Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 590
Where Peng Ze is located is the core of Jiangzhou. The water network in the area is densely woven, the flow of ointment is rich, and the abundance of fish and rice is not inferior to Wuzhong.Half of Haozong's travel food is here.

The spring breeze is like a pen, and the mountains and rivers are covered with greenery.As the cold winter goes away, everything sprouts, and Peng Ze's surroundings gradually become busy.Compared with previous years, the number of boats sailing on the waterway has increased significantly, each carrying merchant goods, from small streams to large streams, and from large streams to large rivers.

A fully loaded cargo ship sailed out of the manor with hundreds of houses in the water. Because the draft was too deep, it had to be dragged by trackers on both sides of the waterway to drain water.At the intersection of several waterways, the water flow gradually became abundant, and the river surface became several times wider, so that the cargo ship could sail freely.

The trackers on both sides of the waterway assembled on the spot and returned to the manor. The people on the boat waved goodbye to the shore, and then the cargo ship headed towards the direction of the big river in the north.The boatmen performed their duties and were busy up and down, while a few managers set up a small table with food and wine at the bow, enjoying the warm spring breeze, gazing at the beautiful scenery on both sides of the strait, laughing and talking about wine, which is very interesting.

"This time, a shipment of goods arrived in the capital. It should be that the Qing Dynasty in the capital is busy, and the price must be very cheap!"

A steward drank a glass of wine, twisted a few preserved fruits and threw them into his mouth, chewed slowly, and said with a smile.

Another person, Nian Xu, sighed and said, "Unfortunately, we are still one step behind the raccoon dogs in Wuzhong, and they have taken the advantage. If the goods are not good enough, they will be directly sold in the capital, and we must go through their hands before we can enter the market. We have made this trip back and forth. If it is not in the owner's pocket, it will be exploited by them first!"

"It's better not to say too much. If you say it smoothly, you will make a slip of your tongue after entering the capital, and you will be provoked and delayed entering the market for a few days. You will miss the busy market season. Be careful, the master will pull out your tongue!"

"Right now you and I are gossiping, those raccoon dogs are not well-known, so what are they afraid of!"

Having said that, it is not easy to talk about this topic, so everyone turned to talk about the many changes in Jiangdong.

The boat sailed for half a day, and when it was approaching Pancheng, the waterway in front suddenly became congested, and many boats slowed down.On the water further ahead, there were several warships anchored, connected by iron cables, blocking the waterway.

"What's going on up ahead?"

Seeing this, the stewards did not dare to be negligent, so they put down the sampan and asked people to go to the left to inquire, and it took a while for the news to come back: "The state government has set up a ferry prison here, and no one will be allowed to pass without a customs order!"

The faces of several stewards changed when they heard this. They were already used to this waterway, but they had never heard of this rule!So two other ship stewards went off the ship, wanting to inquire more deeply about the secrets inside, but when they came back, they had dejected faces.

"Irrelevant orders are not allowed to pass, but customs orders can only be processed at the Zhenzhi Governor's Mansion! Before the journey is far away, let someone return to the master's house as soon as possible."

"What is the Governor's Mansion going to do? Donations and losses in the past years, the main family has always sent it regularly, but now they are going to set up a card to exploit!"

It was useless to complain when such an accident happened.A checkpoint was suddenly set up here, except for a few families, the rest were all blocked here.

So many boats can only dock, waiting for their owners to send a letter back.

After waiting for a whole day, the master's family received a letter: The governor's mansion said that there were bandits in the north of the road, and in order to prevent damage to the people's houses and to prevent the freight from funding the bandits, the waterway had to be blocked.

The words are high-sounding, but in fact there are additional subsidies. A customs order costs tens of thousands of dollars, and it is only one-way.The owner's house is still trying to find a way to clear it, but the freight can't be delayed. Let them find a way to solve it on the spot, and don't delay the schedule.

So the several stewards started their own activities again, either begging their neighbors to make friends with them, or trying to bribe the guards, but to no avail.However, there is no other way. I found out that there is a slightly narrower waterway that can lead directly to the river more than a dozen miles back. There has not been time to set up a checkpoint to block it.

So the stewards went over to observe in person, and found that there were indeed boats passing through this waterway.In order to prevent this road from being blocked again, they did not dare to delay, and immediately returned to let people divert.

