Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 13: Daiyu's Journey

"Come in, come in, brothers!"

Fang Yong smiled and invited the two into the house and arranged for them to sit down.

Since no one was serving them, Fang Yong poured tea for the two of them himself.

After a few brief greetings, Ma Laohei got straight to the point.

"Third brother, I came to you this time mainly because Old Xue is in trouble and I want you to help him."

When Fang Yong heard this, he immediately became excited.

Among the seven leaders of the water fort, Ma Laohei and the other five were military commanders, responsible for defense and patrol of the water fort. Only Xue Daguizi was in charge of logistics, and all the property and income of the fort were managed by Xue Daguizi.

This is the God of Wealth!

Now that the other party has come to me for help, my current problem of lack of money will be solved...

Fang Yong immediately said, "Brother Xue, you are welcome. If you encounter any trouble, please feel free to tell me. As long as it is within my ability, I will never refuse."

Xue Dacui showed a look of delight, and said with a cupped hand: "The Third Master's kindness and righteousness!"

Then, Xue Dacuizi told about the troubles he had encountered.

It turned out that Xue Dacui had a caravan under his command. They secretly transported some Southeast Asian spices to the capital via the Grand Canal in order to make a profit.

This trade route has been running for a long time. All the links have been opened up, and it has been smooth all the way without any obstacles. However, just two months ago, problems occurred at the port of Jinhai.

There was an internal fight among the local water transport gangs, and the spices were detained. Xue Dacuizi sent two groups of people to negotiate, but both returned empty-handed and even resulted in the loss of several lives.

"Don't you care about this matter, brother?"

Fang Yong asked.

Xue Dacuizi and Ma Laohei looked at each other, looked around, and whispered to Fang Yong:

"Second brother doesn't know, this is a caravan I sent privately."

A flash of surprise flashed across Fang Yong's eyes.

Xue Dacui seemed to be afraid that Fang Yong might misunderstand something, so he explained:
"My second brother went through some things before and became disheartened, so he forbade us brothers to contact the government. But you, Third Master, also know that in today's world, if we don't contact the government, how can we earn money to support our brothers in the village?"

Fang Yong nodded.

What Xue Dacui said is quite right.

Not only in this era, but in any dynasty, if you want to accomplish something, you have to make some trade-offs.

"Okay, I'll take this."

Fang Yong agreed.

It's just a gang fight, not a big deal in Fang Yong's eyes.

After hearing this, Xue Dacui thanked him repeatedly.

"Thank you for your help, Third Master. After the matter is completed, I will give you 10% of the dividends. The money is not much, about 10,000 taels of silver a year."

After hearing this, Fang Yong almost spit out the tea in his mouth.

Seeing this, Xue Dacui said: "Don't think it's too little. I have to take care of everything. I really can't give much. Please bear with me."

Fang Yonglian said: "Not less, not less, it's already a lot."

Ten thousand taels of silver were enough to support his annual expenses of maintaining an army of a thousand men. How could he think it was too little?

At this time, Xue Dacui took out two silver bills from his arms.

One is for five hundred taels, and the other is also for five hundred taels.

"This is a gift to you, Third Master, please don't refuse it. This journey is hard, so please accept it regardless of whether it succeeds or not, and consider it as a token of gratitude from your brother."

After Fang Yong refused twice in vain, he finally accepted the banknote honestly.

Looking at the departing backs of Xue Dacuizi and Ma Laohei, Fang Yong smiled.

"This lame Xue is a good person!"

……

Ma Laohei and Xue Daguizi walked side by side on their way back.

"Old Xue, what are you thinking? Do you really need to ask Third Brother to come all the way for such a small matter? Can't I just go there and take care of it?"

Xue the Cripple shook his head.

"What do you know? If we don't do this, how can we give the money to the third in command?" Ma Laohei couldn't understand.

"Why don't we just go over there and seek refuge? Why do we have to beat around the bush like this?"

