Lin Xuan Yuan didn't rush back to Shanglin to transport the new tea, but Gu Wu Chen asked him to assist with Xia Zao's matter. After Gu Wu Chen and Wang Xue Shan negotiated the terms, the Xia Zao of Jiangning Prefecture officially started operating, and other prefectures would also take action upon hearing the news. It would be difficult for Lin Xuan Yuan to leave Jiangning again, so he could only seize the opportunity to return to Shanglin for a short while, which would only delay things by five or six days and wouldn't affect matters here.
Apart from the Dongyang No. 1000 stone boat, another ten boats with a capacity of 200 stones are needed to transport new tea, and nearly 100 boats in Xihui will be idle without receiving any orders. The ten boats can almost be mobilized at any time. Lin hopes that Xihui will send more personnel. This is the first time in nearly ten years that Gu's family has bypassed other tea merchants in Shiliang County to transport new tea directly to Jiangning for sale through Jiyun Society, and not every household puts Jiyun Society in their eyes. They need to prevent them from secretly sabotaging. In short, Xihui will send boats and personnel, and Jiyun Society will pay commissions separately by headcount and boat count, with half of the silver already paid to Xihui.
The Xihai Guild only took two days to prepare the required materials, including oilpaper cloth, partition boards, and quicklime for moisture-proofing. The ten selected ships were also the best among the Xihai Guild's fleet of Wu Peng boats. After all, a single shipload of new tea was worth several thousand taels of silver, so they couldn't afford to have it damaged by water or even dampened, which would greatly devalue the tea. This trip wasn't a big deal for the Xihai Guild in terms of business, but on one hand, they had to bear the loss of damaged goods, and on the other hand, they intentionally tried to curry favor with Lin Shou, so they didn't dare to be careless. Sun Jing Tang personally led the team to escort Lin Shou back to Shanglinli.
On April 20th, Jiangning had already entered the Plum Rain season with gentle and continuous rain. The Chuantianwang was shrouded in misty fine rain, although the construction of houses and roads at the river mouth was greatly delayed, it did not hinder the journey northward.
In the distance, misty rain was rising. On this day, the southeast wind was strong. Lin Xie changed into a green shirt and wore a rain cloak, standing on the deck of the Dongyang number with Sun Jing Tang, watching Da Yu Ye directing the sailors to raise the sail and turn the rudder, debating the wind direction, adjusting the position of the sails, and sailing towards the mouth of the Shiliang River flowing into the Chao Tian Tang river.
The ten U-shaped boats of the Western River Association were all tied to the Dongyang with ropes, and before they even raised their sails, they felt the strong towing force transmitted from the Dongyang after it raised its sails. Sun Jing Tang walked onto the stern deck of the Dongyang, looking at the tightly tied rope and the huge white waves churned up by the ship's movement, estimating the speed of the fleet. As long as the wind direction and speed didn't change, they would be able to enter Shiliang County before nightfall, stopping to rest for a night at Yeren Ferry in southern Shiliang County, and arriving at Shanglinli by noon the next day.
Sun Jing Tang secretly sighed, such a sturdy and fast ship was indeed enviable, but it was only envy. A thousand-stone ship filled with rice would draft deeply, and it was uncertain which section of the canal would be too shallow to pass through; this sturdy ship could also withstand the wind and waves near the sea, and transporting grain by sea route would be even faster. However, having only three or five ships travel together on the sea route was too dangerous, and they might be intercepted by pirates at any time. Sun Jing Tang sighed secretly: At this time, such a large ship is really difficult to use. He could see that Lin Xiu Bu's defensive strength on the ship was absolutely not just the ten armored guards with sharp weapons on the surface, but also privately raised more warriors, which required greater financial resources. Like Jiang Ning and others, each family of local tyrants raised private soldiers, and each year they invested no less than twenty taels of silver per soldier. At a time when many members of the association could not even eat their fill, the West River Association did not have this excess financial power.
