"Ahhh! The prince is so mighty!"
"Ahhh! The prince is invincible!"
"Ahhh! The prince is so powerful!"
There were only more than twenty soldiers, but their cheers at this time were so loud that they shook the heavens and the earth. They were admiration and excitement from the bottom of their hearts.
Duan Tingxuan accepted the cheers without changing his expression. The reason why he caught the big fish was to intimidate these soldiers. Of course, he also had a little revengeful thought. If he didn't stew the big fish that dared to hit him in the face, it would be difficult to relieve the hatred in the young marquis' heart.
The fresh big fish jumped twice on the deck and then stopped moving. It was indeed a big carp more than two feet long, weighing at least twenty or thirty kilograms. It can be imagined that this creature should be considered a little bully in the river. It's a pity that just because it jumped out to show off, it was killed by the petty-minded Master Duan with a single knife. It was really unfair.
Inspired by Duan Tingxuan's move, the soldiers suddenly became confident in the proposal of fishing for food, so they were not very opposed to rescuing the victims. After all, the victims grew up by the sea and must be good at fishing and catching shrimps. After rescuing them, they should not rush back. They should go to the sea to clean up the sea. These victims will be a great help. Fish, big fish, which can only be eaten during festivals to improve life, but now they have to eat them as food. Just thinking about it makes me drool.
When we were getting closer to Tuer Mountain, we could finally see a large crowd of people gathered on the hilltop. They were probably desperate after being trapped for several days. They didn't react until the boats reached the edge of the mountain. They probably thought they were dreaming.
At this time, a soldier came over and said to Duan Tingxuan, "My Lord, we can't go any further. The flood is actually at the foot and waist of Tuer Mountain. If we go any further, we're afraid we'll hit rocks and the boats will be damaged or even fall apart. We can only find a way to rescue them from here."
Duan Tingxuan frowned and said, "But there is still a long way to go from here to the top of the mountain. How can they get down?"
Another soldier said nonchalantly, "Those mud-legged people were born and raised in water. Just let them swim over. Don't worry, my lord." Then he covered his mouth with his hands and shouted towards the top of the hill, "Jinzhou Guards have been ordered to rescue. Those of you who can move, hurry up and get on the boat, otherwise we will leave you alone."
He shouted three times. No one answered, but a few people stood up hesitantly. The soldier felt that he had lost face in front of Duan Tingxuan, so he said angrily: "What a shameless bunch. We came here specially to rescue them, but they are still acting so arrogant."
Before he finished speaking, he was kicked off the boat by the officer who had gone to the Command Headquarters to report the news and then followed Duan Tingxuan's order to adjust the boat. The officer also put his hands to his mouth and shouted to the people on the hilltop: "Fellow villagers, the prince of Anping Marquis's Mansion has come to rescue you personally. Come on board quickly, there is food on board."
Just adding a sentence "There is food on the boat" had an immediate effect. All the people on the hilltop stood up and ran down desperately. Just as the soldiers said before, these people grew up by the sea, even the children of a few years old could swim, and occasionally there were children or old people who couldn't swim, who were carried by the adults on their backs or dragged in large wooden tubs, and they also floated over. In the blink of an eye, the leading boats were full of people.
The victims all stared at the official with eager eyes, and sure enough, they saw him commanding the soldiers to drag out several baskets of steamed bread from the cabin of one of the ships. Then the crowd started to go wild, some kneeling and kowtowing, some shouting, some crying and laughing, and it was such a crazy scene that it is impossible to describe in detail.
Duan Tingxuan looked at the official with a look of emotion and said calmly, "This gentleman should be from the local area, right? But I don't know his name?"
The official was startled, and hurriedly bowed in fear and said, "My name is Zhang Tianming, and my ancestral home is Kaifeng, Henan. Since my grandfather's generation, because the family suffered a disaster and couldn't survive, I don't know how to come to this place outside the Great Wall to settle down, so this official was born in Jinzhou. Fortunately, I met my mentor, who taught me for a few years. I was lucky enough to pass the imperial examination and got a position under the commander. This time my hometown was hit by a disaster, and there were victims everywhere. This official is really heartbroken..."
Before he could finish, the soldier who had been kicked into the water by him curled his lips and said, "Come on, Master Zhang, you have the nerve to call this a remote and poor place full of disaster victims? Do you think this is the Central Plains?"
This guy really deserved to be kicked out. How could someone be so merciless in complaining about his boss?
Su Nuannuan was completely speechless, but she saw Duan Tingxuan smiling and said, "It is true that this place is a remote and poor place, but it is hard to say in a few years. The emperor intends to set up a customs office here..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Tianming said excitedly, "Is what the prince said true? Has the emperor made up his mind? There have been rumors for two years, but nothing has come of it. I thought I would never see this day in my lifetime."
