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Chapter 8

Anji Meixi, after the rain, the water on the west bank of the lake is clear, and the sun shines through the bottom. Looking from a distance, it seems like a crystal clear emerald inlaid between heaven and earth. Lin Fu, Chongzhou County Secretary Li Shuyi and others boarded a boat in a light boat to see the waves rippling in the distance.

The Tianmu Mountain here is as green as jade, and on the waterside in front of the mountain, a white stone pagoda more than two feet high shines in the sun. People sitting on the boat feel as if they are walking in a painting.

Along the way, it was windy and rainy, with few sunny days. The weather was so bright today that Lin Fu felt comfortable standing on the bow of the boat. This was already the 21st day that he had left Chongzhou and entered the three prefectures along the Taihu Lake to collect food.

Meixi is a market town in Anji County, Huzhou Prefecture. The Shu family in Meixi is not a distinguished family, and there are no children in the family who are famous. They have accumulated such a large fortune purely through land and water trading. It is difficult to say that they are innocent at all;

Lin Fu only knew that the Shu family in Meixi did not bribe the Qu family to send people to attack Hekou.

Looking from a distance, there are some people standing on the shore, all wearing long clothes and scarves. It seems that they are the people who came to the lake embankment to greet the Shu family after receiving the news. They were still far away, and Lin Fu sat casually on the bow of the boat, talking to Chongzhou County next to him.

Li Shuyi, the household clerk, laughed and said: "It is said that the local snakes in Anji County are not easy to deal with. I think they are very welcoming and enthusiastic to us coming all the way to raise food..."

What a welcome, what a waste of enthusiasm. Li Shuyi secretly spat in his heart, but with a smile on his face, he said: "It's all thanks to Mr. Lin's fame and the squire of Anji County who is enlightened and knowledgeable..."

Lin Fu smiled slightly. He didn't care what Li Shuyi had against him. He went out to collect food and took Li Shuyi with him because he was afraid that Li Shuyi would interfere with Lin Mengde, Fu Qinghe, and Hu Zhiyong's work on Xisha Island.

Li Shuyi was born as a scholar, and he was also a man who read poetry and books. He failed several provincial examinations and temporarily worked as a secretary in the county. He had no intention of being a scholar in the imperial examination. Along the way, he spent most of his time in

On the boat, Lin Fu had nothing to do and passed the time by talking about books, classics and history with Li Shuyi. I wonder if Li Shuyi could understand the resentment in his heart, but he no longer treated him like a snake or scorpion in his words and deeds, which was a great improvement.

Li Shuyi looked back and saw that the two ships "Jiyun 1" and "Jiyun 2" with shallow water and deep draft near the shore could only anchor in the middle of the water a little far away from the lake embankment. He, Lin Fu, Ao Canghai and others

They took a light boat, and more than twenty soldiers in two other light boats escorted them ashore to meet with the Shu family of Meixi to discuss raising food.

The two armed warships "Jiyun 1" and "Jiyun 2" stand out from the surrounding small fishing boats and are extremely tall. There are more than a hundred soldiers in armor standing on the deck. In addition, there are brave refugees and boatmen.

There were more than 300 sailors. Li Shuyi thought that Lin Fu relied on such force. Rather than raising food, Li Shuyi thought it was better to ask for food by force.

The Qujiatong bandit case was not trivial and involved many things. The Qu family, a powerful family that had lasted for more than two hundred years, was wiped out overnight. Chen Xiyan, the former Minister of Household Affairs and a great scholar, was also forced to plead guilty because of his relationship with the Qu family.

It shows that he has extinguished any hope of becoming the prime minister; it is even more impossible for the Qu family to bribe the forces of the Taihu water village that participated in the attack on the river mouth to clear out the relationship.

This is not a matter for the Qing Dynasty to purge themselves. More than three hundred Taihu pirates who participated in the attack on Hekou were charged into the Jiangning garrison, and dozens of bandit leaders were imprisoned in Jinchuan Prison Island Prison. It can be said that Gu Wuchen will have whatever evidence he wants. Besides,

The Qu family has monopolized the rice and grain trade imported from Pingjiang, Danyang, and Huzhou prefectures to Jiangning for a hundred years. The power of Taihu Water Village and the local gentry family have some overt or covert connections with the Qu family.

