Pei Min got up immediately upon hearing this and followed Chen Xiandeng to the stern of the ship. Jiang Shuo became curious and followed suit, looking in the direction of Chen Xiandeng's finger.
It turned out that there were several small boats that looked like fishing boats following behind the big ship. There were many fishing boats scattered on the Han River. It is not unusual to see fishing boats, but these boats are very unique. Generally, fishing boats are launched along the water to pull in nets. The fish may be fishing at anchor in the middle of the river, but these boats are actually going upstream together with the big ship.
Pei Min saw that there were five ships in total. The five ships were similar in size and style. They were clippers with pointed single sails. The distance between the ships was similar. The ship in the middle moved slightly slower, and the two ships on the left and right spread out like crane wings. , forming a faint encirclement of the big ship.
The fishermen on the boat looked quite busy, but the fishing nets were all collected on the boat and not lowered. Chen Xiandeng whispered in Pei Min's ear: "I have been begging for food on the rivers and lakes for generations. I have seen many fishermen. There is definitely something wrong with these fishing boats."
Pei Min didn't know anything about fishing and asked casually: "What's the problem?"
Chen Xiandeng replied: "General, look at the fishing nets on this fishing boat. The mesh openings are extremely large. The size of the mesh openings in the fishing net is called mesh, and each size has a fixed number. The mesh size is so large that even if you go into the sea to catch fish, it will miss all the holes." Let’s go, how big of a fish are we going to catch with such a big mesh?”
Pei Min frowned and said, "Could it be used to catch people?"
This place was called Yunmengze in ancient times. It has continuous lakes with lush water and grass, and many reed marshes. Since ancient times, there have been many thieves hiding in it. However, Pei Min and others were riding on official ships. Why didn't these thieves rob merchants and touch official ships? What about this hard nail?
Chen Xiandeng said: "If you think about it carefully, it's probably not for catching people. The fishing net is quite long and probably weighs no less than a hundred kilograms. No matter how strong a person's physical strength is, he can't throw it too far. The river here is wide, so you have to paddle on a sampan." It's impossible to get close to a big ship without being discovered. It will definitely arouse suspicion even before you get close. How can you succeed? How can there be such a stupid thief?"
Pei Min also felt this way. He had seen bad people in Chang'an using fishing nets to catch bandits in the city. They were all fine nets weighing less than ten kilograms, with stone pendants or hooks attached to the four corners. They were thrown far enough to cover one person, and were caught by the fine fishing nets. No matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to use it. If your intention is to be detrimental to the people on the big boat, you shouldn't use such a big fishing net. He replied casually: "That's true."
Chen Xiandeng asked: "Do you want to lower the boat to explore?"
Pei Min said: "Ignore them for the time being, and tell your men to prepare their bows and arrows secretly to see what tricks they can do."
Pei Min's swordsmanship is said to be the best in the world, and he is also very proficient in archery. When he was the envoy of Longhua Army, he shot and killed thirty-one tigers in one day, which shows his skill in archery. I thought that if these people are really thieves and dare to make trouble, I will let you know Pei's methods.
Several boats were a hundred steps away from the big ship, and Jiang Shuo could see clearly the clothes of the people on board. There are a number of fishermen on each boat. These crew members all wear soap-colored cloth clothes and have soap-colored cloth turbans wrapped around their heads. There is nothing special about them, but the leader of each boat is dressed in a very strange way.
There is a man standing on the bow of the boat on the far left. He is dressed as a fisherman, but unlike the other crew members, he is wearing a coir raincoat with a coir raincoat behind his back. He is holding a fishing rod, making him look like an angler. This fisherman is of middle age, with three locks of dark hair under his chin. He looks quite reclusive. He has a well-proportioned figure and a dark complexion on his exposed face and chest. He is obviously a boatman who has been making a living on the water all year round. This man seemed to be the leader of the group of fishermen. He had been shouting at the boats, seeming to be instructing the boats to maintain a good course and speed.
The man in the middle left boat has an unusually tall body. He only wears a t-shirt on his upper body and knee-length shorts on his lower body. However, he is dressed like a woodcutter, revealing his very strong muscles. There was no hat on his head, just a simple bun. His face was stubbled, and he looked very rough. He wears a large belt on his waist and holds a large wheel-wheeled ax in his hand. This ax is surprisingly huge. It can not only chop down trees, but also split mountains and open roads.
On the boat on the center right is a farmer dressed as a farmer, wearing a wide-brimmed conical hat, but the hat is too dark to be made of straw. He is wearing brown clothes with a coarse leather belt tied at the waist, and his lower body trousers are pulled up high to reveal a pair of big feet. He is sitting cross-legged. On the bow of the boat, the shadow of the straw hat completely blocked his face. I wonder if he was dozing off. There was something long at his feet, presumably a long-handled farm tool.
Standing on the stern on the far right side is a man who looks like a scholar. This man looks like he is from the wrong dynasty. He is wearing a large gray cloth cloak, a silk scarf on his head and a hand-held feather fan, just like Zhuge Kongming before he was a fledgling. . This man stood on the bow of the boat and paid no attention to the busyness of the people around him. He just waved his feather fan and looked at the scenery along the coast in his spare time.
The person on the boat in the middle is thin and looks like a teacher. He has a crown and a broad belt. The gown he wears seems to be made of fine materials and well-tailored. The Master was sitting on a hut on the deck. He was obviously of higher status than the other four people. It was unclear whether he was a master or an elder, but he was the only one who had his face covered with a silk handkerchief, so his appearance could not be seen clearly.
