"Datou, that's enough!" Chen Tong shouted in a low voice: "The messenger is still here, are you going to embarrass all of us with you?" Zhou Datou immediately shrank his head, stuck out his tongue and made a face and stopped talking.
"It's not that I'm a coward. Although our dozen or so family members are quite large, if we keep making noises like this, I don't know if we can beat those 'rabble'!"
Ren Er? Xie San'er thought about it, wasn't this the brother Song Gongming sworn to? He looked over there pretending to be unintentional.
"Humph, some people call others a mob, but they don't know that they are just the same!" Taoist priest Wei said sarcastically.
"Old Niubi, are you finished yet?" Zhou Datou jumped up.
At the critical moment, Chen Yuanhai coughed: "What, do you two want to gesture in front of me?" After he said that, he opened his eyes and glanced below with two sinister eyes, forcing the two of them to sit back again. In the chair.
This is strength. No matter how good your martial arts skills are, what's the use? No matter how hard it is, one hundred or two hundred people can't defeat ten times the opponent!
"Yubao, where were you sent?" Chen Tong asked.
"Wuni Town." Yu Liang bowed and replied: "The governor said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the two groups captured Yu Gan's two big claws together so that the brothers could have a good time. It would also be considered a good gift for Magistrate Yu Gan. .”
Chen Tong frowned and turned to his father: "Dad, the Mid-Autumn Festival is only two days away. Can we make it in time?"
Chen Yuanhai got angry when he heard the words Mid-Autumn Festival. This group of people have been jostling and arguing with each other here for ten days, and some of them dropped their picks and walked away.
It's really heartbreaking to lead such a group of people into the army! But in terms of days, it’s really not easy to put it off any longer. Polygonatum sent these two people here, saying that they were liaisons, but in fact, in his opinion, they were urging him to go on the road.
Thinking of Liaohuazi's promise to him, he gritted his teeth and told Yu Liang with a cheerful face: "You two go back and tell the Governor that I will send troops to Santang Town tomorrow morning, and I will give Yu Qian a big gift as he expected. !」
"I wish you success in one battle and your first victory in Santang Town!"
"You're really quick with your words!" Chen Yuanhai laughed and asked someone to reward him with a piece of silver. Seeing that his goal was achieved, Yu Liang hurriedly took Xie Saner out of the Juyi Hall.
"Dad, are you really going to send troops tomorrow morning?" Chen Tong asked after arranging things for tomorrow morning and went down to his boat.
"Hey, haven't you seen that the governor is anxious?"
"But..., this group of people is just like what Ren Er said, they are just a mob!" Even though Chen Ming has a bad reputation, he still has the discernment he deserves.
His father and son have been busy trying to reconcile one and appease the other these days. The reason why they have not sent out troops is also because this team is too reluctant.
The only ones that can be used are the own and Zhou Datou, which have a total of about 1,500 people. The rest are mostly about a hundred people. There are people like Daozhang Wei who lead dozens or even a dozen people. They don't even put up a flag to care about anything. use?
Originally, Chen Yuanhai was bragging in front of Liaohuazi that he could raise an army of 5,000 people in Huxi with a single shout, but now he could barely manage even half of it.
This naval force is not like Lu Zhai where you can increase the pot and reduce the land. Once the navy family sees the number of sails and the depth of your ship, an expert can immediately judge your accurate troop strength. There is no way to hide it. This is why Yu Qian is attracted. , how can you get it?
But after all the procrastination, the ugly daughter-in-law has to come out to meet her parents-in-law. It seems that it won’t work unless Polygonum Flowers come to urge her, or if she doesn’t send troops.
Chen Tong lowered his head in displeasure when he heard Chen Yuanhai suddenly say: "Tong'er, you go back tonight and mobilize 500 people from our village."
Chen Tong was startled and raised his head suddenly: "No, Dad, if we transfer people, we will only have a hundred brothers left to guard the stronghold. It will be too empty inside! Besides..., the Jiang family will send a bride over in the next few days. , if they see the truth..."
"So you stay here for the time being." Chen Yuanhai interrupted his son and asked him not to listen to what he said: "You stay in the village and bluff. With your mother's help, I think you can deal with the Guojiang family. Everyone in Huxi knows that you are staying here." Zhai also eliminates those bad thoughts.
You prepare a fast boat and a fast horse in advance, and rush east immediately after the wedding. I will send a good man to drive the boat and wait for you at Rhinoceros Bay.
…. Although Zhou Datou was a bit crooked, he was easy to handle.
With two thousand men at hand, Dad can deal with this group of people. What matters is the county seat! The next time we meet again, we will be admiring the moon at Dongshan Mountain by the Pipa Lake in Yugan. "
"Why don't you wait until I arrive before attacking Santang?" Chen Tong was still a little worried about his father.
