Chapter 8
Anji Creek, after the rain, the west bank of the lake is clear and transparent, with sunlight shining through to the bottom. In the distance, it looks like a piece of crystal jade embedded between heaven and earth. Lin Xie and Li Shuyi from Chongzhou County got off the light boat and onto the shore, where the ripples were gently lapping. Far away, Tianmu Mountain was emerald green like jade, with a white stone pagoda over two zhang tall standing by the water's edge, shining brightly in the sunlight. People on the boat felt as if they were traveling through a painting.
All the way, wind and rain alternate, with few clear days. Today's weather is so bright and beautiful that Lin Xie standing at the bow of the ship also feels comfortable. This is already the 21st day since he left Chongzhou to prepare for grain in the three prefectures along Taihu Lake.
Mei Creek is a gathering place in Anji County, Huzhou Prefecture. The Mei Creek Shu family was not a noble clan, and there were no descendants with official titles or honors; they simply accumulated such a large fortune through water and land trade, making it difficult to say that their foundation was completely clean. Lin Xian only knew that the Mei Creek Shu family did not collude with the Qu family to send someone to attack the river mouth.
Looking from afar, there were people standing on the shore wearing long shirts and headscarves. They must be the Shu family who had received news to come to the lake dike to welcome them. Still far away, Lin Xie casually sat at the bow of the boat and smiled to Li Shuyi, the bookkeeper of Chongzhou County's household registration office, saying: "It is said that the local snake of Anji County is not easy to provoke, but I think they are quite welcoming and enthusiastic towards us who have come from afar to raise funds..."
Welcome to nothing, enthusiasm for nothing. Li Shuyi secretly cursed in his heart, but smiled on his face: "It's all thanks to Lord Lin's reputation spreading far and wide, and the enlightened vision of the gentry in Anji County..."
Lin tied a slight smile, he didn't mind Li Shuyi's opinions about him. He came out to prepare food and brought Li Shuyi along, just in case Li Shuyi would interfere with Lin Mengde, Fu Qinghe, and Hu Zhiyong doing their job on Xi Sha Island.
Li Shuyi was a scholar and had read extensively, but he failed the imperial examination several times. He temporarily stayed in the county as a bookkeeper and didn't have any thoughts of giving up on his studies. During this journey, most of the time was spent on the boat, Lin Xian came over to chat with Li Shuyi about literature, history, and other subjects to pass the time. Although it's unknown whether Li Shuyi still harbored resentment in his heart, he no longer treated him as a snake or scorpion, which is considered a big improvement.
Li Shuyi looked back and saw that the water near the shore was shallow, so the two deep-water ships "Jiyun One" and "Jiyun Two" could only anchor in the middle of the lake, some distance from the dike. He, Lin Xie, and Ao Canghai took a small boat to go ashore and meet with Mei Xi Shu's family to discuss grain supplies, while more than 20 Wu soldiers followed on two other small boats to guard them.
"Ji Yun One" and "Ji Yun Two", two armed warships, made the surrounding small fishing boats look exceptionally tall and large. More than 100 armed soldiers stood on the deck with sharp weapons in hand. In addition, there were more than 300 refugees, braves, sailors, and boatmen. Li Shuyi thought that Lin was relying on such military power, it would be better to say that he was extorting grain rather than collecting it.
The Qu family's case is not trivial, it involves a wide range of people and has lasted for over 200 years. The powerful Qu family was destroyed overnight; Chen Xiyi, the former Minister of Revenue and a great Confucian scholar, was also forced to present a petition confessing his guilt due to his relationship with the Qu family, giving up hope of being promoted to an official position. As for the families who participated in the raid on the river mouth and were bought off by the Qu family, it is even more impossible for them to wash their hands of the matter.
