Nanming Engineer

Chapter 53
Reading books and chatting, Wang Huan seized all the time to eagerly absorb everything in this era, from marching and fighting to civilian life, from commodity prices to grain sowing, and even the old era, Wang Huan had to ask questions one by one, which made Li Tingyu and others It's inexplicable, he is obviously a smart and witty young man, why the question he asked sounds like a person from outside Fang, as if he has never lived in the world, it is very strange.

Everyone's strange eyes were automatically filtered out for Wang Huan, he didn't care, he was like a studious child tirelessly asking this and that, even moving his hands and feet, touching this person's clothes, studying the material of the clothes, scratching that person. When it comes to human weapons, look carefully at the quality of the iron.Everyone looked sideways, but they didn't understand why he did this. After whispering in private, they came to a conclusion: geniuses must have eccentricities, or hobbies, for example, Su Dongpo likes to collect rare stones, Wang Anshi likes beautiful ones Folding fan, and this Wang Huan likes to study trivial folk affairs.

After spending nine days on the water in a peaceful voyage, the fleet entered the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, especially after passing Zhengyang and entering the boundary of HN Gwangju. The landscape is unobstructed, the land is fertile, but the population is sparsely populated. Looking up, dilapidated villages abound on both sides of the river. There are no traces of people, weeds are overgrown, and bones are faintly scattered among the shadows of the grass. Many coastal town markets that seem to be large in size are empty like ghost towns.

"The river is getting narrower and narrower. It seems that we are not far from the place where we go ashore." Li Tingyu stood by the boat with a map in his hand. After careful observation, he said to Wang Huan beside him.

Li Tingyu is considered an expert when it comes to the ability to march based on landforms and maps. Wang Huan looked at the crude map and his eyes were darkened. Where can the location be connected, so he echoed: "What your lord said is very true, I don't know how far it is from the Gwangju Ferry?"

Li Tingyu glanced at the map again, calculated silently in his heart, and said: "It's not far, in half a day, we should arrive."

He looked at Wang Huan, and said again: "After landing, you follow my team."

Wang Huan nodded silently, put away the book in his hand, and began to think.

Through endless inquiries in the past few days, Wang Huan learned that Guangzhou is a state city with jurisdiction over three counties. It is located in the southeast of Henan Province, adjacent to the Huaihe River in the north and the Dabie Mountains. It is located in the connecting area of ​​Henan, Hubei and South Zhili Provinces, with a ferry. Located on the Huaihe River, it is a relatively large city on the upper reaches.There is a distance of two hundred miles from Guangzhou to Xinyangzhou.

According to the plan, they will go ashore in Gwangju, rush to Xinyang, and then from Xinyang to Xiangyang by land, the Qing soldiers occupy the territory along the way, and it is also a relatively dangerous part of the journey.

Disguised as merchants, a team of [-] people is not normal to march on the official road. Even if Shanxi merchants bring goods into the grassland to do business with the Mongols, it is only the size of so many people. A group of cloth merchants in central Sichuan. Such financial resources and manpower can do it?
Therefore, Wang Huan's plan has been revised. Instead of collective action of 400 people, they will be scattered and divided into parts. They will be led by officers from each thousand households. Every 50 people will be divided into eight teams. , even if one team is discovered and seen through by the Qing soldiers, only one team will be lost. As for the road guides, there is no problem in giving each team a piece of the thick stack of blank road guides by the ancestors.

Wang Huan went through this arrangement in his mind again and felt that there was no better way. Putting all the eggs in one basket was stupid and easy to be targeted. Although separation dispersed the power, it was After something goes wrong, the way with the least loss.

So on the evening of the ninth day, the fleet docked at the Gwangju Wharf, which was a desolate wharf. In the afterglow of the setting sun, there was not even a single person on the bustling ferry, and there were no boats in the empty ferry.The small thatched sheds full of ghost shadows are built on the side of the pier like a pile of unattended garbage, with a few wine streamers and tea flags sticking crookedly at the door, it seems that they are sheds for small businessmen.Someone in the fleet wanted to beg for a bowl of water. By the way, he asked the locals if there were any Qing troops in the vicinity. After pushing the door, they found that there was no one in the shed, and even the tea bowl was taken away by the owner.

