usatvline Chapter 200 Offense and Defense
Chapter 200 Offense and Defense
Wu Jian, the swordsman and shieldman, untied a rope from his quiver at his waist.
Gao Daqiang took the gun, tied Wang Xiaoer's hands together, and threw him behind the thatched shed.
Several thugs stood nearby, arms crossed, short blades at their waists, pointing and whispering at Wang Xiaoer.
Not long after, as the last bucket of salt was loaded into the small boat, the two boatmen quietly left and rowed the small boat toward the large ship.
Wang Xiaoer looked dejected, filled with fear for his unknown fate and hoping that someone would come to save him.
Sure enough, a moment later, someone did come over, but it was a fisherman from Lüsichang, not an archer from the patrol office.
Their boats were laden with all kinds of salted fish, and after docking, they bargained with the salt merchants, making one deal after another.
It wasn't that no one saw Wang Xiaoer; it was just that everyone was so familiar with him that they ignored him. Some fishermen who knew him even hid in the shadows and mocked him, clearly because he was usually bullied terribly by the archers.
They continued working like this until the afternoon. The more than 30 people who had landed had collected more than 2,000 catties of salt and more than 3,000 catties of salted fish. Small boats and hired fishing boats kept going back and forth between the large boat and the shore, busy as bees.
At this moment, Zhang Quan, the patrol inspector of Lüsi Patrol Office, had just received the news—there was nothing he could do, he had gone to a banquet, and his subordinates couldn't find him for a while. In the late afternoon, Zhang Quan returned to the patrol office and found that the clerk Li Zhai and twenty-five others were staring at him without blinking.
"Sit down, everyone," Zhang Quan ordered, letting out a burp.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and found seats. Those without seats sat cross-legged on the dirty carpet, looking at Zhang Quan.
"What exactly happened? Tell me in detail," Zhang Quan asked, rubbing his throbbing temples.
Clerk Li Zhai cleared his throat and said, "Inspector, someone reported today that the archer Wang Xiaoer was captured by a group of thugs and tied up in a thatched hut. Many people saw it. Upon hearing the news, I dared not delay, so I gathered several men to secretly investigate. We found that a group of thugs had indeed come to the Xiajiaba seaside. They had built a thatched hut, and the bandit leader was living in it. There were two flags on the roof of the hut. One was a triangular flag, which looked like a ceremonial flag, and the other was the bandit leader's flag, which had the character 'Wu' written on it. He should be a notorious bandit surnamed Wu."
The bandits were well-organized and their defenses were tight.
"Wait a minute," Zhang Quan interrupted, asking, "A salt worker surnamed Wu? Ever heard of him?"
When Zhang Quan said this, he looked at everyone, and everyone shook their heads. They obviously had never heard of Yi Wu being a rare or insignificant surname. If there really was such a person, they would not forget him.
"Where did they come from?" Zhang Quan muttered to himself. "Could they be accomplices of those pirates from last year?"
The clerk coughed and reminded him, "Inspector."
"Oh, please continue," Zhang Quan said, nodding as he came to his senses.
"When we investigated, we counted twenty-eight bandits," Li Zhai continued. "There were four men standing in front of the thatched hut, each holding a long spear. They were very conspicuous and must be top-notch guards."
Seven people stood on the left side of the thatched hut, one of whom had a small flag embroidered with a bear on his back.
There were also seven people on the right, arranged in the same way, with the leader's small flag embroidered with a tiger descending a mountain.
Four men stood by the street, with knives at their waists, rattan shields on their backs, and bags in their hands, asking people to buy salt.
There were six people standing on the dam, not clearly visible from a distance, about fifty or sixty paces away from the thatched hut. Four of them seemed to be holding bows.
There should still be people inside the thatched hut; I don't know how many, but the total number of thieves should be no less than thirty.
Zhang Quan felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.
Some people stood on the high ground of the dam to keep watch, some lined up to guard, some collected salt, and some transported it. They were busy but not chaotic. The phrase "quite organized" is the most appropriate way to describe it.
"How many people are in the thatched hut? Didn't you check?" Zhang Quan asked, staring at the clerk.
Li Zhai cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Sir, I found two familiar ruffians to sell salt, but the thieves wouldn't let us near, making it difficult to spy on them. However, both of them said they could hear voices inside the shed, and every now and then one or two people would come out. Based on this, there are at least three or four people inside the shed. As for behind the shed, there should be several more, mostly armed with short weapons, rowing boats back and forth between the water and the shore, transporting fish and salt."
At this point, Li Zhai glanced at Zhang Quan and said, "Sir, that's all the information we've gathered. What to do next is entirely up to you."
Zhang Quan fell silent for a moment.
The patrol team consisted of twenty-five or twenty-six men, with three sets of bows, two sets of leather armor, eight shields, fourteen swords, and thirty spears. Could they fight?
Last year, it was difficult to even capture the pirates who came ashore to recuperate from their injuries. They even suffered some losses when they encountered a notorious bandit, with some men killed or wounded. Now, there are thirty or forty well-equipped and ruthless bandits. This decision is indeed not easy to make.
Zhang Quan closed his eyes and pondered. The others didn't urge him, but waited with inscrutable expressions.
After a long time, just when everyone thought Zhang Quan had fallen asleep, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Everyone's expression tightened, and some of the timid ones even felt the urge to urinate, their faces turning deathly pale.
"This matter is of great importance. I will go to the prefecture first to report to Judge Lu in person." Zhang Quan's gaze swept across everyone's faces. "While I am away, all affairs shall be handled by the clerks, but they shall not act rashly and shall guard the gates carefully."
