In Sizhou City, inside the government office, Zhao Tai is immersed in writing a script.
"Mr. Sir!" Wang Wentong's voice sounded outside the study.
Zhao Tai heard the voice and put away the pen and paper, "Come in."
Wang Wentong entered the study and placed Qiu Yue's order on the table, "Ms. Qiu Yue is angry."
Zhao Tai picked up the warrant, looked at it, and said with a smile: "Sir, don't be nervous. I will reply to Xianggong Qiu right now. I have stopped most of the more than 100,000 refugees, and less than 10,000 people have crossed the river and entered the Southern Song Dynasty. I have done my best to stop them." , otherwise more than 100,000 people would have crossed the river long ago."
Wang Wentong said: "My lord, not only did the Southern Song Dynasty strictly order us to stop the refugees, but according to reports from the people below, there are already Southern Song navy patrols on the river, obviously trying to prevent the refugees from crossing the river."
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and said, "I understand. Let people crossing the river be careful."
In Chuzhou, a government office was established, and Qiu Yue soon received a reply from Zhao Tai.
Zhao Tai said in the letter that he had detained hundreds of thousands of refugees in Suzhou, but due to insufficient manpower, money and food, the refugees could not be resettled, so there were still refugees coming to the Song Dynasty.
The border between Jin and Song was very long, and even Zhao Tai could not prevent refugees from coming.
If you want to put an end to it, you can only try to resettle it on the spot, or mobilize more people to strengthen patrols, and this requires money and food.
Although Zhao Tai repeatedly emphasized in his letter that he had tried his best, in Qiu Yue's view, Zhao Tai still wanted money and food.
Now that Qiu Yue is unwilling to support, it is impossible for Zhao Tai to completely prevent the refugees from entering Huainan.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yue stroked his beard and suddenly said in a deep voice: "Ask Navy Commander Liu Shiyan to come see me!"
Not long after, Liu Shiyan came to the study and saluted: "Mr. Zhizhi called me?"
Qiu Yue nodded and waved: "Shiyan, come forward."
Liu Shiyan stepped forward in confusion, and Qiu Yue whispered a few words in his ear, "Do you understand?"
Liu Shiyan looked a little embarrassed, but he still saluted and said, "I accept my order in this humble position."
At night, on the north bank of the Huaihe River, near Sizhou, a group of refugees escaped the patrol of the Zhongyi Army and came to the shore, anxiously waiting for the boat to come to rescue them.
Zhao Tai received orders from Qiu Yue one after another. In order to convince Qiu Yue that he was indeed preventing refugees from crossing the river, he sent many soldiers to patrol along the Huaihe River.
When these soldiers find that refugees want to cross the river, they will persuade them to return. However, the soldiers of the Loyalty Army also know that the refugees are crossing the river to seek a way to survive, so as long as they do not hit them directly, they will turn a blind eye to refugees who want to cross the river illegally. One eye, one eye closed.
After all, it’s not that you can’t survive, who would be willing to leave your hometown?
The patrol time of the Loyalist Army, as well as the gaps between each patrol, have been controlled by the refugees. They easily avoided the patrol posts and hid in the reeds by the river. They made a few bird calls and waited for the corresponding boats to appear.
At this time, deep in the reed swamp, there were several responses, and a fishing boat slowly rowed out.
"Chief, the boat is here." Someone said happily when they saw the boat.
The old man at the head immediately said happily: "Everyone, get on the boat quickly."
A group of refugees quickly ran over, waded into the water and climbed onto the fishing boat. The boatman then quietly rowed to the south bank.
At this time, the refugees were lying in a mess on the boat, looking at the stars in the sky, and couldn't help but begin to long for life after the Southern Song Dynasty.
"Chief, when we arrive in the Southern Song Dynasty, will the Song Dynasty help us?" a young man asked.
The old man's eyes were deep, "More than a hundred years ago, our ancestors were also people of the Song Dynasty. As long as we enter the Song Dynasty and wait for the Song Dynasty to absorb us, life will be easy."
Just as he said this, the owner of the oar exclaimed, "No, we met the navy."
When everyone on the boat heard this, they were startled and stood up quickly. Sure enough, they saw several giant creatures appearing on the river.
"Quick, let's row together!" the boat owner shouted quickly.
These days, he helped refugees smuggle across the border, and he also met the Southern Song Dynasty navy. Knowing that the navy found out, they would only stop them and force them to return to the north shore.
However, if the refugees can come up with a sum of money as a bribe, or rush to the south bank and run ashore before being intercepted by a navy warship, the navy will not care.
Everyone on the boat reacted and hurriedly leaned on the side of the boat to paddle, but the warships rushed over directly.
For a moment, the people on the boat screamed in surprise, and saw the giant ship ramming directly into the fishing boat.
With a "bang" sound, the boat tried to dodge, but it was too late. The Song Army's warship directly knocked the boat over. All the people on it fell into the water, and many people were directly held upside down under the hull.
The Song Army's warship overturned the small boat. The general on board glanced at the refugees asking to see them in the water, and then waved his hand, "Ignore them and continue patrolling."
In the cold river, the refugees who fell into the water were splashing and shouting, "Help! Help!"
They were all northerners, and most of them didn't know how to swim. However, the Song Dynasty warship that overturned the boat sailed away as if they didn't see it.
At this time, each of the refugees who fell into the water was rescued. After a few splashes in the water, they sank to the bottom of the river one by one.
Early the next morning, on the north bank of the Huaihe River, a group of loyal soldiers were on guard on the bank. Zhao Tai galloped over, surrounded by a group of cavalry.
"Mr. Sir, a fishing boat was smuggling refugees to the south bank last night. It was knocked over by a Southern Song Dynasty warship on the way. Only the boatman swam back with the wood in his arms." Liu Dun stepped forward to report.
Zhao Tai got off his horse and came to the river. He saw several corpses lying on the bank, and his face immediately became gloomy.
Wang Wentong said with a black face: "Mr. Sir, I suspect that this was done deliberately by the Southern Song Dynasty. The purpose was to frighten the refugees and prevent them from crossing the river."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly and clenched his fists, "Send the order, strengthen patrols, and prohibit refugees from crossing the river."
In Chuzhou City, the Si Yamen was established. Qiu Yue stood with his hands behind his back. Behind him, Liu Shiyan, the commander of the navy, reported: "My lord, I humbly act according to your wishes and let people ram and sink the fishing boats that were smuggling at night. I believe that the refugees on the north bank will not be safe for the time being." Dare to cross the river."
Qiu Yue frowned slightly, turned around, and looked at Liu Shiyan sideways, "When did I instruct you to send a warship to ram a fishing boat with refugees? This was an accident, do you understand?"
Liu Shiyan was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was saying and quickly echoed: "Yes, yes! That's nonsense from a humble position. This is indeed an accident."
Qiu Yue nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand, "Well, you can go down."
Liu Shiyan bowed and then left.
In Chuzhou City, Hu Zhen received a script sent by Zhao Tai and hurried to the theater to find Sun Erniang.
In the theater, Sun Erniang came to the living room and saw Hu Zhen sitting drinking tea. She couldn't help but stepped forward and saluted, "Manager Hu, why are you free to come here today?"
Hu Zhen put down the tea bowl and said in a deep voice: "Young Master sent someone to bring me a script and asked me to give it to you."
After hearing this, Sun Erniang's face lit up with joy, "Young Master finally has a new play."
Hu Zhen handed the script to Sun Erniang and said, "My husband has told you to rehearse the play as soon as possible. In addition, the branches in Yangzhou and Lin'an will also perform together."
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