General Qin Chengbo of the auxiliary state was kidnapped and killed in Hongzepu. The news of the Hongzepu Water Village raising flags for rebellion shocked both sides of the Shiliang River. The refugees stranded on both sides of the Shiliang River were immediately ready to move.
The Dongyang did not engage in combat when it withdrew from Shanglindu, but on its way to Yerendu, it encountered five groups of rogue bandits who robbed the ship.
When we go to Shanglinli, the south wind blows, so we can sail very quickly; when we go south, the north wind comes and goes. When there is wind, we sail. When there is no wind or there is a headwind, we can only row the oars and poles, and the boat speeds up.
The boat was much slower, and there were constant raids by rogues on both sides of the river. Lin Fu and the others took a boat until noon the next day before arriving at Savage Crossing.
The bandits were all small in size and had crude weapons. Many of them even took risks and swam to seize the boats. It was easy to dispatch these bandits, but Lin Fu looked at the rippling blue waters of the Shiliang River with a frown. Although not all of the refugees on both sides of the embankment might be happy.
He dared to take risks, but because of the Hongzepo incident, the refugees gathered on the river embankment seemed to have fire in their eyes. It was already a dangerous moment.
In the past few months, Jiangning Prefecture, Pingjiang Prefecture and other local governments blocked the river crossings in order to protect the local area from being attacked, leaving hundreds of thousands of refugees trapped in the north of Chaotiandang. These refugees were either hiding from the government or fleeing from bandits.
During the famine, most people left their homes and brought their families with them. Most of them were trying to earn a living ration to survive in this cruel world. However, they were left in the northern part of Jiangning Prefecture and on both sides of the Shiliang River. They were unable to work and had no land to farm.
, those refugees who were the first to resist the urge to go to dangerous areas aggravated the conflict between the local government and the refugees.
The officials of various counties in Jiangdong County have been in the officialdom for more than ten years. For decades, they are all excellent people, good at scheming, and good at planning. However, they are all blind to this bird on the north bank of the sky.
The huge and extremely dangerous gunpowder barrel turned a blind eye. The Third Division of Jiangdong County and the Yamen of Jiangning Prefecture discussed the resettlement of the refugees on the North Bank several times, but they were separated several times due to various excuses. They just sat and watched the refugees on the North Bank starve to death in the fields and piled up corpses beside the road.
, I don’t know what kind of decision these officials can make in response to this critical situation!
The boat approaches Savage Crossing.
The last time I passed Yerendu was at night after the rain. There were restaurants, inns, tax offices, and checkpoints at the ferry. The surrounding area was surrounded by shacks where refugees lived. It looked dilapidated, but it was a rather prosperous ferry in the south of Shiliang County. Every day there were boats.
Continuously, there are also cars and horses heading east to Weiyang Mansion, and countless refugees stay here begging and working.
Looking around at this time, in the deepening twilight around the fields, I saw countless columns of black smoke rising in the sky above Yerendu and connecting with the sky. Not only the restaurants, inns and the official offices of the tax department's checkpoints only had broken walls.
Even the surrounding refugee shacks were burned to ashes. On the ferry pier, there were several corpses of soldiers and low-level officials wearing robes. In addition, there was also a white female corpse lying naked on the pier.
He was raped/murdered to death, and several ferries were burned and scuttled near the shore.
The large number of refugees who had been left behind at Savage Crossing had disappeared. Only a few people were rummaging through the ruins for valuables. When they saw the Dongyang boats approaching, they looked towards the river for a few times and then fled towards the woods to the east.
After Dongyang withdrew from Shanglindu at noon, it did not delay on the way. He saw that at many crossings along the way, the villages were looted and burned by bandits. Lin Fu speculated that someone made a special trip to quickly spread the news that Liu An'er had gathered a crowd in Hongzepu.
I thought that these leaders of the water village were really careful and well connected in their actions.
Originally, he wanted to stop at Yerendu, but seeing the situation at Yerendu, this idea could only be scrapped. Lin Fu asked the big loach master Ge Cunxin to send a signal to other ships and continue sailing under the bright moonlight, eventually returning to the sky.
Walking to the south bank can really help you breathe a little easier.
"Further south is the border of Jiangning Mansion. The flag of the Second Young Master Qin has been prepared. Should we hang it up now?" Cao Ziang asked.
