The person chasing Shen Li was Gu Tong, the second son of the Gu family. When he saw Shen Li at the birthday ceremony of the old lady of the Lu family two months ago, he was immediately shocked. He also found out that she was not married yet, so he rushed over desperately. Wu Xing, with the help of a friend's house, began to pursue Shen Li crazily.
He bribed the housekeeper of Shen's house and wrote affectionate letters to Shen Li every day. When he learned that Shen Li liked poetry, calligraphy and painting, he followed her likes and bought many books on this subject for her.
At the same time, he begged his grandfather to propose marriage to the Shen family. Once he won the beauty's heart and the match was a match, it would be almost certain that he would marry Shen Li.
Unexpectedly, yesterday the housekeeper returned the book to him and told him that Shen Li was going to the capital with his aunt. For the sake of money, the housekeeper privately told him that Shen Li and his aunt were going back to the capital with an important guest.
Li Ye was visiting Shen House in a private capacity. Although the housekeeper knew a few clues, given his great courage, he did not dare to tell Gu Tong who the distinguished guest was.
When Gu Tong heard that his sweetheart was leaving, he immediately went crazy. He stayed outside Shen's mansion all night and watched the boats coming out. He immediately took the boat to chase after her.
Watching the fleet go away without stopping, Gu Tong's heart was broken. He couldn't help but sit on the bow of the boat, holding his head and crying bitterly.
At this time, the boatman who was rowing the boat for him rolled his eyes a few times and then said with a smile: "Young master is really a love-mad man! But it's useless just shouting like this."
"What did you say?"
The boatman laughed dryly and said: "I mean, even if that little lady is passionate about you, she can't help it. She can't dive! Or someone is controlling her. What do you think she should do?"
Gu Tong's eyes widened, and he seemed to see Shen Li being grabbed by several old women, struggling and crying for Gu Lang.
Gu Tong's blood suddenly surged. He clenched his fists and asked, "Then what do you think I should do?"
The boatman had been employed by Gu Tong for almost a month, and he had already seen through Gu Tong and knew his background. The young master from the aristocratic family in Suzhou had at least a few hundred taels of silver in his hands, and he was simple-minded and could be exploited.
"It's very simple! Just snatch her back, you're a woman! If you're ready to cook, she'll be with you wholeheartedly."
Gu Tong was shocked and snatched her back. How could this be done? And he had no power to restrain the chicken, so how could he snatch her away?
He hesitated and said, "I'm afraid it's not appropriate!"
"Haha! What's wrong? It's not like she can be snatched back to the bridal chamber or sent back to Shen's house. It's just to prevent her from going to the capital. Besides, it's not like you can snatch her yourself."
"This" Gu Tong was so confused for a moment that he didn't know what to do.
The boatman smiled and said: "I know a few friends, they are all boatmen like me. They are paid to do things for others. They are not robbing people, but robbing boats. They take control of the boat and send them back with the boat. As long as the little lady is quiet." Stay inside the boat to ensure she is safe and sound."
Gu Tong was a little tempted when he heard that he was robbing the ship and not the people. He hesitated and said, "You promise it's not robbing the people?"
"Of course it's not about robbing people. Young lady from the Shen family, who dares to do this? I'm talking about robbing a ship."
"That's fine too."
The boatman saw that he was tempted, so he smiled and said: "Of course it will cost a little money, otherwise how can others be willing to help?"
Gu Tong also knew that it would cost money, so he asked: "How much does it cost?"
The boatman stretched out two fingers and said with a smile: "Two hundred taels of silver, a lot of money!"
Gu Tong's face turned pale. He brought three hundred taels of silver to Huzhou, and now he still had two hundred and twenty taels left with him. The boatman was stuck.
"Can it be less?"
The boatman sneered, "Since money is more important than women in the young master's heart, then just pretend that I didn't say anything and let the young lady of the Shen family let the rich men take care of her! Don't have such wishful thinking, young master."
The boatman spoke very vulgarly, and blood suddenly rushed to the top of Gu Tong's head. He gritted his teeth and said, "Am I the kind of person who values wealth over justice? It's agreed, just two hundred taels of silver."
"My lord, be happy!"
The boatman gave a thumbs up in praise and added: "According to the rules, the young master pays me half first, and I will find someone to pay the other half after the completion of the matter."
The boatman complimented him again: "I would like to wish the young master and the young lady of the Shen family to enter the bridal chamber early and have a son soon!"
Gu Tong was so hot-headed that he didn't care. He immediately took a hundred taels of silver and gave it to the boatman. After the boatman got the money, he asked Gu Tong to go back and wait. There would be news within three days.
Of course the boatman would not really rob someone, he was just defrauding Gu Tong of his money. Now that he had obtained one hundred taels of silver, he was thinking about the other half of Gu Tong's money.
Is there a way to deceive her? Of course there is a way. Hire a small boat, find a prostitute to pretend to be the wife of the Shen family, make love at night, get the remaining one hundred taels of silver, and run away. When the wooden young man realizes something is wrong at dawn,
It's too late for anything.
The boatman needed help, so he immediately found his cousin. The boatman's cousin was called Wu Sheng. He was an out-and-out rogue, well-informed and well-connected.
Wu Sheng heard from his cousin about the purpose of his visit. The former princess, a distinguished guest from the capital, and more than 20 ships had gone to Hangzhou. After gathering these key information, he immediately realized that there was an opportunity to make a fortune.
He first perfunctory his cousin, saying that he would go find prostitutes and find a boat immediately, and Wu Sheng then rode on horseback to Wucheng County.
The Jiangnan area is densely covered with water networks and criss-crossed rivers. If you are not familiar with it, you will rarely see horse-drawn carriages or ox-carts. You basically travel by boat.
The public security in the Jiangnan area was very good before the Tianbao Year. Basically, they were just petty thieves, and there were no big gangs of thieves.
However, after the Anshi Rebellion broke out, a large number of northern refugees poured into the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, the government spent a lot of money and resources on defending against the rebels, and the security in the south of the Yangtze River gradually began to deteriorate.
Most of the bandits in the south of the Yangtze River are water thieves, with a dozen or twenty people in groups. They mainly make a living by robbing merchant ships. However, after the Anshi Rebellion, local governments also began to focus on cracking down on water thieves. In the past two years, the number of water thieves has also been greatly reduced.
However, there are still three powerful groups of bandits active in the Jiangnan area. One is the Yangtze River water thief Chang Maosheng, who has more than a hundred people under his command. He is active in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and has more than a hundred people under his command.
The second one is the Xuanzhou mountain bandit Lin Ganshi, who has more than 500 men, active in the mountainous areas in the west of Liangzhe Road. The third one is the Qiantang water thief Song Guangchun, who has about 80 men and is active on the Qiantang River.
These three bands of bandits were actually subordinates of Yuan Chao and Fang Qing, the Jiangnan peasant uprising army. These two rebel armies were wiped out by Li Guangbi the year before last. Although the main force was wiped out, the remnants still existed like sparks.
Chang Maosheng was a subordinate of Yuan Chao. He fled from Yuezhou into Taihu Lake, and then fled from Taihu Lake to the Yangtze River and became a Yangtze River water thief.
Lin Ganshi and Song Guangchun were subordinates of the rebel leader Fang Qing. After Fang Qing was annihilated by Li Guangbi, one of them led his men to flee into the mountains, and the other led his men to flee into the Qiantang River.
There was no chance of another uprising, and they all eventually became water thieves.
Wu Sheng, the boatman's cousin, was actually one of Song Guangchun's spies in Huzhou.
He quickly passed a piece of information involving huge wealth to Song Guangchun.