"It's okay, it's just a small fort in Santang Town." Chen Yuanhai patted his son's thick back affectionately:
"When you plant a good seed in the belly of the Jiang family's little lady, the Jiang family will be helpless.
We have Polygonum on one side and finless porpoise on the other. We changed the stockade to Jinxi Lake, owned Meixi and Ruihong, and controlled the Xinjiang waterway. Hey!
Then maybe we can surpass Bailang and sit on the third spot in this lake! Son, this is what my father dreamed of leaving for you, do you want it? "
"Yes!" Chen Tong also became happy.
"You give birth to seventeen or eight more kids, and ask each of them to lead a fleet. Do you think we can change the name of this lake to Chenjia Lake? Hahaha...!"
On the night when Chen Yuanhai arranged for Chen Tong to go back and mobilize his troops, a small boat quietly rowed into a water village on the west side of Riyue Mountain. There was already another boat waiting inside, and after two mistakes, Xie Saner had already jumped onto the other boat.
The man who punted the boat silently tapped it with his bamboo pole, and the boat left obediently and slipped into the depths of the water village. Parked at the innermost position is a large official ship. The so-called official ship means that it can be clearly seen under the moonlight that its appearance is covered with vermilion paint.
In terms of shape, this boat is nearly seven feet (twenty meters) wide and one foot four feet (more than four meters) wide. It has two cabins in the front and the back. The back cabin is slightly larger and higher. It is difficult to see clearly at night, but it should be It has two floors.
The upper floors of the front cabin and the rear cabin are covered with dome rain shelters. This kind of shed is made of two layers of tarpaulin and bamboo mat. It has a good shielding effect when it rains. I wonder who they snatched such a big ship with 200 materials (see note 1) from?
Xie San'er was looking at it, and the boat was already firmly on the boat. An arm stretched out from above to pull him onto the deck. The man whispered in his ear: "Sir, please come in. The young master and the second master are waiting inside." "
When they came to the cabin door where the lights were exposed, the curtains were opened to the left and right, and it turned out that there were two teenagers holding knives standing on both sides.
"Thank you!" Xie San'er nodded and went down the two steps into the front cabin. Looking left and right, he saw that the window panels were down and the cabin was a little stuffy.
Suddenly, a gust of wind came straight through the door, and two figures emerged from behind the gauze screen blocking the aisle in the rear cabin. The one in front was Ren Er, who was expressing his opinions during the meeting, followed by a man with dark clothes and big black eyes. Teenage boy.
"Is it you?" Ren Er opened his eyes wide in surprise: "You, you're not...?"
"A humble position, Xie Rentang of the Southern Tuanlian Town Fu General Banner (Xie San'er really asked Mr. Han to give him a name before he left). I have met the Young Master and Second Master Ren!"
"Are you an officer? Are you from the Yamen?" Song Xiaoqiao looked at him curiously. It was probably the first time that he was so close to the "enemy."
"Young Master, I am a subordinate of Li Sanlang, the deputy envoy of Raozhou, and I am affiliated with the Southern Tuanlian. We are neither officers nor soldiers, nor are we from the yamen. Our Tuanlian protects the country and the people, and only fights for the people!" Xie Saner answered.
"Then he will still be against us?" Ren Er said coldly.
"If Guizhai does not harm the people, Tuanlian will naturally not be enemies of Guizhai." Xie San'er said with a smile: "Not only are we not enemies, we can also lend a helping hand to Guizhai when necessary."
"Nonsense, you belong to Raozhou Prefecture, but our Botang Village is in Nanchang Prefecture." Ren Er was not stupid, he immediately exposed the flaw in the other party's words.
"I told you that the group training is not an official army, we don't care about their rules!" Xie San'er waved his hand.
His careless behavior won Song Xiaoqiao's favor. He glanced at Ren Er, and then he held his hands in arms and said:
"Thank you, sir, for being so straightforward. I admire you! Please take a seat. Let's all sit down and chat." After everyone took their seats, Song Xiaoqiao immediately asked, "I heard that Li Sanlang and I are similar in age. Is that true?"
"We are all patrolling and are more than a year younger than the young master. When we meet, we should
I call you my brother. "
"Oh? He's younger than me?" Song Xiaoqiao turned his head and looked at Ren Er in disbelief, and then asked: "There are rumors that he is extremely powerful and can cause thunder on the ground, but is it true?"
"It is true that Brother Dan is born with supernatural powers. He once overthrew a frightened cow and saved a man's life with his strength, so the city calls him Xiao Yuanba. However, the way of doing it is rumored. Brother Dan designed to defeat the enemy, and the people did not know the details and misinformation That’s all.”
