Dongting Town is only twenty miles away from Taihu Lake, and it is downstream.

Two large ships set out from the wharf, entered Liangxi River through Beixingtang River and entered Taihu Lake. It took a total of half an hour.

During the flood season, the water of Taihu Lake flows from west to east and from north to south, so the unlucky one is Susong.

The most unlucky one is naturally Kunshan, which is known as Susong bathtub.

The group went downstream and arrived at Xijing Bay when it was dark.

On the way, Mr. Zhao agreed to Hua Bozhen that he would go back to Suzhou to raise money first.

The water bandits demanded a ransom of 100,000 taels, but no one can take care of more than three tons of silver, right?

Hua Bozhen means that if you leave the ship and food to the water bandits, you will almost pass.

But Mr. Zhao said that if you are not afraid of ten thousand, you are afraid of what if the water bandits are not controlled by the Dongting Chamber of Commerce?

So you still have to be prepared for both.

Hua Bozhen felt that it made sense, so the two agreed to contact us and separated from the Waihu Lake in Xijing Bay. One went east into the bay and the other went south to Dongting to find President Weng to find out the situation.

~~

The words are divided into two ends.

A honest and trustworthy young man like Mr. Zhao will naturally not deceive Hua Bozhen, who is enthusiastic to help.

He really took a boat into Xijing Bay.

However, I did not go to Suzhou City by Muguang Canal, but went to Hushu Pass from the Hudong Canal to the north.

Hushu Pass is ten miles north of Suzhou City. It is the first cash gate in the south of the Yangtze River, spanning the canal. Businesses and travelers from north to south must verify taxes at this point, which naturally gave birth to a prosperous place in Wuzhong.

When the ship arrived at Hushu Pass, it was already midnight, but the lights in the town were still brightly lit.

Through the misty rain curtain, I saw that the lights on both sides of the canal were brightly lit, and strings of colorful lights shining on the river surface, and the river water became colorful.

The restaurant brothels are still noisy, with the sound of silk and bamboo, and the sound of men and women making fun of each other, making people feel as if they are back on the banks of the Qinhuai River.

Zhao Hao had no intention of enjoying the ambiguous night view in the rain, and his eyes were only back and forth between the streets, looking for Wu Ji's signboard.

Hushuguan money houses are full of ticket numbers, and it is impossible that there is no Wu Ji.

"It's there." Qiao Qiao's eyes were sharp. She saw a long list of angrily lanterns hanging on a two-story shop beside the bridge.

The words "Wuji Money House" were written on it, but the lamp was not lit. No wonder Mr. Zhao missed it.

"Not bad." Zhao Hao nodded in approval, and Qiaoqiao was very proud.

Although it was midnight, the dock was still full of merchant ships waiting to pass tomorrow.

After finally finding a berth to stop, Zhao Hao and others came ashore, and Gao Wu slapped Wu Ji's closed door panel.

A faint light emerged from the crack of the door.

"Who?" There was a vigilant questioning sound from inside.

"Side by side!" Zhao Hao, behind Gao Wu, replied in a deep voice.

‘Side by side’ means friends. Wu Ji was born in the underworld and had a set of incisions for contact.

When he was in Beijing, Ye taught Zhao Hao, otherwise he wouldn't be able to open the door.

"Huantian Wangzan?" It was quiet for a moment and changed the question.

What are you doing when you are in the dark?

‘Old He who ate Piaozi’s money beat the partridge, and the person in charge broke it and came to Hewu.’

The water bandits robbed, and your boss fell into the hands of others and I will help.

Zhao Hao talked about slander... Oh, by the way, the slanderer of slander is Chundian. While secretly complaining, can’t he speak well?

But then I thought about it, four hundred years later, all walks of life are still trying hard to expand their slander to raise the threshold for entry and prevent laymen from getting started easily.

What's more, at least there is a need for security in this era.

~~

After a secret code was met, the person inside finally removed the door panel.

As soon as I saw the guy, I looked at the door with dozens of guns. The guys in the store and the guards were all equipped with the latest bird-beak guns.

Gao Wu quickly protected Zhao Hao behind him. Actually, there is no need to be nervous, the fuse has not been lit yet.

But a surprise sound came from inside. "Young Master Zhao! Put down the gun quickly, this is the eldest lady's brother!"

The guys and guards then put away their guns.

Zhao Hao looked at the middle-aged man who saluted him and smiled awkwardly and politely.

Secretary Ma knew that the young master's face-blindness had been recurred, so he leaned in his ear and whispered: "This is the rice butler next to Miss Jiang."

"Butler Mi, aren't you with Miss Jiang? Why are you here?" Mr. Zhao was able to speak.

"Go back to the young master, the water bandits will let me come back to send a message, and prepare the ransom within three days." Butler Mi asked Zhao Hao to speak to the account room upstairs, closed the door and lowered his head: "As soon as the villain arrived here, he ordered people to report to Yangzhou quickly. Thinking that Kunshan was still waiting for food to help his life, he quickly notified the young master."

"I am in Wuxi, and the subordinates are sending letters over and over again. It's been a day late." Zhao Hao explained first, and then said in a deep voice: "What are the ways for water bandits?"

"Everyone covered her face and can't recognize her." Butler Mi smiled bitterly: "As such a big Taihu Lake, there are more than a dozen or twenty strands of water bandits of all sizes."

"Where is their nest?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"I don't know." Butler Mi said with depression: "The thieves are covered with their faces."

"Then how do you contact me?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"They asked them to send the silver to Xiaozhu Mountain before noon the next day, put it in the dug pit and buried it. When they get the money, they can release it." Mi Butler hurriedly replied.

"That's how it is." Zhao Hao felt relieved when he heard this, so he sat down on the chair and asked Butler Mi to tell him what happened to the disaster.

Mr. Mi told Mr. Zhao that the day before yesterday, the eldest lady personally took five grain boats from Yixing. When the boat arrived at the center of the lake, more than a dozen gun boats suddenly rushed out of the natural river port of Taishan Mountain.

The gun ship is a unique small boat on Taihu Lake. Its ends are sharpened, not meter long, only three feet wide, two oars and one slurry, and the body is light and fast. Because the rudder looks like a wooden gun, it is called a gun ship.

This small boat, similar to the speedboats in later generations, is fast and flexible and easy to hide, and is the only choice for water bandits to make a living on Taihu Lake.

The grain ship was big, stupid and full of loads, so naturally he couldn't escape, so he was soon surrounded by gun ships.

~~

"It's raining heavily, and bird guns and crossbows are not easy to use. The water bandits can come up unscrupulously. They grabbed our ship with hooks and threatened to set fire to the ship if they don't surrender." Only the butler Mi said: "The Songming torch is not afraid of rain. If you throw it into the cabin, you can light a big fire. The young lady judges the situation and let us surrender to the water bandits."

"Well, wise." Zhao Hao nodded and asked softly: "Do they know Miss Jiang is on the boat?"

"I don't know, the eldest lady and the maid changed into men's clothes and mixed in with the boatman." Butler Mi hurriedly replied: "The water bandit asked the villain to come back and deliver the message, and prepared a ransom of 100,000 taels within three days to ensure that the goods will return to the original owner and not hurt anyone. Then the villain was sent to the shore by them in a small boat..."

"Well." Zhao Hao asked about the details again, and then made a decision: "I'll pay the ransom, you can raise money immediately!"

"Is this so?" Butler Mi couldn't help but feel surprised. Such a large sum of money was naturally not something that they were able to use.

You must ask Yangzhou for instructions and obtain the authorization of Ye's family.

But then the daylily will be cold...
Chapter completed!