"Hang it up." Lin Fu said.
I don't know if the warships of Jiangning Water Camp have been dispatched. To avoid misunderstandings caused by sudden encounters, Lin Fu asked people to raise the flag of "Zhaowu Xiaowei Qin" to the mainmast and press it on his "Jiangdong Inspector General Jinchuan Si Yulin".
on top of the flag.
Lin Mengde, Zhou Pu, Ge Cunxin, Zhao Hu and others looked up at the "Zhao Wu Xiao Wei Qin" flag spread out in the wind on the main mast, and they all smiled at each other tacitly.
Qin Chengbo's eldest son died young, and his second son Qin Shizheng joined the army because of his family background. He has been serving in front of his father Qin Chengbo's tent. At a young age, he was already a fifth-rank Zhaowu captain. Qin Chengbo died in battle at Luoyang Lake.
When the Dongyang withdrew, Qin Shizheng and more than a hundred other Qin family members were rescued. The Qin family on the Dongyang should be dominated by Qin Shizheng. However, the second son of Qin, who had two hundred kilograms of good meat, was not injured at all.
Frightened, he developed a high fever and has been lying unconscious in the cabin from early morning to now. Lin Fu prepared more trauma medicine on the ship, but could not give Qin Shizheng the right medicine, so he could only rush to Jiangning as soon as possible to delay medical treatment.
The whole family was in a panic.
"Sir Lin," a maid in green clothes came out of the cabin and called Lin Fu, "Sir Lin, my wife asked you why you don't have a rest on the shore. The cabin is almost suffocating."
Including Gu Yingxiu, Lin Tingxun, a half-dead man, had five wives on the boat. Lin Fu couldn't recognize which lady's maid this girl was for a while, so he waved and said: "It will take a while..."
The Dongyang only has two cabins on the stern deck that can accommodate people, with open windows. The thirteen cabins below the deck are all watertight compartments for loading cargo. The ventilation conditions are poor, dark and lightless, and fire is prohibited. It is uncomfortable for people to live there.
.
It was just that the aft cabin room was limited. It was originally designed for sixteen crew members. Only thirty or forty people could be squeezed in. Lin Fu cleared out the cabin to accommodate the wounded and those who took care of the wounded. He, Cao Ziang, and Zhou Pu
, Lin Mengde, Zhao Hu and others, as well as the armored soldiers and local braves, were tired and just rested on the deck. Whether they were the Qin family or the Lin family, they all came down to sit in the cargo hold.
At first, these people ran to the deck to get some air, but they encountered five consecutive bandits hijacking the ship along the way, and they refused to come out without being chased away by forest guards. It was certainly uncomfortable to be stuck in the cargo hold for a long time.
The maid was a little afraid of Lin Fu. Seeing his gloomy and ugly face, she said hesitantly: "My wife said..."
"Zi Ling, what did the Third Madam say?" Gu Yingxiu emerged from the cabin. She couldn't be too close to Lin Fu in front of outsiders. She spent most of her time in a lower cabin with other female relatives. At this time, she went to the deck.
Come up and breathe.
"Madam asked if we could clear out a stern cabin? Just put the injured ones down in the cabin. No servant in the world enjoys happiness, and the master has to endure hardship." Maid Ziling saw the seventh lady coming over, and she became bolder.
Some of them finished their words eloquently.
"Where's this nonsense? If you don't feel comfortable living in the cabin, go ashore and go to Jiangning," Lin Fu cursed mercilessly. Seeing that the maid's face was slumped and about to cry, she looked upset and cursed again, "
Get out."
Maid Ziling never thought that the well-dressed Lin Xiucai would speak evil words without caring about his manners. Her little face turned pale with fright, and she didn't dare to take a breath. She wanted to cry but didn't dare to cry, so she got out of the cabin dejectedly.
"The third lady is a person who is used to enjoying happiness. She has never suffered such hardship. Don't be angry about this matter." Gu Yingxiu saw that Lin Fu was angry about this matter and came over to persuade him, "She usually treats her servants badly.
It’s not bad.”
"I think she has water in her head. Without us lowly servants fighting in front of us, could they escape from the forest unscathed?" Lin Fu frowned and asked sharply.
