Chapter Fifty-One: Displaying Power on the Water
Grandpa!
That life is in Wuhan——
Along the Yangtze River
How ignorant of heaven! How ignorant of earth!
Only recognize Jin and Yin La
Hand over those gold and silver obediently!
Grandpa will let you go, okay?
……
Yang Mengxuan and the five hundred White Rod troops on board more than twenty large ships, ahead of them appeared three small boats. The men on those small boats were loudly singing provocative songs that annoyed the White Rod troops, who all shouted curses. Yang Mengxuan coldly said: "A group of ignorant rascals, shoot arrows to drive them away, don't bother with them!"
A shower of arrows flew towards the small boat, and the man on board hastily turned the bow around, rowing away with all his might. The boat borrowed the current to speed away quickly, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye. Yang Mengxuan didn't take this matter to heart, ordering the sailors to hurry up and sail faster, while he himself hid in the cabin to sleep soundly - these past few days in Yiling had truly exhausted him; a woman's belly was more exhausting than his mother's killing Tartars.
However, in less than half a time, the three small boats from before were provoking again, and the white rod soldiers shot arrows to drive them away. This situation made Yang Mengxuan secretly vigilant, instructing the white rod soldiers to strengthen their surveillance and report any situation at any time. Yang Mengxuan was brave and cautious in battle, and deeply trusted by Qin Yiming. But this bravery was on his familiar mountain terrain; once on water, he became flustered. Not only him, but also the white rod soldiers on the ship felt insecure, always feeling a lack of safety.
"Should we stop at Qī Xīng Tái?" asked General Chén Ruǎn, who felt a chill run down his spine, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He made the suggestion to Yang Mengruǎn.
Yang Mengxuan also wanted to dock, but the white pole soldiers were scared by three small boats and didn't dare to move forward. This was too humiliating no matter what. Yang Mengxuan gritted his teeth and said: "No need, these thieves can't make a big deal out of this, we just need to be careful!"
After passing the Seven Star Platform, the Yangtze River was divided into two routes by Chicken and Rabbit Island. The main route narrowed, with rapid currents, and three small boats reappeared. This time, Yang Mengxuan didn't even bother to shoot arrows again, ordering the boatmen to release the boat downstream, ignoring the small boats. Seeing that their harassment was no longer effective, and not daring to get close, the small boats could only row quickly to go downstream first.
Yang Mengxuan said to Rang Xuan: "This is called seeing the strange and not being strange, its strangeness will defeat itself!" Before he had finished speaking, the white pole soldiers let out a cry of surprise. Yang Mengxuan hastily looked forward and saw that more than thirty small boats were lined up in a row, stopped in the middle of the river, blocking the way of the fleet.
More than thirty small boats were strung together, with no one visible on board, the water was very deep, and at a glance, it was clear that they had loaded a lot of goods. Yang Mengxuan ordered the boatmen to slow down the speed of the boat and observe for a long time before ordering the white stick soldiers to hold their guns and bows at the ready and charge forward. Under the threat of the white stick soldiers' knives and guns, the boatmen rowed the boats as fast as arrows shot from a bowstring.
Suddenly, Ruan Xuan shouted loudly: "Stop the boat! Stop the boat! The small boat is full of sulfur and hay!"
Yang Mengxuan was shocked and also shouted: "Stop the boat!"
Only then did more than 20 large ships drop their anchors one after another, and the ships moved forward a distance before stopping about 100 paces away from the fire ship. Yang Mengxuan wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, "Fortunately, Rang Qianzong discovered it early, otherwise we would have been finished today."
The words had hardly been spoken when the white-clad soldier on watch again shouted loudly: "There are more boats behind!"
Yang Mengxuan turned his head to look, and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Behind him, there were about fifty boats swarming in like a swarm of bees. Yang Mengxuan grabbed a sailor and asked loudly: "Which big gang has been active on the Yangtze River recently?" The sailor was held by Yang Mengxuan's collar, gasping for breath, and tremblingly replied: "I don't know!"
"Can we go around the fire ship now?" Yang Mengxuan asked again.
The boatman nodded like a garlic press, Yang Mengxuan threw the boatman to one side and roared: "Quickly, order the boatman to quickly pass by the side of the fire ship!"
The order was passed down one by one, and all that could be heard were the sounds of anchors being lifted, interspersed with dull thuds. Yang Mengxuan was shocked, "What's that noise?"
Suddenly, one of the sailors shouted: "Someone is digging a hole in the boat!" With this shout, the white pole soldiers were thrown into chaos. Some held their poles and stabbed them randomly into the water, while others fired arrows blindly into the water. The white pole soldiers were well-trained, but only on land or in mountainous terrain; when they found themselves on unfamiliar waters, they panicked.
