Chapter 21: The Bandits of Dongting Lake

  The Dongting Lake appears quiet and deep under the night sky, with the reeds around it swaying gently in the breeze. The Xiangjiang River flows abundantly through mountains and valleys, emptying into the Dongting Lake. Underneath the dense reeds at the mouth of the Xiangjiang River, four small boats are hidden. Although the boats are small, each one is equipped with six oars. Such fast boats lead to only one conclusion: they are pirate ships. Indeed, Zhang Zhao, a notorious pirate on the Dongting Lake, is lying in wait here. Yesterday's report stated that Yang Yiren, the Salt Tax Intendant of Sichuan, had resigned and was returning to his hometown of Changsha, expected to pass through the Xiangjiang River mouth tonight.

  Zhang Zaojing sat at the bow of the boat, chewing on a reed stem and staring blankly at the dark water: The Sichuan salt tax supervisor is a lucrative position. Anyone who thinks about it with their toes knows that the salt tax supervisor's office is incredibly wealthy. Moreover, why not travel during the day when it's safe? Why take the risk of traveling through Dongting Lake at night? There must be some ulterior motive!

  Zhang Zhaonian was about 27 or 28 years old, with a long and thin face, according to his brothers' description, even more so than a donkey's face. During the Tianqi era, he had served in the naval forces of Dengzhou, but due to being constantly shortchanged on military pay, he went to reason with his superior, only to be brutally beaten and thrown into prison. His brothers were indignant, killed the superior, rescued Zhang Zhaonian, and escaped to Dongting Lake. On Dongting Lake, they had a fierce battle with several groups of bandits, and then gathered a group of poor fishermen. Over the years, they became the largest water bandits on Dongting Lake, known as the "Dragon King" Zhang Zhaonian. The government launched several campaigns against them, but either let Zhang Zhaonian escape or were defeated, resulting in Zhang Zhaonian remaining at large to this day.

  There were a lot of mosquitoes in the reeds, Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai were tormented to the point of being unbearable, constantly cursing Yang Yiren, complaining that this greedy official's boat was so slow, it was almost midnight, but still hadn't arrived. Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai were originally Zhang Zhao's sworn brothers in Dengzhou, at that time eight people escaped together, some died and some were injured in Dongting Lake, now only three people including Zhang Zhao were left.

  Zhang Zhao glared with his eyes wide open and shouted: "You've robbed and killed before, are you afraid of mosquito bites? Next time when going out, use mugwort to smoke yourself!"

  Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai smiled wryly, not saying a word, following Zhang Zhuo's gaze into the depths of Dongting Lake. After a moment of silence, Zhao Hehai couldn't help but speak up: "Big brother, this Dongting Lake is too small, we three brothers are also cramped here, working hard every day, and can't even get anything good. Think about those Western ships that sail to the sea, if we could just hijack one, it would be enough for us to live a life of ease!"

  Li Mingshen blinked his one eye and said, "I'd rather not go to sea, otherwise I won't be able to keep my left eye either." Li Mingshen was good at observing the stars and the sun, and served as a fire chief in the army. His right eye had been blinded by years of exposure to sunlight.

  "Where can we get a sea boat? The sea is not like the land, if you're not careful, the ship will be destroyed and people will die!" Zhang Zhoutou said without turning his head. Zhao Hei sucked his teeth and said: "I was just thinking, now that we've left Dongting Lake, we'll definitely get caught by the government!"

  "Hush, quietly, there's a boat coming, inform the brothers to get ready!" Zhang Zhao ordered.

  All that could be seen was a speck of light on the distant horizon, and everyone stared as it slowly approached. As it drew closer, it turned out to be two ships, each heavily laden with cargo. The bandits couldn't help but get excited - today they had stumbled upon a fat prize.

  Zhang Zhaoyan saw the target ship getting closer and closer, and ordered: "First deal with the first ship, capture Yang Yiren, and force the second ship to surrender! Humph, even if the second ship wants to escape, it can't escape, our ship is fast!"

  Finally heard the sound of the target ship's movement, Zhang Zhao waved his hand and said, "Brothers, up!"

  Only four ships were seen rushing towards the target ship like arrows, Zhang Zhao, Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai stood at the bow of the ship, with knives in their right hands and shields in their left hands, shouting: "Stop the boat ahead, leave behind the money to sell your life!"

  A shout came from the boat: "We're done, there are bandits on board!" There were also cries. Zhang Zhao judged by the sound that the other party should not have armed guards, so he ordered: "Surround it, brothers, rush onto the boat!"