Fortunately for the local aristocratic families, there are many educated children who serve as officials, and they are self-contained in the government and the public. Headed by Chen Xiyan, they are the Wu Party. The Wu Party failed to compete with the Chu Party for power this time, and it is inevitable that they will be hit.

The sons of officials may be demoted or dismissed from office, but they will not worry about destroying their families and destroying their clans. No matter how severe the struggle situation is, they will not be able to defect to the Chu Party.

The various forces in the Taihu water village that formed a stronghold for self-protection did not have this confidence.

Chen Xiyan is hopeless, Chen Xinbo is alone and unable to support himself, and no one in the court can restrain the power of the Chu Party. How wide and deep the Qujiatong gangster case will be will depend entirely on the face of the Chu Party.

At this time, all the forces in the Taihu Water Village are in danger and panic. Those who are well-connected think that they are not involved deeply. They have already made connections. At this time, Gu Wuchen has made preparations for the war in the name of raising food. How could they not understand it?

Is it good or bad?

The local government and county government completely ignored Lin Fu's use of tiger skin as a banner to enter the country. However, as long as the Qu family was not bribed this time to send people to directly participate in the attack on the river mouth, the Taihu water village forces were eagerly looking forward to Lin Fu's "food collection".

The arrival of "make".

Li Shuyi left Xisha Island with Lin Fu, entered Jiyang Lake from Donglai River, entered Taihu Lake through Chenghu Lake, then entered Dianshan Lake, and entered Huzhou via Zhuxi River. More than 20 days have passed so far, and he directly visited Shanshui Village 26 along the way.

family, and even contacted the leaders of 133 Shanshui Villages.

For the Zhujia Shanshui Village forces, this is an opportunity to spend money to clear their names and prove their innocence.

Lin Fu was also very clear about the purpose of his trip. The low bid made the various water village forces feel uneasy. He would sit on the ground and raise the price wherever he went. Of course, he also allowed the various water villages to bargain. In short, everyone should be happy.

In the past twenty days, a total of more than 60,000 shi of food have been raised, and in addition, more than 80,000 taels of money and wages have been raised.

To raise food, Lin Fu asked each water village to prepare their own food ships to transport to Xisha Island and Dongyang respectively. Xisha Island's disaster relief grain amounted to 40,000 dan, which was enough to meet three months' expenses based on the scale of the disaster victims on Xisha Island.

Except for part of the money raised, which was used to purchase a large amount of porcelain, iron, bricks, wood, mules, horses and other disaster relief materials along the way, to be transported to Xisha Island with the grain ship, most of it was intercepted by Lin Fu and loaded on the ship.

The harvest from this trip is not small. In addition to obtaining so much food and money, stabilizing the situation in the Taihu Lake Basin is the key.

Li Shuyi was complaining in his heart. The Inspectorate and the Xuanfu Envoys and the Prefectural and County Yamen belonged to two different systems. He worked so hard with Lin Fu and was greedy for less than a penny. Not only did it not benefit his career in the slightest, it also had no benefit to his career.

If you get along with Lin Fu for a long time, you may become suspicious and ostracized by your colleagues in the future.

The most important thing is that Li Shuyi knew that Lin Fu went on a killing spree in Jiangning. More than 300 people from Taihu Water Village were killed by his sword, more than 300 people were arrested and sent to the army, and dozens of leaders were imprisoned in the prison under his jurisdiction.

I don’t know how many people in Jinchuan Prison Island Dalao, Pingjiang, Huzhou, and Danyang prefectures wanted to kill Lin Fu and then get away with it.

Along the way, every time he accompanied Lin Fu to land in a light boat and negotiated with Zhushuizhai about raising food, Li Shuyi was afraid that if someone was doing well, he would suddenly drop his cup and countless knife-wielding men would emerge from behind the screen and chop them into pieces.

, and even more afraid that everyone would be drinking tea and eating wine peacefully, and suddenly they would be holding their throats and unable to breathe, rolling around on the ground and being poisoned.

Along the way, Li Shuyi felt like a live fish dragged to the cutting board by Lin Biqiang, waiting with his eyes open to chop it off with a knife. This kind of fear is really unbearable.

