Chapter 269: Caobang

Chapter 269: Caobang

The sky was already bright, and although Father Pan's fever had not completely subsided, he was already awake.

Yingchun said goodbye to them, and neither of them asked each other's private affairs. Yingchun pretended to be a teenager and took people to the main road. After an hour, they arrived at a town. They found a noodle stall in the town to eat noodles and sell some cakes.

Han Yong said that he would inquire about the way to Wuwei Mountain. This area is not far from there.

Yingchun remembered what happened yesterday, she was very careful, and she didn't show any signs of being fooled.

But until the time of separation, they did not encounter anyone who blocked them, and they judged that nine out of ten were God.

"Let's go to Gaoyou and chase those people."

Han Yong said: "Why is this?"

Yingchun whispered: "I suspect that is the righteous master..."

As he was talking, he heard hundreds of people walking across the street, led by a man in his thirties, with thinning hair and a slumped nose, but his eyes were shining.

These people searched the streets of the town, and several merchants were also surprised by them and only willing to spend money to eliminate the disaster. Those people saw that it was not the person they were looking for, so they took the money and let them go.

A group of people rushed to Yingchun's table again. Yingchun, Han Yong and others imitated the customer and gave a little money, and were about to avoid it.

Suddenly, the leading man in his thirties pointed to their "military backpack" and said, "What is this? Open it and see."

Nothing else was in their backpacks, but at this time, fire guns were not something that ordinary people could have.

Yingchun took a few steps forward and got close before speaking in Mandarin with a southern accent, "But there's nothing to look at with some clothes and dry food."

The man in his thirties said: "If you want to open it, you can open it, why is there so much nonsense?"

Yingchun said: "I don't know what this lord is called? Who is it? If you want to check our salute, you must either have an official body or a person with status on the road, otherwise it will be indecent."

The man said: "In this Huai'an realm, our Cao Gang is the etiquette!"

Yingchun said: "I heard that in this Huaiyang area, nine out of ten people who are running boats have something to do with the Cao Gang, but basically they are not people who can get on the table. You should not take the name of the Cao Gang. It's scary. If these hundreds of thousands of people can catch people, they will turn things over, isn't the world without the law of kings?"

A subordinate next to the man said: "You are bold! This is the deputy leader of the Cao Gang, how can he be compared with the one who runs the boat."

Yingchun said, "I've only heard that the Cao Gang has a gang leader. Who is this deputy gang leader?"

The man sneered and said, "Your Excellency looks down on Chen, who is your Excellency, dare to be so arrogant?"

Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a mustache ran up to the man surnamed Chen and whispered a few words. The man surnamed Chen was taken aback and hurriedly said: "Arrest them all! Dare to resist, kill them!"

The man surnamed Chen gave an order, and the two or three hundred people surrounded Yingchun, Han Yong, and others. Yingchun knew that this time was a close call. It was like encountering an assassin that night. Crowd tactics, she and her companions will die without a place to be buried if they miss the opportunity. The man with the moustache obviously guessed which side they were from.

When Yingchun saw that the deputy gang leader Chen was not far away, he suddenly attacked. Before the other party could react, she opened her bows from left to right and clicked on the guard next to the deputy gang leader Chen, and then the second move was already on the body of the deputy gang leader Chen, and she clicked on his acupoint and captured him.

Yingchun's skills are limited now, but her move is much easier than Duan Yu and Xu Zhu's catching Yelu Hongji.

The hundreds of people drew their swords and glared at each other. Han Yong and others were once again amazed by Princess Yu's martial arts. At this time, they lost their firearms and grenades. Although their melee combat skills were good, they couldn't deal with a siege of hundreds of people. If the princess hadn't had this martial skill, she would have immediately stopped the thief and captured the king first, and they would have died here.

"Release the deputy leader!"

Yingchun asked Han Yong to touch the carotid artery of Deputy Gang Leader Chen with a dagger and said, "Let them all back away, otherwise you will not survive."

Deputy gang leader Chen exclaimed: "Back off! Back off!"

Most of those two or three hundred people retreated a foot away, but a dozen people looked at a man with a mustache, as if waiting for his order.

Yingchun also found the key point here, so he didn't hesitate anymore, he pulled out the knife on the waist of Deputy Gang Leader Chen and attacked the man with the moustache.

But seeing Yingchun's left stab and right stab, either slashed the warrior's wrist or stabbed someone's body, she was able to make more than a dozen knives in each breath. Believe this is a mortal.

The Yingchun magic has not yet been completed, but her skills are always stronger than Linghu Chong, who was severely poisoned by internal injuries, so she has a sword in her hand, and no one can stop her from half a move.