This is not a matter of self-clearing, and the more than 300 Taihu thieves who participated in the raid on the river mouth were incorporated into the Jiangning guard army. Dozens of bandit leaders are still detained in the Jinjiang Prison Island, it can be said that Gu Wu Chen wants what evidence there is. Moreover, the Qu family has been monopolizing the rice trade entering Jiangning from Pingjiang, Danyang, and Huzhou for over a hundred years, and the Taihu Shui Zhai forces as well as the local gentry and aristocratic families have more or less some open or secret connections with the Qu family.
Locally, the aristocratic families and clans are still influential, with many scholars and officials among them. They form a cohesive group within the imperial court, led by Chen Xiyi, known as the Wu Party. This time, the Wu Party lost to the Chu Party in the struggle for power, so it's inevitable that they suffered a setback. The scholar-officials either faced demotion or dismissal, but there was no fear of their families being ruined or exterminated. No matter how intense the struggle became, it was impossible for them to defect to the Chu Party.
The Taihu Water Village forces of a self-preserving nature did not have this confidence.
Chen Xiyin has no hope of promotion, Chen Xinbo is a lone tree that cannot be supported. In the court, there is no one who can restrain the power of the Chu Party. How far and deep the Qu family's case will be implicated depends entirely on the face of the Chu Party.
Taihu Shui Village's various forces are now all in a state of panic and unease, with those who have connections thinking they won't be implicated too deeply and taking the initiative to pull strings. At this time, Gu Wuhen is using the pretext of preparing for war and stockpiling grain, so how can they not recognize the pros and cons?
The local government and county officials turned a blind eye to Lin Xie's arrival, but the Taohu Water Fortress forces, who had not been bought off by Qu's family this time, eagerly awaited the arrival of Lin Xie, the "Grain Officer".
Li Shuyi followed Lin Xiang to leave Xi Sha Island, entered Qi Yang Lake from Donglai River, entered Taihu Lake through Chenghu and then proceeded to Denshan Lake, entering Huzhou territory via Zhu Creek. It has been over 20 days now. Along the way, he directly visited 26 mountain and water strongholds and contacted with the leaders of 133 mountain and water strongholds.
For various mountain stronghold forces, this is an opportunity to spend money to wash away their guilty names and clear themselves.
Lin Xie was also very clear about the purpose of this trip. He made a low offer, which made the various water strongholds uneasy in their hearts. They would all sit on the ground and raise prices when they arrived at the location. Of course, he would also let the various water strongholds haggle over prices. In short, it was best to make everyone happy.
In more than 20 days, a total of over 600,000 dan of grain was collected, and in addition, over 80,000 taels of silver were also collected.
Raise grain, Lin Fu makes each household water village prepare grain boats to transport separately to Xi Sha Island and Dong Yang; Xi Sha Island received relief grain of about 40,000 stones, which is enough to meet the expenses for three months based on the scale of disaster victims in Xi Sha Island.
The funds, except for a portion used to purchase large quantities of porcelain, iron bricks and wooden mules for disaster relief along the way, were mostly left with Lin Jue and loaded onto the ship.
This trip has gained a lot, apart from getting so much grain money, stabilizing the situation in Taihu Lake area is the key.
Li Shuyi's heart was bitter, the Procuratorate and the Pacification Commission as well as the prefectural and county yamens belonged to two different systems. He had followed Lin Xie with such hardship, but he didn't even get a single silver coin from it. Not only did it not bring him any benefits in his official career, but also, after spending more time with Lin Xie, there was still the possibility of being suspected and excluded by his colleagues in the future.
The most important thing is that Li Shuyi knew that Lin Xie had killed more than 300 people in Jiangning, and more than 300 people were captured and sent to the army. Dozens of leaders were also imprisoned in the Jinjiang prison island under his jurisdiction. In Pingjiang, Huzhou, and Danyang prefectures, countless people wanted to kill Lin Xie to avenge their grievances.
Along the way, Lin Xie accompanied him on a light boat to land and negotiated with the water strongholds to discuss prices and plan grain supplies. Li Shuyi was afraid that people would suddenly smash their cups and rush out from behind the screen with countless knife-wielding men to chop them into minced meat. He was even more afraid that everyone would be drinking tea and eating wine, only to suddenly cover their throats and struggle for breath, rolling all over the ground after being poisoned.
