Because it was a boat against the current, the speed of the fleet carrying 800,000 catties of coarse copper was not fast, and a hundred flat-bottomed cargo ships of 500 stone were connected by iron chains, forming a long string on the river, and nearly 100 slender men dragged the long rope on the shore and walked hard, each of them was naked, and the thick rope was strangled into their bronze muscles. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In addition to the coarse copper ingots, there were twenty escort soldiers on each ship, they were holding bows and arrows and spears, and they sat bored on both sides of the cargo ship and snoozed, this was not the first voyage of the fleet, they had already walked on this road five times before, transporting millions of catties of pig iron and millions of catties of blister copper to Chang'an, and there were no accidents.

There were troops stationed along the way from Jiangxia to Chang'an to protect them, and even in Xiyang County, which was under the jurisdiction of Wang Shichong, there were 6,000 Zheng troops stationed along the way, although the Tang army fleet was very disgusted with Zheng Jun, but they also had to admit that Zheng Jun stationed along the way did give the fleet a certain sense of security.

The fleet rested and replenished in Junyang County for a night, and then did not dock in Nanxiang County to rest, but prepared to dock in Danshui County, fifty miles away, for the night.

The main general of the fleet is called Xia Jie, a native of Xiangyang County, a lieutenant general, and this time he was ordered to lead 2,000 troops to escort the fleet.

At this time, one of his subordinates scolded in a low voice: "Wang Shichong has no sincerity at all, these 6,000 troops are like six dead pigs." ”

Along the way in Jingzhou, the Tang army would follow the boat, one station after another, and in the 400-mile-long river in Xiyang County, although there were six Zheng armies protecting along the coast, the Zheng army did not march along the way to protect like the Tang army, but was stationed in the barracks motionless.

"Forget it, Wang Shichong is not sincere, and sending troops to escort him is just a formality, so let's rely on ourselves!"

Xia Jie saw that there were dense woods on both sides of the river, he felt a little uneasy, and immediately ordered: "Pass the order, give me vigilance, don't sleep!" ”

Nearly 100 slender men on the east coast are Jiangxia people, they are the largest cost of fleet transportation, from Jiangxia County to Shangluo County to walk for about half a month, by the Tang Army along the way to provide dry food supplies, each slender man can earn about 20 money, although the fiber is very hard, but each trip can earn 20 money, or let the slender men work willingly.

As is customary, each slender man has a slender head, who is responsible for controlling the rhythm of the fiber pulling, so that the fleet can sail smoothly, and at the same time, he can use the inertia of the ship to reduce the labor of the slender man.

"Han Shui Qian turned away Danshui, hehe-"

"Ten counties and 100 towns have worn shoulders, hehe-"

.........

Fiber singing is a way to control the rhythm, follow the singing and everyone work together, so that the power is used in one place, and the fiber pulling effect is higher.

Fiber head is an old man in his sixties, surnamed Jiang, everyone calls him Jiang Fiber Head, who has been pulling fiber in Hanshui and Danshui for 40 years, has rich experience and high prestige, and his fiber team is also the most famous fiber team in Hanshui.

Jiang Xiantou's slender position is at the front of the line, and he also sings the fiber song, and he will control the rhythm of the fiber pulling according to the terrain and the fatigue of the slender men, that is, to control the speed of the boat.

At this time, Jiang Xiantou suddenly felt that the rope was loosened, and when he turned around, he saw a tall and sturdy young descendant appear beside him, pulling the fiber with him, although it seemed to be a good intention, but the young man broke the rules, so that he could not feel the power of the rope.

Jiang Xiantou couldn't help glaring at him fiercely, "Go to the back, it's none of your business here!" ”

He hadn't seen this young kid before, and thought he was a new helper.

But the young man had a gloomy face and said nothing.

"Who are you?"

Jiang Xiantou suddenly felt that something was wrong, all the slender men were brought out by him from his hometown, he didn't know this young man, he looked at this young man in surprise.

This young man is naturally Liu Lancheng, he hid behind a big tree, and when Jiang Xiantou passed by the big tree, he immediately joined the slender man team, and his goal was to control this fiber.

"Shut up!"

Liu Lancheng said coldly: "If you don't want to die, just pull the fiber honestly!" ”

Jiang Xiantou found the dagger that the other party was inserting in his waist, he was very experienced, and he didn't know how many thieves he had encountered in the past forty years, and the thieves first robbed the ship to control the fiber.

Experience has taught him that the other party is never alone, and he must not act rashly at this time.

"You're looking for the wrong ship, but there are 2,000 soldiers on board."

He thought that the other party was a bandit, so he lowered his voice to remind, hoping that the other party would retreat from the difficulty.

"To tell you the truth, we are Sui Jun!"

"Ahh

Jiang Xiantou exclaimed, he knew that he was in big trouble.

At this time, his son, who was not far behind him, also noticed the extra people and asked, "Dad, what's wrong?" ”

Jiang Xiantou was afraid that his son would come forward and be killed, so he hurriedly said: "It's okay, it's an old friend, ask me something, don't leave the slender position!" ”

He whispered to Liu Lancheng again: "Master Jun, we slender men all rely on coolies to eat, don't hurt us!" ”

All the slender men were brought out by him from his hometown, even if one of them had an accident, he would not be able to return to his hometown to explain, he knew that the target of the Sui army was the ships, not them.

