"Dragon City's inner guards are investigating a case. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to make any moves!"
As night fell, the roars of the approaching riders were like the death knell of demons from hell, causing the hearts of the Prince of Zhongshan, Su Muchen, the rebel deputy general Fan Bao, and all the servants and soldiers of the royal palace present to leap into their throats, their minds buzzing with dread.
Now that things had come to this, Su Muchen didn't even have the mind or time to figure out why the Dragon City guards, whom he had tricked and humiliated during the day, would appear on the official road outside Guangling Port in the middle of the night.
My first thought was: Run! Survival is the most important thing!
Clang—
The next moment, a crisp sound of a sword being drawn was heard.
Standing beside him, the rebel deputy general Fan Bao, who had come to receive the supplies, drew his sword and shouted sternly, "Protect the Emperor—"
Clang clang clang—
Immediately following, the sounds of countless swords being drawn rang out one after another. The accompanying rebel guards drew their swords and instinctively formed a protective barrier around Prince Zhongshan, Su Muchen, and his deputy, Fan Bao.
Fan Bao said anxiously, "Your Highness, it's bad! Our plan has been exposed!"
"Your Highness, you must get on the ship and leave quickly! I will hold off the Imperial Guards of the Great Tang Dragon City. Hurry, or it will be too late!"
"General Fan, take care!"
At this critical moment of life and death, Prince Su Muchen of Zhongshan was not one to hesitate or procrastinate. He immediately ordered his servants to run towards the nearest merchant ship.
As soon as he reached the deck, he immediately ordered: "Quickly, weigh anchor, hoist the sails, and set sail!"
Soon, the sound of horns signaling departure filled Guangling Port, and dozens of merchant ships began to weigh anchor and hoist their sails, attempting to sail into the Yangtze River waterway before the inner guards of Longcheng could encircle them.
Waaaaah, waaaah—
Just then, a series of piercing bugle calls rang out on the waterway outside Guangling Port.
Immediately afterwards, the ship's captain rushed to the deck to report: "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The waterway leading out of the port has been blocked by the Tang Dynasty's naval fleet!"
"What did you say?"
Su Muchen tensed up and almost fainted.
Under the bright moonlight, Su Muchen, standing on the bow deck, looked in the direction of the horn sound and indeed saw several tall naval warships with scarlet Tang Dynasty royal flags flying from their masts.
The next moment, flames suddenly appeared on the side of the Tang Dynasty naval warship.
Immediately afterwards, a series of "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds of wind breaking through the air rang out.
Boom, boom, boom!
Immediately, shells exploded on the surface of the river at Guangling Port, sending up countless jets of water.
As soon as the cannons mounted on the naval warships opened fire, the captains, first mates, and sailors on dozens of merchant ships in Guangling Port, who were busy weighing anchor, raising sails, and setting sail, immediately stopped what they were doing. They stared in terror at the naval warships lying across the river mouth outside the channel, and dared not make any further moves.
Just now, the navy fleet fired a salvo of cannons, and the shells all landed outside the merchant ships, drawing an arc on the river surface, which looked more like a warning line drawn by the navy officers and soldiers who suddenly rebelled with their cannons.
The meaning couldn't be clearer: if the merchant ships in the port ignored the warnings and dared to cross the warning line, the next salvo from the red-coated cannons on the naval fleet's warships would not land on the river surface, but would smash into the hull and deck of the merchant ships!
"Your Highness, what should we do?"
The terrified captain anxiously asked Prince Su Muchen of Zhongshan on deck for his opinion, saying, "The naval officers and soldiers are firing warning shots at us. If we insist on setting sail, they will bombard our fleet!"
"What are you afraid of? Just run it over!"
Before Su Muchen could even speak, the anxious steward of the Prince's mansion immediately said, "Order the merchant ships to ram through the caravan together! I refuse to believe we can't break a path!"
"What are you waiting for? Charge the boat and ram it!"
However, the captain completely ignored the steward's roar and, with a heart full of despair, addressed the still-shocked Prince Zhongshan, Su Muchen, saying, "Your Highness, the merchant ships of the caravan are no match for the navy's warships in terms of size, tonnage, or hull armor."
"Your Highness, we can't leave!"
puff--
As soon as the captain finished speaking, Su Muchen, the King of Zhongshan, who had been in a daze, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and his vision went black as he fainted. The deck at the bow of the ship was immediately thrown into chaos.
In the chaos, the merchant ship's sails, which had been raised and its anchor, were lowered again.
Moments later, the other merchant ships in the port followed suit, lowering their sails and anchors and surrendering to the Tang Dynasty naval fleet that had blocked the river estuary.
Under the moonlight, small boats were launched into the water from the main warships of the Tang Dynasty's naval fleet. Countless armored and armed naval officers and soldiers cleaved through the waves under the moonlight and quickly took control of all the merchant ships of the Zhongshan Prince's Mansion on the river.
In the middle of the night.
Prince Su Muchen of Zhongshan, who was unconscious, was awakened by someone splashing him with cold river water.
Before he could even start cursing after opening his eyes, several familiar faces appeared before him, staring at him with a half-smile.
The leader was none other than Lu Jiang, the newly appointed deputy commander of the Longcheng Inner Guard. Standing beside him were Jiang Xiao, the Minister of Revenue of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Ziyi, the deputy commander of the Tang Navy.
Lu Jiang smiled and said, "Your Highness, what a coincidence, we meet again!"
As he spoke, Lu Jiang pointed to the rows of merchant ships laden with cargo in the harbor and continued, "Your Highness is truly generous! Just this day, you raised and donated 200,000 shi of grain to the court for its use in suppressing the rebellion."
"In less than a night, another 300,000 shi of grain, along with 200,000 taels of silver and a certain amount of refined salt, were raised for the court. If the Emperor knew of the Prince's painstaking efforts, he would surely be moved beyond words."
"What do you think, Your Highness?"
Su Muchen's face turned deathly pale, his heart filled with despair.
Lu Jiang then added insult to injury, saying, "However, Your Highness, you should leave your mark for doing good deeds. You've prepared so much food and supplies for the court; you should at least inform me and Lord Jiang."
"You see, to ensure the smooth transport of the provisions Your Highness has raised to Jinling City by water, I've even invited Lord Tang along, and dispatched twelve naval fleets to escort them along the way. I'm just afraid that some villains might interfere and smuggle the provisions Your Highness has raised for the court to the Goguryeo Peninsula to fund the rebels."
"Don't you think so, Your Highness!"
Hahaha!
As Lu Jiang spoke, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Looking at Su Muchen, the Prince of Zhongshan, slumped on the bow deck like a drowned dog, he laughed and said, "Someone, notify the merchant ships to set sail for Jinling City."
"I will personally escort the Prince to meet the Emperor!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Moments later, ships laden with grain and gold and silver set sail once again in Guangling Port, heading towards Jinling City!
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