"Is this true? With the lifting of the maritime ban, those ships have sailed across the ocean and brought back all kinds of information. The emperor has paid more and more attention to the ocean in the past two years. Dengzhou Guard in Shandong, Lushun Guard in Liaodong, and even your Jinzhou Guard, these are all places where great things can be done. In just three to five years, the Maritime Customs will definitely be established, so you can rest assured."
Zhang Tianming was very excited. Just as he was about to ask another question, he heard the old soldier at the helm ask excitedly, "Sir, are we going into the Bohai Sea now? Look, that's already the Bohai Sea. The flood this time is really fucking severe. The seawall is invisible. The water won't recede for at least ten days or half a month. God will have to be kind and give us a few more sunny days."
Duan Tingxuan said, "Okay, let's go in. Pick a few people to talk to the victims and tell them that we are going to go fishing in the sea. Let them do their part. The victims in Jinzhouwei are also short of food."
The victims had no objection to this. Although most people didn't know what the prince was, they knew that he was an important official. He was going to catch fish for the victims, so what right did you have to be lazy? What's more, these were simple people, so everyone was just grateful.
The ship sailed smoothly into the Bohai Sea. This situation did not make Duan Tingxuan happy, but made him feel even more depressed. Looking at the vast expanse of the ocean, he was extremely worried.
It is summer now, how can it be possible that there is no rain for half a month or even a month? If there is another heavy rain, will the flood have to wait until autumn to recede? By then, how much grain will the court have to allocate from the already tight grain supply to allow the people affected by this disaster to survive the crisis? Perhaps, after returning to Beijing, I should propose to the emperor to immediately send ships to Luzon and Ryukyu to collect grain? And the Northeast Plain that Nuannuan mentioned, can it really become a big granary like Huguang?
After sailing for half a day, they entered the deep sea area of Bohai Sea. Duan Tingxuan was talking to Zhang Tianming about the geographical environment of the Northeast. Zhang Tianming had also traveled to the Northeast in his early years, and even visited Lake Baikal. Hearing about the possibility of growing grain, he recalled carefully and only remembered that there were indeed fertile fields in the north, but those were places where few people went, so he had no good opinion on this possibility. The three were talking enthusiastically when they heard someone shouting: "Big fish... There is a big fish... Oh my God, such a big fish..."
Su Nuannuan quickly stood up and saw a black back faintly appearing on the sea in the distance. Then the black back suddenly jumped up, and a huge shark came into her sight.
"Fortunately, it's not a Kun fish." Zhang Tianming breathed a sigh of relief, but then he heard Duan Tingxuan say, "Kun fish? Is there really such a thing in this world?"
Zhang Tianming smiled and said, "I don't know if the Kun mentioned in Zhuangzi's Happy Journey refers to this, but no one has ever seen it transform into a big Peng. But the fish is very big. One year, a big Kun fish was washed up on this beach. Hundreds of people came to cut its meat, but they couldn't finish it in the end. It was as long as several people. Fortunately, it was dead. Otherwise, if it was alive and encountered in the sea, I'm afraid no one would have escaped."
Su Nuannuan looked at Zhang Tianming with a look of embarrassment, thinking, "That's a whale you're talking about, brother? Most whales are gentler than sharks, okay? I don't understand what you have to be thankful for?"
Just as she was thinking about it, she heard some fishermen cheering, as if they wanted to catch the big shark and eat it. Su Nuannuan was frightened and was about to rush out to stop them, but she saw that the old fisherman had already stopped everyone's impulse, saying that this kind of fish is extremely ferocious and can eat people. Sure enough, everyone on the boat was shocked.
Finally, there are people who know what's good. Su Nuannuan breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could fully exhale, she heard someone else exclaim, "Oh my God, that big fish is coming, it's coming towards us, it really wants to eat us, what should we do?"
Su Nuannuan looked back and saw a huge black shark in the distance turning a corner and rushing towards the boat. Maybe it smelled blood on some ship, but its heroic posture made most of the fishermen who had never seen this overlord of the deep sea feel weak in the knees.
"The beast has gone too far."
Su Nuannuan was wondering if so many people and so many boats could catch this big shark, when she heard the young marquis roar beside her. She turned back and tried to persuade her husband not to bother with the shark. This creature was greedy when it saw blood. Just find a way to drive it away. Otherwise, they were probably in the deep sea. If they killed one and attracted a group of sharks, with only a dozen small boats and a thousand people, it would only take a few minutes for the boat to be destroyed and people to die.
Unfortunately, before she could finish her words, she saw Duan Tingxuan's figure flash and rushed out, which frightened Su Nuannuan so much that her voice changed. She ran to the side of the boat and shouted, "Tingxuan, come back. We can't provoke that guy. It would be bad if he attracted his accomplices..."
The sound was blown away by the sea breeze, and the young marquis turned a deaf ear to it. This is what it means to be a skilled and courageous person.
The shark was very fast and had already rushed to a place very close to the boat. Duan Tingxuan only touched the water surface a few times like a dragonfly and stepped on the back of the big shark. Then he drew out the soft sword from his waist and stabbed the shark under his feet unreasonably.
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