As the commander who coordinates the entire battle situation, Zhao Dangshi will not guess that Xiong Wanjian and Bai Wang are at a loss. And the reason why he did not appear at the riverside for a long time to personally participate in the battle to cross the river was because he was receiving a person.

This man was in his early thirties, with a thin complexion, a wide robe with large sleeves, and a jacket, and he was dressed very decently and richly. He was introduced by Pang Jinming, called himself Kong Qingnian, and came from the Kong family in Yankou Town on the other side. As an important river port in northern Chongqing, Yankou Town inevitably plays a pivotal role in it, and the Confucian family is the leader of these merchants, and is the leader of the Lin'an Gang among the four major merchant gangs along the coast.

This Lin'an does not refer to Lin'an in Zhejiang, but Lin'an Mansion in Yunnan. The Confucian family lived in Shiping Prefecture in Lin'an Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and only moved to Yankou Town three generations ago because of business. At the beginning, Zhao Dangshi thought that the purpose of Kong Qingnian's visit was to negotiate the war, but he was shocked when he talked with each other.

"Can you say that you are the right person again?" Zhao Dangshi and Chang Zeyu, who was sitting on the left side, looked at each other and said a little incredulously.

That Kong Qingnian looked very calm, nodded and said: "Tomorrow, my family will set up more than ten boats and boats in the north of Shipan, which is enough to cross the army in a short time, and then invite your department to cross the river." ”

After saying it again and again, Zhao Dangshi understood that the Kong family had come to fornicate.

"No merit will not be punished, please explain it clearly." Zhao Dangshi said. Paying money with one hand and delivering goods with one hand, the most simple and easy-to-understand truth, the Kong family has been a businessman for generations, and since they are willing to help, they must have something to ask for Zhao Ying. And Zhao Ying has no money and no goods, some are just violent machines, Zhao Dangshi and Chang Zeyu have actually guessed what Kong Qingnian is going to say.

Kong Qingnian pondered for a moment, then raised his sleeves and said: "My lord hopes that your department will open up to my Kong family after attacking the border." Speaking of this, he lowered his eyes, "This is the only thing I will not ask for, if your ministry still needs grain, money, and silver, open an opening, and my family will do its best to raise it." ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Dangshi's heart is already clear. is inseparable from his own speculation, the idea of the Kong family is the same as that of Shi Zhouwei's Zhonglu Qin clan before, and it boils down to four words - borrowing a knife to kill.

It was not clear to Zhao Dangshi what entanglements were between the merchants of Yankou Town, but it was clear that the Kong family had reached a precarious moment when they could not continue to gain a foothold in the town without the help of external violence.

In fact, this danger began to emerge more than a decade ago.

The position of Yankou Town in the Jialing River is actually similar to that of Linqing next to the Shandong Canal. Linqing is prosperous because of the important node of the canal transportation, so that it is rich in the world, and the throughput of goods along the mouth is not as good as that of Linqing, but it is also very profitable. Merchants from all over the world value the status of this place as a thoroughfare, and all of them are desperate to gain a monopoly on the freight in this place. After hundreds of years of strife and competition, only four merchants were left who could get a piece of the pie. It is difficult for outsiders to imagine that from the original number of businessmen who were as many as the stars and gravel to the current four merchant gangs, among which the bloody storm and thousands of turns between officials, merchants, thieves, etc., can definitely be called a miniature version of the change of dynasty, and although the volume is small, the intensity of the internal struggle is more than equal.

Although they have settled in Yankou Town for three generations, compared with the other three Sichuan merchant gangs that are "rooted in Miao Hong", the Lin'an gang led by the Kong family is still regarded as an outsider, and it has been called Yunnan merchants for a long time. Fortunately, the previous heads of the Kong family were wise and intelligent, and they were stunned to gain a firm foothold along the border with their own wisdom and continue to flourish with the Lin'an Gang. The more the Lin'an Gang grows, the more it will become a thorn in the flesh of the other business gangs, and they all want to get rid of it quickly. In previous years, because the Confucian family was properly organized, they could still protect their families, but this year, Wang Xingjian, the new governor of Chongqing, took office, but he was bent on favoring local businessmen in Sichuan. Especially the Li family, who is in opposition to the Kong family, was born in Nanchong and gradually has a tendency to replace it. The house leak happened to rain overnight, and a few months ago, the messenger of the Confucian family who gave a birthday gift overturned the Lanqi in the court at the banquet of Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, causing the young son of the king of Shu to injure his thumb, and the situation of the Confucian family in Sichuan suddenly plummeted.

