Chapter 308 Chapter 278 Bloody

The convoy moved forward, but not fast.There is no urgent matter in returning to the emperor this time, it is purely to go back to participate in the year-end feast, and there are still 20 days left in the calculation.Du Wei was not in a hurry, anyway, even if he went back, it would be nothing more than an endless banquet, as long as he arrived before the annual ceremony of the regent. After ten days of departure, I have already passed through Nulin Province, and paid a visit to Governor Bohan on the way.However, in this year-end grand ceremony, Bohan was not recalled to the imperial capital by Prince Chen—according to him, he would be recalled to the imperial capital at the end of each year before the coup d'état failed. After the failure, Bohan never returned to the imperial capital.Obviously, this is also an obvious signal that he has fallen out of favor as an official of the Grand Prince's faction.

However, Bohan seemed to have seen through these things, and he didn't have the urge to be too depressed. Instead, he asked Du Wei to help bring some gifts back to the imperial capital to visit his family.According to the practice of the empire, any governor like Bohan, who is an important person in charge of the military and government, will have his family members stay in the imperial capital when he takes office.There is no need to explain the meaning of it. After driving for ten days, I left Nulin Province and entered the central part of the empire. I followed the main road to the east and then south, and then I reached the port upstream of the Lancang Grand Canal. Down the river, you can go directly to the imperial capital.

Although it is a little faster to go by land, after all, it is more comfortable to take a boat, and there is already a big boat under the name of Du Wei waiting at the port. ... Mingfan Port is the most upstream port of the Lancang Grand Canal, and it is also the last end of the Lancang Grand Canal to the west. The excavation of the Grand Canal ends here. Further west, there are dangerous rivers and several tributaries. As the last stop of the Grand Canal leading directly to the west, it is the busiest season in Mingfan Port every year to the end of the year... even the bustling level exceeds the annual summer celebration that Roland people value most.

Countless business groups and caravans come and go from here. The caravans from the west have to rush home before the end of the year, while the caravans from the east have to take advantage of this time to transport the most in-demand goods in winter. to the northwest. At this time of year, the river traffic is busy and the boats are very nervous. As an inland river port, Mingfan Port is already very big, but in the past few days, the berths of the wharf are still all full, and all merchant ships have declared that the space is full, so many caravans waiting for space, I had no choice but to live in a small town in the port.

This is a last resort. After all, the transportation cost of river transportation is much cheaper than that of water transportation. For the same goods, the transportation fee of water transportation is about four times more expensive than that of river transportation. Can be shipped. Du Wei and his party arrived at Mingfan Port in the evening.Thanks to this bustling port, this small town by the port has also benefited greatly. It has become a very lively market town, and even because of the caravans that exchange east and west, they bring all kinds of strange goods, making There are actually a large number of shops in this small town, and there are even a few high-end porcelain shops-compared to a town with a population of less than 20,000, this is already very rare.

The arrival of Du Wei and his party did not notify the security officials and the mayor of the town in advance, and they were directly blocked outside the town. There are too many caravans. I heard that in the past few days, there have been more than forty caravans in the small town. There is no room for people.And several warehouses at the port are already full.Some caravans that often travel to and from the Northwest are used to eating and sleeping in the open anyway, so they simply set up tent camps on both sides of the road outside the town, and send people to the port every day to inquire about news and see when there will be vacant space.

On the originally not too wide street, too many convoys and horses have blocked most of the roads. It took Du Wei's convoy two hours to arrive at the port. Finally, after the river transportation official at the port saw the family emblem on the carriage of Du Wei and his party—it was not because the river transportation official was proficient in insignia, but the only one in the entire empire who used the "flaming tulip" as an emblem was Such a one!Even an idiot can see it. Soon, the mayor and the sheriff rushed to the pier.Because there is no hotel in the town, Du Wei declined the mayor's proposal to invite him to live in his house, but decided to live on the boat.

But when Du Wei asked to leave immediately, the river transport officer had cold sweat on his face, and said falteringly, "My lord...it may be very difficult." Then, under Du Wei's questioning eyes, the river transport official explained the reason helplessly. Du Wei's big ship has been moored in the port for many days.Because Du Wei traveled slowly along the way, he was not sure when he would arrive, so the river transport officer ordered the boat to enter the auxiliary channel of the river in order to make room for the berth—after all, Du Wei’s boats were all Although this is the smallest sea ship, it is still a bit too big on the inland canal. Such a big ship never leaves, but stops at the port. During such peak and busy times, it occupies the The usual berths for two merchant ships are really a waste.

