At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it advocated the policy of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce, not only the status of merchants was extremely low, but also through various other means to make it difficult for merchants to develop, including the means of controlling the flow of population. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

As long as it is an ordinary person who has no fame, ten miles away from his hometown, he must be issued a road guide and a passing place from the government. Otherwise, once you are found out by the government Luka that you are going out without permission, you will be severely punished. Naturally, the merchants were under this strict requirement, which greatly delayed the development of commerce.

However, with the progress of the times, these original rules have been slowly broken after all. In today's Wanli period, the government has almost stopped asking passers-by for directions, and the commerce of the Ming Dynasty has made great progress, and the status of merchants is increasing day by day, although it is still not comparable with scholars or officials, but it has long surpassed ordinary craftsmen and farmers, and has become the ruling class second only to the scholar class.

Because of this, commercial transportation has also been vigorously developed in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, water and land transportation is not the same as a hundred years ago, especially on the canal that communicates the north and south, there are countless ships transporting goods and people on the water every day, forming a unique scenery.

As the time entered July, there were more ships carrying goods on the canal than in the summer, and everyone knew that it was some big salt merchants in the south who were taking advantage of the fact that the grain was still in the fields to deliver the salt that needed to be sold to the north as soon as possible.

Every day, there are several salt boats with a deep draft side by side from south to north, and the people on both sides of the canal have long been accustomed to this, and few people will pay more attention to it. But today, on the Lijiaji wharf, which is more than three miles away from the border of Jiangsu, there are several stout men who are carefully staring at the salt ships, looking thoughtful.

These men were all dressed in the most ordinary coarse cloth clothes, and in addition to their rough hands and feet, the skin exposed to the outside of the clothes was also dark, and they looked like people who worked hard. So it is naturally very appropriate to appear on the dock and will not attract anyone's attention.

But the whispered conversation of these three or five men was very unusual.

"How many salt ships have passed here today?"

"Five...... Combined with the number we counted a few days ago, there should be more than 20 in total. ”

"That's pretty much all the salt that the big salt merchants shipped north, right?"

"Not much closer. It's time to signal to the brothers in front of you that it's time to do it. As long as we get rid of all these salt ships, our mission will be completed. ”

"Well, then let's do it! The sixth and I continue to stare here, and the fourth one, you will quickly run to the front to inform you, presumably in two days, they will enter our ambush circle. ”

"Cheng, I'll go now!" After a man agreed, he put the coarse porcelain tea bowl in his hand on the broken wooden table, wiped his mouth with his hand, and left in stride.

These people spoke in very low voices, and the people around them didn't deliberately pay attention to the content of their chat, so no one knew that these seemingly ordinary men were already doing a big case that was enough to alarm the entire imperial court.

As the saying goes, there are clouds and fires in July. It doesn't mean that the weather in July is so hot that there is fire falling from the sky, but that the weather is getting cooler. In July of the sixth year of Wanli, the weather was much cooler than usual, especially on the surface of the canal, as the gusts of wind brought water vapor to the face, the temperature of the day when the sun shone faster and faster.

Although the sun was setting to the west, there were still three large ships moving slowly on the somewhat empty canal waters, and they did not rest for the night just after passing a dock where they could moor.

Naturally, the shipwrights on the ship were a little dissatisfied with this, but since the employer who hired their own ship insisted on moving forward, they could only obey their fate, after all, compared to these big businessmen, they were just making some hard-earned money.

However, Lao Zhang, the owner of this ship, understood the thoughts and purposes of his employer, Gao Changlin. As an old Jianghu who has traveled all day long, although he has never done salt business, he also knows how beneficial it is to the tall boss to be able to send salt to the north one day earlier at this time.

Every year, there is a time when the grain is in short supply, and the price of grain at that time is two or three times higher than usual. Similarly, at this time of year, when salt is consumed in the north and no new salt is delivered in the south, the price of salt in the northern provinces will rise, and if you can get salt to the local area earlier, you can make a lot of money. But if it is a few steps later, it can only be sold at the usual price, although it can make a lot of money, but after all, it cannot compare with the benefits of arriving early.