This waterway is a little more remote than the original old road, and there are not many boats passing by. There are many mountains and dense forests along the way, and few people live there.The group of people were also worried, put down their small boats to explore the way ahead, and prepared to return immediately if they found something was wrong.Fortunately, there were no accidents on the boat halfway.

However, these people didn't know that as early as they turned to come in, several light boats were attached to their backs, and then the winding waterway and the cover of the surrounding dense forests followed them all the time!

After traveling day and night for two days, seeing that they would leave this wilderness and turn to the densely populated plains after midnight, the hearts of everyone gradually relaxed.

"The master ordered that you don't have to rush to bring the proceeds back to your hometown. You can go to Liyang to have a look first. Later, the master Alang will go there in person. There are many people in the county who have bought properties there. If you don't Troops are invading, and they can take care of each other, so why not try it out there..."

In the middle of the night, a few people were leaning sleepily on the side of the boat and chatting, suddenly one of them pointed at the water behind and tremblingly said: "Then, what is that..."

Everyone followed the reputation, and saw a raging fire on the water flowing towards them!

"Drums, drums! Put the water fence, don't let them come near..."

Several people are also accustomed to waterways. Although they are panicked in their hearts, they still remember what to do.The rapid sound of drums sounded on the deck, and the guards and boatmen who were sleeping soundly got up one after another, each took out their swords, guns and weapons, and the sharp-pointed water fences piled up on the deck were connected by ropes and thrown into the boat, carrying heavy loads in the waves Fu, whether it is a person or a boat trying to get close, they will be smashed through by the sharp thorns!
At this time, the raging fire was getting closer and closer, and there were faint figures moving behind the fire, and at the same time, there were shouts and the sound of gold and iron clashing through the night!

"Speed ​​up, speed up! Get rid of these water bandits!"

Before the words fell, there was a loud bang bang on the surface of the water, and then the entire hull was shaken. Several guards who were running on the deck were caught off guard and immediately fell on the deck.Throwing a few torches down, I saw that there were many huge driftwood half exposed in front of the water, which seemed to be connected by iron cables. With the collision of the cargo ship, they were entangled in the bow of the ship and could not be shaken off!

The cargo ship had a fairly large capacity, and it was entangled by driftwood, so the resistance was inevitably greater, and it almost stopped.

"Swing the crossbow, string it up!"

Seeing that they couldn't get rid of it, the stewards also gave up their futility and ordered the guards to prepare to meet the enemy.Fortunately, after this accident, the master's family has people to support them, even including a master's husband, boatman and guards, there are hundreds of people. If there is a small group of water bandits who are not good enough, there is no need to be afraid at all.

The fire extinguished when it was still a mile away from the cargo ship, and it could already be seen that it was a large bamboo raft full of firewood. The upper layer was burned out, and the lower layer was soaked by the river water. Now it was scattered on the river surface, like floating corpses !

When those fires were extinguished, the burning torches on the cargo ship became the only light source in this silent night, and then they were extinguished amidst the hasty scolding of the stewards.The sky and the earth returned to darkness again, and the pale-faced people pointed their bows and arrows in the direction of the commotion in the night.

The darkness didn't last long, and suddenly the fire lighted up on one side of the river. It was just dots at first, but suddenly they were connected together. In the fire light, a large number of ragged people roared and rushed out of the mountains and dense forests, as if gushing out of the underworld. The evil ghosts jumped on the shore, and it seemed that the rough bamboo rafts, sampans, or wooden boards, or long poles, or hands and feet that had been prepared long ago rushed towards the cargo ship. Judging by the scale, there were at least a thousand Yu Zhong!
"Release the arrow! Release the arrow!"

Amidst the yells of panic, the messy arrows on the ship were thrown towards the attackers. There was a series of screams in the night, and there were splashes on the water, but there was a more violent roar. Fearing death, rushing to the cargo ship!

Soon, the bamboo raft rushing forward collided with the water fence put down around the cargo ship, and then there was the sound of bamboo breaking or body piercing.Those who were pierced by the spikes did not die for a while, struggling violently on the water surface, like fish hooked, and even pulled the half-wooden and half-iron water fences, making the connection between the water fence and the ship's side The ropes are taut and trembling!
The dark night covered up the horrific scene, and those bandits were also brave and fearless, and rushed forward one after another, hitting the water fence on one side one after another. Throwing without thinking, rushing on the waves!

