1

Since Zhang Chuan deceived Wei Zhen and his wife to ferry, he has been ferrying on the Shuanglong River every day, and he has more than a dozen wine money every day, and he often drinks and has fun on the boat with Liu Jia and his partners back then, and his life is also free.

However, greed is endless, and after a long time, how can this little ferry income be enough for expenses? After being full of wine and food, Liu Jia was sleeping in the cabin, Zhang Chuan remembered the crooked idea again, sat on the bow of the boat and thought about it, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he smiled: "There is!" ”

On this day, the fat, thin, tall, and short brothers came to the boat again to have fun, and as soon as they got on the boat, they saw a wooden sign inserted in the bow of the boat, which read "Crossing the River with a Text", and the fat man asked: "Brother Chuan, the ferry is known to everyone, so why do you need to set up a sign to show it?" Zhang Chuan said with a smile: "The work of the ferry is not easy, and the money is small, how can it be enough to spend." Nowadays, those who cross the river need to pay ten yuan, otherwise they will not want to cross the river. The fat man smiled: "I think so, but how can the people who cross the river be willing to give?" People are not stupid! ”

As he was talking, a man with a burden came in the distance, Zhang Zhou said: "Fat man, just take this man to try his hand, you will support this boat, I will pretend to be a guest, after arriving at the shore, you ask him for ten cents." ”

The fat man said: "It's okay to hold the boat, but I don't dare to open this mouth if I ask someone for ten cents." ”

Zhang Chuan said: "Don't be afraid, when you get to the other side, you just need to collect ten yuan, if he wants to argue with you, I have my own way." ”

Liu Jia listened while lying in the cabin, squinting and laughing.

As he was talking, the guest who carried the burden had already arrived at the ferry, and saw him carrying a load of radishes on the bow of the boat, walked to the cabin, put down the burden, and said: "Boatman, hurry up and sail, I want to go to the Hujia Village market opposite to sell radishes, and I can sell them at a good price as soon as possible." ”

The fat man replied, "Okay! Then he picked up the penny, gently towards the shore, and the boat drifted away from the shore to the middle of the river.

When the boat arrived in the middle of the river, Zhang Zhou quietly took out a brush from the cabin, and while the guests crossing the river were not paying attention, he added a vertical to the wooden sign, and "one article across the river" became "ten articles across the river".

When the fat, thin, tall, and short people saw it, they smiled heartily. Zhang Chuan handed the thin man, the tall man, and the short man ten cents each, and the three of them understood and accepted it with a smile.

When they arrived at the shore, the guest who carried the burden took out a penny, and then the short man rushed in front and handed the fat man ten cents, and the others also gave ten cents to the fat man, and the fat man was happy in his heart, and said to the man: "Ten cents." ”

The man was surprised: "Strange things, it has always been one article, when did it become ten articles?" ”

Zhang Zhou pointed to the wooden sign on the bow of the boat and said, "Look at what is written on it yourself, the price has already increased," and after speaking, he also paid a transition fee of ten cents, and pretended to leave.

The man didn't believe the words on the sign, because when he got on the boat, it was clearly written "Crossing the River One Article", how could it suddenly become "Ten Texts Crossing the River". After thinking about it, he couldn't figure it out, and when he saw that the other people who crossed the river with him had paid ten yuan, although he was puzzled, he had to reluctantly take out another nine yuan, and hand it to the fat man along with the one in his hand, and then shook his head, and helplessly picked up the burden and got off the boat.

After the man left, Zhang Chuan and the others returned to the boat from the shore with a smile and a smile, and they were happy.

2

tasted the sweetness, and naturally relied on the gourd to draw the scoop, and continued to blackmail the past guests, and could get more than 100 dollars every day, and a few swindlers were ecstatic for a while, and they couldn't close their mouths. However, the good times did not last long, everyone spread ten or ten, and the notoriety of the chapter boat drifted farther and farther, and no one dared to come to the boat of the chapter boat, and sometimes no one crossed the river for several days, so anxious that the chapter boat was anxious and restless.

"What's the hurry, it's time for us to get fattened," Liu Jia counted the days and said, "Presumably the Qiuguang brothers have also succeeded, it's time for us to take revenge." ”

At this time, at dusk, Zhang Chuan smiled: "I'll play again at the end and earn some travel expenses." Liu Jia said: "Do you want to play again?" Zhang Chuan smiled at Nunu in the distance: "No, the guest is here." Liu Jia sat in the cabin and heard someone walking in the distance, so he said, "You play with yours, I'm sleeping." ”

There were four big men walking in the distance, two of them carrying heavy burdens, Zhang Zhou secretly thought: There is no business for a few days, these four people are my wealth, I will go to Hefei tomorrow, and I will have to defraud him tonight.

