Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 395 Containment
Xia Ziqiao was waiting for the Guo brothers' fleet.

The boatman from the Zhou family said, "We've been trying to block them on the Bian River quite a bit lately."

They all sailed on the Bian River, especially when entering Bianjing City, they all took the same route. In order to cause trouble for the Guo brothers, the four fleets would deliberately block their way. If someone was not careful and a Guo family ship collided with them, they would have to pay compensation.

The Guo brothers' family was already very poor; how could they withstand such hardship?
Xia Ziqiao asked, "Will it work?"

The Zhou family boatman said with a smile, "Their boatmen are all veterans, each one is very skilled. We almost collided several times, but they managed to dodge at the last moment."

"Even so, we still blocked their way, and they could only follow slowly behind. They must have been very frustrated."

Upon hearing this, Xia Ziqiao asked, "So, it didn't cause them too much damage?"

The Zhou family boatmen were speechless for a moment.

Xia Ziqiao probably thought they were useless, but the Zhou family steward coughed and said, "Our method is effective; at least they don't dare to transport easily perishable goods back."

"If they make a deal with a merchant but fail to deliver on time, eventually no one will use their ships to transport goods."

“We did some calculations for the Guo family privately, and they haven’t made much money during this period.”

Xia Ziqiao nodded, understanding the actions of the four families. With the He family in trouble, they had to be more restrained on the water, and they also tried to use gentler methods when dealing with the Guo brothers.

“After a while, when the rumors have died down,” said the Zhou family steward, “we will use some other methods. In short, we will definitely deal with them before autumn.”

Autumn is the busiest time for waterways and the best time to make money, so they can't leave the Guo family's fleet until then.

Xia Ziqiao had nothing more to ask, but Xie Chengrang thought of something else: "How much money did the Guo family earn on the Bian River in the past?"

"Not many," said the Zhou family steward. "They have few ships, so we didn't pay them much attention."

Xie Chengrang continued, "Then how was he able to buy so many ships?"

Xia Ziqiao's eyes lit up; why hadn't he thought to ask that?

"This..." The Zhou family steward was stunned for a moment. They hadn't thought of this. "It's possible that they transported some contraband goods in the past without being discovered by the authorities and made money, or maybe..."

A boatman from the Zhou family chimed in, "Merchants are paying them." The boatmen had all been talking about it, and some had heard some rumors.

Xie Chengrang watched the Guo family's fleet getting closer and closer, and said nothing more, already having some answers in his heart.

Xia Ziqiao looked at Xie Chengrang: "It seems you might have guessed right."

As the two men were talking, the boatman pointed to the water and said, "Those two boats belong to the Zheng family."

The two boats that suddenly appeared on the water were now flying the Zheng family's flag, and the Zhou family's boatmen recognized them immediately.

The four boats were considered one family, helping each other on the Bian River to roam freely. The boatmen felt an immediate sense of kinship upon seeing the flags of all four. The Zhou family boatman, who had previously found the other boat strange, now completely forgot that thought. For all four boats, whatever they did was right.

“Our other boats have also arrived,” said the Zhou family steward. “In a moment, we’ll show the two young masters how we’re stopping the Guo family’s fleet.”

Xia Ziqiao looked behind him with great interest and indeed saw five or six of the Zhou family's boats. It seemed that there was bound to be a good show to watch today.

Xie Chengrang, however, continued to stare at the two boats on the river.

The two boats were acting strangely, suddenly rowing over from the shore. If he remembered correctly, that wasn't some proper dock. What kind of goods did the Zheng family have that they wanted to load onto a ship from here?

And what exactly were those constables on the shore shouting?
The Zheng family's two boats were positioned between the Guo family's fleet and the Zhou family's boats. To be precise, the Zheng family's boats were closer to the Guo family's fleet, as were the constables on the shore. "What are you thinking about?" Xia Ziqiao turned to ask Xie Chengrang.

Xie Chengrang pointed to the shore and asked, "What were those two constables doing just now?"

“The inspection should be conducted along the river,” said the Zhou family steward. “When the envoys from the Western Regions enter the capital, there are patrolmen and yamen runners everywhere.”

Xie Chengrang said, "They were shouting just now."

"It was too far away, I didn't hear it clearly," said the Zhou family steward. "However, it looked like it was being shouted at the Guo family's fleet. They might be asking the Guo family's ships to come over and help transport goods." People in government offices often do this, using the imperial court's name to travel by boat and transport goods without paying any money.

It seemed like there shouldn't be any problem, but for some reason, Xie Chengrang felt a strange sense of unease.

"Hey," the Zhou family's boatman suddenly exclaimed, "why do the Guo family's boats seem to be chasing the Zheng family's boats?"

The group immediately looked over and, sure enough, saw the Guo family's fleet heading straight for the Zheng family's two small boats.

The Zhou family steward also said, "The boat that blocked them a few days ago was the Zheng family's. Does that mean they want to retaliate because the Zheng family's boat is alone?"

As they were talking, Zheng's two ships had no choice but to change course, clearly realizing they were no match for Guo's fleet.

“It really is,” the Zhou family boatman said, looking at the manager. “Should we go and meet the Zheng family’s boat?”

“Go,” said the Zhou family steward, “After you get the boat, head towards the Guo family’s fleet and teach them a lesson. Trapped on the Bian River, they won’t be able to enter the city before dark.”

……

Manager Li and his men successfully escaped to the riverbank, where they found two small boats that had been moored there beforehand. Hearing the sound of horses' hooves behind them, they knew that it must be the yamen runners who had been chasing after them.

Without a second thought, the group hurriedly boarded the boat and rowed off into the river. They had barely left the bank when several constables gave chase.

Manager Li almost fell onto the deck; it was a close call, and they almost didn't escape.

"Paddle quickly," Steward Li ordered. "The further we go from Bianjing, the safer we will be, along the Bian River westward."

Everyone responded.

They're trying to escape for their lives, so why wouldn't they help?
Just as Steward Li was about to breathe a sigh of relief, seeing that they had already succeeded halfway, he saw several boats coming towards them.

Manager Li stood there, hoping the boats wouldn't notice anything amiss, when he heard the constables shouting from the shore: "Those boats over there, stop them!"

Upon hearing this, the followers showed fear and involuntarily stopped what they were doing.

"What are you standing there for?" Manager Li said sharply. "They might not be able to hear us from this far away. Let's row over quickly. They can't just turn around and chase after us."

Hearing this, everyone perked up again.

However, they soon discovered that the fleet was rapidly approaching them.

Manager Li's heart sank.

"Raise the flag," Steward Li instructed again. "We are a Zheng family ship. If it were a fleet from the four families, they shouldn't be chasing us."

The flags were hoisted, but the ships in front did not hesitate at all and actually formed a circle around them.

Cold sweat trickled down Manager Li's forehead. Could it be that there was really no way to escape? Thinking this, he looked around, trying to find another way out, but then he saw the Zhou family's ship behind him.