Lu Ming

Chapter 403: The Attacking Lake Bandits

After listening to Mao Xiucai's analysis of the battle situation, everyone present became more and more excited: To put it bluntly in the whole port, only the two-story stone building is the hard bone, and the rest of the area need not be concerned.This is an easy and reckless thing for the bandits who have the advantages of numbers and sneak attacks.

At this moment, Niu Jinluo of the Chaohu Gang gestured on the picture with his finger a few times, then turned his head and asked a red-faced middle-aged man beside him, "What do you think, Master Qiao?"

Qiao Shiqiu, the "abandoned son" of the Qiao family in Huqiu, is the leader of the Water and Fire Gang formed by the natives of Taihu Lake.

After hearing Niu Jinluo's question, Qiao Shiqi did not answer directly, but turned his head to the person behind him and said, "Old Wu, come ahead and tell the shopkeepers."

Following Qiao Shiqi's words, an old man in his forties with a bearded face squeezed to the front of the stage.

This person is an old friend of the time-traveling crowd, named Wu Meng, and people called him Sanye Wu back then.The commercial area outside the port that everyone saw on the picture today was the territory of the third master before.

Later, after the third master was forced to demolish by Mr. Xiong, he who wanted to be a nail household was beaten so badly that he was about to die in minutes; so the third master ran away to Taihu Lake with his brothers, and now he is a small leader in the water and fire gang.

Standing before and after the stage, the third master of the scene first made a bow, and then began to point to the map, adding some details of the port to everyone.For example, the specific location of the river pier, the best route to cross the commercial area, for example, there is a back door on the courtyard wall of the Port Authority, so the entire courtyard wall should be surrounded immediately, etc.
Mr. Wu, who has always dreamed of his hometown, is probably the aboriginal Ming who has been most concerned about the development of Shanghai Port.From the fact that he told the inside story of the port in detail, it can be seen that the third master probably planted more than one spies in the port.

At the end, the third master also solemnly pointed out a key part of Mao Xiucai's arrangement just now: the poisonous smoke and firecrackers thrown by the port guards, just covering the mouth, ears and nose is of no use.As long as they stay in the smoke for a little longer, the victims will still have tears in their eyes, unable to see things, coughing wantonly, and let others slaughter them.

After listening to the third master's tactical supplement, Qiao Shiqi, the boss of the Water and Fire Gang, looked around triumphantly, and then said with a smile: "To tell you the truth, that port has already been owned by the Water and Fire Gang. But this time, since the masters have spoken, I will show you guys to play, but there is one thing, the money will be divided afterwards, and the Water and Fire Gang will take [-]% more!"

As soon as Qiao Shiqi finished speaking, the short and sturdy Niu Jinluo laughed loudly: "Open your mouth for money, shut your mouth for money, how much money is there in the Port Office, are you afraid that you are careless?"

Hearing Niu Jinluo's provocative words, Qiao Shiqi was not angry: the Chaohu Gang and the Water and Fire Gang have been old enemies for many years, and the two sides have been angry with each other and caused countless stumbling blocks on weekdays, so it is not because of these few words.So Qiao Shiqi asked back: "Mao Xiucai just said, 40 taels of silver, could it be possible for you to change it?"

"Hoho, if you can't say it, just change it." Niu Jinluo raised his arms at this moment, slapped his hands twice, and then signaled the people behind him to make way.

An old man squeezed in.The age of this person is unclear, about 50 to [-] years old, with grooves on his face, calluses on his hands, black skin and gray hair, tattered clothes all over his body, he walks loosely, and his face is full of sorrow. It looks like a coolie who is carrying a job.

However, there were quite a few people present who knew this old man: the manager of the grain platform of the Chaohu gang, the most senior generation among the lake bandits, and a veteran thief Zhong Siqian.

After the bell and four coins entered the venue, he raised his hand and made a sign of six without any nonsense, "In the past few days, the port office has shipped all the goods, and merchants from all over the country have stuffed no less than 65 taels of silver into the cellar. Except for the 60 taels taken away by the Clippers the day before yesterday, before I came back yesterday, the amount of silver was still [-] taels!"

When Zhong Siqian said this, his face like an old farmer had long since changed into the standard expression of a vicious bandit: "I have been doing groceries in the yard of the Port Office these days, and even a tael of silver can never escape my tricks. 60 taels is a lot, all of which are large ingots of snowflake silver, the port office finds it troublesome and doesn't even accept broken silver, which is convenient for me to keep accounts!"

"Hiss..." Following Zhong Siqian's decisive words, there was a sudden gasp from the field, not to mention the little boss, even the big shopkeeper's eyes began to burst into flames of greed.

At this moment, Niu Jinluo let out a long, sad laugh: "Don't think that your family is the only one watching over that port. The boundary of gold mountains and silver waters, I can't treat you as my father and I are blind? Then what's the extra [-]%?" Nonsense, never mention it again!"

Having said that, Niu Jinluo took out a hard box of Yellow Crane Tower from his bosom, took out two sticks and gave them four cents apiece, then swiped his Zippo and began to smoke triumphantly.

The scene fell into embarrassment for a while.

With a sound of "bow", a folding fan with a picture of Xiangfei bamboo was slapped heavily on the Buddhist altar: "Bastard! What time is it, and everyone is still here to make a show of Qiao, really think that the masters can't handle you?"

It was an old man beside Mao Xiucai who was yelling at him.This old man has a short stature, a round face, round eyes and a round nose, looking quite festive.This person was wearing a soft-footed fringe and a blue robe like Mao Xiucai, so it seemed that he was born as a scholar.

