Nanming Engineer

Chapter 46
Everyone looked sideways, seeing that Wang Huan was very uncomfortable, and couldn't help shouting to Ma Quan: "I don't want to wear this outfit anymore, hurry up and find other clothes, otherwise I will be out of place. How can I get through this whole journey?" "

"This time we are posing as cloth merchants, a group of merchants who transported Shu brocade from central Sichuan to Jiangnan and bought Songjiang cotton cloth back. It is reasonable that there is a scholar's bookstore inside."

Li Tingyu looked at Wang Huan with a smile, and saw Wang Huan's face was clean and handsome, and he was wearing a long dress with a cross-collar, and he thought that if this little monk's hair grows out, he will be a real scholar The demeanor of a scholar.

"Yes, counselor." Li Yan agreed: "Master Li is right, let's just leave it at that. There is a man dressed as a scholar on the boat, and it will be easier to deal with those petty officials when they encounter the water gate on the river to check the route. "

There is some truth to this. Although the river inspections in the late Ming Dynasty were all done by military personnel, the emphasis on literature and restraint on martial arts was the highest among all dynasties. From the ninth grade, the inspectors were not in the mainstream, and they were always criticized by those who read the books of sages. The literati regarded him as a hawk and a lackey, and had to speak politely to a young boy, let alone a scholar with a great reputation.

When Wang Huan heard this, he lost his temper and had to stand in the crowd with a bald head. Fortunately, he was accompanied by a group of monks in sackcloth who were also bald, so it was not so strange.

Several pirates carried a stretcher and came to the pier. Zu Tianci was lying on it with a pale face, a towel wet with cold water was placed on his forehead, and he was falling into a coma drowsily. The injury has repeated inflammation and high fever, and the whole body is hot like fire, and it is in a dangerous period. Only after these few days, the fever subsides can it be considered stable.A trembling white-bearded doctor with a medicine box on his back followed. This was brought back by Zu Bian last night, and he was in charge of taking care of Zu Tianci.

Watching Zu Tianci's stretcher get on a larger boat and slowly leave the shore surrounded by a string of small boats, Zu Bian took out a stack of papers from his arms and handed them to Li Tingyu.

"Sir, this is the road guide from the HZ County Yamen. They are all genuine with blank stamps. As long as we fill in the place where we want to go, any waterway will be cleared."

Li Tingyu took the guide, flipped through it casually, gave it to Wang Huan, and said happily: "Okay, with this thing, we don't have to worry about it along the way."

Wang Huan quickly put the treasure in his pocket, and wondered, "How did you get these things?"

Zu Bian smiled and said: "The councilor forgot, we are also half aboriginals who have lived on this lake for many years, how many times have we dealt with the county government along this lake, those state officials and county magistrates want us not to go to their jurisdiction to cause trouble To make trouble, so as not to affect the consideration of homework, we have more or less traded with us through middlemen, and there are even black-hearted second-hand officials who take the initiative to report the whereabouts of wealthy merchants and share the plundered proceeds with us. Now that everyone has friendship, many things It's easy to handle. This guide is one of them."

After hearing this, Li Tingyu and Wang Huan couldn't help but look at each other, and at the same time felt emotional: This Daming is really rotten to the bottom, there is such a government, the so-called family of officials and bandits is nothing more than this.

However, Li Tingyu had long given up hope for the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and only wanted to return to his hometown. Wang Huan came from a later generation, and he was very clear about the corruption of the late Ming Dynasty. Take it for granted.

At this moment, the island has basically been evacuated. Except for Ma Quan and a few people who saw him off, there are no living things on Mudun Island. Everyone bid farewell to Ma Quan. Li Tingyu and Wang Huan once again explained some things that need to be paid attention to. In addition to the incident, the 400 people who had changed their appearances boarded more than [-] large ships docked on the shore.

The big boat is a boat for water thieves. It is different from the tank boat. It is a white sail boat for transporting goods on the folk river. The hull is narrower and the cabin is smaller. It is incomparable with the official boat. They were all brought by Zu Bian from the water thief's warehouse. They were all obtained from robbery, and they were used as goods to cover up their identities.