Of course, not every salt merchant will hit this idea. After all, rushing forward also has certain risks and costs. Although the water on the canal is always calm, no one can guarantee that it will be okay along the way. In addition, if you want the ship to go fast and you can't rest, you naturally have to pay the boatmen, which is not a small number.

Before, out of curiosity, Lao Zhang had also asked Boss Gao, who was sitting in his boat, how much money he could make on this trip. In this regard, Gao Changlin just smiled mysteriously and said something that made him a little confused: "Silver is a small matter, and credit is what I value." ”

Merit? Why is it that a merchant does not talk about silver, but about these false things? In this regard, Lao Zhang is really a little confused by the second monk. But thinking that the other party's identity is much higher than his own after all, maybe it is the reason why he promised a certain local government, so Lao Zhang didn't think deeply.

Looking at the sunset, which was gradually approaching the horizon, Lao Zhang sighed again, thinking that he would have to work harder again tonight. Fortunately, I am quite familiar with the water conditions along the way, although it will be dark later, but I am not afraid of any situation.

Just as he was thinking about this, there was a soft murmur from the bow of the ship ahead. This voice pulled Lao Zhang out of his thoughts, and he also looked up and saw three small ships coming from the north at a slow speed.

Seeing this scene, Lao Zhang frowned. At this time of year, ships generally do not sail at night unless necessary, after all, it is dark at night, and no one knows what is going on on the water, and if something happens, it will not be easy to deal with it. It was the guests who gave a heavy reward, so they had to rush in the dark, why are these boats too?

And what's a little strange is that your big boat is just stable on the water, and those three small boats aren't afraid of some accidents and suddenly capsizing? How dare you drive so fast on a big night?

Just as he was thinking about the other party's overturning scene in the dark night, Lao Zhang's face changed again. Although the sky was already a little dark, with his years of sailing experience, he could still judge that the ships were actually coming straight to his bow.

yes, it's really out of order!

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lao Zhang hurriedly rushed to the bow of the boat in a few steps, and ordered his men: "Hurry up and hit the rudder, dodge first." If they had been hit, it would have been nothing if our boat was big, but the boat and the people on it would have suffered. "When the time comes, I may have to go to court...... Lao Zhang still had such a thought in his heart.

Those boatmen are also people who have been walking on the river all year round, although the incident happened suddenly, they did not panic, and hurriedly turned the rudder desperately according to Lao Zhang's wishes, and at the same time, some people waved their hands vigorously, trying to give a hint to the people on the three clippers in front. After all, the boat is small and lightweight, and it may be able to deflect the direction.

The movement here was not small, and it immediately alarmed Gao Changlin, who was sitting in the cabin eating. When he and a few servants came out of the cabin and saw this scene, the faces of several servants immediately showed a look of fright, but Boss Gao was a little excited, and his eyes were shining.

Although the boatmen on the big ship did their best and did move the ship some distance to the side, the situation did not improve or be resolved. Only a few muffled thuds were heard, and then the big ship shook, apparently all three small boats crashed into their hull.

"It's ...... bitter" When Lao Zhang saw this situation, his face suddenly changed, and he wanted to cry. At this moment, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave today. Boss Gao, who came up, looked calm and breezy, as if he was not on this boat, but just a spectator.

"Quick, go and see if the people on those boats are okay!" Lao Zhang reacted quickly, he knew how dangerous the boat was after being hit, and he couldn't worry about his own family at the moment, if someone died, the matter would be really troublesome.

Because the big ship had come to a complete stop on the water, the boatmen did not have to pay attention to the water, so they hurried to the bow of the ship and looked down as hard as they could.

At the same time, the other two salt ships that were also Boss Gao behind Lao Zhang also slowed down and stopped.

"Ah......h

"This ......" Lao Zhang was shocked, and his expression was even more dazed, what is going on?

But it soon became clear to him that something had come as a surprise. Because after the boatman fell off the boat, there were only a few swishes, and several hooks with ropes were thrown up and killed on the side of his own ship. Then, several figures quickly climbed up from below, and they still held bright blades in their hands.

"It's ...... Water Thieves! It was only at this time that Lao Zhang finally understood what he had encountered. It wasn't an accident at all, it was someone coming for their own ship!