Delong

Chapter 114: Whale Slaying (6)

"Black Heart Shark, let Grandpa find you, a thief!"

"Boss Zhang, not to mention that your younger brother provoked himself that day and killed my brother first... I came to participate in the Jianghuai Conference today, and the officials and Taoists have said that peace is the most important..."

"Peace is the most important thing? Black Heart Shark, are you afraid?"

"Old Zhang, it's not that I, Sha Datong, was afraid of you, but if I fight with you now, wouldn't it mean that I would not pay attention to Yitian Jianbai patrol inspector, Desperate Saburo Zhang Baishou, and the Huankou local boss who posted with a few others? Here... listen to my advice, let's go to the wilderness after the Jianghuai meeting... But the best thing is to take this opportunity of the Jianghuai meeting to turn hostility into jade, and shake hands and make peace from now on..."

"For your uncle! If you don't avenge the murder of your brother, what is my little master Zhang still doing in Huai?!"

"Shame on you, Mr. Sha is standing here, come up and kill him?"

"You wait and don't move!"

"Whoever moves is the grandson."

In the market next to the ferry in Huankou Town, on the third floor of the largest restaurant, they led a team of Jingjie Tigers and a team of Yuan Changjing Gang, who for some reason found a whole floor of Jinyi patrols for team building. Riding on Zhou Xingfan, he was stunned to hear that black-hearted shark Sha Datong was fishing in front of the railing of the second-floor lobby, but he could only look at each other with four or five tables full of strong men, holding their weapons in their hands.

After a while, the floor below really started to rattle, followed by the sound of shoving, the sound of weapons unsheathed, the sound of exclamation, the sound of killing, and the sound of insulting, and then someone fell on the third floor of the stairs. Can get up and pull out the scimitar, and rush down first:
"Jinyi Xunqi is doing business, everyone hugs their heads and squats down!"

Then, there was another round of exclamation, cursing, crying, the sound of weapons clashing, and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground.

Afterwards, it was found that even though Zhou Xingfan acted quickly, this conflict still caused bloody consequences of three deaths and four injuries, and two of them were completely after seeing countless Jingjie Tigers and Changjing Gang gang members pouring out from the third floor. Those who fell directly from the second floor were injured, including the perpetrator, the boss of the Pingsha Gang, Zhang Hongzhang.

But this person was also beheaded after the incident, and hung up beside the ferry, which became a practical instruction for Jing'an to take over the local overlord Long Whale Gang and control Huankou Town.

As for the Pingsha Gang, they naturally lost the opportunity to participate in the Jianghuai Conference.It is even conceivable that after the meeting, the Pingsha Gang's sand mining business in the upper reaches of the Guohe River will cause a new round of competition... The sand and gravel of the Guohe River is well-known in Huaibei, and it is almost becoming a brand. No one will let go of this fat.

Similar things, in fact, have been happening these days, there are fights every day, and people die every day, and as the date of the Jianghuai Conference is approaching... that is, the fifth day of February after the "February [-]" Longevity Festival... this The intensity of this kind of Jianghu enmity is still deepening.

But this is really impossible.

This is the people of the Jianghu, this is the gang of the Jianghu, this is the Jianghu itself...even, peace is very important.

In the chaos, the day suddenly came to the end of the first lunar month. Li Qingchen, who claimed to go north to fetch 150 soldiers, ran into [-] soldiers on the way as promised, and brought them back. For the second, a team of three groups of [-] people found a few Zuocaihou industries to station in the north of Huankou Town, and obeyed Li Qingchen's dispatch; the other team of three groups went directly to the main rudder of the Changjing Gang.

This can not only echo each other from a distance, but also facilitate the control of the situation from the inside to the outside. More importantly, Jing'antai took this action to still show respect for Huankou Town, the Jianghuai Conference, and the Jianghuai heroes.

We at Jing'an Station are all about manners.

Our Zhang Baishou really represents Bai Xunjian, he is a person who can take matters into his own hands, and he is hard to follow when he says something.

