On December 26, at the Shangxinhe Wharf in Nanjing, countless river boats were sailing away from the shore. There were few people on the wharf, and the porters and boatmen who used to do the work were nowhere to be seen.
Zhou Yueru hurried past the pier and took a moment to look north. On the other side was Jiangpu County. At this time, mist filled the river, shrouding the north bank in haze.
On the right, a passenger ship had just returned from Jiangbei. The passengers swarmed down and fled to Nanjing without stopping. Several women collapsed on the ground and cried loudly. The men were pulling at the side, urging them to get up quickly.
Without stopping, she walked around the women and arrived in front of a rice and bean shop. The store clerk was about to open the door.
Zhou Yueru pushed the waiter aside and went in to find the shopkeeper who was packing his luggage. "Shopkeeper Yang, when will the three hundred stone meters ordered by Dajiang Shipping Company yesterday be delivered?"
"I can deliver it today, but you can transport it yourself."
Zhou Yueru said angrily, "It was clearly agreed that your family would hire a boat, and I was given the money to hire the boat. Why do you have to transport it yourself?"
"Then the money will be returned to you. If you look for it all over the dock, the boats will have fled downstream. The trackers and porters will all be gone. Where can you hire me?"
"It's your business where to hire. Why didn't you tell me when I collected the deposit?"
The shopkeeper looked innocent, "Who knew the bandits were coming, all the peppers were broken, and with such a river across the river, the porters were afraid of death."
There are some people who are not afraid of death. I will give you some money to keep you as a distinguished customer, but all the big families in Nanjing are hiring laborers, and there is nowhere to find anyone to give you money."
Zhou Yueru looked unhappy, but she also knew that the shopkeeper was telling the truth.
Liu Ruogu arranged for her to go to Nanjing for business, which started relatively smoothly. Today, news suddenly came that rogue bandits had arrived in Quanjiao. There were also rumors that there were rogue bandits in Hanshan. Jiangpu was under martial law and no ships except military ships were allowed to dock.
Nanjing was under martial law on the same day, and the city gates began to search for outsiders.
When the ships on the Xinhe Pier heard the news, they fled downstream one after another, and even the ships carrying grain could not be found.
What she purchased was the second batch of military rations. The first batch had already been loaded on the ship that came from Anqing. Now there is no shortage of food at Shangxinhe Wharf, but the ship cannot be found.
"Then you have to hand over the goods before you can leave."
The shopkeeper bowed and said, "Female Bodhisattva, the bandits are right across the street. It is said that there are officers and soldiers who want to cross the river from here today. We are old and young at the top. We dare not stay in this wrong place. I will tell you where the food is stored.
There are three hundred and thirty dan in total. I’ll give you the key. You can find someone to move it according to the number. I’ll only give you six cents per dan.”
Zhou Yueru thought for a moment and then said, "Take the slave family to see it."
The shopkeeper quickly put down his luggage and took Zhou Yueru out of the door. The remaining two waiters hurriedly climbed up the door.
Pedestrians walked very fast on the road. Shopkeeper Yang only said hello to the acquaintances he met along the way without stopping. When passing by the inn, Zhou Yueru asked another person from Caogang to go with him.
I went to the private warehouse behind the pier to count the goods and pay for it. Shopkeeper Yang moved quickly. After paying the money, he handed over the key and fled as fast as he could.
Zhou Yueru left the Caobang in the warehouse and returned to the inn worriedly.
At this time, the inn was also in a panic. All the waiters had fled, and only the boss was still there. He was also packing up his belongings and preparing to flee to his hometown in Jurong. His nephew was persuading the remaining guests in the shop to leave quickly.
There were three people standing by the window in the lobby, one of whom was the Sangun of the Cao Gang. When Zhou Yueru saw the man in the middle, he stopped and said a blessing.
He Xianya nodded politely, then turned around and continued to look at the person in front of him.
"How's the matter with the carriages and horses?"
"It's really hard to hire a tracker. We found two boats that we know each other well. The price offered is ten taels of silver per day. It's the same price we're waiting for. There's no news from Jiangpu. It's really hard to hire a frame."
