The road to the south was long, and the two large ships were heading south in the vast sea. Because they were worried about making mistakes, they could only sail away from the coast. Fortunately, the weather was always sunny and the wind and waves were not big. Otherwise, Lin Jue would still be there.
I am really worried that these two broken ships will not be able to cope with this long voyage.
As we headed south day by day, the temperature increased significantly. The worrying sea ice conditions were no longer a problem. Eleven days later, two large ships arrived on the sea outside the mouth of the Southeast River. After determining the southeast
Since it was impossible for the sea area to freeze, Lin Jue ordered the icebreaker's icebreaking hammer to be removed. Firstly, this thing was probably no longer needed. Putting it on the bow would greatly increase the burden on the ship and affect the ship's navigation. Secondly,
Soon we will enter a large inland river. The ice-breaking iron boat is too unique. The two ice-breaking hammers are very eye-catching on the bow. It is easy for others to tell that these are not two merchant ships.
As the two heavy ice-breaking hammers fell into the sea and the crankshaft crossbars related to the bows were removed, the two large ships at least looked the same as ordinary ships in appearance. Because of their age, the iron sheets of the hulls were also painted black.
The material of the paint cannot be clearly seen, and if you don't carefully identify it and inspect it at close range, it won't be exposed.
After making all the preparations, Lin Jue ordered the boat to enter the river. After sailing in the vast sea for many days, everyone suddenly felt better after seeing the gradually clear inland countryside. But at the same time,
, their nerves were also tensed. To go upstream from the Yangtze River and cross a long distance inland to reach the Biyang River in Tangzhou was even more dangerous than sailing on the sea. Because there were large ships on the main waterways.
Zhou's naval vessels are patrolling, and once their identity is discovered, they will immediately be attacked from all directions.
Before entering the Yangtze River Estuary, Lin Jue made detailed arrangements, including how to deal with interceptions by the navy, how to deal with interrogations, how to act when forced, etc. But plans are plans, which does not guarantee that everything will go smoothly.
It is said that everyone will not be too panicked when encountering changes, and at least have a direction to act.
Going west along the river, you can have a panoramic view of the inland scenery. Both sides of the Yangtze River are already Jiangnan scenery. Lin Jue has not set foot in the south for two years, and he feels quite friendly when he sees the scenery along the way. The big rivers in the south are not frozen, so the rivers are not frozen.
There were also frequent boats coming and going on the river. The boats on the wide river were very busy with white sails. This reminded Lin Jue of the previous scene of watching the busy boats on the Hangzhou Canal.
It was night when I passed Jiangning Mansion. When I passed the mouth of the Qinhuai River, I saw bright lights and flashing red lights from a distance, which was very similar to the grand scene on the West Lake during the Oiran Competition in Hangzhou. Although the country has experienced drastic changes, in the southeast area,
Some things remain unchanged. As the saying goes, "Shang women don't know the hatred of the country's subjugation, but they still sing after the river.", probably few people in the world know that the Great Zhou Dynasty is about to usher in an important decision without knowing the consequences. Also
No one seems to care about this.
Crossing Jiangning and heading north to Huaihe River, it was a smooth journey.
The ships of the Dazhou Navy did encounter some, but they obviously did not show any interest in these two dilapidated ships. They only encountered an interrogation by the Huaidong Navy and the Jianghuai Army at the mouth of the Huaihe River. However, the navy who boarded the ship for inspection obviously did not
Not strict, especially after smelling the stench of seafood, he covered his nose and refused to enter the warehouse.
Lin Jue told them that he was a merchant who trafficked dry goods from Hangzhou to the northwest, under the banner of Wanjia, a large merchant in Hangzhou who specialized in trafficking in sea goods. The leading officer never looked back after pocketing the one hundred taels of silver notes.
Interested in interrogating, he led the people away from the big ship and waved to let them go. Only then did the two big ships successfully enter the Huaihe River and continue westward.
If they were willing to spend a little time to investigate, even if they couldn't find armor materials among the rotten fish and shrimps, they could still find everyone's mounts from the front cabin compartment. Those are all war horses, and their leg strength is obviously different from ordinary ones.
, and it bears the mark of the Zhou army. They can tell the clues at a glance. But they missed it. Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing for them personally. Because once they find the horses, Lin Jue and others will start to kill them all.
Killing. To a certain extent, they saved their own lives, which was considered lucky.
A few days later, the two large ships turned into the narrower Biyang River, which had already entered the territory of Tangzhou. The two guards led the horses ashore and rushed to the village to report the news, so that the Luoyan Army sent men to respond, while the large ships were meandering.
Walk slowly in the winding river to avoid getting stranded.
There are rarely such large ships sailing in the Biyang River, which successfully attracted the attention of the government. Tangzhou has no water army, but there are soldiers and horses patrolling the river. They are equipped with small boats. The morning after entering the Biyang River,
There were officers and soldiers blocking the river and demanding inspection.
