Chapter Seventy-Three: Riverside Town

Under the reflection of the beginning of the day, between the clouds floating in the east, hundreds of millions of millimeters of light penetrated the sea of clouds and reached the earth.

To the east of Heifengling, there is a vast hilly area, which is an important town for grain production on the boundary of Guanping City, named Jiangbian Town, and then half a mile to the southeast, and to the Yellow River.

To say that it is called the Yellow River does not mean that the river water in it is yellow, so it is named. But because the other side of the river is the boundary of Huangjiang Prefecture, the famous state capital of the southern part of the country.

The land to which Guanping City belongs is narrow and not enough to be classified as a state capital, but this remote mountainous area in the southwest has rich mineral resources, and therefore benefits, enjoying the treatment of the state capital, and the jurisdiction of Huangjiang Prefecture, with the Yellow River as the dividing line, across the river.

This year, in the jurisdiction of Guanpingcheng, other places, although affected by the drought, the grain harvest is not good, but this riverside town next to the Yellow River, one side of the hills and paddy fields, but the impact is not great. Compared with previous years, the grain harvest is a little worse, and it is quite passable, otherwise so many people in the city would have fled to other places to flee famine.

The war between the southern country and Cangzhou is still going on, and more and more grain and grass are needed on the front line. The lord of the country ordered that all state capitals and towns should give full support and that there should be no mistakes. This is really a lot of pressure on various places, and it makes the city of Guanping, which has suffered from natural disasters, even worse.

But the king's order is difficult, and he must fully cooperate, otherwise the lord of the country will blame him, and he will be in trouble. Li Tengfei, the lord of the city, originally thought that there was still surplus grain in the city's grain depot, but after Deng Zang's incident, he finally realized the seriousness of the situation, and he had no choice but to order his subordinates to open a table and bring a group of guards to Jiangbian Town to collect grain and grass.

It is now the early spring, not the period of tax payment after the autumn, and it is better to say that it is to collect it, but to grab grain.

Although the landlords and people of Jiangbian Town are far away from the control of the city-state, they will also hand over grain on time in accordance with the provisions of the land contract, and they have always been law-abiding and have never been in arrears.

Moreover, after the autumn harvest last year, last year's taxes have already been paid. This year, spring has just begun, and the seeds have not yet been sown, so there is no surplus grain except for enough food rations for their own families and some of the seed grain that is left.

Therefore, after a few days, the harvest of the grain collection was very small, and the whole progress was very slow and difficult. The food non-commissioned officer who had just taken office was so anxious that he opened his table, his heart was like numbness, and he couldn't help but feel a lot of anger, and he was worried in the past few days.

After a few days of unsatisfactory conditions, his patience reached the limit, and finally he ordered more than 50 guards to tie up all the landlords and wealthy households in the town to the open space in the center of the town.

"See? That's the old man from the city......

"I heard that someone came to collect grain..."

"There's a good show to watch now, you see those landlord misers, all kneeling one by one, it is estimated that this is the eldest master who wants to bleed them!"

At this time, the open space in the center was already surrounded by people who came to see the excitement. They were men, women, and children, and they were all talking with great interest, and they didn't take the matter of requisitioning grain to heart at all.

Perhaps, at this moment, it is not them who suffer, but those landlords who usually bully people, because their family has a big business and a lot of food at home.

In the center of the clearing, there is a high platform, on which a table sits, accompanied by a somewhat shrewd old man, who is the mayor of Jiangbian Town: Li Wenming, and the brother of Li Wenhua, the richest man in the city.

"You are all asking for it, but don't blame me, no matter what you do, this official will have to see eighty carts of grain today...... "The somewhat fat Zhang table, glanced at the more than 20 landlords and rich people kneeling in a row under the stage, and couldn't help but laugh sarcastically.

"Lord Zhang, when the new official took office, he was entrusted with a heavy task by the city lord, this time the grain collection is very important, and they, the misers, really can't open their eyes......" After the mayor Li Wenming finished speaking, he glanced at the onlookers in the audience, and couldn't help but shake his head.

"Let them laugh! When these misers are emptied, and then go from house to house to search their homes, I see who will dare to hide food. Seeing the old mayor shaking his head, Zhang Table thought that his old man was displeased, so he hurriedly said: "Master Li, after obtaining eighty cars this time, the remaining half, honor your old man, what do you think?"

