade

  A young man less than ten meters away from Wei Zheng, who looked like he was under twenty years old.

  Perhaps it was because of being imprisoned by the Tartars for a month and never having eaten his fill, that his originally weak body now seemed even more frail.

  But in the eyes of this young man, there was an endless hatred that no one knew.

  At this moment, he was arguing with a middle-aged man in his thirties in front of him with a look of discontent.

  Perhaps it was a middle-aged man's words that enraged him, and the young man who had just been suppressing his anger and compressing all kinds of hatred in his heart suddenly erupted like a volcano and shouted loudly at the middle-aged man.

  "Endure... how much longer can I endure..."

  "My whole family was killed by the Tartars, and now that I've finally got a chance to take revenge on them, you want me to give it up? No way, I absolutely won't leave. I'll follow them and kill the Tartars together with them, to avenge my family."

  "But they are bandits, once you become a bandit, there's no turning back, even if you kill the Tartars, you'll still be hunted by the authorities..." The middle-aged man seemed to have forgotten about the long spearman standing beside him and blurted out anxiously.

  The young man, with only hatred and revenge in his heart, directly expressed his disregard and said calmly: "What's wrong with being a bandit... As long as they kill the Tartars, it doesn't matter if I become a bandit too... If I leave today, maybe for my whole life I won't have the chance to kill the Tartars and avenge my family, so I absolutely will not leave..."

  "Now, with Tatar cavalry all around us, where can we go after we leave? In the end, won't we still be caught by the Tatars and become slaves in Manchuria, spending our whole lives serving the Tatars like oxen and horses, living a life of humiliation..."

  "If so, I'd rather stay here as a bandit. At least as a bandit, I can kill Tartars and take revenge..."

  Having said that, he didn't wait for the middle-aged man in front of him to react and walked quickly to within five meters of Wei Zheng.

  Kneeling down in front of Wei Zheng with a sincere face, he said loudly: "Master, I am a villager from Mo Gu Yu. After the Tartars came, they not only killed my whole family but also took my wife... This deep hatred and grievance I must avenge no matter what, so I beg Master to accept me and let me follow you to kill the Tartars and avenge my deceased loved ones..."

  For this young man in front of him who has his own ideas, Wei Zheng expressed satisfaction from the bottom of his heart.

  "Little brother, I just said that in our mountain stronghold, we have military rules that are even stricter than the army. Otherwise, my brothers and I wouldn't be able to easily kill a dozen Tartars. I don't know if you can endure these rules, following everyone's training every day, practicing the skills of killing Tartars..."

  The young man who decided to join the mountain stronghold answered without hesitation.

  "We are all farmers who work hard on our land, we can endure any hardship, just take me in..."

  "Great...." Facing the first requirement to join the mountain stronghold, Wei Zheng excitedly shouted loudly.

  "In that case, I'll represent Shan Zhai and accept you..."

  Once there is a first one, there will be a second one....

  In the blink of an eye, 32 out of the 50 civilians standing in front of him had moved to the position specified by Wei Zheng, willing to participate in the mountain stronghold.

  At this point, Wang Feng's face also showed a convinced expression, and he said excitedly to Wei Zheng.

  "Great master, you're truly amazing! With just a few words, you can make these people willingly join our mountain stronghold..."

  Wei Zheng smiled nonchalantly and replied, "Brother Wang, you remembered what I just said, right? Just repeat what I said in the same order to the remaining villagers and encourage them to join our mountain stronghold..."

  Wang Feng excitedly guaranteed: "Please rest assured, big boss, I guarantee to complete the task and recruit more brothers for our mountain stronghold..."

  It took a whole day of non-stop work for the mountain stronghold to transport back all the grain and supplies captured at Mògu Yù. At the same time, 184 young men who were willing to join the mountain stronghold also followed the transportation team into the stronghold, becoming members of the stronghold.

  Due to the expansion of the mountain stronghold, Wei Zheng's original room has been converted into a hall specifically for discussing matters.

  A tiger skin unexpectedly obtained in Mushroom Gorge, in Wei Zheng's view, was very crudely laid on the main seat of the assembly hall, becoming what is called a "tiger chair", or his own special seat.

  Directly below the main seat, two rows of very simple wooden stools were neatly arranged as seats for subordinates.

  At a glance, the not-so-large gathering hall, apart from being a bit simple, is basically no different from my impression of a bandit's lair.

  At this moment, Wei Zheng is sitting on a tiger skin seat, with a solemn expression, thinking about a big plan that has just been brewing in his mind: to reform the mountain stronghold and get rid of his bandit identity...

