Jiapingguan Chronicle

"My second uncle..." Shen Zhonghe laughed angrily, "He really doesn't care about life and death. How did he do it?"

"They have been in contact before. Your second uncle told the other party the location of our main ship by lighting fireworks, and the other party surrounded us at the agreed time."

"Wait..." Shen Zhonghe waved his hand towards Liang Jieque, "How to light fireworks? Your birthday fireworks?"

"Yes!" Liang Jieque smiled at him, "Didn't we all have dinner together before? Then your second uncle suggested that it is rare to celebrate a birthday at sea, so why not have fun setting off fireworks. These He bought the fireworks from a merchant in Ubi City. The fireworks are much more colorful than ours in Daxia, and I heard they are particularly beautiful."

"It sounds really good. Is this the birthday gift he wanted from you before?"

"Yes, this is the birthday gift he wants to give me." Liang Jieque looked at Shen Zhonghe and smiled, "I had no other thoughts at the time, except that I was moved, and I was thinking about the person I loved most. In order to prepare a birthday gift for myself, I traveled all over the city of Ubi, and I couldn't be happier." She smiled bitterly, "I was so moved at that time, but then I was so annoyed and regretful."

"This is my second uncle's fault and has nothing to do with you."

"I know, but if I insist on setting off fireworks, neither my adoptive father nor your father will be happy."

"Not happy?" Jin Miaomiao was puzzled, "Why is the old man not happy? Could it be that he noticed something?"

"Then I don't know." Liang Jieque shook his head gently, "But that day was my birthday, and they felt that they couldn't spoil the fun, so although they were very unhappy, they still agreed. The second brother bought a lot of fireworks, but Because we were on different ships, it was inconvenient, so we set them all off on the deck of the main ship. But I have to admit that the fireworks made by Banshang are indeed beautiful, and there are many patterns that I have never seen before. The colors I have seen are very bright and beautiful. This fireworks feast lasted for more than an hour. In the area centered on the main ship, the air was filled with a strong smell of fireworks, which did not dissipate even all night long. .”

"Even if those people can't find the exact location, they can still touch it just by smelling the sulfur, right?"

"That's right." Liang Jieque took a sip of tea and continued, "After they determined the position of the main ship, when night fell, when everyone was sleeping most soundly and those on night watch were at their most depressed, With the help of the second brother, they quietly sneaked into the main ship. Maybe because the adoptive father and the eldest brother were prepared in advance and were always on guard, maybe because when they sneaked in, they accidentally made some noise and woke up. The guards were on duty at night, and then a fierce fight broke out between the two sides.”

"Maybe it's both possibilities, isn't it?"

"Maybe!" Liang Jieque looked at Shen Zhonghe and chuckled, "During the day, the sky was very clear, but at night, I don't know why, it was so dark that I couldn't see anything without lighting up the lights. . If they sneak in quietly, they will definitely not be able to light any lamps or make fires. They will definitely come in the dark. Therefore, it is not impossible for some accident to happen in the process. "

"That's right." Shen Zhonghe nodded, "What happened next? It goes without saying that we lost the battle, right?"

"It is true that we lost." Liang Jieque spread his hands, "Because the number of guards on the main ship is not very large, and the combat strength depends on who we compare with. Compared with ordinary water bandits, it is still strong, but if it is compared with Japanese pirates are not that strong."

"That's true. I've seen the skills of my family's guards. They can't beat me in a group of five, let alone Japanese pirates."

"That's what happened. Therefore, it seemed that they were somewhat outnumbered. During the fight between the two sides, the guards were always at a disadvantage and were beaten by the Japanese pirates. As for the Japanese soldiers led by Hu Shang, their strength was indeed very high. Strong, but it seems that I didn’t try my best that time, I only used 10% or 20% of my 100% strength, and I kept fighting the whole time.”

"Are you going to beat me?" Shen Zhonghe frowned slightly, "Why? Do you want to live?"