Of course, there is another effect, that is, Zhang Baishou himself is more or less afraid of death, and he doesn't expect this group of people to stop the assassination by a real Chengdan master, but at least it can give him psychological comfort, right?
On the first day of February, with the return of the spring rain, a gang that claimed to be from Huaibei, but came from Woshui successfully signed up... The interesting thing is that this gang, which is generally run-down, only thought of one when it was time to sign up. The name of the Huaixing Gang, the leader is none other than Du Pozhen.

"The information collected in the past few days is roughly like this."

In the evening of that day, the spring rain outside was as thin as a cow's hair, and in the south pavilion on the top floor of the three-story "building", Qin Bao was making a routine report with Zhang Xing. "Obviously, there are mainly six relatively large forces... One is the force north of Xiapi, with the background of Xuzhou Daying, the leader is called Miao Hailang, and Xiao Zhou has already said hello, completely listen to us ; The other is a force from Donghai County. Originally, they just wanted to see the direction of the wind and compete for the Dongyi smuggling business, but when they came here and found that something was going on, they wanted to get a share of the pie temporarily, which was more difficult; According to Huainan, he also came from a local tyrant, and the leader called him Wenren Xun'an, and he behaved more obediently to the court, but his mind was still quite treacherous."

At this point, Qin Bao paused slightly.

And Zhang Xing nodded slightly while listening, just looking at a book slumped on his knees, he didn't seem to care, and at this time he just urged casually: "Go on."

"The other three are the three forces that Changjing helped him dismantle."

Only then did Qin Bao continue speaking.

"Vice leader Fan, who was already very powerful, formed a new Jian'an gang; Fifth Zhaoming, the rudder leader who had been suppressed in the gang for many years, also pulled out his own Black Sand Gang and re-established the flag; The people who are mainly from the surrounding forces of Huankou Town pushed the elder Deputy Gang Leader Yue to come forward... The three of them have the advantage of being at home, and they are also the people who have the most experience in Huanshui transportation. Everyone is imperative, but And everyone knows that only one can be pushed out in the end, so all kinds of methods are being used in private at the moment, and it’s not good enough.”

Zhang Xing finally withdrew his gaze from his knees, raised his head, and frowned slightly: "Fan Shiyong was so impatient to come to me before, and he also fully agreed with my plan, but when the matter came to an end, even the people who were separated from Changjing Gang controlled him." Can't you stop? Could it be the Zuo brothers' handwriting?"

"Yes." Qin Bao nodded immediately. "The Zuo brothers will never die. First, Fuli's foundation is deep. Second, they naturally have their own kindness in the past five or six years. Although they are sitting in the backyard, they have a confidant named Li Zida. The law protector came forward and gathered a group of people under the banner of the Long Whale Gang, and continued to wait and see, whoever of the three families would talk about whoever was shitting, and whoever was weak would help whoever..."

"Those three are at a loss?" Zhang Xing was speechless. "It's all in this situation, and you still don't have the ability to completely tear up the Long Whale Gang?"

"Third brother, do you expect these people to be both wise and brave, and everyone will not succeed if they plan deeply?" Qin Bao shook his head with a wry smile on the spot. "In my opinion, these so-called heroes of the rivers and lakes have been immersed in the rich and noble township for a long time. They all have high vision and low power, and they are easy to plan and make decisions... On the contrary, the small gangs below and the gangs from other places are more daring. Some are reckless and thoughtless, and they were easily persuaded to die by these people, but it is really rare to have some ability like Du Pozhen, who can share the joys and sorrows with his subordinates."

Zhang Xing sighed, but also nodded.

And Qin Bao looked up at the other party, paused for a while, and then said seriously: "Third brother, I really think that your method is the best for everyone, and Du Pozhen will be the boss." It's also the best... I want to tell you specifically about this matter."

This was said suddenly, but Zhang Xing didn't show any surprise at all. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Don't you think so before?"

"A little hesitant." Qin Bao said frankly. "Last year ago, when you took me to Jiangdong to measure the land of Jiangxinzhou, and Jiangdong's series of disposal strategies, I totally agreed with it... But on the way back, third brother, your attitude towards the bandits in Mangdang Mountain was just like mine. There are some discrepancies... But after looking at it, what the third brother did is still the best in terms of the results and the situation. Du Pozhen is similar. I didn't think much of him before. I thought he was a sheep thief. There is no reason to be sorry for being a thief. It was just because he had a handle on us in Mangdang Mountain at that time. The path chosen is accurate, and the people who look at it are also the most correct.”

