Qing Yao

Chapter 161 Bumped into a General

The Yangzhou section of the canal, also known as the Liyun River, intersects with the Yangtze River at Guazhou.

Guazhou has a lock that, like a "shuttle island," divides the canal entrance into two branches, one flowing south and the other north, thus preventing overcrowding and collisions.

The task force responsible for cutting off northbound ships at Guazhoukou was the second gang under the jurisdiction of the branch.

The leader of the group was Ye Zhigui, who was not a "house-born" member of the Canal Gang. His hometown was Chuzhou, Anhui. Seven years ago, he was forced to flee to Yangzhou to hide after killing someone in a fight.

Later, in order to make a living, he joined the canal gang and worked on boats. Because of his bravery and fighting spirit, he quickly made a name for himself among the canal workers and was noticed by his superiors, who bought him a transport worker status in the canal transport government.

With official status, Ye Zhigui became even bolder, often leading his gang to secretly put grain onto passing merchant ships and then falsely accuse them of stealing the grain.

To avoid further trouble, the merchant had no choice but to pay up to avoid further disaster.

In addition to extortion, Ye Zhigui and his accomplices often blocked the river under various pretexts, openly charging tolls to passing boats, and sometimes even robbing and committing violence.

He had at least three lives on his hands and showed absolutely no fear of the authorities.

These people are even worse than the thugs of the main gang. However, it is most suitable for them to lead the team to "paralyze" the canal, a major artery of the water transport. Other honest gang members might not have had the guts to do so.

After receiving a message from the helmsman that the helmsman had decided to cut off the canal and "test the waters" with the canal transport authorities, Ye Zhigui accepted the task without hesitation. He selected 100 men and led four canal boats filled with sand to Guazhou.

Because of its connection to the Yangtze River, it was not feasible to secretly install iron chains to stop ships in the Guazhou section. Therefore, after receiving orders from the "command center," the leaders of the two gangs discussed the matter and decided to use the method of ramming ships to stop northbound vessels.

Colliding with another ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River and then sinking it before the lock requires a certain level of "driving" skill, so Ye Zhigui selects his crew members who have more than ten years of experience in sailing.

Several of them were ruthless individuals who had followed him in numerous schemes involving murder and embezzlement.

To avoid trouble, the collision had to appear extremely realistic. Therefore, after arriving in Guazhou, Ye Zhigui waited for the wind direction so that he could later claim that the strong winds made it impossible to control the boat, rather than that he deliberately caused the collision.

Even if the canal transport authorities knew that the canal gang was behind it, the canal gang could deny it to the death as long as there was no real evidence.

When Ye Zhigui and his group arrived at Guazhou, there was no strong wind, so they stopped the boat three or four miles away from the lock and waited. Bored, the gang members gambled and had fun in their respective cabins.

Around noon, one of the gang members who was observing the wind direction outside shouted, "The wind is picking up! Boss Ye, the wind is picking up!"

"It's work!"

Upon hearing the shouts, Ye Zhigui pushed the dominoes onto the table and stepped out of the cabin. Sure enough, a northeast wind began to blow. He quickly gathered the crew members from all the boats on shore for a "mobilization meeting."

"You all know what the leader means, right? If we don't show some toughness this time, those corrupt officials in the canal transport office will treat us even less like human beings!"

After saying that, Ye Zhigui had someone bring out the five hundred taels of silver that the person in charge had given him. "The money was given by the young master above, five taels each. Once you take the money, you have to do the work. But this time our gang is going up against the canal transport yamen. Anyone who's afraid can get the hell out of here now!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of Ye Zhigui's gang members, who had done illegal things with him, laughed and said, "Who are you looking down on, Boss Ye? The canal transport office is nothing! We brothers have been itching to take them on for a long time!"

"It's rare for the gang to stand up for its brothers like this. Anyone who backs down is a son of a bitch!"

"."

The gang members rushed forward to take the silver, even though they knew that doing this might lead to their execution, they still gritted their teeth and went for it.

There is no choice.

If they quit now, not to mention whether the ruthless Ye Zhigui would let them go, even if they managed to go back alive, their whole family would not be able to survive.

The canal gangs had no place to stand anymore. Seeing that everyone had received their money, Ye Zhigui nodded: "Then let's get to work. Young Master said that after this is done, he'll treat the brothers to three days of visiting brothels in Yangzhou!"

With a wave of his hand, he led the way onto the boat.

Before long, the four cargo boats headed toward the lock. By the time they lined up to pass through the lock, the wind was already quite strong. Many boats were very careful after leaving the canal, but Ye Zhigui and his crew used the wind to steer their boats toward the northbound entrance while shouting from the boat that they couldn't control the boats.

The other ships quickly gave way upon seeing this.

To paralyze the canal entrance, Ye Zhigui couldn't ram small boats; he had to target large ships. Therefore, a large ship that had just sailed from the Yangtze River became Ye Zhigui's first choice.

But as they got closer, they realized the boat looked like an official vessel, though they didn't know which government office it belonged to.

"Boss, what should I do?"

The boatmen saw that the official boat was very impressive and worried that there were high-ranking officials on board. They feared that if they collided with it, the officials might drown.

Ye Zhigui hesitated for a moment, but seeing that the wind seemed to be weakening, he steeled his heart and said, "Charge! Even if the prince comes, we have to charge!"

Without further ado, the subordinates jerked the rudder sharply, and the sand-laden cargo ship immediately sped straight toward the official ship.

From a distance, the official ship noticed several cargo ships heading towards them uncontrollably. The soldiers at the bow immediately started shouting and frantically waving flags at the cargo ships.

The cargo ship not only did not slow down, but it also did not turn, and continued to glide straight toward them at high speed.

"not good!"

An officer at the bow rushed to the cabin to wake the adults who were taking a nap: "General, we're about to collide with the ship!"

"A ship collision?"

The general who was sleeping soundly was none other than General Kuilun of Fuzhou, who had been ordered to return to the capital.

The old master specifically ordered him to return to the capital for questioning.

Because Kui Lun was impeached by Wu Lana, the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, for being fond of brothels and having poor self-discipline. This Fuzhou general spent all his time visiting brothels and never concerned himself with politics.

To protect himself, Quelen had no choice but to impeach Wulana for coercing his subordinates into accepting bribes and for allowing the pirates to roam the seas, to the point that pirate ships flocked to the Five Tiger Gates without any intervention.

The governor and the general impeached each other, and the matter escalated. The old master in the capital was unsure who was right and who was wrong. Since Wulana was related to Heshen by marriage, he ordered Quelen to return to the capital for questioning.

Kui Lun had no choice but to leave Fuzhou and set off for the capital. The official ship he was on was a special vessel prepared by the Viceroy of Liangjiang for important officials crossing the river.

Last night, Fu Song, the Jiangsu governor who was acting as the Viceroy of Liangjiang, specially hosted a banquet to entertain the Fuzhou general who was passing through.

Because he drank too much, the general, who was supposed to cross the river in the morning, did not set off until noon. He fell asleep as soon as he got on the boat, but unexpectedly, the boat was about to crash while he was sleeping soundly.

In a panic, Quellen rushed out of the cabin. Before he could check the situation, he heard a thud from the bow, and then the whole ship shook violently, throwing Quellen, who was not on his feet, to the ground. His head slammed hard against the deck with a thud.

The impact was so severe that the general didn't feel much pain, just a bit dizzy.

In a daze, he heard someone shouting that the ship was sinking. The general was so frightened that he staggered to the side of the ship and jumped overboard.

The movements were skillful, fast, and decisive.

(End of this chapter)