The court's reply was unusually fast, which made Cai Jing a little apprehensive, he knew that he had made too many enemies in the court, and now the court's permission came so quickly, it made him think it was a trap. After hesitating for a long time, he forwarded the official document to Zhao Xing, and hurriedly said: "Leave people, this matter is planned by you, I don't care...... Well, I haven't written the pictures and calligraphy for this month, so you will have to worry more about official affairs in the future, and I will have to go back to my home to think about the design. ”

Zhao Xing smiled very honestly, he knew that everything was easy at the beginning. In the beginning, people have passion, inspiration, and have accumulated over the years, so they have a strong desire to create, but after a blowout eruption, people's inspiration will gradually shrink, so creation has become a kind of suffering, cycle-like, routine like torture. Cai Jing is now in a dry period, and ten creative drafts per month have already cost Cai Jing half his life.

What could be more wonderful than this, I actually kidnapped the first powerful minister of the Great Song Dynasty, the first "stubborn master" of the Great Song Dynasty, made him sad every day, and completed the specified design tasks for me...... It's just coke.

Cai Jing didn't expect that what he and Zhao Xing did together in Yangzhou was the only glorious achievement in his life. This powerful minister is good at hijacking other people's thoughts, and at his peak, he can even influence the emperor's thoughts, but the proudest thing in his life is the time when he was in Yangzhou, during this time, he was kidnapped by Zhao Xing, and he became the rubber head badge of Zhao Xing's subordinates...... He himself did not feel that in April, after the first batch of displaced people arrived in Yangzhou. Zhao Xing quickly deposited the money from the trading malls into the Industrial Bank, and took out loans to purchase wasteland in accordance with the ratio of "one deposit and three loans". Seeds and tools are then distributed free of charge, and wasteland is leased to the victims to reclaim the wasteland. It was agreed that after the autumn harvest, the victims would return the ripe fields to the government, and all the production in the fields would go to the victims.

The tens of thousands of troops borrowed from the imperial court have basically landed in this year. Zhao Xing used a loan to pay the salary of the Xiangding, and with the help of tens of thousands of laborers, he dredged several tributaries to divert the transportation of the canal, and solved the problem of canal congestion. The rest of the time is used to build roads, requiring the resettlement sites to realize "village access roads". Of course, this kind of road is unobstructed, and it will also be sold at a higher price.

In the early autumn of this year, Shuai Fan's sailors also completed their training. Zhao Xing handed over the civil affairs to the subordinate officials, and took the handsome sailors to collect the traces of the Luo Hu bandits.

The reason why it is difficult to exterminate the lake bandits is that there is not much difference in the speed of the boats between the officers and the army and the lake bandits, and there is always a time when the patrol boats of the officers and soldiers cannot take care of the ground. After the robbery, the lake bandits fled quickly, and when the officers and soldiers got the news and chased over, the lake bandits had already opened a long distance from the place where the crime occurred, and fled to the nearby Taihu Lake and Poyang Lake.

Afterwards, even if the officers and soldiers tracked down the boat that the lake bandits had thrown on the shore, those who landed on the shore in advance. It will also be a villager. Very pure to welcome the arrival of the officers and soldiers, and very hard to help the officers and soldiers find clues. Of course, they were looking for some wrong clues.

When Zhao Xing left the port, it happened to be a ship to report the crime, and three lake bandit boats carried out robbery, and afterwards, almost emptied the cargo of the merchant ship, and then fled all the way.

After a year of training, Shuai Fan, who was rubbing his fists, immediately asked to lead the troops to attack, but Zhao Xing unhurriedly gathered twenty family members, and then boarded the ship slowly.

This time, the Yangzhou Navy mobilized thirty fast sailing ships, one of the commanders is Zhao Xing's new elite sailing army, it has a sail and paddle hybrid galleon, carrying ten small flat-topped assault fast boats, these assault fast boats are equipped with small oars at the tail, using pedal as the power, each boat sits a soldier, forming a combat unit, this command elite soldiers were named "Ninth Division" by Zhao Xing with ulterior motives, because they are all new ships, they are very fast, fast sail into the center of the river, And by questioning the fishing boat, the traces of the lake bandits were caught.