After a while, she grabbed the bearded man, dragged him back, and Yingchun said, "It seems that you are the leader."

The man with the moustache was also frightened when he saw such a kung fu, and said, "Young man, don't be impulsive."

Yingchun said: "Tell me, who are you, why are you embarrassing us?"

The man with the moustache said, "Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings!"

The deputy gang leader Chen said, "We belong to the Cao Gang. We are catching traitors because there is a betrayal within the gang. It was all a misunderstanding when we met the young hero."

Yingchun smiled lightly and said, "Are we the traitors of your Cao Gang? Can't you see it? I won't provoke you, but you dare to provoke me? Who do you think you can deceive by saying such things!"

Deputy gang leader Chen said: "We didn't lie to you, it's better to resolve the enemy than to end it. There are hundreds of thousands of brothers in our Cao Gang. No matter how high your martial arts are, what good will it be for you to be our enemy?"

Yingchun said: "What are you pretending to be? I was going to be your enemy just now? I hate others to be smart and take me for a fool. Han Yong, hit me!"

How could Han Yong and others disobey the order, they immediately crushed the two prisoners, and the two of them had several broken ribs, crying and moaning, miserable.

Yingchun looked at the two captives and said, "You two, who is the leader? It would be troublesome for me to hold two alive as hostages to cross the border, so I have to kill one. I only keep the high-status hostage and the low-status one as a hostage. killed."

Deputy gang leader Chen hurriedly said: "Don't kill me! I'm the leader! I'm the leader of the Cao gang!"

"Help Master?" Yingchun held the **** knife in front of the man with the mustache, and said, "Then kill you, your status is too low to be useful."

The man with the mustache had seen her methods, and would not suspect that she would kill him. He shivered with fright, and hurriedly said: "Don't! My status is higher! Master!"

"What Governor?"

The man with the moustache said: "I am Zhu Ming, the teacher of Li Boyan, the governor of Caoyun. It is absolutely true. The Caogang is controlled by the governor of Caoyun. I will come forward on behalf of Mr. Li, and the people of the Caogang must obey me."

Yingchun raised the knife to the gang leader again and said, "Then kill you."

The man was frightened and said, "Master, spare your life!

"What is your name?"

"Little Chen Su, we can talk about what you want."

Yingchun said: "Okay, let me ask you, do you know who we are?"

Chen Su hurriedly said, "I don't know."

Yingchun laughed and said: "You dare to fight against the imperial court with your courage. You have to obey the Governor of Caoyun. I tell you, the people who are on the Governor of Caoyun will be destroyed. Can the Governor of Caoyun save your life? I am you, and now I can only make merits to atone for my sins, so as not to harm the old mother, wife and children at home."

Zhu Ming rolled his eyes and said, "This Huaiyang officialdom is not something anyone can move if they want to, and roles like us can't help ourselves. Don't be too naive."

Yingchun smiled and patted Han Yong's chest with the back of his hand, "Do you know who he is?"

Zhu Ming shook his head and greeted the spring: "He was the personal guard of the Dingbei Marquis of the Liaodong Army. In the Liaodong battle last year, the Liaodong Army even killed 20,000 elite Hu people. Are there 20,000 officials in this Huaiyang area? How deep is it? Is it enough to kill 2,000 officials? Is there a total of 2,000 people for a master like you and the underachievers who guard the gate of the county?"

Zhu Ming was taken aback and said, "How does this make..."

Yingchun smiled and said, "Why can't you do it? There is a shortage of everyone in this world, even if there is no shortage of people who want to be officials. There are four or five hundred jinshi who are looking for a job in Beijing, and there are even more people like Juren and Enyin who want to find a real job. Too many. The worst thing is to replace all of you, Huaiyang will be in chaos for a few more years, as long as the northern border is stable, the sky will not change, so what are you afraid of?"

Zhu Ming's face was pale and he said, "Who are you, who dare to say such a thing? Which of these Huaiyang officials has nothing to do with the people in Beijing?"

Yingchun said: "Then you say, if there is an accident in Huaiyang's officialdom, will the backer of the court be the first to protect himself, or to save people, or to kill people?"

Zhu Ming couldn't answer, Yingchun said: "I tell you, your master's backing in the court is all good, except that he has no military power, that is the one from the northwest, and Liangxiang is also in the hands of the emperor, and he can't fly. Heaven to go. Do they still count on the emperor? Although the emperor is lenient, but he sympathizes with the old people, the most important thing in the emperor's heart is the country, otherwise he would not have chosen the current throne. The emperor would not choose them at the beginning, and now the emperor has already occupied the throne. Dayi, why do you think the emperor can favor them? Even if the emperor protects them, can he protect your master and them?"

