On October 28, the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, the Thunder God left the dock carrying fifteen people including Wu Siyu, Lu Shoushan, Xu Dayong and Wang Changsheng.
The reason why Wu Siyu came here this time was to meet the woman he longed for day and night. This move made Liu Sheng scold him as useless, but Wu Siyu himself didn't care at all.
"By the way, I'm over thirty and don't even have a girlfriend, so why can't I find a good one? Even if Chen Yin'er is a female actress, it's because of the pressure of life and she has no choice. Besides, she is only nineteen years old, and she is still a yellow flower. My eldest daughter. I just fell in love with her!"
"Okay, okay, you're right." Liu Sheng said impatiently. "Don't say I didn't say hello to you in advance. There are no freeloaders here. Even if Chen Yin'er has small feet, she still has to go out and do things."
Wang Changsheng, the former second-in-command of pirates, looked at the dock of Beihai Town gradually disappearing, feeling filled with emotion in his heart.
In just a few months, he changed from a prisoner to a laborer, from a laborer to a supervisor, and finally became a member of the spy organization in Beihai Town, following Xu Dayong back to the south of the Yangtze River to establish an underground population transfer network.
And the reason why he was selected to join the spy organization and participate in this operation was not entirely because of his relationship with Xu Dayong. Before Wang Changsheng joined Xu Dayong's small pirate group, he was a member of the Luo Jiao.
Wang Changsheng walked towards the ship building while rubbing his still sore right shoulder. The crazy special training he had done in the past ten days still left him with lingering fears.
Ever since Xu Dayong led more than a dozen of them into the military camp, they began to live a nightmare life from morning to night. Apart from eating and sleeping, there is almost no free time. Physical training starts at dawn every day, and in the afternoon there is pistol shooting training. After dinner, they have to learn from the instructors how to get rid of being watched, how to write secret words to convey messages, and how to deal with interrogations.
It is said that in order to train people like Wang Changsheng, Zhao Xin and the six-person team from the Security Department took turns every day. From experimental psychology, nine-step interrogation method to hand-to-hand combat, dagger use and other subjects, they were all crammed into the first batch of espionage trainees.
Putting aside his days as a pirate, Wang Changsheng had never suffered so many sins. During the robbery, they would pull up to the ship, wave a knife and join the gang, forcing the other party to pay money and deliver the goods; anyone who dared to resist would be thrown into the sea.
People like Wang Changsheng thought it was okay to suffer hardships, but they didn't expect that they would be tortured like a grandson on the first day they entered the military camp. After a few days, I fired hundreds of rounds every day just from pistol shooting, which was so shocking that my arm almost broke.
One day Wang Changsheng secretly asked Xu Dayong during lunch how much he could get as a spy.
Xu Da counted on his fingers for a while before telling him that Mr. Zhao's newly minted silver coins could earn him twenty yuan per month, equivalent to eighty taels of silver. In addition, there will be a bonus of 50 to 100 yuan after each action is completed.
Wang Changsheng and others were dumbfounded when they heard this. They did not expect that they would be able to earn a salary of eighty taels of silver a month in this life. If this task is successfully completed several times a year, it is simply more than the salary of a county magistrate. (During the Qianlong period, the salary of a seventh-grade county magistrate was 45 taels per year, 45 hu of rice, and 1,200 taels of silver.)
Therefore, Wang Changsheng, who originally looked forward to having a wooden house, began to look forward to when he could live in a large blue brick house with three entrances.
Although the days on the sea are a bit boring, Wang Changsheng and the others don't have to rub salted fish on the deck this time. In addition to eating and sleeping every day, I continue to eat when I wake up. This can be considered a short vacation after intense training.
Three days later, the Thunder God arrived at Flower and Bird Island, where Shen Jingdan and Huang Maocai were already waiting.
On Shen Jingdan's sand boat, more than a hundred people of different identities looked at the blue and white steel giant with shock on their faces.
Among these people were blacksmiths and carpenters from northern Jiangsu, young doctors from the south of the Yangtze River, and down-and-out accountants, as well as a dozen refugee women bought from Xuzhou as servant girls, farmers who had lost their land and sold themselves, cooks, and bankrupt people. Craftsmen and so on, even Shen Jingdan's servant Guisheng was among them.
In addition, a man dressed as a man, with his head and face wrapped in cotton and only his eyes exposed, followed closely behind Shen Jingdan.
"Miss Yin'er, look, Mr. Wu's ship is here."