Lin Jue knew that the officers and soldiers near Funiu Mountain were extremely vigilant, and they might not be able to fish in troubled waters. Instead of entangled with them, it would be better to ignore them at all. So he ordered the big ship to rush forward at full speed. The small boat blocking the front was on the big iron ship.
They fled in all directions under the impact, and several ships were directly hit and smashed. This action immediately triggered a reaction. By the afternoon, all Tangzhou officers and soldiers on both sides of the river arrived. They followed the big ships along the coast, and arrows continued to shoot towards them.
Shot from the boat.
Lin Jue was unmoved. He didn't care about these Xiang troops in Tangzhou, because as soon as the Luoyan Army arrived, these guys would be scattered. Lin Jue simply let the big boat stop in the middle of the river to wait for reinforcements. Everyone on the boat was only responsible for
Just organize the officers and soldiers who try to board the ship in small boats, and completely ignore the officers and soldiers on the shore.
The stalemate lasted until evening, when the soldiers and horses on the shore suddenly dispersed, and the boats on the river also dispersed. Lin Jue and others guessed that reinforcements must have arrived.
Sure enough, not long after, hundreds of cavalry arrived first, led by Guo Kun and Ma Bin. The Tangzhou officers and soldiers were obviously extremely wary of the Luoyan Army. Only a few hundred cavalry rushed towards them, and they immediately fled after receiving the news.
.I'm afraid he has retreated into the city again.
Lin Jue let the big ship dock, and everyone
They were very happy to meet each other. When they saw the armor supplies slowly arriving in the cabin, Guo Kun and Ma Bin were so surprised that they couldn't help but gasp. When the sky was dark, the Luoyan Army's four thousand infantrymen, led by Liang Qichentan, arrived.
They came with a large number of vehicles. Everyone worked together to load the materials into the vehicles and transport them to the Funiu Mountains overnight.
When leaving the ship, Lin Jue called the dozens of boatmen and gave each of them three times their wages. He also warned them that the two ships had been targeted and they could only go home by land.
Of course, you have to pay separately.
Lin Jue also drafted a letter on the spot and asked them to hand it to Bohai County Magistrate Zhang Hanqiu after they returned. In the letter, Lin Jue thanked Zhang Hanqiu for taking care of him in Bohai County. At the same time, Lin Jue told him that he was in Bohai County
There was an iron box left by the old shopkeeper of the Sihai Inn, and I asked him to take it away. It was what I left for him.
On the day Lin Jue left Bohai County, Lin Jue left the iron box containing the five thousand taels of silver notes with the shopkeeper of Sihai Inn. Lin Jue told the shopkeeper that after a while, County Magistrate Zhang would come to pick up the iron box.
, there is no need to make any announcement before this. Lin Jue knew that it was impossible to return the two large ships he borrowed, and he did not want to embarrass Zhang Hanqiu. If the Bohai County Magistrate is a foolish and corrupt person, Lin Jue will naturally not care about him
No matter what, Zhang Hanqiu is still a good person. At least he is a good official who cares about the country and the people and does things for the people. Lin Jue does not want him to be unable to explain to the military. Five thousand taels of silver is enough to buy these two broken ships.
Zhang Hanqiu will definitely not be embarrassed by this matter.
There was also a letter in the box. In that letter, Lin Jue identified himself and apologized to Zhang Hanqiu. In fact, even without that letter, these boatmen would naturally report what they had seen along the way when they returned, and Zhang Hanqiu also
You will surely guess your identity.
After that, Lin Jue ordered people to set fire to the ship. Under the blazing firelight of the two large ships, the Luoyan Army convoy escorted hundreds of carts full of supplies and set off overnight, rushing back to Funiu Mountain.
The journey was uneventful, and the officers and soldiers didn't even have the guts to poke their heads in. After the failure of the last imperial expedition to attack the mountain, the Luoyan Army has become a nightmare for the Xiang army in the state capital. Although Guo Xu left tens of thousands of Xiang troops to guard it together.
In the area near Funiu Mountain, all they could do was huddle up inside the city and defend it tightly. In fact, the Luoyan Army could move through the large area outside the city at will, but they did not dare to come to encircle and suppress it.
The convoy moved slowly until the afternoon of the next day before arriving at the pass of Dongshan Canyon. When they arrived at Luoyan Valley, it was already sunset.
The entire Luoyan Army went out to greet them, and the Lin family's wife, concubines, and children were also waiting at the top of the mountain early. You can imagine how happy they were to see Lin Jue and others returning. Lin Jue had been walking for nearly forty days and left in early November.
, but it was already the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month when he returned to the village. Lin Jue fulfilled his promise to come back to celebrate the New Year without any damage, and brought back a large number of important supplies and equipment that the village urgently needed.
That night, a banquet was held in the county government hall to welcome Lin Jue and others.