After the four of them approached, the leader said, "Boatman, please ferry us." ”

Zhang Chuan deliberately said: "I'm really sorry, this river has many reefs, the night boat is dangerous, I only ferry people during the day, never sail at night, the four guest officers can rest in the village inn for one night, and it is not too late to cross the river early tomorrow morning." ”

The leader said: "Okay, the boatman should be careful, we will pay you more silver taels." Another man shouted: "Be careful, the boatman is bold to drive, if the boat capsizes, the master will pay you ten times the ship's money." The leader of the man scolded: "Shut up for me and say something unlucky." Fu said to Zhang Chuan: "This river is not wide, and it is okay for the boatman to be careful and forgive me." ”

The four of them had already boarded the boat while talking, Zhang Zhou heard the foreign accents of the four people, and saw that their words revealed a wealth of heroism, and the evil intentions were even stronger for a while, and he thought secretly: "It's dark today, if the boat sails the river to kill and rob him, no one will know." Thinking of this, Zhang Zhou sneered: "Since the four eldest brothers insist on crossing the river, then I will seek wealth to cross the river, in case something happens, the four eldest brothers will blame me." ”

After that, he lifted the penny and pressed the bluestone on the shore, quickly pushed the boat away from the river, and sang:

Ye is a water fairy, not afraid of the earth and the sky.

The official family was reluctant to give up money, and the boat turned over in the heart of the river.

When the four men on the boat heard this, they looked at each other, but they just laughed and didn't pay any attention. Zhang Chuan said tentatively: "Where are the four eldest brothers from, and what do they do for a living?" ”

The leader smiled and said: "Under the surname Tang Minghai, the people in the rivers and lakes are called thieves, and the four of my brothers rushed to Kyushu, broke into the four seas, and killed the wicked people who did evil." ”

It turned out that the four of them were Tang Hai, Shan Yong, Lin Yuan, and Ye Yang. After getting on the boat, Tang Hai saw that Zhang Chuan's appearance was rude and his words were strange, and he heard the murderous spirit in his lyrics, so he had already guessed his thoughts, so he reported to his home, intending to deter Zhang Chuan, and warned him not to harm others.

Tang Hai is extremely low-key, how could he have blown up his identity so flamboyantly, so after listening to Tang Hai's words, Shan Yong was surprised and asked: "Big brother? Lin Yuan also felt strange, but Ye Yang smiled and said, "It's rare that the eldest brother is so straightforward today, and it is the first time that he has told others his name." ”

Zhang Zhou listened to Tang Hai's words and was secretly frightened, and looked at it carefully, the four of them were vicious, and it was rumored in the rivers and lakes that thieves were bloodthirsty and murderous, and they were the first in the world, could it be that they were so unlucky that they actually ran into this evil star? Fu thought again: "How can there be such a coincidence, isn't this leader deceiving me?" I'll wait until I'm tentative. ”

Zhang Chuanyin and Yang said strangely: "It turned out to be four heroes, fortunately." In the next chapter boat, I have heard about the four big names for a long time, and I have heard that the four heroes kill bullies and do not deceive the good, I don't know if it is true or not? ”

Tang Hai said with a smile: "Don't hide it from Brother Zhangchuan, although the four of us have killed countless people, they have never been in vain, even if the good people bear me, I will not kill them, and the evil people will kill them even if they are kind to me." ”

Zhang Chuan secretly pondered: "This person's words are provocative, even if it is really a thief, it is also my world in this river, the big deal is that I abandon the boat and flee into the water, and I will come out again after they leave, the boat is still my boat, and I will not lose anything." Nai Dao: "That being the case, dare to ask Tang Yingying, is Zhang Chuan a good person or an evil person?" ”

Liu Jia listened to the outside conversation in the cabin, took out the knife, and got out of the cabin with a cold face.

At this time, Shan Yong, Lin Yuan, and Ye Yang had already understood that the eldest brother had already seen that this boatman was not a good type, so he spoke so much to provoke him, so the three of them each clenched their fists, looked at Zhang Chuan, and Liu Jia coldly, and just waited for the eldest brother's order.