"Of course, what they are thinking about is the special pass, and naturally they want to stay alive. Although they colluded with your second uncle and used such methods to coerce people, they did not hurt people's lives after all, and there is still room for change. As a human being. Leave a line so that we can meet each other in the future. What they think about is that if we can all work together in the future, it won’t be so embarrassing when we meet again.”

"Can the Japanese think of this? I'm afraid they can't even understand what Daxia is saying, and they can't speak it, right?"

"It's definitely not them, it should be the people who hired them. The person behind Hu Shang had already warned them before coming here. They were not allowed to be cruel. They were just taught a lesson. Therefore, those guards only suffered some superficial injuries. , there are no other problems. And those injuries are not very serious, because the roots and muscles are not injured, and they can be cured in ten days and a half. But at the moment, they can only fall on the deck and cannot move. If you move, you can't stop the intruders."

"Then I really have to thank them for being merciful and saving the lives of the guards. Otherwise, their sins would have been even more serious. Of course, they shouldn't take this seriously, right?" See Liang Jieque nodded, Shen Zhonghe sneered, and continued, "It was because the guards were injured that their grandfather and father were controlled by them? Are they injured? Are there any other problems?"

"No." Liang Jieque shook his head gently, "They were just controlled and did not suffer any harm. As I said just now, what Hu Shang and the master behind him want is to continue to cooperate with each other. They have continued to cooperate with each other. The guards don’t want to be hurt, let alone my son, right?”

"That's okay." Shen Zhonghe nodded, "What I'm actually worried about is not them, but the Japanese they hired. Those people don't have any important people. Those Japanese have always been different inside and outside. On the surface, maybe I agreed, maybe that's not what I thought at all. This time, they still have something in mind, and they know how important it is to make a move." "Wait a minute." Jin Jing interrupted Liang Jieque, and he cleared it up He raised his voice and said, "I'm sorry, Aunt Liang, I have a question. Don't you still have a escort ship? The main ship has been controlled. Where is the escort ship? Are all the guards on the ship asleep? "

"Master Jin is right, where are the escort ship and the people on the ship?" Shen Zhonghe frowned slightly, "Are they all gone? Such a big thing happened on the main ship, don't they know to come to the rescue?"

"Yes, what about the guards we invited? Didn't they just run away when they were in danger?"

"How is that possible?" Liang Jieque couldn't laugh or cry when he heard what Jin Jing and Shen Jiu said. "Those guards are actually from their own family. There's no reason to abandon the master's family and run away, right? It's just that the escort ship doesn't know why. For whatever reason, it was far away from the main ship and my ship. From my porthole, I could basically only see a shadow. As for the guards on the ship, I didn’t even see their shadow and had no idea where to go. What happened? That's why I was very worried and thought about asking my own guards to rescue my adoptive father and eldest brother. But then their talks broke down and when Hu Shang was about to attack his adoptive father and eldest brother, those guards suddenly appeared. ”

"Appeared suddenly?" Shen Zhonghe was slightly startled, "Did grandfather arrange it?"

"I'm not very clear about this." Liang Jieque shook his head slightly, "Now that I think about it, it was not only the eldest brother who discovered the abnormal behavior of the second brother during the day, but also the adoptive father. When the two of them wait, The dispute between the two has come to an end for the time being. The eldest brother may go to his adoptive father to discuss it. He feels that the second brother still has some problems and wants to discuss a solution. You may not have sailed on the sea for a long time. The most fearful thing about this kind of voyage is the human heart. If someone has bad intentions or has second thoughts, it will be a fatal and devastating blow."

"Aunt Liang is right." Shen Zhonghe nodded lightly, "If there is a double-minded person, then we have to stop until we find this person, otherwise we cannot move forward."