Du Wei's ship had already paid 15 days' berth fee, but in this busy season, the river transport officer ordered the refund of the berth fee and vacated the berth to other merchant ships. Originally thought that the Duke would be furious, but Du Wei just smiled, and instead patted the pale-faced river transport official on the shoulder, and said with a gentle smile: "Well, it's not your fault, it's my fault. You are a very good The official... Then I will live on the boat tonight, but I don’t know when the river will be free for me to go on the road?” "Probably tomorrow...tomorrow morning." The river transport official breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay." Du Wei shrugged his shoulders: "Okay, gentlemen, don't be too nervous. For me, it is also a wonderful thing to be able to close the night view of Mingfan Port here." The mayor and the river transportation officer were sent away, and Du Wei even declined the kindness of the town's sheriff to send soldiers to protect him.After all, in this busy season, there were only two hundred security guards in the port, and the manpower was already very tight.Moreover, Du Wei felt that he did not need any protection. "You didn't punish the officials? They took your berth and you paid for it."

After everyone left, Queen Medusa asked Du Wei: "This doesn't seem to be in line with the practices of your human nobles that I know." "How the nobles do it?" Du Wei smiled: "Who told you what the nobles did?" "Your fiancée." Queen Medusa said calmly: "During the days when she was with me in that town on the outskirts of the imperial capital, I asked her to read a lot of your human books to me. According to what I know What you human nobles have done, I am afraid that you will immediately order this river transport officer to be hung up and whipped." Du Wei shook his head: "He is a very good official. My ship is parked here. Although there is no my family badge on the ship, the sailors and captain on the ship are not dumb. So the river transport official will not know about this ship. Who does it belong to. But he still did it. It shows that he is a very pragmatic official. This matter is not his fault, but mine. " ... This is a sea soul-class ship, but it is already too big for an inland river.That night, Du Wei boarded the big boat in a small boat and lived on the boat, waiting for the river transport officials to clean up the river, ready to set off the next morning. The next morning, the ship finally docked at the berth of the pier. The river transportation official and the magistrate came to see Du Wei. Seeing that the Duke was about to leave, these people were also relieved. Although the Duke looked very friendly, after all, dealing with such a big man is really too stressful . Such a large ship entered the berth on the pier, and Du Wei's sailors were busy carrying the cargo.This sea soul-class ship is so big that even carriages and horses can be loaded on it. But here the sailors are busy, but there is a basket. Du Wei was sitting in the cabin drinking hot tea, when he heard loud and cursing voices from outside, the voice seemed not too far away, so he paid attention to it, and asked someone to open the window of the cabin, and he saw a group of people on the pier outside. The aliens from the Northwest in leather robes were crowding around their boat and yelling and cursing. Some aliens had already climbed the boat from all sides. Several sailors had bruised noses and swollen faces. Fortunately, Du Wei's guards I saw it and rushed up. The two sides had drawn their weapons and were confronting each other. These prairie people looked very domineering. Seeing that Du Wei had a few guards with swords on his side, he was not afraid, and the noise seemed to get louder. "What's going on?" Du Wei turned his head and glanced at the Heyun officer and the security officer beside him. The two guys were sweating, and the security officer hurriedly confessed his crime and ran out, calling a few security soldiers to come over from a distance.But this group of prairie people was only a dozen people at first, but after shouting, dozens of people gathered from the pier.Everyone on the prairie stood tall. Although these guys were all caravans, everyone carried a machete and would draw it at the first sight of a disagreement, so those who watched the excitement around stood far away. Although the sheriff had all gone out, these prairie people didn't seem to buy it, and the few leaders kept yelling and cursing at the sheriff. "What's going on?" Du Wei turned to look at Officer He Yun: "These prairie merchants are so arrogant here? How dare they even draw their swords in front of the imperial magistrate?" The official of the river transport had a bitter look on his face and was hesitating. Du Wei's face had already turned cold: "Yesterday I thought you were a good official, and I had a crush on you. Why are you so shy when facing these prairie people today? Don't you Did you take their benefits?" "Absolutely not!" Officer He Yun was taken aback, and then hurriedly said it out. It turns out that here in Mingfan Port, it is the hub of east-west transportation and river transportation. Among the businessmen who come and go, many are foreigners on the grassland. . Especially when this kind of river transportation is full of ships, other caravans are still willing to abide by the rules and honestly wait for the space to be arranged at the port and river transportation office. Bribe the river transport officer here to get yourself a space. Speaking of this, Du Wei smiled: "Oh? Then you must have made a lot of money