Qing Yao

Chapter 162 What kind of loyalty do you officials talk about?

Despite being suppressed and repressed by the old master for fifty years, the Green Gang still possessed considerable strength.

The "paralysis" project on the north and south sections of the Grand Canal in Yangzhou was carried out very well, except for the south section where something went wrong. The feedback came back that a high-ranking official was knocked into the water.

Fortunately, the high-ranking official was rescued by his subordinates in time.

The person didn't die, but probably drank a lot of water.

The identity of the high-ranking official is currently unknown, as no accurate information has been relayed back to the command center.

The gang members who staged the collision all quietly left the scene after their self-directed drowning. It's estimated that the patrolmen on the other side of the sluice gate thought that the people had drowned and their bodies had floated down the Yangtze River.

This sudden collision has caused all ships heading north in the Guazhou section to be "intercepted," including official ships of the Imperial Textile Bureau that were carrying tribute and New Year's goods to the capital. At least two or three hundred ships are currently forced to stop in Guazhou.

Both official ships and ordinary merchant ships were full of complaints, but no one suspected that the "car accident" was caused by human intervention.

Officials in charge at the Guazhou Sluice Gate are organizing personnel for "emergency repairs," but the repairs are very difficult because it is located at the confluence of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, and the hydrological environment makes the operation many times more difficult than on inland rivers.

Even with an optimistic estimate, it will take seven or eight days to complete the repairs.

The paralysis project in the northern section of the canal was mainly carried out in the Shaobo section. It used the method of secretly installing iron chains. Xu Lin, the leader of the three gangs, personally led the work. The number of ships stopped was about the same as in the southern section.

However, the people from the three gangs were "persuading" ships coming from the north to turn back in the Gaoyou section, using the same excuse that there had been a "car accident" ahead.

The simultaneous car accidents at both ends of the Yangzhou section of the Grand Canal may seem like a coincidence to outsiders, but the authorities in charge of the canal transport certainly knew it was no coincidence.

But that's exactly what Zhao An wanted them to know: how would this grand show unfold?

The members of the "command group" were worried, not about any overreaction from the canal transport authorities, but about the possibility that the accident of the high-ranking official falling into the water would change the nature of the strike.

Zhao An, however, thought it was a good thing.

This further supports the conclusion that the collision was an accident, not a deliberate act.

That high-ranking official was probably on his way to the capital to report on his duties. Now that he's been delayed like this, he'll definitely have to submit a memorial explaining why he's "late," and then the old master will know about this incident.

With the accident factor in mind, unless the strike continues indefinitely and arouses suspicion and investigation from the Qing government's top officials, leading to suppression, the pressure will be one-sided on the part of the Grand Canal Administration.

Everything is proceeding smoothly and according to plan.

Besides paralyzing the canal, the other measure was to prevent non-canal workers from "driving" on the road.

The primary target of the crackdown is transporters engaged in the transportation of salt.

These merchants are very powerful, possessing their own fleets and armed escorts. If they insist on setting sail despite the advice of the shipping guilds, it will encourage other merchants who have been threatened by the shipping guilds to stop their freight business to also set sail.

In this way, the goal of completely severing the Yangzhou section of the canal could not be achieved, and the Huai'an canal transport authorities would judge that the Yangzhou canal gang was not a threat, thus making them unwilling to lower their noble heads to negotiate.

Zhao An only allows two types of boats to operate: fishing boats and ferries.

The task of "dissuasion" was left to the gang leader, since the gang leader was a combination of thugs and thugs, and when else would they be able to use him as a go-between?

On the third day, Zhang Baofa showed up, implying that since the canal had been shut down for three days, it was time to send someone to talk to the canal transport authorities.

It means to know when to stop, and not to really escalate the situation. He had already heard about the high-ranking official who was nearly drowned after being thrown into the water, and he was terrified.

Seeing that Zhao An remained silent, Zhang Baofa turned directly to Ding Jiu and instructed him, "You will represent our detachment to go to Huai'an to negotiate with the people from the Grand Canal Transport Office. Go now."

However, Ding Jiu did not heed the old man's instructions, but turned to Zhao An and asked, "What does Young Master mean?"

Zhao An shook his head and said to Zhang Baofa, who was clearly dissatisfied with him, "Master, I feel that the time is not right yet, and we need to wait a little longer."

"Wait, wait until how long? Wait until you, young lord, push all the brothers of this branch into the fire?! Remember, I am the leader of this branch, not you, young lord!"

Zhang Baofa, who had been enduring and sidelined for three days, slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage and ordered Anshun, the head of the gang, inside the room, "If Ding Jiu won't go, you go! Tell the canal transport authorities that we were in the wrong these past few days and ask them to be magnanimous and not hold it against us. As long as they are willing to release Sun Laosi and the others, my Yangzhou branch is willing to offer 60,000 taels of silver."

He paused, then said, "At most eighty thousand taels."

"This"

Anshun stood there looking troubled.

Seeing this, Zhang Baofa became even angrier: "What, you first gang don't even recognize me as your uncle anymore? And you second and third gangs, if you recognize me as your uncle, then do as I say!"

The two leaders of the second and third gangs also stood up after Zhang Baofa spoke, both looking troubled. They spoke one after the other, implying that the gang had been mobilized and all the brothers had been mobilized. The matter had just started and then stopped, and the brothers below were afraid that they would have objections to the gang.

Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back.

Ding Jiu also said, "Uncle, even if we want to talk, we have to wait for the canal transport authorities to come and talk to us. If we go and talk now, I think the canal transport authorities will not only not agree to the number of people you said they would release, but will also say that we caused trouble first and demand more."

Anshun forced a smile and said, "Yes, Uncle, Shaojun is an official. He knows the ways of the government better than we do. We can't go wrong by listening to him."

"You still know that he's an official?"

Seeing that the three gangs were all siding with their own cheap apprentice, Zhang Baofa felt a sense of power slipping away. He pointed at Zhao An and said, "Lord Zhao, you'd better not get involved in the gang's affairs. If the canal transport authorities find out that it was you, Lord Zhao, who gave the idea, you'll be in big trouble."

He doesn't address Zhi'an by name, but instead calls him Lord Zhao. It seems this uncle has truly realized that he is being "bullied and forced to submit."

Ding Jiu and the others looked serious when they heard Zhang Baofa's words, clearly worried that someone might actually betray the young lord.

“Master, now that I, Zhao An, have joined this gang, I will live and die as a member of the gang. As long as the brothers in the gang respect me as their young master, I will have no regrets even if I lose my official position!”

Zhao An's voice was resolute. He had said that he was a disciple of Guan Yu, so he had to show his noble spirit of righteousness without reservation.

"Good, good, Lord Zhao really thinks highly of our gang. It's truly a blessing from past lives that I, as a master, have such a good disciple as Lord Zhao! Fine, fine, if you want to fight the canal transport, then fight. I don't care anymore, I don't care about anything. Anyway, it's not just me who will die in the end!"

Zhang Bao was so angry that he laughed instead, his face turned ashen, and he flung his sleeves and pushed open the door to leave.

"Young Master,"

Ding Jiu felt uneasy and looked nervously at Zhao An.

The same applies to the people from Anshun.

(End of this chapter)