Nanming Engineer

Chapter 27

Li Wancai was in a hurry, he couldn't care less about Li Tingyu wanting to enjoy the scenery, and said repeatedly: "Lord Tu doesn't know, in fact, Hongze Lake is very uneasy. In recent years, there has been a group of water thieves making troubles, disturbing the people, robbing the passing merchants, and acting recklessly. Even the imperial court dared to harass the water transport, the low-ranking officials have been working hard to exterminate them, but because of the weak military strength, they couldn't cut the weeds and root them out for a while, and the water thieves are still powerful, and the nearby refugees are even attached to them. One of their nests , is Mudun Island in front, and Master Tu has a heavy responsibility, if you encounter this group of thieves, you may cause trouble, so please order to turn around quickly!"

Li Tingyu, who was pretending to be Tu Hai, listened to Li Wancai's hasty words, but didn't even move his eyebrows. Standing on the bow of the boat with a sword and golden horse, he squinted at Li Wancai, and said without hesitation: "Master Li, why do you treat this man?" Are Hongze Lake water thieves so afraid? Are water thieves really stronger than my Eight Banners elite soldiers?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Wancai choked so hard that he almost vomited blood. For a while, he didn't know how to persuade him anymore, so he could only explain: "Your Majesty Tu is overthinking, that's not what I mean by being an official. The elite soldiers of the Eight Banners are naturally invincible in the world. It's just this water thief..."

With a wave of his hand, Li Tingyu interrupted in a rough voice: "Master Li, you don't need to say too much. I will be in the pass and outside the pass. I have seen many heroes, killed countless bandits, and have thousands of ghosts. Forgive me." What's the point of this mere water thief?"

Li Wancai muttered a few times, and wanted to say more, but saw that Li Tingyu's face was serious, as if he was very dissatisfied with his attitude, and it was inconvenient to say anything, and stood there in a daze, only thinking that Tu Hai was from the north, I have never seen a battle on the water, I don't know how scary water thieves are, and I am arrogant, but what should I do?

Countless thoughts turned in my mind, and finally I decided: Since I have said what I said, no wonder you Tuhai is asking for trouble. It would be best if you can use the hands of the Qing soldiers to kill the water thief. If you are killed by the water thief, I'm sorry. I, Li Wancai, still have a bright future, so I won’t be with you anymore.

With a certain idea, Li Wancai immediately put on a smiling face again, and echoed: "Yes, yes, Mr. Tu is an elite soldier and strong general. I think if the water thief dares to come to harass him recklessly, Mr. Tu will be able to kill him like an old man. Absolutely, a disaster has happened for the people of Hongze Lake."

Only then did Li Tingyu's face soften, and he raised his voice and laughed: "Of course, hahaha, Master Li, come, come, come and see the island. There are green trees, birds and beasts chirping, and there are still people living there. Interesting, why don't we go up, hunt some wild game and drink some wine?"

Li Wancai reluctantly twitched his face and smiled, but it was uglier than crying. He raised his hands and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty is in a good mood, and I should obey you. Unfortunately, I have urgent official duties and can no longer accompany you. Why don't you go ashore to hunt?" , I will take my leave first, and in the future I will go to the army of adults, bring rich gifts, and then have a drink and talk with adults!"

After saying that, he turned around and wanted to ask his followers to prepare the boat to leave. Unexpectedly, when he turned around, he saw a bald head.

Wang Huan stood behind Li Wancai with a grin, and said, "Where is Master Li going? My master said that he would invite Master Li to go to the island for a drink."

Li Wancai looked down upon this young man who looked like a monk. He thought it was Li Tingyu's hobby and just liked to have a young monk by his side. So he suppressed the displeasure in his heart and said coldly: "I have I have something important to do, and I have already explained it to Lord Tu, so I have to take the first step."

"Oh? The scenery on Mudun Island is beautiful. It would be a pity if Mr. Li didn't go to see it. How about this? Please Mr. Li go back first. If there is anything you can do first, Mr. Li, please don't worry. Go to the island."

Wang Huan said with a playful smile.

Li Wancai's expression suddenly changed, he glared angrily, and shouted: "Bold! Who are you? How dare you speak to me like that!"

Still smiling, Wang Huan waved behind him and shouted loudly, "Send them off the boat!" Li Wancai's relatives were on the boat, and there were about a dozen people. Come, I saw the white-armed soldiers moving in response to the sound, rushing up, and before the followers could react, they had already drawn their knives and slashed up. In a blink of an eye, there was a series of screams and screams, blood spattered everywhere, and more than ten people died. He was hacked to death and thrown into the lake, staining the water of the lake red.

Seeing the bloody scene in front of him, Li Wancai was completely stunned. This is on a Qing army ship, how could such a thing happen?

Wang Huan didn't change his face, and looked at Li Wancai with a smile.

The smile was full of malice, obviously he was smiling, but Li Wancai felt that countless swords were rushing towards his face from that smiling face, and the knives were slashing into his heart. Seeing him was in a state of confusion, his hands and feet trembled, and he was almost unable to stand still. , hurriedly turned around and shouted, "Master Tu, Master Tu, save me!"

As soon as he turned around, it was as if he had bumped his head against a wall, causing Li Wancai's tears and nose to flow. Before he could see what was going on, Li Tingyu stretched out his big hand, grabbed the collar, and lifted him up from his body.