Tang Hai said with a smile: "If I have a clean breeze on my sleeves, you will be a good person, and if I carry gold and silver, you will be a bad person." ”

Zhang Chuan also smiled: "That being the case, let me ask you again, are the four of you with two sleeves or gold and silver?" ”

Ye Yang said angrily: "Grandpa's back is all gold and silver, and he has the ability to come and get it." Ye Yang said as he rushed to the bow of the boat.

As soon as Zhang Zhou saw that the posture was wrong, he hurriedly dropped the penny, and took out a short knife to kill Ye Yang, the two of them fisted and kicked back and forth on the boat, and after fighting a few hands, Zhang Chuanfang knew that the opponent was really powerful, and he was afraid for a while, and jumped into the river to escape. Over there, Liu Jia was also going to commit murder, but was blocked by Lin Yuan, and after a few punches and kicks, Liu Jia knew that he was invincible, and he also jumped into the water and left.

Ye Yang laughed on the boat and said, "You ran away, I will burn your boat." Tang Hai rowed the boat to the opposite shore, Ye Yang really lit a fire, and saw that a good boat turned into a pile of raging fire, and the four of them walked away.

3

When the Liujia and Zhangzhou boats crawled to the shore in a wet water, the boats had been burned to the point that only a few planks remained.

Zhang Chuan was helpless, except for scolding a few words of "stealing Tang Hai, I'm not done with you", there is no other good way. Seeing that the well-designed extorted ferry turned into a few pieces of scorched wood, Zhang Chuan sighed: "Alas, I originally planned for us to leave and hand over the boat to the fat, thin, tall, and short four, but I never thought that we would encounter these four calamities!" ”

Liu Jia said regretfully: "I thought they were fake, so I fought with them, I knew that it was really a thief Tang Hai, so I should treat each other with courtesy, today my brothers and the real hero missed each other, it's a pity!" ”

Zhang Chuan smiled: "What are you sorry about, you want to get acquainted with people, people may not be willing, there is a rumor on the rivers and lakes that thieves say: 'Good people are evil to me and I am good, and evil people are good to me and I am evil' In his eyes, you and my brother are evil people, even if they treat him kindly, he can't tolerate us." ”

Liu Jia said: "No, I heard that Tang Hai kills people, whether it is good or evil, whether it is good or evil, whether it is right or wrong, regardless of interests, he breaks evil and upright, does not waste anyone, never kills indiscriminately, you and I ferry, if you don't have evil intentions, how can he not tolerate me." ”

Zhang Chuan said: "Forget it, I've missed it, and it's useless to say more." Brother A, wait a minute, I'll steal some clean clothes to change. ”

It didn't take long for Zhang Boat to go, and he really brought five or six clothes, and the two of them changed and ran to Hefei overnight. At dawn the next day, the two arrived outside Lujiang City, and Liu Jia said: "Go in and get some silver to make a coil." ”

The two entered the city, wandered around the streets looking for opportunities, and when they walked to the rice market, they saw that it was crowded with people, and it was very crowded. Liu Jia and Zhang Chuan walked to the rice market, thinking about where to go, and suddenly saw an old farmer and an old man in the city discussing the price of rice, only to hear the city man say: "Okay, brother, the price is according to what you said, but I didn't bring silver taels, first pick up the rice back to my house and then pay, how about it?" ”

Liu Jia is good at deceit, seeing this scene, the ghost idea came out, and whispered a few words in Zhang Chuan's ear, and Zhang Chuan was overjoyed.

When the old farmer saw that the business had been negotiated, he asked, "Dare to ask how far your mansion is from here?" ”

Zhang Chuan immediately said: "Don't ask, just follow along." As he spoke, he picked up the load of rice and urged the two of them repeatedly: "Dad, let's go, let's go!" ”

The people in the city who bought rice thought that Zhang Chuan was the son of the old farmer, and the old farmer thought that Zhang Chuan was the son of the rice buyer, so the three of them shuttled through the bustling flow of people, and when they arrived at the door, Zhang Chuan said to the old farmer: "You wait here." He went into the house with the man from the city who bought rice, and after receiving one hundred and twenty yuan of rice, he went straight out, and said to the old peasant standing at the door: "Uncle, wait a minute, someone will send you money later." ”

Easily swindled a load of rice money, Zhang Chuan was overjoyed, whistled back to Liu Jia, the two of them went into the noodle restaurant and asked for four large bowls of noodles, and devoured them.