"It's done, the boat is leaking!" Another cry came, and this voice was from Yang Mengxuan's boat. Yang Mengxuan was furious and shouted: "Don't panic, move to the boats that haven't taken on water!"
In an instant, Yang Mengxuan's feet were already soaked in water. The autumn river water was bone-chillingly cold. Yang Mengxuan could no longer care about her identity and loudly shouted: "Save me!"
Before the words had fallen, a man emerged from the water and grabbed Yang Mengxuan's clothes, pulling him into the water. The white pole soldiers were in great chaos, and just having their feet soaked in the water was unbearable, let alone being about to be fully immersed in the icy river water? At this time, the boats behind them, like ants, had already surrounded the large ship, and Li Mengshen stood at the bow of the boat shouting: "Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Most of the Bai Ganbing surrendered and were tied up on the ship by the water bandits, while a small number of brave ones resisted with arrows, but soon died unjustly. There was also a small number of people who were good at swimming and jumped into the river to escape.
On the island of Jitui, the white pole soldiers gathered together, surrounded by Jiang's bandits holding guns and bows, watching them closely. Yang Mengxuan and Ruan Xuan were also among them, after falling into the water, they were captured alive by the Jiang's bandits, although they were given clothes to wear, but Yang Mengxuan was shivering with cold, unable to speak, let alone on the desolate island of Jitui, where there was no shelter from the wind. Yang Mengxuan wanted to discuss a plan to escape with Ruan Xuan, seeing that Ruan Xuan was also too cold to speak, he could only smile bitterly and give up.
Only the sound of someone shouting from among the river bandits: "I heard there's a guerrilla? Named Yang Mengxuan? Come out, our big brother has something to ask you!" Yang Mengxuan was about to ignore them, but the eyes of the white pole soldiers all turned to him, exposing his identity. He had no choice but to stand up and ask: "What do you want with me?" The two river bandits didn't answer, and directly took him away.
Li Mengshen was sitting in a spacious tent, and to their surprise, there was even a fire burning inside. As soon as Yang Mengxuan entered the tent, he felt a wave of warmth wash over him, which made him feel slightly better. He saw Li Mengshen sitting on a stool with his feet resting on a wooden board in front of him, picking at his teeth. When Jiang reported that the person had been brought, he didn't even acknowledge it, only casting a sideways glance at Yang Mengxuan. Yang Mengxuan was filled with trepidation and couldn't help but ask: "I don't know how Your Majesty plans to deal with me and my sons?"
"Your sons have hurt several of my brothers, damn it! How dare you refuse to be captured? Are you tired of living?" Li Mongshen suddenly shouted in anger. These words made Yang Mengxuan want to laugh secretly, but he didn't dare to, thinking carefully before responding: "I am a government soldier, following the orders of Qin Zhongguo to reinforce the border, it would be unwise for you, Great King, to detain us."
Grandpa!
That guy was born in Wuhan——
Along the Yangtze River
How ignorant of heaven! How ignorant of earth!
Only recognize Jin and Yin La
Hand over those gold and silver obediently!
Grandpa will let you go, okay?
Li Mengshen suddenly burst into a loud song, singing. This made Yang Mengxuan cry and laugh at the same time, but he didn't dare to say anything to him, so he just let him continue singing. After Li Mengshen finished his song, he asked Yang Mengxuan: "Do you understand what Grandpa meant? Ah, grandma, I've only managed to get some grain and grass, not much gold or silver, it's a loss! So, you should ask your Tusi woman to bring silver to redeem you! Take a look at how much I'm asking for, is it reasonable? You tell me, how much are you worth?"
Yang Mengxuan was furious, but he endured it in his heart and didn't express it, remaining silent there.
"Alright, let me calculate... a white rod soldier is worth ten taels of silver, that's over 4,000 taels. As for you, being a bit chubby, you should be able to yield quite a bit of meat, so I'll count it as 6,000 taels. You write a letter and have that Tusi woman bring me 10,000 taels of silver, and I'll let you go. How's that? This price is very reasonable, isn't it? I've heard your Tusi woman is extremely wealthy, even the houses are paved with gold... damn, how can she be so rich? Can't she lend me some from between her teeth?"
Li Mingshen was speaking with great enthusiasm when suddenly a Jiang bandit messenger came to report: "Zhi Jiang Lintian Shi has come to attack, and has already arrived at Qixingtai!"
Li Mengshen was greatly shocked and hastily ordered the Jiang pirates to prepare for retreat. The Jiang pirates were in a state of panic, rushing about and boarding their ships in disarray. Lin Chunhong arrived quickly, and just as the Jiang pirates had barely managed to get the white-pole soldiers on board, they heard Lin's men shouting loudly and firing arrows incessantly from a distance. Li Mengshen was unable to do anything, so he ordered the Jiang pirates to abandon the white-pole soldiers and grain, and fled with Yang Mengxuan into the wilderness. Lin Chunhong had his men chase after them for a while, but they were unable to catch up, so they took the white-pole soldiers and grain upstream towards Zhijiang instead. As for what kind of suffering Yang Mengxuan endured at Li Mengshen's hands, no one knew.