At this moment, Li Bai had woken up, and He Zhizhang also came up from the cabin. The two of them walked to the stern of the ship and looked at the strange-looking group of four disciples, wondering what their origins were. He Zhizhang asked Pei Min: "Can you tell what the method is?"
However, Pei Min has been in Gyeonggi for a long time and is not familiar with the customs and customs of Jianghan area, and he cannot understand whether these people are fishermen or water thieves.
Everyone was whispering at the stern of the boat, but they couldn't figure out the clues. Suddenly, they saw all the sailors on the fisherman's boat on the left swaying their oars in unison and speeding up towards the big boat. Chen Xiandeng suddenly became nervous and ordered his men to prepare long poles and bows and arrows. The top of the long pole is equipped with a scratching hook. If the opponent suddenly strikes, it can be hooked to prevent it from moving forward or backward, and then shot with a bow and arrow.
Unexpectedly, the opponent's ship sailed to the side of the official ship! Stopping suddenly just out of reach of the long pole. Boating on the river is no different from driving on the road. You can go and stop as you please. The river water below is pushing the hull, and the river wind is blowing the sails above. The boat is speeding upstream but suddenly stops, and the distance from the big ship does not increase or decrease by one point. The driver of the boat is really very clever. It should be noted that the big ship is at this moment. It is also moving forward, and the sailors on this small boat need to control the stroke force just right so that the small boat and the big ship can move side by side in the same direction and at the same speed. The people who operate the boat on this boat are definitely not ordinary people.
Everyone walked to the waist of the boat and faced the fisherman from a distance. They saw the fisherman holding his left palm in front of his chest, straightening his four fingers and clasping his thumb in the palm of his hand. He made a fist with his right hand and hit the palm of his left palm with a "pop" sound, and said loudly. : "Several gentlemen on the official ship have invited Zhang Yu'er, a common man who has fished and hunted in the river for generations, to pay tribute to all the gentlemen."
When ordinary people see an official, they usually cross their hands as a salute. The left hand holds the thumb of the right hand tightly, the little finger points to the right wrist, and the four fingers of the right hand are straight, covering it three inches in front of the left chest. This is called the cross-hand salute. The fisherman's clasping of fists was quite disrespectful.
Pei Min immediately returned the favor according to the rules of the world. He spread his arms, raised his thumbs to point to the sky, then turned his arms in a circle, and at the same time clasped his thumbs in front of his chest to form a virtual fist. It was a half-reply. Pei Min did not give his name, and said rudely: "Mr. Zhang, I wonder what you mean by following the official ship?"
Zhang Yu'er saw that he was wearing soft armor and carrying a sword on his waist, which looked unusual. He thought he was a general, so he said: "This general has misunderstood. The common people did not intend to follow your boat. In fact, they are going to be on the river today." We have an important matter to attend to, so we gathered here on the river. I don't want to offend you, so please forgive me." There was no mention of giving way in his words.
Pei Min let out a "hum", raised his eyebrows and said, "There is a saying in the ceremonial order: the humble should avoid the noble, and the young should avoid the senior. How come you don't know how to avoid the official ship when you see it? If you have any urgent matters, please do it tomorrow..."
Zhang Yu'er bowed again and said: "The things I have to do are only tonight, general. Please forgive me, general." After saying this, he lowered his head, turned his palms inward and pushed his arms forward, which was the meaning of supplication in Jianghu's cut. , but it is a bit rude to use it to officials.
When Pei Min was about to have an attack, He Zhizhang secretly reached out from his sleeves to grab his hand and whispered: "The guest should not deceive the host, and don't create extraneous matters."
Although Pei Min and He Zhizhang are both in the third rank, Pei Min respects He Zhizhang quite a lot, and he is right. The first priority now is to escort Taibai to Beijing safely. The hydrology of this place is not familiar, so it is best not to cause a conflict, and he immediately pays attention to that person. Zhang Yu'er said: "I'll just go ahead with official duties. You go back and tell all the fishing boats to move back three hundred steps from the big ship. I won't care what you do for a living. Just don't disturb the official boats. If you dare to bully them, you will be killed." …”
After saying this, he winked at the retinue, and his Jinwu Guards soldiers all took off the crossbows from their backs and moved forward. The military crossbows of the Tang Dynasty were powerful crossbows that could be fired by a single soldier with just one arm. , with a range of up to three hundred steps. Therefore, Pei Min ordered the fishing boats to retreat 300 steps away. Even if the opponent secretly hid a crossbow, the maximum range of ordinary bows and arrows is only 150 steps. If you want to attack the big ship, you need to approach it before entering the shooting range, but as long as there is a boat If you want to break in, within the range of more than 100 steps compared with the range of the military crossbow, the sergeant on the official ship can calmly fire arrows and kill him.
But Pei Min did not see the expected frightened look on Zhang Yu'er's face. Zhang Yu'er only calmly bowed his head and said, "As ordered." Then he directed the boat to turn around and go back.
Li Bai patted Pei Min on the shoulder and said, "Brother Pei, don't be too nervous. This official ship is empty, and we don't have much wealth. If the other party is really a gangster, he really has the wrong person."
Pei Min snorted, pulled out the seven-star sword half a foot and said: "I don't have any copper coins or cloth, but the iron blade is enough..."
Jiang Shuo said: "That's right. Anyone who dares to play with an ax in front of General Jinwuwei's house will really blind his dog's eyes and make him suffer a big loss."
Everyone burst into laughter, Pei Min returned his sword to its sheath, and ordered everyone to disperse and do their own things, tightening inside and loosening outside, pretending to be indifferent to the ships behind them.
After Zhang Yuer's ship returned to the main group, all the ships slowed down slowly and retreated to a distance of 300 steps from the official ship, but they still maintained a slightly bowed line following the big ship.
