The meeting ended without any result, but the lack of any result was a result in itself - it was not dark yet, the cavalry in fine clothes and the fast-horse documents of the officers and officials flew out separately. At the same time, the huge fleet did not dare to When we stopped, we took advantage of the warmth of the afternoon sun and no ice obstacles to slowly turn into the Huanshuikou.
In fact, at this point, the problem has become very serious - the Long Whale Gang, a local gang that controls trackers and specializes in the official ship business, has also heard about the unrest ahead, or in other words, they are the first-hand information recipients. The communicator, this time, was actually unwilling to send trackers and ice pounders to help.
The reason was that they were afraid that the trackers and ice pounders would be injured or killed and would not be able to give an explanation to their superiors.
Obviously, this is because he doesn’t want to wade into troubled waters.
"Is this something they won't do if they don't want to?"
The planners from various counties who had looked gloomy just a moment ago were furious, but what they said unexpectedly made sense.
"How big a business there is in Huanshuikou. The Changjing Gang has been allowed to monopolize it for five or six years. Isn't it just that they dare to go up at this time? Otherwise, why did the Zuo brothers just settle down in the local area and become the world's richest people in five or six years? Has the Whale Gang become one of the best gangs in the world?"
"Why is Zuo Caihou pretending to be a good person at this time? If he really wants to be a good person, just scatter his belongings to the gang!"
"There is no need for him to scatter his belongings. Just replace him with a gang leader who is willing to provide trackers. The profit is huge. Are there enough heroes who are looking at the Zuo brothers?"
"Pegasus went to the Pengcheng County Yamen to find the prime minister with a black ribbon and told him that the 'Yitian Sword' Miss Bai is on the ship. How on earth does he care about his elder brother's wantonness! I really think that his second brother can run wild with his ability. The world is under heaven? Can General Zuo be worthy of Miss Bai’s sword?!"
"There are no other explanations. With the Heavenly Sword on board, what casualties is he worried about? Which thief dares to touch the fleet?!"
After a few words, he scolded the helmsman and deputy helmsman of a group of giant whale gangs. The helmsmen could only bow their heads and agree, and no one dared to act arrogantly.
Zhang Xing saw clearly on the boat, and became more and more sure of a point he had deduced before - that is, these Jianghu gangs are themselves a combination of social interests. It is the interests that attract practitioners with secular needs, and then create Gangs, not the gangs themselves, attract practitioners.
It's just that the practitioners' right to speak and strong presence make gangs, an organizational form that is difficult to spread universally in another world, have a stronger presence in this world, and it is more common and can get official approval. That’s all. .
In sharp contrast, there should be sects - sects are obviously dependent on the existence of actual theocratic power, and because of the high ideological unity of theocratic power and political power, they naturally have government affinity.
Not to mention how Zhang Xing watched indifferently on the river, and then brainstormed his political thesis, just that after getting off the boat at the busy pier on the shore, the giant whale gang leader Zuo Caihou, Zuo Boss, finally couldn't resist. Resisting the pressure, he appeared on the shore.
This is a man who is about thirty-seven or eighty years old. He has a plain appearance and simple clothes. He only wears a blue turban on his head, and his weapons are not visible at all. On the contrary, he was followed by more than a dozen strong men, all of whom were gorgeously dressed and had strange writings. Their weapons were also sophisticated, even a little exaggerated - some carried three knives, and others carried two swords, one long and one short. Some people even carry a big long knife on their backs, which is okay, but the key is that there are many gold rings on the backs of the long knives.
It is full of Jianghu spirit.
Think about it, the Huaihe River is the boundary between the north and the south, the Central Plains, the Eastern Border, Huainan, and even the Dongyi. This kind of freight provides such a profit. In addition, the Eastern Border in the northeast is the hometown of the Eastern Qi. Many officials and powerful families are unable to become officials, but they are enough to raise countless reckless heroes.
As soon as the person arrived, he repeatedly handed over to several senior planners with a humble attitude. However, although the latter were resentful, they obviously lost their previous arrogance when they saw the person coming and many martial arts masters. Then they only looked on the boat, but Not to mention Zhang Xing, no one in the entire Jinyi patrol team wanted to get involved in this matter. Hu Yan, a black ribbon, even got into the boat directly.
