Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 338: People and people get stolen goods together
While Guo Chuan was distracted, several other boats approached from all sides, tightly surrounding their vessel in the center. Escape was impossible unless they abandoned ship and jumped into the river...

But the Bian River was still quite cold at that time, and jumping in wouldn't allow them to swim very far; they would most likely still be caught eventually. Besides, there were so many boatmen on the boat; if one was captured, they would implicate the rest.

Guo Xiong shouted, "Don't abandon ship and jump overboard! If anything happens, we brothers will take full responsibility!"

He shouted this because he was afraid that the boatmen would clash with the imperial troops. Resisting the government could cost them their lives immediately, and Guo Xiong could not let that happen.

After being called several times, the boatmen stood still, not daring to make a move.

Guo Chuan's eyes were already red. He looked at his elder brother, then at the approaching boat, and said in a hoarse voice, "They're coming for us."

If it wasn't planned in advance, how could it have been arranged so meticulously? Giving them no chance to escape.

Guo Xiong nodded and said, "It started when you first met Zhao Kun."

Guo Chuan was covered in cold sweat. He knew how many spices were involved and what punishment the court would impose. He wasn't afraid of losing his life, but he had implicated his elder brother.

He also realized why his older brother had said those things earlier...

The older brother had guessed this would be the outcome, but even so, he still agreed to go on this trip with him.

Guo Chuan stared at Guo Xiong: "Brother, I'll cover for you in a bit. You're a good swimmer, so hurry up and leave Bianjing. Go into hiding and never show your face again."

“I was the one who did this. I will tell the authorities the truth when the time comes that I forced everyone.”

Guo Xiong shook his head at Guo Chuan: "You still don't understand. From the moment Feng Erniang appeared in Wazi, we brothers became someone else's prey."

"You want to protect me? I boarded the ship with you, how can you explain it clearly? Besides, Zhao Kun is a witness."

Guo Chuan's lips trembled: "Isn't Zhao Kun afraid of being convicted along with us?"

He understood as soon as he finished speaking. Zhao Kun was naturally not afraid. If someone was arranging all this behind the scenes, they would definitely find a way to release him. If they couldn't do it openly, they could use underhanded methods. In short, they would definitely put the brothers to death.

They finally managed to gain an advantage on the Bian River, but in the end, they were still outmaneuvered by those people.

Guo Chuan was filled with anger, but even more so with regret. If it weren't for him, his brother would have ended up like this, and the boatmen would have been implicated as well.

Seeing his second brother's dejected expression, Guo Xiong whispered, "Don't resist or confess anything in a moment."

"I've come up with a plan beforehand and asked a benefactor for help, but on the condition that you don't admit to any crimes. If you can do that, we can get away with it."

"You should know that it's not just our brothers who were arrested today, but also those who followed us. Their families are still waiting for them to come home."

Guo Chuan had thought all hope was lost, but upon hearing his elder brother's words, his eyes immediately lit up. He nodded hastily, filled with regret. If there was any chance of a turnaround, he would gladly endure torture, even if it meant dying there. As for the boatmen, they knew nothing of the whole story and weren't afraid of what they might say.

“There’s something that important person said that’s absolutely right,” Guo Xiong said. “People like us can only make money by staying true to our principles. If we have other ideas, we will definitely not have a good ending.”

As soon as Guo Xiong finished speaking, the imperial ships arrived in front of them. Without saying a word, the yamen runners immediately hooked the ships together. Once the two ships were close, several men jumped aboard and headed straight for the cabin.

A moment later, a shout rang out: "It's spices! They're transporting spices!" The official in the green robe frowned and demanded, "Where are the documents for the transfer?"

Seeing that Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan remained silent, the official sneered: "They have no warrants for their arrest. They are smuggling goods. Arrest them."

The constables immediately stepped forward, and Guo Xiong felt a sharp pain in his arm and was kicked in the leg. He fell onto the boat, and before his mouth was gagged, he shouted, "Sir, we're innocent! We're innocent... We brothers have been framed..."

Those men wouldn't let him speak, kicking him several more times in the stomach, the pain making Guo Xiong almost unable to breathe, but he still struggled and shouted, "Someone framed us... I'm going to report this to the authorities... report this to the authorities..."

An official's boot stepped on Guo Xiong's shoulder, causing him to lie face down on the deck. Then the boot lifted up and stepped on Guo Xiong's face.

"Report to the authorities?" The official found it laughable. "Caught red-handed, you still want to report to the authorities? Don't rush, I'll take you to the yamen right away."

When Guo Chuan saw his elder brother being treated like this, he immediately struggled, but he was firmly restrained and only received a beating.

Guo Chuan watched helplessly as blood trickled from his elder brother's mouth. The boatmen were the same; they were all bound and kneeling on the boat, their faces filled with fear.

The constables, on the other hand, were all smiles. To them, this was not only a merit, but also a chance to earn a lot of money.

Guo Chuan wanted to crush his fingers. His older brother was right. He had to remember today's lesson and would never make the same mistake again, if... there was a future.

On the river bank.

As several people looked over, upon seeing the Guo brothers being beaten, Old Master Wu, Old Master Zhou, Grandpa Sun, Second Grandpa Zheng, and others smiled.

On such a cold day, Old Master Wu would never go out, but today he was in a good mood. He fumbled for the hand warmer and took a sip of tea from the saucer handed to him by a servant.

The bedbugs on the Bian River are finally going to be cleaned up. As these people see the market opening up and business increasing, they want to compete with them for business.

It's really overestimating one's abilities.

Whether it's the Grand Canal or the Bian River, they have to control it.

Old Master Wu narrowed his eyes. On the surface, the business belonged to the four families, but in reality, many other people were involved, including the He family. Although they didn't have boats on the water, they were still involved in transporting goods back and forth.

This time, it was the He family who resolved the issue.

This He family is certainly not the same He family as He Tan. They were merchants in the previous dynasty, and their ancestors had accumulated a lot of money. In addition to making money, the He family also liked to make friends and help their neighbors, so they had quite a reputation. This was especially true in the generation of Old Master He. The women in the family had no trouble getting married, and the men were even more able to marry women from good families.

The eldest son of the He family married a woman from a collateral branch of the Li family in Shanxi. The Li family in Shanxi was a scholarly family, and many of its women married into high-ranking families. One of them married Xia Mengxian, the current Minister of Justice.

If an ordinary person heard this, they would probably think that the He family was powerful, but Old Master Zhou knew that the truly powerful family was the Li family, and the Li family of Shanxi had indeed gained a lot of benefits by taking advantage of the collateral branches.

Besides the He family, the Gao and Ge families were also merchants. The Li family members' entry into officialdom was inseparable from their financial support; even Minister Xia received their secret assistance.

So Old Master Zhou wasn't worried at all; thanks to this connection, the He family easily got things done.