All the way, Li Shuyi felt like a live fish being dragged to the chopping board by Lin Xiangqian, staring at the knife coming down, this kind of terror was not something a human could endure.
The first ten or more days passed, except for the constant encounters with small groups of lake bandits along the way, negotiations with various mountain strongholds to prepare food were very smooth, and there were no special events. Li Shuyi was stupid enough to guess that Lin Xie had a accurate list in his hands, which made him hate Lin Xie so much that he was worried and frightened for more than ten days, and his hair fell out in large handfuls every day.
People are the same, once they think thoroughly and let go, the fear in their hearts will disappear like the tide going out, and suddenly disappear without a trace. Putting aside the prejudice that Qingliu has towards outsiders, Li Shuyi's thoughts on Lin Xie's actions are indeed far beyond those of ordinary people, with talent and leadership charisma.
Two hundred robust men selected from the refugees followed the boat to make up for the shortage of manpower. At first, they were in a mess on the boat and didn't know what to do. These days, they have been able to assist the sailors in sailing and help the soldiers fight against the harassment of lake bandits along the way. Among these more than 200 people, four refugee leaders, led by Ning Ze-min, are even more respectful of Lin Xiuma.
This is also the case, the refugees of Xisha Island suffered a disaster, and Chongzhou County abandoned them like a worn-out shoe, not caring about their lives or deaths. Only Lin Xiang stood out to rescue them, provide them with a way to survive, and even gave them hope for resettlement and other things. How could they not look up to Lin Xiang as their leader?
At this point, Li Shuyi felt that he didn't have any particular prejudice against Lin Xian either. The scholars of the Qing dynasty saw Lin Xian as an outcast, mainly because of his arrogant and domineering words and deeds. Li Shuyi had been with him for nearly a month and felt that rather than saying his words and deeds were arrogant and domineering, it was better to say that this person was somewhat unconventional. As for the disaster relief efforts in Xi Sha Island, it was hard to imagine that anyone in Chongzhou County could do better than Lin Xian.
Li Shuyi initially did not agree to abandon the refugees from Xi Sha Island. The families of these mid-to-low-ranking officials were all in Chongzhou City, and if the refugees from Xi Sha Island followed the example of Liu An'er, a bandit from Hongze, Chongzhou City would be in danger. However, the garrison at Junshan Water Fort in Ninghai Town was not reliable. Nevertheless, Li Shuyi's words carried little weight in the county, and his opinions had no influence on County Magistrate Chen Kun. Seeing Chen Kun being reprimanded by Lin Xie, and even being taught a lesson by Geng Weide, who usually took advantage of Chen Kun's trust to bully people in the county, Li Shuyi felt secretly pleased.
The riverbank was getting closer, and the expressions on the faces of those people on the shore could almost be seen clearly. Li Shuyi thought that after finishing the inspection in Anji County, he would not have to make any more stops along the way back to Chongzhou. The journey would be smooth sailing, and it would only take three or four days to reach Chongzhou, and this difficult task would finally be over.
Li Shuyi was lost in thought when he suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes, turned his head to look over and saw a dark red horse galloping quickly from the west, with the rider huddled on its back, unable to see his face, but attracting the attention of the crowd by the lake and on the embankment.
Seeing this strange situation, Lin Xie gave a decisive gesture to the boatman to stop the boat. He furrowed his brow and gazed intently at the scene on the riverbank. The many people wearing long shirts who had come to greet them on the riverbank all showed unusual expressions. Suddenly, the knight who had rushed up close reined in his horse, turned sideways, raised his hand, and pulled out a hunting bow that had been hidden under the horse's belly. He nocked an arrow, drew the string, and a sharp sound pierced the air as he shot towards this side.