To put it bluntly, delaying the deadline is probably a matter of heads and hats for the dedicated accounting officials, because that is what they are supposed to do, but for the Jinyi patrolmen who came to escort this batch of food, it was not a problem. How serious it must be, because they thought it was given by Taichung, and it was a deposit of food, but they did not mention the date. The key is to see what Cao Zhongcheng said in Taichung - and no matter how extreme Cao Zhongcheng's statement was, it was impossible for him to really do this. He wants the head of the entire patrol team.
In addition, this is not a trip to Jiangdu. After a month or two of hard work, everyone has loaded half of the boat with things, and they can't help but have a bit of a non-stick mentality.
And because of this, since the noon meeting, the Jinyi patrol team has been indifferently watching. Zhang Xing's cold attitude is not his own indifference, but a statement on behalf of the patrol team.
In this way, seeing that the Jinyi patrol team was unwilling to get involved, after some involvement, a group of people could only move to a place slightly farther away from the dock to talk. There were even local officials involved. I don’t know what they talked about specifically. But after a while, the officials came over with the gang leader.
"Does this leftist gang want to meet us face to face for inspection?"
On the pedal on the shore, Qin Bao frowned slightly, and then looked at Zhang Xing on the other side of the pedal.
"Why do you need to see the inspector?" Zhang Xing smiled half-heartedly and stared at several officials.
"Zhang Baishou." One of the leaders of several officials hurriedly handed over on the shore. "Zhang Baishou must make it easy... What happened today is mainly because there are thieves in front of us. The Long Whale Gang is worried that the trackers will encounter chaos and cannot be careful. But they don't know that Zhang Baishou and everyone are accompanying... And if they see Bai Inspection If you are in the team, you will naturally feel relieved... After all, who below the Grandmaster can be a swordsman for Bai Patrol?"
Below the Grandmaster, there are not even a hundred but eighty people who can be used as a sword by that old woman... Zhang Xing complained in his heart, with a joking smile on his face, but in the end he nodded and signaled Qin Bao to get out of the way... Not sticking to mud means not sticking to mud, but people I've worked hard enough, but I'm still a fellow traveler, so how can I still stop him?
Immediately, several senior planners came up together with Zuo Caihou, the leader of the Changjing Gang, and a person dressed as a Taoist.
"Leader Zuo, please go in by yourself. The one on the top of the boat looking over here is our inspection team." After getting on the boat, Zhang Xingfu called out to the leader of the Long Whale Gang again, slightly cupping his hands, and speaking politely, but not as before. Indifference to those who are responsible for planning. "But please bother the guards to stay."
"I've seen this Zhang Baishou."
Zuo Caihou did not panic, but responded seriously and explained. "This is not my escort. He is a hero who has just come upstream from the Huan River. I brought him here to ask him to tell me about the situation upstream in person."
Zhang Xing was stunned, but then shook his head: "It doesn't matter, just ask this hero to talk to me. Leader Zuo will go and see my house for inspection. It won't be a problem."
Zuo Caihou was stunned for a moment, but the accounting official next to him became impatient and quickly introduced: "Why is Boss Zuo so ignorant? How can there be any mediocre people under Bai Xunjian? The second brother Qin just below is the third person on the list. Hundreds of thunder runners, this one is the world-famous desperate Zhang Sanlang... He is the one who ranks the best in the world. He has always been good at both civil and military affairs. This time he went south to our Jiangdong and became a close friend of Liu Yunhe from the Eight Families... As for Bai Inspection, who is like a fairy, Zhang Sanlang and a black ribbon handle all daily patrol affairs! Didn't your third child really tell you?"
Not to mention the official bragging, Zhang Xing could see clearly that when this guy mentioned his nickname, the Whale Gang had already woken up... I don't know where he heard the reputation?
"It turns out to be Zhang Sanlang of Manchuria, a man of great righteousness." Zuo Caihou repeatedly handed over his hand, his attitude even more impeccable. "I was in Huaishang and Huanshui. I heard a lot about Zhang Sanlang's high righteousness and often rescued people in Taichung, Jing'an. I really didn't expect... I didn't expect to meet by the river today!"