Shuai Fan reported: "According to legend among the boat people, every time the lake bandits rob the stolen goods on the sandbar near Taihu Lake, and then scatter away, the reeds of Taihu Lake are blocked, and no one can be seen in the depths. ”

Zhao Xing looked at Shuai Fan meaningfully, this person usually does things recklessly, and he doesn't pay attention to his words, he didn't expect to be so calm when he was about to fight, he smiled and praised: "Zilian, yes, you actually know the priorities...... But our boat is fast enough, it doesn't matter, leave one fast boat to echo each other, wait for the follow-up fleet, and the rest of the boats speed up and catch up with the tail of the lake bandits, I want to see which sandbar they have gone. ”

Shuai Fan was still hesitating, and Zhao Xing asked again: "You say, how far will the bandits be from their own homes when they share the spoils on the sandbank?" ”

Shuai Fan slapped his thigh: "By the way, the bandits must be looking for a sandbar near the door of their homes, hiding the boats, if it is too far, they will not be able to contact, we brought a door dog, and we can follow the taste, so as long as we see which sandbar they share the spoils, it's a big deal that we will turn over all the nearby flying fishing villages." Once we find the goods, there is no room for them to deny them. ”

Shuai Fan figured it out, he personally picked up the drumstick, sat on the command boat, and commanded the fleet to chase murderously in the direction of the lake bandits' escape.

At the confluence of Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River, Zhao Xing caught up with the fishing boats of the lake bandits, and when he saw the appearance of the officials and soldiers, the lake bandits were not in a hurry, turned to a nearby sandbar with a whistle, turned around twice, and disappeared into the reeds.

Zhao Xing beckoned, and the soldiers had already presented a hydrogeological map of Taihu Lake - this is the benefit of having a single horse. In order to control the flooding of Taihu Lake, Shan Yi has investigated the water system along the Taihu Lake for 30 years, and he is familiar with the hydrological conditions of each fork of Taihu Lake.

What will happen to Zhao Xing with a single requirement, that is, the qualitative change, a single repertoire wants to control the floods of Taihu Lake, the water depth of each ditch, the water flow situation he knows, can be described as a living dictionary of Taihu Lake, the only regret is that there is no system concept of single requirement, many useful information are stored in his mind, not organized into a regular map. But with Zhao Xing, it's different.

Zhao Xing has been dredging nearby rivers together with Shan Gong for the past year. At the same time, he also asked a single horse to record while recalling, and drew a detailed hydrological map of the Taihu Lake water system. This is for the Yangzhou Water Army. It is the greatest wealth.

The lake bandits relied on their familiarity with geography, but under the joint efforts of Shan Yi and Zhao Xingdi, their advantage no longer existed, because the geographical knowledge of the lake bandits was perceptual and belonged to empiricism. With the addition of Zhao Xing, the geographical knowledge of the Yangzhou Navy on Taihu Lake is intellectually and systematic.

If it was normal, the Yangzhou navy would chase the nearby sandbar, and they would wander and dare not move forward because they were afraid of the shallow water. If you enter it blatantly, the ship will be stranded and trapped on the sandbar, unable to reach the sky or the ground.

The day Zhao Xing chose to attack was the thirteenth (lunar calendar). The thirteenth lunar calendar is the day when the tide begins, when the water level in the river is at its highest, and this phenomenon continues until the 18th (lunar calendar), when it begins to gradually decrease. It adds up to six days. In this way, even if the memory of the single slab is wrong, a high insurance factor can be guaranteed.

The Yangzhou Navy did not stay long outside the channel, and the three assault fast boats rushed through the mouth of the river and entered the reeds, and Zhao Xingdi commanded the boat to be slightly slower, waiting for him to arrive. All the assault boats have poured into the depths of the reeds. Zhao Xing had no choice but to order a boat to cross the fork of the river and wait for the news from inside. Not for a while. An assault boat returned to report alone: the lake bandits blocked the river with fishing nets, and the first assault boat that rushed into the fork of the river was careless, and the oars were entangled in the fishing nets and trapped inside, and the other boats did not dare to move forward and waited outside the fork of the river.

Zhao Xing was furious: "The lake bandits only have three boats, how many fishing nets can there be on each boat, block a river fork, at least one fishing net must be used, since it has already rushed closer, should it be fought to catch up with the lake bandits by falling five assault boats?" How did they rush in before, and now they are delayed, who is directing the ship in front? ”

The reprimanded assault boat was silent, these are the soldiers trained by Shuai Fan, Shuai Fan on the boat was embarrassed, jumped up and said, "I'll command." ”

Zhao Xing stared at Shuai Fan and said hatefully: "Speaking of which, our paddle boats are far more flexible than hard sailboats, in such a fork of the river, it is the time when we have the advantage, but a fishing net can scare them."

