Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 71 Return (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader, Mr. Jian San)

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the sea loach once again anchored in its old spot.

Wang Huadu personally went ashore to meet his uncle.

Jiang Bayue, unusually, did not scold or beat her nephew. Instead, she sighed heavily and said, "You've done such a great thing, so why did you have to harm me?"

Wang Huadu chuckled and said, "Uncle, it's just asking you to recruit a few people to help us sail the boat back. If you see a boat you like, you can buy it; Brother Shao will sell it to you cheaply."

"There are indeed such canal boats on the Wusong River," Jiang Bayue said, rubbing his wrinkled old face. "But their sudden appearance always arouses suspicion, and I'm afraid not many people would dare to buy them. What if they were branded as bandits? Wouldn't their families be ruined?"

Wang Huadu's expression turned unusually serious. He said, "Uncle, could you find some people who can keep their mouths shut and know how to row a boat to Loujiang River to help us?"

"People can't keep their mouths shut forever," Jiang Bayue said, giving her nephew a look of exasperation. "Maybe one moment of resentment, or a drunken slip of the tongue, will reveal everything you've done. How will you clean up the mess then? Will you bribe everyone who hears it, or kill them all? Word will spread like wildfire; can you kill them all?"

Wang Huadu was somewhat surprised and said, "Uncle, you talk about bribery and murder all the time; you're even more cunning than me."

Jiang Bayue made a move to strike, and Wang Huadu hurriedly dodged.

Jiang Bayue waved her hand and said, "Let me point you to a place."

"Uncle, you should have said that sooner," Wang Huadu said with a smile.

Jiang Bayue glanced at him helplessly and said, "The place where you moored your boat a few days ago actually has a narrow waterway leading to a lake inside. The surrounding area is extremely desolate and rarely visited. Be careful when navigating, and you should be able to enter the lake smoothly. Then just moor there. This winter doesn't seem too cold, so the lake shouldn't freeze over, or if it does, it will be a thin layer. Just send a few reliable people to guard it, and you can come back and leave after everything is settled."

Wang Huadu thought about it and realized that this was the only way.

Turning the Zhou family's ships and the pirates' goods into their own money was no easy task. Otherwise, why would the Taizhou pirates be in such a hurry to ask Sun Chuan for help in disposing of the stolen goods? Couldn't they have sold them themselves?

The battlefield at sea was only the first battlefield; after returning to Liujiagang, there was a second battlefield, which might be even more thrilling.

I was too naive before. Without Brother Shao's brains, I probably wouldn't even know how I died.

"Uncle, without you, Shao-ge and I really don't know what we would have done," Wang Huadu said, his smile fading, half-jokingly.

Jiang Bayue looked into her nephew's eyes and whispered, "Dog slave, what kind of person is that Brother Shao? How do you get along with him?"

"Brother Shao is a righteous man, worldly-wise, and also skilled in calligraphy and arithmetic," said the governor of Hua.

"I'm afraid this alone won't be enough, will it?" Jiang Bayue frowned.

"You saw it yourself, he accomplished something truly remarkable," Wang Huadu said. "Actually, he's quite ruthless, ruthless to others, and sometimes ruthless to himself. Back in the blueware shop—"

After hearing what her nephew said, Jiang Bayue had a much deeper impression of Shao Shuyi.

In his view, this was a generous, courageous, resourceful, and ambitious young man. To be honest, such people are rare, but every now and then one or two appear. How high they can go depends not only on their abilities but also on the times and luck.

But then again, who in this world can truly control their own destiny? Jiang Bayue couldn't control his own destiny, nor could Wang Huadu or Shao Shuyi. He even believed that the emperor might not be able to, since people in Dadu were constantly fighting each other, and the news spread throughout the world. Even the emperor wasn't safe.

"That's all I can do for you. You'll have to walk your own path from now on," Jiang Bayue sighed. "Go back now, and don't come here unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Uncle, how can you be so heartless?" Wang Huadu first invited his uncle to sit down, then fawned over him by massaging his shoulders, saying, "I don't have many relatives in Taicang anymore, and we're not close to them. Now, the closest one to me is you, Uncle, isn't he? Before Mother passed away, she always regretted not being able to go back to her parents' home one last time."

Jiang Bayue seemed to have been struck by something, and remained silent for a long time.

"Uncle, there's one more thing." Wang Huadu thought for a moment and then recounted Li Fu's ordeal.

Finally, he said, "Didn't Li Fu's father accumulate a lot of wealth by trading medicinal herbs? Moreover, those who do business know a lot of people. Even so, Li Fu's generation was still issued the title of seafarer. Isn't Uncle afraid?"

Even if you're not approved as a station resident or seafarer, what if you, Uncle, are made the chief of the capital or the head of a village? That would be a losing proposition. According to Brother Shao, Liu Yong, the deputy commander of the Wenzhou Garrison of the Grand Canal, has been appointed as a village head. Uncle, how do you compare to Liu Yong?

"But if I get involved with the Zheng family, I might not be exempted from being a headman or village head, but at least I won't be issued a seafaring permit. Even if I am, I won't be required to compensate for the grain transport costs. Wouldn't that be better?"

Wang Huadu's words clearly struck a chord with Jiang Bayue. He was listed as a "superior household" in the Yellow Register of Shanghai County, and such people were easily conscripted to serve as village heads or chiefs.