"Erlang." Zhang Xing hesitated for a moment, then spoke seriously. "Let me tell you the truth... the idea of ​​the Jianghuai Conference is that after Li Qingchen left in a fit of anger, I was afraid that he would bring troops back and cause trouble. It was a temporary idea in order to control the situation. It was not a foresight. Our original strategy has not changed...of course , now it seems that Li Qingchen is just angry, and he doesn't mean to make a mistake."

"Li Twelve Lang is unlikely, but it's okay for third brother to be on guard." Qin Bao nodded. "It's just that the third brother made a move, even if it was just a temporary move, it's really extraordinary. With the help of Fan Shiyong's night visit, he broke the old situation and established a new situation."

"There is no need to praise too much." Zhang Xing said one thing. "I haven't finished talking just now, but it is Du Pozhen. I am willing to discount him in Mangdang Mountain. I have indeed identified him from the very beginning... These days, no matter whether it is a sheep thief or a royal family, I am willing to talk to my subordinates." People share weal and woe, and there are too few people who are willing to go to the front to do the most meticulous and tedious things. After I became a white ribbon, I gradually failed, so I value him very much, which is completely different from you."

Qin Bao nodded again, but didn't say anything.

"As for your mentality before and after Mount Mangdang, I'm not unaware. We had an argument in the field north of this town that day." Zhang Xing continued to sigh. "You always think that officials are the right way, and bandits are evil ways... But I feel that in this world, even if you become a bandit, you have to treat them as human beings... Even now, I still have the same reasoning, see I will kill the bandits if they make trouble, but I must know in my heart that they are human beings."

Qin Bao was also silent for a moment, didn't answer the rest of the sentence, just nodded along the first half of the sentence: "It's natural, with the intelligence of the third brother, he must have noticed it long ago."

"Then do you know why I haven't told you any more details?" Zhang Xing asked. "Is it a good time during the Chinese New Year? Didn't say anything?"

Qin Bao shook his head immediately.

"The reason is very simple." Zhang Xing said seriously. "Don't talk about Mangdang Mountain. In fact, the people in the group have been afraid of me since Jiangdong. Li Qingchen's current irritability, Qian Tang's politeness, and Brother Hu's retreat are about the same... And at this time, willing Those who persuaded me, who had different ideas and were willing to talk to me, were precisely you and the inspector, the two life-and-death friends for me. This is not an accident, I know you are doing it for my own good. "

Qin Bao suddenly felt something surge in his chest, and then instinctively opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

Zhang Xing pressed the book in his hand, turned his head to look at Chun Yu outside the attic, and continued:
"And the specific thing is this. Of course, I am afraid that one day somewhere, you will ride a horse and hold a gun and run dozens of steps away, and then turn around and say to me: 'Brother Zhang San, I regard you as a brother, but Let’s say goodbye to each other, let’s leave now’. Then he got off the horse and saluted me with a spear in his hand, then turned around and parted ways..."

"No." Qin Bao instinctively interrupted to reply.

"I also believe it won't." Zhang Xing calmly turned his head back. "But on the other hand, if you do everything possible to make you follow me, you must understand my meaning and obey my meaning. If I take a step, you must follow me. You are not allowed to have opposing thoughts, so what is it? You are still Qin Erlang Is it? Qin Erlang should have his own decision and strategy. If he really wants to obey, I might as well buy a few Dongyi slaves from Nanshi... Erlang, let me tell you something. Others may have said it before, but I still I want to say it again, you Qin Bao is a piece of jade in the rough, you are a great general, you will definitely achieve great achievements in the future, and those who achieve great achievements must have their own opinions, ambitions and ideals."

Unlike before when he wanted to say nothing, this time Qin Bao tried his best to answer, but he couldn't speak.

"The same is true for Bai Xunjian, and the three of us should do the same for each other." Zhang Xing continued to look at each other and said. "If, I mean if, if the two of us, or the three of us, are both on the right path and doing the right thing, then we will all end up together sooner or later, if someone goes wrong for a while Yes, as long as other people are still on the right path, the right person will clear the way, and the wrong person will wake up... That's why I debated with you, but I didn't give you the result after the fact. The reason you obey me... Of course I want you to have an idea with me, but I will clear the way ahead and let you know that I am right and you are wrong, instead of relying on words or friendship to pull you from me. On the other hand, if you think you are right and I am wrong, you should go out and let me see!"