recently, right?" "No, no!" The river transport official's face turned serious, and he immediately said: "Your Excellency, although I have some power in my hands now, I never dare to accept bribes! My subordinates, I often warn them severely , anyone who dares to take bribes and make random arrangements will eat my whip! You can send someone to inquire about it, and everyone in the town knows my reputation." Du Wei nodded: "Well, you dare to delay my boat, which shows that you are business-like. Well, I believe you on this point, so there is no need to explain. Tell me about these prairie people." The officer of the river transport had a look of resentment on his face: "My lord... If it is our own caravan, at most it will do some small tricks quietly and try to bribe... But these prairie people don't care about this, if they don't have a ship space When it comes to cabins, they often just draw their knives to grab them!" "Continue." Du Wei's face darkened slightly. "Prairie people have always been so barbaric in doing business, but because of the huge profits of grassland trade, many merchants are willing to take risks to trade with them. Twenty percent of the caravans coming and going to Mingfan Port are grassland people. And... Different from our people, the prairie people are the most united. Often as long as one caravan has a dispute with others, all the prairie caravans in the town will take weapons to help. It is a headache. They despise local officials, Even in the face of the soldiers of the public security station, they dare to draw their swords. The public security station in Mingfan Port only has two hundred people. It is okay to deal with a dozen prairie people, but if two or three prairie caravans gather together, it will be really difficult. It's difficult for people." "In such a busy time, the cabin is tight. If the goods are stored in the warehouse for an extra day, there will be an extra day of loss. The most common trick these prairie people use to snatch the cabin is to bring people in a crowd and run to the port to see, which one? If the ship is empty or is loading goods, gather a large number of people to rush up and occupy other people's ships first. Even if there are bad ones, just throw other people's goods into the water. If you wait for other caravans to come Theoretically, they drew their knives and threatened them. Even if the security team came, these people would just sit on the boat! Anyway, they rushed aboard, and they would not come down. We can’t do anything like this. We have encountered such a situation in the past This kind of thing, the caravans who are fed up often can only think that they are unlucky. When they come out to do business, everyone just wants to make money, but these prairie people are all desperadoes. Most of the caravans in our empire are unwilling to offend these prairie people. Fighting with them in vain." The more Du Wei heard it, the more gloomy his face became, and he sneered: "The public security office just ignores it? Those domestic businessmen who suffered losses didn't go to the public security office to complain?" "Of course there are... But my lord, as I said just now, the public security station is understaffed..." "Nonsense!" Du Wei said angrily, "What's the lack of manpower? I think it's because they are timid and afraid of getting into trouble!! People in the grassland are like wolves, bullying the weak and fearing the hard. If you really make up your mind to mess with them once and make them hurt, I'm so scared, they won't dare to mess around anymore! It's because of your blind tolerance that they got to where they are today!!" He Yun officer heard this, but his neck was stiff, and he protested: "Master Duke! I also understand what you said, and... we also made efforts, but the result is chilling!!" Du Wei was taken aback: "... Tell me about it." "The year before last, these prairie people were rampant. The sheriff and I couldn't stand it any longer, so we made up our minds to teach them a lesson. That time we dispatched all the soldiers from the public security station, and even some people from my river transport station brought He took up weapons and went into battle. He gave a harsh lesson to a prairie caravan who was doing evil. These prairie people injured other caravans on the pier, robbed their cabins, and lost their goods. More than half! Such evil deeds have already violated the imperial law! Moreover, after our people went there, they dared to openly resist the imperial security army by force, which added to the crime. In a fierce fight, the soldiers in our security station died Three, more than a dozen were injured, and a total of more than 60 prairie people were arrested! Although we felt sorry for the dead soldiers at the time, it would be a good thing if we could teach these prairie people a lesson! Those 60 or so prairie people were arrested After death, according to the imperial decree, even if they are not all executed, they should all be sent to Big Ear City to work as coolies!" "That's right, you've done a good job." Du Wei nodded: "And then?" "Then?" The river transport official raised his head with a look of grief and indignation: "My lord, guess what happened afterwards?" Du Wei's heart moved, and he had already vaguely guessed something. The river transport official's face was ashen, and he gritted his teeth: "Later, those more than 60 prairie people were locked up in the public security station for a few days, and an order came from above, not only ordered them to be released, but also detained their caravan. All the carriages, horses, and cargo were returned! The government