Chapter 270: The Old Man is Here (Two Chapters Combined into One)
This is a merchant who comes to buy grain!
The two Jinyiwei leaders, Yang Fan and Ding Hao, were stunned. They didn't know when these two confidants contacted the businessman, and they didn't expect that these people were so bold.
But soon they understood, because the price offered by the merchant made even them tempted.
They were able to become small leaders in the Jinyiwei, so they all had some background. They had not only seen the world, but also accepted money in shady ways. However, all those combined were not as great as the risk this time, and they were afraid.
However, they finally compromised. How could they not compromise in the face of huge interests?
What's more, such opportunities are not easy to come by, and we don't know how many years it will take for the next flood to occur.
The merchant happily paid the deposit, and the remaining silver would be given after the grain was delivered. As for how to deliver the grain, they also worked out a good idea.
That night, the four returned to the boat. Yang Fan and Ding Gao called their men. These eighteen men were brothers who had been through thick and thin with them.
To make this happen seamlessly, everyone must be involved.
Yang Fan and Ding Gao were also very generous. Each of the four of them gave 10,000 taels, and the remaining 60,000 taels were divided equally among the 18 brothers.
The Fourth Prince's two close confidants, Zhang Hui and Liu Wang, disagreed, but with a knife at their necks, they could only accept it with hatred.
What can they do? If they want to make money, they must cooperate with these Jinyiwei, otherwise they can't do it.
Fortunately, this is only the first batch. There will be another batch to come, which will be another 100,000 taels, and each of them can get 10,000 taels.
After agreeing on how to divide the silver, the next step is how to deliver the grain smoothly. With these Jinyiwei, this is not a difficult task.
That night, Yang Fan ordered the chains connecting the grain ships to be opened to reduce losses in the event of a water leak.
The next day, before dawn, the fleet continued on its journey. After walking a few miles, the captain suddenly found that the ship behind was not keeping up. He hurriedly reported to Yang Fan, who immediately ordered the ship to stop and wait.
The ten boats that did not catch up had already turned around and headed in the other direction at Ding Gao's command when the river turned.
As soon as the boatman opened his mouth to ask, his neck was slashed with a knife and his body was thrown into the river.
The ten boats sailed over twenty miles and stopped at the shore. The merchant had already been waiting there with his men.
The merchant had the sand unloaded from the mule carts first. After the carts were empty, he had the sand unloaded from the boats, half of it being unloaded from each boat. Then he mixed the sand into the grain, and the job was done.
The boatmen were so frightened that they huddled in a corner. They knew in their hearts that not only would they not make any money on this trip, but they would most likely be killed.
Seeing that half of the grain had been unloaded, Ding Gao said, "That's enough, let's load the sand."
Zhang Hui refused: "No, this is not enough, keep unloading!"
Ding Gao wanted to stop him, but he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips. Yes, the agreed weight was agreed upon, and if the amount was not enough, then the money would definitely be greatly reduced.
Forget it. If a person does not care about himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. Now that he has done it, there is no need to be hesitant.
There was only 40% of the food left on the ship, and Zhang Hui finally ordered to load sand.
Just as a few baskets of sand were mixed into the grain, a boat suddenly appeared at the stern. As soon as the boat docked, more than a dozen people jumped out and ran towards this side.
Immediately afterwards, several more boats came from all directions. Ding Gao's expression froze. He saw that the person standing on the leading boat was the Master Xiao whom Li Qing had met two days ago!
The people brought by Young Master Xiao and the people who were running towards them were all wearing black clothes. These people were actually yamen runners!
Why are Master Xiao and the yamen runners here?
Ding Gao didn't know Xiao Zhen, but Zhang Hui did.
He followed the Fourth Prince and had seen Xiao Zhen countless times. During that hunting trip to Shiji Mountain, Xiao Zhen died and the Fourth Prince was seriously injured. None of the Fourth Prince's followers were spared and were all beaten to death. However, Zhang Hui escaped because he returned to his hometown to move his grandfather's grave. Afterwards, he and Liu Wang, who was promoted later, became the Fourth Prince's confidants.
Although Zhang Hui did not witness Xiao Zhen's death with his own eyes, he had heard about what happened that day countless times.
To him, Xiao Zhen was already dead, deader than dead.
But now, Xiao Zhen, who was supposed to be dead, was walking towards him alive!
Zhang Hui was so frightened that his legs trembled. He took a few steps back and fell to the deck.
Ding Gao's attention was all on Xiao Zhen, and he didn't notice Zhang Hui's reaction.
