"Half a year ago, news of smallpox spread in Xiazhou, causing unrest everywhere. He wanted to make a comeback, but the leader of the caravan he followed didn't want to capture cities, only rob travelers for money."
It's hard to say whether Erge was too ambitious or that the bandit chief's aspirations were too low; anyway, their paths diverged.
The bandit chief disliked Erge and wanted to marginalize him as the second-in-command, whereas Erge was more ruthless, intending to replace the chief and quietly recruited men.
Unfortunately, the third-in-command was absolutely loyal to the chief, and most bandits in the lair still considered the chief generous enough. Therefore, few were willing to switch allegiance to Erge.
"Estimating his chances as low, and knowing Jin Kui'an had quite a few troops, he sent a message asking Jin Kui'an to help him, promising to give him seventy percent of the treasure from Bajue."
