The next day, at dawn, Zhao and the other three got up. After eating something simple, they picked up fishing nets and other tools and headed out.
Just as he walked to the door, Zhao Tong turned around and looked at the people who were tied up by the stove, and said: "General Wanyan Zongwang ordered that anyone who has seen us should be killed, but I think these people are okay. Be honest and let them go."
Huang Gu said: "The general is kind and his subordinates admire him."
Watching a few people walk out of the door, the two brothers who were tied up next to the stove looked at each other, showing expressions of relief that they had survived the catastrophe.
The three of them took fishing nets and tools, and hid their weapons under their clothes, and walked toward the coast along the shadows of the roadside.
Not every fisherman on the beach has a boat. Some are considered fishermen and work for people who own boats. However, these two brothers have a small fishing boat, which is now docked in a mooring on the beach.
The so-called Botou is a sand cabin where some small fishing boats can be stored. The fishing village can send people to look after it, which is also a job.
Although the pirates were showing off their power during these days, they never actually went ashore, nor did they snatch anything. They also looked down on these sand cabins, so the boats in the fishing village were always safe, but no one dared to go there. Go fishing.
Zhao Tong and the others were just holding fishing nets and other items as a pretext to prevent being interrogated by Liao soldiers. On the edge of Jinzhou City, they would not do anything if they could, so as not to arouse the enemy.
They walked all the way until they were far away from the seaside and could see the sea. Suddenly a group of Liao soldiers came from the direction of Jinzhou.
There were dozens of Liao soldiers in this group, and the leader on horseback shouted from a distance: "Where did you guys come from? Stop and don't leave!"
Zhao Tong and the other three stopped and looked around, and saw this group of Liao soldiers approaching in a moment. The leader on the horse pointed with a whip: "Where are you going?"
Huang Gu hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "General, we are going to the beach to fish."
The leader heard this and said angrily: "You don't want your life. There are pirates on the beach. Why are you catching fish?"
Huang Gu smiled bitterly and said: "General, if we don't catch fish and sell it, our family will not be able to eat or drink. The three of us, seeing that it is getting early, will come back after setting a few nets. We may not encounter pirates."
The leader said with a gloomy face: "You guys said you can't touch me just because you can't touch me? Pirates have been coming and going frequently these days, no matter what time it is, sooner or later. Go back quickly and don't cause trouble here!"
Huang Gu said: "General, if we don't go fishing, our family will not be able to cook, and we may starve to death!"
The leader sneered and said: "Whether you starve to death or not is none of my business. The governor has already issued an order that no one is allowed to approach the seaside. Didn't you see the notice?"
Huang Gu was slightly shocked when he heard this. They entered the fishing village in the middle of the night. It was dark and the moon was dark, so they had seen no notice anywhere.
The leader's eyes glanced at the faces of Zhao Tong and the others, and he asked suspiciously: "Did you guys really never read the notice? Which fishing village are you from? What's your name?"
Zhao Tong secretly thought something bad was going to happen when he heard this, and winked at Ouyang Bei. Ouyang Bei hurriedly stepped forward and said, "General, we are from Xiaoting Village. My name is Ding Da, and their names are Zhang Xiaowu and Zhou Xiaoqi."
"Xiaoting Village?" The leader sneered: "What is the name of the Baozheng of Xiaoting Village?"
Ouyang Beidao: "General, the guarantor of our village is naturally Wu Suilao, the first one at the east end of the village."
"How many people in Wu Sui's hometown can raise chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs in the courtyard?" The leader quietly placed a hand on the handle of the knife.
"General, there are five members of the Baozheng family. They raise chickens, ducks and geese. This dog..." Ouyang Bei didn't know if the Baozheng family had any dogs. When they asked the two brothers, they also asked Baozheng specifically. Family situation, but no one would ask what animals are raised in the courtyard.
"I have two dogs, one black one called Dahei, and one flowery one called Xiaocao!" Ouyang Bei could only talk nonsense at this moment.
"Hehe!" The leader sneered: "Dahei Xiaocao? I think you are not from Xiaoting Village at all. You are spies sent by the pirates!"
"General, we are really fishermen from Xiaoting Village, not spies!" Ouyang Bei shook his head quickly.
"Wu Suilao, Baozheng of Xiaoting Village, was bitten by a dog when he was a child. He is most afraid of dogs in his life. How can he raise a dog?" The leader sneered: "His son is working in the camp and has told this before. You ghosts Those who are sneaky and talking nonsense must be the work of pirates. I will capture everyone who comes!"
After hearing this, Huang Gu and the other two looked at Zhao Tong together. Zhao Tong sighed in his heart. He originally wanted to go to the beach quietly, but he didn't expect that something would happen. But at this moment, there was no other way but to take action.
He nodded, and Huang Gu in front of him suddenly drew out his sword and pointed the sword at Huashan to stab the leader.