Zhang Xing suddenly realized that he had saved some of the names of those wealthy people. He had more thoughts in his mind, but he did not hesitate to smile on his face: "Your Excellency, what you want to say is that it sounds like a big name, but I didn't expect it to be just a white-sanded guy." Bar?"
Zuo Caihou laughed out of embarrassment without losing his honest and honest attitude.
"Left Gang Leader, let's go." Zhang Xing urged sideways. "Don't delay the fleet's schedule. Don't worry, this hero will stay with me."
Boss Zuo then raised his hand, nodded slightly to the man dressed as a Taoist, and then went to the top of the boat.
Zhang Xing also behaved politely and invited the Taoist to get off the boat and sit on the shore... The two of them, plus Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan, passed a group of officials and wealthy people from rivers and lakes, and went to a tea shack on the ferry. Sit down and then chat.
"Your Excellency is a local, and your surname is Zuo?" Zhang Xing was surprised for a moment.
"I'm not from the Zuo gang leader's family. I just happen to be from the same village and have the same surname." The Taoist smiled bitterly upon hearing this. He had obviously experienced similar questions.
"Speaking of which, what is the origin of Zuo Gang leader's family?" Zhang Xing continued to ask randomly.
"This kind of thing can be answered by anyone from Xiapi or even Xuzhou in the southern section of Pengcheng." The Taoist responded seriously. "The Zuo gang leader's family was a wealthy local in Pengcheng County when they were ancestors. In their generation, all three brothers can make a living, so they are more respectable... The Zuo gang leader is the eldest, and is called Zuo Caihou; the second brother is called Zuo Cai. The prime minister is a master of elixir condensation, nicknamed Ziwu Sword, he is accustomed to traveling around, and usually does not care about anything; the third child is the local resident black ribbon of Pengcheng County, and is called Zuo Cai Prime Minister."
"The name is quite interesting." Zhang Xing said with a smile. "What about your Excellency?"
"Me?" The Taoist was surprised for a moment.
"Yes." Zhang Xing answered seriously. "What is your name? What is your origin? What is your cultivation level?"
This question was too direct. Zhou Xingfan couldn't help but glance at Zhang Xing. Qin Bao, on the other hand, acted as if he hadn't heard anything and was just drinking tea.
"I...my name is Zuo An. I am the same hometown, same village, and same surname as Zuo Gang leader, but my fate is not that good." The Taoist smiled bitterly. "When I was a child, my family was in ruins, so I was sent to the Qingdi Temple to support me. The temple also gave me a Dharma name, Zuoyou. I opened the temple and built the foundation in the temple. When I was young, I was After being sent to the temple on the other side of the East China Sea, I had barely managed to connect the eight extraordinary meridians, but I couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to go home and show off. But when I returned home in the middle of this year, my home was destroyed in Yang Shen's chaos. , so I wandered around here, confused for half a year..."
"My condolences, Brother Zuo." Zhang Xing slightly cupped his hands and continued to ask. "Then I dare to ask Brother Zuo, what do you want this time?"
"Demands?"
"Not bad." Zhang Xing responded seriously. "I see that you brought the news here specially, and you came with the Zuo gang leader to see my house for inspection... You have been dizzy in the past six months. Do you want to seek refuge with the villagers and make a living, or do you want to find a place to get promoted and make a future? ?These are human nature. If you have any ideas, just say them directly, and we will definitely be willing to help."
"I..." The man was nervous for a moment, then laughed dryly. "I didn't think too much. I just came over from Huanshui River and spoke to my fellow villagers."
Zhang Xing suddenly understood and then nodded: "It turns out that Brother Zuo is a very righteous person... Then I dare to ask how it goes on the upper reaches of the Huan River?"
"There are a lot of troubles. The lower reaches of Xiapi County and Pengcheng County have the foundation of the Giant Whale Gang, but the upper reaches of Pengcheng County are very chaotic. There are many bandits who take advantage of the shallow water in winter to seek money and food. As for big troubles, the main problem is There are several large mountain villages in Qiaojun, including Dangshan, Jishan, and Yutou Mountain. They have united together to control half of the water section upstream of Qiaojun, and they are very powerful." Zuo You said sincerely.