"Hehe... Master Zhang has a heart, he will go to the city in the future, and the old man will definitely be at his cousin's place to say a few words for you......" After Li Wenming heard this, he touched his gray beard, and he didn't realize that the fat man in front of him was quite likable.

"Then there will be more of you, speaking of which, this time I have to thank you for your strategy, otherwise I am a wooden head, where can I think of this clever plan to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger......" Zhang Table held up a big belly and bowed to Li Wenming.

"Wrong, it's killing chickens to show monkeys......" Li Wenming glanced at it, his old face was a little impatient, and he despised the meaning of Zhang Table.

After hearing this, Zhang Table hurriedly nodded and said, "Okay, just kill the chicken and show it to the monkey... Let's give the head of the Liu family fifty sticks first..."

Just when Zhang Table was about to use sticks to threaten the landlords and wealthy families who were kneeling in the audience, there were three people on a small dirt hill a thousand steps away from them, looking at here, and they were Li Jin and others who had rushed all the way over.

"It depends on the situation, they are going to rob it clearly!" Li Jin looked at the scene over there, and he was already angry.

"What about robbing it openly, I think it's just right for them to dig out the money of those misers, and it will save us from going to the town to rob again!"

A thin man next to him lifted the machete at his waist, a little gloating.

His name is Lian Fatong, and like Wang Baoshan, he has a battalion of soldiers in the Black Wind Army, and there are quite a few of them, there are seventy or eighty people, and he is more like a centurion than Wang Baoshan.

"Brothers, let's hide it!" Li Jin did not look at the town market in Jiangbian Town again, but turned his head and looked at a hill behind him.

"General, don't worry! The brothers haven't been following you for a day or two, and they all understand your current mood, so you can take care of everything, we just wait for the dog officer to pack the food, and then go and grab it... Hey..."Lian Fatong licked the corners of his mouth and smiled.

"Well, I have to pay attention to them this time, otherwise I would have missed such a good opportunity. ”

Another man next to him, who had not spoken all this time, also opened his mouth at this time.

Look at this man, he was born strong, but compared to Li Jin's burly figure, he is obviously a lot thinner, he is Li Jin's personal entourage, and he is also his son, named Li Ziming.

Li Jin didn't bring many people this time, only his own personal entourage Li Ziming, and the others were all soldiers in the same battalion of Lianfa.

At this moment, he listened to Li Ziming's words, and suddenly said a little sternly: "Ziming! There are some things you still don't understand, isn't Zhuangli much better now than before?"

"But ......"

Seeing that Li Ziming wanted to refute, Li Jin's tone softened a lot, and said: "No, it's also for the sake of face in front of people, so I will strive for that tone, and I can't blame others... But you know what? We're part of the Black Wind Army, and we're going to do great things in the future... The actions of those bandits in the past are not a long-term solution after all......"

"Yes..."Li Ziming nodded after hearing this, but his face was still a little unconvinced.

Li Jin looked at him like this, shook his head, and said no more.

Lian Fatong on the side also came to persuade him, saying: "Brother Ziming, the general is not for the good of us brothers, and besides, Mr. Zhao is also good to us, otherwise he will take care of the general's face every time." ”

"Mr. Zhao, it's good, but Wang Qiang and others don't like it!"

"What don't you like, they didn't do anything wrong!" After hearing this, Lian Fatong couldn't help but be a little funny, and said in his heart that your kid's idea is really ridiculous!

"They didn't do anything wrong, but..."

"Hehe... I can't say it!" Lian Fatong saw that he couldn't answer, and he didn't think it was even funnier.

"You don't like others, others can still like you, they all focus on the overall situation, in the final analysis, our hearts are not big enough!"

Li Jin is not at a loss to be ranked on the Black Wind Ridge, in addition to his brave skills, his mind is not better than that of ordinary people, so he can see some things farther.

He said this, and walked towards the back of the small dirt hill, looking in the direction of some dense woods.

However, in the town market not far away, a large mansion was full of people wearing the uniforms of the guards of Guanping City.

There were more than a hundred of them in all, and they were sitting still at the moment, except for a few people, who were talking in groups, and most of the others were silent, or closed their eyes to recuperate, or sorted out their weapons.

On the banks of the Yellow River, less than half a mile away from Jiangbian Town, there are five high-sail cargo ships more than ten zhang long, docked at the wharf.

Seeing the lowered canvas on the ship, the empty cargo holds, and the people who were busy cleaning up the debris, they were obviously waiting for the goods, ready to go down the river.