Li Shuyi saw the arrow flying towards him, startled, and subconsciously wanted to hide behind Lin Xie, but was afraid of being looked down upon by Lin Xie, so he forcibly stopped in his tracks; the guards on either side had already stepped forward to shield them with their bodies.
"It's a message arrow, pick it up." Lin Xie said calmly.
As the arrow flew down, the white arrow that had been bent and twisted fell into the water about three or four feet away from the bow of the ship. Li Shuyi felt a twinge of shame, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel that Lin Xie was truly not an ordinary person, for he had calmly and accurately predicted the trajectory of the arrow and judged that it would fall into the water three or four feet away.
The guard picked up the white arrow from the water and handed it to Lin Fu. Lin Fu untied the small oil paper package at the end of the arrow shaft, unfolded the note inside, and said: "I always thought that the Xia family would not let me be too comfortable, but I didn't expect them to hide their hands until now. There are ambushes on the shore, we're going back to the big ship! Be careful of the fishing boats around us, don't let them get close easily." He handed the note to Ao Canghai on the side, gesturing for the rowers to turn back; the guards also became vigilant, and the bow of the ship even raised a large shield to guard against the few fishing boats scattered around that might be hiding ambushes.
Li Shuyi was momentarily unclear who Lin Xian's "Zhuang" referred to, whether it was Zhuang Zong of the Jin dynasty or someone else. However, someone flew on horseback from the shore and shot arrows to report the news, which also made him aware of the hidden crisis.
As the three assault boats turned around, Li Shuyi looked back and saw that the arrow-shooting messenger was turning his horse's head to run back. From a peach forest on the distant lake embankment, more than ten cavalrymen rushed out quickly, trying to intercept him. Li Shuyi felt a chill down his spine: there were indeed ambush troops in the peach forest! Li Shuyi didn't know why someone had sent them a message in time. He saw that the messenger had stabbed one of the first ambushers who came out with a spear and didn't know if he was injured, only to see him barely escape from being surrounded and flee into the distance.
Lin Tie had no time to pay attention to the signals from the shore, he took off his waist knife and held it in his hand, took off his green official robe and casually threw it on the deck, revealing a short-sleeved shirt underneath. While letting his guards help him put on his armor, he kicked a shield to Li Shuyi's feet and said: "You hold the shield and sit in the middle of the boat, cover your head and chest, be careful not to fall into the river, later no one will be able to take care of you."
In the past few encounters with bandits, Li Shuyi and Lin Tie were both on the big ship. He hid in the cabin and watched as Lin Tie and others counterattacked from the deck. Now standing on the uncovered awning of the assault boat, the width of the hull was not even as long as a spear, Li Shuyi couldn't help but feel flustered. He took over the shield, sat in the middle of the cabin, and saw Lin Tie already wearing armor, holding a shield with his left hand and a knife with his right, preparing to fight. In his heart, he thought that Lin Tie was just a scholar, if he didn't panic in the face of the enemy, then he couldn't either. He pretended to be calm and looked forward.
Previously scattered on the lake surface, seven or eight fishing boats saw three assault speedboats suddenly turn back after receiving a message, also tearing off their camouflage, and came together to surround and intercept. Each fishing boat had seven or eight armored soldiers emerging from under the awning, with half of them holding large bows. In total, there were more than thirty large bows, which shot arrows in unison from a distance of seventy or eighty steps.
The shield-bearing hand at the bow of the ship raised a large shield, and the arrow cluster hit the leather-covered wooden shield, making a dull thud. The shield-bearing hand in front couldn't bear the pain and let out two mournful cries one after another. Lin Xie looked over and only then did he realize that the enemies hiding on the fishing boat were not simple, as multiple iron arrows had pierced through the leather-covered wooden shields at a distance of 70-80 steps. One shield-bearing hand was close to the shield, with an arrow shot into his armpit, while two shield-bearing hands' palms and the wooden shield were nailed together.