The leader was on guard at this time. He drew the sword in his hand and moved the sword to the side. Unexpectedly, Huang Gu's sword was extremely powerful and his sword did not move at all. The leader couldn't help but panic. At this time, it was too late to dodge. , was stabbed in the throat with a sword in the blink of an eye, and fell off the horse.
The soldiers behind were shocked when they saw this, and hurriedly rushed up to attack the three of them, but in the blink of an eye, a dozen more fell down, and then ran away with a "hurrah" sound, crying for father and mother.
The three of them split up to chase. These ordinary soldiers were no match for the three of them. Almost one at a time, even if they ran farther, they were overtaken and killed.
After finishing these soldiers, Zhao Tong put away his dagger and said: "This place is too close to Jinzhou. It won't be long before someone discovers the situation here, so we should hurry up and rush to the beach."
After hearing this, Huang Gu and the other two also sheathed their weapons and hurried towards the seaside, but they arrived a little early. There was no ship on the sea. Zhao Tong said: "Find a place to hide first, just wait."
Huang Gu said: "Sir, if Jinzhou City sends troops to pursue you..."
Zhao Tong glanced at the direction of the sun, shook his head and said: "Thunder Tiger and I have agreed on a time in the morning and evening, and we will arrive in about a quarter of an hour. If it is really too late, at worst, we can find a boat in the sand cabin and sail out to sea."
Huang Gu smiled and said: "I always took a boat a while ago, but I haven't rowed in a long time."
Ouyang Bei looked at him and said, "I'm afraid Mr. Huang has rowed in the Tokyo River often. This sea is not as good as the river. However, I went to the South China Sea when I was a boy and rowed there several times. I can also master it now."
Zhao Tong said: "You two, please don't argue. There is a sand cabin over there. Go and see what's going on first. Don't show off outside."
After talking, the three of them walked towards a sand cabin not far away, but it turned out to be just a long ventilated tent made of tattered reed mats and rotten wood at the four corners. There were about a dozen boats inside, arranged along the direction of the sea.
Once fishermen need to go out to sea, these boats will be pulled into the sea along the sand channel, and then pulled into the sand cabin when they return.
Zhao Tong took a look and saw that there was only an old man wearing a straw hat in the sand cabin, dozing off against the side of the ship, and there was no one else.
He thought for a while and said: "This is not a place where we can hide. It's better to drag a boat into the sea first to avoid being in a hurry when we get there."
Huang Gu immediately tied up the old man and gagged him, and then went to see the boat. There was a sand channel under the boat, but even so, the boat could not be pulled by three or two people. The fishermen would probably need to pull the boat every time they went to sea. It took seven or eight strong men to work together to pull the boat into the sea.
However, the three of them had a large manpower, so they were no ordinary people. It didn't take much effort to pull a boat into the sea.
At this time, the morning light was gradually rising, and the sea breeze was rippling, blowing on their faces, and the three of them couldn't help but feel relaxed and happy.
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "Get on the boat and enjoy the scenery."
When the boat entered the shallow water, Ouyang Bei took off his boots, rolled up his trousers, and pushed a few more times in the water. The boat started to move. Then he jumped up and said, "Sir, let's see what I can do."
Zhao Tong didn't say anything. He just watched the two men playing with the fishing boat. They were a little busy at first, but it didn't take long before they became proficient, and then the boat started to move slowly in the direction of the wind.
Although the boat was traveling, it did not go deep. It just wandered slowly along the coast. However, there was not a single ship from the Liao Shuiying on either side. It turned out that the Liao Shuiying had long figured out the rules of piracy and knew it. They must come today, so they all hid on the front line of Laizhou.
But at this moment, a group of people came galloping from a distance on the shore. They apparently discovered the corpses of the Liao soldiers before, and then they followed them after looking for traces. At this moment, they saw a small boat near the sea, with three people on board, and they were looking suspiciously. , then a soldier raised his trumpet with both hands and shouted: "Who is on that boat? Come to the shore quickly and report their origins."
Zhao Tong ignored the three men, and the leader couldn't help but cursed the water camp. At this moment, not even a single person from the water camp could be seen. They soldiers didn't have a boat, so they couldn't get to the water. What's more, they had no control over water affairs. There are also pirates who are so cruel that it makes my scalp numb just thinking about it.
At this time, some soldiers came to report that someone in the sand cabin on that side was tied up by bandits and a fishing boat was robbed. When the leader heard this, his face changed, and he guessed that it must be three people. From this look, the murder patrolman The city's Liao soldiers must have been these three, but there were only three of them, but they killed dozens of soldiers patrolling the city... The leader's face darkened when he thought of this.
"Don't act rashly. Those on board might be pirates!" The leader took a few steps back.
"Where are all the water camp soldiers? They should be in charge of matters at sea." The soldiers looked at the ships and began to chatter.
The leader looked at these soldiers, and a disloyal thought suddenly arose in his heart. Why haven't those pirate ships come yet? If they come and take this opportunity to retreat, the people on the pirate ship will basically not get off the ship anyway, they will just wave the flag and shout to intimidate the disgusting people.