Although her eldest son-in-law was a clerk in the county government, his abilities were limited, and he couldn't protect her much. Once the higher-ups made a decision, there was no way to stop it; at most, they could let her know in advance—but what good would that do?

Thinking of this, even though she had spent most of her life law-abiding, Jiang Bayue couldn't help but stomp her feet and curse: "This damned government! I've worked so hard carrying manure to fertilize the fields, I'm never idle every month, I've worked hard for most of my life to have these ten acres of vegetable fields, a few acres of mulberry orchards, and two ponds, but these corrupt officials just can't stand to see others doing well!"

Dog Slave, you weren't born then, so I don't know. Before your aunt and mother got married, they both helped with chores at home. That mulberry orchard to the west was originally a muddy swamp. Our family carried soil to fill it up bit by bit every year for many years.

Even this house, I personally went to the kiln to pick out the bricks, only a few dozen at a time, saving every penny on transportation costs. As for the clothes I'm wearing, I wore them as long as they were wearable, and patched them whenever possible.

Sigh, you've scrimped and saved your whole life, only to have a corrupt official set his sights on you. This world is truly unbelievable.

"Uncle, in this world, you can't be an honest person. Honest people suffer the most," Wang Huadu said.

He wasn't just bluffing; he genuinely thought so, having seen far too many things like that.

"Never mind, I'll go check on those three boats from time to time," Jiang Bayue sighed, looking up at the sky.

"Uncle, Brother Shao will not forget you. He is the most righteous, and he will surely repay you in the future," said Wang Huadu.

Jiang Bayue nodded, but didn't take it too seriously. Instead, she asked, "Would you like to come over for lunch?"

"I must return to the ship to report first," Wang Huadu said.

Jiang Bayue hummed in agreement, then ignored him and changed into a set of water-resistant clothing, preparing to go to the pond to collect some river clams to sell at the market the next morning.

As Wang Huadu left, he could already see his uncle's busy figure.

For a moment, he was extremely angry.

If even a hardworking man like my uncle, who made his fortune through hard work, cannot be tolerated by the government, then what is the point of this imperial court?

******

The howling north wind swept across the sandbar, stirring up the yellowish-black seawater.

It took two days for the three canal boats to sail into the depths of reeds and wormwood.

Jiang Bayue, along with her two sons, built a shed using reeds and withered branches for those who stayed behind to live in.

I don't know if it was his business instinct kicking in, but before leaving, he built a duck shed and sent someone to deliver more than a dozen ducks, saying that it was fine before since no one lived here, but now that his nephew was staying, he could help raise the ducks.

Good places should be made use of.

Wang Huadu was dumbfounded, yet helpless. He had witnessed firsthand how his uncle had become rich.

"Dog slave, have you thought this through? You really don't want to come back to Liujiagang with me?" Shao Shuyi asked in a low voice when no one was around.

"I won't go back. I'll return when you've finished settling things in Taicang and come to pick up the goods," Wang Huadu said with a smile. "I'm quite content living here alone. I can even visit my uncle's house for a meal every now and then. Isn't that great?"

"Okay." Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "Wait a few days, I will definitely come back to pick you up."

"You can leave now. I'll keep an eye on the goods. Isn't Baijianu staying here to keep me company? Besides, I'll see if there are any suitable people in the village to recruit one or two." Wang Huadu said, "I'll also see if there are any suitable people to recruit."

Shao Shuyi was both amused and exasperated. This guy was a natural social butterfly, not shy at all, and could strike up a conversation and build relationships with anyone.

As for the goods that need to be guarded, they are mainly on those three canal boats.

The collection includes 1,500 pieces of Goryeo blueware, 500 bolts of hemp cloth, 300 furs, 300 barrels of Silla yellow lacquer, and 100 pieces of Goryeo brocade.

Thirty pieces of bronzeware, five boxes of pearls —

The sea bream carrying the same quantity of goods, along with a variety of other miscellaneous items such as pine nuts, hazelnuts, pine pollen, almonds, asarum, poria cocos, safflower, mercury, sesame oil, conch shells, dried seafood, paper, and books, filled the ship to the brim. Corrupt officials at all levels can take it back and open general stores; you're welcome.

Of course, Shao Shuyi also prepared an extra hundred boxes of Korean ginseng, dozens of pieces of gold and silver ware, ten boxes of pearls, and more than two hundred high-grade furs such as mink, tiger, fox, and seal furs for the Zheng family.

This was given exclusively to Zheng Guozhen and Zheng Yonghe behind him, without having to share the spoils with other corrupt officials; it was theirs alone, and its value was astonishing.

Shao Shuyi never had the idea of ​​keeping everything to himself, nor would he dare to.

Whether he can escape this time depends mainly on the Zheng family; otherwise, he will always be a wanted criminal and it will be difficult for him to turn his life around.

If one cannot gather great power within oneself, one can only rely on gathering the masses. Make many friends and few enemies, and you will be invincible.

On the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month, the sea bream left its anchorage and headed north, finally arriving at Liujiagang late at night on the 26th.

No one knew what kind of ship returned, because it was too ordinary; it was one of the most common ship types in Liujiagang.

Yu Yuan was put off the boat and headed towards the Qingqi Shop.

After he left, the Drilling Sea Loach weighed anchor again and headed southeast, anchoring at a different location.

>