When Chen Yin'er followed Shen Jingdan's fingers, she saw a big silly man standing on the deck of the Thor ship waving to the sand ship. Fortunately, there was a cloth blocking it, otherwise Chen Yin'er's red little face would have been noticed.
Shen Jingdan spent a total of two thousand taels of silver to redeem her life this time. Such a high price caused a sensation in the Xiao Qinhuai area. However, after Shen Jingdan completed the redemption procedures, he immediately sent Chen Yin'er to his house in Shanghai County. It wasn't until he and Lao Huang Lin set off that they finally got to know Chen Yin'er.
When Chen Yin'er heard that the person who spent money to redeem her life was actually the man who was staring at her closely among the people she met in the boat a few days ago. Moreover, she was going to marry her as his official wife, which surprised and delighted her.
However, when Shen Jingdan told him that Mr. Wu lived in a seaport in the north and needed to take a boat there, he hesitated for a long time.
I am a lowly householder! How can I be a real wife? Is that Mr. Wu just making fun of himself? It's been a long time since we welcomed and sent off, but she still understands the principle of "people are cheap when they leave their hometown, but things are expensive when they leave their hometown".
Who is Shen Jingdan? He could see Chen Yin'er's worries at a glance. So he patted his chest and assured her: "In the town where Mr. Wu is, there are dozens of women from Jiangnan. You will not be lonely when you go there.
Moreover, Mr. Wu is so infatuated with you, Miss Yin'er, that he doesn't care about your humble background at all. But seeing as you are so worried, Miss Yin'er, then I will be a witness and you can accept Boss Huang as your adopted brother. With this relationship, Mr. Wu will not look down upon you. "
Lao Huang agreed with a smile. He is naturally very willing to be related to the leader of Beihai Town.
So when Lao Huang took Chen Yin'er to see Wu Siyu, he said that I can leave my sister to you. If you treat her badly, then I will settle the score with you.
Wu Siyu looked at his crush with excitement, not paying attention to what Huang said. Chen Yin'er was so confused by Wu Siyu that she didn't even know where to start. However, what the other party did next surprised Chen Yin'er, and tears of gratitude instantly flowed down.
When Shen Jingdan handed the redemption deed to Wu Siyu, Wu Siyu opened it, took a look at it, and then tore it into pieces. When he raised his hand, the scraps of paper immediately flew away in the wind.
"We don't have slaves there." Wu Siyu said with a smile.
Chen Yin'er cried, and she knelt down in front of Wu Siyu. She was startled and he quickly reached out to help her up.
"You are the daughter of a girl, and I am a flower of injustice. From now on, as long as the master is willing, we will never be separated from each other."
willing! Of course I do. At this time, Wu Siyu was totally willing, and he gratefully thanked Shen and Huang.
Lao Huang smiled and cupped his hands at Wu Siyu and Chen Yin'er and said, "May you two have a happy marriage and have a son soon!"
The cargo transported by the Thor this time took two days to move to the sand ship. In addition to the cigarettes produced in Beihai Town, there are also thousands of boxes of matches, large pieces of flat glass, and most importantly, three tons of salt that Zhao Xin temporarily purchased from another time and space.
Although Shen and Huang have been in Beihai Town for a while, they have never seen the salt used in Beihai Town. But when they got a small pack of samples and tasted them, they were all extremely surprised. Unexpectedly, the salt in Beihai Town is of such high quality that it can be called the best refined salt!
What was the table salt like in the Qing Dynasty?
Taking the Lianghuai Salt Field as an example, the weight, size and hardness of the salt grains are different in each branch. The salt produced in the same salt field and the same salt flat can be divided into upper, middle and lower grades. The difference between the three grades is that the better salt particles are larger, lighter, and harder.
As for the refined salt that modern people consume daily, in the Qing Dynasty, even the families of ordinary officials and gentry could not afford it, and only the luxurious people would buy it. This is because the purification of coarse salt requires the use of a large amount of firewood and iron pots, which ordinary people cannot afford.
The salt used by ordinary people in the Qing Dynasty was generally of medium or low grade. When it comes to retail outlets, the price of salt is even more expensive with higher prices; unscrupulous businessmen often mix it with sand and gypsum. But even so, many farmers often cannot afford it.
Lao Huang asked Lu Shoushan: "How do you plan to sell this salt?"
"Twelve taels per quotation." This price was proposed by Wang Changsheng. At present, the market retail price of imported salt in Lianghuai Salt District is about twelve taels.