Lin tied this time to let Zhou Pu stay on the island of Yu to train new recruits and Wu Wei, and let Zhao Hu follow him back to Shanglinli, also let Zhao Hu return home and get married with Guo's daughter in Xiayu, Gu Tianqiao as a tea shop owner, naturally followed back to Shanglinli. Besides, there were only Da Erye Ge Cunxin leading ten Wu Wei, sixteen sailors and boatmen who were secretly hidden on the ship as elite combatants, and twenty Longshan Island people who were not easy to get off the ship as black workers.
Lin Bing requested that Xihe Association send more manpower. Chen Jing Tang led a crowd of over 100 people from the Xihe Association.
From the mouth of the Jin River to Shanglinli, it's only over 300 miles by waterway. For such a short-distance cargo transportation, there are eleven ships with one hundred and fifty-six people on board, which can also be called a large crowd.
On the Dongyang boat, there were more than ten martial arts guards with bright and upright armor and sharp weapons. In addition, there were also more than 40 sets of hidden armor to prepare for encountering enemies and defending against them. This could be considered a small elite force. The river gang forces were all strictly forbidden from privately carrying weapons, and these river gang forces did not have the extra financial resources to purchase excellent armor and train their members. However, the river gangs were not particularly honest either. On the boats, there were preparations of bamboo spears, bamboo lances, waist knives, hunting bows, and self-made leather shields, etc., which were not few in number. After all, they were running on the rivers and lakes, and the members who had practiced martial arts since childhood were not a small number. At least relying on the Western River Gang's own military strength, dealing with small groups of bandits and pirates was not a big problem. When the Baisha County robbery case occurred, nearly 20 boat workers from the Western River Gang were ultimately unable to defend against the enemy and were slaughtered clean. However, there was not one person who jumped into the water to escape first. This is also a place where Lin Xie and Su Mei have some guilt towards the Western River Gang.
Within Dongyang's borders, it was also a light drizzle, not hindering the journey. Before nightfall, they arrived at Yeren Du in the southern border of Shiliang County.
There is a major road leading directly to the city of Wei and Yang, which is an important pass on the Shiliang River. There are tax officials, tax officers, and tax soldiers stationed here, as well as sentry posts and sentries dispatched by the Yongyang Prefecture. On the shore, there are also wine shops, tea houses, and inns, although they are all simply constructed, they can provide a place for traveling merchants to rest overnight.
The boat stopped at the ferry, and Sun Jing Tang came to invite Lin Xie to go ashore with him to find a wine house to drink. Lin Xie couldn't decline, so he went ashore with Zhao Hu and Gu Tianqiao, accompanied by several guards. The dock was muddy and difficult to walk on, and looking at the wine house across the way, which had already lit its lights in the dim rain, but couldn't find a good path to get there.
"If it weren't for this, I'd go tell the wine house to have them cook and send up some dishes on the boat," said Sun Jing Tang.
"There's no need for such trouble." Lin Xie wasn't one to be overly dramatic, and he trudged through the muddy puddles towards the wine house.
The wine house is a courtyard with earth walls, in the west corner of which are tied up over ten mules, crowded and jostling each other to eat from stone troughs, their whinnying unceasing. The paper on the windows of the wine house has been broken by the rain that has come day after day, and the owner hasn't had time to paste new paper yet, so you can see the shadowy figures inside the house. There are quite a few guests.
Lin tied them up and walked in, adding eight guards, including seven people with knives at their waists, four of whom even wore thick armor under their clothes. They entered from the door, naturally attracting the attention of customers in the store.
Lin tied walked into the door, standing at the entrance and scanning inside with a glance. The wine house looked shabby outside, but the hall was not small, with seven or eight tables placed in it. Several large candles were lit in the corner, making a crackling sound, and the scent of pine resin wafted out. A darkened wooden wine cabinet stood horizontally on the left side, behind which a thin middle-aged man still wore a fur hat in April, standing without coming out to greet them, only spreading his hands to indicate that there were no seats available, as all the tables were fully occupied, and it was impossible to join others at their table.
