The meeting ended without any results, but being fruitless is itself a result. It was still dark, and the patrols in brocade and the officers and officers' fast-horse documents flew out separately. At the same time, the huge fleet did not dare to stop at all. , but taking advantage of the warm afternoon sun and no ice obstacles, I tried to slowly turn into Huanshuikou.
In fact, at this point, the problem has become very serious. The Long Whale Gang, a local gang that controls the trackers and specializes in the official ship business, has also heard about the unrest ahead, or in other words, they are the first-hand information recipients and disseminators. , this time he was actually unwilling to send trackers and ice pounders to help.
The reason was that they were afraid that the trackers and ice pounders would be injured or killed and would not be able to explain to their superiors.
Obviously, this is because I don’t want to wade into troubled waters.
“Is this something they won’t do if they don’t want to?”
The planners from various counties who had looked gloomy just a moment ago were furious, but what they said unexpectedly made sense.
"This Huanshuikou business is huge. The Changjing Gang has been allowed to monopolize it for five or six years. Isn't it just that they dare to go up at this time? Otherwise, why did the Zuo brothers just settle down in the local area and become the world's richest people in five or six years?" Has the Whale Gang become one of the best gangs in the world?"
"Why is Zuo Caihou pretending to be a good person at this time? If he really wants to be a good person, just scatter his belongings to the gang!"
"There is no need for him to scatter his belongings. Just replace him with a gang leader who is willing to provide a tracker. The profit is huge. Are there enough heroes to look at the Zuo brothers?"
"Pegasus went to the Pengcheng County Yamen to find the prime minister with a black ribbon and told him that the 'Yitian Sword' Miss Bai is on the ship. How on earth does he care about his elder brother's wantonness! I really think that his second brother can run wild with his ability. The world is under control? Is General Zuo worthy of Miss Bai’s sword?!"
"There are no other explanations. With the 'Eternal Sword' on board, what casualties is he worried about? Which thief dares to touch the fleet?!"
After speaking to the rudders of a group of giant whale gangs, the deputy rudders scolded him for going up, but the rudders of the group could only bow their heads and agree, and no one dared to be so arrogant.
Zhang Xing saw clearly on the boat, and became more and more sure of a point he had deduced before, that is, these Jianghu gangs are themselves a combination of social interests. It is the interests that attract practitioners with secular needs, and then create gangs. It is not the gang itself that attracts practitioners.
It's just that the practitioners' right to speak and strong presence make gangs, an organizational form that is difficult to spread universally in another world, have a stronger presence in this world, become more common, and gain official approval. That’s all.
In stark contrast, sects and sects are obviously attached to the existence of actual theocratic authority, and because of the high ideological unity between theocratic authority and political power, they naturally have affinity with the government.
Not to mention how Zhang Xing watched coldly on the river, and then brainstormed his political thesis, just that after getting off the boat at the busy pier on the shore, the giant whale gang leader Zuo Caihou, Zuo Boss, finally couldn't resist. Resisting the pressure, he appeared on the shore...
This is a man who is about thirty-seven or eighty years old. He has a plain appearance and simple clothes. He only wears a blue turban on his head, and his weapons are not visible at all. Instead, he is followed by a dozen strong men, one by one. The clothes are gorgeous and have weird writings, and the weapons are also sophisticated. Some are even exaggerated. Some people carry three knives, others carry two swords, one long and one short, and some even carry a large long sword on their backs. This is okay. , the key is that there are many gold rings on the back of the long sword.
On the contrary, it is full of Jianghu spirit.
Think about it, the Huaihe River is the boundary between the north and the south, the Central Plains and the Eastern Border, Huainan and even the Dongyi. This kind of freight provides such a profit, and the Eastern Border in the northeast is the hometown of the Eastern Qi.
Many officials and powerful families are unable to enter the officialdom, but they are enough to raise countless reckless heroes.
As soon as the person arrived, he repeatedly handed over to several senior planners with a humble attitude. However, although the latter were resentful, they obviously lost their previous arrogance when they saw the person coming and many martial arts masters. Then they only went to the boat to take a look, but
Not to mention Zhang Xing, no one in the entire Jinyi patrol team wanted to get involved in this matter. Hu Yan, a black-sanded man, even got into the boat directly.
