Pei Min got up immediately upon hearing this and followed Chen Xiandeng to the stern of the ship. Jiang Shuo became curious and followed suit, looking in the direction of Chen Xiandeng's finger.

It turned out that at some point behind the big ship, there were several small boats that looked like fishing boats. There were many fishing boats scattered on the Han River. It was not unusual to see fishing boats, but these boats were very unique. Generally, fishing boats were launched along the current to pull in nets.

The fish might be fishing at anchor in the middle of the river, but these boats actually went upstream with the big ship.

Pei Min looked closely and saw that there were five ships in total. The five ships were similar in size and style. They were clippers with pointed single sails. The distance between the ships was similar. The ship in the middle moved slightly slower, and the two ships on the left and right spread out like crane wings.

, forming a faint encirclement of the big ship.

The fishermen on the boat seemed to be quite busy, but the fishing nets were all stowed on the boat and not lowered. Chen Xiandeng whispered in Pei Min's ear: "I have been begging for food on the rivers and lakes for generations, and I have seen many fishermen. This time

There is definitely a problem with a few fishing boats."

Pei Min didn't know anything about the fishing and asked casually: "What's the problem?"

Chen Xiandeng replied: "General, look at the fishing nets on this fishing boat. The mesh openings are extremely large. The size of the mesh openings in the fishing net is called mesh, and each size has a fixed number. The mesh size is so large that even if you go into the sea to catch fish, it will miss all the holes."

Come on, how big of a fish are you going to catch with such a big mesh?"

Pei Min frowned and said, "Could it be used to catch people?"

This place was called Yunmengze in ancient times. It has continuous lakes with lush water and grass, and many reed swamps. Since ancient times, there have been many thieves hiding in it. However, Pei Min and others were riding on official ships. Why didn't these thieves rob merchants and touch official ships?

What about this hard nail?

Chen Xiandeng said: "If you think about it carefully, it should not be used to catch people. The fishing net is quite long and probably weighs no more than a hundred kilograms. No matter how strong a person's physical strength is, it is impossible to throw it too far. The river here is wide, and you have to paddle on a sampan."

It's impossible to get close to a big ship without being discovered. It will definitely arouse suspicion even before you get close. How can you succeed? How can there be such a stupid thief?"

Pei Min also felt this way. He had seen bad people in Chang'an using fishing nets to catch bandits in the city. They were all fine nets weighing less than ten kilograms, with stone pendants or hooks attached to the four corners. They were thrown far enough to cover one person, and were caught by the fine fishing nets.

No matter how powerful you are in entangling you, you won’t be able to use it. I imagine that such an intention would be detrimental to the people on the big boat, so there is no use for such a big fishing net. He replied casually: “That’s right.”

Chen Xiandeng asked: "Do you want to lower the boat to explore?"

Pei Min said: "Ignore them for the time being, and tell your men to prepare their bows and arrows secretly, and see what tricks they can do."

Pei Min's swordsmanship is said to be the best in the world, and he is also very proficient in archery. When he was the envoy of Longhua Army, he shot and killed thirty-one tigers in one day, which shows his skill in archery. I thought that if these people are really thieves and dare to attack, they will

Let you know Pei's methods.

Several boats were a hundred steps away from the big ship. Jiang Shuo could see clearly the clothes of the people on board. There were several fishermen on each boat. These crew members all wore soap-colored cloth clothes and soap-colored cloth towels wrapped around their heads. There were no

What's special is that the leader of each boat is dressed in a very weird way.

There is a man standing on the bow of the boat on the far left. He is dressed as a fisherman, but unlike the other crew members, he is wearing a coir raincoat with a coir raincoat behind his back and holding a fishing rod. He looks like a fisherman. This fisherman is middle-aged.

He has three locks of black beard under his chin, and he looks quite reclusive. He has a well-proportioned figure and a dark complexion on his exposed face and chest. He is obviously a boatman who has been making a living on the water all year round. This man seems to be the leader of this group of fishermen, who has always been on the water.

Shouting to each ship seems to be instructing each ship to maintain a good course and speed.

The man on the middle left boat has an unusually tall body. He only wears a t-shirt on his upper body and knee-length shorts on his lower body. He is dressed like a woodcutter, revealing a very muscular body. He does not wear a hat on his head, but simply wears a He has a bun and a beard on his face, and he looks very rugged. He wears a big belt around his waist and holds a wheel-shaped ax in his hand. This ax is surprisingly huge. Not only can it chop down trees, but it can also split mountains and open roads.

On the boat on the center right is a farmer dressed as a farmer, wearing a wide-brimmed conical hat, but the hat is too dark to be made of straw. He is wearing brown clothes with a leather belt tied at the waist, and his lower body trousers are rolled up to reveal a pair of big feet. He is sitting cross-legged. On the bow of the boat, the shadow of the straw hat completely blocked his face. I wonder if he was dozing off. There was something long lying at his feet, presumably a long-handled farm tool.

Standing on the stern on the far right side is a man who looks like a scholar. This man looks like he is from the wrong dynasty. He is wearing a wide gray cloth cloak, a silk scarf on his head and a hand-held feather fan, just like Zhuge Kongming before he was a fledgling. .This man stood on the bow of the boat and paid no attention to the busy people around him. He just waved his feather fan and looked at the scenery along the coast in his spare time.

The man in the middle boat is thin and looks like a teacher. He wears a crown and a broad belt. The gown he wears seems to be made of fine materials and well-tailored. The man is sitting on a hut on the deck, obviously taller than the other four people. He has a higher status, I don't know if he is a master or an elder, but he is the only one who has his face covered with a silk handkerchief, so his appearance cannot be seen clearly.

