"General, spare your life. I'm not a spy. I'm really a boatman."
When the young boatman heard Liu Yu's sudden revolt, he collapsed into a ball with fright, with tears streaming down his face.
"There isn't even a boat around here. You, a boatman, have no boat. What are you doing here?" Liu Yu saw the young boatman's appearance and continued to say sternly.
"I don't dare to hide it from the general. All the boats on the river have been confiscated by the Xu family in Hexi. The villain's boat has also been robbed. The noble Xu family also said that not a single plank of wood is allowed to go down the river." The young boatman replied.
"I married your mother, so what do you do?" Dong Ping kicked the boatman on the back.
"Villain, villain..." Chen Li said hesitantly.
Dong Pingcang screamed and pulled out the knife, "Grandma, if you don't confess happily, I will give you a happy one."
"Tell me, tell me, tell me, then the Xu family will ask the boatmen like this villain to check along the river. No boats are allowed to be launched into the water. In addition, if anything happens to the east of the river, we must report it in time." Chen Li said tremblingly.
"Damn it, you are really a spy." Upon hearing this, Dong Ping put the knife directly to his neck.
"You're wronged, General. I was also forced by the Xu family. I'm not a spy." Chen Li cried with snot and tears.
"It doesn't matter if you are a spy or not. As long as you help me find out where the Xu family hid the ship, I will not only not kill you, but I will also reward you heavily."
Liu Yu needed to get the boats on the Jiao Shui River under his control as soon as possible. Otherwise, when the Jin army from Beihai arrived, it would be impossible to stop the Jin army from crossing the river on a large scale with his own manpower.
"I know, I know, I know where the boat is." Chen Li replied hurriedly.
"Okay, take us to find the boat early tomorrow morning." Liu Yu immediately asked the guards to take Chen Li down.
After dinner in the evening, Liu Yu gathered his personal guards and brigade marshals in his tent.
Liu Yu began to ask one by one what problems these personal guards and key officers encountered during the two-day march, or what each person's experience was.
Liu envisioned learning in practice and using methods of learning and improving practice to quickly train his men into qualified officers.
But the reality is always very skinny. Liu Yu found that almost all of his guards and officers were illiterate. Liu Yu wrote a large piece of paper in advance, which contained some problems and improvement methods he discovered during the march.
But for these illiterate subordinates, it was purely unnecessary for Liu Yu to write these questions on paper and then read them to them. He could have just told them directly.
Furthermore, regarding the problems encountered during the march, the guards and officers did not find out clearly. They all unanimously said that the seven marching orders announced by Liu Yu were followed very well by the officers and there were no problems at all.
Of course Liu Yu didn't believe that there was no problem at all. Under his repeated questioning, several officers thought hard and finally only said a few things, such as who walked slowly when marching, who ate in the morning and when feeding. There are too many minor issues like these.
In the end, Liu Yu could only rely on the impressions of military books in his memory to teach his officers bit by bit the concepts of military discipline regarding marching, team formation, and rewards and punishments.
Finally, after Liu Yu talked about it over and over for nearly an hour, these confused fools finally gained the consciousness and understanding of being an officer.
Finally, Liu Yu also told everyone that every night in the future, he would organize everyone to continue this kind of learning. He might tell everyone stories about ancient emperors and generals, teach everyone how to read and write, or learn other things. thing.
At this time, the guards and officers looked at Liu Yu with a huge change from before. In their eyes, Liu Yu was just like everyone else, a reckless man who drank, gambled and was fond of martial arts, but Liu Yu was better than others. The stronger a person is, the more capable he is.
But there have been too many changes in recent days. Now in the eyes of his subordinates, Liu Yu has become a versatile figure in the street drama of the blind old man.
Everyone looked at Liu Yu and felt something different from before, a feeling of awe.
Qingzhou, Beihai County, Xiami County.
Qingzhou has been a fertile and fertile land since ancient times since Jiang Taigong granted it to the state. The sea-cooked salt trade has prospered, and because it is far away from the Central Plains, the population has flourished. Many powerful families have lived here for hundreds of years. .
Jiaoshui Hexi, Xiami County, Beihai State. The Xu family in Xiami County is a powerful family in this place. Starting from Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty, the Xu family has worshiped Confucianism and literature for generations. Many of their ancestors have served as prefectures and counties in the Han and Wei dynasties. The Xu family in Beihai has been producing numerous talents for more than 300 years.
Under the dark night, the vast manor of the Xiami Xu family stood like a castle on the plain beside the Jiaoshui River.
In the backyard of Xu's Wubao, bright candlelight flickered in the study room.
"Brother, glue's spy came to report that an unidentified Tan Ma was found in Hedong. He should be the Tan Ma of the Donglai thieves."
As a descendant of the Xu clan in Beihai, Xu Guang was not only good at literature and martial arts, but he also led the Xu clan's private soldiers.
Nowadays, the government is in chaos and the kings are fighting. Most of the descendants of the Xu family are hiding at home to stay away from the treacherous political situation. Although the Xu family, a wealthy family that has been around for hundreds of years, are heirs of poetry and calligraphy, their military force is not the same. Never deserted.
The head of the Xu family in Beihai, Xu Yan slowly raised his head from behind the desk and looked at Xu Guang.
"What is supposed to come will always come. How long will it take for the soldiers from Pingshou to arrive?"
"We should have arrived at Duchang City today, and we should be looking for a ferry to cross the Weishui River tomorrow. If we don't have three to five days, I'm sure they won't be able to build a pontoon bridge."
Xu Guang also just received a tip from Duchang.
"Well, we need to send someone to keep an eye on the ferry to make sure nothing happens." Xu Yan instructed.
It is now the fifth month of summer, and the summer grain is about to mature. The fields of the Xu family and other in-law wealthy families are between Jiaoshui and Weishui. Xu Yan has joined forces with his in-law wealthy families to clear all the boats on the glue and Weishui rivers. He went into hiding.
Otherwise, both the Donglai bandit army and the Beihai national soldiers will take advantage of the harvest to plunder.
"The world is getting worse day by day. I heard that Hebei thieves captured Yecheng before."
Xu Guang was a little worried.
"The affairs in Jizhou are too far away for us to control. We should just keep the inheritance left by our ancestors." Xu Yan said feebly.
The Xu family of Beihai is in a very embarrassing situation now that Sima Yue, the king of East China Sea, is in control of the court situation. This is because Sima Jiong, the king of Qi in Qingzhou, once recruited the Xu family's children as officials. Later, Sima Jiong was defeated and died very quickly without any reward. The Xu family in Beihai, who had gained a lot of benefits, caused a lot of resentment in the court at this time.
And now the Gaomi King Sima Lue, the governor of Qingzhou and the commander-in-chief of all military affairs in Qingzhou, is a figure who is particularly hostile to the Xu family in Beihai.
Therefore, in this showdown between the official army and the rebels, the Xu family in Beihai just wanted to avoid provoking both sides and defend themselves behind closed doors.