Seeing that the Kong family was in a hurry, all the forces along the mouth began to strike while the iron was hot, and they began to squeeze the living space of the Kong family in the mouth with all their might. In the absence of internal and external assistance, the Confucian family was inevitably defeated and retreated, and just a month before Zhao Ying's arrival, the Confucian family even held a clan meeting to discuss whether it should be moved back to Yunnan. Although the matter of moving back to their hometown was finally resolved, the embarrassment of the Kong family can be seen from this.

As a staunch Liuchuan faction in the Confucian family, Kong Qingnian never considered the possibility of returning to Yunnan at the halfest. According to his words, when the ancestors came to Yankou, they were poor and white, and they could lay this foundation with their bare hands, but they were just guards, and they still had the support of their families, no matter how bad the situation was, they couldn't hold on to it? It is also because the Kong family has a stick like him who has always refused to compromise, and the Kong family is still struggling to support it, and the arrival of Zhao Ying almost made Kong Qingnian feel like a peak and a turn.

His idea was very simple, to borrow Zhao Ying's hand to get rid of all the rafters of the Li family and a few others. When the raw rice is cooked and cooked, the aftermath is far less difficult than the current situation.

Of course, there is no need for Kong Qingnian to tell Zhao Dangshi everything about the original situation, and Zhao Dangshi will not ask about it. Zhao Dangshi only needs to understand the interests of the Kong family to weigh them. He pondered for a while, and finally agreed to Kong Qingnian's request.

The reason why he agreed that the capture of Yankou Town was just a matter of the moment, and what Zhao Dangshi thought of was more long-term.

He wanted to use this Confucian family to insert a wedge in the middle of the river.

In Zhao Dangshi's conception, the foothold of Zhao Yingchuan's exit will be in Huguang. However, this does not mean that patting the ass out of Sichuan, and from now on there will be no more to do with Sichuan. As the upstream of Huguang, Sichuan is no less important to Zhaoying than the root of wood and the source of water. Some things should have been laid down a long time ago, even if he didn't think about what effect they would have in the future, but Zhao Dangshi's intuition told him that it would be good to have one more line and one more road. He entered Sichuan not only to avoid encirclement and suppression, but also to keep his own seeds.

The Kong family sent to the door is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Zhao Ying.

Zhao Dangshi couldn't think of what was in Kong Qingnian's heart, and Kong Qingnian couldn't guess what the young general in front of him was planning. However, none of this matters, everything is difficult at the beginning, as long as the two sides reach an agreement on the capture of Yankou Town first, and then talk about it later.

By the time Xiong Wanjian and Bai Wang were hurriedly summoned, Kong Qingnian had already left. Zhao Dangshi briefly inquired about the progress of crossing the river, and Xiong and Bai were ashamed and vomited. This was expected, Zhao Dangshi did not blame them, but informed them to prepare for the smuggling tomorrow night.

"As long as you can cross the river, Hugh said that there are 2,000 people in the entire right camp, and there are 200 people, and your subordinates will also take the border for the lord!" As soon as he heard that there was a boat crossing the river, Xiong Wanjian's wrinkled face suddenly stretched, and his heart suddenly disappeared, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and looked at Bai Wang left, and he was also overjoyed.

"Don't stop crossing the river head-on." Zhao Dangshi did not forget to advise.

Xiong Wanjian and Bai Wang both have experience, so they naturally understand the truth, and the two regained their enthusiasm and took the order.

From the location of Zhao Ying to the north to Nanchong, there are many ferries along the river, among which the big ones are Li Du, Shipan Ferry and so on. Li Du is close to Nanchong, and Shipan Ferry is not far away, when Xiong Wanjian rushed to Shipan Ferry with his men and horses in the dark, there were nearly 20 boats moored at the ferry port on the west bank.

The four fields are dark and silent, except for Xiong Wanjian's people, there is only the flowing Jialing River. For tonight's operation, Xiong Wanjian carefully selected three hundred brave men from the right battalion. These 300 people were resting and recuperating during the day, and they did not participate in the bluff of the remaining soldiers of Bai Wangtong's right battalion by the river, so now they are all alive and vigorous, and they are all full of energy.