At this moment, Li Bai had woken up, and He Zhizhang also came up from the cabin. The two of them walked to the stern of the ship and looked at the strange-looking group of four disciples. He didn't know where they came from. He Zhizhang asked Pei Min: "Can you tell what it is?" Number of roads?”

However, Pei Min had been in Gyeonggi for a long time and was not familiar with the customs and customs of the Jianghan area, and he could not understand whether these people were fishermen or water thieves.

Everyone was whispering at the stern of the boat, but they were unaware of the clues. Suddenly, they saw all the sailors on the fisherman's boat on the left swaying their oars and speeding towards the ship. Chen Xiandeng suddenly became nervous and ordered his men to prepare long poles and bows and arrows. The top of the long pole Equipped with a scratching hook, if the opponent suddenly hits it, it can be hooked to prevent it from advancing or retreating, and then be shot with a bow and arrow.

Unexpectedly, the other boat came to the side of the official ship! It suddenly stopped at a position just out of reach of the long pole. Boating on the river is not like driving on the road. You can go and stop at will. There is river water below pushing the hull, and there is river wind above. With the sails blowing, the boat was speeding upstream but suddenly stopped, and the distance from the big ship no longer increased or decreased. The sailor was indeed very clever. It should be noted that the big ship was also moving at this moment, and the sailors on the small boat were rowing. The force of the water needs to be controlled just right so that the small boat and the big boat can move side by side in the same direction and at the same speed. I think the people who operate the boat are definitely not ordinary people.

Everyone walked to the waist of the boat and faced the fisherman from a distance. They saw the fisherman holding his left palm in front of his chest, straightening his four fingers and clasping his thumb in the palm of his hand. He made a fist with his right hand and hit the palm of his left palm with a "pop" sound, and said loudly. : "Several gentlemen on the official ship have invited Zhang Yu'er, a common man who has fished and hunted in the river for generations, to pay tribute to all the gentlemen."

When ordinary people see an official, they usually cross their hands as a salute. The left hand holds the thumb of the right hand tightly, the little finger on the right wrist, and the four fingers of the right hand are straight, covering it three inches in front of the left chest. This is called the cross-hand salute. This fisherman holds his fists But it's all about Jianghu, which seems quite disrespectful.

Pei Min immediately returned the salute according to the rules of the world. He spread his arms, raised his thumbs to point to the sky, then turned his arms in circles, and at the same time clasped his thumbs in front of his chest and made a fist. This was considered a half-return. Pei Min also did not register his name. He said rudely: "This Zhang Lang, I wonder what you mean by following the official ship?"

Zhang Yu'er saw that he was wearing soft armor and carrying a sword on his waist, which looked unusual. He thought he was a general, so he said: "This general has misunderstood. The common people did not intend to follow your boat. In fact, they are going to be on the river today." We have an important matter to attend to, so we gathered here on the river. I don’t want to offend you, so please forgive me.” There was no mention of giving way in his words.

Pei Min let out a "hum", raised his eyebrows and said: "There is a saying in the ceremonial order: the humble should avoid the noble, and the young should avoid the senior. How come you don't know how to avoid the official ship when you see it? If you have any urgent matters, we can do it tomorrow..."

Zhang Yu'er bowed again and said: "The things that I have to do can only be done tonight. Please forgive me, General." After saying this, he lowered his head, turned his palms inward and pushed his arms forward, which was the meaning of supplication in Jianghu's cut. , but when applied to officials, it is really a bit rude.

When Pei Min was about to have a fit, He Zhizhang secretly reached out from his sleeves to grab his hand and whispered: "A guest should not deceive the host, and don't create extraneous problems."

Although Pei Min and He Zhizhang are both in the third rank, Pei Min respects He Zhizhang quite a lot, and it makes sense. The first priority now is to escort Taibai to Beijing safely. The water and culture here are not familiar, so it is better not to cause a conflict, and immediately deal with that person. Zhang Yu'er said: "We are on official business and will just move forward. You go back and tell all the fishing boats to move back three hundred steps from the big ship. I won't care what you do for a living, but you are not allowed to disturb the official boats. If you dare to bully them, you will be killed." …”

After saying this, he winked at the retinue, and his personal Jinwu Guards sergeants all took off the crossbows from their backs and moved forward. The military crossbows of the Tang Dynasty were powerful crossbows that could be fired by a single soldier with the strength of his arm. , the range can reach 300 steps. Therefore, Pei Min asked the fishing boats to retreat 300 steps away. Even if the opponent secretly hid a crossbow, the maximum range of ordinary bows and arrows is only 150 steps. If you want to attack the big ship, you need to move closer. It can enter the shooting range, but as long as a ship wants to break in, the sergeant on the official ship can calmly fire arrows to kill it within the more than 100 steps of the range of the military crossbow.

But Pei Min did not see the expected frightened look on Zhang Yu'er's face. After hearing this, Zhang Yu'er just calmly bowed his head and said: "Yes." Then he directed the boat to turn around and go back.

Li Bai patted Pei Min on the shoulder and said, "Brother Pei, don't be too nervous. This official ship is empty, and we don't have much wealth. If the other party is really a gangster, then we really have the wrong person."

Pei Min snorted, pulled out the seven-star sword half a foot and said: "If there are no copper coins or cloth, an iron-tipped sword is enough..."

Jiang Shuo said: "That's right. Anyone who dares to play with an ax in front of General Jinwuwei's house will really blind his dog's eyes and make him suffer a big loss."

Everyone burst into laughter, and Pei Min returned his sword to its sheath, and ordered everyone to disperse and do their own things, tightening inside and loosening up outside, pretending to be indifferent to the ships behind them.
Chapter completed!