To put it bluntly, the matter of delaying the deadline is probably a matter of head and hat for the specialized accounting officials, because that is what they are supposed to do, but it does not matter to the Jinyi patrolmen who came to escort this batch of food.
How serious it must be, because they thought it was given by Taichung, and it was a deposit of food, but they didn't say the date. The key is to see what Cao Zhongcheng said in Taichung. No matter how extreme Cao Zhongcheng's statement was, it was impossible to really ask for the whole thing.
The head of the patrol team.
In addition, this is not a trip to Jiangdu. After a month or two of hard work, everyone has loaded half of the boat with things, and they can't help but have a bit of a non-stick mentality.
And precisely because of this, starting from the noon meeting, the Jinyi patrol team had a cold and onlooker attitude. Zhang Xing's cold attitude was not his own indifference, but a statement on behalf of the patrol team.
In this way, seeing that the Jinyi patrol team was unwilling to get involved, after some involvement, a group of people could only move to a place farther away from the dock to talk. There were even local officials involved. I don’t know what they talked about specifically.
But after a while, the planners came over with the gang leader.
"Does this leftist gang want to see us face to face for inspection?"
On the pedal on the shore, Qin Bao frowned slightly, and then looked at Zhang Xing on the other side of the pedal.
"Why do you need to see the inspector?" Zhang Xing smiled half-heartedly and stared at several senior officials.
"Zhang Baishou." One of the leaders of several planners hurriedly raised his hands on the shore. "Zhang Baishou must make it convenient...Today's matter is mainly due to thieves causing trouble ahead. The Long Whale Gang is worried that the trackers will encounter chaos, so they cannot be careful, but
They don’t know that Zhang Baishou is accompanying you all... and if they see Inspector Bai is also in the team, they will naturally feel relieved... After all, who below the Grand Master can be a swordsman for Inspector Bai?"
Below the Grandmaster, there are not even a hundred but eighty people who can be used as a sword by that old woman... Zhang Xing complained in his heart, with a joking smile on his face, but in the end he nodded and signaled Qin Bao to get out of the way... Not sticking to mud means not sticking to mud, but people
You have worked hard enough, how many of you are on the road, can you still stop me?
Immediately, several senior planners came up together with Zuo Caihou, the leader of the Changjing Gang, and a person dressed as a Taoist.
"Leader Zuo, please go in by yourself. The one on the top of the boat looking over here is our inspection team." After getting on the boat, Zhang Xingfu called out to the leader of the Long Whale Gang again, slightly cupping his hands, and speaking politely, but not as before.
The indifference towards those officials. "But please bother the guards to stay."
"I've seen this Zhang Baishou."
Zuo Caihou did not panic, but responded seriously and explained, "This is not my escort. He is a hero who has just come upstream from the Huan River. I brought him here to ask him to talk about the situation upstream in person."
Zhang Xing was stunned, but then shook his head: "It doesn't matter, just ask this hero to talk to me. Leader Zuo will go and see my house for inspection. It won't be a problem."
Zuo Caihou was stunned for a moment, but the accounting official next to him became impatient and quickly introduced: "Why is Boss Zuo so ignorant? How can there be any mediocrity under Inspector Bai? The second brother Qin just below is the third person on the list.
Hundreds of thunder runners, this one is the world-famous desperate Zhang Sanlang... He is the one who ranks the best people in the world. He has always been good at both civil and military affairs. This time he went south to our Jiangdong and became an acquaintance with Liu Yunhe of the Eight Families...
As for Bai Inspection, who is like a fairy, Zhang Sanlang and a black ribbon handle all daily patrol affairs! Didn’t your third child really tell you?"
Not to mention the official bragging, Zhang Xing could see clearly that when the guy mentioned his nickname, the Whale Gang member had already woken up... I don't know where he heard the reputation?
"It turns out that he is Zhang Sanlang, who is full of righteousness and righteousness in the eastern capital." Zuo Caihou repeatedly handed over his hand, and his attitude became even more impeccable. "I was in Huaishang, Huanshui. I heard a lot about Zhang Sanlang's righteousness and often rescued people in trouble in Jing'an Taichung.