Qin Bao finally adjusted his mood, and then quickly nodded heavily: "Third brother's words are the most reasonable. It should be like this when a husband and wife meet each other. The three of us are like this."

"Inspection is not a real man." Zhang Xing sneered and complained.

"Inspection is better than a man." Qin Bao corrected.

"She can't hear you flattering like that." Zhang Xing was still joking. "You might as well save this... I will say it later."

Qin Bao finally laughed too, but after hesitating for a moment, he asked seriously: "Third brother, can't everyone be like the three of us? It means that although everyone has differences and their backgrounds are different, they all know who the other is. Reliable, and knowing that the other party is trying to do the right thing, walk the right path, or find the right path..."

"It's not impossible, but it's very difficult." Zhang Xing answered seriously. "And that's forming a party, and you can no longer use the title of peers or colleagues, but comrades... In this way, three or fifty comrades in the party can continue, five or seven hundred people can run one party, and eighty-one thousand is enough. It can set the world...and, at that time, the same column can no longer be used as a footnote between people."

"No wonder it's difficult." Qin Bao felt a little regretful. "Not to mention anything else, the imperial court will not allow this kind of party to exist. Behind the True Fire Sect, there is the Chidi Empress, and she just looks like that... And to be honest, the current state of the True Fire Sect cannot help the world, right? ? Are there too few real comrades in it?”

"Isn't it? People's hearts are mixed. When you don't come to the matter, no one knows whether it is a real comrade or a fake comrade. Even a real comrade can become an enemy repeatedly." Zhang Xing suddenly lost his interest. "It's meaningless to talk about it now... Let's continue to talk about the Jianghuai Conference... The six big families... How many families can we live in?"

"I can only keep two families, they are all fighting from other places. I know that I can't unify the old members of the Long Whale Gang, and I have something to say to the court. As for the three families that the Long Whale Gang broke up on their own, I am afraid that they all have power. The thought of winning." Qin Bao answered seriously. "Should we artificially lure two small gangs in to control the situation... There are actually quite a few of them who know the benefits and take the initiative to contact us."

"It can't be like this." Zhang Xing shook his head in agreement. "This is not convincing. After we leave, Boss Du may not be able to control the situation... To do things, there must be something upright, otherwise sooner or later you will encounter more vicious opponents, and even some accidents will be able to turn things around." Disintegrated."

As soon as the words were said, there was a small sound outside the head of the rain, and the two looked up together, and then immediately looked at each other.

Zhang Xing shook his head. The meaning was obvious. By now, the most critical information supporting Du Pozhen had probably been exposed. It was meaningless to cover up more. It was better to pretend not to know and continue talking about the matter.

Qin Bao understood, but pretended not to know, and continued to say: "The third brother is right! But how to break the game?"

"It's very simple." Zhang Xing thought for a while, and took it seriously. "The best way is to push Li Zida, the current leader of the Zuo brothers, to sign up! If Li Zida signs up, the three factions that split out from the Long Whale Gang will definitely be at a loss, and will be suspicious of each other, making an alliance no longer possible...We can also calmly win over Come out one or two, and put Boss Du on the shelf steadily."

Qin Bao nodded, but hesitated to speak.

Zhang Xing understood, and just smiled calmly: "Erlang wants to say that the second child on the left is the key, right? Besides, Li Twelve Lang has brought back the soldiers, and the meeting is only a few days away. The last public agreement with Boss Zuo didn't let Xunjian Bai go down the river...but what about the two old Zuo?"

"Yes." Qin Bao couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Where is Ziwu Jianzuo general? He came, or didn't he come? He didn't come, everything is easy to talk about. When he arrives, we will be settled, but if he comes, he is a majestic alchemy master, but he hides his head and shows his tail. How can there be any masters?" Demeanor? Not even Liuyunhe."

"What do you mean being inferior to Liuyunhe?" Zhang Xing immediately became unhappy. "That's my best friend, a real brother."