This old scholar's surname is Shi, and he is called Shi Weng.This gentleman has a high seniority among the lake bandits, and is a sit-down tiger among the older generation who is responsible for collecting and selling stolen goods, acting as a middleman, and collecting and distributing meat tickets.

Later, when Shi Weng got old, he began to reduce his business, gradually moved away from the Jianghu, and began to take the top-level route, becoming the white gloves of some gentry and high-end brokers.

Today, Shi Weng, who hadn't asked about Jianghu affairs for a long time, was sent here, which shows the importance of the surprise attack on the port.

The old scholar at the moment, with a round face full of viciousness, looked funny and weird: "You bastards, listen to me: this ticket sale today is related to the big picture, and it's all about the threshold Even the masters behind you must obey orders!"

When the old scholar said this, he looked at Qiao Shiqi fiercely: "Why, don't you want to live in Huqiu and Qiao's family? Believe it or not, you will be punished for the crime of gangsters tomorrow, and the whole family will be executed!?"

When Qiao Shiqi heard this, his face turned red. Not long after, he still turned his face in front of the short old man, not daring to look at him again.

"Hmph, Yu Chaofeng from Guangfu Town, Ma Squire from Zhenhu Town, Du Huhu from Xiangshan Mountain, um, and Qiao's family from Huqiu. Don't think that the adults don't know, but they are just a bunch of local snakes who eat stolen goods and gangsters. In my eyes, they are all chickens and dogs, who can be crushed to death with a finger!"

"Put your ears up and listen to me. In this business, if anyone disregards the overall situation and thinks something bad, the adults will get angry, but they will be uprooted - first they will copy the stolen goods behind you, and then they will be wanted in black and white. , let you wait for everyone to die in the pond mud!"

After yelling, the big and small bosses immediately fell silent. Wherever the old scholar's eyes went, all of them lost their viciousness, and they all lowered their heads to avoid the fierce gaze, and said in their mouths: "I ask Shi Weng to be the master, we will never wait for you!" Two words."

After seeing the situation suppressed, the old scholar known as Shi Weng calmed down a bit and began to assign tasks: "Since Wu San is familiar with the inside information, then Seventeen has the final say this time. But the dividends must follow the old rules. Come—the three of you will share [-]% equally, and the rest of you will share [-]% together! Which one has something to say?"

The gangsters had no objection at this moment, and suddenly agreed.

And Qiao Shiqi, who had just been appointed as the commander-in-chief, also began to issue orders: "The guards have fast guns and poisonous smoke guns in their hands. As a result, the brothers have to fight slowly at night. The port building and the opponent are fighting for their lives without any delay."

Looking around and seeing that everyone nodded in agreement with this strategy, Qiao Shiqi continued in a deep voice: "In this battle, only the elite who dare to charge and fight will be needed, and the rest of the bastards who are in harmony with each other should not be brought along. In my opinion , a total of 800 people will come out, the three big gangs will give [-] people, and the remaining [-] people will be divided among your gangs."

"Before tomorrow evening, the leaders of each gang will bring together their elites to meet up in the three mountains, and we will set off after dark."

"Good talk!"

"That's it!"

"Brother, I'll go back and pick someone!"

After Qiao Shiqi was assigned, the leaders of each gang nodded in agreement, and then they dispersed and went back to make their own preparations.

At this moment, Shi Weng's cold voice came from behind the group again: "No internal strife, those who refuse to obey orders, will plant lotus together after returning."

In the evening of the next day, the ten big Upons gathered on Sanshan Island on time, and then set off one by one.

Now it is the 17th century, the entire Jiangnan area is densely covered with water networks, and various large and small lakes have not been filled to form residential areas. Therefore, there are countless waterways for ten boats to travel from Taihu Lake to Huangpu River.

After the fleet left Taihu Lake, they followed the Xujiang River all the way to Shihu Lake.

After arriving at Stone Lake, several small boats that had been waiting here early surrounded them.These small boats are all guide boats sent by the Land Deed Alliance, and there are guides with name cards waiting on them.

At this time, in order to narrow the target, the fleet was divided into two and went their separate ways.One of the teams took the northern route from Duxie Lake to Wusong River, while the other team traveled the southern route from Dianshan Lake to Huangpu River.

The inland river in winter is turbulent, and the two fleets sailed steadily overnight under the driving of these lake bandits for many years.In the morning of the second day, the fleet crossed the main channel of the Huangpu River, bypassed Lujiazui, entered the famous Yang Pidgin River Channel in later generations, and sailed all the way to Shanghai Port, which is located along the coast of Gaoqiao Town in later generations.

The fleet in the middle turned around in half and half, and in the afternoon, the fleet finally moored in a small lake more than 20 miles away from the port.

This small lake surrounded by reeds is the private property of a nearby Zhuangzi.As for the owner of Zhuangzi, it goes without saying that it is a certain gentleman.

Soon after the fleet stopped, several small boats arrived in turn, carrying ready-made meals, including pigs and sheep, which were not only rich but also full.

At this time, a large number of lake bandits got out of the cabin to eat and breathe.And the leaders kept patrolling with their cronies, suppressing these rebellious subordinates—no noise, no drinking, no leaving the ship, only sleeping.

At the same time, every half an hour, spies ambushed around the port would come to report the enemy's situation: everything is normal, the guards in the port are very lax, and they are wandering in twos and threes.

After the brigade had rested by the lake, night came.

(End of this chapter)