novelAbuy Chapter 297 The Mother Insect
Chapter 297 The Mother Insect
In principle, there should be a holiday for the Double Ninth Festival, generally three days including the day itself plus one day before and after.
On the afternoon of the eighth day, Lu Chaoen, who was at home in Nanzha reviewing his lessons in preparation for the Hangzhou provincial examination next year, was notified that he had been called. After struggling for a while, he sighed and hurriedly went to work in Huangtiangang.
Early on the ninth day, farmers drove pigs and sheep over and delivered them to the designated livestock pens.
The familiar butcher also came over with his apprentice, and they were busy slaughtering pigs and sheep.
The entire Huangtian Trading Company was filled with a positive and uplifting atmosphere, and even the employees of the neighboring Shengye branch and the brother grain shop were infected by it, with smiles on their faces all day long.
With a long face, Lu Chaoen distributed money to the farmers, butchers, and laborers carrying goods, then picked up a book and started reading.
At noon, several ships docked one after another at the pier behind the signing room, and people filed ashore.
At Jiang Cheng's prompting, Lu Chaoen put away his Confucian classics, straightened his clothes, and went to the dock to greet them.
The first to reach the shore were the boatmen.
Their discipline was not as good as that of the barn workers. They whispered among themselves as they went ashore, and greeted acquaintances with beaming smiles. Those among them who could row the boat had seen some action, even if it was just paddling inside the cabin, they were good at bragging. Following closely behind were dozens of other workers.
They had already removed their armor, carrying only a sword. After going ashore, they lined up in neat rows until a loud shout of "Kill!" rang out, after which they dispersed.
Next came Shao Shuyi, Liang Tai, Yu Yuan, Wang Xing, Tie Niu, and others. Lu Chaoen, Jiang Cheng, and Chen Li from Zhiku immediately stepped forward to greet them. "Is there anything wrong in the society?" Shao Shuyi returned the greeting and asked with a smile.
"No," Lu Chaoen replied. "At the end of August, Fan Ting from the prefectural government came once to inquire when Shao She would go to Huashan to suppress the bandits. After news of the Huashan bandits' annihilation spread, no one came to urge him anymore."
"Very good." Shao Shuyi smiled and called to everyone, "It's noon, let's eat first."
Everyone agreed and headed towards the kitchen.
Yu Yuan lagged a few steps behind, glanced at Lu Chaoen, and asked, "Have you been sending salt to Changshu?"
"Yes," Lu Chaoen said. "The Heavenly King Bai himself came to deliver 8,000 catties of salt, and I arranged for ships to send it to Fushan Port that very night. The payment should be received by the end of next month."
Yu Yuan stopped and asked, "Is this all the salt Wang Kerou has?"
Lu Chaoen shook his head and said, "I don't know why either."
Yu Yuan nodded and said nothing more.
Lu Chaoen stood there for a while, just about to call for people to send some food to the boats, when he saw the Fu brothers, Fu Jian and Fu Yong, escorting someone ashore. "Can you untie me? It's so uncomfortable." The voice sounded a bit rough, but it was probably a woman.
Fu Jian shoved the man and said, "It's not that I don't want to untie you, it's just that you're too strong, I can't beat you. Releasing criminals is a serious crime, I don't want to be flogged."
Fu Yong laughed from the side, "You little rascal, what's the rush? I'll untie you after dinner."
The woman being held captive by the two men was none other than the female tiger, Xu.
Upon hearing the word "eat," the female tiger licked her lips and said, "You'd better make sure I'm well-fed later; you've lost weight these past few days."
"You're a woman who eats the food of two grown men, who can afford to support you?" Fu Yong laughed. "Only we can make some money by smuggling salt, otherwise we'd just kill you and save a lot of food."
The female tiger glanced at him disdainfully and said, "Your eldest brother said he wouldn't kill me, so you're just talking big. Have you ever killed anyone? I've killed countless people."
Fu Yong's expression turned somewhat unpleasant after being rebuked by her.
When it comes to killing, he might not be as good as the female tiger. Even if the two of them were to fight one-on-one, he wouldn't be confident of winning.
What hurt his pride even more was that Brother Shao said that if the two of them fought together, the female tiger would most likely not lose.
If both sides were fully armored and armed, the two brothers might even perish on the spot.
Damn, this is weird! How did this woman grow up like this?!
The three continued walking forward.
Lu Chaoen stepped aside and bowed.
The Fu brothers nodded to him, but the female tiger stared at him for several moments without saying anything.
Lu Chaoen hadn't felt anything when they were far away, but now that he could see clearly, he felt a chill run down his spine.
The person had a light beard, suggesting a man, but two heavy mounds of flesh on her chest clearly indicated a woman. However, she was also very robust, with strong, powerful arms, yet her voice was that of a woman…
Lu Chaoen was dumbfounded.
Seeing his appearance, the female tiger, who had initially been somewhat fond of him, glared at him, spat, and said, "A scumbag who judges by appearances!" Lu Chaoen was speechless and could only lower his head and not look at him.
"Behave yourself." Fu Jian shoved the female tiger again and scolded her.
Fu Yong turned his head and smiled at Lu Chaoen, "Be careful, this tigress has a thing for pale-faced scholars."
Lu Chaoen subconsciously took a step back.
Fu Yong laughed and escorted Madam Xu to the kitchen.
Shao Shuyi and the others had already sat down, divided into two tables.
He, Liang Tai, Yu Yuan, Wang Xing, and Jiang Cheng sat at a table inside.
Tie Niu stood by his side, his hand resting on the hilt of his knife. He would wait until Shao Shuyi finished eating before he would eat himself.
Li Fu, Gao Daqiang, Bian Yuanheng, Wu Shangyuan, and Jiang Sanbao sat at a table near the door.