Then Xie San'er roughly told stories about Li Dan's various deeds, such as building cars, making wine, catching flowers with his wits, and destroying silver.
Song Xiaoqiao listened with great interest, and even his two young servants gathered around to listen. When they heard the highlight, Song Xiaoqiao hurriedly asked the back to prepare two or three dishes of wine and food, and everyone drank and chatted.
"Clear as water, as mellow as fairy wine, I don't know what this jade clear stream tastes like. It's a pity that I can't have a cup to try it." Ren Erba pouted with a look of pity on his face.
"Second Master, this is not difficult. The most important task of my visit this time is that Sanlang asked me to ask Botang Village if they are interested in distributing this wine in Jinxian County?"
Song Xiaoqiao and Ren Er were stunned at the same time, looked at each other, and asked in unison: "Aren't you here to recruit people?"
"What's the plan?" Xie San'er spread his hands: "Is there any rebellion in your village? Or have you killed officials and taken food?"
"No!"
"What's the point of not recruiting?"
"Uh, but...does the government think that we are all deadbeats?"
"Well, the grass has fallen. If the grass seeds don't fall into the soil, how can they sprout?" , building a camp, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
"But...many of us are runaways who cannot afford to pay rent, and some of us have criminal records. These...will the government exempt us just because we open up wasteland and fish?" Ren Er said anxiously. explain.
Xie San'er laughed, glanced at him, and nodded: "Well, Second Master has got to the bottom of it. Not some of you, but most of you, have violated the law."
He saw Ren Er and Song Xiaoqiao becoming uncomfortable on their faces, and then said, "But compared with the rebellion committed by Liao Huazi and Chen Yuanhai, it is just a trivial matter!"
Their eyes lit up, and they looked at each other and nodded immediately: "Yes, yes, we don't dare to get involved in that kind of thing. Although our village is small, we also know the severity. Rebellion will not only be beheaded, but also beheaded." We also want to exterminate the entire clan, and we will never do such a thing!"
"But you still came?"
Ren Er smiled bitterly: "Your Excellency, it is clear that our village has only 700 old and weak people combined, and only more than 400 young and strong people. We have no strength to fight against the Chen family, let alone a behemoth like Polygonum Huazi."
"Well, I heard about it, so you old village master thought that doing more is worse than doing less, so you moved the village to a small place like Botang, just to avoid his father and son, right?" Xie San'er sighed:
"But you can hide from the first grade of junior high school, but you can't hide from the fifteenth grade. As I said, don't you have to come here obediently and be pawns?
I'm sure that when he attacked Santang, he would push all the men from your small village to the front. The Chen family won't care how many of you die. In the end, the Guizhai people also lost their lives, and the territory may not be saved! "
"Thank you, Sir, it's not what you think!" Song Xiaoqiao said halfway, waving the guard out, and then lowered his voice and said:
"My father didn't send troops because he was afraid of his family. It was that bastard Chen Yuanhai who sent people to tell him that he would either join the alliance and send men to join the war, or marry my sister to him as his concubine!"
"What?" Now it was Xie San'er's turn to be surprised: "That old guy, he still wants to take a concubine?" He then understood that the Song family's sending troops was not entirely out of fear, but a last resort.
"Then, what are you going to do? Are you going to rebel with him and ruin the peace that Botang Village finally got?"
"Of course we don't want to, so why didn't we immediately agree to meet someone from the government when we heard that someone from the government was here? Who would have thought that you also said that you are not from the government, not even from the government or the army!"
Ren Er said sadly: "But since I'm here, let's just make friends and have a drink together."
Okay, let’s count my Botangzhai’s little thoughts.
As for the wine business, I don’t dare to think about it. It’s not too late to mention it until we come back with our lives saved! "
"Tsk!" Xie San'er straightened up, looked at them, shook his head and said, "Looking at how cowardly you are, have your spines been broken by the Chen family? Okay, okay, even if I didn't say anything about the wine, why not We’ll see you later after finishing this cup!”
His statement was a bit embarrassing. Song Xiaoqiao was young and enthusiastic, and was so excited that he slapped the table: "Mr. Xie, I only drank with you for Li Sanlang's sake. Do you think I would drink with everyone?"
To tell you the truth, my father was so angry that he was bedridden, so I made this trip on his behalf. Do you think you have nothing to do and are you happy to see the Chen family and his son's dirty faces every day? "
Ren Er was frightened, and quickly persuaded him to keep his voice down, and then confessed to Xie San'er:
"My young master has this temper, sir. Don't take it personally. He is holding it in so much that he has nowhere to vent it. How can I attend a meeting? I'm afraid he won't be able to hold back and fight with them face to face and suffer a loss!"
"Note 1: The volume unit of ancient ships is approximately equal to 0.24 tons of displacement per material."