Yang Mengxuan's whereabouts were unknown, and the remaining White Stick soldiers were led by Rang Xuan. After being rescued, Rang Xuan immediately sent a letter to Qin Zhongguo, waiting for his orders. As for Lin Chunhong, he reported to the Jingzhou government with great fanfare about the thrilling rescue of the White Stick soldiers, waiting for their reward. This report made the Jingzhou government suspicious and uncertain - just a few years ago, Lin Chunhong had defeated Zhang Chao, but now Zhang Chao's whereabouts were unknown; could it be that he had returned?
In order to restore the reputation of the guards, the guards escorted the White Rod soldiers into the Yiling Thousand Households and even made a special trip around the city of Yiling, which caused the people of Yiling to say: "The White Rod soldiers have provoked the guards, and now they are being caught by the guards." Ruan Xuan heard this and thought about it carefully, feeling that the so-called Jiang Fei might be in cahoots with Lin Chunhong. It wasn't just Ruan Xuan who thought of this, Yang Mengxuan also thought of it, and Bai Jingzhou thought of it too. But all three were troubled by the lack of evidence, so they could only suppress this idea in their hearts. However, Ruan Xuan wrote a private letter to Qin Zhongguo, informing him of his analysis and suspicions about Qin Liangyu.
Lin Chunhong didn't worry about the suspicions of these three people, let alone Qin Liangyu's. They were just suspicions, what could they do to him? In a few days, Ruan Xuan received an order from Qin Zhongguo, instructing him to continue leading the White Stick Army northward without delay. Along with the order came a letter from Qin Liangyu to Lin Chunhong, in which she first expressed her gratitude for Lin's rescue and apologized for Yang Mengxue's looting of Lin's goods. She also entrusted Lin to help find Yang Mengxue, saying that Yang was brave and good at fighting, and was indeed a pillar of the imperial court. If they couldn't find him within a month, she would come to Jingzhou personally to search for him.
Lin Chunhong finished reading the letter and said to Zhou Wang, "This Tusi woman knows that our people have wronged Yang Mengxuan." After finishing speaking, he handed the letter over to Zhou Wang. Zhou Wang read it and said, "Hmph, this Tusi woman is indeed formidable, or else why would she entrust us with finding Yang Mengxuan? And even threaten us!"
"Zhou Shu thought whether to let Yang Mengxuan go or not?"
"What's the point of keeping him? Fatten him up and slaughter him for meat? Besides, Shi Zhuangtusi has many soldiers and a deep foundation in the imperial court, we can't afford to provoke them. Since Qin Liangyu wrote a letter saying she wouldn't pursue the matter and gave us face, let's release him."
"What about Bai Jingzhou? This guy has provoked us more than once."
"What can be done? Can it still be like the calm before the storm? It's best to just leave him, he can't stir up any waves, a useless waste of space who only knows how to eat and wait for death."
"Bai Jingzhou is a waste, and I think our guards are also a waste. Damn it, thirty people can't even beat ten white sticks, losing face all the way to grandma's house!" Lin Chunhong thought of this matter and felt uncomfortable.
"What can be done about this? The White Rod Army has been fighting for over a decade, how can the Imperial Guard compare to that? Moreover, that clash doesn't prove anything, you've forgotten, our archers didn't even participate. Zhou Wang also knew that the White Rod Army's combat strength was unmatched in both mountainous and land battles, but it was easy to restrain them as well. Just like the Imperial Guard's long-range attack capabilities were very strong, the numerous archers would leave the White Rod Army at a loss. Only Zhou Wang, a seasoned warrior, could objectively view this clash."
Lin Chunhong felt a bit better in his heart. He picked up Qin Liangyu's letter, blew a breath and said: "It's time to let the guards go out and practice their skills!"
……
Yang Mengxuan took advantage of the laxity of Jiang's guards and escaped, which was intentional on Li Mengshen's part. After his escape, he did not dare to stay in Yiling or Jingzhou, and only contacted Qin Liangyu after arriving in Wuchang. Qin Liangyu ordered him to continue north to serve under Qin Yiming. He deeply resented Lin Chunhong and vowed to take revenge this lifetime. Without mentioning Yang Mengxuan's hardships along the way, let us say that after seeing Yang escape, Li Mengshen returned to Baili Island and began training on the precious centipede ship according to Lin Chunhong's orders. As it was the first ship, the experience of building it was insufficient, and it cost Lin Chunhong a full 120,000 taels of silver.