Xue the Cripple said in a deep voice:

"What others give you is not as reliable as what you get yourself..."

A few days later, Xue Dacui found an excuse and mobilized three ships for Fang Yong. Fang Yong and his brothers officially set off.

At this time, Fang Yong had a total of 235 people under his command, and the three warships also had some trusted aides sent by Xue Dacui to assist him. All together, there were about three hundred people.

The three ships are about 30 meters long and look similar to ordinary merchant ships, but in fact the key parts of the ship are wrapped with iron sheets, and cannons and crossbows are hidden inside the ship. They are real warships.

This time, Fang Yong will travel by water from Huaizhou to Jinhai, resolve the issue of seized goods there, and then return.

The journey is not far, and if everything goes well, we should be able to return before the New Year.

And just like that, Fang Yong set off.

At the same time as Fang Yong set off, several official ships also set off by water from Yangzhou, not far from Huai'an.

Since he was on the boat during this period, Fang Yong could not go into the water to practice his swimming skills, so he had to spend his time practicing swordsmanship and archery.

[Talent: Archery (Normal)]

【Progress: 65/100】

【Effect: The arrow can hit the target from a hundred steps away. 】

[Talent: Sword Skills (Normal)]

【Progress: 46/100】

【Effect: The mind follows the sword, like the arm driving it. 】

It was fine when Fang Yong was practicing archery, and everyone could still follow suit when he shot some birds and fish. But when it came to practicing swordsmanship, everyone was in trouble. No one could last two rounds as a sparring partner with Fang Yong.

Everyone complained bitterly, except Li Sheng who said nothing.

Fang Yong knew that this kid was trying to compete with others.

People say that Fang Yong spent a fortune to buy horse bones, and Li Sheng was the horse bone that was bought. Who wouldn't be angry about this?
"Okay, that's all for today."

Fang Yong put down the knife, dismissed everyone, went to the room to get a bottle of medicinal wine, and gave it to Li Sheng alone.
Li Sheng's wrist was red and swollen. It was caused by the strong recoil force during the sparring with Fang Yong.

Fang Yongdao:
"I know you have ambition, but you can't be hasty in doing anything. Apply some medicinal wine, and don't get hurt."

In a blink of an eye, the fleet arrived at Jinhai.

Three ships docked at the port. Xue Dacui's men learned that Fang Yong was coming and rushed to the port to greet him.

However, as soon as Fang Yong got off the boat, the local gang gave him a good show.

Suddenly, a hundred or so gang members from some unknown gang rushed out from the corner. These people were of different appearances, wearing linen vests, torn cotton-padded clothes, and some wore straw sandals. They looked very poor.

The only thing they had in common was a white rope tied around their waists.

These people suddenly rushed out from the corner, holding various kitchen knives, shovels, and other tools in their hands and rushed towards the crowd.

At this time, there were not only Fang Yong's family at the port, but also many other businessmen and pedestrians. Seeing this situation, they all fled in panic.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yong took his men and retreated to a corner, watching secretly.

I saw a group of gang members who looked very poor rushing into the crowd and hacking indiscriminately. It was completely impossible to see any target. They were just killing people indiscriminately. Soon, more than a dozen innocent people fell in a pool of blood.

For a moment, there were cries everywhere and wails filling the wild.

Normally, such a port should be guarded by soldiers and officials, but strangely, no one from the government showed up.

Fang Yong didn't want to cause trouble, so he retreated to a corner with his men.

But he didn't expect that there are always blind people in this world who want to provoke him.

A gang member brandished a kitchen knife and rushed towards Fang Yong.

Fang Yong had no choice but to draw his bow and shoot, killing the man with one arrow.

When the other gang members saw their companions being shot, they immediately rushed over roaring and risking their lives.

Kind of!

Seeing this, Fang Yong's men took out their bows and arrows and shot at them, killing more than a dozen people.

(End of this chapter)