He now had only one thought: Li Qing didn't trust him!
If Young Master Xiao had not been following them all the way, he would not have found this place. They also studied for a long time before setting the delivery location here. Moreover, these ships were surrounding them, clearly coming for them.
Unless someone among them leaked the information, there was only one reason, that is, Li Qing did not trust him and secretly asked Young Master Xiao to keep an eye on them.
Ding Gao felt a chill down his spine, as if he saw Li Qing's vicious eyes.
Although Li Qing came from a humble background, he was the confidant of Commander Lu Gan, who trained him as his successor.
To offend Li Qing is to offend Lu Gan!
It’s all Zhang Hui and Liu Wang’s fault. If it weren’t for them, I would still be a man of integrity.
He subconsciously looked at Zhang Hui beside him. He didn't see him at first glance, but the second time he saw him curled up on the ground, shivering and muttering, "Ghost, ghost..."
The ghost that Zhang Hui mentioned had already jumped onto the boat and stood in front of them.
Ding Gao gritted his teeth. He was not Zhang Hui. He knew that if he wanted to turn the tables today, he had to kill the person in front of him.
His heart beat fast, his hands moved, and he swung the Embroidered Spring Knife, striking Xiao Zhen in the face. Xiao Zhen was prepared, and his long sword blocked the Embroidered Spring Knife. The swords collided with a loud bang, which made the palms of their hands numb.
Ding Gao took two steps back and tried to stand firm, but Xiao Zhen took the opportunity to swing the sword again. Ding Gao wanted to raise his sword to fight back, but it was too late. Half of Ding Gao's arm was cut off and blood gushed out immediately!
Something splashed on Zhang Hui's face. He wiped it off casually and it turned out to be blood!
He was so scared that he lost his soul. Xiao Zhen killed someone, no, a ghost killed someone!
A warm current surged out from under his body, and Zhang Hui collapsed to the ground. It was not until the people they brought were subdued and two big men dragged Zhang Hui up like a dead dog that they discovered that he was actually defecating and urinating all over the ground.
Estimating that the time was almost up, Yang Fan ordered his men to continue moving forward. However, the boat escorted by Ding Gao was nowhere to be seen. He was very nervous, but he had no choice but to continue moving forward. After walking another three or four miles, he still did not see any trace of the ten boats, so he had to ask two of his men to row a sampan to check.
An hour later, the two men came back. They did not find the ten ships, not even a shadow of them. And at the delivery point agreed in advance, there were only baskets of sand and deep ruts.
Yang Fan's heart sank.
Nowadays, there are refugees and bandits everywhere. Could it be that they are being targeted by someone and are being robbed by the bandits?
Thinking of the group of bandits he encountered on the way to Tongzhou, Yang Fan became more and more certain that Ding Gao and others, along with the ten boats, were robbed!
Not only ten ships, but also silver. When merchants came to make contact, they had to hand over the goods and pay at the same time, so the merchants brought silver notes worth 100,000 taels. What happened to those silver notes? Were they also robbed along with the grain?
Yang Fan called Liu Wang over. When he heard that the Jinyiwei hadn't found the ten boats, Liu Wang's first reaction was to point at Yang Fan's nose and say, "This is all part of your plan, isn't it? Out of a hundred thousand taels of silver, you Jinyiwei were supposed to take eighty thousand, and you're still not satisfied? You want to take it all?"
Yang Fan was furious. This person was so stupid that he actually slandered them by saying that they swallowed it all.
Yang Fan raised his hand and slapped him: "My brothers are also on the boat. If anything happens to them, I will kill your whole family!"
Liu Wang was startled, then came to his senses. He was still a student in his twenties. Later, his sister became the concubine of Master You, so he was able to stay with the Fourth Prince. Although he had to be humble, he and his family did benefit from it.
The Fourth Prince was becoming increasingly favored by the Emperor and Empress. His good days were coming, and he didn't want to die. Yang Fan was a member of the Imperial Guards, ruthless and merciless. They'd dared to annihilate his entire family, and he was foolish. Why would he confront them head-on? Wouldn't it be better to stab him in the back?
Liu Wang's expression changed immediately, and he smiled widely: "Yang Tou'er, what are you talking about? We are no strangers. I was just anxious and dizzy just now. Just treat it as a fart and don't take it to heart."
Yang Fan was too lazy to pay attention to him. He didn't care whether Liu Wang farted or not. What he cared about was Ding Gao and the other brothers on the ten boats.