Liu Lancheng said coldly: "Listen to my arrangement, I will naturally let you go, I won't hurt you, and continue to sing the song!" ”

Jiang Xian's head felt a little calmer, and continued to sing, "Carrying a thousand boats on one shoulder, measuring the Han River with both feet!" Hey-"

Low singing echoes on the shore.

After walking about a mile, Jiang Xiantou felt that this Sui Jun was not a vicious person, and he plucked up his courage and said: "If the military master wants to do it, I can cooperate, but we have lost two thousand yuan!" ”

"Go back and go to Ye County to get the money yourself, cooperate honestly, and you won't be lost."

Liu Lancheng saw that the fleet had entered the ambush circle of the Sui army, and immediately ordered: "Just say that the road ahead was washed away by the mudslide, let the boat stop and pull aside!" ”

Jiang Xiantou hesitated slightly, Liu Lancheng immediately caught the contradiction in his heart, and said murderously: "If the ambush fails, I will kill you to vent my anger!" ”

Jiang Xian's heart trembled, and without hesitation, he immediately turned around and waved his hand: "Pause for a moment!" ”

The slender men stopped one after another, and Jiang Xiantou's son stepped forward and asked, "Dad, what's the matter?" ”

"My friend said that the road ahead was washed away by a mudslide, you go and take a look, it's five miles away!"

Jiang Xiantou was eager to support his son as far as possible, and he instructed his subordinates, "Moor the ship to the shore!" ”

The ship has no power, it goes against the current, and if it does not advance, it will retreat, so it must be temporarily anchored at the shore and tied to the shore with a rope.

At this time, Xia Jie felt strange in his heart, and immediately ordered his men to ask about the situation, and after a while, his men swam back, got on the boat and said: "That old ginger said that there was a mudslide ahead, which washed out the road, and he has sent his son to check, if it doesn't work, they will go to the west bank to pull fiber." ”

"How would he know that the road ahead was washed away by a mudslide?" Xia Jie was really puzzled in his heart.

"It's like meeting an acquaintance."

Xia Jie saw that the slender men were sitting on the ground to rest and drink water, and the fleet had begun to dock, although he was unhappy in his heart, if it was really a mudslide that washed away the road, the situation would be a little troublesome.

"Hurry up, you can't stay along the coast!" Xia Jie shouted.

A soldier jumped ashore and ran towards Jiang Xiantou, "The general has an order, the fleet can't stop, prepare to go!" ”

After waiting for another moment, Xia Jie became more and more impatient, got up and shouted, "The fleet will leave immediately!" ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw 'boom!' from the water behind him! A harpoon flew out, with great force, and immediately pierced Xia Jie's chest, Xia Jie screamed and fell into the water.

The sudden change frightened everyone, at this moment, countless soldiers were killed from the woods, holding shields and spears and rushing to the shore, and the hundred slender men who were resting were so frightened that they stumbled to the side and ran wildly, and the soldiers of the Sui army did not care about the slender men, and rushed directly to the boat, and fought fiercely with the soldiers guarding the boat.

At this time, dozens of Sui Army water ghosts hiding in the water climbed onto the first boat one after another, and were fighting fiercely with the thirty Tang Army soldiers on board.

The first ship was a passenger ship of 800 stones, not carrying copper ingots, it was the command ship of the entire fleet, and it was very important to control the fleet, because the fleet was interlocked with iron chains, in order to prevent the thieves from stealing the ship during the night rest, the chains were locked with large locks, and the keys to all the big locks were stored in the first command ship, as long as the command ship was occupied, then the whole fleet could not escape.

Liu Lancheng jumped on the big boat with a horizontal knife in his hand, slashed over two soldiers with a knife, he kicked open the hatch and rushed in, he did not entangle with the enemy soldiers, and killed directly to the inner cabin, just arrived at the hatch, only to see a Tang military captain rushing out with a big wooden box, Liu Lancheng shouted, a knife head-on, Tang military captain dodged, he did not dare to fight, fled outside the cabin, Liu Lancheng waved his backhand, and the dagger in his hand shot out, hitting the back of the Tang military captain's neck.

Captain Tang screamed, the wooden box in his hand fell to the ground, fell open, and several large bunches of keys slipped out of it, each key had a number, which was the key to unlocking the iron chains of a hundred small boats, and it was also what Liu Lancheng was looking for when he got on the boat.

Liu Lancheng pierced the chest of the Tang military captain with a knife, grabbed the three major strings of keys and rushed out of the cabin, killing two Tang soldiers who intercepted him in a row, and rushed to the deck.

Without the key, the Tang soldiers could no longer quickly untie the chains, under the strong impact of the Sui soldiers again and again, the Tang soldiers finally could not resist, died, escaped, only a quarter of an hour, the wind and thunder army ended the battle, occupied a hundred cargo ships, Liu Lancheng immediately ordered a hundred cargo ships to be sailed into the middle of the river and overturned, 800,000 catties of blister copper sank into the Danshui. (To be continued.) )