xymnovel Chapter 63 Principles
Chapter 63 Principles
Chapter 65 Principles
A ripple appeared on the river surface, but quickly subsided.
The three bodies were sunk into the river, where they lay among the mud and weeds.
In the darkest hour before dawn, a group of people left Zhanggong Lane and gradually returned to the small courtyard by the river.
There was a certain enthusiasm in my emotions, but I wasn't very satisfied, mainly because I gained very little.
The Zhou family members only had a little over twenty ingots of paper money confiscated. It sounds like a lot, but with so many people, it's not much left.
Shao Shuyi divided the money into three parts. He, Yang Liu, and Gao Daqiang each took seven ingots, which was almost an equal share. The remaining dozen or so coins were used to buy some food and drink so that everyone could have a good meal.
"We didn't have enough fun robbing him," Yang Liu said, leaning against the wall. "Where did all the money Zhou She had go?"
"He's been out for quite a while now," Gao Daqiang said. "You've heard it too, this guy often spends a fortune on women, and most of it is spent on this."
Yang Liu lowered his head in frustration.
Of the seven ingots, he took three, Wu Heizi took two, and the Qi brothers each took one. It wasn't a small amount, but compared to the huge profits he had expected before taking action, there was a significant gap.
The four seafarers divided the money relatively evenly, with the leader, Gao Daqiang, receiving two and a half ingots, while the other three each received one and a half ingots.
"We have to rob them again!" Yang Liu patted the ground lightly, then suddenly had a brilliant idea: "Four people from the Zhou family are dead. Can we break into the Zhou family compound?"
"No!" Wang Huadu's voice drifted from afar. "This kind of large clan with high walls and many relatives is not something you can touch."
"Zhou Ziliang was not even thirty years old. With his death, can the widow and her orphan protect their family property? Who will ultimately get it?"
"The authorities." Wang Huadu arrived at the well, continuing to sharpen his knife, and casually remarked, "Zhou Ziliang has been helping pirates sell stolen goods for quite some time now. Once this is exposed, his family will inevitably be destroyed."
"Damn it!" Gao Daqiang cursed in frustration.
So all that work they did, killing this and that, resulted in Zhou Ziliang's servants, land, wealth, cash, and even women being taken over by officials at various levels.
This world is really something, sigh!
"We are destined to have no share of the wealth that is out in the open," Shao Shuyi's gentle voice rang out. "Officials are like robbers, sucking the marrow from the bone. They usually don't dare to touch the Zhou family, but now that their weakness has been exposed and someone is dead, they will naturally swarm in to divide the spoils. We can't rob the government, so we can only think of other ways."
Yang Liu's eyes lit up, and he subconsciously rubbed his chin, his thoughts drifting off somewhere else.
Gao Daqiang took two dry, hard steamed buns, handed one to him, and said, "Brother Yang, we must take things one step at a time and not always think about the best. Those three canal boats have already left, and whether we can find them is still a question. I haven't been to the fourth cooking area of the lower sand pit, so I don't know how big it is. Let's take it one step at a time."
Yang Liu didn't wait for an answer, but when he thought of Gao Daqiang's amazing strength, he forced a smile and said, "I have indeed been to the sand pit. The eight cooking areas are indeed large, but the fourth cooking area alone is not very big. If you look around, you will eventually find it."
Gao Daqiang grunted and started eating his steamed bun.
"I said—" Yang Liu had just brought the steamed bun to his mouth when he asked again, "What do you think of Brother Shao?"
"If we split the spoils equally, we can work for him," Gao Daqiang said.
Seafarers, merchants, and even pirates are probably the group in the world with the highest acceptance of the shareholding system, simply because of their living environment.
Gao Daqiang felt that Shao Shuyi was good at archery, quick-witted, ruthless, and fairly fair in his dealings, so there was no problem.
Yang Liu now feels the same way, but it wasn't like that when he first arrived.
In his eyes, he was a swordsman in the Hejian New Army's thousand-household garrison, and he had killed more than one person. He was highly skilled, and killing Shao Shuyi would be a piece of cake for him. Therefore, he didn't really respect him and kept clamoring to change the profit-sharing rules.
Now he was somewhat afraid.
Wu Heizi's politeness towards Yu Yuan and Shao Shuyi is a potential problem.
The Qi brothers usually boasted loudly and even helped him kill people when he went out on business. But when they actually encountered werewolves, they actually became a little timid and hesitant.
In short, he is incapable of shouldering great responsibilities!
Yang Liu felt he was in great danger, and his earlier conversation with Gao Daqiang was not without reason. However, Gao Daqiang didn't understand and didn't respond, which only increased his anxiety.
He wanted to leave with his people, but he was too proud to do so, and he was also reluctant to give up the huge profits that were about to be made. In short, he was very conflicted and looked preoccupied.
Once at sea, will Shao Shuyi kill himself and take all their share?
When fighting the enemy, would you force yourself to be the first to charge?
Will Wu Heizi betray him?
Do the Qi brothers' legs go weak in crucial moments?
Yang Liu thought about it a lot, but couldn't settle down. He didn't even eat more than a few bites of the steamed bun.
The winter nights in Liujiagang are very quiet, so quiet that you can hardly feel the passage of time.
When Yang Liu regained consciousness, he found that Gao Daqiang was already gone.
Wu Heizi and Yu Yuan sat on the veranda, and he said that his second son seemed to have some talent for studying, and asked what to do.
