"Daduhu, aren't we crossing the river to Danyang?" Han Wenhao, the guard captain, asked curiously: "Take a boat from Yangzhou and go downstream to Jiangyin, which is controlled by the rebels."
Li Jiangyao glanced at him and said with a smile: "Otherwise? Why do you think I asked you all to dress like ordinary people?"
Hearing this, Han Wenhao scratched his head: "You lied to Xu Shuai again. He thought we were going straight to Danyang to meet up with General Du, but you didn't know that you planned to go around Jiangyin. Protector, if you don't stay at the front line, Is it okay?"
"Don't worry," Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Du Jian and Xiong Yunjie are already veterans on the battlefield. They have no problem fighting the Turks, let alone the Jiangnan rebels. Currently, Ye Rongcheng has arranged his main forces from Changzhou to Huzhou On the front line, it is planned to rely on the Taihu Lake water network to implement defense, and Changzhou City itself does not have many troops, probably only 50,000 or 60,000 people. Du Jian and his three armies have a total of 140,000 troops and horses on the Danyang side, and occupy Focusing on the main attack advantage, it’s the same with or without me.”
Han Wenhao couldn't help but ask: "Then why are we going to Jiangyin?"
Li Jiang looked away at the misty river surface: "Of course I am going to spy on the enemy. I want to go deep into the rear of the rebels and get a closer look at their real situation, so that I can do some homework for several legions to join forces to siege Hangzhou in the subsequent stage."
The big ship carrying Li Jiangyao and others moved forward slowly on the river, and finally docked at the polder ferry, fifty miles away from Jiangyin.
This place is still nominally under the control of the rebels, but because Ye Rongcheng has previously ordered his troops to shrink back, the place is currently guarded by some rural militia organized by the local government, and the overall security is very lax. As long as the Xinjiang Suppression Army did not appear in large numbers, they would definitely not have any reaction, and they would not bother to make things difficult for ordinary businessmen traveling across the country.
Li Jiangyao dressed up as a rich man and took a dozen white-robed army masters who had turned into servants to disembark from the ship. There are more than fifty guards left, who use their status as boatman coolies as external cover and temporarily stay on the side of the Polder Ferry, ready to provide support at any time.
Polder Ferry is located thirty miles north of Changzhou City, while Du Jian's army is in Danyang, eighty miles northwest of Changzhou, so it is already outside the main battlefield between the enemy and our armies and will not be affected by the war for the time being.
Li Jiangyao planned that they would start from the polder and walk all the way southeast, inserting themselves into the vast area behind Changzhou's defense line to understand the armaments and people's conditions there.
After setting the direction, a group of more than a dozen people rode on the folk horses brought with the ship and galloped. It took almost half a day to arrive at a small town called Ba Tou Ao before the sun went down.
To be honest, the distance they walked today was not too far, but they actually passed seven or eight large and small rivers along the way. Where the river is slightly narrower, you can rely on wooden bridges and stone bridges. Where the river is slightly wider, you can only rely on river boat ferry, which is time-consuming and laborious.
It is not difficult to see from this that the terrain on the south bank of the river, with crisscrossed rivers and extremely developed water systems, is very unfavorable for the rapid advancement of cavalry and the transfer of large regiments.
Li Jiangyao specifically told his subordinates to pay attention on the road, carefully record the surrounding terrain characteristics, and try to enrich the content of the army's combat map when they return.
As the sun set, everyone rested their feet in the valley at the head of the dam. Han Wenhao personally took action and chose a decent-looking inn for everyone to eat and rest.
Li Jiangyuan saw that the dining hall downstairs of the inn was very lively. Many merchants from all over the world were dining and chatting here. There were even more than a dozen gorgeous young women drinking, laughing and chatting with them. He couldn't help but become curious, and I picked a clean table and sat down.
As soon as the waiter saw Li Jiangyao's clothes and the four tall and burly bodyguards beside him, he knew that he must be a wealthy nobleman, so he hurried forward to greet him attentively, make tea, and When carrying the fruit plate, I almost asked the girl to come over and wait on me.
Li Jiangyao stopped the waiter with a smile and said, "In this small place of yours, you even have a girl to accompany you when you eat. It's quite impressive. Is this always the case?"
"To be honest, sir, although our Ba Tou Ao is small, our status is not low." The waiter said in a proud tone: "The silks and satins from half of the south of the Yangtze River must first be gathered in our place to determine the price. It will be sold all over the country. Therefore, on weekdays, there is an endless stream of merchants from the north and the south, and even the war will not affect it. Do you think it can be less impressive? "
In addition to leading troops in battles, Li Jiangyao was most concerned about the Silk Road trade, so he couldn't help but be curious: "There is no village in Batuou and no shops in the back. Why do a large number of silk and satin businesses gather here in the first place? And how to determine the price? ?Did the government intervene?"
The waiter put the kerchief on his shoulder and said with a smile: "Sir, your accent must be from the north, right? You don't know, our place has been a famous silk town since ancient times, and there are many great craftsmen in various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. , all came out of the Batuou concave area, and their roots are right here.”
He poured a cup of tea for Li Jiangyao and continued: "What's even more remarkable is that the richest man in Jiangnan lives in this town, Mr. Yan. He is the recommended leader of dozens of silk and satin guilds across Jiangnan. Otherwise, how could he be here with us? How about determining the price?”
"Master Yan?" Li Jiangyao was a little confused: "What's your name?"