As the confidant of the Governor of Water Transport, Zhu Ming was tied to their chariot of interests, and he was struggling to the death at that time. At this time, he fell into the hands of Yingchun, and he knew that the situation was over.

Zhu Ming said: "Is there any use value for your Excellency?"

Yingchun said, "I'm going to ask you this."

Zhu Ming said, "My family is in Huai'an."

Yingchun said: "If you don't fight, you and your family will die; if you fight, your family won't know, and you still have a chance."

...

Yingchun took Han Yong and others to hold Zhu Ming and Chen Su as hostages, and planned to return to Yangzhou first. At this time, there were two people who could be tainted witnesses, and the matter of the ledger could be done after Li Shuo transferred troops.

As for the other Chen Su's cronies, they are now headless. Yingchun is carrying Chen Su, and they are afraid of her force. Yingchun uses a strong arrogance, well, it is a very rich experience to temporarily recruit people.

To put it bluntly, they are still a group of boatmen and peasants. After the leaders have been eliminated and their morale taken away, they will not be stronger than the Kuomintang army. They do not have the equipment of the Kuomintang army.

Yingchun is deterred by powerful force, oppressed by the power of the princess, seduced by interests, brainwashed by ideas, and incited by words comparable to Hitler.

Yingchun is the granddaughter of Duke Rong, and also the princess of Yu. This status can also scare the people at the bottom. At this time, after the compilation, a group of people showed her goodwill. When she was going back to Yangzhou, someone actively arranged the boat.

After half a day, three more Li Shuo's personal guards found them according to their special marks, and now only two personal guards have not been found.

The next day, Yingchun went south on a boat arranged by Caobang's men. Han Yong and others felt that the princess' heart was so big that they even dared to sit on the boat of "subduing the army".

Yingchun didn't think that "subduing the army" was unreliable. Once the "subduing army" arrived in the new camp, it would be able to exert its power several times stronger than in the original camp. There are many historical examples: whether it is the traitor army in the late Ming Dynasty on the back, or the uprising troops during the liberation war on the front, or the generals of the Yang family who went back to the Song Dynasty were also surrendered generals of the Northern Han Dynasty. Because they want to make meritorious deeds in the new camp, or when their thinking changes, when they have any kind of new thinking, they are in the rising period of this kind of thinking. This may also be a historical law.

Two days later, the Yingchun fleet arrived at Gaoyou Lake, and Yingchun chatted with the "Jiangjun" when there was nothing on the boat. Although she had a royal style, she was often approachable, and ordinary people from the bottom ate this set.

In the afternoon, they arrived at a reed, and suddenly hundreds of boats of various sizes rushed out from behind the reed to kill them.

Yingchun looked into the distance and saw a big boat with the word "Qian" standing on it. A gang member said to Yingchun, "It's Mr. Qian's them."

Yingchun said, "Is it the person in charge of the Gaoyou Fenrui?"

The gang member nodded and said, "That's the junior brother of the old gang leader."

Yingchun asked them to raise her flag and write the word "Jia".

At this time, Qian Changlao, Pan Shaoqing, Pan Xiuqing and others were stunned. These boats looked like Chen Su, but they had never heard of the leader surnamed Jia.

Yingchun, dressed in men's clothes, stood on the bow of the boat, and said loudly: "Is the Caobang Qianchang in the front? Jia Xuan is here, it's polite!"

When Pan Shaoqing and Pan Xiuqing saw it, they were shocked: "It's her!"

When the old man asked who he was, Pan Xiuqing briefly talked about the previous matter, and the old man said, "So they are friends rather than enemies?"

As the boat approached, Pan Shaoqing recognized some of Chen Su's former subordinates and was shocked: "Not good! I've been fooled!"

Yingchun said: "Young gang master, don't be too nervous! Chen Su has already been captured, and the brothers below Chen Su have abandoned the dark and turned to the light. Can Gang Master Pan and Qian Changlao sell their face for the next time? Forget the brothers who gave up and turned to the light. ?"

...

Yingchun asked Yan Fang and other personal soldiers to look at the flagship ship, and then took Han Yong and the two surrendered Cao Gang leaders Li Wuer and Wen Liang to the big ship of Qian Chang Lao.

Pan Shaoqing glared at Li Wuer and Wenliang, and said, "Aren't you going to hold Chen Su as the gang leader? What do you say now?"