The Qi brothers huddled together, talking in hushed tones. Every time Shao Shuyi passed by, they instinctively straightened their posture.
Yang Liu felt terrible; perhaps he shouldn't have come on this trip.
Daylight broke quickly, and everyone who had just accomplished something great went to find a place to sleep.
Yu Yuan came and went, seemingly very busy.
That afternoon, Cao Tong, a shop assistant at the ware shop, drove an oxcart to the courtyard. The cart was covered with a black cloth and was full of things.
Shao Shuyi got up briefly, checked that all the supplies were in order, and arranged for the guards outside the compound to change shifts. Then he went back inside to sleep until dark.
******
At the beginning of the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), everyone in the courtyard had already gotten up, sat together and ate a hot meal before finding a place to rest.
About half an hour later, Shao Shuyi's calm voice rang out from the main entrance: "Check the equipment."
In the darkness, the sounds of swords being drawn and sheathed echoed intermittently. In the cold winter, with heavy frost and dew, if the sword froze at a crucial moment, making it difficult to draw, that could be fatal.
Yang Liu, who had been dozing against a pillar, opened his eyes.
He was a veteran, so he didn't hesitate and carefully inspected the ring cutter.
He was actually quite skilled in sword and shield combat, but this time he wasn't carrying a shield, only a sword. He hadn't felt anything before, but now he felt a void in his left hand, which made it awkward to wield the sword in his right hand. In short, everything felt uncomfortable.
He knew that his state of mind had subtly changed, which in turn affected his actions.
This isn't right; it needs to be adjusted.
"We'll depart in half an hour." Shao Shuyi's voice rang out again: "Yu She, are the provisions ready?"
"It's ready," Yu Yuan replied. "Each person will have six steamed buns a day, that's ninety a day, for a total of nine hundred, divided into six baskets."
"Where's the water?"
"As my brother instructed, I tried not to drink unboiled water, so I prepared fifteen water bags filled with warm water."
"What about the whetstone? What if the blade becomes dull or even dull after a fight?"
"I forgot to tell you, there are actually a few whetstones by the well, I'll go get them now."
"Don't rush," Shao Shuyi said again. "What about the gongs and drums? In the chaos of battle, everyone is fighting with all their might, and it's hard to hear anyone talking. How can we advance and retreat in an orderly manner?"
"It's all ready," Yu Yuan replied. "The drum is a waist drum used for dancing during the exorcism ritual. We don't have a gong, so may we use a bronze gong instead?"
"Okay," Shao Shuyi said. "I'll check if it works in a bit."
"Okay," Yu Yuan replied obediently.
"Put away the suona I brought back; it will be used as a signal when the suona is fired," Shao Shuyi instructed again.
"Okay, I understand." Yu Yuan nodded repeatedly.
"Let's count the arrows in my quiver again. Aren't there thirty?"
Shao Shuyi issued a series of orders and instructions, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
It's just robbery, why is it being made into a war?
Yang Liu was a veteran of the Hejian New Army and felt these things very deeply.
Although using the small waist drums used in exorcism dances as a signal for advancing troops is somewhat inappropriate, it certainly serves a purpose.
As soon as the drums sounded, everyone, no matter where they were on the ship, immediately went into battle mode. It was quick and efficient, much better than walking around and shouting.
The same principle applies to the sound of gongs. The moment the clear gong sounds, the fighting must cease and everyone must retreat immediately. It's just unknown whether anyone will step forward to cover the retreat; this requires a signal.
As for the suona, it was probably a signal used by the commander.
There's only one fire channel here, yet they're making such a big deal out of it; it's really outrageous.
Did this Brother Shao learn how to fight? Although they were all very basic things, very few people knew them and consciously applied them.
Furthermore, it's just a small gathering of a few dozen people, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?
Most of the time, everyone rushes in and kills each other in a frenzy, relying on their passion and ruthlessness, and that's pretty much the end of the game. You're doing it way too formally. Where did you learn that?
Yang Liu was both surprised and suspicious, but dared not say anything more.
After an unknown amount of time, Shao Shuyi issued another order: "Depart."
Everyone immediately stood up and swarmed around, each holding a weapon.
Wang Hua nodded to Shao Shuyi, went out to open the courtyard gate, called to the men standing guard in the fields outside, and set off first.
Shao Shuyi followed closely behind, with Kong Tie, Yu Yuan, and Liang Tai surrounding him.
"Brother Yang, stop looking around and let's go." Gao Daqiang nudged him and said, "I think Brother Shao is quite organized. As long as we find the thief, we're sure to get something."
Thieves? Even though he was a little nervous, Yang Liu was amused by those two words.
Who are the thieves? We are the thieves.
Gao Daqiang ignored him, called to the two boatmen behind him, and walked straight away.
Wu Heizi subconsciously quickened his pace and stepped out from the crowd.
Yang Liu's face darkened, and he turned his head, saying, "What are you standing there for? Let's go."
Qi Lao Er responded and hurriedly followed.
Under the cool moonlight, a group of fourteen people walked along the ridge of the field.
At the forefront were Wang Huadu, Li Fu, Qi Laoda, and a seaman, followed by Shao Shuyi and three others, and then Yang Liu, Gao Daqiang, and six others.
The line stretched out very long, vaguely divided into three groups: front, middle, and rear, which was quite unusual.
At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the large group arrived at the location of the Drilling Wind Sea Loach and took a short rest.
After dawn, it will be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.
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