At the beginning of May, when Ma Gai, the county magistrate of Kunyang County, received 200,000 yuan and 1,000 stone of grain from the Luye Freemasonry, and used the money and grain to recruit village warriors and rangers in Kunyang County, a bandit sent by Yang Tong to monitor the movements of the county sent the news to the Black Tiger Village and told Yang Tong, the tiger of Yingshan.

Yang Tong immediately summoned Zhao Yu and Guo Da to discuss countermeasures.

When Zhao Yu came to Yang Tong's house, Guo Da had already arrived, and he was discussing something with Yang Tong with a serious expression.

Seeing Zhao Yu walking into the house, Yang Tong immediately beckoned: "Come, Ah Hu, come, there is news from our brother that Kunyang County is organizing people to crusade against us...... Guo Da, talk to Ah Hu. ”

"Okay."

Guo Da nodded, and during the period when Yang Tong turned around and lifted the kettle and poured water into his mouth, he said to Zhao Yu with a straight face: "Ah Hu, the brother who has seen the movements of Kunyang sent back the news, saying that the county town has issued a list of the county government, saying that the county order is ready to crusade against our Black Tiger Village, but anyone who is willing to participate in the crusade will be rewarded with 200 yuan, and if someone kills a thief, an additional 100 yuan will be rewarded, and the thief will be counted separately." ”

"That's really generous." Zhao Yu smiled.

He is not the kind of rich boy who has no concept of money, after all, he fought a war with the Zheng family in Ruyang over the price of rice, and of course he knows the value of 200 yuan.

Take Ruyang as an example, among the commoners in Ruyang, more than half of the adult men earn less than 200 yuan a month, but the price of rice in Ruyang at that time, the Zheng family set it at 220 yuan and one stone of rice, so more than half of the civilians in Ruyang, their mothers, wives, and children will help to do some work, so that the family will not starve.

In other words, two hundred yuan is almost the peak of what civilian men in nearby counties can earn in a month, and considering that there is another hundred yuan reward for killing a bandit, Zhao Yu does not doubt that Kunyang County can quickly pull up a team to crusade against their Black Tiger Village, and the number of this team will not be small.

After thinking about it, he said to Yang Tong and Guo Da: "In that case, immediately notify the thirteen cottages." …… Aren't we giving up so many profits just to let them fight the disaster with us? ”

As he spoke, he asked Guo Da again: "Brother Guo Da, as I said before, how is the preparation in the village about setting up obstacles in the middle of the mountain?" ”

"This matter is Niu Heng, Chen Mo, Wang Qing and the three of them are responsible, according to what you said, they used bamboo strips and vines to block between some trees, leaving only a few paths to walk up and down with ......" Saying, Guo Da frowned and asked, "Can this work?" If the officers and soldiers of Kunyang set fires, wouldn't those obstacles be useless? ”

"It's not a temporary stopgap measure."

Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Our cottage here, the location is good, but in general, the mountain is not high, far inferior to the west, this is a disadvantage, not to mention that our cottage is still halfway up the mountain, if we are a little negligent at night, the officers and soldiers will kill directly on the mountain, and there is almost no chance to react......"

Shaking his head, he continued: "When this matter is over, we have to think about it, build the cottage to the top of the mountain here, and then set up many obstacles in the middle of the mountain......"

He turned his head to look at Yang Tong, and said: "As the prestige of the lord of the village gradually spreads, the government will inevitably regard us more and more as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, we must pay attention to the defense of the cottage, even if it costs money to hire villagers under the mountain to help repair the mountain road, consolidate the defense, and build the cottage into a solid place." ”

"Hmm." Yang Tong nodded thoughtfully.

On the same day, Guo Da sent a large number of manpower to report to the thirteen cottages, informing them that Kunyang was about to send troops to attack the Black Tiger Village, hoping that the thirteen cottages would send people to assist.

