novelAbuy Chapter 332 Adding to the Fun
Chapter 332 Adding to the Fun
The boat was borrowed from the post station.
The Yuan Dynasty's post stations were distributed throughout the country, from the grasslands to Yunnan, they were everywhere.
Among them, there were more than 44,000 post horses, more than 8600 cattle, more than 5600 donkeys, 650 sheep, more than 4,000 carts, more than 5,000 boats, and a considerable number of dogs and sedan chairs.
The boat that Korigis and his men were traveling on was a small water station boat, carrying only a dozen or so people in total. In addition to Korigis, Li Yi, Zhang Duan, and two boatmen, there were three other people with one attendant each. Ge Daji also accompanied them to listen to their questions, while Chen Zi led four archers as guards. After the boat left the shore, it slowly headed north.
The river was wide, and the current was somewhat swift. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, floating close to the surface like a thin veil.
In the distance, the reeds on the opposite bank were faintly visible, a hazy gray expanse, with a few water birds flying freely close to the water's surface, adding a touch of vitality to this quiet morning.
During the voyage, Li Yi suddenly exclaimed, "I have long heard that the Eastern Wu had places like Da Sha and Xiao Sha for grazing horses, and now I see them. But it is absurd that such an important place is so poorly guarded by a navy."
Zhang Duan coughed, signaling Li Yi to watch his words, while he quietly observed the wide river surface.
Actually, this section of the Yangtze River isn't very wide, but the current is indeed very rapid.
Sun Quan relied on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to unite Jiangdong against China. However, at that time, Jiangyin was not an ideal place to cross the river. But as time went by and the world changed, the waterways between Yangzhou and Xuzhou were dredged, and the population increased, so it gradually became a place to cross the river.
Of course, if one can cross south, one can also go north.
The Ma Tuo Sha River stretches across the river, separating the north and south and blocking upstream and downstream shipping routes from Jiangning to Liujiagang. Its location is indeed extremely important. Could Shao Shuyi have been plotting this all along, occupying this position?
But upon closer reflection, it seemed unlikely. To harbor rebellious intentions years in advance was too alarming. To put it bluntly, while Zhang Duan certainly felt the nation was declining, he couldn't predict when it would fall, though he felt it was unlikely in the short term.
Furthermore, he didn't really want the Yuan Dynasty to fall. As a southerner, he was generally quite comfortable as long as he didn't go to the north to serve as an official, because even when Mongols, Semu people, and northerners came to the south, they were treated quite politely, not to mention that the court gave them a great deal of freedom.
From this perspective, he actually quite disliked the various characters causing trouble in Jiangnan. Simply put, he disliked their disruption of order.
Today, he is about to meet a disruptor of order who has been hiding for a long time and has finally been exposed.
"We're almost there." After more than an hour of sailing, Ge Daji came to the bow of the boat and said familiarly, "This is a small dock that Shao She built himself. It's usually only used by his people. It's much closer to get ashore from here."
The outline of the horse-drawn sand ahead gradually became clear.
The reeds on the riverbank had turned yellow and withered, rustling in the river breeze.
The dock was deserted; there wasn't a single boat in sight.
On the mudflats a little further away, there were several small fishing boats moored, and a few fishermen were mending nets. When they saw people coming, most of them lowered their heads and continued working, but only one or two got up and left, and it was unknown what they were doing.
The boat carefully sailed over, moored, and docked.
The group gradually came ashore and looked around.
Perhaps because it was winter, the dock was very quiet, with hardly anyone around.
Nearby is a small building, its exterior unremarkable and unadorned, with a rugged style.
In the distance, there were several earthen houses with thatched roofs and smoke rising from their chimneys; they must have been the homes of fishermen.
Further away, a cluster of houses can be vaguely seen, resembling a village.
"Let's go take a look over there." Li Yi pointed in the direction of the village and said, "I've heard that Ma Tuo Sha is quite wealthy, so let's go and see for ourselves." Just as Kuolijisi was about to speak, they heard a desolate horn sound coming from afar.
Li Yi paused for a moment, then took the lead and walked away.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Duan followed.
Kuolijisi glanced at Ge Daji and Chen Zi, and both of them shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know what was going on either.
Korigis sighed and quickened his pace.
The group then walked along the dirt road and soon arrived at an open space.
Li Yi and Zhang Duan stopped and stared blankly ahead.
Koligis's eyelids twitched. What did he see? Soldiers drilling?
At the end of the open space ahead, there were rows of straw figures standing upright.
More than ten people, each carrying a bow, ran quickly from seventy paces away, nocking arrows as they ran.
As they moved forward, a series of "whoosh" sounds rang out as arrows flew out one after another, heading straight for the straw man.
At first, the arrows were far away and some even missed the target, but as the distance got closer, one straw man after another was shot down and the fragments flew everywhere.
"Sing..." At thirty paces, the gong sounded, and the dozen or so people stopped in unison, still managing to maintain a fairly loose formation. Yes, from a distance it looked slightly crooked, but it was clear that they were still trying to maintain their formation while shooting arrows.
"Dehai!" The sound of hooves rang out, and a rider galloped forward, saying a few words from afar.
More than ten people shouted "Kill!" in unison, then turned around and left in a column.