Qin Bao could only laugh.

But Zhang Xing hesitated for a moment, took out the compass in his waist, and chanted a mantra in a low voice with the help of the other party's laughter and the sound of rain: "Taishang Laojun is as urgent as a law."

After the spell came out, the pointer didn't move at all, Zhang Xing felt relieved, and raised his hand to signal Qin Bao to leave, but he didn't move at all, just continued to read the book in his hand.

After a while, Zhang Xingfang closed the book, turned around and went to sleep calmly.

It is not a novel, nor is it an official history book, but an account book.

In the morning of the next day, the drizzle continued. Although it affected the vision to a certain extent, you could still see the mighty smoke and waves of the Huaihe River.

Li Twelve Lang continued to hide in Zhenbei.

And Zhang Sanlang and Zhang Baishou did their part to undertake the sacrificial and host activities of the "Longevity Festival".

The Longevity Festival comes from the commemoration of the Qing Emperor... The Qing Emperor is not a person, but a dragon, a real dragon covered in green in the blue waves of the East China Sea, and finally uses the dragon body to prove his supremacy.

According to the legend, about ten thousand years ago, although the world was open for a long time and gave birth to hundreds of races, all of them were wise, but they just ignorantly built sheds, collected wild fruits and ears, hunted and fished, wrapped in animal skins and held wooden The sticks live together into tribes, and then rely on their racial specialties to attack and vendetta each other non-stop.

But suddenly one day, Emperor Qing, who is the most famous, powerful, and intelligent dragon in the East China Sea, sensed God's will, and took the initiative to come to the land to help the tribes he met... It's not like he can directly teach something , he has no experience, and he doesn't understand, he is just a dragon born naturally in this world.

Therefore, his way of helping is very simple and rude, which is to ask these tribal groups to communicate with each other and teach each other what they are good at.

This tribe can farm, that tribe can repair the house well, the tribe next door can make boats, the tribe in the distance can use certain herbs to treat certain diseases, and some tribes can burn the hard stones in the cave where they live. In order to make it into an object... Lord Qingdi worked tirelessly, beating anyone who didn't teach him, and healed the people in the tribe with longevity and true energy if he taught him.

This efficiency is very slow, at least it took thousands of years, and there are many other real dragons, such as Hu Yunjun at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and many tribes actively participated in the process of accelerating civilization.

As for Emperor Qing, to be honest, according to the records, it did not do many real minor tasks, but he played a unique role as a leader and a guardian. At that time, the world was not peaceful. It is said that Emperor Qing personally handled There were no less than [-] or [-] famous tribes, and he personally defeated no less than ten dragons. The emperor cherishes the dragon.

It can be said that the Qing Emperor has made great contributions to the enlightenment of civilization.

Of course, in the end, as the tribes communicated frequently, and I don’t know how long it took, suddenly, the human tribe, which was not obvious at the time, invented and sorted out a kind of hieroglyphs for communication, recording, learning and dissemination. It has become strange... For several years in a row, with the spread of words, the sky and the earth are intertwined day and night, under the three radiances, the four seas are booming, the terrain is self-contained, the powerful real dragons and some powerful dragons who have already embarked on the road of cultivation Individuals of all races have a sense of God's will.

And Emperor Qing sensed the will of God most clearly and unmistakably. It is said that on the day the writing was invented, he ascended to the gate of heaven and became the first Supreme Being in this world.

No one knows how many of these legends in the official history books are true or false. The only thing that is certain is that the meritorious service of Emperor Qing to this world is beyond doubt...but that was already 8000 years ago.

By the time the second and third supreme beings appeared in this world, it was already 5000 years ago, the legend of the Black Emperor, the Red Emperor, and the sinful dragon of the witch clan.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

On the colorful shed in front of the ferry, Zhang Xing, dressed in brocade robes and wearing a small warrior crown, was exercising his true energy, struggling to whip out three whips in the air, then put away the whip, looked around, and shouted out of luck:

"This year's Dragon Contest has officially begun!"

Hearing the words, a shirtless man swung a sledgehammer dozens of steps away, and smashed it hard at the huge copper gong hanging on the wooden frame beside him.

