Chapter 42: Pirates (Part 1) Pirates (Part 1)
After the ship sailed for half a day, the view suddenly became clear and the originally narrow river channel widened.
Stretching before them was a clear river, about thirty or forty meters wide. The water was not fast, but because of the increasing number of ships, the turbulent water seemed slightly turbid, but it was brewing more vitality.
This is the Qingjiang River that runs through the entire Qingzhou Prefecture and was also famous in the Zhou Dynasty. The name of Qingzhou Prefecture comes from this. The prosperity of Hushan County and Yuexi Village is largely based on this.
Starting from Hushan County, it only takes half a day to sail to Qingjiang. In two more days, they will reach Qingzhou Wharf, which is the location of Qingzhou Prefecture, one of the most prosperous provincial capitals in the Jiangnan region.
The time on the boat was boring, and Su Fengzhang had no mood to enjoy the cold wind on the deck, so he simply stayed in the cabin, reading a book in his hand, which he had just received from Lord Cai.
After all, Lord Cai was the magistrate, and his gifts were extraordinary. Although what he gave was not a precious single copy, it was excerpts from the court reports in recent years, which was exactly what Su Fengzhang needed most at the moment.
Uncle Su, however, saw him spending the entire day in the cabin reading, and said with a hint of concern, "Erlang, don't you feel dizzy reading on the boat? Don't study too hard."
Su Fengzhang certainly didn't feel dizzy, but he put down his book and said, "Okay, I'll get up and stretch my muscles."
As a result, Uncle Su looked at his strange behavior and his expression became even stranger.
Su Fengzhang also explained: "When reading, the posture is fixed, and the neck is prone to soreness. This movement may look strange, but it is good for the body. Second uncle, do you want to join us?"
Uncle Su said quickly, "No, no, I don't usually read books, so it's not necessary."
It was around the hour of Xu when Wenzhu finally came over to talk. As soon as she entered the room, she complained, "Fengzhang, I can't stand my father anymore. Hey, why don't you go to our cabin and study during the day? That way, he'll only focus on you and forget about me, his disappointing son."
Since he didn't come to play with Su Fengzhang during the day, it goes without saying that he was being watched by Mr. Wen and studying.
Su Fengzhang smiled and made him a cup of tea. "Come, drink some tea to calm your mind. If you think about it this way, Mr. Wen's one-on-one and careful teaching is something that others can only ask for."
"Who is this other person? Let him come quickly." Wen Zhu said jokingly.
At this moment, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from the bow. Wen Zhu turned around in confusion: "What's going on? The gongs and drums are beating in the middle of the night. It will wake up the sleeping people."
"Oh no, we've encountered pirates." Su Fengzhang's face darkened.
Wenzhu's face also changed drastically. After he reminded her, she vaguely remembered that when they boarded the boat, the boatman had said that there were pirates in the Qingjiang area, and if they encountered pirates, they would beat gongs and drums to alert everyone.
"How come we encountered pirates?" Uncle Su was also scared out of his wits. Ever since the imperial court sent troops to kill them many years ago, these pirates have disappeared. In recent years, there have been few reports of ship hijacking.
"Oh no, my dad." Wen Zhu often complained about his father, but the father and son had a very good relationship. Now, when he thought of Mr. Wen being alone in the cabin at the other end, he wanted to run out.
"Wenzhu, I'll go with you." Su Fengzhang called out, "Second Uncle, if we go together, more people can look after each other."
Uncle Su picked up his valuables and ran out. There was a lot of noise outside and many people were awakened. Some of them probably went to bed early and came out in their underwear to inquire about the news.
Mr. Wen was also obviously awakened, but he was still calm. When he saw them coming, he said, "Why are you so panicking?"
"Dad, I'm glad you're okay." Wenzhu was relieved to see that he was dressed neatly.
Mr. Wen looked at him with disappointment, thinking that since the pirates hadn't boarded the ship, of course everything was fine now. But seeing his son's worried face with tears in his eyes, he couldn't bear to say anything to him. Although he was a little stupid, he was his own son after all.
"Wenzhu, you stay with the teacher and my second uncle, I'll go check out the situation." Su Fengzhang said.
"Don't go, it's dangerous." Uncle Su was so nervous that his throat was about to jump out, and he kept saying, "These are pirates, not like those bandits."
"Don't worry." Su Fengzhang didn't listen and turned around and walked towards the bow of the ship.
He looked down and saw that two small boats had appeared on the river. They looked like ordinary fishing boats, with three or four people on each boat, and they were rowing quickly towards the big ship.
The lanterns on the big ship were bright, dimly illuminating the people on the ship. They were all holding swords and it was obvious that they had no good intentions.
Su Fengzhang's face also changed slightly. The reason why their Yuexi Village was able to resist the bandits was because they had no weapons. The only leader only had an iron knife, which was broken and had very limited attack power.
But now the pirates' swords were obviously unbroken, flashing an eerie white light.
The boatman's face was pale as he called on the crew to prepare and the guards and servants of the passengers on board to come out to help. He also shouted: "How dare these pirates be so bold? We are sending the examinees."