"Find the food and Pang Pang will lead the troops to rescue you. He will bring the navy with him. There will be no shortage of ships.
We need to keep our people on the dock. If the huge crowd arrives, it will be a big deal if we can't find them."
That man used to be a bookkeeper at a gambling stall and had been following He Xianya to Nanjing for several months. After hearing this, he said with some fear, "I don't dare to stay at the dock."
He Xianya rolled her eyes at him and pointed in the direction Zhou Yueru was walking, "There is a river across the river, and all the women from the bank are still at the dock. You are worse than a woman.
Besides, it was the people who arranged for the Cao Gang to come, so you are very worried."
The accountant breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little embarrassed. After thinking about it, he changed the topic and said, "Mr. He, should Zhou Zhiwo's lawsuit against Fushe be reported to Da Da, and should Jiangnan Times continue to publish?
"
He Xianya waved his hands anxiously, remembering that he had been a little angry in the past six months. The original plan was to donate to an official, but unexpectedly, Pang Yu got him to Nanjing with a few words. The place was a good place, but he was not willing to do what he was doing.
It was quite troublesome to deal with Fushe. At first, few people were willing to submit articles. After the first two publications were published, they started to compete for submissions. Only now did he understand that there were several factions in Fushe.
The remaining things were typesetting, printing and sending. The sending was the most confusing. In short, it was somewhat different from the official life he expected.
"The matter of the rogue bandits is important. If the rogue bandits cross the river, Jiangnan will be gone, and there will be no news.
Let's put all the details aside in advance. We need two more horses here in Nanjing. Today we have to send people from Jiangnan to Anqing. There are not enough horses."
At this time, a man on horseback came to the door. He Xianya walked out of the door and handed over a letter, saying, "Be careful on the road and hand it over to Mr. Pang as soon as possible."
The man took the letter and quickly went upstream.
...In Hezhou City, upstream of Nanjing, Tan Lezi's defense career has entered its third day.
With a snort, Tan Leizi forcefully inhaled two pieces of mucus into his nasal cavity, but it didn't last long as the mucus came out again.
Under the ravages of the cold wind, Tan Laizi caught a mild or severe cold. He couldn't rest well in the grass factory, and his head was always dizzy. Due to malnutrition, he became even thinner, and the scab on the top of his head became more and more itchy.
The peak of Hanshan's escape has passed, and now the city is full of Hanshan refugees. They bring all kinds of bizarre news, and they are all rogue bandits who have entered Hanshan County.
This was not in line with Tan Laizi's expectations, so he thought it was all made up by these people.
"If they see the bandits, they won't be able to escape to Hezhou."
Tan Leizi said with certainty.
The traveler opposite nodded desperately in agreement. He could not accept the nonsense of those Hanshan people who ruined their expectations of returning home.
After the report came from Hanshan yesterday, Tan Lezi believed that the rogue bandits had gone north. According to his and the travelers' understanding, if there were few people coming from Hanshan, it meant that the rogue bandits had retreated, so the Hanshan people did not have to flee.
Most of the other people on the city thought the same way. If anyone said that bandits were coming, everyone would condemn them together.
"The people over there at Duokou have found a place under the city where they can warm themselves by the fire at night."
The traveler said mysteriously, "I only need to pay three cents."
"No wonder there were so many people missing last night. Let's bake it too. It's only three cents. I, Tan Ya, have no shortage of silver. My employer only gave me five taels of silver. Where can you find such a good employer?"
If it hadn't been for that damned thief, Mr. Tan, I would still be living in Wang's restaurant."
Tan Leizi severely cursed the thief again, and by the way, the thief's whole family and eighteen generations of his ancestors were also cursed.
Tan Lezi seemed to have seen the thief's family ruined. After a while, he felt that he had gone too far, so he waved his hand and said, "It's just a child."
He suddenly remembered something and asked the traveler, "The soldiers went home last night. We also went to the city, but there is no one to defend the city."
"Where are the bandits? The soldiers must know more than us. They dare to go back even though their wealth is in the city. On this cold night, the bandits will freeze to death if they go out."
"That's right, let's warm ourselves up by the fire."
Tan Leizi made up his mind.
