Water Margin people

Chapter 1431 Smuggling Ship

"Brother, why don't we clear the fields?"

Lin Chong said that the north is vast and sparsely populated, and it is not easy to completely wipe out the hidden bandits. Fortifying the city and clearing the countryside can make management easier and prevent the bandits from getting supplies.

"It's not easy to clear the countryside. The north is so vast, there are always some villages and tribes in the mountains and forests. Clearing the countryside will give the enemy room to develop."

Sun Lei shook his head and said, although clearing the countryside might seem advantageous, it actually gave the enemy room to breathe and develop.

"Why not send a large army to clear out the area, sweeping it like a net?"

Wu Song said.

"The north is vast and sparsely populated, with mountains crisscrossing it. It's not easy to sweep it all over like a net!"

Zhu Wu said that the north is so big that even if hundreds of thousands of people were deployed, it would only be a drop in the bucket.

"Let's just leave it at that for now. Let them defend the city and we'll go and wipe them out next spring when the flowers bloom!"

Sun Lei thought for a long time but could not come up with any good solution. He could only let the northern defenders defend the city and stabilize the situation first.

“Isn’t this indulging the enemy?”

Zhang Qing said.

"It's not that they are being unbridled. They don't dare to really go down the mountain to cause chaos now. They just loot some supplies and don't dare to get close to the city. It's just right that we can use this winter to see how many remaining bandits there are in the north."

Sun Lei shook his head and said, it is difficult to count how many bandits are hiding in the north, and the cold movement now is a good opportunity. It is impossible to survive in the mountains in the severe winter without enough food and clothing. If you want to survive, you have to go down the mountain to plunder supplies, and as long as you go down the mountain, you will leave traces.

"Your Majesty, many innocent people will die!"

Dao Ji suddenly spoke up. Dao Ji did not return to Lingyin Temple, nor did he choose to stay in Hangzhou. Instead, he chose to go south with Sun Lei. He was very curious about Sun Lei and wanted to know what kind of person Sun Lei was.

"Haha, there will always be casualties in war. If the villagers at the foot of the mountain are willing to enter the city, our Qi State will provide assistance and even provide them with a certain amount of food, as long as they are willing to take refuge in the city."

"But you know how stubborn the people are. They always think the government is untrustworthy and is after their things. So even if the notice is sent, they still don't believe it. What do you want me to do?"

Sun Lei looked at Dao Ji and asked.

"Your Majesty has a large army, and can clear them out bit by bit!"

Dao Ji spoke up and said that he was still worried about the safety of the people.

"Master Daoji, you are a monk and don't know how to fight. The severe cold in the north can freeze metal and stone. Winter can last for half a year. A blizzard can last for seven or eight days. The ice covers thousands of miles. A heavy snowfall can be as thick as ten feet. Tell me what to do with the army in this weather? How many people will freeze to death? Are we going to suppress bandits and save people, or are we going to die?"

  Sun Lei looked at Dao Ji and said, it’s not that he didn’t want to, but that he couldn’t. Why did he set the time for the decisive battle after the beginning of spring?

Qi is not afraid of powerful enemies, because Qi's army is more powerful and can crush all enemies.

But the Qi army also knew that what they were doing was not possible, and they knew when to advance and retreat and not to act rashly. The most important thing was that the power of heaven and earth was not something that mortal flesh and blood could contend with.

Dao Ji didn't know what to say. He had lived in the south of the Yangtze River for so many years and had only seen snow in winter. The thickest snow was no more than one or two feet. Some literati and poets still admired the snow on the Broken Bridge by the West Lake. He couldn't imagine that there was a winter for half a year, that it could snow for seven or eight days, and that the snow could be ten feet thick, covering the houses.

If people were in the wild in this kind of weather, they would most likely freeze to death, and the army would not be able to march and fight.

"Master Daoji, you are in the Buddhist temple and you don't know the cruelty outside. Although you travel around to promote good deeds, it is only in this place, and you still rely on the law."

"In a truly barren land, unless you have any magic, your Dharma is no more useful than a knife."

Sun Lei looked at Dao Ji and said with a smile, the reason why the legendary Master Jigong was able to save all living beings was that, in addition to his profound Buddhist teachings, he actually relied on magic to do anything.

Although the Dao Ji in front of him obviously had no magic, his knowledge and Buddhist practice were still remarkable.

"Daoji, if you have time, come with me to the north and you will understand. Although it is said that if you put down your butcher knife, you will become a Buddha immediately, but if the enemy holds a butcher knife, do we still sit on the ground and chant scriptures?"

Lu Zhishen laughed and said that he had only really figured out his own path in the past two years. He could not become a Buddha by chanting sutras, but he used killing to prove his path. Dao Ji looked at Lu Zhishen's murderous aura, but he did not feel sinister or cold at all. Instead, he had a sense of righteousness that made people feel at ease.

“Is this the Buddha’s heart?”

Dao Ji was a little surprised. Buddhism emphasizes compassion, but Lu Zhishen's hands were covered in blood. But the problem was that Lu Zhishen was surrounded by Buddha's light, and it seemed that he was about to achieve enlightenment.

"There's a boat!"

At this moment, the soldier on the mast shouted.

Ruan Xiaoqi immediately climbed up the mast by pulling the rope and started observing with a telescope.

"Brother, it's a merchant ship from the Arab world!"

Ruan Xiaoqi observed it for a while and confirmed that it was a merchant ship before reporting to Sun Lei.

"A merchant ship from the Arab Empire? Why are they here?"

Sun Lei was a little confused. This place was north of Quanzhou, and most of the Arab merchant ships should have docked in Guangzhou or Quanzhou.

"Your Majesty, these ships definitely don't have port entry permits. There are many merchant ships in the Arab world, and not every ship is qualified to enter the port!"

Ruan Xiaoqi slid down pulling the cable and said.

"So these ships are just waiting for smuggling, right?"

Sun Lei seemed to have guessed something. Qi State would collect taxes on all imported and exported goods. Those Arab merchant ships were unwilling to pay taxes, so they would stay along the coast and secretly transport goods ashore in small boats.

"Almost. The mountains here on Fujian Road are undulating, with few plains, making it inconvenient for farming. The people make a living by fishing along the coast."

"When you go out to sea, you are likely to run into merchant ships, so many fishermen along the Fujian Road coast are in collusion with foreign businessmen."

Ruan Xiaoqi said that this was a well-known fact at sea and it was not a secret.

“Can the Navy control it?”

Sun Lei looked at Ruan Xiaoqi and asked.

"Brother, this is not going to be easy. Unless we ban the sea and destroy all civilian fishing boats, it will be very difficult to control them!"

Ruan Xiaoqi shook his head.

"That's it!"

Sun Lei stroked his chin and thought, smuggling must be curbed.

"Your Majesty, it would be better to strengthen management and provide some jobs to the people at the port, and then send the army to clear out these merchant ships!"

Zhu Wu said.

"Well, let's do it this way, Xiaoqi, get rid of all these ships for me!"

Sun Lei pointed at the Arab merchant ship on the sea in the distance and spoke.

"Yes!"

Ruan Xiaoqi took the order and went to make arrangements.

"Master Daoji, there is no need to persuade us. These are not good things. You don't know that they are merchant ships on the surface, but in fact, I don't know how much they have robbed along the way."

Sun Lei looked at Dao Ji and said, "The Arab merchant ships came all the way to Middle-earth along the coast, and the countries along the way were their targets for supply and looting."