There were no more hands on the boat, and there was no more space. Except for the person who was shot in the armpit and replaced, the two knife shields with palms and wooden shields nailed together by iron arrows only took out a bottle of medicine from their waist, sprinkled half a bottle of medicinal powder to stop bleeding and relieve pain, and didn't even pull out the arrow, using their shoulders to support the large shield and continue to defend at the bow.
"Raise the twin shields at the bow! Starboard, be prepared to defend against enemy arrows and crossbowmen, prepare to counterattack!" Ao Canghai ordered in a deep voice.
Ao Canghai had previously served as a Wu officer in the vanguard camp of Chen Zhihu's Dongmin army for a long time, and his understanding of cold weapon combat was even more profound than Lin Xie's. The command of the assault on the light warship naturally fell to him.
Lin tied his grip on the hilt of the knife tightly, his eyes staring straight at the enemy ship ahead.
He never thought that apart from a few unimportant lake bandit raids, he would be able to raise grain and supplies smoothly all the way and return safely to Chongzhou.
The Xie family's integration of the Donghai bandits in Changguo County was mainly aimed at undermining the economic foundation of the imperial court in the southeastern provinces. The Xie family had many strategists, and it is impossible for them not to see the benefits of Xiasha Island. As long as the Xie family sent someone to kill him in Taihu Lake, they could easily dissolve the rescue situation on Xiasha Island, causing nearly 30,000 disaster-stricken refugees on Xiasha Island to turn from being governed to becoming rioters, giving the Xie family an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos and instigate a rebellion.
Even though he knew the journey was perilous, Lin Xie, as "Inspector of Military Affairs and Grain Supply Commissioner", had to personally meet with various aquatic strongholds to collect grain supplies.
All the way here, Wu Qi had been following, but none of his men stayed with Lin Xie on the boat, instead they went ashore to scout for any abnormalities.
After all, due to the limited number of people, it is impossible to monitor all the channels entering Taihu Lake. Moreover, the Xie family can not only infiltrate with elite troops but also directly buy water strongholds to lay ambushes in advance. Therefore, Wu Qi can only send people to monitor Lin Xuan's upcoming visit to the water stronghold in a targeted manner.
This side can investigate, the Jia family rebellion has been going on for ten years, with extremely rich experience in various struggles, and naturally also proficient in anti-reconnaissance.
Lin Xie was unclear who the mastermind behind this operation was, but it was definitely not simple. They were able to hold back and wait until they reached Anji County in Huzhou before making their move. Not only did they want Lin Xie to let his guard down, but also took into account that Lin Xie's reconnaissance capabilities were limited. They could set up an ambush in Anji County and wait for Lin Xie to fall into the trap voluntarily.
Wu Qi also waited until the last moment when the enemy had ambushed in the peach forest before he noticed anything unusual, and then sent someone to ride a horse to rush in and shoot arrows to report the news.
The closer it got to the end, the more cautious Lin Xie became. When he came into contact with Mei Xi Shu's family, although he still followed the usual example of a sudden attack on a light boat landing ashore, Lin Xie only planned to discuss and settle the grain matter on the shore. In addition, there were also more large shields and strong crossbows prepared in the assault boat than before, just in case Mei Xi Shu's family had been bought off by Xi Shu's family.
Lin Xianzhi gazed forward, and the ambushers began to prepare for their second round of arrows. The two sides were now within fifty paces of each other, and the enemy realized that Lin's side would add more shields, so they divided into a dozen or so people who raised their bows high, intending to switch from flat shooting to parabolic shooting. However, they did not see the "Ji Yun One" and "Ji Yun Two" behind them, which were three or four hundred paces away, unable to raise their sails in time to come and rescue. The canvas at the bow of the ships was lifted, revealing the four bed crossbows that had been strung up early.
Three crossbow ballistae were fixed on the deck, with five people operating one ballista. The iron bolts of the giant arrows shone with a deadly cold light, and when shot out, they made a sharp whizzing sound as they pierced through the air. Just as the enemy soldiers were about to shoot their second round of arrows, four giant crossbow arrows were shot out. One arrow pierced a fishing boat, two fell into the water, and the only one that hit its mark was the giant crossbow arrow that had three ambushers shot through from chest to abdomen to thigh.