Zhang Xing nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know, as soon as the village came out, food was one of the things to say, and now it's winter again, even if I know it's a dead end, I still have to try... I understand what you mean, Who asked us to transport food?”
Zuo You nodded repeatedly.
But this time, Zhou Xingfan did not dare to say anything, but Qin Bao glanced at Zhang Xing.
At this point, he said a few more words about local customs. Seeing the left gang leader carefully getting off the boat, Zhang Xing also stopped talking and turned around to meet him. The other three people naturally followed him quickly.
"Left Gang Leader."
Zhang Xing held his hand far away. "How did it go with my home inspection?"
"It was just a one-time meeting. When I saw that it was the Yitian Sword, I was relieved. I will send the ship immediately and try to send the brothers from the seven southeastern counties into Huanshui before tomorrow." Zuo Caihou responded with a smile.
"That's good." Zhang Xing also smiled. "What we said here is also very clear... It's a pity that Brother Zuo You is so righteous and doesn't want to repay him. It really makes me feel ashamed."
"Don't worry, Zhang Sanlang." Zuo Caihou said, already walking down and smiling. "This is what I said, and I will naturally thank you."
"That only belongs to Boss Zuo." Zhang Xing shook his head, but then looked back at Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan on the dock. "Qin Erlang, you go to the ship and pick out a good horse and a good sword; Xiao Zhou, you go to the official ship behind and get twenty taels of silver...and give them to the left righteous man."
After hearing this, the two of them went straight to the boat without thinking about anything. The officials, heroes, gangsters, and laborers on the surrounding docks were already making noises - the dog in golden clothes seemed to want Boss Zuo to report this. The silver reward was unexpectedly generous.
It’s really a hair on the waist, and it’s thicker than an average person’s thigh.
But Zuo You was stunned for a moment and wanted to refuse.
When Zhang Xing saw this, he looked back and stopped: "Brother Zuo, you must not refuse. Although you are very righteous, haven't you heard the story of the gentleman who redeemed his people in the ancient country in the east?"
As he said this, Zhang Xing told a story about how Zigong redeemed people, and then bit Zuo You: "I accept it with confidence. This is to reward you for your righteous deeds, not for your kindness. Don't He said that you are from Boss Zuo’s village and his own brother, so you are a Dongyi spy, so I won’t delay you in passing the news and you will be rewarded. Otherwise, if we are in trouble again in the future, who will tell us?”
By this time, Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan had already disembarked. They each presented their thank-you gifts, while Zhang Xing just handed them over and boarded the boat with them.
On the other side, amid tuts and tuts, Boss Zuo waved his hand, and the huge fleet finally slowly began to turn towards the mouth of the Huanshui River.
Let's say that now that things have happened, the Jinyi Patrol has not been able to get a reply from Taichung for a while, but it can only bite the bullet and do it, especially when it is about to turn into a narrow inland river and may encounter bandits, so it also drove A small meeting... Called a meeting, it was just to get some air. After summarizing information from all aspects, it was decided that Bai Yousi's fleet would be in the middle, Hu Yan's fleet would be in the rear, Li Qingchen would be in the bow, and Qian Tanghe would be in the bow. Zhang Xing each led seven or eight cavalry and divided his left and right wings to cover on land. This was a simple strategy.
Among them, Zhang Xing was ordered to protect the right wing, which was the east bank of Huan River. Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan were among them.
That night, before the second half of the fleet entered Huanshui River, Zhang Xing and Qian Tang had already led their teams away from Xucheng Pier, and followed the first half of the fleet into the wilderness.
At this time, the young Master Zhou finally couldn't hold it back any longer.
"Brother Zhang."
Beside the bonfire, Zhou Xingfan, who had just gone to the boat to fetch food, lowered his voice and asked seriously while handling the food. "Is there something wrong with Zuo You?"