In the first ten days or so, except for the constant harassment and attacks by bandits from Xiaogu Lake along the way, the negotiation with Zhujiashui Village to raise food went smoothly, and no special incident occurred. No matter how stupid Li Shuyi was, he could have guessed that Lin Fu

Having an accurate list in his hand also made him hate Lin Fu so much that he was frightened for more than ten days in vain, and a lot of his hair fell out every day.

The same is true for people. Once they have thought through and made a move, the fear in their hearts will recede like the tide and disappear without a trace. Putting aside Qingliu's inherent prejudice against dissidents, Li Shuyi thought carefully about Lin Fu's deeds. He was indeed far inferior to ordinary people.

talents and the magnanimity to lead others.

Two hundred strong men selected from the victims went with the boat to make up for the shortage of manpower. At first, they were in a mess on the boat and were at a loss. In the past few days, they have been able to assist the boatmen in maneuvering the boat in an orderly manner, and assisted the soldiers in counterattacking along the lake.

There were more than two hundred people from more than 200 miles away, and the four leaders of the victims headed by Ning Zechen were just looking at them.

Of course, when the refugees on Xisha Island were hit by the disaster, Chongzhou County and the local government abandoned them like a pair of shoes and left them to live or die without caring about them. Only Lin Fu stepped forward to rescue the distressed people, gave them a way to survive, and even gave them a place to live.

and other hopes, how could they not just follow Lin Bima's lead?

Thinking about it again at this point, Li Shuyi felt that he had no special prejudice against Lin Fu. Shilin Qingliu regarded Lin Fu as an alien, mostly because of his arrogant and domineering words and deeds. Li Shuyi had been with him for nearly a month, and felt that instead of saying

His words and deeds are arrogant and domineering. It is better to say that this person is more independent. As far as disaster relief on Xisha Island is concerned, it is difficult to imagine that anyone in Chongzhou County can do a better job than Lin Fu.

At first, Li Shuyi did not agree with abandoning the disaster-stricken refugees on Xisha Island. The wealth of middle and lower-level officials, young and old, were all in Chongzhou City. Once the Xisha Island refugees imitated the Hongze thief Liu An'er, Chongzhou City would be in danger; Ninghai Town was under military control.

The garrison in Shanshui Village is not worth relying on. However, Li Shuyi is a low-key person in the county, and his opinions cannot affect the county magistrate Chen Kun. Seeing that Chen Kun was embarrassed in front of Lin Fu, Geng Weide, who usually relied on Chen Kun's trust to dominate the county, gave Lin Fu

Fu gave him a harsh lesson, which made Li Shuyi feel happy.

The embankment of the lake was getting closer, and he could almost clearly see the expressions on the faces of the people on the shore. Li Shuyi thought that after the conquest of Anji County, there would be no more delays along the way back to Chongzhou. It would be a smooth journey, and it would only take three or two days.

Once we reach Chongzhou, this hard work is over.

Li Shuyi was thinking wildly when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hoofbeats. He looked sideways and saw a bay-red horse galloping quickly from the west. The knight was crouching on the horse's back and couldn't see his face clearly, but it attracted the attention of everyone in the lake and on the embankment.

Seeing this strange situation, Lin Fu decisively signaled the rowers to stop the boat and frowned at the situation on the embankment. Many people wearing long gowns who greeted him on the river embankment had strange expressions on their faces. He saw the knight who suddenly rushed nearby reined in his horse and turned sideways.

, raised his hand to take out the hunting bow that had been hidden under the horse's belly, nocked the arrow and drew the bow, and heard a sharp sound piercing the sky and shooting towards this side.

Li Shuyi was startled when he saw the arrow coming this way. He subconsciously wanted to hide behind Lin Fu, but he was afraid of being underestimated by Lin Fu, so he stopped abruptly. The guards on the left and right had already stepped forward to protect them.

behind.

"It's a message arrow, pick it up." Lin Fu said calmly.

After Lin Fu finished speaking, the white arrow with its tufted head fell into the water three or four feet away from the bow of the boat. Li Shuyi felt secretly ashamed, and felt that Lin Fu was really not as calm as ordinary people, and he actually followed it calmly.

The arrow's trajectory was used to determine in advance that the arrow would fall into the water three or four feet away.