At this moment, the leader's expression suddenly became a little bit more relaxed, and even a little happiness appeared in his expression. He saw dozens of large ships slowly appearing on the sea line, and a flag was hung above the leader. , there is such a big tiger head painted on the flag, so ferocious!
The leader coughed lightly and said calmly: "Those goddamn pirates are here again, retreat two arrows, and the flag soldiers quickly return to the city to report to the governor..."
A moment later, Zhao Tong boarded the large ship with the tiger head flag. Lei Huhu leaned over and bowed: "Your Majesty, my subordinates are late, please punish me... That prince is really a man of God. He comes and goes from the enemy's country as if he is in a deserted land." , let my subordinates admire me to the point of admiration!"
Zhao Tong glanced at him: "How about Ma Zheng and Hu Yanqing?"
Lei Hu said: "The two adults are fine. They are both locked up in the cave on the island. They haven't seen the sun for several months, and even their skin has turned three points white."
Zhao Tong nodded: "Get up, you did a good job this time, and you deserve my trust."
Thunder Tiger immediately beamed with joy when he heard this and said: "Your Highness, do you want to withdraw to Peach Blossom Island now?"
Zhao Tong looked at him and suddenly smiled: "This time we took the ship to the north, and we lost a lot, right?"
Lei Huhu said hurriedly: "No, no, it's my blessing to serve the prince, so there's nothing to lose."
Zhao Tong turned his gaze back, looked at the vast sea, and said slowly: "Being in the north for a few months has naturally delayed your maritime business, and with so many people on sea ships, even for food and drink, money is being thrown out like water every day..."
Lei Laohu bent down and said: "We all live on the sea, and the prince is too much. What's more, my subordinates are willing to go through fire and water for the prince."
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "I am happy to hear this, but the truth is not the same. I am not that stingy person. It's just that I didn't make these preparations for my trip to Liao Kingdom this time, but..."
Lei Hu immediately raised his ears to listen, and Zhao Tao said: "But we can't come here in vain. The water camp of the Liao Kingdom is weak, and we don't have the big siege crossbows of the Song Dynasty. We can fight back with some autumn wind."
When Thunder Tiger heard this, his two mung bean eyes flashed, he looked in the direction of Jinzhou City in the distance, and whispered: "What the prince means..."
Zhao Tong looked at him and shook his head, saying: "Look at what Jinzhou is doing. What I mean is... to call Laizhou!"
Thunder Tiger immediately perked up when he heard this. Jinzhou is naturally difficult to attack. The city is strong and the walls are thick, and it is far from the sea. Once the attack occurs, the battle line will be stretched too long, and there will be no advantage for the pirates.
But Laizhou is different. The city of Laizhou is very close to the seaside. There are few beaches and many reefs. Even big ships can get close to it. No matter whether they are robbing or attacking the city, they can advance and retreat well.
Zhao Tong said: "Are there any sharp weapons on the ship?"
Lei Hu said: "Except for the kind of ballista that the prince delivered to Marshal Huang, there is nothing else. The ballista was only made in the past few months. It does not have the sinews of the big whale, so I found other ones with less power."
"Crossbow..." Zhao Tong nodded. This was one of the top priorities Zhao Tong entrusted to Huang Jue after he went to Fujian to take up a post. Once the crossbow was built, it would definitely be a killing weapon.
However, although the crossbow is extremely powerful, its manufacturing complexity and cost are much higher than that of a bed crossbow. It is extremely difficult to mass-produce the most powerful type.
Zhao Tong wrote to Huang Jue several times and made drawings. Even so, only five aircraft were built in a few years.
And what Thunder Tiger is talking about now is naturally not the most powerful one, but the weakened version made by Zhao Tong and Huang Jue by replacing ordinary whale tendons after their secret talks on Peach Blossom Island.
Of course, Huang Jue's five ballistas were not complete versions of the ballistae. They were just the best that Huang Jue's manpower and material resources could achieve, and they were considered rough versions.
Zhao Tong said: "How many ballistae do you have now?"
Lei Hu said: "My lord, there are only seven or eight."
Zhao Tong laughed when he heard this and said, "That's enough. We're not going to use this thing to attack the city. If I lead you to attack Laizhou, would that be called fighting the autumn wind? Wouldn't that be called attacking the city and plundering the land!"
Thunder Tiger heard this and looked puzzled: "Your Majesty, the autumn wind blowing to the state...doesn't it need to attack the city?"
Zhao Tong said: "Come here with your ears."
Lei Laohu looked over his head and Zhao Tong said a few words. He saw Lei Laohu's small eyes getting brighter and brighter. Finally, he threw himself down in the tunnel and said, "The prince has a clever plan. There are ten thousand of his subordinates... no, no, one hundred thousand." Not as good as any other!"
(End of chapter)