Soon, the first person climbed the side of the boat and rushed aboard, with wet hair hanging down his face, ragged clothes clinging tightly to his bony body like ghost patterns, roaring ferociously like a water ghost, with hands clenched Holding a ridiculously simple wooden thorn, he opened his teeth and claws to pounce on the opponent in front of him!

However, what greeted him was a sharp and dull long knife, and the wind fell suddenly, and a line of blood burst out from the forehead and left side of the whole person in an instant!The forward rush stopped suddenly, and then the whole body was suddenly thrown back, and fell heavily into the water, causing dark splashes to appear!
"Kill the enemy, kill the enemy!"

The shrill roar was still harsh in such a noisy environment. Although a bandit was cut down, more heads emerged from behind, and even made the ship suddenly sink to this side.

After being rushed onto the ship by the thieves, the longbow and crossbow were useless, so the guards on the cargo ship had to throw them aside, each with their guns and knives to charge up!Fortunately, although these thieves were fierce, their weapons were hardly elite, and the simple bamboo spears and wooden stabs were too ineffective. During the fierce fighting, the corpses quickly filled the side of the ship!
The entire deck suddenly became greasy, and the stench permeated the entire ship. It was hard to tell whether it was the smell of blood or the mud at the bottom of the river.Although the darkness restricts the line of sight, it also makes people more focused. You only need to let the swords and guns fly and protect the few feet in front of you, and the rest don't have to pay attention.

Suddenly, a guard's feet slipped, and his body dived forward uncontrollably. The spear in his hand seemed to be pierced by something, and the resistance offset his momentum.The guard couldn't help being overjoyed, he took a wrong step, and when Fang stood firm, he saw a crooked figure with an extremely distorted expression standing in front of him, with his long spear stuck in his chest, more than half of it had penetrated!
"Dog thief..."

The guard roared in a low voice, and the gun barrel was pulled back but not pulled out, but the fishy wind blew in his ears, and the body hanging on the gun barrel rushed towards him, and then the whole person was thrown on the deck, withered. Fingers like chicken feet tightly strangled his throat!
No matter how fierce the fight is, there will always be an end.When dawn broke in the east, the fighting around the cargo ship finally subsided.In the faint morning light, the draft of the big ship full of goods was deeper, because besides the original goods, there were still dead bodies on the ship!
A dozen cavalry appeared on the shore, and behind them were hundreds of uniformed soldiers.Standing at the front of the team reining in his horse was a burly middle-aged man, with a slightly sinister face next to him, it was Guo Mo who was working under Wang Shu's command.

"Ah, these wandering food thieves are exhausted. Thousands of them just intercepted a cargo ship, and more than half of them were killed. What a waste of the rice grains of the previous few days! It is really embarrassing for the envoy to order me to recruit wandering food into an army. I!"

Guo Mo got off his horse and sighed, pointing to the cargo ship that had been towed to the shore.

"Exchanging these slave lives for a full ship's expenses is considered to be exhausted. Based on this, the Lord will have a strong army in the future."

Hearing the general's emotion, the head of the personal guards stepped forward and bowed his head and said.

After Guo Mo heard this, his complexion turned complicated, and he sighed sadly: "The envoy is only sent by order, but he is not worthy of a soldier. He clearly does not have enough trust in me, but he has to use it. Today, I also have There are so many people who are scattered, they can only bend down and do the work of a cow and a horse! The resources of this ship must not be tampered with, and after the inventory is completed, they will be sent to Yuzhang Township."

At this moment, suddenly a bloody hand protruded from the corpses in that boat, and then a bloody man poked his head out from under the corpses, and said in a trembling voice: "Help, save me... I, I am Nanchang Luo, Luodin..."

Seeing this scene, some soldiers rushed to the deck, took the man out and soaked in the river, washed away the blood all over his body, and revealed a trembling face with pale lips, and then carried him to Guo before Mo Mo.

"Guo, Guohou, I've seen you... I, I am,"

Guo Mo bent down and looked at this person with great interest, and then said with a smile: "I don't care who you are. Since you are not dead yet, then you should clearly explain how your family colluded with thieves and caused chaos in the country. !"

(End of this chapter)