"Woo!" The horn sounded again.
More than ten people stepped forward, first walking slowly with bows drawn, then running quickly with small steps.
The bowstrings vibrated, and the sound of arrows piercing the air filled the air. In the blink of an eye, the remaining seven or eight straw figures fell to the ground, leaving the field empty. Then came the speech, and then they marched away in formation.
A moment later, a group of children and teenagers entered from the edge of the field.
They walked in neat rows, swinging their arms and legs earnestly, their expressions unusually serious, just like little adults.
These people came to collect the arrows and, while they were at it, put the straw figure back up.
Li Yi and Zhang Duan exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.
Nobody's a fool.
Having been immersed in officialdom for many years, the two of them could naturally see that this was a carefully arranged "performance," but even if it was a performance, the "soldiers" looked quite convincing.
Another point is, don't you even try to avoid people?
No one answered them, because soon it was the third team, the fourth team, the fifth team...
Li Yi and Zhang Duan were both numb.
They counted them; there were a total of seventy archers, with about thirty bows.
Two men with one bow is far superior to ten men with one bow in the patrol office.
As for the garrison troops, let's not even mention them. Didn't the Prince of Zhennan just make a huge fool of himself?
"Seventy soldiers, plus two hundred and eighty assigned military households, that would make a thousand-household unit," Li Yi said in a low voice.
Zhang Duan nodded slightly.
Is a thousand-household unit with more than three hundred people too small? Not at all, especially considering that they weren't receiving salaries without working.
As the provincial capital, Hangzhou was surrounded by four military prefectures with ten thousand households each. The Zhen Ding and Yi Du prefectures each had over ten thousand households, with seven thousand military households (including regular and supplementary households) listed in their military registers established sixty years prior. However, the Yingzhou and Shangdu new military prefectures each had only three thousand households. A thousand-household prefecture would only have three hundred people. And those three hundred were the figures from the reign of Emperor Shizu; now, it's uncertain whether there are even one hundred and fifty, but it's highly unlikely.
Even offering Shao Shuyi a mere commander position after being granted amnesty would be a waste of his talent…
Just as he was lost in thought, he saw three more teams arrive in formation, quickly combining with the previous five teams to form a small square.
It seems like they've practiced it more than once.
The archers who had been patrolling the sides of the formation quickly dispersed and gathered on both sides of the square, eight men on each side, nocking their bows and arrows, guarding the flanks. Eight burly men, carrying a variety of weapons, stood at the front of the square, looking completely at ease.
Behind them were sixteen swordsmen and shieldmen, followed by dozens of soldiers wielding long polearms.
The eight teams were spaced five steps apart, with a leader standing in the middle, carrying a small flag on his back.
"Dong dong..." The sound of drums seemed to come from nowhere.
The hundred men who had been standing solemnly shouted "Kill!" in unison, and then marched in orderly ranks, forming a wall.
The eight warriors at the front walked and cursed as they went, exuding an imposing aura.
Sixteen swordsmen, each holding a shield in their left hand to protect their chest and a sword in their right hand held horizontally under their forehead, kicked up clouds of dust with each step they took.
Dozens of spearmen, holding their spears high, moved forward like a jungle.
Li Yi and Zhang Duan looked at each other again, both horrified.
Korigis was also stunned.
He had long known that Shao Shuyi's men were good fighters and could help the government settle disputes. He had always thought they were just brave and fierce, and that when they encountered enemies, they would rush in like swarms and defeat them with their ruthlessness.
During the last battle at Qinwang Mountain, many people said that Shao Shuyi's men were "quite organized," but they weren't quite sure exactly what that organization meant. Now they do.
This is a well-trained army, and most of them must have trained for a long time. The people in charge of training must have been very dedicated and didn't just go through the motions; they really put in a lot of hard work.
Given the poor military preparedness of the garrison troops in Jiangnan, this unit stood out from the crowd, even though they were not government soldiers.
For a fleeting moment, Korigis thought that this must have been what his grandfather looked like when he led troops.
"Kill!" The roar from the crowd rose again.
Eight warriors charged headlong into the straw doll formation, hacking and slashing with all their might, trying their best to shake the enemy's formation.
The main force of the square formation arrived one after another, hacking and slashing with swords and axes, thrusting with spears, scattering the once relatively orderly line of straw men into disarray. Koligis withdrew his gaze; he couldn't bear to look anymore, it made his heart ache.
He didn't know why he felt a tightness in his chest, but he just felt uncomfortable. He, who was usually shameless, actually had the urge to cry.
Li Yi and Zhang Duan stood there quietly, their gazes never leaving their faces, until another group of people approached from afar.
Shao Shuyi rode an exceptionally fine horse, surrounded by more than ten attendants, and came this way.
"Our guests have come from afar, and we have little to offer in terms of hospitality. After much thought, we've decided to have the men come out and train a bit, just to liven things up." Shao Shuyi, holding a riding whip, pointed to the hundred soldiers who were marching in formation and asked, "Is this acceptable?"
The sound wasn't loud, but to Li Yi, Zhang Duan, Kuolijisi, and the others, it was as loud as a bell.
The arena fell silent for a moment, with only the whistling wind remaining.