novelSusiti Chapter 250 Departure
Chapter 250 Departure
Chapter 250 Departure
On the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, just as dusk was falling, four boats, namely Liu Jia (a sea loach), Liu Yi, Kun Jia (a Yellow River cargo boat), and Kun Yi, sailed from Liujiagang. In addition to carrying more than a thousand shi of goods, they also had more than ten people on board.
Manager Mo's nephew, Feng Shao, was the first to jump ashore. He looked around and saw that it was pitch black except for a few lanterns hanging on the dock, which were swaying weakly in the wind, just like the desolate dock.
The dock is still under construction. Judging from the color of the wood, it has been a long time coming. It seems that the builders do not have enough money and can only allocate a small amount of funds each time, building as much as they can.
On the way, he also saw a dock located in the southwest of this area. It was quite large and had been around for a long time, but only one cargo ship was moored there, and it wasn't unloading any cargo. It seemed to be a temporary stop for purchasing drinking water. But it's almost the New Year, so that's normal.
The dock in front of them was much smaller, and could only accommodate two boats at the same time for the time being. With no other choice, the Kunjia and Kunyi boats had to take advantage of their small size and shallow draft, and, guided by the locals, slowly sailed to the two inlets full of dry reeds to moor.
There weren't many people on the shore either. I roughly counted about ten households, and judging from their accents, they weren't locals of Matuosha. I asked the boatman who had come with me, and he told me that most of them were migrants from Yizhou. They had traveled together and were taken in here. They were settling down on wasteland near the dock to grow grains, fruits, and vegetables, and raise cattle and sheep. Currently, they were still being supported by Brother Shao. In the entire Matuosha area, there were more than thirty migrant households like them, scattered in several places, each making a living in their own way.
Cultivating connections with officials, selling smuggled salt, training troops, building docks, gathering refugees, and reclaiming wasteland —
Feng Shao chuckled inwardly. The officials of Jiangyin Prefecture were like blind men. Local tyrants like Shao Shuyi had generally only appeared at the end of dynasties since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, as clearly written in the history books, yet you all turned a blind eye. This was truly amusing.
"Yu She's here!" Wei Erdi, the long-gunner who had been brought in to maintain order at the dock, greeted him with a smile.
The words had barely left his mouth when he was struck on the back. Li Fu walked past him, whip in hand, and gave him a cold look.
Wei Erdi immediately straightened his chest and tucked in his stomach, standing at attention with his spear in hand.
"I sneaked out," Yu Yuan said with a smile, carrying two bundles on his back.
Li Fu nodded to him, then went to the dock pier and asked him questions carefully.
Cheng Ji appeared behind Yu Yuan.
The man with a bow and quiver hanging from his waist looked around and was somewhat surprised when he saw rows of newly built mud-brick houses.
"Not many people have come, have they?" Wu Heizi had actually come too, and he greeted his men as they disembarked while laughing.
Cheng Ji hummed in agreement. Wu Heizi came infrequently, and he came even less often.
"What's the point of being a bandit leader?" Wu Heizi shook his head and said, "I'm burdened by my family and clan, I have no choice. You only have six people in your family, what's there to hesitate about? In my opinion, why not bring your ten soldiers over here, and have them drink and eat heartily with Brother Shao? Wouldn't that be better?"
Cheng Ji frowned. He used to argue with these words, but now he remained silent.
Moreover, he harbored a faint sense of wishful thinking: as things stand, having a proper and respectable job while also making some money with Shao Shuyi to supplement the family income seems pretty good, and life can continue like this forever—right?
"Brother Wu." Li Fu greeted Wu Heizi, then looked at the people behind him to see if there were any unfamiliar faces.
Upon seeing Li Fu, Wu Heizi lost his sense of superiority and simply smiled awkwardly, saying, "I heard that Shao She is going to do something big, so I brought about ten old men to help him look after his house."
"Brother Wu, be careful what you say," Li Fu reminded him.
Wu Heizi stayed in the room and didn't say anything more.
"Father," Wu Meng said, sneaking up from behind and bowing.
Upon seeing his son, Wu Heizi's expression changed. He gave a mocking snort and said, "You've been in Ma Tuosha for months, and you haven't even sent a letter home. Do you know how much your mother nags about you every day?"
"I know I was wrong." Wu Meng lowered his head, accepting the lesson with an honest expression.
"How are you doing here?" Wu Heizi asked softly after pulling his son a little further away.
"It's not bad, just a bit boring," Wu Meng said. "There's nothing here. Qinghuai and I do nothing but slaughter pigs and sell meat. There's no fun at all."
"Since you're so free, why don't you find something to do?" Wu Heizi said discontentedly.
Wu Meng glanced at his father furtively and whispered, "After I got to know the people from the patrol office, I practiced a few moves with them. A few days ago, I used the money I had saved up to have two knives made at Maqiao. Qinghuai and I each got one, and we practice with them from time to time."
Wu Heizi nodded slightly, patted his son's head, and said, "It's good that you didn't mess around. You need to work hard. Your second brother is doing well in his studies; even the teacher praises him. From now on, the family will rely on the two of you."
Wu Meng said "Oh," and then asked, "When is my eldest sister getting married? Should I go back?"