  Although Wei Zheng did not resent his own bandit identity, after learning about the ordinary people's views on bandits for the first time a few days ago, an idea suddenly surged in his heart. If he didn't get rid of his bandit identity as soon as possible and win an identity that the people could accept, then he would never be able to develop and grow, and could only be a small bandit for the rest of his life.

  Because there aren't many common people who would voluntarily join a gang of bandits that humiliate themselves.

  Wang Feng and Zhao Yun had just sat down in their seats when Wei Zheng spoke up first.

  "Brother Zhao, Brother Wang... what do you think is the impression of our line of work as bandits among the common people?"

  "Definitely not good....." Wang Feng hastily replied.....

  "In the eyes of ordinary people, we bandits are synonymous with all sorts of evil... As soon as they hear about bandits, all the old folks will turn pale and avoid us from afar, deeply afraid of suffering at our hands."

  Zhoa Yun followed closely and supported: "Old Zhao is right, in our great Ming Dynasty, being a bandit is absolutely a profession that everyone shouts to strike down and is not tolerated by the people. Unless there is really no other way to survive, the common people will only go into the mountains to become bandits..."

  Wei Zheng nodded, with a hint of implication in his tone, and asked: "If that's the case, I wonder if you two brothers have ever thought about leaving this line of work, taking off your bandit disguise..."

  "Of course we want to..." The two of them seemed to have reached a consensus, their faces filled with eagerness as they replied in unison.

  At the same time, an unprecedented excited expression appeared on both of their faces.

  It's clear that both of them have long been tired of this line of work, they just haven't found a suitable opportunity yet.

  However, this excited expression was maintained on both of their faces for only ten seconds before slowly fading away.

  The oldest Zhao Yun first let out a long sigh before saying: "Master of the house, your idea is good but it can't be implemented..."

  "In our great Ming dynasty, from the day we became bandits, our household registration was cancelled by the government, and we became fugitives who could be pursued by officials everywhere. If we don't continue to be bandits, without a household registration, it's impossible for us to leave this mountain in front of us."

  "Yes... for us bandits, the government troops outside the mountain are quite fond of us. They don't dare to have a real battle with the Tartars, but they like to come and wipe us out, using our heads as military achievements. So, if we want to get recognition from the government and regain our status as Ming dynasty citizens, it's impossible to pass that hurdle..." Wang Feng nodded in agreement with a gloomy face.

  "Who told you that I plan to surrender to the government?" Wei Zheng shook his head and asked back. "Besides, given the current situation of our great Ming dynasty, even if we were to return to being ordinary citizens, I can guarantee that it wouldn't take long before the government would force us to become bandits again..."

  Wang Feng and Zhao Yun both nodded in deep agreement, for they had become bandits largely because the government did nothing to help them, and they were forced to do so in order not to starve.

  At this moment, Wei Zheng spoke again: "My idea is to take advantage of the opportunity when the Tartar soldiers invaded Zhuozhou, give us a better name and get rid of our bandit identity..."

  "For example, a righteous army that specializes in beating the Tartars. As long as we can raise the flag of this righteous army and beat the Tartars a few more times, our prestige will quickly spread throughout the territory of Zhuozhou. At that time, when the common people mention us, they will give us a thumbs up, rather than looking down on us with contempt like before..."

  "With the righteous army's identity, we can use the excuse of fighting against the Tartars to recruit soldiers among the civilians and continuously expand our forces, spreading our fame. By then, even if the Tartars retreat, the government won't dare to come and suppress us with our strong forces."

  Although the two men could not yet see the great benefits that renaming their mountain stronghold might bring, one thing was clear to them: as long as they became righteous warriors, they would be able to thoroughly shake off the despised identity of bandits.

  Wei Zheng had just finished speaking, when Wang Feng excitedly asked: "Master, the righteous army is good, I support our mountain stronghold raising the great banner of the righteous army to fight against the Tartars, recruit soldiers and horses, and resist the Tartars..."

  Excited Zhao Yun also eagerly supported: "I also support our mountain stronghold changing into a righteous army, shaking off the bandit identity..."

  Wei Zheng's face involuntarily revealed a satisfied smile, and he loudly said to the two of them: "Since that's the case, let's settle on this. From now on, our mountain stronghold's brothers will be called the 'Tiger Leopard Army', and on the righteous army's flag, we'll write the eight big characters 'Expel the Tartars, Carry out Heaven's Way'."

  "From now on, wherever the Tiger and Leopard Brigade is present, whether it's the Tartars or the corrupt government troops who aid them, they are all enemies of the Tiger and Leopard Brigade..."