Chu Zhiliang was not the only one who came to defect to Zhou Hexuan, but there were three on the Yangtze River at this time, namely: Swallow Wang Er, Lingnan Flying Tiger Yuan Wujiu, and Ghost Operator Zheng Rentong.

Since ancient times, the main road out of the river is extremely difficult to walk, there is a saying that "the danger is like the sword pavilion, and the male is like the gate".

From Wushan to the White Emperor, the cliff wall on both sides of the Yangtze River stands, hundreds of zhang high, not 100 meters wide, the shape is the same as the portal, the name is called "Kuimen". The river here is turbulent, rushing and roaring, looking up at the blue sky, the clouds and the sky are a line, and there are countless reefs.

The Yangtze River is known as a golden waterway, but in Sichuan it is also necessary to follow the rule of "Shu Road is difficult".

Especially during the dry winter season, it is necessary to have someone familiar with hydrology to guide the way, and even modern ships cannot pass through at will. Those reefs were so powerful that it was not until the founding of New China that the reefs were blown up countless times by the People's Liberation Army, and the ships could be unimpeded.

The mighty grain ships finally arrived at Kuimen Pass, and they were all small boats with a displacement of less than 50 tons. This year, the drought in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is too severe, and the water level is so low that it is impossible for large ships to pass through the Kuimen section.

In the face of the raging rapids, those small-horsepower propellers cannot bring enough power to a fully loaded cargo ship, so they must rely on the help of the slender man.

Between the steep cliffs on both sides, slender men are dragging ropes and struggling to move forward. Regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, they do not wear clothes, only wrap a white cloth around their waist to cover their shame, their bodies are at a 35-degree angle to the ground, and every step is out of a thousand strengths, and they are constantly dripping sweat in winter.

A small boat with a displacement of 50 tons needs at least twenty or thirty slender men to pass through Qutang Gorge safely. Zhou Hexuan's 500,000 tons of disaster relief grain wanted to be transported to Sichuan, and the money for asking the slender man to pull the boat would cost countless amounts of money, and it would take an extremely long time. Because the number of slender men is not enough, they must finish pulling a boat and then turn back to continue pulling.

This time, Lu Zuofu mobilized more than 3,000 slender men, and almost invited more than half of the slender men in Hubei and Chongqing.

Each team of slender men has a puller, who leans sideways with little force, and is mainly responsible for observing the waterway. He can judge the speed of the water and the condition of the reef by the water patterns on the surface of the river, and if he makes a mistake, he may lead the crew and the slender man to death.

Beside the head fiber, you must follow a number.

While observing the waterway, the head fiber communicates with the trumpet, and the trumpet then directs all the slender men through the sound of the trumpet.

When passing a dangerous beach, Touxian immediately said to the number: "Get ready, it's time to dry!" ”

The trumpet immediately shouted in the Sichuan dialect: "Hey, hey over the dangerous beach!" Boom, hey! Hey! Hey......"

When the slender men got the signal, they immediately exerted all their strength, and shouted in unison as they walked forward: "Hey! Hey! Hi Zo! Hi Zo! Hey! Hey! Hi Zo! Hi Zo......"

The more ferocious the torrent, the more rapid the sound of the horn, on the one hand, it can encourage the slender men, on the other hand, it is also to control the rhythm of the fiber, and try to make every bit of strength come together.

The horn of the Sichuan River, with a very melodic rhythm, floats back and forth in the Qutang Gorge, soaring into the sky.

Not only are the porters on the shore busy, but the shipwrights are also busy. Each boat must be equipped with a helmsman at the head and tail of the ship, with the front rudder watching the water and the rear rudder taking the helm. In the case of a traditional galleys, there is also a boatman in the middle who is responsible for contacting the helmsman, encouraging the oarsman and echoing the slender man.

This is a collective project, and all forces must be united in order to overcome the power of nature.

There is a conventional rule in the slender man industry, if there is a shoal or a dangerous shoal, the boat in front cannot pass, then the slender man of the boat behind must come to help. Even if they are in a hostile and competitive relationship, they are partners at critical moments, and once the front ship passes, its slender man must come back to help the rear ship.