I really didn’t expect... I didn’t expect to meet by the river today!”
Zhang Xing suddenly realized that he had saved some of the names of those wealthy people. He had more thoughts in his mind, but he did not hesitate to smile on his face: "Your Excellency, what you want to say is that it sounds like a big name, but I didn't expect it to be just a guy with a white ribbon."
Bar?"
Zuo Caihou laughed out of embarrassment without losing his honest and honest attitude.
"Left Leader, let's go." Zhang Xing urged sideways. "Don't delay the fleet's schedule. This hero can rest assured to stay with me."
Boss Zuo then raised his hand, nodded slightly to the man dressed as a Taoist, and then went to the top of the boat.
Zhang Xing also behaved politely and invited the man to get off the boat and sit on the shore... The two of them, plus Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan, passed a group of officials and wealthy people and went to a tea shack on the ferry.
Sit down and then chat.
"You are a local, and your surname is Zuo?" Zhang Xing was surprised for a moment.
"I'm not from Zuo Gang Leader's family, I just happen to be from the same village and have the same surname." The Taoist smiled bitterly upon hearing this, obviously he had experienced similar questions.
"Speaking of which, what is the origin of Zuo Gang leader's family?" Zhang Xing continued to ask randomly.
"This kind of thing can be answered by any one of us in Xiapi or even around Xuzhou in the southern section of Pengcheng." The Taoist responded seriously. "The Zuo gang leader's family was the richest people in our Pengcheng County when they were in their generation.
, all three brothers can make a difference, so they are more respectable... The leader of Zuo Gang is the eldest, and is called Zuo Caihou; the second brother is called Zuo Caixiang, he is a master of condensing pills, nicknamed Ziwu Sword, he is used to traveling around, and he usually doesn't care.
The third child is the local resident Heishou of Pengcheng County, who is called Zuo Caixiang."
"The name is quite interesting." Zhang Xing said with a smile. "What about your Excellency?"
"Me?" The Taoist was surprised for a moment.
"Yes." Zhang Xing answered seriously. "What is your name? What is your origin? What is your cultivation level?"
This question was too direct. Zhou Xingfan couldn't help but glance at Zhang Xing, but it was Qin Bao who acted as if he hadn't heard anything and was just drinking tea.
"I...my name is Zuo An. I am the same hometown, village and surname as the leader of the Zuo Gang, but my life is not that good." The Taoist smiled bitterly. "When I was a child, my family was in ruins, so the Qingdi Temple happened to accept people, so I was sent to the temple to support myself.
, another Dharma name was given to him in the temple, and he was called Zuoyou. He was enlightened in the temple and built a foundation. When he was young, he was sent to the temple on the other side of the East China Sea. Now he can barely connect the eight extraordinary meridians.
I really couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to go home and show off. But when I returned home in the middle of this year, my house was completely destroyed by Yang Shen's chaos, so I wandered around here in confusion for half a year..."
"My condolences, Brother Zuo." Zhang Xing slightly cupped his hands and continued to ask, "Then I dare to ask Brother Zuo, what do you want from me this time?"
"Demands?"
"That's right." Zhang Xing responded seriously. "I see that you brought the news here specially, and you came with the leader of the Zuo gang to see my house for inspection... You have been dizzy in the past six months. Do you want to seek refuge with the villagers and make a living? Or do you want to
Looking for a place to get promoted and a future? This is all human nature. If you have any ideas, just say them directly, and we will definitely be willing to help."
"I..." The Taoist was nervous for a moment, then laughed dryly. "I didn't think too much. I just came from the Huanshui River and gave a speech to the fellow villagers."
Zhang Xing suddenly understood, and then nodded: "It turns out that Brother Zuo is a very righteous person... Then I dare to ask what is going on upstream on the Huan River?"
"There are a lot of troubles. The lower reaches of Xiapi County and Pengcheng County have the foundation of the Giant Whale Gang, but the upper reaches of Pengcheng County are very chaotic. There are many bandits who take advantage of the shallow water in winter to seek money and food. As for big troubles, the main reason is
There are several large mountain villages in Qiaojun, including Dangshan, Jishan and Yutou Mountain. They have united together and controlled half of the water section upstream of Qiaojun. They are very powerful." Zuo You said sincerely.
