coobybook Chapter 439 Liangshan is truly wonderful!
Chapter 439 Liangshan is truly wonderful!
"Bro, what kind of seats do you think we should get?"
After hearing Ren Yuan's words, the Ma brothers, Ma Jin and Ma Qiang, quickly began to discuss in hushed tones.
"We've just arrived, wouldn't it be bad if we went too high?"
Ma Qiang had some thoughts on his mind.
"Brother, we used to be the masters of a mountain, if we lower ourselves too much, we'll be at a loss."
Ma Jin didn't quite agree with asking for a lower price.
They thought they were speaking in a low voice, but at this moment, in the Hall of Righteousness, besides their own fathers and Yang Lin, there were also Ren Yuan, Xiao Jiasui, Sun An, Lu Junyi and others who were all real experts. How could they not hear what they were saying?
"Brother, these two brothers are quite interesting."
Xiao Jiahui looked at Ren Yuan and said with a smile.
“They were both very individualistic, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to be lost back then.”
Ren Yuan responded with a smile as well.
In fact, Ren Yuan knew what was going on with the two brothers.
The Sun brothers, Sun Li and Sun Xin, of the 10th Infantry Corps are a good example.
Ren Yuan felt that Ma Qiang and Sun Li were similar. Ma Qiang could easily lead an army, and it was only natural that Ma Jin would be his brother's deputy.
However, Ren Yuan wanted to see what these two guys would choose if they were given the choice themselves.
"What are you two doing?"
Grandpa Ma couldn't hear his two sons' murmurs, so he quickly came over to see what they were doing.
"Dad, what should we choose?"
Ma Jin said to his father.
"What to choose? What else is there to choose?"
When Ma Taigong heard this, he was furious. Were his two sons idiots?
"The chieftain was just being polite to you two. You two actually intend to choose? What made me give birth to two brainless idiots?"
"Chief, don't listen to these two's nonsense. We won't choose them; we'll follow your orders! Even if you send them to be lowly soldiers, that's fine!"
Grandpa Ma was afraid that his two sons' behavior would anger Ren Yuan, so he quickly tried to make amends for them.
"Uncle, it's alright, it's alright. They're all brothers now, we don't do this. Just listen to what they have to say and see what they want to choose."
"Besides, your two sons are both heroes. If I send them to be common soldiers, people will definitely say that I, Ren Yuan, am blind!"
Ren Yuan smiled and waved his hand. He could certainly feel the love that Grandpa Ma had for his two children. This was the kind of behavior that every father would do, and it made Ren Yuan think of his father in his previous life.
“Chief, we brothers know that we’ve only just arrived on the mountain and haven’t achieved anything yet, so it’s not appropriate for us to ask for high positions. But since you’ve asked us so frankly, we’ll be honest with you. At the very least, we brothers would be deputy battalion commanders.”
Ma Qiang and Ma Jin also realized their father's thoughts, so they lowered their standards a bit.
Anyway, they definitely can't just be the leaders, otherwise they'll feel ashamed!
"Deputy battalion commander? Hahahaha."
Ren Yuan burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Xiao Jiasui and the others laughed along with him.
"What are you laughing at? This is really low. They say the heroes of Liangshan are given positions based on their abilities. We can't just make the two of us into captains. If you don't believe me, we can practice."
The brothers Ma Qiang and Ma Jin thought the people of Liangshan were laughing at them, so they were a little anxious.
"No, no, no, brothers, you've misunderstood."
Ren Yuan quickly tried to calm the two people down.
"The brothers are laughing because they think you're being too modest!"
"If you two are only deputy battalion commanders, then how capable must the battalion commander be?"
"Besides, before you two brothers came up the mountain, you were both leaders of a stronghold and well-known figures in Huaixi. If you were here, you would only be deputy commanders of a battalion. If word got out, it would damage the reputation of Liangshan."
"So there's no need to be humble about just arriving at the mountain or not having accomplished anything yet. We'll take whatever pay we can get based on our abilities!"
After hearing Ren Yuan's words, the Ma brothers finally felt relieved.
Listen to this! This is what a great chieftain should say. He speaks to the heart.