  The robbers were one more ferocious than the other, and they all climbed onto the boat. Before long, an old man was dragged out of the boat and thrown in front of Zhang Zhao.

  The old man didn't panic, adjusted his clothes and asked: "I'm Yang Yiren, an old useless man passing through this place on my way back to my hometown, I wonder which good fellow has come to welcome me?"

  The old man's calmness was beyond Zhang Zhao's expectation. Ordinary people, when hijacked, would either beg bitterly or shout loudly, but this old man still had the leisure to make jokes, making Zhang Zhao admire him greatly.

  Zhang Zhao didn't want to lose momentum, so he shouted: "Are you Yang Yiren? My brothers and I have been short of money lately, we want to borrow some from Magistrate Yang to spend!"

  "Alright, alright, this is what should be done. Yang Fu, offer the silver to the good men!" The old man's servant struggled for a moment before Zhang Zhao signaled the water bandits to release Yang Fu. After being freed, Yang Fu entered the cabin and brought out a tray of silver ingots, about 50 taels in total.

  The bandits appeared, extremely furious, scolding and cursing incessantly.

  "Old Yang, are we beggars? You think you can get rid of us with just this little bit of silver?" Zhang's icy voice sent shivers down everyone's spines.

  Yang Yiren cupped his hands and said: "This old man has been an official all his life, and he really doesn't have much wealth. Please forgive me, good fellow."

  Zhang Zhaohum shouted an order: "Brothers, search for me!"

  Before long, the pirates returned to the deck and cried out: "There's nothing in the hold except a few huge rocks!"

  "What about the boat behind?"

  The robbers on the boat behind also shouted: "It's all stones, damn it, there's nothing!"

  Zhang Zhaoda was shocked and stared at Yang Yiren: "Yang Lao, what's going on?"

  "The boat is crossing the river, the waves are high and the water is urgent, there's no choice but to use stones to weigh down the cargo, in fact, there's not much silver left. If you gentlemen don't believe me, you can take my life." Yang Yiren said loudly.

  "All I want is money, what's your life worth? Not even enough for dog food!" Zhao Hehai cursed in a fit of rage.

  "Shut up!" Zhang Zhao shouted at Zhao Hehai, "Who would have thought that Yang Tiqi is actually an honest official?"

  "Alas, I've long wanted to resign and return home. The officialdom is dark, being an honest official is even harder than being a corrupt one!" Yang Yiren sighed.

  Zhang Zhaowei hesitated for a moment, then ordered: "Brothers, retreat!"

  The whole gang of bandits jumped off the boat in disappointment and slowly rowed away, soon disappearing into the depths of Dongting Lake.

  Yang Yiren saw the pirate ship disappear into the distance, and finally couldn't see it anymore. He ordered: "Yang Fu, inform the five ships behind us to speed up and enter the Xiang River!" A triumphant smile appeared on his face.

  The next day, Zhang Zhao heard that Yang Yiren had brought seven ships of wealth through the Xiangjiang River to Changsha. He was so angry that he spat out blood and sighed: "I didn't expect that I, Sai Longwang, would be deceived by Yang Yiren and miss this opportunity! What's the use of keeping my eyes?" After finishing speaking, he raised his right hand, straightened his fingers, and fiercely poked at his own right eye. Li Mengshen happened to be beside him and quickly used his hand to block Zhang Zhao, saying: "Big brother, what's the point of this? We still have next time!"

  Zhang Zhao used too much force, although Li Mengshen blocked it, his fingers were inserted into his forehead, and his forehead immediately gushed out with blood. Zhang Zhao gritted his teeth and said: "This revenge will not be repaid, I swear not to be human!"

  Yang Yiren had such a clever plan, of course, it was spread all over Changsha, and within a few days, it spread throughout Dongting Lake. Zhang Chao was filled with regret and felt that he had no face to make a living on Dongting Lake, so he took his brothers to the Yangtze River, preparing to establish himself on the Yangtze River and continue his promising career as a water bandit. Given Zhang Chao's expertise in naval battles and his sense of justice, the water bandits on the Yangtze River were either absorbed or killed by Zhang Chao and his men. Within a year, Zhang Chao's gang became the largest group of water bandits on the Jingjiang River, plundering merchants and travelers, especially showing no mercy to passing officials, causing widespread panic in Jingzhou Prefecture. The left and middle guards of Jingzhou had naval patrols on the river, but they were no match for Zhang Chao and his men.

