Chapter 4: Clever Acquisition

  A group of travelers rested their feet and were invited by Shi En to the main hall for tea. After some polite refusals, Lin Chong took the upper seat, followed by Lu Zhishen, Yang Zhi, Gao Qiang, and Lu Jian in order. The old camp commander sat in the host's position, while Shi En sat at the lower end as a companion.

  After a round of tea, Old General Camp opened his mouth and said: "Today, my son was defeated in a fight with others. If it weren't for Lin's timely assistance, I'm afraid there would be concerns about his life. I heard from my son that when Lin came to the rescue, his gun was like lightning, his strength was boundless, and he subdued the enemy from dozens of steps away. It's truly an unheard-of excellent martial art, I wonder where it came from?"

  Lin Chong humbly thanked them and briefly spoke of his family's martial arts skills. The Shi family father and son praised him, saying that Lin, the instructor, was indeed worthy of being a military instructor, with exquisite martial arts skills and divine marksmanship.

  He talked about martial arts for a while, and the old camp commander sighed and said: "My son has been practicing boxing since he was a child, and has also gone through more than ten teachers. I thought that all eighteen kinds of martial arts were mastered, and it was possible to go anywhere in the world. Who knew that today I would see the heroes of the world? Not to mention Lin Chong, who is a good martial artist among the 800,000 Forbidden Army, even Jiang Zhong can't be defeated. Look at you, this unfilial son, dare you still look down on the heroes of the world?"

  With a face full of shame, he bowed his head and said: "From now on, I will not dare to be so arrogant again. I must visit famous masters, study the art of spear and staff thoroughly, and even if I don't dare to think that I can become as powerful as Lin Gongzhu, I must learn a good set of skills. In the future, when I go to the border, I will fight with one knife and one gun to earn a name for myself, so as not to waste my birth in a military family. However, there are many people in the world who boast about their fame and reputation, just like those teachers I had before, each of whom said that they could catch tigers on mountains and catch turtles in water, but the martial arts they taught me were all fancy and useless. I really don't know where the true masters and experts are."

  He secretly smiled to himself as he watched the father and son duo harmonize, gradually steering the conversation towards martial arts. It seemed that they had intentionally come to ask Lin Zhong to be their teacher. Little did they know, however, that by doing so, they were falling right into Xiao Sheng's trap!

  The old manager sighed and said, "It's not that there aren't any masters or high-ranking officials, it's just that you're not talented enough. Although I'm willing to spend all my family's wealth to help you study, I don't know if you can enter the eyes of those high-ranking officials." This is a way of speaking with ulterior motives.

  Lin Chong saw that the conversation had reached this point, and still didn't understand the intentions of these two father and son. He thought that Shi En was originally a local tyrant in this area, not necessarily loyal or cautious, and he should have politely declined, but then remembered that Gao Qiang had said there was a use for this Golden Eye Leopard, and wondered what his plan was, so he secretly looked over and saw only Gao Qiang subtly winking at him, nodding his head slightly twice, indicating to Lin Chong to accept this disciple.

  Lin Chong was taken aback, this apprentice had a bad reputation in the past, but over the past two months of living together, he found him to be straightforward by nature, respectful to both masters, and diligent in learning martial arts. His impression of him had greatly improved. After seeing him save Yang Zhi's life and not hesitate to send him to Beijing, he felt that this young man was indeed a good person with strong moral character, willing to work hard and learn, and also having a good understanding, and was actually a fine material. He was truly delighted in his heart.

  At this moment, seeing him indicating to accept him as a disciple, he couldn't help but hesitate for a moment. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said: "If Little Lin is really willing to learn martial arts, Lin Chong has some experience and is willing to exchange with Little Lin, but it's not about the relationship between master and apprentice."