4

Liu Jia and Zhang Chuan were about to leave the city, when suddenly a quick rider grabbed in front of the two with a token and shouted, "Close the city gate quickly." When the city keeper saw the token, he hurriedly told his men to close the gate, and asked, "Why do you close the gate before the time comes?" The man came: "Lord Bo wants the whole city to catch thieves, and no one is allowed to go out of the city." ”

Many of the people who were blocked in the city gate complained, but they were helpless, Liu Jia said: "Brother, seeing that something big has happened in Luzhou City, you and I will find an inn to live in first." The two found a Sanjiang inn, showed the road guide, asked for a room, Zhang Zhou asked the shopkeeper Mao Yandao: "What thieves have happened in Lujiang, why do you want to close the city gate?" Mao Yan said: "Our Lujiang has been closed almost every night since Sijing came to office, how can there be any big thieves, and I don't know why the city gate is closed today." Liu Jia asked, "What are the four wattles?" Mao Yan said: "Half a year ago, our Luzhou is also rampant thieves, the people are not peaceful, and then the imperial court sent the four brothers of the Jing family, the eldest brother Jing Kui is the master, the second brother Jing Ying is the secretary of the torture room, the third brother Jing Si is the warden of the torture room, the fourth Jing Fei did the inspection of the inspection department, the four people are meticulous in law enforcement, all those who violate the law in the county must be investigated, and the strong bullies in Lujiang are all saying: 'Four Jing law enforcement, although stealing a sesame seed, can not escape the public court. Therefore, no one dared to come nonsense, and there were no more thieves in the county. ”

The two entered the room and sat down, drank a cup of tea, suddenly heard the noise outside the window, probed out to see, there were dozens of tolerances with knives to come, the people saw it and quickly hid on both sides of the street, Zhang Zhou said: "Go, look at the excitement, there must be something wrong in Lujiang City." ”

Just about to leave the inn, a tolerance came in and said to Mao Yan: "Shopkeeper Mao, quickly prepare the guest roster for today, and wait for the inspection department to come to check it carefully." Mao Yan hurriedly said: "Okay, don't worry, I'll prepare." Zhang Chuan asked the duke: "Hey, brother, what happened, so moving?" The public said: "I don't know what's going on, this time Lord Bo transferred 300 Kuaishou, 100 archers, 100 fire armor, 50 Kuzi and forbidden sons, 50 soldiers, defense husbands, volunteers, gunners, 50 sailors, slender men, and couriers, and recruited 1,000 people from outside the city to assist in the process, so as to search from house to house, presumably it should be a big thief." ”

On the street, seeing the tolerance coming and going and scolding, Liu Jia whispered: "Brother, if my guess is correct, it must be the first thief in the world to commit a big crime in Luzhou." ”

Zhang Chuan suddenly realized and said: "Yes, they must have done a big case in Lujiang, and they escaped overnight last night, not wanting to be touched by us." ”

Liu Jia said: "These four people are all shocking cases, as soon as they make a move, their heads will fall to the ground, don't say that even the court is shocked by the rivers and lakes, and today I look at this posture, and I think that many people have died." ”

Zhang Zhou sighed regretfully: "Alas, I knew that I overturned the boat last night and drowned these four bastards, and our brothers could also receive some rewards." ”

Liu Jia blamed: "Brother, don't talk nonsense, these four people are real heroes, if you and I do such dirty things, we will definitely be pointed at by friends in the rivers and lakes in the future." ”

At this time, I saw several public servants posting notices along the street, one for every half mile, and the people rushed to watch. Zhang Chuan said: "Let's go, take a look." Squeezed in and took a look, only to see that it was written: "At the end of today's hour, it is the beginning of the hour, there is a tailor in the city Qiao Er who sells rice, and a tenant farmer Liu Ba outside the city sells rice. This stick is seven feet high, with a black face, a big mouth, a stout, Tongcheng accent, and anyone who reports the people will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and will be exempted from forced labor and taxes for one year. ”

Everyone in the audience was full of praise: "With the four brothers of the Jing family, our Lujiang is peaceful." There were also a few hippie teenagers present, sighing: "Once you cheat the rice money, you still have to be caught, I'll be honest in the future, and the offense will be in the hands of the government." ”

After reading the notice, Liujia and Zhangchuan were dumbfounded, and after a long time, Liujia suddenly woke up and pulled Zhangchuan into a secluded place. Zhang Zhou scolded: "I just cheated once the rice is one hundred and twenty Wen, but they are so hard to mobilize the people, offering a hundred times the reward to arrest me, are the Jing family brothers crazy!" ”