"Yes," everyone responded in unison, and several people's faces turned from pale to rosy, clearly relieved.
Zhang Quan took everything in and sighed inwardly.
Without lingering, he made some rough arrangements, then selected two archers, borrowed three horses from a nearby station, and headed towards Tongzhou City. After he left, Li Zhai immediately ordered the gates to be closed, clearly intending to retreat and hold out.
After nightfall, several bonfires were lit near the thatched hut.
The soldiers took turns resting and ate some dry rations.
Even as dusk fell, the number of people coming to sell salt remained constant, even slightly more than during the day. The reasons were not complicated: some had only just received the news and rushed over, while others were too timid to come during the day, only sneaking over at night like thieves, carrying large bags of salt they had illegally intercepted to sell. The archers on the dam had already withdrawn, instead occupying nearby shops, sitting on the rooftops, and surveying the surrounding area.
Clearly, after seeing that the Lüsi Inspection Office had remained silent all day, Shao Shuyi and his group had a better understanding of the situation and became even bolder. At midnight, after the last salt seller had disappeared, Shao Shuyi put down his brush, rubbed his slightly sore wrists, and laughed, "Today, we only got a little over six thousand catties of salt and a little over ten thousand catties of salted fish. Tomorrow, we should be able to get much more."
Liang Tai brought over a teapot and poured Shao Shuyi a bowl of tea—the tea was naturally bought from a nearby teahouse. If the Lu Si patrol inspectorate continued to be so cowardly, this group might have to go to Dongbinlou for a big meal tomorrow.
"Brother Wu, it seems the Lu Si Patrol Inspectorate is too scared to come. In that case, why don't we rob the salt warehouse?" Liang Tai suggested.
Upon hearing this, everyone present widened their eyes.
Liang Tai is usually a man of few words, so how come he comes up with such a brilliant plan when he does!
Shao Shuyi was also somewhat tempted. After pondering for a moment, he said, "The Tongzhou Salt Warehouse is outside the west gate of the city, which is quite far from us. To get there, one option is to leave by boat, travel up the Yangtze River, land at the Tongzhou dock, and then attack the salt warehouse. However, this is no different from attacking the city."
Bian Yuanheng, who was wiping his dagger, added, "More than ten years ago, my father was the commander of Yu Dongchang. At that time, salt was indeed to be delivered to the west gate of Tongzhou. Salt could only be transported by the government, either by cart or boat, which was called 'gangyun'. However, the government didn't have that many boats at all, so in the end, they hired civilian boats and carts for transportation."
Salt from Yu Dongchang was transported by boat. Because it was far from the warehouse, each piece cost about twelve or thirteen strings of cash. Wang Bai, who sold salt in Xiapu last time, had salt transport workers among his subordinates.
Ships loaded with salt were called "harvest ships," and were escorted by officials and patrolmen. Actually, they could start their operation here; robbing a harvest ship would yield the same result. "Is there a second salt warehouse nearby?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Rugao Warehouse is located in Xixi, Rugao," Bian Yuanheng said. "However, it is deep inland, and large ships cannot reach it."
As Shao and Bian were talking, Wu Heizi came in to get some tea. Hearing this, he said, "Brother Wu, raiding the salt warehouse or the inspection station is a bit too much. It's not that we can't win, it's just unnecessary. We're only after money, why bother? If you ask me, we should either buy salt here or rush into Lüsi Saltworks and steal all the salt that hasn't been transported to the warehouse yet."
Shao Shuyi neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
This is only their third time getting involved in the salt business, and their subordinates have already "evolved" to the point of seriously discussing whether to seize salt fields or salt warehouses, or even hijack salt transport ships? They're really impressive; I can't even imagine what they'll dare to do in the future.
Inside the room were five sons of military households from the Pizhou Wanhu Mansion. Most of them had grown up with Liang Tai since childhood. They were skilled in martial arts and were usually brave and fierce, but they were dirt poor and had an urgent desire to make money.
When they first arrived, they were somewhat arrogant, thinking that being from a military family meant they were far superior to those from the sea, butchering, or postal service. But upon closer inspection, they realized that while those men were indeed less skilled than themselves, they had clearly practiced military formations more than once, which greatly compensated for their own shortcomings. Furthermore, the dozen or so men led by the man surnamed Gao, whose back was embroidered with a tiger flag, were even more skilled. During their stay in Matuosha, they frequently saw them taking turns practicing spear thrusting, archery against straw men, and sword and shield combat. Given time, their fighting prowess would be limitless.
So now they are very obedient. When asked to go out as sentries, they go out as sentries; when asked to come back to carry fish and salt, they come back to carry fish and salt. They are listening attentively and have been deeply impressed by the audacity of these people.
That's ruthless!
The people inside the thatched hut gradually stopped talking and turned their gazes to Shao Shuyi, waiting for him to make a decision.
Shao Shuyi slowly stood up, paused, glanced around, and smiled, "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Tomorrow, after packing up the stalls here, head straight to Lüsi Saltworks and check how much salt they have. If it's a decent amount, we can call it a day. If not, we'll go to other places to collect salt." With that, he slammed his hand on the table and said, "My mind is made up. That's how it'll be done. You all pass on the orders, get ready, and depart promptly at 5:15 AM tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Everyone stood up and replied.
The "guys" standing guard outside the thatched hut turned their heads in surprise upon hearing this.
For some reason, they always felt that they were much more disciplined than the soldiers of the patrol office or even the garrison commandery, and they didn't know if it was just their imagination.