The next day, Chu Jiao received the news and invited his son Chu Yan to discuss the matter.

As Zhao Yu guessed, the honest look on Chu Jiao's face was just an illusion, at least at this moment, Chu Jiao's face seemed to have the word shrewdness written on his face.

He smiled and said to Yizi: "This Yang Tong, the fox's tail is finally revealed...... A while ago, he took the initiative to give profits to our thirteen cottages, I felt that this matter was not simple, today I understand, it turned out that he was using concessions as bait to induce my thirteen cottages to help him resist the officers and soldiers of Kunyang......"

Speaking of this, he stroked his beard, shook his head and said, "Who said that Yang Tong is just a scheming man?" He's cunning! ”

His righteous son Chu Yan nodded and said in admiration: "Although Yang Tong is cunning, he can't hide his father's eyes. …… In that case, let's find an excuse to refuse? ”

"Refusal?"

Chu Jiao shook his head slightly, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "When eating meat, one by one scrambles; Now that people are suffering, they are retreating, which is not moral. ”

"How many of the people in this Yingshan are moralists?" Chu Yan said disdainfully.

Chu Jiao stroked his beard and pondered: "At least that Yang Tong has not done anything against morality to us at present, if we get benefits but don't help each other, first, we will lose our morality, and second, we will inevitably offend Yang Tong." ”

Chu Yan pursed her lips and said disdainfully: "What if you offend him?" This time, he Black Tiger Village, whether he can survive the encirclement and suppression of Kunyang officers and soldiers is still unknown......"

"Nope."

Chu Jiao interrupted Yizi's words, squinted his eyes and said, "As far as I know, Black Tiger Village repelled the encirclement and suppression of Kunyang officers and soldiers around April, how can you conclude that he can't win again?" …… My son must not underestimate that Yang Tong, according to his father's opinion, this person is not simple. ”

As he spoke, he tapped his fingers on the armrests of the table and chair, and muttered: "Ying Shanhu, Ying Shanhu, heh, this Yang Tong ......"

Speaking of this, he said to Yizi with a straight face: "Without further ado, immediately gather all the brothers in the village, and let's go to the Black Tiger Village today!" ”

Hearing this, Chu Yan asked in surprise, "Father really wants to help Yang Tong?" ”

Chu Jiao shook his head and said, "It's not to help Yang Tong, I'm here to protect myself." Do you think we're still out of it? Why did I say that Yang Tong was cunning? It's because he has dragged my thirteen cottages into the water, don't forget, these days to rob those passing caravans, there are also our thirteen cottages, most of them are Luye Freemasonic caravans, if the Black Tiger Village is defeated, do you think the Kunyang officers and soldiers will stop there? No, they will continue to encircle and suppress the bandits in the mountains until they wipe out all of us! …… If we stand by and watch and the officers and soldiers of Kunyang win, then we will inevitably follow in the footsteps of the Black Tiger Village and be exterminated by the officers and soldiers of Kunyang; If Yang Tong wins, do you think Yang Tong will let the traitor go? Since Heng and Vertical can't stay out, it is better to take the lead in supporting, and you can also take this move to make friends with Yang Tong, so as not to be hated by him. ”

As he spoke, he said earnestly to his son: "Ah Yan, my father knows that you are brave and unparalleled, but you don't have to underestimate others, as far as I know, in Black Tiger Village alone, there is a Chen Mo and a Wang Qing, both of whom are brave people, and it is difficult for more than a dozen people to ......get close to them."

"Really?" Chu Yan will be skeptical.

"What the hell, when we support Black Tiger Village, you can see for yourself."

On the same day, Chu Jiao took his righteous son Chu Yan and dozens of brothers in the cottage to the Black Tiger Village.

But it's a pity that although Chu Jiao wanted to be the first to arrive at Black Tiger Village, they were still preempted by Liu Heimu and his gang because of the distance.