A voice came from the side, "It's your turn to guard the creak, leper."
"You're a leper, can you afford to offend me?"
Tan Leizi muttered something, walked out of the grass factory and stood on the battlement.
It was freezing cold all around, and Tan Laizi huddled up in a ball, stamping his feet, occasionally looking outside.
It was foggy outside the city, and even though the houses in Guanxiang were there, it still looked desolate.
The small west gate not far to the left is still open, and some scattered people are going there, all waiting to enter the city.
"Running around so much, it's obvious that all the bandits have retreated to Shouzhou."
Just as he was thinking this, there was a slight disturbance on the north wall. Tan Laizi didn't pay attention to it for now, but people over there came out of the grass factory one after another and looked at something on the top of the city.
"What a strange thing."
Tan Laizi poked his head out and saw a man in soap clothes riding a horse, walking slowly on the streets of Guanxiang. His figure was occasionally obscured by houses, and then appeared from the gaps between the houses.
He moved slowly, looking at the city head all the way, marching under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people on the wall, but remained silent without saying a word. Only the sound of scattered horse hooves echoed outside the city.
"It's another reporting job. Most of them are here to report the news."
Everyone else came out of the grass factory, and everyone looked at this weird government official curiously, expecting him to say that the bandits had retreated.
The rider walked to an open place, finally stopped, turned his horse's head and looked towards the city, and remained silent for a moment.
"Li Hongye!"
The man suddenly yelled loudly and called Zhizhou by his name, "I am an official of Fengdu Yamen, and I am here to supervise Hezhou Bu's payment to Liao.
There has been a drought in Hezhou for five years, and the people are in dire straits. You wait for the officials to collect two years of Liao's salary in advance each year, but secretly hide the stolen money and refuse to hand it over. The collection is still collected every year. The people of Hezhou pawn their clothes and sell their children and daughters. What are you living?
Day, what city are you helping Li Hongye defend?"
(Note 1) There was an uproar in the city. Tan Leizi and the travelers looked at each other. They never expected that someone would come to collect Liao's pay at this time and insult the magistrate in front of the people.
There was a lot of noise around, and there were actually many people joining in with it, but they didn't dare to scold Zhizhou, they just scolded the subordinate officials.
"This person is wrong..." Tan Laizi looked around and saw horses disappearing and appearing between the houses behind.
He suddenly started running towards Xiaoximen, shouting all the way, "They are bandits! Close the city gate quickly!"
The soldiers along the way watched Tan Leizi running wildly, with the Little Ximen Tower in front of him. They had just heard Tan Lezi's cry, but they had not yet reacted.
The sound of hoofbeats rumbled below the city, and a group of horse-riding slaves jumped out from between the houses. The slave who shouted just now beat his horse together, pulled out his sword with a swish, and rushed towards the small west gate.
There was chaos on the top of the city. The soldiers and the people were running around like headless flies, blocking the road. Tan Laizi could not run anymore. He saw a gong lying next to him, so he grabbed it and beat it hard.
The little Ximen in front finally reacted, and the soldiers from the city rushed to the doorway one after another, closing the door before the cavalry soldiers.
The raiding horsemen failed to capture the city gate and stopped outside the gate. Several fake government officials pulled off their soap uniforms, revealing the red arrow jackets underneath, and shouted curses at the city head.
A large number of horse soldiers appeared further away, swarming towards Hezhou City.
The gongs at the top of the city sounded loudly, and the shouts of the soldiers were heard.
Tan Laizi collapsed on the ground, covered his face and cried, "Jiang Fan, you are a piece of shit, you sent me to die, I quit the Cao Gang, I want to go back to Anqing!"
...Note 1: Before attacking Hezhou, the rogue bandits made many attempts to deceive the enemy.
The first is to pretend to be an official scout, saying that the bandits are still in Henan; the second is to pretend to be Hanshan to report for battle, and notify the bandits to retreat to the north; the third is to send people to pretend to be subordinate officials who are collecting Liao's pay, and go around the city to curse Li Hongye and shake down the defenders.
Confidence, he then sent five cavalry to suddenly rush towards the city gate, but failed because the city gate closed in time.