Although Lin Mengde also had the view that the master is noble and the servant is humble, he also knew the priorities. At this time, he felt that the third lady's request was really too much. However, Lin Fu's reprimand was too merciless. He thought to himself: No matter Lin
Whether Fu's words were sincere or not, the surrounding Xiangyong and the Wuwei must have felt warm in their hearts after hearing this. He also saw that the surrounding Xiangyong and Wuwei were tightening their grip on their weapons and puffing up their chests.
Lin Mengde thought that some people are probably born to be able to impress others. Just like Lin Fu's words just now, they are very simple and anyone can learn to say them. However, how many people can be as strong and natural as Lin Fu?
Saying it willfully will make others feel that it is worth working for him at this time?
The key point is that Lin Fu did not just say it verbally. After withdrawing from Shanglinli, Lin Fu did not deal with the Qin family or the Lin family. He sincerely expressed his greetings to the Xiangyong, Wuwei and ordinary people who boarded the ship to take refuge in Jiangning;
At that time, regardless of the danger of falling into the water, he personally ran to the fast paddle boat to check the warning, and brought food and water to Xiang Yong on the boat himself.
No one on the ship was better at treating Jin Chuang's injuries than Lin Fu. When the situation calmed down a bit, Lin Fu asked the others to take turns to rest, while he worked tirelessly to stop the bleeding and apply medicine and wrap the injured Xiang Yong's wounds.
When Lin Fu was tired, he just sat on the deck with his clothes on and leaned against the side of the ship, squinting and resting for a while.
Lin Mengde thought that they fled south in a hurry. They were constantly harassed by rogue bandits along the way, but everyone's morale was not bad, which had something to do with Lin Fu's intentions. Especially when they were crossing the forest, the enemy was in the water village.
The boats came like a swarm of ants. Lin Fu had the courage to lead six boats to confront the enemy boats at the fork of the river for a long time, and sent the Xihe Hui Caoboat to receive the fleeing people along the Shiliang River. Many of them were the family members of Xiangyong.
, in the end, Lin Fu was able to escape with everyone intact, which left a very deep impression on everyone.
Ever since Lin Fu came to Jiangning last winter, Lin Mengde had been in contact with him. From the turmoil in the feudal dynasty to Lin Fu establishing his own business in Jiangning, from the massacre of refugees to the Dongshi Incident, and then to the Luoyang Lake water battle, the withdrawal from Shanghai
In the forest, Lin Mengde felt that the talents displayed by Lin Fu were far behind.
Especially for the refugee tragedy, most of the first batch of refugees recruited would be panicked when the tragedy happened, but Lin Fu was able to turn the tragedy into a key opportunity for the cohesion of the refugees in the river mouth to suddenly increase.
This seems to have gone beyond the scope of talents or abilities, and it is up to Lin Mengde to judge accurately, or it would be more appropriate to say that Lin Fu is a natural-born general.
Gu Yingxiu thought that the third lady's request at this time was indeed too much. She advised Lin Fu: "I will go and tell her that the master is alive and dead. The second master and the eldest son are not here, and the second master is dead."
Because of this, we still need the third lady to take charge of this family. If we make them feel resentful, they may be suspicious of you coming to seize the family property."
Lin Fu sighed slightly. The ship contained about 160,000 taels of silver from the Lin family's gold and silver wealth. However, Lin Tingli might fill the vacancy of the Dongyang magistrate, and the eldest son Lin Xuwen was serving as the fifth-grade doctor of the Ministry of Industry in Yanjing, so he could not take it.
This huge sum of money was not in Jiyunshe's name.
Lin Fu let out a breath, softened his tone and said to Yingxiu: "You go and be a celebrity. And after arriving in Jiangning, you should discuss where they want to settle down. You will not stop along the way. Tomorrow evening
We’ll arrive in Jiangning soon.”
Gu Yingxiu nodded, and Lin Tingxun, who was about to die, and all the ladies fled to Jiangning. She could not live alone in the Gu family or elsewhere. Besides, the Lin family had a hundred people with them, and there was no one else in Jiangning to take charge of this.
The family wanted her and Lin Meng to be in charge, but they also wanted to avoid suspicion with Lin Fu, so many emotions had to be buried in their hearts.