Six years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there was no banquet in the rivers and seas, and peace in the world.
In the third year of Hongwu's reign, people in Yangshan County, Guangxi, gathered to rebel, people in Hui'an County, Fujian Province rioted with force, and people in Yi and Pishan, Shandong Province took advantage of the imperial court's Northern Expedition to rebel.
In the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, the Nanning Guards rebelled against the local people, and more than 3,000 people rose up...
It’s not that the Ming Dynasty was established and the people all over the world obeyed. Every place has its own difficulties. To fight a war, people need to transport grain and grass. To build a city, people need to contribute. To repair water conservancy, people still need to perform corvee work. After all, you have nothing to do and you can take a breath. The nobles and officials began to torment the people again.
This was the reality in the early Ming Dynasty.
Of course, the vast majority of the people came out of the war and began to live and work in peace and contentment and resume production. This is also Lao Zhu's undisputed achievement. But there are still some people who are outside the government and do some "business" with their lives.
In later generations, the older generation often said, "Shandong produces thieves, and Henan produces generals." Gu Zhengchen knew that Shandong produced many heroes. Regardless of the heroic spirit of these heroes, and take a closer look at their identities, oops , just a bandit.
For example, Lao Chao is holding the small iron tower, Xiao Song is not in time for the rain, and the black whirlwind with a pair of axes...
Some bandits are righteous, upright, forthright, good friends, and are called heroes. They have a great reputation. If you meet them, you can climb a mountain, eat skewers, or drink wine without worrying about not being able to return home.
But there are some bandits, if you talk to them about loyalty, they will practice a move for you, tell them the laws and regulations, they will give you a knife, tell them about the government, and they will chop off your head.
The thieves in the early Hongwu period were a group of unloyal bandits. Because they were afraid of the government, they could only wander in places where the government had weak control, such as this canal. It was said that their methods were cruel and the people were very evil.
Sun Shiba looked at Gu Zhengchen solemnly and whispered: "Do you want to tell Mr. Liang?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head slightly: "Don't say it yet, lest they panic and reveal flaws, attracting the attention of horse thieves. Guard the cabin door and take care of our luggage. Don't throw away anything inside."
Sun Shiba agreed and turned back to the cabin.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the two boatmen on the bow of the boat and approached them. Seeing that the boatmen were scholars, they were happy to talk to relieve their boredom.
"Brother Sanliang, where can we rest on the boat tonight?"
"Too Ligou."
"Tuoligou, what beautiful scenery does this place have?"
"Oh, this young gentleman wants to see the scenery, but he will be disappointed."
"Brother Yang, how do you say this?"
"Tooligou is just a small ferry, just for a temporary rest. There are only a few warehouses and inns owned by merchants. Not far away is farmland. There is no obstruction. You can see it at a glance..."
"That's it. Where is Taizhuang?"
"Taizhuang does have some scenery. There is Zhuzhu Mountain to the north. I heard from the older generation that the mountain walls are like pillars. However, it is still twenty or thirty miles away from Taizhuang. It is impossible to get there..."
Gu Zhengchen chatted and asked about the places where menstruation stopped every day, then went down the ladder and walked into the cabin.
Everyone in the cabin looked at Gu Zhengchen, and then went back to chatting among themselves.
There are twelve cabins, except for the three cabins for the boatman and boatman, nine are used to store goods and residents, plus money.
The Liang family rented two adjacent cabins, and placed luggage in one cabin. Gu Cheng and Liang Wujin took turns guarding the cabins inside, while Sun Shiba guarded the outside. The other room is for Liang Jiajun and Gu Zhengchen to rest.
There are benches outside the cabin where people who have not rented a cabin can spend the night and rest.
These people usually travel lightly, carrying only a sack or package with them, or they are poor and have insufficient financial resources, or they are frugal.
Gu Zhengchen sat next to Liang Jiajun, and while talking, he glanced at everyone in the cabin.
Some people have gone to the cabin, but there are still 17 or 18 people here, including middle-aged people with their wives and daughters, hiding uneasily in the corner and speaking in low voices. There was also a wealthy businessman, dressed in silk and satin, with two waiters beside him. He was talking about buying a batch of salt, and he probably wanted to go to Yangzhou. There is also a monk with a bare head and tattered gray clothes. He holds a Buddhist bead in his hand and a wooden stick on the side is a staff.
Gu Zhengchen stood up, took a few eggs, walked to the stern of the boat, and greeted the boatman and boatman.
I saw clearly that there were three middle-aged men behind me. The elder was forty-five or sixty-six years old. There was a two-inch long scar on the left cheek. The two people next to the man with the scar seemed to be less than forty, and one was one year younger. A little finger and one missing two fingers, both on the left hand.
This weird severed finger was probably the reason why Sun Shiba concluded that they were horse thieves.
When Gu Zhengchen returned to the cabin, he accidentally touched the two boxes next to the three people with his arm. The boxes immediately moved down. The scarred man stood up and glared at Gu Zhengchen.
"Sorry, I'm really sorry. It's my first time on a boat and I'm a little unsteady. Here are a few eggs as an apology."
Gu Zhengchen said repeatedly and handed over the eggs.
The scarred man took one look and said coldly: "You walk with eyesight!"
Gu Zhengchen apologized again and walked back to Liang Jiajun. Facing Liang Jiajun's worried eyes, he nodded calmly, then picked up a book and read it quietly, but his mind was not on the book at all.
Those three people brought empty boxes on board. Who would bring an empty box on board?
Merchants will carry goods no matter whether they are traveling north or south, and they will never make an empty trip. People will not carry around an empty box as a burden. Besides, those boxes were not made of good wood. When they were brought on board, it was obvious that they were intended to be packed with goods.
Two boxes!
Gu Zhengchen felt a little depressed. Two boxes meant that there were at least four people. But now there are only three of them.
Who is the other person?
Is he hiding in the cabin, or is there someone else outside to take care of him?
From what the boatman said, it can be determined that Tuoligou, Hanzhuang and Taizhuang are not suitable places for thieves to attack.
The terrain of Tuoligou and Hanzhuang is flat. Once encountered by patrolling officers and soldiers, it would be difficult to escape quickly with the looted items. Taizhuang is a good place, with smooth waterways, plenty of cover around it, and mountains to the north to hide in, but these thieves probably won't do anything there.
Because there are many merchants and warehouses in Taizhuang, if these people really want to grab a ticket, wouldn't it be more convenient to go directly to a warehouse or a wealthy family instead of staring at a small boat.
It’s all robbing, so why not grab someone with more money? The risk is relatively low.
Putting aside these three places, there are only two places left, namely Pi County and Suqian in Huai'an Prefecture!
According to the boatman, there is Luoma Lake between Pi County and Suqian. In previous years, there were often thieves there, but because there have been more water transport ships from the imperial court in the past two years, there have been fewer thieves.
But Gu Zhengchen speculated that if they really wanted to take action, they would probably choose Luoma Lake!
Difficult to deal with.
Although Sun Shiba has some abilities, he can still deal with a few desperadoes on this ship that he cannot use. As for myself, forget it, you can succeed if you beat the king, but if you beat these strong men, you can only seek death.
Can't do it?
Gu Zhengchen fell into deep thought.