Li Wu'er and Wen Liang hurriedly knelt down and said, "Young master, spare your life, the villain is also blinded by lard!"

Qian Chang said, "The Cao Gang's top ten rules and ten precepts, you say, how many have you committed?"

Li Wu'er and Wen Liang both kowtowed, Li Wu'er said, "Mr. Qian Chang, we knew we were wrong. At that time, we had nowhere to go before we got on the pirate ship."

Wen Liang also said, "Young Master Qian, Young Gang Master, Miss, if we commit this crime again, we will be struck by lightning!"

Pan Shaoqing said angrily, "Is there a next time?!"

Speaking of which, Pan Shaoqing slashed at Li Wuer with a knife, it turned out that Li Wuer killed a brother who had to be used by him, and he hated it long ago.

As soon as Ying Chunlan pointed it out, he flicked the magic power on his sword, and Pan Shaoqing's sword hummed hoarsely, and the sword was not cut down.

Yingchun bowed their hands to them and said, "Young gang leader and Qian Chang, this is originally your gang's business. The so-called state-owned laws and gangs have gang rules, and they are outsiders, so they shouldn't interfere. But two days ago, the next and They met and a fight broke out. At that time, they captured Chen Su, Zhu Ming and other chief villains, and the rest of the brothers had abandoned the dark and turned to the light. If they break the rules again, I have no face to do with you, but this time, please give a thin face. "

Suddenly I heard the voice of an old man: "A few days ago, the old man received the girl's favor, and I didn't expect to meet again so soon."

I saw Pan Xiuqing helping Pan's father out of the cabin, and the people on the boat saluted.

Li Wuer and Wenliang even kowtowed: "Help Master, spare your life!"

Gang Master Pan snorted coldly and said, "There is time to deal with you!"

After the gang leader Pan finished speaking, he looked at Yingchun again, and said, "The girl's martial arts, the old man admires a lot. The girl has such martial arts. To protect the unworthy people in these two gangs, the old man can't help but give face."

The implication is that she will force them to agree by virtue of her martial arts.

Yingchun smiled slightly and said, "Why do you have to say this, old gentleman? I would like to reason with those who are reasonable; if it is against those who like to use force, I have to use force. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the Cao Gang. There are always ten thousand disciples, if the gang leader is unreasonable, then the entire Huaiyang and the entire Jiangnan will be in chaos."

Seeing her being polite, Pan Gang smiled and said, "You're polite, girl."

Yingchun said again: "Old gentleman, I am here to intercede for those who help others, so I will not lose my trust in others, but it is also for the sake of helping others. Think of Chen Su's rebellion, relying on Li Boyan, the governor of water transportation, and Chen Su at the helm. Although there are only two or three hundred trusted disciples, but his faction has tens of thousands of people scattered all over Huaiyang, right? This time they were too late to convene due to the lack of time. If the old gentleman must kill the surrendering gang at this time , it is inevitable that people will be panicked.”

Gang Leader Pan also felt reasonable, and said, "Have you not asked the girl Gao's surname yet?"

Yingchun said, "The surname Gao doesn't dare to be the surname, and I'm going to Jia Xuan."

"The girl has an extraordinary bearing, I'm afraid it has some origins."

Holding the palace gold medal, Han Yong said, "The lord is the concubine of Prince Yu of the Dynasty."

Gang Leader Pan, Pan Shaoqing, Pan Xiuqing, Qian Changlao, and Cao Gang were all startled, and all knelt down and bowed to the state.

Yingchun stepped forward to help Father Pan and said, "I'm not in Kyoto at this time, so you don't need to be too polite!"

Gang Master Pan said, "This old man has eyes but doesn't know Mount Tai, please forgive me for offending the princess!"

Yingchun smiled and said: "Old gentleman doesn't have to be like this, I'm just here at the treasure land, and there are many rules and regulations in the rivers and lakes.

Gang Master Pan said, "I really don't know, the imperial concubine is actually a martial arts master."

Yingchun said, "It's too much."

"If the princess doesn't give up, please take a seat in the cabin!"

...

When Yingchun was welcomed into the cabin and pushed to the top seat, Pan Xiuqing personally ordered the wine and let the kitchen prepare the dishes.

Although Yingchun likes the straightforward way, she is an old fox of tens of thousands of years. At this time, she is only a member of the congregation. She never mentions the matter of investigating the case, nor does she ask them to cooperate with handing over the ledger. .

In any interview or negotiation, the first to quote the reserve price is easy to fall into passive.

Yingchun talked about the world, the scenery of Huaiyang, the various famous dishes of Huaiyang cuisine from the dishes of Rongguofu, and from Suxiujin to Shuxiu and Shujin.

