Eagle's Beak Rock in the depths of Taihu Lake.

The dense reeds that surrounded the island burned clean, and even after a few days, charred corpses and ship wrecks still floated in the lake.

On the ground of the island, on the tops of the trees, on the houses there were traces of ash that had drifted to the island from the burning of the reeds.

Fortunately, the lake bandits cut off a lot of reeds around the island in advance, and cleared the isolation zone near the lake on the island, otherwise the fire would have set the entire island on fire.

The island is dotted with hundreds of buildings, mostly thatched huts made of bamboo, wood and reeds. In the middle of the island, there is a building much larger than the other huts, which is the Juyi Hall.

At this moment, in the Juyi Hall, the bandit leaders were pushing cups and changing lamps, eating and drinking.

Sitting in the first place in the middle is the big boss of the lake bandits, named Li Jiang, who nicknamed himself "Timely Rain", because he has a lot of pockmarks on his face, but his accomplices secretly call him Li Mazi.

Sitting on the left side of Li Mazi was a Taoist man, wearing a blue Taoist robe and a long beard, looking like a Taoist master. This person's name is Zhuge Sanhe, nicknamed "Little Zhuge ", and he is the military advisor of the lake bandits.

On the right side of Li Mazi sat two men, one with a full face and a strong body, the bandit called the "winged tiger", the other was thin and had a scar on the face, the bandit called the "river dragon", this tiger and a dragon are the second and third masters of the eagle's beak rock.

"Brothers, drink!" Li Mazi picked up the wine bowl and drank it all, and then brightened the bottom of the bowl proudly.

"Big bosses are massive!" The river dragon and the winged tiger immediately raised their wine bowls and drank them.

Zhuge Sanhe took a sip of the bowl and put down the wine bowl.

"Strategist, why are you so upset today, is it to raise fish by leaving so much wine in the bowl?" Li Mazi said dissatisfiedly.

"Big boss, you can drink at any time, now is it time to discuss what to do next." Zhuge Sanhe persuaded.

Li Mazi snorted: "What's the hurry, the brothers just fought a fierce battle with the official army, and they have to rest for a while under the big victory." ”

"Big boss, you can't rest!" Zhuge Sanhe hurriedly said, "At present, the troops in Suzhou City have been wiped out by us, and there are not many officers and troops around Taihu Lake, so we should attack quickly, lay down more villages and towns, grab a lot of money and food, and then recruit troops and horses, and quickly expand the strength of the team!" ”

Li Mazi shook his head and said with a smile: "Now that the number of people in the Eagle's Beak Rock is two or three thousand, how can it be expanded?" Expand to tens of thousands of troops, then the imperial court will inevitably send a large army to attack us! ”

"Big boss, you're confused. Now that we have just defeated the official army, thousands of officers and soldiers have been burned and sunk to the bottom of the lake, how can the court not settle this account with us? Sooner or later, a large army will be sent to attack us. Only by quickly recruiting troops and expanding strength while the official army has not yet been killed can we block the attack of the official army in the future. Zhuge San said bitterly.

"Yes, big brother, what the military advisor said makes sense." The winged tiger followed and persuaded.

"Big brother, I think the same way. The more brothers we have, none of us are afraid. "Turning the river dragon also said.

Li Mazi snorted coldly: "No matter how many people there are, can they really beat the official army?" I heard that the emperor is now in Zhenjiang, with tens of thousands of Praetorian Guards around him, which is the most elite army in the world, and I heard that he has killed all the Jiannu Tartars in the north and recovered Liaodong, which has been occupied by the Tartars for many years. No matter how many of us there are, can we still beat them? Taihu Lake is so big, the number of people is small, it is easy to hide, and the officials and soldiers will not be able to find it on any island, or simply the brothers will divide the silver and go home to avoid the limelight, and wait until the emperor leaves Jiangnan and then return to Taihu Lake. ”

robbed more than 200,000 taels of silver in Hushu Pass, as a big boss, Li Mazi can divide at least 40,000 or 50,000 taels, with such a large sum of money, what else do you do lake bandits? Isn't it fragrant to take the silver and fly away to enjoy the blessings? Suzhou doesn't dare to stay, but you can go to Hangzhou, or simply go to Nanjing, you can always find a place to be a rich man. When the time comes, marry a few daughters-in-law, give birth to a bunch of dolls, and the days are very beautiful!

Zhuge San and this old thing always fool themselves to expand their strength, so Lao Tzu is not fooled! If it weren't for the strength of the people behind Zhuge Sanhe, Li Mazi would have ordered this guy to be cut down and thrown into the lake to feed the fish, how could he be allowed to chirp crookedly in his ears!