Zhang Xing nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know, as soon as the village came out, food was one of the things to say. Now it's winter again. Even if I know it's a dead end, I still have to give it a try... I understand what you mean.
Who asked us to transport food?"
Zuo You nodded repeatedly.
This time, Zhou Xingfan did not dare to say anything, but Qin Bao glanced at Zhang Xing.
At this point, he said a few words about local customs and customs. Seeing the left gang leader cautiously getting off the boat, Zhang Xing also stopped talking and turned around to meet him. The other three people naturally followed him quickly.
"Left Gang Leader."
Zhang Xingyuan raised his hand. "How did you tell me about the inspection at home?"
"It was just a one-time meeting. When I saw that it was the Yitian Sword, I felt relieved. I will send the ship immediately and try my best to send the brothers from the seven southeastern counties into Huanshui River before tomorrow." Zuo Caihou responded with a distant smile.
"That's good." Zhang Xing also smiled. "We also said it neatly... It's a pity that this brother Zuo You is so righteous and doesn't want to repay him. It really makes me feel ashamed."
"Don't worry, Zhang Sanlang." said Zuo Caihou, who had already walked down and came to speak with a smile. "This is what I said, and I will naturally thank you."
"That only belongs to Boss Zuo." Zhang Xing shook his head, but turned back to look at Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan on the pier. "Qin Erlang, you go to the boat to pick a good horse and a good knife; Xiao Zhou, you go to the back and serve as an official.
Take twenty taels of silver from the boat...and give them to this righteous man from the left."
After hearing the words, the two of them went straight to the boat without thinking about anything. The officials, heroes, gangs, and laborers on the surrounding docks had already started making noises. The dog in golden clothes seemed to want Boss Zuo to reward him for reporting the news.
Silver, but unexpectedly still generous benefits.
It’s really like a hair on my waist, and it’s thicker than an average person’s thigh.
But Zuo You was confused for a moment and wanted to refuse.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Xing looked back and stopped: "Brother Zuo, you must not refuse. Although you are a high-righteous person, haven't you heard the story of a gentleman who redeemed a person in the ancient country in the east?"
As he spoke, Zhang Xing told an allusion about the tribute and redemption of people, and then bit Zuo You: "I accept it with confidence. This is to reward you for your righteous deeds, not to reward you as a person. Don't
He said that you are from Boss Zuo's village and his own brother, so you are a Dongyi spy, so I won't delay you in passing the news and you will be rewarded. Otherwise, if we are in trouble again in the future, who will tell us?"
By this time, Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan had already disembarked. They each presented their thank-you gifts, while Zhang Xing just handed over his hands and boarded the boat with them.
On the other side, amid the sounds of tut-tutting, as Boss Zuo waved his hand, the huge fleet finally slowly began to turn towards the mouth of the Huanshui River.
Let's say that now that things have happened, the Jinyi Patrol has not been able to get a reply from Taichung for a while, but it can only bite the bullet and do it, especially when it is about to turn into a narrow inland river and may encounter bandits, so it also drove.
A small meeting... Called a meeting, it was just a general exchange of ideas. After summarizing information from all aspects, it was decided that Bai Yousi's fleet would be in the middle, Hu Yan's fleet would be in the rear, Li Qingchen would be in the bow, and Qian Tanghe would be in the bow.
Zhang Xing each led seven or eight cavalry and divided his left and right wings to cover on land. This was a simple strategy.
Among them, Zhang Xing was ordered to protect the right wing, which was the east bank of Huan River. Qin Bao and Zhou Xingfan were among them.
That night, before the second half of the fleet entered Huanshui River, Zhang Xing and Qian Tang had already led their respective teams to leave the Xucheng Pier and followed the first half of the fleet into the wilderness.
At this point, the young Master Zhou finally couldn't hold it back any longer.
"Brother Zhang."
Beside the bonfire, Zhou Xingfan, who had just gone to the boat to fetch food, was handling the food while lowering his voice and asking seriously, "Is there something wrong with Zuoyou?"
"Absolutely." Zhang Xing, who spread out the paper and was fiddling with charcoal, responded calmly. "A master at the stage of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, even though he is only the lowest master, is still a master. He would be too obedient to deal with us.
