xymnovel Chapter 251 Late-Night Plan
Chapter 251 Late-Night Plan
Chapter 251 Late-Night Plan
On the great river, four ships lined up in a row, sailing upstream.
The deck was covered with tarpaulins, and underneath were piles of goods: floral fabrics, medicinal herbs, dried seafood, bundles of rushes, leather, and so on—all common items that were transported from Liujiagang to Jiangning.
There was plenty of space left in the cabin, but it was all occupied.
As for the weapons and armor, most of them were hidden in the compartments, and only a few people wore them. In particular, it was obviously impossible to wear leather armor while marching, as it would be tiring and inconvenient. These things were only worn when Shao inspected the ship, and everyone took them off after boarding.
Each ship had a temporary blue cloth flag with the character "沈" (Shen) hanging from its bow.
This was not a wasted effort. Although the Yuan Dynasty's navy was long since corrupt and incapable of patrolling, it was always better to be prepared.
On the morning of the 19th, when the fleet reached the vicinity of Jiaoshan in Zhenjiang, they encountered patrolling officers and soldiers for the first time. However, these were not naval personnel, but rather archers from the patrol inspection office.
Upon seeing the Shen family's banner, they slowed down and did not approach, instead focusing their attention on other vessels.
One of the crew members leaned out of the cabin to take a look, and after seeing Shao Shuyi standing on the boat gesturing for them to calm down, he withdrew back inside.
Shao Shuyi quietly watched the soldiers on the patrol boat, thinking to himself that the Shen family must have spent a lot of money to feed these monsters and demons, and now they were finally benefiting from it.
As evening approached, the river gradually narrowed, and houses and docks began to appear on both banks.
Standing at the bow of the boat, Shao Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the gray rooftops at the mouth of the Qinhuai River in the distance. Although he had traveled back and forth on the river many times and knew that the possibility of encountering government patrol boats was extremely small, this matter was too big, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
The wharf at the mouth of the Qinhuai River was small, with several merchant ships of varying ages moored there. There were few people around. Four ships docked one after another, and it took a while before someone came to unload the cargo.
Near the dock, in Ganghanli, there seemed to be two government patrol boats, which had their lights on early and could be heard shouting that almost pierced the sky – they were gambling.
"What a disgrace to military discipline!" Shao Shuyi chuckled and ordered Yu Yuan to lead his men ashore to buy fresh food and water.
Feng Shao stood beside him, hesitated for a long time, sighed, and said, "Shao She, I've noticed that every time we go out together, something big happens."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi burst into laughter and said, "Do you know why Manager Mo didn't send anyone else to escort the goods, but instead sent you alone?"
Feng Shao laughed when he heard this.
There was a man named Kong Tie in Shengye Trading Company who frequently sailed to transport goods. Sometimes the goods were valuable and required someone to accompany the ship, but he was rarely allowed to go out. So far, he had only accompanied the Shao family's fleet twice, once to Tongzhou and once to Jiangning, and it seemed like neither trip was anything good.
"After unloading the last bit of cargo at Longguang Gate (commonly known as Shuixi Gate), I got off and found my own boat to go home." Feng Shao suddenly said, "Shao She, you—"
'
He turned his head and said, "Take care."
"I'll go back and have a drink with you," Shao Shuyi said.
"Definitely," Feng Shao nodded.
The two then went about their own business without another word. Feng Shao was planning which families to visit, what gifts to give, and which relationships to maintain, while Shao Shuyi was going over the plan in his mind again and again, checking for any oversights.
On the 20th, the four ships passed through the sluice gate into the city in turn and unloaded the last bit of cargo on the shore.
Just like last time, there were only three or five soldiers at the checkpoint. They tucked their sleeves in and collected the money from each person without even checking them before letting them pass.
Shao Shuyi even saw that a boat ahead of him was loaded with a lot of smuggled salt, but the soldiers ignored it.
On the boat behind them, there were clearly seven or eight burly men speaking with a Huai-Xi accent, who were also allowed to pass.
These soldiers, whether they were lazy or simply incredibly shrewd, were utterly absurd.
That afternoon, the four ships docked at the same spot in turn.
As night fell, when Liu Jinbao saw Shao Shuyi with a beaming smile again, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.
With such decisiveness and swiftness, it's quite possible that he could actually kill Zhu Chen.
******
In the latter half of the night, groups of people came ashore in batches.
When Liu Jinbao and A Si saw the leather armor, long spears, crossbows, ring-handled swords, and other "special" weapons such as maces, long axes, heavy swords, hook-and-sickle spears, and javelins, they were once again speechless with astonishment.
Shao Shuyi sat in the chair, closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, while reviewing the route and arrangements for the night after tomorrow in his mind one last time.
The painted boat was moored in the river bend behind the Waguan Temple. The straight-line distance from the abandoned pavilion of Fenghuangtai to the painted boat was about seventy or eighty paces. The bronze hand cannon could not hit it, but the archer's projectile shot had some accuracy.
He had asked around on the way, and Cheng Ji thought it was worth a try. At a distance of seventy paces, he was confident he could hit the enemy when they were off guard. But that was just hitting them; whether he could kill them was another matter.
He planned to assign three people to guard the abandoned pavilion: in addition to Cheng Ji, a swordsman and a spearman, in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Besides, what kind of wind will blow the day after tomorrow, what the moon will be like, what time Zhu Chen will board the ship, how many guards will be on the ship, and so on are all still variables.
