Isn't it good for everyone to be like him and kneel down obediently and be obedient citizens of the Qing Dynasty?
In Hong Chengchou's view, if everyone in the world became obedient subjects to the Qing Dynasty, wouldn't it mean that there would be no more wars and no more killings?
Isn’t this world a stable place?
Those who serve as officials, those who farm, those who do business, do business. Except for the lofty Eight Banners parasites above, everyone in the world has to be their slaves. Isn't it good?
Isn’t this how we have been living for thousands of years?!
"Damn thief!"
Hong Chengchou cursed in a low voice, followed by a series of violent coughs that seemed to knock out his lungs.
At this moment, a fast horse ran out of the sedan chair.
One of Tuhai's soldiers, Geshiha, came outside Hong Chengchou's sedan and spoke.
"Master Hong, my master invites you!"
Hong Chengchou responded, then walked out of the sedan chair, supported by his own entourage, and walked towards where Tu Hai was.
Hong Chengchou came to Tu Hai and saluted respectfully.
"I have met the Governor!"
Tuhai's current official position is not the so-called commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition, but the governor-general of the suppression of bandits in the five southeastern provinces.
Coach of the Southern Expedition is just a name that everyone agrees on.
Seeing Hong Chengchou coming, Tu Hai's slightly frowned eyebrows relaxed, and then he asked directly.
"Sir Hong, I have received a report from the vanguard that there are water thieves in the canal ahead, harassing and plundering our army's logistics fleet."
"I am quite helpless about this. I wonder if Mr. Hong has any solution?"
The Qing army's logistics transport fleet was very large, stretching for dozens of miles in front and back, and countless watercraft and waterworks were serving the army.
However, everything is not smooth sailing!
At the very least, the water bandits active on the canal don't give me much face.
Brother Li Si and Wang Qunshan, two big water bandits active along the canal, were bold enough to plunder the Qing Dynasty's canals several times.
Of course, two cannon boats are nothing.
No matter how arrogant these water bandits were, they would not dare to attack the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty.
At most, it's harassment, or taking advantage of others!
But, this thing is not very harmful, but very insulting.
The toad crawls on his feet, which doesn't hurt anyone, but it hurts them!
Brother Li Si and Wang Qunshan led people to frequently harass the Qing fleet. The final result was that the forward speed of the Qing fleet was greatly reduced.
This was an unacceptable thing for the Qing army who was anxious to go south to quell the rebellion!
Tu Hai wanted to send people to drive away or even eliminate the water bandits who were harassing the fleet.
But he couldn't even catch the opponent's tail!
When the Qing Dynasty gave chase, the water bandits ran away.
When the Qing Dynasty stopped pursuing them, the water bandits came back boldly!
After all, he was a professional beggar on the canal. After living along the canal for so many years, he had a wealth of experience being chased by the government and the army.
How could a group of half-hearted Qing soldiers on the canal be able to capture it?
As for asking the canal workers to lead the team to catch the water bandits, that is even more unrealistic.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the relationship between water workers and water bandits is definitely not shallow.
I can't tell which person across from me is the brother or younger brother of someone on my side.
Tuhai was really annoyed by being harassed by water bandits and had no solution, so he had no choice but to ask Hong Chengchou for advice.
After hearing this, Hong Chengchou pondered for a while and then spoke.
"Mr. Governor, maybe we can send fast horses to deliver orders to the state capital ahead!"
"Let the state capital ahead mobilize local flood troops and prepare to work with our army to intercept and suppress the water bandits."
When Tu Hai heard this, his eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement.
He patted Hong Chengchou on the shoulder with approval, and then asked his men to make arrangements.
…
In the cabin of a flat-bottomed canoe, the environment is dark and humid.
Brother Li Si, a famous water bandit on the canal, held the Ming Dynasty's letter of appointment with an unstoppable smile on his face.
"Haha, I never thought that we, Mr. Li, could one day be a high official in the imperial court."
"Guangzong Yaozu, truly Guangzong Yaozu!"
Brother Li Si is from Yangzhou and was born as an ordinary water worker.
Just because he is a righteous man, has good martial arts skills, and is always generous with his actions, he is quite prestigious among the Cao workers.
In the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign, Lu Zhenfei was appointed governor of water transportation and also governor of Huaiyang. He established a Cao army to fight against thieves and protect water transportation.
During this process, Fourth Brother Li was working under Lu Zhenfei's hands, but he was just an ordinary soldier from beginning to end.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the capital fell into the hands of intruders, King Fu ascended the throne in Nanjing, and Ma Shiying of the eunuch party came to power. Lu Zhenfei, who was born in the Donglin party, was dismissed from office.
The Cao army under his command was naturally in disarray!
Brother Li Si also quit the army and returned to his home.
It wasn't until the tragedy happened on the 10th in Yangzhou that Brother Li's family died tragically at the sword of the Qing army.
Brother Li Si simply stopped doing nothing and recruited some of his familiar waterworker brothers to join him and became a water bandit, specializing in going against the Qing court.
Normally, it would be fun to rob the water transport ships of the Qing Dynasty and collect protection fees from passing merchant ships.
At the very least, he and his brothers will have nothing to worry about!
However, looking at the letter of appointment in his hand now, he still couldn't help but feel a little excited.
I can now be considered an official of the Ming Dynasty!
Although he is now a water bandit, it does not hinder his dream of becoming an official.
Looking at the armored guard Tiqi in front of him who was dressed in ordinary clothes and looked ordinary, but his aura was a bit cold, Fourth Brother Li patted his chest and said very confidently.
"Don't worry, Mr. Yan, if it were placed on land, I, Mr. Li, would be a nobody."
"But on this section of the canal, I, Mr. Li, am quite capable!"
"It will definitely make Qinglu have no peace!"
The Jinyi Wei Tiqi surnamed Yan just smiled and said.
"As long as the general can try to delay the Qing army's march southward, it will buy more time for the imperial army to meet the enemy."
"With this official position and military rank, it won't be a problem if you mention it further!"
"His Royal Highness, Jian Guo, has always been generous with rewards for meritorious ministers!"
Brother Li Si was all smiles and nodded constantly.
I have already fantasized about being a high official in the future.
"..."
Thinking back to what happened three days ago and looking at the letter of appointment that he had pretended to be, Brother Li was still very excited.
In the past few days, he and his men had done several jobs one after another and robbed several Qing government water transport ships, and gained a lot.
Not only did he harvest a large amount of materials, but what he valued most was actually the award from the Ming Dynasty.
He wants to make meritorious deeds, and even more, he wants to climb up!
Just when he was standing on the bow of the ship, thinking about the future.
A large fleet of boats came in the distance. Looking at the flags of the fleet, they were from another group of water bandits on the canal, Wang Qunshan.
There was still a long distance between the two sides, and Fourth Brother Li heard Wang Qunshan's loud voice and saw Wang Qunshan standing on the bow of the boat waving.
"Brother Li, Fourth Brother Li!"
"Brother, I'm here to see you!"
"..."
Li Si also stood at the bow of the boat and waved in response.
"Brother Wang, long time no see!"
"..."
The two fleets met on the canal and discussed the matter of plundering the Qing army's transport fleet together.
The Qing army's transport fleet was large in scale, and its protective power was also not weak.
If the two separate forces, they can only have a small fight. At most, it will delay the Qing army's march south, and it will not cause much trouble to the Qing army.