"Come back when you have time at the end of February after the New Year," Wu Heizi said. "Once you're done with this, hurry back here to sell meat."
Upon hearing this, Wu Meng protested, "For half a month starting in early March, killing is prohibited. How can we sell meat? It would be better to return after the fifteenth of March."
Wu Heizi's face fell, and he said, "Work hard and don't be playful. This horse carrying sand—I think it's getting better and better."
Wu Meng responded.
"Let's go, let's go take a look at the village," Wu Heizi said, pulling his son along.
******
On the morning of the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, wisps of smoke rose from the "military dependents' village" west of Chong Sheng Temple. Every household was bustling with activity before dawn, some steaming rice, others making pancakes, all working happily.
There are already more than fifty households here, the vast majority of whom moved here within the last year.
The local dialects of Taicang, Wuxi, and Matuosha mingle here, making communication somewhat inconvenient. However, the relationships between households are very good. The reason is simple: the men of the family work together under Brother Shao and are also involved in the illegal salt trade, so they are naturally close.
The original old houses were no longer sufficient, so the newcomers bought bricks and tiles, sawed wood, dug soil, and collected branches, reeds, and thatch to build many new houses.
The wasteland has been gradually reclaimed, but it's still early and not much grain can be grown. Usually, people just plant some soybeans and vegetables, and they harvest whatever they can, depending on their luck.
Anyway, they mainly live off the monthly grain allowance given to the men in their families. The elderly, women, and children in the family earn some extra money by helping to pickle salted fish, level the land, dig ditches, and move goods to supplement their household income. It's more than enough for them. As for odd jobs, it's all up to fate; they do as much as they can and get paid accordingly.
When Wu Shangyuan got up, his wife Zhang had already spread out several pancakes and placed them on the stove.
The eldest son, Xiang Huo, sneaked over, grabbed a flatbread, and ran off. Zhang chased after him for a few steps, gave him a quick spanking, and then hurriedly returned to the stove to check if the flatbread had burned.
Xiang Huo was very resilient; he was spanked by his mother but was completely unharmed and continued munching on his pancake.
The pancake contained meat, and the servants ate with beaming smiles until they saw their father's imposing leather armor.
"Father, these clothes are beautiful." Xiang Huo rushed over and gently stroked the nail surface covered with tung oil.
"It's dirty, don't touch it." Wu Shangyuan chuckled, hung the sheathed sword on his waist, and then called his wife to help him get the large shield.
After Zhang finished baking the last pancake, she casually wiped her hands at her waist, went back to the inner room, and retrieved a large shield covered with leather.
The shield was heavy, and it took her a lot of effort to hang it on her husband's back.
Wu Shangyuan then took a long spear from the storeroom and casually swung it around to test it out.
"Father, are you using a knife or a spear?" Xianghuo blinked and asked.
"The knife." Wu Shangyuan said without hesitation.
"Then why carry a spear? Isn't it tiring?"
"You don't have to, but you should bring it with you." Wu Shangyuan smiled gently. "I've also learned how to draw a bow and shoot arrows. Maybe we'll need another bow at home in the future. Shao She said that a true warrior is one who carries three weapons. That's how soldiers were in the Tang Dynasty."
"So what if you know how to use more equipment? It doesn't cost a penny more, and you end up with sore bodies from all the training." Zhang stacked the meat pies one by one, wrapped them in paper, and put them into a bundle, saying, "Eat these meat pies in the next day or two, don't keep too many."
"There's food on board, why prepare these?" Wu Shangyuan asked, somewhat displeased.
"Everyone else is making them. If I don't, won't people point fingers at me?" Zhang glared at him and said, "Besides, those flatbreads on the boat will get so hard they could be used to block arrows if left for a few days, and there's no meat in them."
"Alright," Wu Shangyuan said, not wanting to argue with his wife. "We have enough food at home, so let's do it."
After saying that, he took the bundle, paused, and said, "I'm leaving. There's someone at home."
Zhang lowered her head and said, "I'm here at home."
"Okay." Wu Shangyuan didn't waste any more words and strode out.
Xianghuo kicked its little legs and followed behind its father, giggling and laughing, as if it were a lot of fun.
On the main road, groups of two or three fully armed "guys" appeared, greeting each other upon seeing each other.
Xiang Huo followed for a while and soon met several other children. Gradually, he shifted his attention and started playing with them.
At the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), people slowly gathered in the martial arts training ground in the backyard of Chong Sheng Temple.
Dozens of workers nervously lined up, ready to be inspected.
On the other side of the stream, early-rising farmers were clearing silt from the ditches. At this moment, they all put down their shovels and hoes and watched quietly.
Inside Chong Sheng Temple, monks were performing their morning prayers, the sound of chanting rising and falling.
At the dock, the helmsman did a final check of the cabin to see if anything was missing.
As the sun gradually rises, its rays shine down upon the earth.
Dressed in a red robe, Shao Shuyi rode a mule and slowly walked past the front of the procession, beginning his routine address.
The formation fell silent, and all eyes were on him.
Shortly after, the speech ended, and with three loud shouts of "Kill! Kill! Kill!", dozens of people filed out of the training ground and headed towards the dock, moving forward without hesitation.
>