  When Zhang Zhao was having a great time on the Yangtze River, Lin Chunhong's attention also shifted to the Yangtze River. Currently, the land purchase in Baili Zhou is going smoothly, and as long as there is enough silver, it will not be difficult to fully control Baili Zhou with time; at the same time, incorporating the local people near Gehouyan into the system is also progressing smoothly, and Baiya Cave and Sichuan officials almost regard Lin Chunhong as their parents. Lin Chunhong believes that with the construction of warehouses in Gehouyan, Xiaowanzi, and Yahekou, the progress and depth of integrating the local people will be further improved.

  Lin Chonghong's third step plan was to thoroughly control the Yangtze River and Qingjiang waterways. The Yangtze River and Qingjiang were Lin Chonghong's lifeline, whether it was timber or local goods, or other cargo, basically all transported by waterway, so in order to take a hundred feet pole head further, eliminating water bandits became a matter of course.

  At this time, Zheng Tiancheng was reporting to Lin Chunhong about the waterway at Geheyan. Zheng Tiancheng counted on his fingers and said: "Since last year's end, there have been five batches of goods hijacked, respectively in Shitaozi, Liujiawan and Jiangkou downstream of Baili Zhou, with a loss of 1,320 taels of silver and 13 boat workers."

  Lin Chunhong listened while marking on the map with a pen. After finishing the markings, he stared at the map and fell into deep thought.

  After a long time, Lin Chunhong pointed to the map and said: "At present, it seems that the water bandits are temporarily unable to plunder the upper reaches of Baili Island..." As he spoke, Lin Chunhong stopped again, his eyes gradually becoming sharp, turning his head to stare at Zheng Tiancheng, saying: "However, I will not pin my hopes on others. This gang of water bandits, we will eliminate them!"

  Zheng Tiancheng was startled by Lin Chunhong's gaze, and his heart couldn't help but feel a chill. Is this still the little San who grew up with him? He carefully said: "As far as we currently know, the largest water bandit on the Jingjiang River is Sai Longwang Zhang Zhao, whose strength is formidable. What strength do we have to go and suppress?"

  Lin Chunhong slapped his palm on the map, saying: "For the time being, we don't have the strength, but now that we've started to lay out our plans, I believe it won't be long before the water bandits can't jump around anymore. Hmph! Relying on plundering, they're like a tree without roots, how many days can they last?"

  Zheng Tiānchéng was far less confident than Lin Chunhong, hesitating: "Th...this..."

  Lin Chunhong said resolutely: "You are in Baili Zhou, quickly build a shipyard, I don't care what kind of ships the yard can build, by the end of the year I want to see our ships, no matter how much silver it takes, I will approve; also, recruit as many sailors as possible, even if we don't need that many people, just keep them on my payroll. By next summer at the latest, we'll organize a fleet to find Zhang Zhao's bad luck!"

  This remark was so arrogant that Zheng Tiancheng, who was good at calculating, did not dare to agree. Zheng Tiancheng couldn't help but remind him: "Zhang Zhuo is brave and experienced in naval battles. Our newly formed fleet, which of them can be Zhang Zhuo's opponent?"

  Lin Chunhong sneered, "Even if they're not our match, we'll still fight. How many water bandits can there be? One battle will consume some of them, and eventually, they'll be exhausted. But our ships and sailors can be replenished endlessly. In the long run, how can Zhang Zhao be our match? Moreover, with each battle, our fleet's experience will increase, and Zhang Zhao will soon not be our match!"

  Zheng Tiancheng exclaimed: "That would consume a lot of silver!"

  Lin Chunhong patted Zheng Tiancheng's shoulder and smiled: "Tiancheng, this account can't be calculated like that. Think about it, after eliminating Zhang Chao, Jingjiang will be under our control, how much silver can we not earn back?"

  Zheng Tiancheng was convinced and nodded in agreement, just as he was about to make a decision, Lin Chunhong said: "You'd better hurry back to Baili Island right away, get the two things I told you done immediately, we can't wait!"

  Zheng Tiancheng agreed and left.

  However, Zhang Zhao's action was much faster than Zheng Tiancheng. As soon as Zheng Tiancheng returned to Baili Island, he received a report: the wooden raft had been hijacked and the loss exceeded 4,000 taels!

  "Get out! All of you get out!" Zheng Tiancheng kicked over a chair, still not satisfied, and then overturned the table.

