xymnovel Chapter 235 Strength
Chapter 235 Strength
Chapter 235 Strength
The entire month of October was very peaceful.
After returning to Jiangning, Han Yuanshan summoned some more people and then rushed to Hangzhou, where he was not known to be doing anything.
Du Zhigu's "Songjiang Group" left unscathed and headed to Hangzhou to meet up with Han Yuanshan.
According to Qi Le and Qi Erlang, nothing of substance was found. Before leaving, perhaps unwilling to give up, they found some faults and caused an unfortunate official at the sand pit to be dismissed.
Zhang Ci's group has been in Taizhou for a long time, and has already moved from underground to the public eye.
I heard that Han Yuanshan is quite concerned about what's going on there. The reason is simple: the clerk Zhao Fu was beaten to death in a brothel. Shouldn't there be an explanation? Doesn't Han Yuanshan have any shame?
As for who killed Zhao Fuliu, opinions vary, but most people are pointing the finger at Cai Luantou. It may not be that he really did it, but he had too many bad relationships in the Wenzhou-Taizhou area and had offended too many people. In the end, it was either him or Cai Luantou who would be the one to do it.
But the incident itself is somewhat unsettling, because Tsai was extremely angry and seemed to have some grievances—to be honest, it didn't seem like he was faking it—he threatened to lead a rebellion if he was framed, causing chaos in the coastal areas of Wenzhou and Taizhou and making it impossible for officials in both places to back down.
The information about Cai Luantou came from the Jiangyin prefectural government office and should be quite accurate.
Upon learning this, Shao Shuyi's tense nerves relaxed slightly. However, he still dared not let his guard down. On the second day of the first lunar month, several oxcarts slowly passed by on Yamen Street, raising a cloud of dust.
Jiang Guanbao, the patrol inspector, walked cautiously in front of the car, glancing left and right, afraid of being noticed.
Behind him, a dozen or so men led by Li Fu, carrying knives and bows, walked in two columns on either side of the oxcart.
As they walked, more than ten people would stop to regroup before setting off again, making the most of every opportunity to practice.
"Uncle Li." Wu Meng waved to the crowd as soon as he saw them.
Li Fu glanced at him, nodded slightly, and continued to urge the march on.
Wu Meng didn't care at all, and continued chopping meat while laughing and joking with the guy next to him.
Calling him "Uncle Li" was at the request of his father, Wu Heizi, even though he had never met Li Fu before coming to Matuosha.
His friend was his childhood friend who had come with him from Taicang—more to lay low than to help, because he had been too violent in a fight in Taicang, seriously injuring someone and forcing him to flee.
After chopping a few bones with a sharp axe, the worker Deng Qinghuai said mysteriously, "Do you know what's on the oxcart?"
"What?" Wu Meng picked out a few bones with meat still attached, threw them into a bucket, and asked.
"Leather armor," Deng Qinghuai said. "Ten sets in total, brought from Jiang Chengtuo of Maqiao and Zhan Gao of Shengci. Besides the leather armor, the cart also carried several long-handled axes, hook-and-sickle spears, heavy swords, iron maces, and other such items."
"Where did you get that information?" Wu Meng asked, puzzled.
I heard it while strolling around the shrine to the living dead.
"The artisans in remote, impoverished areas are truly unruly; they don't even try to hide their illegal activities," Wu Meng remarked. "Are the artisans in Taicang really this brazen?"
"I wouldn't dare," Deng Qinghuai sneered. "I once wanted to have a thick-backed broadsword made, but they just said they didn't know how. Damn it, they clearly made one for someone else, and they just fooled me."
Wu Meng watched the convoy stop in front of the patrol station from afar. For some reason, he suddenly picked up the wooden bucket beside him and said, "You watch the stall, I'll go deliver the meat bones."
Deng Qinghuai was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to say something, he saw Wu Meng pick up the wooden bucket and run to the entrance of the Ma Tuo Sha Patrol Office.
The archer guarding the gate simply waved his hand and let him in.
Inside the courtyard, three oxcarts were parked side by side against the wall, and pieces of leather armor had been removed, emitting an indescribable smell.
Li Fu took off his blue robe and changed into his usual coarse linen clothes. Then, with Zhao Xiaoer's help, he put on a set of leather armor.
The armor was covered in tung oil, which quickly soaked through the coarse linen clothes, but Li Fu was oblivious, preoccupied with moving his legs and feet, a rare look of joy on his face.
Wu Meng put down the bucket and stared blankly at Li Fu, who was wearing yellow armor. He had only one thought in his mind: This armor looks really majestic.
The others chatted and laughed as they each chose a set of leather armor and helped each other put it on.
"Wu Meng, what are you looking at?" Zhao Xiaosan, holding a long spear, made a thrusting motion and asked with a smile, "Wearing this armor, I dare to charge at you with your boning dagger."
Wu Meng was extremely envious, but he refused to admit defeat and said, "My knife is very sharp; I guarantee it will pierce a hole in one go."
"Then you give it a try," Zhao Xiaosan said with a smile, showing off his spear.
Li Fu coughed and glared at Zhao Xiaosan.
Zhao Xiaosan gave an awkward smile and ignored Wu Meng.
Li Fu then looked at Wu Meng.
Wu Meng pointed to the wooden bucket at his feet and said, "It's for delivering meat bones."
Li Fu nodded and said, "Put it down. I'll bring the bucket to you tonight."
Wu Meng responded, but didn't move his feet.
Li Fu ignored him and continued tidying up the equipment.
His usual weapons are a sword and shield. He used to be equipped with a long spear, but he never used it. Some time ago, Jiang Guanbao caught two thieves in the only inn on Yaqian Street and seized a mulberry wood bow, which he then issued to him. So now he has a complete set of weapons: a bow, a sword, a spear, and a shield. He will need to practice repeatedly from now on.