Liu Jia said: "I heard that Cao Yin is enforcing the law, and he has always done it at all costs, but I didn't expect Cao Yin to be imprisoned, and there are four more brothers in the court!" We have to find a way to escape from Lujiang quickly, otherwise we will be caught by them, and it will be bad. ”

Zhang Chuan said with a smile: "Brother Jia, what are you worried about, even if you find me, I won't admit it if I am killed, and if I am in a hurry, I will sue the two old men to frame me." ”

Liu Jia repented: "It's all my fault, I won't teach you to go, and I won't cause this catastrophe." ”

Zhang Chuan smiled: "I'm afraid of a bird, it's a big deal that I'll go to jail." ”

"It turned out that you two did it, since you are not afraid, just let us go."

I don't know when, there was a person standing behind the two, and the man said: "I am Jing Ying, the official of the county torture room." As soon as he finished speaking, seven or eight fast hands came over in unison.

Liu Jia knew very well that if he didn't rush out at this time, he would never have a chance to escape, and once he was in the hands of the government, he would have to squat for at least three or five years. "Rush!" Liu Jia immediately decided, the two of them suddenly pushed away the martingale, knocked down a few people and ran out, just ran out of less than ten steps, and was surrounded by twenty or thirty people from the street, even if Liu Jia, Zhang Chuan has a great ability, can not break out of this net, after a struggle, the two were caught by everyone, tied a knot.

Jing Ying escorted Liu Jia and Zhang Boat to the county office, and met Jing Kui, Jing Si, and Jing Fei on the way. ”

Jing Kui said: "I heard that the second brother arrested two suspects, just in case there is a mistake, I specially ordered the Ya to take Qiao Er and Liu Ba and let the two old men come to identify them." ”

Zhang Chuan said angrily: "You don't need to identify it, it's me, you just arrest me, it has nothing to do with my brother." ”

Jing Ying scolded: "The thief Kou Xiu wants to hide it from me, he is the mastermind, you are the main offender, according to my Taizu "Da Ming Law", he is the first offender, and you are an accomplice." ”

Zhang Zhou heard the word "thief" and scolded: "What kind of official are you, what can you do, don't I just cheat once the rice money, you want to mobilize the people, and take more than 1,000 people to arrest me all over the city, so hard and money, is it worth it?" ”

The four brothers of the Jing family looked at each other and smiled. Jing Kui said: "Thief, let me tell you, if there are 100 people in the city, and ten of them violate the law, and the official is afraid of trouble, he picks out five of the simple and clear cases, and arrests five of them, and the other five cases are either difficult or small, as you say, it is not worth the effort to arrest the criminals, and the officials indulge them, then these five prisoners will say: 'If you escape this time, you will be safe next time.'" So he went back to breaking the law. But the law-abiding ninety said, 'You see, the chance of being caught breaking the law is only half of the time.' Then ten more daring men broke the law, and together with the five who had slipped through the net, there were fifteen of them. In this way, the official was even more busy, so he had to pick up five more simple and straightforward cases to arrest people, arrested five people, and left ten, and these ten people happily said: "If you dodge this time, you will be safe next time." So ten went and broke the law again. And the law-abiding eighty humans: 'You see, the chance of breaking the law and getting caught is only one in three. ’…… This is the reason for this repetition, the cycle of going back and forth, the increasing number of violators, the overwhelming number of officials and errands, and the emptiness of the laws of all dynasties. ”

After Jing Kui finished speaking, Jing Si said: "I am against the law of the Ming Dynasty, if you want to prohibit it, you must capture everyone who dares to violate the law at all costs, whether he is guilty of murder and arson, or stealing chickens and dogs, we would rather spend thousands of dollars to capture it, so that the people will say: 'The law of the Ming Dynasty, those who violate it will be punished.'" The big and small thieves on the rivers and lakes are frightened: "The laws of the Ming Dynasty are strict, and there is no fish that escapes the net." 'Whether it is the common people or the thieves, there is no delusion of luck and success, and the world is naturally peaceful. ”

Liu Jia listened to the remarks of the Jing family brothers, both admired and remorseful, and asked: "Your reasoning is similar to what Cao Yin, the Qing official of the current dynasty, said, dare to ask what is the relationship between the four adults and Lord Cao?" ”

Sijing was slightly startled when he heard this, the four of them glanced at each other, and reprimanded Liu Jia: "What are you talking about, go quickly!" ”