The waiter responded: "Yan Chongxi, have you never heard of it?" As he said that, he looked around and lowered his voice: "According to reliable rumors, Mr. Yan is still close to the general Yan Huiqing of the auxiliary country. It seems that Mr. Yan is The general’s grandnephew.”
Li Jiangyao snorted, and then said: "That's not right. If the Master Yan you are talking about is related to a general in the court, wouldn't he be afraid of being betrayed... and being ostracized by the Jin army?"
"How is that possible?" The waiter's voice was even lower: "I heard that the rebels didn't have time to take care of him, so how could they suppress him?"
Li Jiangyao reacted and asked, "Did he defect to the rebels?"
The waiter was obviously not willing to talk about this topic, so he quickly responded: "Hey, you see, I'm such a talkative person, and I can't even talk about taking refuge or not. We ordinary people, we just have to work, eat, and pay taxes. It doesn’t matter who comes to donate, isn’t it the same? I was just talking nonsense, which delayed your ordering.”
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly and stopped the topic: "That's right, why do you care so much? I won't order the dishes anymore. You can show me the arrangement. Four cold and four hot, meat and vegetables, plus one A big bowl of hot and sour soup and a pot of good wine. In addition, open a table next to me with the same dishes and treat my guys."
After saying that, he took out a piece of silver from his arms and put it on the table.
The waiter happily agreed, quickly collected the money, then quickly wiped the table next to him, invited Han Wenhao and others to sit down, and then quickly ran to the kitchen to make arrangements.
For Li Jiangyao, Yan Chongxi's matter is not worth his trouble at all. Not to mention that the guy's claim to be the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River is really a boast. Even if he is really the richest man, in the eyes of a prince who is in charge of hundreds of thousands of troops, he is just a money slave.
As for the issue of Yan Chongxi defecting to the rebels, it is even more normal. Just like what the waiter said just now, which common person dares not to bow his head in front of swords and guns? Yan Chongxi can listen to Li Bing's words obediently today, and he can also listen to Li Bing's words tomorrow.
As long as he is not colluding with foreigners and willing to be a traitor who betrays his country and people, Li Jiangyao thinks he can be forgiven.
After a while, the food and wine were served. Li Jiangyao asked the guards to relax and enjoy as they pleased, while he drank leisurely by himself. Seeing that he was alone, several young and beautiful brothel women originally wanted to approach him and invite him to accompany him, but when Han Wenhao next to him glared at him, they were frightened and stayed away.
When Li Jiangyao saw this, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. At the same time, he also thought of his good brother Lin Feng who had fought with him in the Western Xinjiang.
The young staff general was loyal and upright. The thing he couldn't bear the most was that the general accepted the beautiful woman enshrined by the king of Western Xinjiang. For this reason, he often reminded Li Jiangyao, Xu Youchang and Du Jian by name in the name of military judge, without sparing any mercy.
Later, the Turkic army invaded. In order to cover the retreat of his comrade Du Jian, Lin Feng sacrificed his life and finally died heroically on the battlefield in Western Xinjiang.
It would be great if Lin Feng was still alive. Li Jiangyao held the wine glass and thought silently: Xiao Lin's hometown is in the south of the Yangtze River. If he can lead his troops back and return to his hometown in fine clothes, he will definitely be very happy.
As he thought about it, Li Jiangyao's eye circles turned slightly red. He drank down the wine in the glass and secretly made up his mind: after the rebels were wiped out, he would build a hero monument for Lin Feng in his hometown, and then learn from the memory of the Lin family. Among the children, a good boy was selected and adopted as Lin Feng's heir. Later, Li Jiangyao personally trained him, taught him to read and practice martial arts, and passed on to Lin Feng's descendants.
While he was thinking about it, a table of guests not far away suddenly seemed to be arguing about something. Li Jiangyuan was stunned for a moment, and then he secretly used his internal energy and gathered his ears to listen carefully to what was going on there.
I heard one of the middle-aged men pounding the table and shouting: "What do you know? I am a local, don't I know more about Ba Tou Ao than you do? How did his surname Yan get rich? Do you think he has the nerve to tell the outside world? ?"
A young man at the same table shook his folding fan and sneered: "How else can I make a fortune? Boss Yan is a well-known silk merchant. The guild leaders of the 16th Southeast Prefecture all admired his character, so they elected him as the general manager." Boss. Old Liu, don’t be jealous of others’ abilities.”
"Bah! He has so much talent!" Lao Liu said angrily: "In terms of craftsmanship and business, let alone the Sixteenth Prefecture in the Southeast, even in the small Bastou Valley, Yan Ji couldn't be ranked at all back then!"
Another elder at the same table advised: "Okay, brother Liu Xian, please stop saying a few words. Wouldn't it be better for us brothers to have a fist fight and drink together?"
Old Liu was obviously angry and shouted to himself: "You are afraid of Yan Chongxi, but I, Liu Deng, are not afraid! He colluded with the Japanese bandits and sold those poor people who could not repay their debts to Kuohai to work as cattle and horses, and now he borrows Taking advantage of the power of the government, they wantonly annexed the villagers' fields and cut off the people's livelihood. What? Isn't it glorious?"
Li Jiangyao's heart was moved, and he subconsciously turned around to look around. He happened to see several big men suddenly standing up at the table behind Liu Deng. The leader of the group, with a sinister face, raised his hand and slapped Liu Deng on the head.