As soon as the gong sounded, dozens of blue dragon-headed thin boats flew out at once like arrows flying off the string, and there was a thunderous noise at the ferry of Huankou Town on the north bank of the Huaihe River.

Even some wealthy businessmen and gang bosses are shameless, rolling up their sleeves, jumping up and shouting.

It's like betting a lot of money.

Turning back to the front, the dragon boat drove to the opposite bank at high speed. After picking the iron gall hydrangea with special marks on the tree on the other bank, it immediately turned around and returned to the ferry.

And at this stage, the victory was one point, and people on the ferry had already started to shout and curse.

It's like betting on the blue dragon boat race.

However, more people were still screaming, including those who were shouting and cursing, and quickly shifted their attention, because after the people on the boat arrived at the ferry, they immediately abandoned the boat and went ashore, and rushed to the original market location. In front of a complex and huge wooden frame in an open space.

The wooden frame rises along a man-made mound, borrowing some height and strength, it has a radius of tens of feet, and the highest point is as high as a five-story building, and there is a green dragon on the highest point. head.And what these people have to do is to climb up with a specific dragon head cover, and stuff their team's iron gall hydrangea from the top of their own cover into the mouth of the top dragon.

Whoever enters first is the final winner.

This process is very difficult, because there are specific regulations on the dragon head cover for sending hydrangea, and one person needs to hold the dragon head, one person pulls the dragon body, and one person is the dragon tail. The three people cooperate with each other and "jump" to the To complete the task at the highest point, during the period, the hydrangea ball cannot be dropped, the dragon's body cannot be torn apart, and the dragon's head cannot fall to the ground, otherwise it will be a failure... But there is no doubt that it is allowed to hinder the progress of the opposing team, and even openly kick each other.

Of course, if anyone kicks down and collapses the shelf, and falls the biggest one on top of the dragon's mouth, that is an extremely serious failure. It is said that it will affect this year's harvest and the profit market. Not only must he be directly sentenced to lose, but he must also invite guests to make an apology , you will not be allowed to participate again next year.

And this process is the main part of the first half of today's "February [-] Longevity Festival", and it is also the most exciting time for the people in the market.

"Are there any masters with extraordinary meridians?"

Sitting in the main seat, Zhang Xing watched the appearance of this familiar scene with great interest, and at the same time began to make additional inquiries.

"Reporting to Zhang Baishou, those with more than six main veins are not allowed to use it." The new Jian'an Gang Leader Fan next to him took the initiative to explain. "Otherwise you won't be able to read it."

Zhang Xing nodded knowingly, and continued to ask: "Is this custom unique to Jianghuai, or is it the same everywhere?"

"Reporting to Mr. Zhang, everything is specious." Taking advantage of Master Fan's confusion, someone next to him couldn't wait to raise his voice to explain, but it was a small gang leader named Sha Datong. "As far as I know, there are dragon boats in places with many water networks in the south, but there are almost no dragon boats in the north, but racing cars and horse racing... As for the drama of fighting for dragons and giving away pearls, there are dragon boats from north to south in the east, but not in the west. On the contrary, they mostly hit dragon balls on horseback."

Zhang Xing was even more confused, so he wanted to ask this smart man again.

And at this time, Qin Bao suddenly walked straight over, cupped his hands slightly, and then stepped aside to reveal a person.

Zhang Xing was taken aback for a moment, and immediately waved with a smile: "Brother Zuo You, what a coincidence to come."

Zuo You, dressed in new clothes, walked over with a wry smile, stopped outside the colorful shed, and bowed his hands respectfully: "I made Zhang Baishou laugh. I didn't come by coincidence, but I was forced to pass on a message to Zhang Baishou."

Zhang Xing understood, but waved his hands in public: "No hurry... everything is not as important as the 'Longevity Festival'... I want to watch the Dragon and the Pearl, and then I will give the awards, and I will sacrifice in the afternoon. After I finish the sacrifice, I will talk to Brother Zuo Speaking of which, even if Brother Zuo goes to have fun, it can be regarded as stealing half a day of leisure."

Zuo You was slightly taken aback, but didn't know what to say, although he turned his head many times, he could only walk away in embarrassment.

PS: Good night everyone (good morning, happy Valentine's Day)

(End of this chapter)