Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 418 Personal grudges

Gwangju.

Wanghaitai Wharf is becoming more and more lively nowadays.

The area near the dock is becoming more and more like a real city.

Many merchants opened various shops here. Many refugees had no land to farm, so they chose to work here, doing chores like shipping cargo. These people settled here and formed residential areas. Merchants traveling from place to place also needed a fixed resting place, so they began to buy land around here and settle their families. They had a lot of families, and there were some families in almost every port and dock.

Various officials dispatched by the government also set up government offices in the surrounding area to exercise jurisdiction. All kinds of buildings were gathered here, and more and more people gathered there. The level of prosperity even exceeded that of some ordinary county towns.

The large ships docked at the pier, one next to the other, look particularly spectacular. Each of these ships is huge in size, but their shapes are very different. The bows and hulls are all decorated in various ways. Even people who don't know much about ships can tell the difference between these large ships at a glance.

The large ships of the State of Chen are easily distinguished from those of the north; for an outsider, it is enough to just look at their decorations.

The Chen people loved to decorate their own precious boats. For example, on the bow of the boat, the Chen people would use more exaggerated shapes, such as tiger heads, animal heads, spread wings, etc.

They are already far ahead in the field of technology, so they are more concerned about how to make the ship more beautiful.

However, the large ships in the north are much simpler. They have no advantage in terms of speed, cargo capacity, etc., and they are even inferior in appearance.

Whenever shipping is at its busiest, there are always some idle people who have finished their work gathering on the shore to watch the big ships.

This is also a simple form of entertainment for them.

Even in the living environment of the Northern Qi Dynasty, people still had many simple entertainment activities.

After all, although the Qi State’s top leaders did not treat them as human beings, they were real people.

Many of those who came to the shore to watch the big ship were children who had never grown up, and there were also some adults.

You can't go on those big ships, but even watching them from a distance is a unique experience.

Several children pointed at the new boat excitedly and shouted, "Look, look at that boat, there's a person hanging on the bow?"

"That's a wooden man. It's just a small boat. What's so good about it?"

"No, you see, that boat is different from the others!"

Everyone was looking at the small boat that had just arrived and talking about it. Sure enough, although the boat was small, it was extremely gorgeously decorated. It stood out and was very obvious among the other ordinary small boats.

Many people looked in that direction. Several sturdy young men slowly walked up to one of them and whispered, "General, it's the Chen people's speedboat."

The man who was watching the boat among the many idle people was none other than Wang Lin, the general of Gwangju.

Old Wang Lin stared at the speedboat in the distance and shook his head left and right, signaling them to disperse again.

When the ship docked, we saw more than ten people coming ashore and being interrogated by officials.

They were all dressed in white and looked like ordinary businessmen, not officials.

However, let alone Wang Lin, even the clerk in charge of registration had a look of suspicion on his face at this moment.

These ten or so people were all young and strong, with a fair-skinned young man in the middle. They were carrying heavy packages and were sitting on a luxurious speedboat. When the packages were slightly opened, they were shining with gold. You call this an ordinary businessman? ?

The clerk quietly stepped back a few steps and narrowed his eyes.

The guards in charge of public security in the distance noticed the unusual behavior of the clerk and quickly moved towards them.

The young man felt helpless when he saw the clerk's appearance. He looked around, took out a package, and walked quickly to the clerk.

"This is for you. Please be kind and let us pass. We really have something urgent to do and need to go to Pingcheng."

The clerk looked at the heavy package and said, "Give me all of this?"

"Give you all."

"well."

The clerk suddenly drew out his sword, "Someone come here! Great contribution!!"

There were cries of surprise all around, and the people moved away, while the defenders took out their crossbows and several raised their spears.

Seeing this situation, the dozen or so people were extremely frightened and at a loss. They were not carrying any weapons and could not enter the dock with weapons, so they were unable to deal with this situation.

The petty official, along with the people around him, surrounded them, shouting at them to kneel on the ground and accept surrender.

Just when the situation was becoming more and more critical, a man quickly appeared here.

"Everyone stop it."

The man spoke, and the clerk turned around angrily. He was startled when he saw the old man standing behind him, and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Without waiting for the clerk to speak, Wang Lin looked at those people and said, "I am the thief Cao here, my surname is Wang, who are you?"

The clerk was stunned, then shouted to those people: "That's right! This is our Wang Zei Cao! He has always been a god in handling cases, don't try to deceive him"

"That's enough, go and do your thing."

Wang Lin interrupted the clerk, who chuckled, gave instructions to the guards, and left quickly.

The young man came out and bowed to Wang Lin.

"Greetings to King Thief Cao."

"Well, don't be polite."

Wang Lin looked at the young man in front of him, and the more he looked, the more he frowned.

"Who are you?"

"We are from Jiangdong, and we are businessmen who come here to do business."

Wang Lin exclaimed, "Ah, I know, you are... Crossing the River in White Clothes?"

"Are you here to kill Wang Lin?"

These people were so frightened that their faces turned pale. The young man was so frightened that he stuttered, "I, I, I am absolutely not."

Wang Lin waved her hand and said, "Okay, I got it. Follow me."

