Early winter morning, the south bank of Jiangnans Pingjiang Prefecture and Jiayang County was shrouded in a layer of light fog, and the grass and trees in the fields were vaguely hidden. Leaving the Yangtze River, from the Hezizikou mouth into the Donglai River waterway, more than ten miles south is Jiayang Lake, and the county town of Jiayang is located on the south bank of the lake. From a distance, the serrated city wall and a few mulberry trees with sparse leaves in the fog are especially thin.
The north shore of Jiuyang Lake is the garrison of Ninghai Towns Shuizhen, half of which is a barracks and half of which is a water fortress. In the Water Fortress Alley, dozens of warships of various sizes are quietly lined up, covered with a layer of white frost. The surroundings are quiet, except for the occasional clear crowing of roosters breaking through the morning stillness.
The imperial court did not attach importance to the construction of naval forces. In the early years, the water army with border defense significance in the garrison system only had a garrison in Dengzhou Prefectures Penglai Town Water Army, and even when fully manned, there were only four battalions with 2,000 soldiers. Ninghai Town initially only had infantry, but over the past century, the power of lake bandits and sea pirates has grown increasingly rampant, so Ninghai Town established a standing water army on the basis of absorbing the Yang Tianxun Water Garrison from Taihu Lake, also with six battalions. In recent years, military discipline in various garrisons has been severely damaged, and the phenomenon of officers embezzling military pay has been prohibited but not eliminated. Ninghai Town is no exception. Only water army generals like Xiao Taoyuan know how many soldiers are left in the six battalions and how many can actually fight.
Ninghai Town Deputy Commander, Ninghai Town Naval Commander Xiao Tao is usually not living in the barracks. He has a garden outside Jiyang County, which is close to the barracks. He usually lives in the garden.
Xiao Taoyuan slowly opened his eyes to the dim light coming through the window, and saw that the two warm bodies were still asleep, one on either side of him. The womans shoulder was exposed, pale as snow. Xiao Taoyuans hand slipped under the covers and caressed the womans plump buttocks, causing her to stir in her sleep. Her breasts pressed against his ribs, making him feel comfortable, and her long legs wrapped tightly around his thighs. Xiao Taoyuan became aroused, and began to tease the womans buttocks with his fingers. Just then, the sound of horse hooves echoed through the quiet morning air.
The four seas are not peaceful, and this month, the towns of Yangzi River downstream, Pingjiang and Haiyang have been robbed by pirates and river bandits four times. As the commander-in-chief of the river defense and sea defense of Pingjiang and Haiyang, Xiao Taoyuan has been unable to eat or sleep well. Hearing the sound of horse hooves like drumbeats in the early morning, the passion that Xiao Taoyuan had just stirred up was like the first snow being poured with hot water, instantly melting away. He sat up, looking at the window with a mixture of vigilance and confusion, wondering what had happened again.
Two concubines with a somewhat showy appearance were also startled awake, their heads poking out of the quilt, looking at Xiao Tuan Yuan in confusion: "What happened?"
The people in the outer servants room were also startled by the sound of horseshoes, and from a distance they heard someone shouting: "Urgent report from Changshan Island!"
"What happened on Changshan Island?" Xiao Tao got out of bed, stood barefoot on the footboard and ordered: "Quickly bring clothes."
The two concubines saw Xiao Taos distant and stern expression, not daring to be slow, and quickly got out of bed to help him fetch his clothes. They were naked with their snow-white bodies, but they didnt care about the cold, first attending to helping Xiao Tao put on his clothes.
Xiao Tao Yuan didnt even bother to tie his robe properly, and strode out of the inner chamber in a hurry. The two concubines only then calmly began to dress and adorn themselves. Outside, people were speaking in hushed tones, but after a moment, there was a loud crash as someone smashed a teacup onto the brick floor, shattering it into pieces. The two concubines were startled, their eyebrows twitching with fear. Then they heard Xiao Tao Yuans ominous and terrifying roar: "You dont see people when theyre born, you dont see corpses when they die - what kind of military information are you investigating? Youre all eating shit! Investigate for me, find out which pirate gang kidnapped the person, and have someone from Chongzhou keep watch... No, I dont trust anyone else, Bailing, you go personally, take the Rui Ze camp with you, and say its to strengthen the patrol along the river in Chongzhou... At this time, who cares about orders? If theres a situation, kill without hesitation, dont be afraid... I have everything under control here, at this time, whoever summons me, I wont respond! Im going back to the military camp now. Qian Hu, go into the city and bring Lang Ze and Lang Hui to the military camp, dont bother with anyone else for now!" The two concubines exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, who had provoked Master Xiao this time? It seemed that the coming days would be difficult to endure! Just as they were lost in thought, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Xiao Yuan strode in, taking his sword from the table. He looked at the concubine sitting at the dressing table, who was staring at him in shock and confusion, hesitated for a moment, then said: "You two quickly pack up, dont bother with those useless things... follow me to the military camp!"