  The underlings stood trembling outside the door, not even daring to enter and collect their pay. Since Zheng Tiancheng took charge of the warehouse and wood transportation, his authority had grown day by day, but he had never been arrogant due to his humble nature. Today was an exception. The reason was that the wood transported from afar to Jingzhou had been intercepted by water bandits, which made him feel terrible. This string of wooden rafts was worth several thousand taels of silver! Anyone would be heartbroken about this loss. Zheng Tiancheng had followed Lin Chunhong and enjoyed a smooth journey, earning his trust, otherwise he wouldn't have entrusted the wood sales and transportation to him. Due to his calculation skills, people across the river called him "God of Calculation", but now he was like an abacus that had been smashed into scattered beads, with all the beads hitting his face. Zheng Tiancheng could imagine his brothers' mockery, which made him even more unbearable.

  "Director Zheng, getting angry won't solve anything now. We need to think of a way to make up for the loss!" Lu Shi-yuan was Zheng Tian-cheng's deputy, whose steady personality was appreciated by Lin Chun-hong and was assigned to assist Zheng Tian-cheng. After hearing a commotion, he came over to listen and found out what happened, then walked in to persuade Zheng Tian-cheng.

  "What can we do now? Do I have to go find the bandits and get the wood back?" Zheng Tiancheng was good at calculations, but after all, he was young and inexperienced. Now that something had happened, he was flustered. Lu Shiyuan, on the other hand, was nearly thirty years old and had been rolling around in the lumber market for many years. When he saw Lin Chunhong's business getting bigger and bigger, he threw away his own small business and followed Lin Chunhong. As for dealing with the situation, it was indeed not something Zheng Tiancheng could handle. Lu Shiyuan said: "The most urgent thing to do is to send someone to inform Old Master Lin, secondly, to track down the bandits and wait for an opportunity to retrieve the wood, and thirdly, to take measures to prevent our goods from being intercepted again!"

  Zheng Tiānchéng was stunned for a long time, making Lú Shīyuán secretly anxious. After a long while, he finally said tiredly: "You arrange it yourself, my mind is all confused now."

  Lu Shi-yuan obtained Zheng Tian-cheng's authorization and did not delay. Before long, a fast boat was dispatched to Jiheyan, a group of men were sent out to explore the route for transporting timber, and another group of men were sent to notify Lin De-shao not to transport goods to Baili Zhou for the time being. Moreover, Lu Shi-yuan strengthened the patrol of the warehouse and ordered all the boatmen not to leave the river temporarily, they must remain vigilant to prevent bandits from attacking.

  Lin Chunhong received the report from Baili Zhou and discussed it with everyone. Everyone agreed that the Yangtze River waterway was a lifeline, and the unrest on the water surface was the biggest challenge they currently faced. So Lin Chunhong took most of the combat personnel and went downstream with Zhou Wang to solve this problem. As for the matter of Geheyan, it was discussed and resolved by the five team leaders and Li Shu. When there were disputes among the people, Guo Mingyan made the final decision. This arrangement also satisfied everyone, and as the team continued to expand, it became clear who had stronger management abilities.

  "Now these people are only enough to guard Baili Zhou, as for the Jiang pirates on the water surface, we have no way." Zhou Wang said, standing at the bow of the boat and looking back at a string of boats.

  "Nowadays, no one can bully us on land, but we are helpless on the water. Those boatmen have no way to fight against the river pirates." Lin Chunhong had always been entangled in this problem: before, he had not realized the importance of the Yangtze River waterway to them, and now that something had happened, all transportation had become a problem, directly threatening their survival. Lin Chunhong regretted not preparing earlier. "It's all my fault, I should have recruited and trained boatmen early on, and we wouldn't be in this predicament now."

  Zhou Wang sighed and said: "There's always the issue of who comes first and who comes later. If Bai Ya Cave and Si Nan are not resolved, we still can't do anything about it. This is something that can't be rushed."

  "The navy must be established, no matter what method is used, otherwise we will be controlled by others sooner or later." Lin Chunhong said resolutely. Zhou Wang's heart moved when he heard the word "navy". He finally realized that Lin Chunhong's idea was not just a fleeting thought. He said: "The most urgent task is still to straighten out the transportation, and the navy cannot be rushed into being."

  It only took one day for Lin Chunhong and others to arrive at Baili Island. Both Zhou Wang and Lin Chunhong were satisfied with Lu Shiyuan's arrangements. Lu Shiyuan had now investigated clearly that the Jiang thief was Zhang Zhao, and he made a detailed report on Zhang Zhao's identity and power. Lin Chunhong also had no good way out, except to raise the wages of the boat workers by 10%, recruit more boat workers, and arrange for them to practice water battles, there was no other way. Moreover, these people now did not know how to fight in water battles, and they could not even find a coach.