The boatmen and sailors untied the cables and propped up the long wormwood. The ship slowly left the shore and floated into the lake. The wind on the lake was strong, and the white sails hanging at an angle immediately swelled. The heavy hull was like a light boat, flying towards the waves. Drive to the Hongze Lake with the rising sun.

When the fleet turned into black dots and slowly disappeared from sight, Ma Quan turned his head and waved hard to the water pirates on the twenty boats waiting eagerly on the other side of the pier, and immediately there was water The thief saw this and shouted loudly: "The horse leader has given the order, start the boat quickly!"

The boatmen on the tank boat hurriedly set sail, heaved the anchor, and pushed the boat away from the shore, but the long wormwood was propped up in the water, and the people who supported the wormwood were much more strenuous. Much heavier, the wormwood made of cotton bamboo is so tough that it is almost bent into a bow, and the bow of the boat slowly moves and floats out.

The water thief on the bow of the boat uncovered his upper body, revealing colorful tattoos, and shouted fiercely at the boatmen: "Keep heading north and enter the canal. Don't play tricks with me, or I will chop you up!"

The boatmen were terrified, and they promised repeatedly, without daring to disobey at all. The sharp knives stuck in the waists of the water thieves were so bright and piercing their eyes, which was full of deterrent force to these honest and dutiful boatmen.

Ma Quan looked to the west where the fleet of Wang Huan and others had disappeared, and then looked at the north where the Cao fleet was struggling to sail. Two completely different directions, the two fleets had nothing to do with each other. There was an expression of admiration on his face, and he muttered. Said: "Suggest a coup, in this way, it will be even more difficult for the Qing dogs to catch up with the adults."

After standing for a while, Ma Quancai waved his hand again when the boat fleet also left slowly, took the rest of the dozen or so people, jumped into the last few boats on the pier, and headed towards Zu Tianci and the others. In the direction, he rowed away quickly.

After a while, Mudun Island, which was originally noisy, returned to a piece of tranquility. The wind and grass on the island were low, and there was no sound except for the singing of waterfowl. It seemed that everything that happened on this island in the past two days was a mirage. like hallucinations.

Zhengbai Banner followed Jiasule, and was riding a horse on the official road leading to the canal in Huai'an. The armor on his body was already covered with dust, and the iron helmet on his head was also taken off, hanging behind the saddle, revealing a knife carved with an axe. He had a normal face, bluish forehead and deep frown, tired face, bloodshot eyes, he looked like he hadn't slept all night, but even so, his gaze was abnormally cold, his whole expression was as cold as water, Angry as if he wanted to eat people, he lashed the horse under his crotch with one whip after another.

Xu Dingguo, the Huai'an general of the Qing Dynasty, rode his horse and followed behind, also beating his horse desperately regardless of the life and death of his mount, lest he would be half a step behind Su Le.Behind the two, a long cloud of smoke and dust rose, followed by countless cavalry, and as far as the eye could see, it actually filled the entire official road.

Xu Dingguo was frightened and angry at the same time, the Suijia in front was nothing worth mentioning in terms of his status, he was just a Suijia, and he was not allowed to appear on the stage, but unexpectedly there was a royal order from Prince Yu, who was ordered to chase and kill him in the border of Huai'an A group of Ming Dynasty rebels who murdered and seized wealth, the Wang Ling clearly stated that the Han army along the way obeyed its command and mobilization.

This is going to kill him. Even if Xu Dingguo is dissatisfied, he has no choice but to follow Su Le to chase after him. Moreover, this incident happened on the ground in Huai'an. Xu Dingguo cannot get rid of his responsibility. Punishment.Xu Dingguo was originally the leader of the peasant army at the end of the Ming Dynasty. He was recruited by the Ming Dynasty because he was greedy for wealth and honor. Later, seeing the strength of the Qing army, he planned to kill Gao Jie, one of the four towns in the north of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty again. It is expensive to keep the wealth of the family. If it collapses because of this matter, it will not be worth it.

(End of this chapter)