35. Dark battle in Qingzhou(1/2)
"Hey yo hey yo, work harder! Hey yo hey yo, work harder!"
Shouting such slogans, a group of people finally delivered a huge and heavy package to its destination-a sea ship.●⌒,
They are the boatmen here, which means that in addition to being responsible for unloading the cargo on the ship when the ship docks and transporting the next cargo to other places to the ship, they are also the owners of the ship.
Sailor, go sailing with the ship.
Not only that, just like the caravans wandering in the border markets, they occasionally do some gray business and so on.
But in comparison, because the sea conditions are far more variable than on land, unless there is some unsolvable grudge between the owners behind the two boats, mutual assistance is usually the main thing at sea, because you
It is completely impossible to know whether one day in the future you will become a delicacy for the fish in the sea after a storm.
"Is everything packed?"
"Everything is ready, and the boat is ready to sail. This time we are the fastest group again,"
"Very well, let's go have a drink together. My treat is my treat!"
"Ohhhhh!!!"
The young people around who were also sailors and part-time porters immediately gave the most enthusiastic response.
"How is your business lately, brother?"
The shipwrights have their own circle, and the shipowners and merchants waiting for the goods to be loaded onto the ship can be counted as another circle.
"Not so good. Since Yuan Benchu solved Gongsun Bogui, although he didn't do anything big after that, he just sent people to Liaodong after the Gongsun family was destroyed. However, it is said that the people sent there quickly returned to Xinyang, but
I don’t know why, but I didn’t send any more people there after that. Other than that, I just wanted to recuperate and eliminate the internal problems. But I originally returned.
Yuan Tan returned to Xinyang. After Master Yuan returned to Qingzhou, he asked officials from all over Qingzhou to go to Pingyuan to visit him. As you know, the counties in the south of Qingzhou disliked Master Yuan very much, not to mention his ability.
There is a huge difference between him and the former Governor of Langxie and the current Duke Liu Xuande of Yuzhou. In terms of his personality, no one would like such a moody guy."
"Yes, Yuan Benchu actually has such a son who is like a pig and a dog. It's no wonder he was sent to this place in Qingzhou."
"Who says it's not the case? So everyone would rather listen to the Qingzhou governor appointed by the imperial court than the young master appointed privately by Yuan Benchu. But the problem is that the young master has an extraordinary background, and after all, he is also the eldest son of the Yuan family.
Going out to do things also represents the face of the Yuan family. Even if you really have no ability, you should still be pretty good at it after crying."
"Is it possible that what I just said, that the recent situation is not so good, is due to Mr. Yuan's 'crying'?"
"Yeah, I don't know how that bastard young master stirred up trouble in front of Yuan Jizhou. Not only did he get reinforcements from Yuan Jizhou to attack several cities where the officials who refused to pay him a visit, the reason turned out to be that they were colluding with bandits.
,and
They also set up checkpoints arbitrarily and imposed heavy taxes on our caravans. If we didn't comply, they would often seize people and things in the name of bandits and extort money from their families. It can be said that apart from being a little restrained in front of some wealthy families,
, but it’s hard for me as a small businessman.”
"I didn't expect that the eldest son of the Yuan family would be so unwilling to give people a way to survive."
"No, he is quick-thinking and tries his best to avoid the checkpoints on the land, not only for money, but more importantly, compared to the storm that may appear on the sea. The unscrupulous young master is more
It’s scary.”
"Then the Qingzhou governor appointed by Xuchang doesn't care about this kind of thing?"
"If we are close to Langye and Taishan, the governor Zang may be able to take care of us, but if we are far away, the governor is beyond his reach. After all, I heard that the Yuan and Cao families are closely related. How can we wait for the common people?
The soldiers met each other. I think it would have been unless the Yuan eldest son was so mad that he came under the nose of Zang Governor.
To capture people and kill people, in order to look good and have real evidence, you can take action. But in the current situation, no one can guarantee the effect of taking action. It is better to take this sea route.
Even though there are storms, there are still rocks beneath the surface of the water, and you can still grasp them if you walk a lot."
"After listening to what my brother said, I understand why the water transport business is so easy to do now. If the situation continues, I may need to prepare more ships. Maybe this business can be very big."
"Yes, in the future we will have to rely more on Boss Guan to make businessmen like us profitable."
"To each other, if you didn't choose the sea route, it would be very difficult for me to support so many boats and so many people."
"By the way, Boss Guan is said to have traveled all over the world and knows the sea routes from north to south. I wonder if I can take the liberty to ask."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, as long as brother doesn't ask me for that private chart."
"Haha, of course not, of course not. I am still very clear about the taboos in this area. Naturally, I don't dare to covet the treasures that are related to the boss's life and fortune. It's just my own selfish curiosity.
That’s all.”
"Is this a good deal? You really need to listen carefully."
"No, no, no, it's just that I was curious about what happened in Liaodong. That's why the officials who went to Liaodong chose to turn back soon. Even after they came back, they were unwilling to talk more about what happened in Liaodong. Although this was just
I'm just a little curious privately, but if it's a business matter, it's not bad, after all, Liaodong's local specialties are still very popular in Jizhou."