Li Mazi was originally a fisherman by the lake, but after killing people for some reason, he fled into the lake as a bandit, and slowly became the big boss of the Eagle's Beak Lake bandits. And this Zhuge Sanhe only joined Eagle's Beak Rock a few years ago, because this person has a reputation for showing talent, and is able to speak and be resourceful, so Li Mazi made him a military advisor. After Zhuge Sanhe arrived at the Eagle Beak Rock, he quickly persuaded several lake bandits to join him.

If it was just like this, Li Mazi would be very happy, but he later found out that Zhuge Sanhe had a huge force behind him. Because Zhuge Sanhe got a lot of weapons for Eagle's Beak Rock, there are knives, guns, bows, arrows, firearms, and even artillery, how can you get these without a certain doorway?

When asked, Zhuge Sanhe also admitted it, saying that he and many gentry in Wuzhong were classmates, and the weapons obtained through those people were obtained.

We just loot everywhere, and some people help us sell the stolen goods when we rob them, and we lack something to provide, even if the officials and soldiers come to encircle and suppress them, there are also people who report the news, this is what Zhuge Sanhe said to Li Mazi at that time. At that time, Li Mazi was very happy, if there were gentry secretly colluding with him, it would indeed save too much trouble.

Sure enough, since then, the robbery of the Eagle's Beak Rock Lake Bandits has been extremely smooth, and several robberies have been successfully carried out, and other lake bandits in Taihu Lake have also come to vote, so that in just a few months, the number of Lake bandits in the Eagle's Beak Rock has expanded from six or seven hundred to more than two thousand.

Zhuge Sanhe even read the book of war and knew how to send troops to deploy the formation, under his training, the combat effectiveness of the lake bandits has improved a lot, and they are no longer the appearance of the rabble in the past. And Zhuge Sanhe's status in the eagle's beak rock has also improved rapidly, becoming the second person under Li Mazi, and the actual status is still above the second leader of the winged tiger and the third master of the river dragon.

And this robbery of Hushu Pass is also the information provided by Zhuge Sanhe, and there are people on the shore to help cover it, otherwise it is impossible for so many lake bandits to easily reach Hushu Pass without being discovered, you must know that the population around Suzhou City is very dense.

The news of the attack of the official army was also sent by someone on the shore, and Zhuge Sanhe set a fire attack strategy, so he burned thousands of officers and soldiers.

But the more this is the case, the more uncomfortable Li Mazi feels in his heart. Because he feels like he has become a marionette, where is he still like a big boss? But Li Mazi didn't dare to turn his face with Zhuge Sanhe, because Zhuge Sanhe is now deeply rooted in the hearts of the lake bandits, and there are also a group of diehards under him.

Zhuge Sanhe wanted to do what Li Mazi didn't know, but Li Mazi himself didn't want to attract the emperor's attention, he didn't have the confidence to fight with the Praetorian Guards around the emperor, so he came up with the idea of retreating.

"Have you ever thought about it, even if you really break up, can you really live a stable life? Once the government finds out your details, it only takes a few officials to arrest you. You are a real hero, you should be able to think through this truth! Now the world is in turmoil, and the Henan Red Turban Army has revolted, and has captured several prefectures, with hundreds of thousands of troops. The Jiangxi Righteous Army is also huge, 200,000 righteous troops are besieging Nanchang, if Nanchang is captured, it will go down the Yangtze River to capture Nanjing. The big boss, the current Ming Dynasty has been stormy and has come to a strange road. The number of great bright qi is exhausted! It is the time when the wind and clouds meet, when the husband is determined to forge ahead, how can he have the heart of retreat?

At present, the official army is newly defeated, and the official army in Jiangdong is empty, as long as we send troops, even if we can't capture Suzhou City, there should be no problem in taking Wujiang, Yixing and other cities. If you conquer the villages, towns, and cities, you can get money, food, and materials, which can be used to recruit troops and buy horses, and soon expand to tens of thousands of troops. At that time, even if you can't win the championship, there will be no problem in achieving one prince. ”

Zhuge Sanhe was still persuading hard, but Li Mazi was noncommittal. He knows his own affairs, and has neither ambition nor ability to be a prince. In this life, you can have no worries about food and clothing, and you will be satisfied with a good death.

After eating and drinking, Li Mazi went back to his hut and began to sleep with the woman snatched from Hushu Pass.

Zhuge Sanhe stopped the winged tiger and the river dragon who were also going back to their huts: "Two brothers, if you don't sit with me, I still have some interesting things." ”

The winged tiger and the river dragon both showed joy: "That's a good feeling, otherwise go and have a look." ”

Entering Zhuge Sanhe's thatched hut, Zhuge Sanhe took away the servants waiting in the house, personally dragged out a box from under the bed, opened it, and took out two things and put them on the bed.