"Absolutely." Zhang Xing, who had spread out the paper and was playing with charcoal, responded calmly. "A master at the stage of the Eight Meridians. Although he is only the lowest master, he is still a master. He is a little too obedient to deal with us. In addition, his origin is unknown. He is said to be a fellow villager of Zuo Boss, but his family is in He disappeared in the war and died without any evidence. More importantly, our fleet had just arrived and he came from upstream. I said there was food in the ship, and the thieves had to fight for the food. He was a helpless wanderer. , It seems like I already knew it... I’m not surprised at all.”
"It turns out that third brother has known for a long time that he was deliberately testing food when he said it." Zhou Xingfan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Qin Bao, who had been silent, with an awakened look. "Second brother Qin has noticed it a long time ago?"
Qin Bao smiled honestly and didn't say anything. He just helped the other party start boiling water and rice.
Zhang Xing just nodded perfunctorily and began to scribble on the paper.
Seeing this, Mr. Zhou became more and more relaxed. He couldn't help but add more firewood to the fire and continued: "In this way, we are actually loose on the outside and tight on the inside. How to guard against thieves? Brother Zhang Sange and Bai Inspection, And Brother Hu and Brother Qin, they should have plans already, right?"
Zhang Xing finally looked at Zhou Xingfan with a strange look on his face, making him feel terrified.
And now, Qin Bao seemed a little helpless, and lowered his voice and asked: "Third brother, do you really don't care?"
"It's not that I don't care." When facing Qin Bao, Zhang Xing naturally wanted to be honest, so he put down the pen and paper, feeling helpless. "The current situation is that the team is so big and the fleet is so long. We are just a group of twenty or thirty people, and we can't control much...especially since everyone has made a fortune. As long as Zhongcheng can say a word, who is willing to do it for those counties?" Officials should take responsibility? If our own team has ulterior motives, and the county, the Jinyi Cavalry, and the Long Whale Gang are all at odds with each other, how can we do anything?"
"The key is..." Qin Bao gritted his teeth. "There is something that I can't overcome."
"Food?" Zhang Xing blurted out.
"Not bad." Qin Bao sighed. "What if the food is robbed and the court asks the seven counties to make up for it?"
"Then I'll ask you in turn." Zhang Xing responded seriously. "You know that the Central Plains has been devastated by war this year, and you also heard today that in Qiao County, which is a little far away from the imperial court, there are copycats on several mountains... Are the people in the copycats more innocent than the people in Funiu Mountain? Some? Aren’t they hungry in the middle of winter? If the food is stolen by them, then it’s not a human life?”
Qin Bao hesitated for a moment and continued to speak seriously: "What Third Brother said makes sense... But once there is another levy in the Seven Counties, the officials will take action, and coupled with road problems, the actual consumption will be more than the food on the ship; But here, they are thieves after all. The people in the den of thieves were good people before, but how can they be good people after becoming thieves? Nine out of ten are not working... I was pitiful in Funiu Mountain before Those people, it’s because they didn’t lose their crops.”
"What you said makes more sense." Zhang Xing listened carefully to the other party's words and nodded repeatedly to show his agreement. "So aren't we still trying our best to protect the fleet impartially? Moreover, Qin Erlang, since you said so, I have two new questions to ask you."
Qin Bao immediately became solemn and sat beside the fire with his hands clasped in his hands: "Third brother, please speak."
Mr. Zhou, who had been stunned for a long time, could not help but feel solemn.
"The seven counties will be requisitioned again, officials will take action, and even the road consumption you mentioned...should it be like this?" Zhang Xing responded quietly. "Also, where did the thieves in the mountains in the hinterland of the Central Plains come from? Who forced them to stop producing? Don't they originally want to be honest and eat their own food as the men farm and the women weave?"
Qin Bao hesitated to speak and could only lower his head sadly.
At this moment, the three people next to the fire, plus the other four patrolmen who had been listening with their ears pricked up next to the fire, almost all raised their heads, because they clearly heard that someone stepped on the dead branches outside. , and that was a simple warning they placed behind the tree.
Of course, it could also be a rabbit.
But after a while, there was no movement at all. I don't know if the rabbit suddenly froze.
"Catch it back." Zhang Xingduan sat still and continued to fiddle with his charcoal pencil with his head down. "If it's difficult, blow the whistle and ask for inspection."
ps: Good night everyone
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