"The situation in Liaodong... In fact, even I don't know it very well. I just heard the people who live by the sea occasionally talk about the hinterland of Liaodong, and it's probably just the word 'miserable'. Ask them a few more questions, and then
He stayed away as if he had seen the god of plague, and also advised me and my subordinates not to go exploring out of curiosity, as it is said that it is very dangerous there."
After thinking about it, he did not tell the other party all the information. Firstly, except for the recent trade exchanges, the two parties had not had any contact before. Even if it could not be said to be a chance meeting, it was not necessarily close. Moreover, for
For businessmen, as long as the expected benefits are large enough, even if they block it, they will not have any impact on the other party's decision.
After all, as a businessman, if you have ten times the profit, you can defeat any super strong person who is your enemy!
"Is that so? Although I'm a little reluctant, but compared to wealth, life is the most important thing these days."
Then, the conversation between the two people turned to the recent fashion trends in Jizhou, as well as which products are in short supply and can be sold at a good price. The truth and malice are always hidden in true and false information.
After that, should we completely forget about the information we got through casual conversations, or should we classify and sort it out and use it, or should we completely believe those hearsays and make what may be an extremely important risky decision in our lives.
.
Under the possible toy of fate, you will never know whether your choice is right or wrong.
Even if some people always claim how decisive they were and were guided by the God of Destiny, in fact it is more of an inevitable choice made under the gaze of outsiders or under the force of the situation. No one can say anything about something.
Everything is 100% certain.
Even those aloof holy beasts are not sure whether their actions can really achieve their goals.
Otherwise, Li Shushi probably wouldn't have had that trip to the vast sea that confused him.
A bowl of turbid and dark-colored wine is eaten. Although it is not yet noon, for dock workers and sailors who have been busy since the early morning, they can have a bowl of warm wine during their rest.
Eating is obviously the best enjoyment, and then people with lively personalities gather together spontaneously,
Or talk loudly, or simply play some superficial local gambling games - even if the government explicitly prohibits this behavior, it still cannot stop the enthusiasm of gamblers and their luck. After all, from a certain
To a certain extent, gamblers are also tempted by ten times the profit.
As for those who don't like the noisy environment very much, they will stay away from the area where the gamblers are, hide in a corner near the sea, and quietly look at the vast and endless sea, letting their minds be blown away.
Washed by the turquoise or light blue sea water, it is open and wide, and then I watch the seabirds flying from time to time in the sky, recalling the experience of fighting in the wind and rain.
They don't have much time to rest. In fact, when all the ships are loaded and unloaded, their fleet will set sail. In this era of lack of weather forecasts, people can only reluctantly use the experience and judgment accumulated in various ways.
Depending on the weather conditions near the coast, as for places farther away, we can only pray for God’s blessing.
So, just enjoy this rare moment of leisure that you have earned through your hard work.
Speaking of where this fleet is located, theoretically it should belong to Liaocheng County in the Le'an Kingdom in the north of Qingzhou. However, this large island is some distance away from the county seat, and there are more than a thousand brave men entrenched on the island.
Local officials would not dare to casually go to the island to collect taxes, because that would mean that the "brave" little official could easily become a "missing person" with countless similar cases appearing every year in troubled times.
”.
The residents of the island were originally engaged in fishing. Recently, new jobs such as shipping and shipbuilding have been added. The person who made such a big change here was a man who was already extremely famous in the local area.
The loud sea hero, I heard that due to some reasons, he went to other places to seek a better life for a long time. In the past six months, he returned home with a group of people.
The nearby villagers on land and the fishermen who make a living at sea are convinced of this kind of thing.
After all, the previous one was a well-known tycoon in the area, and the rangers and water bandits under his command were not good people. Their actions were deeply hated by local villagers and merchants. In less than ten years,
Only half a generation is not enough for the folks in the countryside to forget those scenes of the past, and naturally they still have the fear left in their hearts.
But that person obviously did become as prosperous as he said.
Not only did he build roads and bridges in the place where he was born, benefiting his hometown, but he even hired two young masters for the children in the village. Even though the knowledge given to the children was very superficial, they even taught lessons.
The level of teachers may not be that high, but even so, it is enough for the common people to significantly increase their happiness index.
It can even be said that if a good person does good things, people may be numb to it, but if a bad person suddenly does good things, even though many people will still look at the other person with doubts, more people will still be
I was so moved that I burst into tears, as if I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
In this context, when this powerful man from the fish and meat village once again raised a team, the fellow villager Xiangzi was much calmer. In fact, the new team formed by this powerful man did not continue to cause trouble to the village.
Instead, they hired many villagers
Help him build ports and shipyards on offshore islands under the guidance of technicians hired from other places. He looks like he wants to change his mind and become a serious person, which makes the older generation who are familiar with him feel like they are in another world.
It's really sad.
Therefore, when the wharves and ports were built and all kinds of ships were put in place, many young laborers stayed. After all, it was better to follow Yuan Shao than to suffer increasingly harsh exploitation from the Qingzhou governor who belonged to Yuan Shao in his hometown.
For fellow countrymen, let alone having enough food and clothing, if you are lucky or have a more flexible mind, you might be able to make a name for yourself by relying on the advantages of being a fellow countryman.
At least, it can be seen from the way the man spent a lot of money after returning to his hometown. He had indeed lived a good life during that time.
"Okay boys, those slow fools are almost done. It's time for us to get ready to sail."
To be continued...