"The bandits are harming people, look what they have done to this place." Li Tingyu muttered in a low voice.

Wang Huan deeply believes that the troubled times and military disasters have caused bandits and thieves everywhere. The backbone of their members are either deserters or habitual bandits. They cultivated the fields during the day, and blocked the roads at night, so that at night, there were no human traces outside the city walls, only wild animals came and went.

Under such circumstances, Wang Huan's original idea of ​​buying some chariots and horses on the spot was completely dispelled. They had no choice but to take advantage of the darkness of night, each of them carried a few cotton cloths, and barely moved more than half of the goods on board. , had no choice but to bear the pain and throw it away. Li Tingyu was heartbroken and scolded the bandits for a long time.

"This trip is only fifteen miles away from the city of Guangzhou. Do you want to go there to get some food? We only have three days' worth of dry food. I'm afraid it's not enough for us to go to Xiangyang. Besides, maybe we can get some big carts, mules and horses. Zu Bian suggested, he is stout and has the most cloth on his back, and a huge burden is on his back.

"No, the gates of the city have already been closed at this time. In the small city of Guangzhou, there are only a few big car shops outside the city. There are no shops, so it's useless to go there. Why don't we drive all night to save a lot of trouble." Li Tingyu categorically denied it.

"Then let's leave quickly before it gets dark. When it gets dark, we have to light up the torches. People in the city won't be able to see them if we go further," Li Yan said.

Everyone nodded, and a few people with good eyesight and no night blindness were selected to lead the way. The rest of the people lined up to follow. Taking advantage of the rising moon in the sky, everyone left the ferry and headed towards the Loess Official Road.

As soon as the large group of people left, among the low sheds, the firewood door of the innermost hut was slowly pushed open a crack, and several black shadows flashed out from it, following the shadow of the shed to the edge of the road , staring at the direction in which the crowd left.

"Did you see clearly? It's really Li Tingyu?" A hoarse voice came out from the mouth of one of the shadows.

"I see clearly, it must be Li Tingyu, the younger one stayed in his army, and I can recognize him when he turned to ashes." Another voice responded hastily.

"My lord, I have also counted the number of people. There are only about four hundred people. It seems that some people are missing." Someone said in a low voice.

"Hmph, it's not uncommon for someone to run away in a hurry, and it's not uncommon for someone to desert in the middle of the way. If you follow the rebels, anyone with a little brain will escape. I think it's strange that Li Tingyu still has more than 400 people following him." The hoarse voice was sinister. Shen Shen said: "It's just that these southern barbarians are really cunning and insidious, playing tricks to attack the west, and actually came to the south, but no matter how smart they are, they can't compare with Master Su Le. He sent me to wait here at the ferry. I just guessed that the Nanman rebels would pass through here."

"My lord, they all carry burdens on their backs. They must have robbed goods from the imperial court."

"Ha, then let's go back and report to Master Su Le. The Nanman has no horses, so we can't go far. As long as we intercept them and take back the goods, it will be a great achievement. You and my brothers are lucky, hahaha."

"Hahaha!" There was a deliberately suppressed laugh, and there was a faint blue light flashing in the black shadows. It was the moonlight reflected by the scalp after the hair was shaved off on the forehead. This group of black shadows was actually a group of bannermen. .

"My lord, you see that I have worked hard on this matter today, then, can I enter the Han flag?" A black shadow mixed in the blue light asked tremblingly, there was no reflection on the head, and the tone was full of enthusiasm. Thirsting for hope, like a dog wagging its tail.

"You? Wait until you go back and report to Master Su Le." Said with a hoarse voice impatiently, obviously displeased with this person's request at this happy moment.

With a move of his hand, several black figures immediately disappeared into the shadows again.

(End of this chapter)