On both sides of the Yangtze River after July, the atmosphere has become extremely solemn and tense.

The number of soldiers and horses stationed on both sides of the river is constantly increasing, especially at the important ferries, where thousands of elite soldiers are guarding day and night, and on the river, there are also cruising boats on both sides from time to time, and it is inevitable that there will be friction between each other, resulting in several small-scale water battles.

As a result, after several battles, no one on both sides could help anyone, so they could only continue the stalemate.

In this way, it is bitter for the people on both sides of the strait who were innocently involved in the war, especially those merchants who just want to transport goods across the river, and the boatmen who make a living by ferrying.

Because of the confrontation between Jiangnan and Guo's across the river, the river has been blocked, except for the warships of both sides, half of the other civilian ships dare not go into the water, otherwise what awaits them is the attack of both sides, not to mention the goods, I am afraid that even human lives will not be saved.

If such a ban is only for a short period of a month or two, everyone can tolerate it.

However, judging from the current situation, it is obvious that this blockade and confrontation will last for a year and a half, and the people on both sides of the strait will not be able to bear it. So by the end of July, many businessmen had joined forces to reflect their demands on the side of those in power on both sides.

The Gu family received a collective petition from more than 50 merchants in Jinling, and Guo Yan, who personally guarded the north bank of the Yangtze River, actually received dozens of letters of plea in the past few days, hoping that they would open up at least one shipping route so that the cross-strait trade routes would be endless.

Looking at the letters of such requests, Guo Yan laughed angrily: "I see that these businessmen are all dizzy, what do they think we are doing here?" Is the game fun? He even wanted to open up some trade routes.

"The confrontation between the two armies, not to mention just cutting off their trade routes, is to requisition all their property, which is also a matter of course. Tell them that if they dare to mess around, tomorrow our army will go to the door and tie up their whole family to serve hard labor! ”

Just when the subordinate who delivered the letter agreed with a wry smile and was about to retreat, Fang Mu, as a confidant, suddenly stepped forward and said in a low voice: "General, please listen to me first." ”

"Huh?" Guo Yan looked at him, and then said expressionlessly, "Say." ”

"What these businessmen did was unreasonable, but they dared to do it, obviously someone acquiesced behind them, or even contributed to it."

"You mean...... Those people in Huaibei? Guo Yan's eyelids jumped suddenly.

"It may not be a person from Huaibei, but it is definitely a person who goes all the way with them. General, don't forget, they are businessmen, and it seems reasonable that some of them are among them. ”

"And they're going to allow something like that to happen? We are confronting each other here, after all, are we not under his orders? In his own camp, Guo Yan's speech was more straightforward, and he was not afraid of being listened to by other soldiers and disturbing the morale of the army.

Fang Mu smiled bitterly: "Of course, it is impossible for the Li family and other upper-level people to do such a thing, but what about the others? Merchants are profit-seeking, and this time, because the Yangtze River is blocked, they will definitely be able to obtain more huge profits in Jiangnan than before, so naturally they will not care about any military affairs. ”

Guo Yan was silent for a while, and finally had to admit that what the other party said was reasonable.

He doesn't deal with one or two people in the Zonghenghui anymore, and there are naturally people like the Li family who are hand-eyed and shrewd and calculating, so he can only bow down and obey his orders. But in the same way, there are also those who are short-sighted and only focus on the immediate benefits.

Moreover, the latter is much more common than the former.

Although the Li family is a well-deserved president and master of the Zongheng Society, in many things, they still need to rely on these merchants who are located in various parts of the Central Plains.

They may be able to provide a huge amount of wealth to the Zongheng Society, or they may be able to send the most timely and accurate information...... It can be said that without the full help of these people, the Zonghenghui would not have reached the height of its strength today.

So when these people need the Zongheng Club to help them, whether it is the Li family or the other people in power, they can only agree, at least not to oppose it openly. Otherwise, there will be internal divisions......

After thinking about all this, Guo Yan's expression became more and more ugly, because he found that things were more tricky for him.

Because there is no order from the top to release it to him, he has to take this responsibility completely.

If the waterway to the south is not opened, the pressure will continue to increase after that, and it will even offend the Li family, who has already acquiesced.

And if it is released, once something goes wrong because of this, the responsibility is all their own.

"Merchant...... Rats' eyes! In the end, he could only grit his teeth and recite this sentence, but he had to retract his order, "Then send a messenger to cross the river, discuss with the Gu family, and release a group of merchant ships to cross the river!" ”

In the end, he could only compromise, but he had already left a hand, hoping that the Gu clan on the other side of Jiang would refuse his request.

However, Guo Yan was disappointed and surprised, and not long after the messenger passed, a reply was sent from the other side: it could be allowed, but only a time period was set, that is, two days later, from the last hour to the next three hours, all kinds of ships on both sides of the strait could pass through, and then it would still be blocked.

Looking at the letter sent from the other side, Guo Yan hesitated a little, and then looked at the cronies and counselors beside him: "Do you think their statement is credible?" ”

"Could it be that they are plotting against me and want to take this opportunity to hide troops with merchant ships and attack my camp on the north shore?" Someone speculated.

Fang Mu shook his head: "Impossible, only a merchant ship can carry a few soldiers, not to mention that there is only one waterway, and the ships will inevitably follow each other, and it is simply difficult to gather enough threatening soldiers and horses in a short period of time." If they really want to do this, they will kill themselves. ”

After Guo Yan groaned, he also nodded thoughtfully: "Then it seems that they are also under pressure from other quarters, and they need to let some businessmen cross the river like us?" ”

"This is on the one hand, and there is also a possibility that these merchant ships are hiding Jiangnan's secret spies!" Zhu Hang, who has been silent, also gave his opinion.

Fang Mu laughed out loud when he heard this: "Spy? I'm afraid that as early as before, when the wind and waves were calm before, Jiangnan spread spy reports all over the Central Plains of our two Huai, right? What's the use of sending another spy at this time? ”

These words made Zhu Hang speechless, but Guo Yan nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, even if they really have such an arrangement, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do anything." Moreover, they can send spies, and so do we. ”

After a pause, he slapped the case and made a decision: "Then do as they say, and in two days, open the passage, so that you can give those people an explanation!" ”