Even though the way to cross the river came from Zhao Dangshi, Xiong Wanjian still kept an eye on it, and the first group of troops with less than 100 people were sent to cross the river by boat, and nothing unusual was seen. With the pioneers, after confirming that the two sides of the strait were safe, Xiong Wanjian was bold and crossed back and forth three times, crossing everyone over.

He didn't know where the ships came from, and he didn't ask in the tent at the time. For him, since Zhao Dangshi had solved the problem of crossing the river, his most important responsibility was not to cross the river, but to capture Yankou Town after crossing the river. He only cares about his own goals, and never talks too much, which is a good quality in Zhao Dangshi's opinion. Not to mention other powers, this alone is enough to prove that Xiong Wanjian has the basic qualities of an excellent executor.

The officers and soldiers had come to Shipan Ferry earlier to search for boats, so the snow around the ferry and on the road path extending to the south was not thick, which provided convenience for Xiong Wanjian, so that all the troops of his troops could cross the river without delay and go straight to Yankou Town in the south as fast as possible.

When Zhao Dangshi, who was standing by the river and standing with his sword, saw countless fires suddenly shining on the opposite bank of the originally pitch-black mass, his heart moved. Soon after, the fires in the town along the east bank grew brighter and brighter, and later almost half of the river was illuminated, and at the same time, the bleak river wind brought a faint, chaotic shouting and killing roar from the opposite bank. At this point, he knew that the level of Yankou Town had passed.

The follow-up soldiers and horses of the Zhao battalion crossed the Jialing River one after another in the early morning.

The small town on the west side of the town was in ashes, and a small area of houses in the middle had been burned. According to Xiong Wanjian, who came to greet him, when he led people to Yankou that night, he first started to light a fire from the west, and then there were also people in the town who lit a fire to echo, presumably it must be a dark line arranged by the Kong family in advance. As soon as the fire flashed, the town was in turmoil, and the officials and people who did not know the situation thought that Zhao Ying had crossed the river at night to attack, and the satellites were scattered everywhere, and the original defense line collapsed.

Xiong Wanjian, who had fought countless battles, knew the truth that the thief captured the king first, and escorted the captives to show them the way, and successfully captured several officials in charge of the town and a general who were still sleeping in bed. Without a leader, the town along the mouth is scattered, and there is no possibility of a resumption of the counterattack. In addition, the terrain of Yankou Town is narrow and located in the mountains along the river, so Xiong Wanjian can completely control the only few main roads in the town with only 300 people. When Zhao Dangshi and others came, there were not many people who escaped from the town.

There are only two or three thousand inhabitants of Yankou Town, most of whom are businessmen who have settled here to do business, and in addition to two or three hundred officers and soldiers and militiamen, all of whom are now prisoners. The Kong family is no exception and is also controlled, of course, with Zhao Dangshi's private instructions, the Kong family is actually safe.

Although in the middle of winter, the volume of goods transported by the river is much smaller, but the goods hoarded along the mouth are still a mountain accumulation for Zhao Ying. Many of them are transported here before the winter, and are ready to be sent after the ice and snow melt. Zhao Dangshi divided the people into three groups, one group to count the boats on the dock, one group to guard the town, and the other group to go to the town to count the seizures and additionally "chase the dirty and help".

The so-called "chasing dirt and helping the sound" is to collect money and food. After a few months of consumption, Zhao Ying's money and grain reserves have long been not optimistic, and there are many wealthy businessmen in Yankou Town, so they just make a big supplement here. Although Zhao Dangshi's military discipline was strict, he was not so pedantic that he didn't even do the necessary raids. Under the instructions of the military order "But the voice of those who are rich and unkind, and they have nothing to do with Ercao", the soldiers of the Zhao battalion began to torture and loot some of the top merchants in Yankou Town. The most targeted people in it are naturally members of the "blacklist" given by the Kong family in private.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Kong family, as a big businessman, was also invaded by the rogue, and there was nothing unusual about it. But the Kong family knows that compared to other families whose families are ruined and their people and money are empty, the loss of their own family is really nothing.

The day after the capture of Yankou was Chinese New Year's Eve, and the eleventh year of Chongzhen of Zhao Ying began in the bloodshed and killing of Yankou Town.

"Volume 2 The Starry Morning Wind Sends the Horseshoe Light" is over