I have heard that the human heart is the most difficult to overcome, and with a firm battle**, a flat avenue can become an insurmountable danger for dozens of people to guard the ground house. There is no desperate battle**, and the millions of people guarding the capital are like a chicken coop for people to break in and slaughter. You say, I spent a year feeding this group of people with good food and drink, could it be that nine assault boats were intimidated by a fishing net? ”

Shuai Fan's face turned red, and he sang a big reply: "My lord, the strikers have no command, let me go, I will command them." Zhao Xing nodded and said, "Nine assault boats, we have more than others, and the operation is more flexible; Our equipment is also better than others, why don't we dare to fight, you go, anyone who retreats from the battle, will be killed. ”

Without saying a word, Shuai Fan jumped into the advance assault boat and sailed towards the depths of the reeds. Zhao Xing's boat was so big that he didn't dare to sail into the depths of the reeds, so he had to wait anxiously outside. After a while, the soldiers and horses arrived with the rest of the ships. At this time, a series of explosions sounded in the depths of the reeds, and soon, puffs of black smoke rose up, and then a fire ignited in the depths of the reeds.

Lu Yu's command boat was close to Zhao Xing's boat, he jumped over along the pedal of the boat, and asked anxiously: "Recruitment, there is a sound inside, do you want to go in to answer it...... Together with this fire, I was worried that the boat would not be able to turn around easily, and it would be trapped in the sea of fire. ”

Zhao Xing looked leisurely, the chef on the boat had already begun to make drunk shrimp and river crabs for him, and he greeted Lu Yu with a glass of wine: "Lord Lu, why be so anxious." The lake bandits use bows and arrows, and we use thunderbolts and thunderbolts; The lake bandits are in square-headed schooners, and our assault boats are pointed-nosed paddle boats, so what is the use of them if they can't beat them? ”

What Zhao Xing didn't tell others was that the modified version he used was the best formula recognized by modern technology. Thanks to the benefits of poor information transmission in ancient times, Lu Yu didn't notice the difference at all, and it was natural that Zhao Xing used gunpowder in the army.

Zhao Xing was still laughing, he patted the arm of the chair, and smiled very coldly: "My ship is loaded with 300 stones of fire oil, if that group of people is defeated, I will set fire to the lake, and I will never let the lake bandits take away the paddle boat." ”

Lu Yu was stunned for a moment, approached Zhao Xing and whispered: "I heard that the loach boat is most afraid of being entangled by aquatic plants and debris in the river. This place belongs to the fork of the river, and the boat breaks into it, will it get stuck in it? ”

Zhao Xing finished holding the hot tea without worry. At this time, the chef brought the fish and shrimp newly caught from the river, and Zhao Xing greeted Lu Yu warmly: "Tizhi, come, eat drunk shrimp." Looking at the cramped boat, I originally wanted the chef to make the crab, but unfortunately there was not enough time. ”

Lu Yu hesitated, and suddenly, he seemed to have figured it out, and immediately sat down with a big grin, and asked, "What kind of wine did you prepare today?" At the time of crab roe, just drinking wine, tasting river crabs, and asking for wine management today......"

The smoke in the reeds grew louder. After a while, Shuai Fan led six boats out with smoke and fire, and when he saw Zhao Xing, he shouted loudly: "Recruit." It's done. ”

Lu Yu was smacking a crab leg in his mouth, after hearing this, he was reluctant to spit out the crab meat in his mouth, but he was very anxious in his heart, so he had to take a mouth full of food and ask vaguely: "Judge, what has happened?" ”

Shuai Fan forked his hands and did not leave the square inch. Answer: "Solicitation, probation." We destroyed two bandit ships, and one escaped with serious injuries. The two brothers have already chased after them......"

Zhao Xing was also holding the crab in his mouth, but he was steady, swallowed the crab meat in his mouth slowly, and looked up for a moment before replying: "Okay, you take the rest of the fleet to chase down, I will do something with Lu Ti Ha and follow you after a while." ”

Shuai Fan was stunned for a moment, he hesitated and refused to leave, and said for a long time: "Recruit, it's not like this, this reed is also a place where all birds live, please ask your subordinates to be merciful." ”

Lu Yu was still wondering, but saw that the crew used the ship's pulley to lift the barrels one by one, they picked up the big hammer and hammered it violently behind the barrel, and the barrel stopper of the barrel jumped out directly, and the fierce fire oil flowed out and flowed out of the deck. Immediately afterwards, the wooden barrels flowing with fierce fire oil were thrown into the river by the sailors, one barrel after another, and after a while, the river exuded a strong smell of fierce fire oil.