"Look, Mr. Li, why are you in such a hurry, since you are here, you can do it to the end, and do me another favor!" Li Tingyu said with a smile on Li Wancai's face.

Li Wancai was not tall, only reaching Li Tingyu's chest. He was picked up by someone and started dancing with his hands and feet like a little chicken. He screamed: "Ah! Master Tu, Master Tu, what's wrong with Xiaguan? Why do you treat Xiaguan like this?" I am a water transport official appointed by the imperial court, are you not afraid of being punished by the imperial court?"

Li Tingyu threw Li Wancai on the deck and said, "The imperial court? Which court? The Qing court or the Ming court?"

Several soldiers with white poles came up, tied Li Wancai's hands and feet, and tied him into a rice dumpling. They then took off one of his socks, stuffed it into his mouth, and threw it into the cabin for custody.

Li Tingyu was still there laughing loudly: "This dog official, he still treats me like an old man is really a tartar, and he still puts on airs when he is about to die. It's so fucking disgusting!"

Wang Huan took a step forward, stood on the bow of the boat, looked at the approaching Mudun Island, and said in a deep voice: "With him, we are more confident of entering the Huaihe River. Next, we will see if the water thieves dare to come." .But our two plans, the risky one has succeeded so smoothly, and the second plan of spending money to buy a boat is useless instead. I don’t know if the water thieves will come as promised.”

Li Tingyu snorted coldly and said: "I'm afraid I won't dare to come. These local thieves have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. When our people went to find them a few days ago, they only said that a big family wanted to buy a boat to cross the road. They didn't explain our identities. At this time, seeing us dressed in the Qing army, maybe we hid far away and ran away long ago."

Wang Huan looked at him and smiled bitterly: "Master Li, please don't say that. If they don't show up, it will be difficult for me."

Li Tingyu wondered: "It's difficult? Why is it difficult? We have a boat now, so we can just sail away. It's better if the water thieves don't come. We don't need to buy a boat from them now, which just saves money."

Killing people on this ship was a signal. At the same time, other ships also began to kill the people from the transportation yamen who were on board the ship, intimidating the sailors and forcing them to continue driving the ship. Those sailors were ordinary people who were conscripted and Came to drive an official ship, never had I seen such a murder scene, begged for mercy tremblingly, and obeyed the order obediently.So the twenty tank boats were all under the control of the white soldiers.

Looking at the corpse thrown into the water, Wang Huan explained to Li Tingyu, "Master Li, what do you plan to do with the 200 million taels of gold and silver? Are you taking them back to Sichuan?"

Li Tingyu was taken aback, and said casually: "Of course, taking such a large amount of money back and dedicating it to General Qin, whether it is used as military pay or people's livelihood, is a great charity."

Wang Huan sighed: "There are thousands of mountains and rivers on this road. It's okay on the Huaihe River, but how will we luck from Xinyang to Xiangyang and then to Yichang? The Qing army and Li Zicheng are fighting fiercely and in chaos on the border of Hubei. It’s different from recruiting tigers and wolves. Besides, there are more than 500 of us, and we don’t have carts or livestock, so it’s impossible for us to carry such a heavy weight of gold and silver on the road.”

Li Tingyu was stunned again, and asked habitually: "Senice, find a way to come up with an idea, isn't it your responsibility?"

Wang Huan raised his head and said in a deep voice: "I have an idea, but it's a bit overwhelming. I don't know if you are willing to adopt it."

Seeing Wang Huan speak seriously, Li Tingyu's face also became serious, and said in a solemn voice, "Let's listen to the council first."

"Carrying this large piece of property on the road is like carrying a huge burden. It's not fast at all. I think, since I can't take it with me, I might as well put it here."

"Ah? No more?" Li Tingyu had a pained expression on his face.

Wu Huan frowned and said, "Money or life, which one is more important?"

"It's all important!" Li Tingyu yelled as if someone was trying to rob his wife: "Chan, you must have a way to get the best of both worlds, right?"

Wu Huan spread his hands helplessly: "How can there be so many best of both worlds? Putting money here is not not giving up, but investing in the future?"

"Investment?" Li Tingyu was at a loss: "Business?"

"No, it's a metaphor. It means to use the money to invest in places that are beneficial to our future. In this way, we don't have to carry such a heavy property on the road, avoiding the pain of carrying it, and we don't lose it in vain. This is a huge amount of hard-won wealth." Wang Huan carefully explained that the word investment was still a new word in the Ming Dynasty, and it was spread to a certain extent in places where capital was sprouting in the south. After a long time, I also heard about it, but I just thought it was an investment in business, so Wang Huan had to explain it.

Li Tingyu understood as soon as he heard that Wang Huan wanted to spend the money. Although compared with the original intention of transporting the money back to Sichuan to be used as military pay, it seemed a bit out of shape, but when he thought about it carefully, this was the best thing right now. way out.Everyone understands that the risk of bringing such a large troop of silver carts on the road is extremely huge, not to mention slowing down the marching speed. Goods, everyone has the four big characters "Come and grab me" printed on their heads, and any Caotou king in the troubled times will come to try their luck. In this way, let alone going back to Sichuan, everyone is afraid that even this Hongze Lake Can't get out.

(End of this chapter)