"It's really a human calculation, it's not as good as heaven, I can't imagine that they will take the waterway, use these five cargo ships, take the Yellow River, and go down the river, so as to send the grain out......"

On the dock, Yang Zhuoyi's figure hurried by.

After crossing the dock, Yang Zhuoyi went straight to a reed swing.

This dense and long reed thicket, scattered along the river, occupies more than a mile of river beach. Although in early spring, many reeds are still withered and withered, but they are dense and numerous, suitable for hidden protection.

In the depths of the reeds and grasses, in the reeds and artemisia grass that ordinary people could hardly see, Wang Baoshan and his brothers in the camp were hiding in it. On the way here, they surveyed all the way, and there were goshawks flying in the air looking for guidance, so they could understand the terrain in a better time, so they came quietly.

Fortunately, it was early spring, and the frozen soil in the reeds had not yet completely thawed, only a little muddy and soft, but it could barely accommodate people to walk or stand.

Yang Zhuoyi turned around a few times and found that no one was following him, so he came to the place where Wang Baoshan and they were hiding. After seeing Wang Baoshan, he said: "General Wang, it seems that the situation is a little complicated!"

As soon as he said this, Wang Baoshan, who handed him water to drink, was stunned when he heard it: "General Yang, what do you say?"

"There are five large cargo ships parked on the wharf of Jiangbian Town, and it seems that they are preparing to load the collected grain directly and transport it away, but General Li and they are afraid that they don't know yet. Yang Zhuoyi took a sip of water, and his face was a little unsightly.

"How about that, shall we inform them?"

"I don't think I'll notify you for the time being, at this time, the newly appointed grain non-commissioned officer is collecting grain in the town, and there will be no result for a while, maybe General Li will know. Just ......"

"It's just what, General Yang said, but it doesn't matter. Wang Baoshan nodded, and hoped that Li Jin and the others could learn more about the situation.

"I didn't expect that they would take the waterway, and there would be no cars and horses, so even if they robbed the grain, it would be difficult to transport it back for a while!"

"This ......"

Eighty carts of grain were a lot of money, and they came in a hurry this time, and they did not prepare the carriages and horses in advance. Originally, I thought that the troops who collected grain would take the land route and have many cars, which would also make it convenient for them to hijack on the way, but now it is good, and the plan has been completely disrupted.

Luo Ying heard that the situation had changed, and saw that the two of them were a little embarrassed, so he immediately said: "It's okay, we can write a letter, let Tengfei take it back, explain it to Commander Wang, and see if we can arrange a carriage and horse to pick it up." ”

"That's fine, let's see what Mr. Zhao has a good plan. Yang Zhuoyi listened, nodded, and agreed.

It was a good proposal, and while they were discussing who should write it, the problem arose. People can't write, which is a bit difficult.

Yang Zhuoyi and Wang Baoshan said that although they can know a lot of words, just knowing them does not mean that they can write. Luo Ying didn't mention it, he couldn't read a word. This surprised Wang Baoshan in his heart, and he couldn't help but slander Naluo Orion, and he didn't know how he taught his son.

Wang Baoshan also took some luck and asked the more than 30 brothers in the camp to see if any of them could write, but he was disappointed that none of them could write.

This couldn't help but make him sigh, and said in his heart: It would be nice if the third brother was here...... It seems that I will have to take the time to practice writing more in the future!

This is really a book that is hated less when it is used, and it is difficult to know when the words are written.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Lu Yun, a soldier who had just been missed by Wang Baoshan and didn't ask, stood up at this time and said that he could write some words.

Everyone was also surprised that this young man of the same grade as Luo Ying usually swept the floor in the Zhongjun Hall and could write.

Lu Yun said that before he went to Zhongjun Hall, he was already in Zhao Zitang and had been doing chores for a long time. Moreover, most of the people in Zhao Zitang led by Mr. Zhao were dealing with accounts and documents, so they naturally followed Mr. Zhao and learned some writing.

"I can't see it, Brother Lu!" Wang Baoshan heard Lu Yun say this, and he felt a little ashamed, why did he forget to ask him just now.

"I can only write some ordinary words, not much..."Lu Yun scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"If you can write, we don't ask for much. Wang Baoshan patted him on the shoulder.

There are people who can write, but when they really want to write, everyone finds a problem, what to write, what to write on?

So, everyone began to look for something that could be written and convenient for the goshawk to take off and pass on.