He called the young man and asked him to follow him, and the rest of the people were detained. The young man looked back from time to time, worried.

"Don't worry, let them rest for a while."

Wang Lin said softly, pointing to a restaurant in the distance, "The food over there is the best."

"We can go eat together."

"Ah, Wei."

Wang Lin pulled him into the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant obviously remembered Wang Lin. Seeing an old customer coming, the restaurant was particularly lively. Wang Lin was not stingy either. With a wave of his hand, he ordered all the most expensive dishes in the restaurant, which made the owner even happier.

The young man looked at the strange thief in front of him with doubt and surprise.

In the past, people said that the people in the Northern Hu area were absurd and weird, but I didn’t expect that it was actually true! !
He didn't know what this person wanted to do. Most likely he wanted to steal his money?
As the young man was thinking, Wang Lin ordered the food, found a quiet place and sat down.

"This place is good in every way, except that the food in this restaurant is extremely expensive."

Wang Lin complained.

The young man smiled bitterly and said, "Father, just tell me what you want to do."

"Then you have to be frank first. Don't treat northerners as fools. Northerners are not as smart as southerners, but they are not all fools."

"what?"

The young man was even more confused, but now that things had come to this, he couldn't hide his identity any more, so he had to reveal his identity, "I am an official of the State of Chen, and I am going to seek refuge with King Dugu."

"Hahahaha~~"

Wang Lin couldn't help but laughed out loud.

"King Dugu? Is that what the South calls him now?"

Wang Lin shook his head and asked, "Since you are here to seek refuge, why don't you just tell the officials your identity and let them escort you, instead of hiding your identity?"

The young man sighed and said, "It's because of General Wang Lin of Gwangju."

"Oh?"

"Do you have a grudge against Wang Lin?"

The young man's face was filled with sorrow. "Who am I? How could I have a grudge against him? He is my father. If I have a grudge against him, and I heard that he is in charge of Gwangju, if he knew that I was coming, wouldn't he be seeking revenge?"

Wang Lin nodded, agreeing with it deeply.

"You are right. Wang Lin is not a good person. He is vicious and scheming."

"Ah?" The young man was frightened again.

Wang Lin explained: "I have some grievances with him. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be homeless and fleeing in a panic, and I wouldn't even be able to see my old friends."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Yes, after winning a few times, he became complacent and self-righteous, which led to the death of tens of thousands of soldiers. In the end, I couldn't even save my family and old friends."

"Anyway, don't worry. He and I are definitely not in the same group."

The young man breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "I only ask for your help. If you can let us see King Dugu, I will definitely prepare gifts!"

"You don't have to do that. You want to surrender to King Dugu. As King Dugu's subordinates, we should help you with all our strength. I will help you."

"Thank you, thief Cao!!"

"Sit down and eat."

As Wang Lin was talking, the food started to be served. Wang Lin invited the young man to eat, and then asked, "I heard that the south is very lively now, with monks and celebrities gathering. Why do you want to escape?"

The young man sighed and said, "I won't hide anything in front of you, thief Cao. My last name is Hou, and my name is Hou Mi."

"My father is the great general of the State of Chen, whose name is Andu."

"Hou Andu?!"

Wang Lin's eyes widened, "So you are the descendant of a famous general. I am so sorry for your rudeness."

Hou Mi's face flashed a little pride, but soon turned lonely, "Alas, but we brothers have not been able to inherit our father's style."

"I was originally the Internal History Officer in Shixing. Your Majesty appointed Chen Shuling as the King of Shixing. The Zhou people also made some unusual moves, so I followed him and served as an official in his government."

"Who would have thought that this King Shixing, who is usually known for his virtue, is such a beast!"

Secretary Hou said angrily: "He is a perpetrator of all kinds of evil in the local area, including murder, robbery, arson, and rape. He has committed many evil deeds and ignores any official. Anyone who dares to provoke him will be blamed by him and convicted first."

"He was very good at pretending in front of the emperor. Once his relatives were around, he changed into a different person, holding a book in his hand and acting politely. But once there was no one watching him, his true nature was revealed."

As Hou Mi spoke, his eyes suddenly turned red. "My wife was born beautiful. I don't know how, but this beast found out about it. He ordered me to work in another place, and then he wanted to rape my wife. My wife was strong-willed and refused to obey, so she committed suicide."

"I abandoned my official position, took my servants with me, borrowed a speedboat from a friend, and fled. I originally wanted to go to Huainan, but he also had henchmen there, so I fled here."

Listening to Hou Mi's words, Wang Lin couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"This Chen Xu is so different from his brother."

"Such a scourge can actually be sent to a local area and entrusted with an important task."

He advised again: "Don't worry, this son of a bitch will be beaten to death sooner or later."

Wang Lin comforted the other party with a few words and took him to eat. Hou Mi's mood improved a lot. After a full meal, there was still a lot of food left.

Wang Lin called his boss over.

"We really can't finish all this. Let's put it in a bucket and send it to the porter at the dock."

The boss laughed and said, "Public kindness."

Wang Lin waved his hand and looked at Secretary Hou, "Give me the money."