The equipment for the other people has also been gradually replenished.
Their squad of fourteen men currently possesses fourteen sets of leather armor, fourteen knives, fourteen spears, ten shields (four large shields or rattan shields and six small round shields), three bows, one hook-and-sickle spear, and one long-handled axe, making them quite well-equipped.
The weapons of the tall spearmen stationed at Chong Sheng Temple are similar to theirs, currently consisting of five sets of leather armor, fourteen swords, fourteen spears, ten shields (four large shields or rattan shields and six small shields), four bows, one mace, one long-handled axe, and one heavy sword.
Bian Yuanheng's team did not yet have leather armor. In addition to swords, spears, and shields, they also had four bows, one long-handled axe, one mace, and four javelins.
The fighting strength of Li's and Gao's teams is about the same, with Li's team being slightly stronger. Bian Yuanheng's team is somewhat weaker, after all, they were formed relatively recently and mainly consist of sledmen who did not have much prior experience. The soldiers' skills and willpower are still being honed, and it will take time for them to catch up.
Currently, Bian Yuanheng's team is the one that trains the most frequently, and they occasionally spar with Gao Daqiang's team, although they often lose.
In comparison, although Li Fu's team consisted entirely of veterans, their training frequency was not as high as the other two teams. The reason was not complicated: they were nominally archers of the patrol department, and had many tasks to perform, which inevitably caused them to be delayed.
Having finally found some free time today, and having received leather armor, Li Fu naturally didn't want to let it go.
After everyone had donned their new armor and experienced it firsthand, he gave the order: "Assemble at the drill ground this afternoon, all must be in armor, and drill in formation until sunset. Tomorrow morning, learn to read, and rest in the afternoon. The day after tomorrow, take turns practicing archery. The day after that, maintain the equipment in the morning, familiarize yourselves with the drums, gongs, and flags in the afternoon, and the day after that, patrol to Lonely Mountain to deter the bandits—"
After the order was given, everyone agreed without objection.
As the inspector, Jiang Guanbao sat to the side with a forced smile, while the old archers beside him looked gloomy, with a hint of envy in their expressions.
The kitchen staff quickly brought the food over.
The presentation wasn't great, but the ingredients were substantial. It was all pork and mutton offal delivered by Wu Meng and Deng Qinghuai, mixed with spices and vegetables and stewed together in a haphazard way. Sometimes the smell was a bit unpleasant, but given the lack of oil and fat in the current climate, everyone still ate with great relish, especially after the intense training sessions.
Wu Meng quietly moved to Jiang Guanbao's side and asked in a low voice, "Master Jiang, yesterday I saw a suspicious person who spoke with a Yangzhou accent. He must have come from Huainan. He had long and short weapons on him and was staying in a timber shop on the other side of the river."
Jiang Guanbao nodded upon hearing this and said, "I will personally lead a team to take a look tomorrow."
Wu Meng nodded and said nothing more.
After he moved here from Taicang, he would give the neighbors small favors on a regular basis, and gradually became familiar with them, and thus heard a lot of news.
According to merchants and locals on Yaqian Street, since the beginning of the year, more and more people from Huai have come to Ma Tuo Sha, but the area has become more and more peaceful. It is common to see the patrol and inspection offices launching large-scale operations to arrest thieves. This month alone, no fewer than five prisoners have been sent across the river to Jiangyin, and local security has been greatly improved.
After seeing that the archers of the patrol office were genuinely working hard to catch thieves instead of just extorting money, the people gradually began to report them, and a number of local merchants who were colluding with thieves were brought to justice.
It can be said that Ma Tuo Sha is now a united front. The people know who is protecting them, who helps them sell raw silk and silkworm cocoons, and who frequently brings in large quantities of daily necessities from outside, bringing down the originally high prices.
These are all very real benefits, and the people naturally know who to side with.
After observing Shao She for a while, Wu Meng suddenly realized that Shao She was indeed destined for great things and would surely have a bright future when the world became chaotic.
His desire grew stronger, and he couldn't help but look at Jiang Guanbao and ask, "Sir, is the Patrol Inspectorate still recruiting?"
Jiang Guanbao shook his head and said, "The food at the patrol office isn't even as good as yours. What are you doing here? Go and slaughter pigs and sell meat. If you're still not settled, I'll have someone introduce you to a young lady. Once you're married, you'll know to prioritize your family."
Wu Meng said helplessly, "Why must you do this, sir?"
Jiang Guanbao also looked helpless and said, "If I were to take you in, Wu Heizi would probably give me a thorough dressing-down. Forget it. Besides, do you really think being an archer is so easy? Tomorrow, when we go to catch thieves, someone might get injured or even killed. Swords don't discriminate. This is still considered easy; wait until the future..."
At this point, Jiang Guanbao shut his mouth and said nothing more.
Wu Meng glanced at him and asked, "What about the future?"
"I'm not going to say anything more." Jiang Guanbao shook his head like a rattle drum.
"Could it be that we're about to go to war?" Wu Meng curled his lip and said, "Do you really think I don't know? Making leather armor, repairing equipment, and training so diligently—we must be about to get into a fight. Uncle Jiang, tell me, before or after the New Year?"
"Go cool off somewhere else," Jiang Guanbao said with a laugh. "Leave me the pig's head from the pig you slaughtered this morning."
Wu Meng responded, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the fourteen men of Li Fu's team, who were dressed in their finest armor. He thought to himself, "Even the soldiers in the capital of Taicang aren't this well-organized. If they were to mobilize in large numbers, it would be terrifying."