  The father and son were overjoyed when they saw him open his mouth, wanting to know that this was the master of the Imperial Guard Commander Gao Qiu's teacher. If he could be accepted as a disciple under him, wouldn't it be like being a fellow student with Gao Qiu? Immediately, Shi En knelt down on the ground and repeatedly kowtowed, begging earnestly, while Old Lu also persuaded from the side, but Lin Chong just refused to accept them as disciples.

  Gao Jiang saw that his master was not pleased, and hastily intervened: "Master, in my opinion, this young Zhang is wholeheartedly devoted to martial arts and has a deep admiration for you, which is truly rare. The reason why Master does not want to accept him as a disciple is because of the official duties in Bianjing and also because Zhang's father is still alive and it would be inconvenient for him to travel far away, making it impossible for them to study together day and night. In my humble opinion, Master might consider accepting Zhang as a nominal disciple first, so as not to disappoint his sincere enthusiasm. Besides, Mengzhou is only about 100 miles away from Bianjing, and in the spring and summer, Zhang can come to Bianjing to receive instruction, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

  Lin Chong saw Gao Qiang just wanted to accept, and could only nod. Shi En saw Lin Chong relax his expression, overjoyed, hastily knelt on the ground and knocked several loud heads, saying "Master is above, receiving a disciple's bow". Getting up again, he bowed to Master Gao Qiang. The old camp commander saw his son had acknowledged a famous teacher, and also climbed up the ranks of the powerful, was also overjoyed in his heart, hastily ordered someone to bring out a tray of gold, silver, and silk to show respect to the teacher. Lin Chong refused to accept it, only pushing it away, but Gao Qiang mediated from the middle, accepting two strips of garlic-head gold before stopping.

  Everyone was in high spirits, so the old manager ordered a feast to be set out to celebrate. Naturally, there were all sorts of dishes, both land and sea delicacies, and fine foods galore. Everyone pushed and shoved, all vying to get a taste.

  When the wine was getting stronger, Shi En grabbed Gao Qiang's hand and said: "Master, brother master, today I can see my respected teacher again and also witness your magnificent skills. As a junior apprentice, I am truly delighted. However, thinking of one thing makes me unhappy, I'm afraid that after a long time, I won't be able to see the faces of Master and Brother Master again!" He choked with sobs as he spoke.

  Gao's heart was clear as snow, he knew what the other wanted to say, but pretended not to know, and exclaimed in surprise: "Younger brother, today is a great joy, why speak such ill-omened words?"

  Everyone at the table saw this scene and stopped eating, only to hear Shi En say: "During the day, Shifu also saw that Shidi was in a happy forest opening a hotel and doing some business, not...

  What a great benefit, just to show off my youthful energy and the heroic spirit of Mengzhou; but today I was robbed of this place by that Jiang Meng and Zhang Doutou who colluded with each other, relying on their power and prestige! My master's younger brother has some reputation in Mengzhou, but today he suffered such a great humiliation, and it is really shameful to see the people of this land again. How can I mention my own master's name and my elder brother's name? It would be a shame to tarnish them!" He said, his eyes already red.

  Lu Zhishen was furious, slamming his hand on the table and shouting: "You young whippersnapper is so shameless! You only gather a bunch of idle rascals, showing off your might in front of traveling merchants, but dare to call yourself a heroic knight! Today it's fortunate that Jiangmen Gong's divine strength was stolen, otherwise if you had run into my hands, you would have been beaten up!"

  A few words of scolding made it impossible for Shi En and his father to get down from the stage, but this monk was another master of the yamen's interior, and when he came, he was still Shi En's elder, so he couldn't make a move, and Shi En's eyes turned red with anger, turning into "blood-eyed tiger".

  "Ha! It's about time I made my move," thought the strong-willed one, hastily speaking with a smile: "Younger brother, don't be alarmed. Master Wisdom truly has his heart set on you, but didn't expect you to run off with that group of rascals. With such deep affection from your elder master, shouldn't you thank him?"