Even if the gang leader was present, they all came from the bottom of the grass, how could there be such an accumulation of knowledge?

Until the dishes are on the table, Yingchun will not let people think that she suspects that they have poisoned the dishes, but each dish can move at most two chopsticks, eat very elegantly, and never speak when eating.

Seeing Yingchun put down his chopsticks and said that he was full, Gang Master Pan finally couldn't help but ask, "Wang Ye and Wang Fei are not just traveling in Huaiyang, right?"

Yingchun said: "There are many things. On the one hand, my uncle is the doctor of Lantai Temple and the imperial censor of Huaiyang salt inspector. He is seriously ill, and I am going to visit him; on the other hand, the court It's over. A few days ago, my husband and I were assassinated, and my husband suspects that it has something to do with Li Boyan."

Gang Master Pan gave Pan Shaoqing a wink, and he led everyone back.

...

However, it was said that Sima Xuan stayed in Yangzhou, and various officials came to see him, and Sima Xuan entertained every day. It was Lin Ruhai, no matter how bad his health was, he still came to see him today with the support of his sick body.

After meeting with the state ceremony, Lin Ruhai said: "The time to lower the officials is short, and the Huaiyang Yanzheng has become the current situation, and the subordinates are also to blame."

Sima Xuan said: "Since you have already made a memorial service, I don't want to embarrass you, someone who doesn't have a holiday every day. But the salt tax in the south of the Yangtze River has so many deficits. If you don't give an explanation, I can't go back to Beijing to deal with the emperor."

Lin Ruhai coughed twice and said, "Xiaguan has an account for the deficit in the salt administration, but it's just that Xiaguan did not dare to chase after ten years of his tenure. Even if the lord comes, he may not be able to recover it."

"Oh?" Sima Xuan said, "Then I don't believe it anymore."

Lin Ruhai coughed violently and said, "Before Xiaguan took office, Yanzheng had already misappropriated more than nine million taels of money and never recovered it. By the forty-sixth year of Qiande, which is the fourth year of Xiaguan's tenure, There is still a deficit of more than 5 million taels. But in the 46th year of Qiande, it has lost more than 12 million taels, and has not recovered more than 10.6 million taels."

Sima Xuan said, "Forty-six years of Qiande..."

Lin Ruhai took a heavy breath and said, "Forty-six years of Qiande, this is the last emperor's southern tour..."

Sima Xuan thought for a while and said, "Before I left the capital, the emperor also mentioned this, but these deficits are not necessarily all misappropriated in these places, right? Is there no other place?"

Lin Ruhai said: "Before the lower officials took office, the salt merchants paid a lot of salt in advance to get the silver, and moved the advance of the salt to be used for pick-up. In recent years, the natural salt tax has naturally decreased. I also knew the situation and did not hold the officials accountable. In addition to misappropriating the deficit to pick up the car, there was a flood in Huaiyang in the 49th year of Qiande, and it was too late to transfer the silver from Beijing. The world is great."

Sima Xuan couldn't help frowning, in the forty-ninth year of Qiande, there was really no money in the treasury, and even when he reported to the court, the Ministry of Household couldn't get it. But the corruption in this disaster relief is a matter of local officials, and it cannot be found out from Lin Ruhai's head. If Lin Ruhai didn't take out the disaster relief money and caused a riot, I was afraid that all the officials would push him on his head, causing the victims to attack him. If someone died, the court would kill the people and be angry, and he would be the first to move him. . And when the money was allocated for disaster relief, the officials were all happy, and the people could no longer attack him.

If Lin Ruhai doesn't join in with them, doesn't stop them, and just wants to do his own thing well, this can only save his life, I'm afraid it's because he is the son-in-law of Duke Rong.

Lin Ruhai said again: "Xiaguan is indeed incapable of tracking down the private salt. Your lord is on this trip, but he has orders, and Xiaguan will do his best to cooperate."

Sima Xuan said: "Lord Lin doesn't need to say these things, I'm not unreasonable. But how much do you know about private salt?"

Lin Ruhai said: "The Liu family, the Ren family, the Yang family, and the Fang family in Yangzhou are all big salt merchants. The profit difference between the private salt and the official salt is so big. Of course, there are many things that take the risk and sell the private salt as official salt. Everyone has a backer, and the officials are soft-spoken and have no evidence, so they cannot be moved."

Lin Ruhai also knew that if he really went to extremes to move those big men over the years, he would be dead.

Sima Xuan thought for a while and said, "Go back and take care of yourself first."