Moreover, how would he explain the loss of ten ships when he returned?
Thinking of this, Yang Fan kicked Liu Wang: "It's all your fault, you dogs!"
Liu Wang was kicked to the ground and it took him a long time to get up. He had a smile on his face, but he was cursing Yang Fan's ancestors in his heart. Just wait for me, I'm going to stab you to death!
The Fourth Prince has not left since he moved into that haunted house.
A young eunuch came in with a handkerchief covering his nose: "Oh, Fourth Master, you don't know how stinky the water outside is! Oh, there's even a dead rat floating on the water."
Before he could finish his words, the Fourth Prince began to dry heave. He had vomited countless times since arriving in Tongzhou. It was so disgusting, really so disgusting.
"You just went out. Go and soak your clothes in mugwort water. Burn them all!"
The Fourth Prince didn't know that at this moment, a small boat was passing by outside. Before it got close, it was blasted away by the soldiers: "Stay away, go away, stay away!"
The boat swayed and sailed away for a long distance. The old man on the boat looked at the large house built on the high ground with envy on his face: "What foresight! Building a house on such a high place, so there is no need to worry about floods."
The man rowing the boat said, "Stop praising me! That's a haunted house. Many people have died there. I heard it's haunted."
The old man became interested. It was good to have ghosts. He was a Taoist priest and could catch ghosts!
"Go back, let's go back, I want to catch ghosts!"
The man slapped himself on the mouth. What a stinky mouth. What nonsense is that?
"Listen to me, we're not going back. The Fourth Prince, who's here to control the flood, lives there now. How can you just go to a prince's place?"
The old man frowned: "Are you here to control the flood? Where are the people? I don't see them?"
"How come we didn't see them? Didn't we see people from the Ministry of Industry?" the man asked hurriedly.
"I'm talking about the Fourth Prince. I didn't see him." Don't think that his eyes are blurry because of his old age. He can see clearly. Among the people he just met, no one has the aura of an emperor.
The man explained, "The Fourth Prince doesn't know how to control floods, so he doesn't go out and stays in that house. Besides, it's so dangerous outside now, and the Fourth Prince is too delicate to come out."
The old man spat, "Pah, just a lazy bone. Oh, right, someone on the road just mentioned that mountain. Let's go and take a look."
The man hurriedly said, "Let's find a place to rest. It's too dangerous here."
The old man said, "You said you were looking for a place. What place? That haunted mansion is a good place, but you said that the Fourth Prince lives there. The farm down there is also a good place, but you said that officials live there. Now I say we should go to the mountains, but you say it's dangerous. So, where else can I live? I think you just want to force me to jump into the river, don't you?"
The man was startled and said hurriedly, "Old man, please don't say that. No one forced you to jump into the river."
"Since you didn't force me to jump into the river, then you can take me to the mountain now. I paid for it!"
The man regretted it very much. These days, anyone could happen to him. Who would have thought that someone would actually hire a boat to watch for floods? It was also his fault. He shouldn't have been greedy for the fifty taels of silver and carried this old madman around everywhere. The sky was getting cloudy again. If it rained heavily at this time, not to mention the old madman, even he himself could not guarantee that he would survive.
"Let's not go, I..."
"Help! Help! Someone is trying to kill me for money!"
The man was startled. He saw a small boat approaching from a distance. The people on board were yamen runners. He quickly pleaded, "Old man, whatever you say, I'll take you to the mountain right now. But first, I'll make it clear I can only take you to the bottom. You'll have to climb up. If you're lucky, you might find someone carrying a sedan chair. If not, you'll have to rely on your own legs to climb up."
The old man waved his hand and said, "No problem, let's go!"
The man curled his lips and said, "Do you think you are the emperor?"
The water level in the city was a few degrees lower than it had been two days ago. The man sighed and said to himself, "These flooded houses will probably need to be renovated before we can live in them."
Fortunately, he has no money and cannot afford to buy a house in the city, otherwise he would be heartbroken now.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, they could see from a distance a few small boats chained together. After the old man disembarked and stood on the steps leading up the mountain, the man dared to speak frankly: "Old man, I can only take you here. But I heard that there are too many people on this mountain, and Miss Zhao Er no longer accepts people. You're on your own."
Anyway, he has got the fifty taels, so he is not afraid that this old madman will blame him.
The old man's reaction was unexpected: "Who are you talking about? Miss Zhao Er? You're not talking about my goddaughter, are you? Hahaha!"
Zhao Shiqing: Who is your goddaughter? Did I agree?
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