Fortunately, this time Lu Zuofu transferred all the mechanically powered ships, which themselves have strong mobility, which makes the work of the slender men much easier, otherwise it is estimated that 500,000 tons of disaster relief grain will not be transported until next spring.

The ghost operator Zheng Rentong stood at the bow of the boat and sighed: "What a magnificent scene! ”

"It's really powerful, I've never seen such a dangerous river." Yuan Wujiu nodded and said.

Both of them used to be Wang Yaqiao's subordinates, but now they have no way out, so they follow Yanzi Wang Er to Chongqing to join Zhou Hexuan. They saw Zhou Hexuan's call for donations in the newspaper, and specially purchased 1,000 quintals of grain in Guangdong, took the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, and then changed to a cargo ship to go upstream.

The "assassination king" Wang Yaqiao is already dead, and was stabbed to death by the spies sent by Dai Li.

Dai Li used to be a brother with Wang Yaqiao, and he knew that his advantages and disadvantages were too righteous. Dai Li couldn't catch Wang Yaqiao, so he simply started with Wang Yaqiao's brother and kidnapped Yu Likui to Nanjing. Yu Likui was unwilling to betray his brother and swore not to cooperate, so Dai Li found Yu Likui's wife, Yu Wanjun.

In the face of coercion and temptation, Yu Wanjun quickly succumbed. According to Dai Li's instructions, Yu Wanjun contacted Wang Yaqiao in a secret way, saying that after her husband disappeared, she was in financial difficulties and urgently needed help, and there were other important matters to discuss with Wang Yaqiao.

Wang Yaqiao soon took Dayang personally to pick up his brother's wife. As soon as he stepped into Yu Wanjun's house, he was sprinkled with a handful of lime by the spies, and then he was beaten by the spies, and he was killed by five shots and three knives.

After the spy killed Wang Yaqiao, he also peeled off Wang Yaqiao's face and killed Yu Wanjun.

As soon as Wang Yaqiao died, the Axe Gang could only be disbanded, and the 100,000 Gang went their separate ways.

Some gangs have become bandits, killing people and stealing goods, and doing all kinds of evil; Some gangs reorganized gangs, bullied the market, and oppressed the people; Some of the gangsters followed their will and went to various places to continue to assassinate high-ranking officials, traitors and Japanese; Some of the gangsters went straight to Yan'an and joined the ranks of the Red Army; There are also some gangs who gather in the mountains and forests to form local armed forces, such as Zheng Baozhen, who will lead his troops to join the New Fourth Army in two years and become the first mayor of Hefei after the liberation.

Zheng Rentong, a ghost operator, and Yuan Wujiu, a Lingnan flying tiger, are both the backbone of the Axe Gang promoted by Wang Yaqiao in Guangdong, and are specifically responsible for planning the assassination of corrupt officials and traitors.

This is a group of anarchists who believe in the "anarchism" of the Russian revolutionary Kropotkin, sometimes called "anarcho-communism". They believed that the people should not be subjected to political, religious, and military interference in order to give full play to their talents, and advocated the abolition of private property and unequal income, the implementation of distribution according to need, and the combination of mental and physical labor.

Of course, this theory was quickly localized in China, adding traditional Confucianism, the spirit of chivalry, and patriotism.

To put it bluntly, the core members of the Axe Gang belong to a hybrid product of anarchism, communism, Confucianism, heroic thought, assassin thought, patriotic thought, and Han great revanchism.

"Wang Er, do you think Mr. Zhou will accept us?" Zheng Rentong asked suddenly.

Yanzi Wang Er smiled and said: "Whatever, if it doesn't work to defect to Mr. Zhou, then we will start another business in Sichuan." I am responsible for robbing the rich and helping the poor to raise funds, Fifth Brother Yuan is responsible for recruiting and training people, and you are responsible for making suggestions. The three of us will join forces, and we will definitely be able to turn Sichuan upside down and kill those corrupt officials crying and calling their mothers! ”