"Oh."

Secretary Hou hurriedly stood up and paid the meal bill.

The two of them walked out of the restaurant one after the other. Wang Lin asked, "But I still don't understand, what exactly is the feud between your father and Wang Lin?"

Hou Mi hurriedly said, "Back then, Wang Lin occupied the southern city with more than 100,000 soldiers. He won many battles and made the people of the southern country panic. It was my father who defeated him and drove him out of the southern country!"

"Your father defeated him?"

"That's not right."

"I remember that he was not the only one who came to defeat me. Let me think about it: Chen Qian, Hou Andu, Hou Zhen, Xu Du, Xu Jingcheng, Wu Mingche, Huang Fachi, Lu Guangda, Zhou Wenyu, Hua Jiao, and Shi Ning."

Wang Lin counted them one by one, as if they were his own treasures.

"Anyway, for many people, he is not even considered a commander."

"It's not quite right to say that I have any grudge against him. When I defeated him, Zhou Wenyu, Xu Jingcheng, and more than 20 generals under Chen Baxian, tied them up and threw them on the ground, they were very polite to me. I still remember it clearly. At that time, there was only one named Zhou Tiehu who was particularly rude to me, so I killed him. However, your father bowed his head and called me "Duke."

"It's a pity for me. I didn't manage the troops well. The crony I arranged to guard the criminals was a complete bastard. He accepted their bribes and secretly let them go."

Wang Lin had a smile on his face, but he said some extremely terrifying words.

Hou Mi, who had a smile on his face just now, now had his eyes wide open, his face full of fear, and his whole body trembling.

Seeing his frightened look, Wang Lin laughed again and patted his shoulder.

"Don't be so scared."

"I am Wang Lin."

"It's so obvious to me, how come you can't see it?"

Hou Mi was so frightened that he didn't move.

Wang Lin continued, "Don't worry. I have let go of the past. I did kill many people and hated many people, but there is no way. I can't revive those people, nor can I dig out my enemies and kill them again. I will talk about these things after I die and see them again."

"I will not detain you. If you want to surrender to His Majesty, I will send someone to escort you there."

"But I still have a few questions, and you have to explain them to me again."

"Let's go!"

Wang Lin pulled him onto the carriage that had been prepared long ago, and the two of them walked towards the government office.

Hou Mi was breathing heavily. Wang Lin's notoriety was still very great in the south. As the defeated party, the State of Chen carried out various propaganda against Wang Lin. His image was not much better than that of King Dugu. He was basically a man-eating monster with fangs.

Wang Lin cheerfully asked about some things that he cared about more.

"You just said that the Zhou people were making unusual movements. How did they move?"

"Yuwen Xian was transferred to Mianyang."

"Hua Jiao, the governor of Xiangzhou, was ordered by Emperor Wen to build 200 golden-winged warships. Now all the ships have been built, but he has been delaying and has detained the ships in his own hands, refusing to hand them over to the imperial court."

"Then he actually wrote to the emperor, saying that he wanted to go to Guangzhou to serve as the governor."

"Many people in the court suspected that he was planning a rebellion."

"Two hundred golden-winged ships?"

There was a gleam in Wang Lin's eyes, her mouth was open, and there was unspeakable astonishment and envy in her eyes.

The Han navy also has golden-winged ships, four in total.
Wang Lin was stationed in Gwangju. On the one hand, he looked down on the surrounding areas such as Qingxu and prevented them from causing trouble. Another important responsibility was to train the navy in Gwangju.

Wang Lin is also very hard-working and has been busy these days.

However, this is really not something that can be cultivated in a short period of time. Currently, Gwangju has three large shipyards and a large number of craftsmen, but compared with the south, it is far behind.

When Wang Lin had a large army, he had countless shipyards under his command, and warships were launched every day, one after another.

Wang Lin put away her envy and said, "Go on, go on."

"The emperor is working to eradicate this evil, and is worried that he will use these large ships to form a navy and attack various places, or that he will take these large ships to surrender to the State of Chen."

"oops!"

"It would be great if he could surrender to us. If he could really send us two hundred Golden Wings, I would give him the position of General of Gwangju!"

Unfortunately, Gwangju is too far away from Xiangzhou.

Even if the princes were drooling with envy, it was impossible for them to steal those ships, because the navy of Chen State was not a pushover.

He asked again, "You came all the way here from there in a small boat? Didn't you meet anyone along the way?"

Secretary Hou said truthfully: "The river is in chaos. Many people came from the north and took boats to the south. Merchant ships and transport ships were piled together. Several pirates appeared and attacked these transport ships. Some people said that they were organized by the big families in the south. The patrol fleets were all heading west to maintain order and intercepted ships without flags. Instead, they ignored the luxury speedboat I was on."

"Oh"

Wang Lin stroked his beard gently, frowned, and didn't know what he was thinking about.

After arriving at the local government office, Wang Lin immediately sent someone to send Hou Mi to Lu Yao, and explained the cause and effect of the matter clearly, asking Lu Yao to send the person to Pingcheng as soon as possible.

As for Wang Lin himself, he hurried to his naval camp.

(End of this chapter)