"Ma Qiang, Ma Jin, effective immediately, you two are hereby appointed to form the 11th Battle Regiment of the Liangshan Infantry. Ma Qiang will be the commander and Ma Jin the deputy commander. Recently, all the legions of Liangshan have been expanding their forces, and your 11th Legion will be no exception. Recruit six battalions, which is three thousand men. How about it? Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied! So satisfied! Thank you, brother! Thank you, brother!"
Upon hearing this, Ma Qiang and Ma Jin exclaimed, "Good heavens! I've become a commander right after arriving? In charge of three thousand men?"
This is even more impressive than when I was the chieftain of a village with over a thousand men!
Liangshan is wonderful!
"Brother! There's nothing else to say. From now on, we two brothers belong to you! If you tell us to go east, we'll never go west! If you tell us to chase a dog, we'll never chase a chicken!"
The two brothers bowed and kowtowed to Ren Yuan, making vows as they did so.
"Get up, get up! We don't do this in our mountain stronghold! We're all brothers who share the same food, we don't do this kind of kowtowing!"
Ren Yuan gestured for the two men to stand up; these two guys were indeed a bit goofy at times.
They must have a good relationship with Mi Sheng, right? After all, they're practically from the same hometown.
"Great, that's wonderful, Chieftain! Thank you so much, Chieftain! I'm entrusting these two children to you from now on. Beat them if you need to, scold them if you need to!"
Grandpa Ma was also moved to tears. Look, look!
This is the right path! As soon as they got up the mountain, the two kids became commanders of three thousand men, and they became successful overnight!
What did that Wang Qing say when he first came? I forgot, I forgot, anyway, the treatment was much worse!
"Ma Qiang, Ma Jin, this is Military Advisor Xiao Jiasui. Here's what we'll do: first, settle your fathers in, then follow Military Advisor Xiao to the back mountain to find Instructor Wang of the Training Corps. Have him assign you three thousand men, divide up your garrisons, and then we'll officially begin forming the Eleventh Infantry Corps. Oh, and you two, each of you will receive a settlement allowance of 500 taels of silver. Have Military Advisor Xiao take you to the treasury to collect that as well."
"There's really money to be made?"
Ma Qiang and Ma Jin had heard in the martial arts world that leaders of Liangshan received a settlement allowance upon joining the mountain, but they always thought it was an exaggeration. They never expected it to be true!
“That’s right. You two are both leaders. Five hundred each, a thousand for both of you. Let Strategist Xiao take you to collect it.”
Ren Yuan smiled as he looked at the expressions of the three members of the Ma family.
Despite the large number of people at Liangshan, there are only about a hundred leaders, and the total amount of resettlement allowances paid out is just over 50,000 taels, which is equivalent to a birthday gift.
For Liangshan, who still had over two million strings of cash in their warehouses, this amount was nothing. (Don't think it's a lot of money; just think about it—it's the sum of the spoils from several raids: Zhu Family Village, Gaotang Prefecture, Jiang Prefecture, Zengtou City, and various other businesses. And that doesn't even include Chai Jin's own treasury.)
"Brother, I now think Father was right. We really should have come to Liangshan a long time ago!"
Ma Jin looked at his older brother with a very serious expression.
"Yes, second brother, let's do a good job and let everyone know that we two brothers are awesome!"
Ma Qiang was also full of ambition!
"By the way, Chieftain! May I ask you a question?"
Just as Xiao Jiahui was about to lead the three of them away, Ma Qiang and Ma Jin suddenly remembered something and called out to Ren Yuan.
"Hmm? What's the problem? You guys tell me."
Ren Yuan was very curious.
"Um, what is Wu Dutou's current position?"
The Ma brothers are really planning to compete with Wu Song!
“Brother Wu Song, he is from your Ninth Infantry Regiment, oh no, it should be called the Tiger-Taming Legion now. He is the commander of the Tiger-Taming Legion, and his rank is the same as yours.”
After hearing this, the two brothers looked at each other and exchanged glances:
Excellent! In terms of rank, we haven't lost to Commander Wu!
We must bring Gousheng into our group later, so he knows that following us is just as good as following Wu Dutou!
PS: (To reiterate, this resettlement allowance is only available to leaders, and it's a one-time payment, essentially a buyout for talent acquisition. For example, Wu Song was an infantry leader, and he received this allowance when he joined the mountain bandits, while his brother Wu Da, although also a leader in the kitchen, did not receive it.)