  Xie En also knew this was a good opportunity, and he quickly led the donkey down the slope, respectfully giving a salute. As the saying goes, "A fierce fist doesn't hit a smiling face." Lu Zhishen's temper also dissipated, and he let it go.

  "Junior brother, in my opinion, your previous actions also had some redeeming qualities. It's just that you were too weak and unable to carry them out. If it were me, I would have done things differently at this point."

  Shi En was overjoyed and hastily asked his senior brother for guidance. Lin Chong and the others had long heard him mention something about ensuring the safety of the people in this region, and now that he finally got to the point, they all wanted to hear what plan he had.

  Gao Qiang laughed and said: "Younger brother, I'll ask you first, how did this Happy Forest come into being?"

  Shi En furrowed his brow, but didn't know how to respond. The old manager answered from the side: "Let me tell you, this Happy Forest originally had no town, it was just a place where merchants and travelers passed through on their way north or south. Gradually, people started doing business here, opening restaurants, inns, and warehouses for transferring goods. Later, more and more people gathered here, and it became what it is today."

  Gao Jian smiled and asked: "Since it's like this, dare I ask if there is an official seal here?"

  "This Shiren knew, and hurriedly smiled: 'Brother Shi is not mistaken, if there were officials here, why would Zhang Toutou need to use Jiang Mengen, he could just come directly to collect taxes, where would my business be?'"

  "This is it! With the bustling Lin four sides, people gathering and prospering, where is the lack of rent and taxes? The reason why the official yamen was not set up was because Zhang Toutou had a private heart, hoping to benefit from it and not wanting to enter the public gate. This is why he borrowed the power of Jiang Mengshen. It can be seen that in the future, Zhang Toutou and Jiang Mengshen will surely rely on their power to dominate, putting all the rent and taxes into their private pockets, and various business households will have no choice but to flatter them."

  Lin Chong's eyes widened in anger, and he said: "Under the clear sky and bright sun, how can we let these scoundrels run amok? Tomorrow I will go to the Mengzhou Prefecture government office to report this and take back this land, cutting off their source of wealth."

  Gao Qiang shook his head and thought to himself, "Lin Chong, you're too naive. No wonder you suffered so much in the Water Margin." He sighed and said, "Master, if it were that easy, it would be a great blessing. But this Zhang Dou has already colluded with Jiang Meng and occupied this land. How can he easily give up? The best strategy is to collude with the prefecture, share some of the wealth with him, and as long as they keep it from the imperial court, everything will be fine. Even if Lin Chong's family petitions the emperor to set up an official post here, these people have already taken over this place, bullying and dominating, with a legitimate business on the surface. How can the authorities drive them out? In the end, the common people will not only pay taxes to the imperial court but also contribute another share to these evil people, which is even more unbearable than being oppressed by one side."

  Everyone present was stunned by this argument, only Lu Zhishen coldly laughed on the side without saying a word.

  Shi En was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: "In that case, Brother Shi, why not help me retake this land? I have been thinking of the feelings of my hometown, and perhaps we can ensure peace in this region."

  Gao Jian shook his head and smiled, "Younger brother, you're too naive. This Zhang has the entire province's military in his grasp. If you try to use force to take it from him, can you defeat his thousands of soldiers? He is responsible for maintaining order in this region, mobilizing troops is a matter of course. Shouldn't I return to Bianjing and summon the imperial guards to assist you?"

  Shi En was about to respond with "That's a good idea", but fortunately, he wasn't foolish enough to not realize it was sarcasm. Without the imperial edict, the Imperial Guard couldn't leave their post, or else they would be considered traitors. Suppressing his anger, he said: "According to what you said, brother, should I just let this group of bandits run amok?" But he had already lost all composure.

  Many people also thought so, but Gao Gang smiled and said: "Not so, if you can't defeat him by force, you can take him by strategy. I have a plan here, which will ensure that you won't even need to blow the dust off your feet, and you'll be able to retake Kuaihuo Lin with ease."

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