Liu Heimu was the first to arrive at Black Tiger Village with a group of bandits.

This made Zhao Yu a little surprised, he also thought that Liu Hei was currently being attacked by Kunyang officers and soldiers for a while, and he would be a little timid because of this, but he didn't expect that this guy was not only afraid, but was the first to bring people to the Black Tiger Village.

But after thinking about it, Zhao Yu also understood.

After all, as far as he knew, because of the relationship between the cottage that was broken by the Kunyang officers and soldiers a while ago, Liu Heimu suffered heavy losses, and only twenty or thirty brothers were left around him who fled to the mountains with him, and the cottage that had been operated for a long time was confiscated by the Kunyang officers and soldiers and burned to the fire.

Although after the Kunyang officers and soldiers retreated, Liu Heimu returned to the cottage and wanted to re-establish the cottage, but he had no money or food, and there were only twenty or thirty injured brothers around him, so he didn't want to re-establish the cottage in a short period of time. After all, it's also in his interest.

In addition to interests, Liu Heimu also wanted to take revenge on the officers and soldiers of Kunyang and avenge his dead brothers.

Wanting this, Zhao Yu privately suggested to Yang Tong: "The owner of the village might as well try to win over Liu Heimu to see, they are now living in a cottage that has become a ruin, and they can't rebuild the cottage in a short time. ”

Yang Tong was immediately moved when he heard this, accepted Zhao Yu's suggestion, and ordered the village to entertain Liu Heimu and his gang with good wine and food, and he himself called Liu Heimu a brother and brother, which made Liu Heimu quite moved.

After Liu Heimu, the second to arrive at Black Tiger Village is Chu Jiao, Chu Yan and his son.

This surprised Zhao Yu.

After all, the cottage where Chu Jiao and Chu Yan's father and son are located, although it is not the farthest from Heihu Mountain among the thirteen cottages, it is not the closest, and there is a mountain road of sixty or seventy miles between the two.

This decisiveness made Zhao Yu unconsciously pay more and more attention to the father and son.

The third person to arrive at Black Tiger Village was Chen Zu and his gang.

How to say it, considering the distance between his cottage and the Black Tiger Village, this Chen Zu is not decisive, at least not as decisive as Chu Jiao, Chu Yan and his son, but he can come, which means that he can still understand the situation, and he will not naively think that the object of Kunyang officers and soldiers this time is just Black Tiger Village.

After Chen Zu, there were Wu Sheng, Zhang Feng, Sun Yi, Ma Hong, Feng Xing, Liu Mao, the six owners of the village brought people to support, plus Liu Heimu, Chu Jiao, Chen Zu, a total of nine.

And the remaining four cottages are shirking under various excuses.

For this reason, not to mention that Yang Tong's face was gloomy, and he scolded the four village owners angrily behind his back, even in Zhao Yu's heart, he had already treated the four village owners as dead people.

When Yang Tong asked about this, Zhao Yu said without hesitation: "Those four, the master of Dazhai can keep it in mind for the time being, and after repelling the Kunyang officers and soldiers, let's take advantage of the victory and take the rest of the Jiuzhai people to sweep away the four cottages!" …… The top priority at the moment is to repel the officers and soldiers under the mountain. ”

"Hmm!"

Yang Tong nodded with a calm face.

On the same day, when Kunyang County Wei Ma Gai established a simple camp of 1,000 people at the foot of the mountain and prepared to come to Japan to crusade against the Black Tiger Village, in the big house of the Black Tiger Village, Yang Tong also took Zhao Yu, Guo Da, Chen Mo, and Wang Qing to discuss the strategy of breaking the enemy with Liu Heimu, Chu Jiao, Chen Zu, Wu Sheng, Zhang Feng, Sun Yi, Ma Hong, Feng Xing, and Liu Mao.

He attached great importance to this battle, because Zhao Yu had told him that whether he could become more famous and deter the nearby area depends on this battle.