These two women were originally prostitutes in Pingjiang Prefecture, and were redeemed by Xiao Tao as concubines. However, they were not tolerated by Xiao Taos wife, Lady Xiao Chen. Therefore, Xiao Tao bought a garden house outside the city of Jiyang County, near the military camp, to settle them. This was already a violation of military discipline, let alone bringing his concubines directly into the military camp?
The two concubines were even more frightened after hearing Xiao Taos words: what exactly happened, and why did Xiao Tao bring their two sons to the military camp with them, preparing to flee?
Xiao Tuyuan couldnt care less about the feelings of the two women, his heart was also in a state of panic. Last month, he hijacked the meat ticket, not only to covet the three million taels of ransom silver, but also to secretly cultivate his own pirate power on Changshan Island. The Xiao family could split the land and enfeoff princes, why did Xiao Tuyuan have to stubbornly hold onto this fourth-rank deputy cavalry commander position? Who would have thought that this plan had just begun to unfold when it encountered such a heavy blow? The fifteen elite troops sent to Changshan Island earlier, along with those thirty-one meat tickets, had disappeared without a trace. If the matter were to leak out, either way, it would be a disaster of death and destruction for Xiao Tuyuans family, how could he not feel panicked?!
Xiao Taoyuans first thought upon hearing the news was to immediately set sail, fleeing as far as he could. However, after calming down and thinking it through, he realized that such a hasty departure would not give him much of an advantage. In his haste, Xiao Taoyuan didnt even have confidence that many water camp soldiers would follow him out to sea to become pirates. Could he even get half of them to go with him? Xiao Taoyuan thought it was unlikely. Even if he could take away half of the water camps strength, without any preparation, how could they establish themselves at sea? Most crucially, the She family and the imperial court had already agreed on the terms for dividing up the land and granting titles, and the Ninghai Town water camp and the Donghai bandits had deep-seated grudges. Neither the She family nor the Donghai bandits would allow him to establish himself in the East Sea.
At this time, one must remain calm! In these times, there are many people who are reckless and lawless, not just Xiao Tuan Yuan. Although what Xiao Tuan Yuan did this time was excessive, those corrupt officials who kill the innocent and plunder the land may not be entirely blameless either! Xiao Tuan Yuan thought to himself: The imperial court probably doesnt want any more variables in the southeast, and besides, its still unclear which faction is behind the kidnapping of the people from Longshan Island. Its unlikely that the merchants and local landlords of Chongzhou organized a rescue mission themselves, so perhaps theres still room for a turnaround. For now, as long as we make thorough preparations, thats enough; acting rashly without considering anything would be unwise!
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Lin Xie and Zhou Pu set out from Qingjiangpu in Huaian, first taking a land route by horse-drawn carriage to send Su Mei, Xiao Man, and the fourth daughter Feng Peipei to the outskirts of Jiangning City. They did not enter Jiangning City but instead hired a boat to sail downstream along the river, secretly entering the territory of Chongzhou to gather information. Qin Chengzu, Fu Qinghe, and others first went to Xinpu County to rescue the injured Liu Ma Kou, temporarily not heading south.
As expected, the people of Changshan Island fled in a hurry. Xiao Tao didnt take risks and recklessly set sail to become a pirate, but instead sent his trusted aide, Chen Baiming, the commander of Ninghai Towns Water Garrison, to lead a group to Chongzhou to observe the situation. The families of Chen Enze, Hu Qiguan and other young men were indeed under close surveillance by the Ninghai Town Water Garrison. The Ninghai Town Water Garrison took advantage of the river defense and sea defense, and warships poured into the Yangzi River waterway in front of Chongzhou County. If there was any sign of unrest, the families of Chen Enze and other young men might face disaster.
Young Chen Enze has no home to return to, standing at the bow of the ship with tears streaming down his face. Zhou Pu secretly sighed in sympathy, for a young man who was still enjoying the warmth of his family just a few months ago, the experiences he had gone through in the past few months were already quite difficult, and now he has no home to return to, no relatives to recognize him, and its unknown how long this will last.
Looking at the murky and endless river, looking at the warship sails on the horizon, Lin Xie felt a sense of melancholy: A dynasty with internal troubles and external threats to this extent is indeed in its twilight years! But no matter what, this Yuan dynasty has lasted for over two hundred years, the imperial system has not yet collapsed, and the inherent inertia will continue to propel the vast empire forward. Lin Xie was also unclear when this empire would suddenly collapse.
Lin Xian thought to himself that he had borrowed a corpse and returned his soul, temporarily staying in this era, but for the time being, he couldnt see the direction of the future. To mix in and make a name for himself, he still needed to make some preparations.
"Lets go back to Dongyang first!" Lin said, "Its been days since we didnt return, and its inevitable that some things will feel unfamiliar."
"If youre a stranger to Dongyang, what can we do?" Zhou Pu laughed and thought Lin Xie was just joking. He couldnt imagine that the Lin Xie from a few months ago was just a bookworm who never left his house, nor could he imagine the matter of borrowing a corpse to return a soul.