To deceive the public, Li Mengshen carefully selected sailors from the shipbuilding team and had them practice sailing on Dongting Lake, making sure that the rowers, sailors, and helmsmen were well-coordinated. As for the gunners, they still hadn't found any, so Lin Chunhong assigned over a hundred people to practice using cannons every day on Baili Island, but so far, their aim was off, not to mention what would happen when they got on the ship. Every day, hundreds of people fired countless rounds of ammunition, and even some of the cannons purchased from Macau were damaged, which pained Zheng Tiancheng's heart. However, Lin Chunhong ordered Zheng Tiancheng to continue buying more cannons, determined to make these gunners proficient and accurate. Lin Chunhong also wanted to cast his own cannons, no matter what kind, and first set up a framework, but thinking that even the iron nails for building ships were in short supply, he gave up. Without iron and copper, how could they build any cannons?
Lin Chunhong personally saw off Li Mengshen and then, accompanied by Teng Yu-hao, made a round trip around Baili Zhou. The emergence rate of winter wheat was good, laying the foundation for next year's harvest. This year, on the basis of the original five Changping warehouses, two more were added, and the stored grain reached 70,000 dan, temporarily relieving the Lin Group from the food crisis. This year's wheat did not leave Baili Zhou, and a lot of millet and other grains were also purchased from other places and stored in the Changping warehouse.
Although it was winter, there were many people working in the fields, and even saw a number of old people and children, not to mention women. In Baili Zhou, Lin Chunhong strictly forbade footbinding, originally this place's footbinding custom wasn't prevalent, and adding that non-footbound women's labor ability obviously surpassed other women, so this prohibition was strictly enforced, also didn't have any opposing force.
"The Baili Zhou is now seriously short of labor, and even the land has been abandoned. The Gu Xiulin family also gave up their land, saying they had no labor force." Teng Yuhe was worried about next year's land not being cultivated, and was deeply troubled. Lin Chunhong couldn't help but laugh, thinking back to when he and Bao Zhedong haggled over the price, only recruiting more than 2,000 refugees, but those factory owners took a liking to the refugees and personally went to Anfu Temple to recruit them, with more than 5,000 refugees mostly still flowing into Baili Zhou.
"The local militia hasn't made any progress either, there's a shortage of labor, and everywhere is short-handed, not many people want to join the militia. The river embankment is also short-handed, and the progress is very slow, Xiao Dazi has complained to me several times already, saying that I've taken his men." Teng Yu Hao said with a bitter smile.
Lin Chunhong was also aware of this situation. At first, the migrant workers who repaired the river embankment were cheap, but now that there are more opportunities to make money in Baili Zhou, many migrant workers are unwilling to continue repairing the river embankment and have been lured away by the workshop owners.
"Ah, come on, there will always be people who want to come. By next spring when the river embankment is repaired, there will be more jobs." Lin Chunhong comforted.
"I didn't expect that," said Yun Yu Hao, shaking his head. "That won't alleviate the problem, Dian Shi. Think about it, there are so many workers at the shipyard now, and it's still expanding. Plus, there are many more workshops where people can make a small profit, which is more lucrative than farming. I'm worried that in the future, no one will want to farm. Now that the riverbank has been repaired, we'll need a large number of farmers!"
Lin Chunhong also sighed and said, "This can only be solved slowly, it's not something that can be rushed." The problem of insufficient manpower is really difficult to solve, after all, they couldn't just send the guards out to kidnap people. Although the entire Jingzhou Prefecture had a large population and plenty of surplus labor, attracting them to Baili Zhou would still require some time.
"The house for the money shop has already been built, just waiting for the arrival of the silver. Is the interest rate of 1.5% too low? Elsewhere it's all 4% or 5%. Last time Gu Xiulin came to borrow money from Lin Chunhong, Lin Chunhong asked about the situation of the Gu family workshop in detail. Considering that all workshops are currently short of funds and Lin Chunhong has a large amount of silver on hand, he thought of opening a money shop by relying on the warehouse, but Lin Chunhong set the loan interest rate relatively low, only 1.5%, far lower than the usual high-interest loan interest rates."
"The interest rate is already high, and if they can't pay us back, we'll suffer a big loss." Lin Chunhong explained. After a moment of silence, Lin Chunhong said to Tan Yuhe: "The factory owners are now selling cotton cloth in the warehouse, apart from the normal purchase price, didn't we also collect a 1% tax? Think about it, if all the factory owners develop and grow, that 1% tax won't be a small amount, why focus on the interest of the money shop?"
In Tan Yu's eyes, those factory owners were just small-time players who wouldn't contribute much silver in a year, and their eyes clearly showed a hint of discontent. Lin Chunhong saw this and said mysteriously: "In another two years, the tax on cotton cloth alone will shock you."
Heng Yu Hao did not believe it, and Lin Chun Hong did not continue to explain. Supporting rural small handicrafts was his established policy, even if everyone opposed it, he would still implement it.