Ao Zhang Hai also timely ordered the guards to shoot crossbow arrows, disrupting the rhythm of the second round of shooting by the ambush troops; the second round of shooting by the ambush troops was sparse and disorderly.
Although the Zhūyèngǔ's bowstring is slow to open, its powerful force is unmatched by ordinary infantry bows. At a distance of sixty paces, only scale armor and plate armor can effectively defend against the Zhūyèngǔ's deadly shots. Although all enemy soldiers wore armor, few wore scale armor, and they had no large shields for protection. When twelve Zhūyèngǔ were fired simultaneously, five or six ambushers were instantly hit by arrows, and three fell into the river.
Ao Canghai saw that there were no other enemy ships coming to surround them, and he knew that the enemy was afraid of being discovered by this side. The ambush troops were mainly deployed on the shore, and there were only these seven fishing boats in the water. In this way, Ao Canghai would no longer take the initiative to engage in a fierce battle to break through the encirclement, but instead use the advantage of the fast and agile assault boat to open up distance with the fishing boats, using the crossbow to exchange fire with the enemy, and giving the three large stone-throwing catapults on the two thousand-stone ships an opportunity to find a chance to kill.
"Ji Yun One" and "Ji Yun Two" set sail one after another, the fishing boats on the water's surface fought but couldn't find an advantageous position, so they dispersed towards the shore, where they joined forces with the ambush troops on the shore. Lin Tie also took advantage of the situation to merge with "Ji Yun One" and "Ji Yun Two".
Lin tied up the rope ladder and climbed onto the bow of "Ji Yun Yi", standing on the deck to gaze at the lake embankment. The group of people who had come to greet them had already dispersed, with only three or five people left behind, surrounded by ambushers, pointing and gesturing in this direction.
Although there were only two or three hundred ambushers on the shore, Lin had only a little over a hundred usable armored soldiers in his hands. The other three hundred people, apart from ship workers and miscellaneous laborers, were two hundred civilian refugees who had been newly recruited to make up for the shortage of manpower and had not undergone rigorous training. Even with strong combat willpower, their combat effectiveness was still extremely limited compared to the luxurious family's elite troops.
"Is this the work of the Jia household?" asked Da Yu, wearing his armor and looking solemn.
"Although it's still unclear, apart from the Xiao family, who else can give the Shu family a suitable chip?" Lin Fu said.
Lin Xie's intelligence revealed that the Mei Xi Shu family did not send anyone to attack the river mouth, and they had contact with the Qu family but it was not very close. However, at this time, they were ambushing Lin Xie in Mei Xi Lake. Even if there was only yellow mud in their crotch, it would turn into shit - only the Xiao family could come up with a plan to make the Shu family's yellow mud turn into shit. Perhaps the Shu family had been bought out by the Xiao family long ago and were secretly working for them as moles in Jiangdong and the intersection of Zhejiang.
"What to do now? I think the silver in Anji County is not easy to collect, I think we should withdraw from Meixi Lake and return to Chongzhou via Zhuxi. " Li Shuyi also regained his composure at this time, listening to Lin Fu discussing enemy situation with his subordinates, he couldn't help but come over and add a sentence, after all, he and Lin Fu were officials of the imperial court.
"I'm worried that before we reach the entrance of Meicun Creek, we'll encounter ambushes at the mouth of Mei Creek," Lin said, "This trap, once we rush in, it won't be easy to rush out."
"They've even turned against us?" Li Shuyi asked, "If it's really not working out, we can temporarily take refuge in Anji County."
Lin You shook his head slightly, he had to wait until Wu Qi was brought on board before he could further understand the situation on shore. At least, he had to roughly figure out how many Donghai bandits had infiltrated before determining what to do next.
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P.S: Seeking red tickets, and the updated chapter is 6,000 words long!