In addition, his origin is unknown. He said he was a fellow villager of Mr. Zuo, but his family was lost in the war, and there is no proof. More importantly, our fleet had just arrived, and he came from upriver. I said there was someone in the boat.
Food, a thief has to fight for food. He is a helpless wanderer, but he seems to have known about it for a long time... He is not surprised at all."
"It turns out that the third brother has known for a long time that he was deliberately testing the food." Zhou Xingfan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Qin Bao, who had been silent, with an awakened look. "The second brother Qin has also noticed it a long time ago?"
Qin Bao smiled honestly and said nothing, but just helped the other party start boiling water and rice.
Zhang Xing just nodded perfunctorily and began to scribble on the paper.
Seeing this, Mr. Zhou became more and more relaxed. He couldn't help but add firewood to the fire and continued: "In this way, we are actually loose on the outside and tight on the inside. How to guard against thieves? Brother Zhang San and Bai Inspector,
And Brother Hu and Brother Qin, they should have plans already, right?"
Zhang Xing finally looked at Zhou Xingfan with a strange look on his face, which made him feel scared.
But at this time, Qin Bao seemed a little helpless, and lowered his voice and asked: "Third brother, do you really don't care?"
"It's not that I don't care." When facing Qin Bao, Zhang Xing naturally wanted to be honest, so he put down his pen and paper and dug into his heart. "The current situation is that the team is so big and the fleet is so long, we are just a group of twenty or thirty.
Individuals can't control much... especially when everyone has made a fortune. As long as Zhongcheng can say a word, who is willing to take responsibility for those county officials? One of his own teams has evil intentions. The county, the Jinyi Cavalry, and the Long Whale Gang all have their own plans.
If your heart is not aligned, how can you do anything?"
"The key is..." Qin Bao gritted his teeth. "There is something that I can't get over."
"Food?" Zhang Xing blurted out.
"That's right." Qin Bao sighed. "What if the food is robbed and the court asks the seven counties to make up for it?"
"Then let me ask you in turn." Zhang Xing answered seriously. "You know that the Central Plains has been devastated by war this year, and you also heard today that there are cottages on several mountains in Qiao County, which is a little far away from the imperial court.
...Are the people in the cottage more innocent than the people in Funiu Mountain? Aren’t they hungry in the winter? If they take away food, it’s not a human life.”
Qin Bao hesitated for a moment, then continued seriously: "What Third Brother said makes sense... But once there is another levy in the Seven Counties, the officials will take action, and coupled with road problems, the actual consumption will be more than the food on the ship;
But here, after all, they are thieves. The people in the den of thieves were good people before, but how can they be good people after becoming thieves? Nine out of ten are not working... I was pitiful in Funiu Mountain before
Those people, it’s because they didn’t lose their crops.”
"What you said makes more sense." Zhang Xing listened carefully to the other party's words and nodded repeatedly to show his agreement. "So aren't we still trying our best to protect the fleet impartially? Moreover, Qin Erlang, since you said so,
But I have two new questions for you."
Qin Bao immediately became solemn and sat beside the fire with his hands clasped in his hands: "Third brother, please speak."
Mr. Zhou, who had been stunned for a long time, could not help but feel solemn.
"The seven counties are being recruited again, and the officials are going up and down, including the road consumption you mentioned... Is this how it should be?" Zhang Xing responded quietly. "Also, how did the thieves in the mountains in the hinterland of the Central Plains come from? Who are they?
Are they so forced that they don’t care about production? Don’t they originally want to live in a family where men farm and women weave and eat their own food?”
Qin Bao stopped talking and could only lower his head sadly.
At this moment, the three people beside the fire, plus the other four patrolmen who had been listening with their ears pricked up next to the fire, almost all raised their heads, because they clearly heard that someone stepped on the dead branches outside.
, and that was a simple warning they placed behind the tree.
Of course, it could also be a rabbit.
But after a while, there was no movement at all. I don't know if the rabbit suddenly froze.
"Catch it back." Zhang Xingduan sat still and continued to fiddle with his charcoal with his head down. "If it's troublesome, blow the whistle and ask for inspection."