One pound of salt in the Qing Dynasty was 200 kilograms, and each kilogram was about 600 grams in later generations. Three tons of salt is equivalent to twenty-five taels of silver, and twelve taels of salt is equivalent to three hundred taels of silver. After this batch of salt is sold out, Lu Shoushan and the others will have to find a way to buy salt again.
Lao Huang nodded after hearing this, and then asked Liu Sheng for a few packs of salt, saying he would take them home and enjoy them himself.
Taking advantage of this moment, Lu Shoushan took out Zhao Xin's letter to Lao Huang. "Boss Huang, this is what my master asked me to give to you."
After reading the letter from Zhao Xin, Lao Huang pondered for a while and asked, "Did Mr. Zhao say anything else?"
"Gone."
Lao Huang nodded after hearing this and said: "This matter can only be handled when we return to Shanghai. I will hand it over to you as soon as possible."
"It doesn't matter."
"Boss Huang, I want to ask you something."
"Speaking."
"What did we do in Shanghai last time, how was it from beginning to end?"
"You don't have to ask me about this, but I want to talk to you about it. The government has been investigating for a long time with no results, and the final conclusion is that it is an unsolved case. Don't worry!"
When all the goods had been moved and more than a hundred people on his side had boarded the Thor, Shen Jingdan cupped his hands at Old Huang and said, "In this case, I will leave the affairs of Yangzhou to Brother Huang."
Lao Huang laughed and said goodbye to Shen Jingdan, and took Lu Shoushan and others onto the sand boat. Their route back this time was still through Zhangjiabang and Yemaotang. In fact, Su Song Navy just turned a blind eye when he said it was a sneak crossing; in fact, the cost of buying this waterway was 500 taels of silver per thousand-stone sand boat. However, it is precisely because of the high price that few boats go here.
Two nights later, Lu Shoushan and the others had checked into an inn outside Shanghai County. In order to avoid attracting attention, the fifteen of them were divided into three groups and stayed in two inns respectively.
Lu Shoushan took five of his men and stayed at an inn in Xingrenli. Xu Dayong took five other people and moved into another courtyard; Wang Changsheng took two of his men and stayed at an inn in Yanmatou.
Early the next morning, Wang Changsheng came to the Lujiabang Bridge alone and found a 300-stone tug barge docked on the river bank. On a shelf on the boat hung a birdcage with a thrush in it.
Wang Changchang let out a sigh of relief, thinking that the ship was still there. He walked along the stone steps to the ship. A man who looked like a merchant in his fifties came out of the cabin and greeted with a smile on his face: "What does this guest want to buy? We have goods from both the north and the south here."
Wang Changsheng glanced at the shelves, raised his finger and pointed at the thrush, and asked the old man in a low voice: "Where was the general born?"
The old man's expression changed, he looked at Wang Changsheng for a while, and then said with a smile: "Sir, please follow me into the cabin to inspect the goods."
As soon as the two entered the cabin, two strong men walked out of the cabin. The three of them surrounded Wang Changsheng. The old man asked: "Where was the general born?"
Wang Changsheng cupped his hands and said, "Kunlun Mountain."
"How high can it fly? How far can it fly?"
"High energy can fly to the sky, and distance can fly to the edge of the sky."
"What eyebrows, what eyes?!"
"Dragon eyebrows, phoenix eyes."
"How many big hairs are there? How many small hairs are there?"
"One hundred and twenty-eight big hairs, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine small hairs."
"How many times a day does the general bark?"
"My close friend calls me, but I don't know how to speak."
Wang Changsheng and the old man faced each other for a long time, and the more they faced each other, the more they smiled. At the end, the three people on the boat raised their hands to Wang Changsheng and said, "It turns out we are all brothers in the sect."
Wang Changsheng cupped his hands and said, "Young man Wang Changsheng is from Chongming."
The old man said: "May I ask who your old official is?"
Wang Changsheng cupped his hands and said, "My master's surname is Zhu Tagui."
The old man smiled and said: "It turns out that you are Brother Zhu San's apprentice. No wonder you found this place. How is Brother Zhu San? We haven't seen each other for seven or eight years."
Wang Changsheng said sadly: "In the forty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, there was a flood from the Chongming Sea, and my family and my family were unfortunately killed."
Hearing this, the old man sighed and said: "Since we have found them, they are all from our own family."