"Lin brother..."
Listening to someone calling out to him, Lin Xuan looked back and saw Liu Xi Lin and three men sitting in the corner, blocked by a wooden pillar in the middle of the hall. Among the three men, two were also familiar to Lin Xuan, they were two small school leaders from the cavalry team led by Liu Xi Lin to escort Gu Wu Chen to Jiangning last year. Unexpectedly, Lin Xuan met old friends in the wilderness, and he walked over excitedly, asking: "Are you going to Jiangning?"
"Yes, many things in Dongyang were delayed, and I didn't set out until the day before yesterday after everything was settled. I'm afraid of being scolded by Lord Gu," said Liu Xilin. "Are you going to Shanglin?"
"Ah, I planned to stay at Ye Ren Du for a night before continuing on my journey, but then I ran into Brother Liu," Lin Feng said. The transfer order for Liu Xilin had been issued at the end of March, but the situation in Hongze Pu, a fishing village in northeastern Dongyang, was critical and Liu Xilin couldn't just leave. However, it only took twenty days, which wasn't a big deal. Lin Feng asked Liu Xilin, "Has the situation in Hongze Pu stabilized? Are the fishermen no longer causing trouble?"
As soon as Lin said this, the men at the two tables next door looked up cautiously and quickly lowered their heads to continue eating and drinking. Although these men were dressed in coarse clothing and had a rustic appearance, they wouldn't have drawn much attention if there were only one or two of them. But with so many people gathered together, all dressed similarly, it was hard for Lin not to notice. He wondered when the farmers from Dongyang Prefecture could afford to come to a winehouse and eat meat and drink wine in large bowls? Lin was puzzled and thought to himself: What connection do they have with the fishermen of Hongze Pu, or are they bandits from some other place who have sneaked over here?
Lin Xilin's eyes swept the hall again, and this time when he looked around, except for the four of them, the other guests didn't seem like ordinary travelers. He said to Liu Xilin: "Our boat is moored at the ferry terminal, and there isn't enough room for all of us here. How about we buy some wine and dishes and take them back to the boat to eat? Today's a good day to reminisce about old times..."
"Let's go..." Liu Xilin said excitedly, he was transferred to Jiangning as the East City Guard, it can be said that he was promoted three levels in a row. After all, he is not familiar with the situation in Jiangning and needs to ask Lin for advice. Although it doesn't make much difference these few days, being able to make fewer mistakes when first arriving in Jiangning would be best.
Sun Jing Tang immediately ordered the wine house to buy a new table of sumptuous wine and send it to the Dongyang No. which was moored at the ferry terminal, Lin Fu and Liu Xilin came out, and only then asked Liu Xilin: "What's the origin of those people in the wine house? Brother Liu, have you noticed?"
"A group of people drinking quietly, as if they were planning something big. I casually asked the wine owner about them, and it turned out that they were doing business at the ferry terminal, but they didn't look like they were in a hurry to go anywhere, and had been waiting here for three or four days already. We couldn't figure out what their background was; we just focused on drinking and resting, and couldn't pay attention to them," said Liu Xilin. "If they are secretly crossing the river as bandits, could it be that there is some big business for them to do at Shiliang River?"
"Tea thieves?" Sun Jing Tang asked subconsciously. Dongyang produces tea, and every year when new tea goes on the market, tea thieves sneak into Dongyang County. In fact, many of the tea thieves are actually tea farmers who can't make ends meet. In previous years, after April, the number of bandits in the area also increases significantly.
"This is Sun Jing Tang, the boss of Xihe Association," Lin Tie introduced Sun Jing Tang to Liu Xilin, saying, "Apart from new tea, there are other temptations - Qin Xibo's ancestral home is in Zhongli (now Fengyang), and after Qin Xibo stepped down, he would often go back to Zhongli via Shiliang River and Hongze Bay to honor his ancestors..."