Liu Jinbao said that there were deserters among Zhu Chen's guards.
These military households might actually have real skills. What is Zhu Chen's status? Ordinary low-ranking soldiers who just coast along probably wouldn't even catch his eye.
Lost in thought, Shao Shuyi opened his eyes, stood up from his chair, walked to the window, pushed it open a crack, and looked out.
It's the 21st of the twelfth lunar month, and the festive atmosphere is getting stronger every day. It's also freezing cold, so the officials are reluctant to patrol the streets and have probably gone somewhere to sleep.
On the banks of the Qinhuai River, the last group of people also came ashore and slipped into the general store along the narrow alley.
The small shop was packed with people, with almost no extra space. If any foolish thief tried to sneak in to steal something, he would probably be terrified to death if he suddenly saw about fifty fully armed, burly men.
Calmness returned to the outside world.
Shao Shuyi quietly looked at the dark alley, feeling the extreme tranquility before the big event.
In another day and night, everything here will be different.
Either he kills Zhu Chen and escapes unscathed, or his ambush fails and he is forced to retreat—the worst-case scenario is that he also perishes here.
But what is risk-free?
Shao Shuyi sewed the window shut, turned around and sat back in his chair, saying, "My mind is made up. We'll stick to the old method we discussed before. This battle..."
Everyone in the room turned their attention to this.
"Be prepared for both possibilities," he continued. "First, set up an ambush near the boarding point. Second, surround the pleasure boat. The two can be done simultaneously."
Liang Tai, Yu Yuan, Li Fu, and the others were not surprised to hear this.
The biggest challenge in this battle was determining how Zhu Chen would arrive at the meeting. It was understood that sometimes he would come from the shore and board the boat at the stone steps, and sometimes he would arrive by boat, with no discernible pattern.
But one thing is certain: Zhu and Chen will eventually board that large pleasure boat and make connections with officials.
Therefore, it seems better to directly besiege the pleasure boat.
But this route doesn't require too many people; a boat and a dozen or so people are the maximum, and any more than that would be too much to handle.
The remaining men could lie in ambush on the shore and wait quietly for Zhu Chen's arrival. Even if they missed him, it wouldn't matter; they could simply prepare a boat nearby to pick them up and join the attack on the pleasure boat at any time.
Of course, the above is just a rough outline. We still need to go to the site tomorrow to refine the specific details. This time, we've brought Liu Jinbao along.
"A surprise attack from the river is unlikely," the old pirate said, immediately dismissing one of the plans. "Don't be fooled by the fact that we only have two pleasure boats, one large and one small. Things will be different the night after tomorrow. Two more boats will appear on the river, positioned one in front and one behind, to block any approaching vessels. If a battle breaks out and we can't get through quickly, it will alert the people on the pleasure boats."
Shao Shuyi remained calm and gestured for Liu Jinbao to continue.
"I don't know how your naval battle is going," Liu Jinbao said. "Even if you've prepared oil and other supplies, the boat won't burn out in a short time. That's enough time for the people on the pleasure boat to react. So, the best way is to deal with him on land. But Zhu Chen might not come from the shore. As far as I know, he's come by boat quite a few times—"
"May I ask what those two ships that were blocking the way were like?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"A small, covered boat, perhaps carrying three to five people."
"What kind of person?"
"Just a street thug."
Shao Shuyi looked at Yu Yuan, Liang Tai, and the others.
"The Qinhuai River is not narrow. It's probably impossible to cover the entire river with just small awning boats, right?" Yu Yuan said. "Brother, I think that the reason why small awning boats could block approaching ships in the past was simply because they relied on Zhu Chen's infamous reputation."
Even if there's only one person on board, shouting a few words is usually enough to scare away most civilian boats.
"This young man has insight," Liu Jinbao praised. "Indeed. Zhu Chen has been running rampant in Jinling for a long time. Even a ruffian under his command can scare away many people. What others fear is not the ruffian, but Zhu Chen's retaliation. But over time, even Zhu Chen himself may have become careless, thinking that he can protect the safety of a certain area with three or five ruffians. This is a great mistake."
Yu Yuan smiled at Liu Jinbao, then looked at Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi silently calculated for a moment and said, "If we arrange one canal boat upstream and one downstream to attack the pleasure boat, just as Manager Liu said, once they are intercepted by the covered boats, even if we win, it will take a long time, and we might even alarm the pleasure boat. If we prepare four boats, then we won't have enough people on the shore—"
"Nothing is ever perfect," Gao Daqiang said from the side. "If we have a 50-60% chance of success, we can do it. Brother Shao, don't hesitate any longer, I think we should attack the pleasure boat."
Liu Jinbao nodded and said, "This brother is right. I just mentioned the difficulties on the river so that you wouldn't be careless and think it's easy. In fact, attacking the pleasure boat is more suitable. Zhu Chenzhen may not come from the shore, but he will definitely get on the pleasure boat."
Shao Shuyi pondered quietly for a long time before finally nodding slowly. Then he looked at Liu Jinbao and asked, "Is the pleasure boat fireproof?"
"This isn't a warship, it doesn't have a hull, so it's not very fireproof," Liu Jinbao said with a laugh.
"That's enough," Shao Shuyi said, having made up his mind.
>