"Where did the military advisor get such a precious thing?" The winged tiger is overjoyed, he is a guard soldier, and he likes to fiddle with firearms, but unfortunately although there are firearms on the island, the quality is not good.

"It's a three-eyed gun." The river dragon frowned slightly, unlike the winged tiger, he didn't like to play with firecrackers.

"Three masters, please see." Zhuge Sanhe smiled and took out another thing from the box and put it in front of Chuanjianglong: "Wuyi is watery, special silk is woven, waterproof and set on fire, do you still like it?" ”

Turning Jianglong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he picked up his clothes and couldn't put them down.

"The military advisor gave us such a valuable thing, just say anything." The winged tiger put down the three-eyed gun and said to Zhuge Sanhe.

Zhuge Sanhe smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll say it directly." Li Mazi is so timid, he is no longer worthy of being a big boss, are the two brothers willing to support me? ”

"I've been a brother with the big boss for many years, so I can't betray him!" The winged tiger suddenly threw down the three-eyed gun in his hand and sneered.

The dragon clutched the water tightly and looked at Zhuge Sanhe vigilantly.

Zhuge Sanhe sighed: "I know that the two brothers are deeply righteous, but now is a matter of the safety of the eagle's beak rock, not the time to talk about righteousness." The big boss has lost his sharpness, and even has the idea of retreating. But there are still two or three thousand brothers on the island, what should they do? Let's think about our brothers. ”

"It's impossible for me to betray my eldest brother!" The winged tiger sneered.

"Second, you are from Yixing, the old lady in the family is still alive, I heard that there is an elder brother and two nephews. You are from Wujiang, your wife is gone, and your daughter-in-law has run away, but you still have a son, I heard that your brother helped you raise it, and most of the silver you get every year is given to your brother, so that even the Qinglou is reluctant to visit a few times. Zhuge Sanhe seemed to have started a homely routine.

The faces of the Winged Tiger and the Turning River Dragon suddenly changed.

"The surname Zhuge is what do you want to do?" The winged tiger said angrily.

"Strategist, if you dare to touch my son, I will fight with you!" Zhuanjianglong also said angrily.

"It's all my own brothers, your relatives are my relatives, why am I messing around?" Zhuge Sanhe said with a smile, "Don't worry, two brothers, I have asked my classmates and friends to help take care of the two brothers' families, and there will be no accidents." Two brothers, I am so good to you, will you help me? ”

The winged tiger and the river dragon were silent, and after half a sound, the winged tiger said in a trembling voice: "What do you want us to do?" ”

Zhuge Sanhe smiled and said: "Don't worry, two brothers, I won't fall into injustice, I will deal with the big boss, and you will support me to be the big boss afterwards." ”

"What are you going to do with Big Brother?" Turning Jianglong asked suddenly.

"It's all his own brothers, he won't do anything to him, doesn't he want to break up and become a rich man, I will let him go, and give him a sum of silver. told the island brothers that the big boss patrolled the island and met the official army spies, and then was killed by the official army spies. "Zhuge Sanhe Dao.

"Are you really going to let go of Big Brother?" The winged tiger was skeptical.

"They are all their own brothers, and they still refuse to believe me?" Zhuge Sanhe smiled.

"Okay, we're willing to support you as the master." The situation is stronger than people, the family is controlled by the other party, and the winged tiger and the river dragon can only choose to compromise.

That night, Li Mazi was still sleeping soundly with the beauty in his arms, when suddenly several figures rushed into the room, and after a while, they rushed out again, carrying two sacks on their backs, and walked towards the lake. Soon a boat rowed away from the island and headed for the depths of Taihu Lake, disappearing into the night.

At dawn, Zhuge Sanhe summoned all the big and small leaders on the island and announced the news that the big boss was killed by the official and military sentinels on the island. Li Mazi usually has a good hand against his subordinates, but the lake bandits are full of indignation and shout for revenge for the big boss.

Zhuge Sanhe also shouted to kill the official army to avenge the big boss, and successfully boosted morale. However, the snake can't be headless, since Li Mazi is dead, he has to choose a new boss. So with the support of the winged tiger and the river dragon, Zhuge Sanhe successfully became a big boss.

The first thing Zhuge Sanhe announced was to avenge Li Mazi, and then led the lake bandits out of the nest and killed them towards Wujiang County. The lake bandits abandoned their boats and landed ashore, successively captured several towns in Wujiang County, and after looting, they got a large amount of food and property, gathered the people to join the gang, and in just a few days, the number of people doubled to more than 5,000 people.

Then Zhuge Sanhe took 5,000 lake bandits to Wujiang County, and for some reason the city gate of Wujiang County was opened, and the lake bandits swarmed into the county.