Shuai Fan saw that his persuasion was ineffective, so he had to sigh, arched his hand at Zhao Xing, who continued to eat crabs, climbed onto the assault boat along the rope ladder of the big boat, and then ordered: "Go quickly, if you don't leave, you won't be able to get out." ”

Zhao Xing's boat hands and feet are very fast, after a while, the river is full of wooden barrels, the water surface is also piled with a thick layer of grease, after the Shuai Fan's assault boat started, Zhao Xing's boat also began to drag slowly, while retreating while throwing wooden barrels into the river, and so out of the channel, several rockets shot to the channel full of oil barrels, "boom" - a violent explosion of fire oil, a winding line of fire burned along the oil trail to Zhao Xing's boat, Zhao Xing's boat suddenly accelerated its speed, when the boat quickly rotated a circle, the oil stains were disturbed, Then Zhao's boat sailed around the sandbar in a panic, and kept throwing down oil drums.

In the evening, the sandbar turned into a huge pillar of fire, which illuminated the entire Dongting Lake, and when the passing ships saw this pillar of fire, some clapped their hands and some were uneasy.

The lake bandits came a total of three boats, two were sunk, many lake bandits jumped into the water to escape, Shuai Fan did not strictly chase and kill, some of the lake bandits who jumped into the water climbed on the surviving bandit boats, some hid in the reeds, waiting for the escape afterwards, now, the lake bandits hiding in the reeds have become a barbecue, those who were lucky to escape looked at the fire pillar in the lake and rejoiced.

Unfortunately, their happiness did not last long, that night, the landing sailors surrounded the village where the lake bandits were hiding, and the stolen goods they looted were intercepted by Zhao Xing and them on the boat before they had time to disperse and hide in each house.

At dawn, Shuai Fan led the people to report: "My lord, the lake bandits abandoned the boat and escaped, the goods on the ship have been seized, and a few pieces of clothing left by the lake bandits were found from the boat. ”

When Shuai Fan reported, the local Li Zheng with three strong men hurriedly came to greet the official army, this Li Zheng is a majestic man, he holds a simple knife in his hand, and the three entourages are carrying sentry sticks, with a respectful expression: "Recruitment, Changzhou Mansion Henglin Town to observe Lin, specially come to serve in front of the army, may I ask what military affairs your Excellency has in Changzhou?" Can there be a Privy Council order? ”

Zhao Xing smiled, glanced at the tower Tyson beside him, Tyson let out a strange scream, picked up the big stick in his hand and hit the head of the stick. In a hurry, the horizontal knife was blocked, and when there was a loud noise, the knife broke and people died! Tyson's huge weight discounted the opponent with a stick.

The three attendants hurriedly jumped away, picked up the whistle stick in their hands and put on a posture, but they looked at the wooden stick in their hands, and then looked at the thick mace in Tyson's hand, sighed and threw down the stick: "Zhao, your Yangzhou official came to the Changzhou territory, let's observe and ask, why did you kill him?" ”

A few people on the opposite side could still talk eloquently, Zhao Xing bared his teeth and said mockingly: "Arama Village, there are a few people in the village who have counted them, I don't believe it, you don't know that there are bandits in the village?" …… No need to quibble, I chased the bandits along the way, and it was impossible to make a mistake - do you know what I used to do, I turned out to be a hunter! Leading a dog to track its prey is the best. Take the dogs and let them see if they can hide it from me. ”

No need for dogs, those entourages heard Zhao Xing's words and turned around and wanted to escape. They were fast, but not as fast as Tyson, and the black man screamed, threw his mace and smashed it at one person, and then rushed forward, punching one by one, knocking the remaining two down.

Lu Yu was a little timid, leading the troops to cross the border is not a joke, it is a big crime to get it wrong, although it can be reported afterwards, but Zhao Xing came up and even the local officials also killed, which made him scare his legs, but the three entourages fled with a weak heart, he immediately stopped sore in his waist, his legs did not hurt, his spirit was great, and he lived like supplementing calcium.

"Scare me to death, how can you be sure that they are lake bandits as soon as you meet?" Lu Yu asked in shock.