"The fleet was attacked by thousands of Jingman?" Liu Jing secretly shook his head after hearing this. Wang Qiang's words must have been exaggerated. Although the waters of Lingxian County are located at the intersection of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang, Lingxian County is Changsha. If there are thousands of Jingmans in Changsha who are infesting the Xiangshui River in the county, how can Zhang Xian turn a blind eye? He would have sent troops to encircle and suppress them long ago.
Thousands may not be realistic, but eighteen hundred barbarians is very possible. As the chief secretary in charge of Changsha government affairs, Liu Jing knew that Lingxian County was at the junction of three places. There had always been many barbarians and thieves were rampant.
The merchants who passed by were all trembling with fear, walking on thin ice. It was nothing if their ships and cargo were robbed, and the worst they could do was to lose some money. The problem was that some of the savages were extremely vicious and rarely left alive. Every year, many people and ships disappeared in the Xiang River, and no one was found alive. , there is no dead body.
Wang Qiang said bitterly: "Liu Jun, the villain and the fleet stayed in Lingxian County for one night, and were ambushed by Jingman on the Xiang River the next day. I am sure that there must be a informant for Jingman in Lingxian County. .”
This is for sure. It could be that there is collusion between internal and external parties.
However, Liu Jing was angry, and for a while he had nothing to do with these Jingman. Moreover, he was going to Nanyang Xinye in the next two days to marry Deng Yuan, so he had no time to take care of him.
This time Wang Qiang went south to Jiaozhou. He originally made a lot of profit, but unfortunately he fell short in the end. He lost a ship of cargo and more than 20 people. This trip was thousands of miles long and hard, so the loss was not a loss, but it was basically a loss. It's all in vain.
Although he suffered a heavy setback, Liu Jing had already been mentally prepared when he established the fleet. In this era of Jiaozhou, the profits were huge, but he had to put his head in his belt and risk his life in exchange for it. The reason is that others take huge risks, but you can have smooth sailing.
Furthermore, his purpose was to maintain ships and troops, and he did not care much about money.
Liu Jingquan had no intention of criticizing Wang Qiang at all, but instead comforted him again and again.
Wang Qiang, who was gloomy and unsentimental, was so moved by Liu Jing that he bowed down in tears and suggested that he should follow him north to make up for his past mistakes.
Liu Jing refused without thinking. Liu Zhu was enough. Wang Qiang went south to Jiaozhou this time, which took nearly eighty days in total. He suffered another setback and should have a good rest. Liu Zhu and his The fleet rested for a month. All the boats were repaired, the crews were replenished, and they were ready to set off at any time.
In the afternoon of the same day, Liu Jing went to the county government office to apply for leave to Zhang Xian. Just as he had promised him, Zhang Xian happily approved his leave without setting a time limit.
Now that everything was ready, in order to ensure the safety of this trip, Liu Jing planned to transfer 300 soldiers from the Sima Camp of another department to accompany him. This matter could not be carried out openly, lest Zhang Xian's face would not look good, so he asked Liu Zhu to lead the fleet south. The soldiers were transported back quietly.
Returning home in the evening, Liu Jing began to pack his bags, and the betrothal gift was ready, including a hundred catties of gold, a bundle of silk and jade, and several boxes of South China Sea treasures that Wang Qiang brought back from Jiaozhou, with a total value of millions of dollars.
Even though in the Han Dynasty, "Marriage was a matter of death, there was a lot of splendor and splendor" and "Marriage in the alleys was especially about wealth", Liu Jing's betrothal gift was still generous.
However, he will not suffer a loss, because nowadays a woman's dowry is far better than a man's betrothal gift. The folk proverb goes: "You can't steal a house with five women." That is to say, after someone marries five women, his family will inevitably become extremely poor. Even thieves are too lazy to visit their home. The Deng family in Nanyang is one of the few big families in the world, so the dowry must be rich.
"Zhongda..." In the evening, Lai Ci came to Liu Jing's dormitory without makeup and a bun.
Liu Jing saw a look of hesitation on her fair and beautiful face, but she hesitated to speak, so he couldn't help asking: "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
Lai Ci sighed softly, and said with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "My brother wrote a letter before, testing whether I have any intention of remarrying."
Liu Jing looked calm and asked, "What do you mean by sister-in-law?"
"Of course I don't want to." Lai Ci's weak spirit disappeared and he said decisively. "Don't Zhongda still understand my sister-in-law's thoughts? My sister-in-law only sees tiger heads now and will never do what he wants again."
Liu Jing had some guesses about her purpose and said: "Are you afraid that I will be persuaded by Lai Jun's words when I go to Xiangyang?"
Lai Ci did have such worries. After all, her brother Lai Gong had been Liu Jing's teacher, and Uncle Ji might not reject his proposal. Therefore, she had to make it clear to Uncle Ji in advance to nip the "danger" in the cradle.
Liu Jing's eyes were piercing and he couldn't help but laugh: "My sister-in-law has too little confidence in me, right?"
Seeing Uncle Ji making fun of him, Lai Ci knew that he was overthinking and couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed.
Liu Jing slowly put away his smile and said solemnly: "Sister-in-law, no matter what decision you make, I will support you. I only hope you can be happy."
When Lai Ci heard this, his heart warmed up and he said, "Zhongda, my sister-in-law is very touched that you can think like this."
Liu Jinghan smiled and said: "Sister-in-law, these are all my words from the bottom of my heart."
Completely relieved, Lai Ci took out a letter from his arms, which was written to his brother Lai Gong, and asked Liu Jing to pass it to him. Then his beautiful eyes moved, he looked around the bedroom and asked: "Zhongda, your clothes are all gone."
Have you packed it up?"
Liu Jing nodded and said, "It's almost done. I'm going to bring some more books."
Lai Ci nodded and said, "It's a long way to Nanyang, so I should bring more books to relieve my boredom."
The two chatted for a while, Lai Ci got up and left, and Liu Jing walked to the door.
The next day, Liu Zhu not only brought back 300 soldiers, but also Cai Sheng and Ma Zhou. Ma Zhou was the person Liu Jing appointed to lead the army this time, and Cai Sheng's arrival was a bit surprising to him.
It was unexpected.
Liu Jing looked at Cai Sheng, who was wearing a Hewei military crown and a military uniform. How could he not know the purpose of his visit? He said: "Hongchao, I obviously only called Zijin, why are you following me?"
Ma Zhou was snickering at the side, his brows trembling wildly.
Cai Sheng replied: "Of course I will follow Liu Jun to Nanyang."
Liu Jing shook his head and said: "You are different from Zi Jin. You are a Sima of another department officially appointed by the emperor. You can't even come to Linxiang at will, let alone follow me to Nanyang."
Cai Sheng looked disapproving and said: "I just board the boat quietly at night so that no one can see me. The prince is busy with government affairs, so he has no time to pay attention to me."
Liu Zhu didn't wait for Liu Jing to speak again, and hurriedly spoke up: "Liu Jun, Brother Cai heard me talk about what happened to Wang Zijian's fleet, and he was very worried about Liu Jun's safety, so he had to follow him no matter what. Brother Cai is superb in martial arts.
Taking him with you is enough to ensure that Liu Jun has nothing to worry about."
Liu Jing glanced at Liu Zhu and sighed to Cai Sheng: "Hongchao, you are really making things difficult for me."
"Liu Jun agreed?"
Liu Jingdao: "If I don't agree, will you just go back to the military camp?"