"That's right." Liang Jieque smiled bitterly, "They must also have concerns, so they made some new arrangements. Or maybe they also had a premonition that some accidents would happen that night, but will they happen and when will they happen? They probably don't know. It's just..." She paused for a moment and said, "After this happened, until now, I haven't asked them. Everything has happened, and the second brother is no longer here, and for He paid a heavy price for his stupidity, so it would be pointless for me to ask again. If we get entangled in it, it will bring back bad memories for everyone. At that time, our relationship was not very good. There is no need to add insult to injury.”

"Aunt Liang is right, worrying about this is actually the most useless..." Jin Jing nodded, sighed softly, and said, "If you ask after the incident, it will be poking at everyone's common scars and letting everyone down." Everyone is faced with the unbearable past again."

"Master Jin is right, that's what I think. There is absolutely no need to do this."

"Yes!" Jin Jing let out a long sigh, "You continue."

"Okay." Liang Jieque smiled at Jin Jing and continued, "When I took my maid to puncture the porthole window paper, the battle on the main ship was still in progress, but it had come to an end. The guards They were completely defeated, falling on the deck one after another, the entire deck... no, the entire main ship was a mess."

"They really are..." Shen Zhonghe shook his head helplessly, "None of them can fight."

"Yes, there is no one who can fight and turn the tide. Therefore, they can only watch helplessly as the control of the main ship falls into the hands of the Japanese pirates. What should I say to those Japanese pirates? Although I I have never seen these people, nor have I seen any real war, but I can tell at a glance that these people have experienced hundreds of battles and are completely different from ordinary people. Each of them carries a strong murderous aura. , with a fierce light in her eyes, wanting to eat people alive." She sighed softly, "I also heard my adoptive father, eldest brother and second brother say before that the most ferocious things on the sea are not the unknown waves. Not those pirates, but these elusive Japanese pirates."

"Have they met before?"

"Basically not. The ones we encounter the most are ordinary water bandits. Sometimes, we can even meet these Japanese and help them fight off the water bandits."

"Huh? Do they still have such a conscience? It's impossible, right?"

"Master Jin, you don't know this. They have indeed done this before, but the targets are usually fishing boats." Shen Zhonghe smiled, "During our patrols, we did this more than once I have seen situations like the Japanese helping fishing boats to fight off water bandits and pirates."

"Why is this happening?" Jin Jing looked at Shen Zhonghe and then at Liang Jieque in confusion, "Don't they always rob fishing boats or merchant ships? How can they help fight others? They gave away water bandits or Haikou After being beaten away, are you going to rob this merchant ship or fishing boat next? Is this what is commonly known as... intercepting Hu?"

"What are you talking about?" Shen Zhonghe couldn't help but smile, "Master Jin, it's not what you think. Japanese pirates don't rob everyone."

"Yes, Xiaoman is right. They don't rob everyone. On the sea, even robbers are divided into three, six, and nine grades. The Japanese pirates should be the ones with the highest status. They only rob merchant ships, and those small merchant ships They still look down upon them, they are all big ships from the Western Regions, and those big ships that go out to sea in Daxia, there are a lot of things they need on them."

"The established pirates are ranked below the Japanese pirates. In addition to the large merchant ships, their targets also include some medium-sized merchant ships. As for the others, they are not within the scope of their robbery. The rest are the water bandits. and the pirates who were dispersed by the navy. Generally speaking, they could not defeat the navy, nor could they defeat the established pirates and Japanese. Therefore, they were not strong enough to rob large merchant ships and medium-sized ships. Merchant ships can only rob the ships of scattered small merchants, and fishing boats like us. But, as long as there are traces of sea pirates and Japanese people nearby, they will run away in a swish, because they know , those guys will definitely come and intervene when they see their behavior. We don’t know how this rule was formed. Every time those Japanese or sea pirates help us, we will give them some reward, sometimes just The fish caught are sometimes processed and dried fish. Sometimes they will ask for them, and they will also give the fishermen something in exchange. Sometimes they will not ask for the eggs at all, and they will drive away the water bandits and Little pirates, they just walked away."