Wei Jingzhao hurriedly stopped him and said, "You can't do it, Chief Peng. There is a saying that a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake. Moreover, there is no independent evidence. If we kill him, will the Bohai Kingdom believe that the city lord kills people and steals goods, or does it think you are a thief who robbed and killed officials?"
Jiang Shuo had a good idea. Since the city lord would approach Brother Peng to do such a business of "selling stones", I'm afraid this is not the first time he has done this kind of thing. If the city lord's life is really harmed, the Bohai Kingdom will How can you give up? He said, "What Taoist Master Wei said is true. Today we are escorting all the great sages back to the Central Plains, and it is better not to create any side issues."
The people of Qinyue also said: "Peng Lang, please tell the city lord that we are not ungrateful people. The city lord kindly took him in and arranged food and lodging. We will keep it in mind. If you want to show filial piety, we will not miss him even a copper plate." Yes, but why do you need to do this business of licking blood with a knife tip?"
Peng Gufan said: "This..." But he didn't know how to explain it. At this time, Meng Lu intervened and said: "Chief Peng, according to the wishes of the great sages of the Yue people, you can ask the city lord how much money he originally wanted to share in silk and filial piety. Let's do it together." Give it to him, and if you don't teach him, his hard work will be in vain." Meng Lu is not only a famous doctor but also a wealthy businessman. The Meng family's Meng Yutang medicine brand is spread all over the country, and they make tens of millions of dollars every year, but how can they pity this small amount of money?
Peng Gufan didn't know whether what they said was true or not, so he kept saying nothing but did not move. He turned to Jiang Shuo and said, "What should I do in my opinion, young master?"
Jiang Shuo said, "Brother Peng, I will do as the great sages say. You go and be accommodating to the city lord."
Peng Gufan then crossed his arms and said yes. He went over and picked up the city lord and said, "City lord, please listen carefully. My young master asked you how much filial piety you want? Please set a price."
The city lord only said it sarcastically, how could he dare to ask for money? He waved his hands repeatedly and said: "No, no, please have a safe trip, grandpas."
Peng Gufan frowned and said, "Young Master, this guy says he doesn't want money."
The Qin Yue people stepped forward and said warmly: "City Lord, what we say is sincere. You and I don't know each other, and it is understandable that there are some misunderstandings. However, we have to repay the kindness of the City Lord for his tolerance."
Meng Lu also smiled and said: "How much money the city lord needs, just ask, we will never bargain."
Seeing that the city lord still didn't speak, the Qinyue people asked Meng Lu how much money he still had on him. Meng Lu estimated the number and reported it to the Qinyue people.
Although copper coins circulated in the Tang Dynasty, they were heavy and expensive, so they mostly used cloth instead of money. Meng Lu originally brought several carts of red and white silk, but most of them were thrown away at the Yiwu Lu Shangbei Town Temple. But when he left the Beizhen Temple, he took out the most valuable silk from the car and distributed it to the doctors. He also carried a hundred gold coins in his bag for emergencies. After the people of Qin and Yue felt confident, they once again asked the city lord He said: "We are in a hurry and don't have enough money and silk, but I have to repay the city lord's great kindness. Now I am willing to donate a hundred gold coins, a thousand pieces of white silk, and a hundred gold coins to make a position with the city lord first." , there are still a thousand pieces of white silk left for me to wait for when I return to the Tang Dynasty, and I will send Chief Peng to deliver them, and I will never break the promise, what do you think?"
His words were considered carefully. He gave the gold to the city lord to get some benefits first, and then owed Baijuan to leave him a thought in case he sent people to hunt him down again. Finally, he said to let Peng Gufan Sending Baijuan back was a way of resolving the enmity between the two with the help of money. Jiang Shuo secretly praised the people of Qin and Yue for their thoughtfulness in doing things. Although they were not as good at doing business as Meng Lu, they were still very good at making money.
How could the city lord refuse to agree? He originally believed that he would die today, but he didn't want to not only survive in death but also get such a huge benefit, so he hurriedly handed over his hands and thanked him. At this time, Meng Lu had taken the deerskin pouch containing the gold ingots and a dozen pieces of white silk intertwined together. He handed them to the city lord and said, "The gold ingots in the pouch are for your lordship. These silks are for your lord." The brothers under him offered me some money for drinking. Naturally, the city lord and his men were very grateful and took it.
Wei Jingzhao asked Peng Gufan softly: "Leader Peng, can we pull up the anchor and set sail now? I'm afraid something may change if it's too late."
Peng Gufan pointed to a nearby five-sailed ship and said, "Everything is ready and ready to set off at any time."
Wei Jingzhao said hello and asked the Taoist priests from Maoshan to assist the Caobang boatmen to send the doctors to the ship. The doctors also knew that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so they quickly boarded the ship and discarded all the luggage left in the Ni Hotel. After all, with the medical skills and reputation of the doctors, as long as they could return to the Tang Dynasty intact, they would not care about this external thing.
Jiangshuo defended the city
The Lord played a trick and stood beside him, holding the seven-star sword in his hand and glaring at the City Lord and his men. In fact, this was a unnecessary move. Everyone had just seen him erecting the flagpole with one person, and they were already frightened. They only thought that he was How could a heavenly man dare to use any tricks when he comes down to earth? Jiang Shuo waited for everyone to board the boat and said to Xiang'er, "You help grandpa get on the boat first." Then he said to Peng Gufan, "Brother Peng, you can sail out of the harbor immediately. I'll wait until the ship moves before getting on board."
Although Peng Gufan had seen Jiang Shuo's strength, he didn't know how good he was at leaping lightly. He was still hesitating. Dugu Xiang nodded and helped his grandfather, Dugu Wen, as he boarded the boat and said to him: "You have also heard that Brother Shuo is in A miraculous performance on the river, right? But are you still worried that he won’t be able to get on the boat?”