Wang Changsheng cupped his fists and said, "You haven't asked the old official about Gao's surname yet?"
The old man said: "I am your master's sworn brother. My surname is Liu, and my single name is Zhao."
Wang Changsheng was shocked when he heard this, and immediately knelt down on the ground and said: "It turns out to be Master Liu. I would like to pay my respects to Master Liu." After saying this, he kowtowed three times.
After Liu Zhao helped him up, Wang Changsheng said: "Master told me about Lao Tang's ship before, and I came here to try my luck this time. I didn't expect to meet Master Liu."
Liu Zhaodao: "I just came back from Tianjin yesterday. If you had come looking for me before yesterday, you wouldn't have been able to find me. Recently, the imperial court has been too strict on my Luo Jiao, and we only stayed in every place for two or three days before leaving. Come on. , come with me first to pay homage to Ancestor Luo."
Wang Changsheng followed the old man into the cabin and opened a curtain, revealing a small space. The place was arranged like a Buddhist hall, with a Buddha-like statue enshrined in the center, fragrant flowers, fruits and sandalwood candles enshrined on the table.
Here is the secret hall of Luo Jiao (Wuwei Jiao) on the canal. This boat is called Laotang boat, also called incense boat.
It is said that the founder of Luo Jiao is named Luo Menghong, whose Dharma name is Puren (Jingqing), Dharma name is Wukong, and his Tao name is Wuwei Jushi. He was born in a Shandong military family in the seventh year of Zhengtong (1442-1527) in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that Luo Menghong became enlightened after being inspired by the "Vajra Ritual". Before this man became enlightened, he served in Gubeikou and was a land transport soldier engaged in grain transshipment in the Miyun Guard at that time. So after he realized the Tao, he preached in the nearby Simatai Fort.
After the Baihe River was diverted into the Chaohe River in Miyun during the Ming Dynasty, military rations transported by water from Tongzhou to Miyun continued throughout the year. The rice transported by water and land every year accounted for more than 90% of the total annual military ration reserves in Miyun County at that time. Luo Menghong chose to preach here, and his social connections were mostly related to water transport sailors. Therefore, the Luo religion spread rapidly among the water transport sailors, and Miyun became a holy place for northern water transport sailors to believe in the Luo religion. There were even sailors transporting grain here from the south to worship Luo Ancestor.
As for the widespread spread of Luo Jiao in Jiangnan, it must be attributed to Weng Yan, Qian Jian and Pan Qing, Luo Menghong's disciples. These three people are also called the "Three Ancestors". Among the water transport sailors in Jiangnan during the Ming Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of people from Shandong, Henan, and Beizhili. These people have nowhere to rely on, both spiritually and in life.
Since it took half a year for the boat to return home, inns and restaurants were unwilling to accommodate them, so staying in a nunnery became their only choice. The fear of being neglected in life, old age, illness and death made them choose to join the Luo religion for sustenance in life and death, and to continue their incense by recruiting disciples. The water transport sailors, who live in a society with strong clan values, all dream of these things. Within Luo Jiao, sailors can help each other, and there are people taking care of them in Huai'an, Tianjin, Tongzhou, Beijing and other places where the grain ship stops.
During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Luo religion beliefs of water transport sailors were discovered by the Qing government. The Qing government ordered a strict investigation of Luo Jiao, and Luo Jiao nunneries were demolished or reused. In the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, a murder occurred among sailors from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. During the interrogation, officials learned that most of the water transport sailors believed in Luoism. This incident alarmed the emperor, who ordered local officials to conduct a thorough investigation. As a result, it was found that there were originally 72 Luo Jiao nunneries, and now there are more than 30. The Yongzheng Emperor at that time himself believed in Buddhism, so he took some measures. relatively lenient treatment measures, and some nunneries in Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places have also survived.
In the thirty-third year of Qianlong's reign, Luo Jiao was suppressed by the Qing court due to his involvement in a famous nationwide rumor - the "Soul Calling Case". There were not many nunneries in the first place, and all the nunneries were confiscated. The first offenders Zhu Wenxian and Xinghai were ordered to be hanged in prison according to the first law, and the others were either beaten with sticks or exiled. Luo Jiao then went underground.
The nunnery on land could not be opened, so the Luo Jiao people transferred the nunnery to the ship. The tug barge that Wang Changsheng found was usually used as a disguise for selling goods from the north and south along the canal; but its true identity was the secret gathering place of the Luo Jiao.
(End of chapter)