The guard soldier picked up the white arrow that fell into the water and handed it to Lin Fu. Lin Fu untied the small oil paper package tied to the end of the arrow shaft, unfolded the note inside and said, "I always think that the She family will not

It will make me feel too comfortable. I didn’t expect them to hold back until then. There is an ambush on the shore. Let’s go back to the big boat! Be careful with the fishing boats and don’t let them approach easily.” He handed the note to Ao Canghai, signaling to the rowers.

They turned around and rowed back; the soldiers were also on guard, and a large shield was erected on the bow of the ship to guard against ambushes hidden in the several fishing boats scattered on the left and right.

Li Shuyi couldn't figure out for a while who the "She family" Lin Fu mentioned was referring to, She Wenzhuang, the Marquis of Jin'an? However, someone on horseback shot an arrow from the shore to report the news, which also made him aware of the potential crisis.

When the three assault boats turned around, Li Shuyi looked back and saw that the archery messenger was turning his horse and running back. A dozen cavalrymen galloped out of a peach forest far away from the lake embankment to intercept him.

He felt a chill running down his spine: There was really an ambush in the peach tree! Li Shuyi didn't know why someone would report the message to them in time. He saw the messenger stabbed the first ambush soldier who rushed out, and he didn't know if he had reported it to them.

When he was injured, he saw that he could get rid of the entanglement before being surrounded and fled far away.

Lin Fu had no time to pay attention to the secret whistle on the shore. He took off his waist knife and held it in his hand. He took off his green official robe and threw it casually on the board of the ship, revealing his short-breasted cloth shirt. He asked the guards to help him put on the scale armor and put on the armor.

A shield was kicked at Li Shuyi's feet and he said: "Sit in the middle of the boat with your shield, cover your head and chest, and be careful if you fall into the river. No one will be able to take care of you later."

When they encountered bandits several times before, Li Shuyi and Lin Fu were both on the big ship. He hid in the cabin and watched Lin Fu and the others fight back on the deck. At this time, he was standing on an assault canoe without a canopy, and the width of the hull was even

Neither of them had a spear long, so Li Shuyi was inevitably panicked. He took the shield and sat in the middle of the cabin. He saw that Lin Fu had put on his armor, holding the shield in his left hand and the knife in his left hand, ready to fight. He thought to himself that Lin Fu was just a move.

, he could not panic about the enemy, but he could not be too arrogant, forcing himself to look forward calmly.

When the seven or eight fishing boats scattered on the lake saw the three assault boats suddenly turning back after receiving the report, they all took off their camouflage and came together to intercept them. Each fishing boat had seven or eight armored soldiers emerging from under the boat canopy.

Half of the people had big bows in their hands, and there were more than thirty big bows in total, and they shot arrows at them at seventy or eighty paces.

The swordsman and shieldman put up a large shield on the bow of the boat, and the arrows hit the large shield and made a dull sound. The swordsman and shieldman in front couldn't bear the pain and let out two screams in succession. Lin Fu looked over and realized that the enemy was hiding on the fishing boat.

It was not simple. There were actually many iron arrows that shot through the wooden shield at a distance of seventy or eighty steps. One of the sword and shield players was close to the shield and was hit by the arrow in the lower side. The palms of the two sword and shield players were nailed to the wooden shield.

together.

There were no more manpower and no more space on the ship. Except for the man who was hit by the arrow in his side, who had to be replaced, the two shield-hands whose palms and wooden shields were nailed together by the iron arrows were only removed from their waists.

He lowered the medicine bottle and sprinkled half a bottle of medicine powder on the injured area to stop the bleeding and relieve the pain. Before he could pull out the arrow, he supported the big shield with his shoulders and continued to hold on at the bow of the ship.

"Put up double shields on the bow of the ship! Pay attention to the side protection, pay attention to the enemy's arrows, and prepare to fight back with your crossbow!" Ao Canghai ordered in a deep voice.

Ao Canghai had previously served as the military attache of the forward battalion in the Chen Zhihu Division of the Eastern Fujian Army for a long time. He had a deeper understanding of hand-to-hand combat with cold weapons than Lin Fu, so he was naturally responsible for commanding the assault troops on boats.
To be continued...