Peng Gufan immediately woke up and hurriedly ordered his men to pull up the anchor and set sail.
When the big ship slowly left the port, the sails were swollen, and it was difficult to stop it, Jiang Shuo raised his fist to the city lord and said: "Thank you city lord for your hospitality, Jiang Shuo is going..." After saying this, he kicked off one foot and flew out backwards. At that time, the ship was several feet away from the shore. Although his leap was far away, it was still a long way off. He turned around in the air, stepped on the waves with his toes, raised and lowered a few times, and jumped onto the ship with flying body. The city lord and others on the shore only thought that Jiang Shuo was a god who descended to earth, and that he could achieve such a miracle of walking on the waves. They all prostrated themselves on the shore, fell to the ground and sent them off respectfully.
The water flow in Yalu River is very fast. Once the ship leaves the harbor and crosses the spindle-shaped sandbar at Bobikou, it immediately takes advantage of the turbulent water to sail downstream quickly, leaving Bobi City behind in an instant. It doesn't take long to get out. The river entered the sea, and sure enough the ship turned around and headed west, following the coastline.
The Caobang boatmen commanded by Peng Gufan were also very skilled in sailing. They steered the sails, steered the rudders, and paddled the oars. The seemingly heavy boat moved flexibly between the islands. They traveled like this for several days and nights. After crossing six hundred miles of waterway, we finally arrived at Qingnipu that night.
Peng Gufan said to Jiang Shuo: "Young Master, this Qingnipu is the last port on the north shore of Wuhu Lake. After passing Qingnipu, it is another three hundred miles to Dengzhou, but these last three hundred miles But we are crossing the Wuhu Sea. Although we are still following the island, we are in the sea after all and there is no land in sight."
Meng Lu said: "Generally, if you take Beidao Road, ships will dock at Qingnipu for repairs and replenishing water."
The people of Qinyue also said: "I have seen that Dugu Zhang's body is still too weak these days. It's okay when walking along the coast. Once his condition changes, he can land immediately, but if something changes at sea, he will not be able to turn around." There’s room for that.”
As he was talking, he suddenly saw lights going on and off in the distance ahead, but a large ship was raising and lowering lanterns in the water ahead. There were four strings of lanterns hung on the bow of the big ship, which were constantly being raised and lowered.
Jiang Shuo saw at Hongze Lake that the boats in the Cao Gang used lanterns to signal secret messages, but he didn't know what they meant. He asked Peng Gufan, "Brother Peng, are the people lighting up lanterns on the opposite side one of our own? What did they say?" ?」
Peng Gufan watched for a long time and said happily: "Young Master, in front is Hall Master Xu." Then he ordered the big ship to move closer to the forward ship. Ships on the sea are not stationary, and are often drifting with the current and difficult to control. It is dangerous for two ships to be too close to each other. However, the boatmen on both ships are skilled and courageous. They shout and sail, and the two boats move in the same direction. Okay, we kept getting closer, and finally the two boats came close to each other, but there was no vibration or sound at all.
As soon as the two boatmen got closer, someone jumped over impatiently, knelt down on one knee towards Jiang Shuo, crossed his hands and said, "Come here, come and see me, young master!"
Jiang Shuo quickly picked him up and said happily: "Brother Xu, you are not on the canal, why are you here in Beidi?"
The two of them can be said to be old acquaintances. When Jiang Shuo broke the dam at the mouth of the Heshuo River, it was Xu Lai who was steering the ship, so the two met in great detail.
Xu Lai said: "Young master, you don't know something. After Xie, Xiao and Lu returned to Henan Road, they have spread the story of the young master. Now all the brothers in the gang are dissatisfied with the young master," said the leader Lu. The young master went to Songmo in the North, and he may not take the land route when he returns to the Central Plains. He asked me to stay in Qingnipu, and at the same time spread many spies deep into the North to investigate the whereabouts of the young master."
Jiang Shuo sincerely praised: "Brother Lu is worthy of being the military advisor of our Cao Gang. He is thousands of miles away in the Central Plains, but he already expected that we would return by water."
Xu Lai said with a smile: "Even if Lu Lang was good at calculating, he would never have expected that the young master would make such a big fuss in the North. These days, spies have been reporting back about the young master's deeds. How about breaking the Golden Lock Formation?" Powerful Songmo, what kind of medicine is Wulushan fighting method?
After winning three battles in a row, Longquan Temple's defeat of the Demon Sect shocked the group. I have heard about it, but we originally expected that the young master would go south from Xiangping City and Jian Anzhou, so I have been guarding Beisha City. But I never thought that you, the young master, would go around to Yalu Mansion and then go south. If not for the young master, Lord, you met Leader Peng by chance. I almost missed you. "
Jiang Shuo said: "Thank you, Brother Xu, for remembering us. Didn't we meet up now? By the way, I'm here to introduce you to all the great sages." Including Qin Yueren, Meng Lu, Wei Jingzhao, Quan Xingjian, Chao Chengye, etc. Everyone was introduced to Xu Lai one by one. Yun Gu didn't like to deal with outsiders, but she hid in the cabin and didn't come out.
Peng Gufan said: "Master Xu, should we go to Qingnipu to replenish water? I think the second ship is going to sail past Qingnipu."
Xu Lai said: "There is no need to go. The Yan army in Qingnipu has done a lot of work. What are you going to do there? The sea is our brothers' victory. All the food and water are on my ship. You can change to this ship and continue southward, but you will The original ship sailed back to Bopu City to confuse the Yan army."
Everyone said it was wonderful, and Qin Yue said: "However, due to Dugu Zhang's injury, it may be dangerous to cross the sea and go south at this moment."
