Chapter 129 The storm is surging! (Here it comes!)

Haizhou.

There is a large amount of food piled up on the dock. The dock workers carry the food one trip after another, loading the food into carriages. The food will be transported to various states and counties in Haizhou through these carriages. They will first give porridge and then distribute food to the victims.

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Tong Boding and Fan Wuji did not follow Zhang Heng back to Beijing, but stayed here to receive the arrival of the next grain ship from Quanzhou Maritime Merchant.

There wasn't much food delivered in the first trip. Firstly, this was just a try. Secondly, we were in a hurry and couldn't collect much at one time. Subsequent food shipments are still being gathered at various docks in Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and Mingzhou.

It is estimated that the next trip will be able to transport more than 100,000 shi of grain.

This is the advantage of sea transportation. Sea-going ships are much larger than inland ships, and the volume transported at one time is also much larger. It is estimated by Gao Yijian that one million stones of grain can be transported in about five or six trips. By then

Jianghuai's situation is much better.

Tong Boding and Fan Wuji stayed here for more than ten days, but they still did not see the arrival of the Quanzhou maritime merchant ship.

Fan Wuji asked: "Last time, the leader said how long it would take to make a round trip. I remember that it seemed that it took half a month to make a round trip, right?"

Tong Boding nodded: "What he said is that it can take as short as ten days and as long as half a month to make a round trip."

Fan Wuji looked at the vast sea and said, "Seventeen or eight days have passed, why are there still no people?"

Tong Boding also hesitated and said: "It is possible that matters at sea may be delayed for a few days, right?"

Fan Wuji's face was a little gloomy: "Don't they regret it? Or maybe they are waiting for a price and want to wait for the owner to give them feedback. Without feedback, they are unwilling to continue transporting grain?"

Tong Boding thought for a moment and said, "I don't think they are such people, right?"

Fan Wuji chuckled and said, "Who knows, those people don't look good, they all look like pirates. Who knows if they are honest or not!"

Tong Boding advised: "It's better not to say these words. It's not good to hear them. But I heard that people who live on the sea lick blood from the tip of a knife. It's normal to be more aggressive."

The two of them were just a little impatient with waiting, so they just chatted, not in public.

But the news came the next day. It was delivered by Quanzhou maritime merchants on the road. The two young men must have traveled day and night, and they looked shaky.

Tong Boding was surprised: "What happened?"

One of the young men said: "Shou Gang ordered me to come and inform you that our ships encountered a large number of pirates on the sea. After the fight, two of our grain ships were burned, and the rest were temporarily returned to Fuzhou.

, Chief Tsuna has gone back to regroup the troops, he should have set sail and will arrive in four or five days."

Tong Boding was surprised: "There are also pirates offshore?"

The young man gritted his teeth and said: "It must be the good deeds of Jiangnan maritime merchants! Pirates rarely come to the offshore, and generally they will not attack large ships, because if they fight, their casualties will be heavy."

Although two of our ships were burned this time, they were not feeling well and we also burned several ships. However, they had a large number of people on board, so they were temporarily defeated and could only retreat first, waiting for Mr. Gao and the others to reorganize more than a dozen ships.

We are heading north together, they can’t stop us!”

Fan Wuji was also very surprised: "Why are they doing this?"

The young man was a little tired. Tong Boding wanted him to rest, but the young man said he wanted to eat. Tong Boding quickly asked someone to arrange something to eat. The young man ate meat and drank wine, and for a while he became very excited and started chatting with Fan Wuji and Tong Boding.

"...Hmph, Jiangnan maritime merchants are not a thing, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, when we are at sea, we don't care about this. Anyway, if they want to fight or kill, just let them come. When they are alone, we also have to do it.

One vote gave them an advantage this time, and they will suffer the loss next time, hahaha!"

His words were full of heroism, as if he didn't care much about life and death.

His ferocity frightened both Fan Wuji and Tong Boding.

Tong Boding thought to himself: "As expected, they say that those in caves are not as good as those on the ground, and those on land are not as good as those on the sea. These ruthless bandits at sea really regard life and death as nothing."

His idea is correct. Most of the people in Bianjing City are rogues. Where are the gangsters? There is no discipline at sea, let alone pirates. If they see a lone ship, the crew will probably have to do it themselves.

It's hard to tell who the pirate is.

After such an accident, Tong Boding hurriedly wrote a letter to Zhang Heng to avoid affecting his employer's plan.

But not long after the letter was sent, another big thing happened. The transportation team organized by Haizhou was frequently robbed, people were killed, and food was robbed. Bandits even attacked the dock that night and took Haizhou to sea.

Zhizhou dispersed the government officials who had been arranged here, and then robbed some of the food. The rest that could not be moved was burned, and the dock was blazing with flames.

Fan Wuji was so angry that he stamped his feet: "You're going to kill these people. If you say you want to rob food, you'll rob it. If you can't take it away, just keep it for the victims. Why do you burn it with fire? These people will be punished by God!"

Damn it!"

Tong Boding looked gloomy: "Let's go!"

Fan Wuji asked: "Where to go?"

Tong Boding said: "Go to Haizhou, Luzhou and other places to see."

"What are you looking at?" Fan Wuji was still a little confused.