Upon seeing the Fu brothers, Shao Shuyi pointed to two small tables on the other side and said, "Let's eat first."
The Fu brothers first untied the female tiger, and then brought her some food.
The female tiger thanked him, then plopped down behind the table, rubbed her wrists, picked up a stewed pig's trotter until it was tender, and began to eat heartily. Iron Ox, however, kept a close watch on the female tiger, as if he would immediately draw his knife and chop her into mincemeat if things went wrong. The Fu brothers sat at the table beside her, also watching her intently.
The female tiger snorted coldly and said, "I was captured by Cao She, but he spared my life, so I submit to him and will not harbor any disloyal thoughts. You two are despicable people, utterly repulsive."
The Fu brothers were so angry their noses almost crooked. They secretly thought they hadn't beaten him enough, but with Shao She present, they couldn't say anything and could only hold back. Shao Shuyi finished the last two bites of rice, pushed away his bowl and chopsticks, picked up his teacup to rinse his mouth, and then looked at Mother Tiger, saying, "Since I didn't kill you immediately and spared your life, I'll keep my word. But Bi Si's den of thieves on Changzhou Road is now deserted, and the stolen goods have vanished without a trace..." Mother Tiger was stunned upon hearing this and said, "He actually ran away?"
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "My men went to check, but there wasn't a soul in sight, not a single piece of gold, silver, or silk." "Then...then just kill me," the female tiger said bluntly, "I don't hate you."
Shao Shuyi chuckled upon hearing this, remarking that the female tiger was indeed a man of character.
"Never mind, it's just a little bit of windfall, nothing to worry about." Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "But there's something I might be able to help with next."
The tigress, who had just begged to die, was now gnawing on a pig's trotter again, as if she wanted a good meal before she died. Hearing Shao Shuyi's words, she paused, then asked, "What is it?"
"I'm going to expand the army," Shao Shuyi said, glancing around the room.
Upon hearing this, Li Fu and the others, who were eating at the time, subconsciously slowed down their movements.
Yu Yuan exchanged glances with Lu Chaoen, Jiang Cheng, and Wang Xing, and silently put down his chopsticks.
He was doing the math, but more importantly, he was considering where the soldiers would come from. Would they be the laborers who had received intermittent training, or would they be recruited as new men?
Before they could think, Shao Shuyi looked at the female tiger and said, "I was supposed to go to Huaixi this year, but I was delayed by many things and haven't been able to go yet. And I have many things to do in the next two or three months and can't get away, so after the first month of next year, I will go to Huaixi to recruit soldiers. You may be able to help me then."
"Recruit soldiers? Which prefecture, state, or county should we recruit soldiers from? How do we get there?" the female tiger asked疑惑地.
"Of course, we'll go by boat."
"I've lived in Anfeng, Luzhou, and Runing. You can't take a boat just anywhere."
"This is indeed a problem," Shao Shuyi nodded.
As can be seen from the routes taken by the Central Plains to conquer Jiangnan in ancient times, there were only a few suitable for navigation.
The eastern route naturally followed the Grand Canal, running from Xuzhou directly to Yangzhou. During the Three Kingdoms period, this route was sparsely populated and difficult to supply, making it a non-primary route. Cao Wei attempted to take it by force, suffering heavy losses. However, it has since been developed, and supply is no longer as difficult. The central route crossed the Huai River south to Shouchun, then passed the Fei River into Chaohu Lake, then to Ruxukou, and finally into the Yangtze River. Cao Cao attempted this route several times without success, but it was the main route of advance before the Song Dynasty due to its convenient supply lines.
The western route starts from Xiangyang, goes south along the Han River to the Yangtze River, and is the route by which the Yuan dynasty destroyed the Song dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, this route was not ideal, mainly because the area around Yunmengze was underdeveloped and supplies were difficult to obtain. Now, however, the situation is different.
The female tiger might not know these routes of advance, but she had experience in Huainan and Huaixi, so she could ask the right questions.
"You don't need to worry about that," Shao Shuyi said, standing up and pacing slowly. "I have plenty of freight business. This year, a salt merchant from Yangzhou even approached me, asking me to transport salt from Caishiji to Huguang, but I turned him down. What if I accepted next year?"
Shao Shuyi once thought that Huguang was the salt-trading area of the Sichuan Tea and Salt Transport Office, but he later found out that it was not. The huge Huguang region actually sold Huai salt, and Yangzhou salt merchants were everywhere and very famous in the local area.
Two salt merchants have approached him so far, asking him to help transport salt to Wuchang, but he has refused both times. Now that his reputation is growing, more and more people will ask him for help, so he can consider taking on one or two orders when the time is right.
Seeing that Shao Shuyi didn't say anything, the female tiger didn't think much of it and continued eating the pig's trotters, completely absorbed.
Shao Shuyi smiled. This woman was quite interesting; her open-mindedness was no less than that of a man.
"Pack your things tomorrow and come back to Matuosha with me. Don't show your face again; I have another mission for you," Shao Shuyi said. "What for?" the female tiger asked, looking up.
Shao Shuyi smiled but remained silent.
"Besides thievery, I don't know how to do anything else. Are you suggesting I go back to my old ways?" the female tiger persisted.
Shao Shuyi glanced at her helplessly and said, "I think you're truly fearless!"
The female tiger glanced at Shao Shuyi and said, "You said you wouldn't kill me, and I believed you. Now why are you threatening me with death? You keep your word, and so do I. You treat me with sincerity, and I'll treat you with sincerity in return. This coy, effeminate behavior is so pointless."
Those who were eating chuckled softly upon hearing this.
Shao Shuyi also smiled and said, "We'll see what happens tomorrow."
After saying this, he instructed everyone to finish their meal and pack their bags so they could set off early the next morning.