Because of the different status of literati, the imperial court was particularly tolerant of those who took the imperial examinations, and they did not even have to pay various passing fees.
Another thing is that those who take the imperial examinations do not have much money, and if something happens, the imperial court will investigate strictly, so under normal circumstances, the ship that transports them is the safest. After all, pirates are after money and will not do thankless tasks.
Su Fengzhang was also shocked. The pirates were so bold. Has the central control ability of the Great Zhou Dynasty declined to this level? Someone actually hijacked the ship directly on the Qingjiang River.
He knew that in the era of cold weapons, transportation was inconvenient and productivity was backward, and some bandits could not be seen for a year or two. That's why the centurion Liu Wei was so happy when he captured someone, because it was a great achievement.
During years of disaster, many refugees with no place to live would choose to become bandits and make a living by robbing and looting. However, the rampant bandits in Qingjiang had already happened during the reign of Emperor Taizu. Later, the imperial court rectified the situation time and time again, and the area was relatively peaceful.
You must know that Qingjiang is an important transportation channel for Qingzhou Prefecture. Not only are there many checkpoints, but there are also naval forces stationed there all year round. It is really unusual that these pirates come to rob the ship at this time.
The more the boatman warned and the faster the gongs and drums sounded, the more chaotic the boat became. The women screamed in fear, and some even walked around with their bags, causing more trouble.
"Don't walk around. Women, hide in the cabin, and men, come out to help." the boatman shouted.
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention in the chaos.
This won’t work. Su Fengzhang frowned and suddenly snatched the gong from his hand.
"What are you doing!" He was so strong that the boatman who had been doing heavy work didn't even react.
"Boom!" A shrill gong and drum sounded, and Su Fengzhang shouted loudly, "Those who don't want to die, calm down. All women, hide in the cabin. Those who can help defend the enemy, stand out."
This time, some people obeyed him. However, when he shouted, except for a few brave ones, or those who worked as guards and servants, the rest of the people hid, obviously not wanting to take risks.
The boatman yelled at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, come out and fight the enemy! The pirates are brutal and all of them are armed. If they get on the boat, none of us will survive. We absolutely cannot let them get on!"
There weren't many people who could stand up. The boatman was sweating profusely: "What should we do? No one expected to encounter pirates."
Su Fengzhang, however, was calmer and said, "It's a good thing they don't come out to cause trouble."
"The pirates are few in number. Even though they have weapons, they can't do anything to us unless they can get on board."
At this time, several ropes with iron hooks were thrown up and directly hooked onto the side of the ship. The ship moved slightly, and the thieves began to climb up along the ropes.
"Cut it quickly, cut the rope." The boatman shouted loudly, picked up a long knife and rushed over, but the rope was made of unknown material, and it didn't break with one cut. It took several cuts before one rope was cut.
At this time, Uncle Su rushed over with a torch and stretched out his hand to burn the ropes, but he couldn't burn them even after lighting them.
Su Fengzhang suddenly shouted, "Wenzhu, take out the wine you hid."
He shouted again, "If you can't cut it, shake it hard. Don't let them get up."
So those who had no weapons swung the ropes hard, and those who had weapons chopped with all their might. With a splash, another pirate fell into the water, but he was not panicked at all. Instead, he swam towards this side.
Wenzhu rushed into the room, crawled under the bed, dug out a pile of wine that he had treasured, and rushed out again.
Su Fengzhang took over and poured it towards the remaining ropes. Uncle Su's eyes lit up. With the help of wine, the ropes were indeed ignited. There were plop sounds one after another, and the pirates fell into the Qingjiang River.
Originally, they all thought that the steady flow of the Qingjiang River was a good thing, but now they hoped that the flow would be faster. It would be even better if it could sweep away those pirates.
According to the rules of the Great Zhou Dynasty, private possession of weapons was prohibited among the people, so except for the boatman, no one else on the boat had any iron tools, and the kitchen knives were considered good.
There were now more than a dozen people standing at the bow. One of them was tall and strong, holding a long stick in his hand. He was a servant of a wealthy family, and he was also accompanying his master to Qingzhou Prefecture to take the imperial examination.
This man wielded a stick with great vigor and swung the pirates who had climbed onto the boat down to the bottom of the boat, shouting, "Don't worry, everyone. I, Old Wang, am here and will not let these pirates get on board."
Who knew that before he could finish his words, an iron hook hit the arm of the butler, Lao Wang. He screamed and the long stick fell to the ground. If the people next to him had not caught him, he would have fallen into the water.
Old Wang's arm was covered in blood, with the wound so deep that the bone was visible. The already chaotic deck became even more chaotic, and one person even almost fell off the boat while backing away.
At this time, a pirate wearing black tights, with a pale and cold face, like a water ghost, climbed onto the bow first.
He bit a long knife in his mouth, grabbed the side of the boat with both hands and jumped up.
Taking off his long sword, he let out a creepy laugh and rushed towards them waving the long sword.
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