Tong Boding whispered: "Look who burned the food!"

Fan Wuji didn't quite understand, but he listened.

Tong Boding and Fan Wuji went all the way. When they met a grain shop, they went to buy a few kilograms of rice and noodles, asked about the price, and casually asked where the owner was, where the rice and noodles came from, etc. They visited for several days.

Tong Boding said: "That's all right, let's go back."

"What's the meaning?"

Tong Boding said: "I think I understand."

"Explain it to me clearly!" Fan Wuji grabbed Tong Boding's hand and said.

Tong Boding whispered: "There is probably a mastermind behind the attacks at sea and at the dock, and the masterminds are these grain merchants."

Fan Wuji was surprised: "Yes, when we communicated with these grain stores, they all said that the grain came from Hangzhou, and there were collusions on land and sea. Could it be Jiangnan maritime merchants?"

Tong Boding nodded and said: "Let's not say so much for now. Let's go back to the dock and take a look at what's going on on the sea."

The two young men had stayed on the pier waiting for the boat to arrive. Tong Boding and Fan Wuji returned to the pier, but the boat still did not appear. The two young men were also extremely anxious.

When the governor of Haizhou heard that the grain had been burned, he stamped his feet in anger and sent many people to guard the dock.

Haizhou is not very far from Bianjing, and the letter arrived in Bianjing in two days. When Zhang Heng received the letter, his whole face turned black with anger.

Tong Boding sent three letters one after another, each with worse news than the last. The grain ship was blocked on the sea, the grain on the dock was burned, and the price of grain in the disaster area soared more than ten times. If these things are connected, if nothing can be guessed,

That Zhang Heng's brain was kicked by a donkey.

"How dare they! Why are they so dark-hearted!"

Although Zhang Heng had known for a long time that profiteers could trample all justice and morality in the world, and he had seen many of them in later generations, but he was still shocked by such craziness.

Zhang Heng did not dare to delay and immediately went to see Zhao Zhen. Originally, a low-level official like him could not see Zhao Zhen, but Zhao Zhen gave him this power last time and allowed him to go and see him at any time.

Zhao Zhen listened to Zhang Heng's report and his face was very ugly, but he didn't say anything. He just said that he knew and drove Zhang Heng out.

Zhang Heng felt angry and anxious when he saw that Zhao Zhen was not paying attention, but sometimes it was so strange. When he was angry, his mind became very clear, and the problem he had been thinking about for a long time was solved.

Just when Zhang Heng was about to cause trouble, Xu Yuan suddenly came to see him.

Zhang Heng said in surprise: "Xu Zhongcheng, what are you doing? You must be very busy with water transportation. How do you have time to come here?"

Xu Yuan smiled and said: "Judge Zhang also knows that water transportation is very busy. Since he knows that he is very busy, it is very appropriate for you, the judge, to avoid working."

Zhang Heng was a little embarrassed. He became the transport judge, but he didn't do any official work at all. Xu Yuan took care of all the official work. Moreover, the mission of the transport judge has not been withdrawn yet. After he came back, he pretended that there was no such thing.

It's just a normal thing, and it really doesn't make sense.

Zhang Heng quickly apologized, but Xu Yuan smiled and said: "It's okay, it's not because of this that I came here today. Let's go, someone wants to see you."

Zhang Heng said in surprise: "Who wants to see me?"

Xu Yuan and Zhang Heng smiled, and Zhang Heng immediately responded: "Participate in politics?"

Xu Yuan nodded.

Xu Yuan was recommended by Fan Zhongyan. Who else could be able to summon Xu Yuan besides his benefactor?

Fan Zhongyan met Zhang Heng at the Political Council Office.

Zhang Heng was still a little nervous before seeing him.

After all, Fan Zhongyan is so famous in later generations!

Many future generations think that the Song Dynasty was too weak, but no one does not think that the prosperity of culture, people's livelihood, and economic development in the two Song Dynasties are better than those of the Han and Tang Dynasties. They also admit that this was the most comfortable era for literati and officials.

Six of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties" praised by later generations of scholars all lived in the Northern Song Dynasty. Neo-Confucianism, which had the most profound influence on later generations of Chinese culture, also originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and became complete in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty.

However, there are so many scholars, writers, great sages and celebrities who have been shining through the ages, active in this golden age of scholar-bureaucrats, but they all have a common spiritual idol, and this person is Fan Zhongyan.

Whether as a politician, a writer, a scholar, or even a military strategist, Fan Zhongyan has achieved more than his peers. More importantly, he has been almost impeccable in the virtues that Confucian scholars value most.

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Because Fan Zhongyan established his virtues, his words, and his merits.

Some people even think that Fan Zhongyan is the most perfect man in history.

We will ignore such comments for the time being, but Fan Zhongyan's reputation in the Song Dynasty is far greater than that in later generations.

Later, Wang Anshi was borrowed by someone to describe the people's expectations of the people of the Song Dynasty for Wang Anshi's coming to power. This reputation was very impressive, but compared with Fan Zhongyan, it was still slightly inferior.

After coming to this era, whenever someone talks about Fan Zhongyan, they always have complimentary words. Hearing it too much will still cause stress.
To be continued...