even paid out a sum of money to compensate them for their 'loss'! This kind of thing made us blow our lungs! But later, even those who died in the capture of these grassland people Several soldiers, even the pensions were delayed for two months! And the sheriff at that time was dismissed!! My lord, do you think this result is chilling? We are not afraid of fighting with the grassland People do it, but after it's done, with this result... let's... let's..." At the end, the river transport official suddenly turned red and burst into tears. After hearing this, Du Wei was silent. He is very clear that the empire has lost control of the northwest in recent years, and the officials in the imperial capital are blindly seeking stability and peace for the prairie people blindly appeasement, for fear of causing the prairie people to rebel. The grassland merchants who came to do business in the empire became more and more arrogant, and I had heard it for a long time.When I first went to the Northwest and passed through Nulin Province, when I met Governor Bohan for the first time, I saw several leaders of the grassland caravan yelling at Governor Bohan, and even drew their knives to threaten him! That is the governor of a province of the empire!The grassland people dare to be openly rude, let alone the merchants and small officials who face these ports? Du Wei sits in the province of Desa, and the law enforcement is strict, and the battle of Gilliat City caused the prairie people to suffer, so the prairie people crossed the border to do business, and they were honest in Du Wei's territory. Old fashioned!In addition, they recognized that the official policy of the empire was weak and deceptive, and they became even more unscrupulous. This river transportation officer also seems to be a passionate person, but unfortunately, his edges and corners have been smoothed by the weak policies of those above, and his heart has been chilled. Thinking of this, Du Wei stood up, handed over a silk scarf, and said warmly: "Okay, wipe your tears, I understand, these things are not your fault. No wonder you are chilled when you encounter such a thing." The river transport official took Du Wei's silk scarf, his hands trembled, but tears flowed down his face. Du Wei walked to the hatch of the ship, looked outside, and the noise became louder. These prairie people gathered more and more, and there were about a hundred or so people. Seeing that there were only thirty or fifty people on Du Wei's boat, they were even more arrogant. From their experience, the Roland people were weak. The other party gave way to the cabin. At this moment, the magistrate was already sweating profusely, and he brought a few soldiers to stop on the pier, and shouted: "Everyone back off! Don't mess around!" Then he shouted to the leader of the prairie people: "You bastards, here This is not a place for you to mess around! This ship is not an official cargo ship! It is a private boat! The person on board is a nobleman! Come and grab it!" The prairie people didn't wait for the magistrate to finish, and one of the leaders held up a machete and cursed loudly: "I don't care if it's a cargo ship or a private ship! Our goods have been stored in the warehouse for a day, and if we delay any longer, winter will pass. The weather is getting warmer, who will come to buy fur goods? Even if it is a private ship, just deliver the goods to us, so what! What about the nobles! We grassland people don’t care about your nobles of the Roland people!" "Nonsense! Nonsense!" The magistrate looked like a mediocre man, and he shouted anxiously: "How many caravans are waiting, let alone a day, even if the goods have been left for three to five days! Why are you in a hurry! Listen to my words and retreat quickly, otherwise, the nobles on the boat who have offended you..." "What about us!" The leader of the prairie man looked arrogant, slashed his machete, and cursed with a smile: "It's not like we robbed his boat! It's just borrowing it, so what!" Seeing that the magistrate could no longer suppress the situation, the prairie people clamored, and several of them rushed up. The soldiers of the security station couldn't stop them. Du Wei watched the magistrate's incompetence from above, sneered, and called the guard elder Yan to give some instructions. Lao Yan immediately ran out, and after explaining in the ear of the sheriff, the sheriff was taken aback, looking at the chief guard in disbelief.Just as he was stunned, the prairie people rushed forward and rushed onto the boat.The people in the security station were dispersed, and two soldiers were squeezed and fell into the river. Many caravans on other ships and caravans on the pier saw it, and everyone looked helpless. They shook their heads and sighed at the weakness of the officials. Du Wei's men on the ship got the order and all moved out of the way, allowing these prairie people to rush forward and all boarded the deck. Hundreds of prairie people crowded on the deck. These people were probably used to robbing ships and they were very skilled. The leader called out: "Several brothers, go to the cabin to check and find some empty cabins for our cargo." , and then send a few brothers back to the wharf warehouse for people to deliver the goods, and the other brothers will follow me and wait here!" After finishing speaking, he sneered at the magistrate as if demonstrating: "We are already on board! If you want us to go down again, first ask if the scimitar in my hand agrees, and then ask my brothers if they agree!" Du Wei was already standing on the second deck of the cabin, watching the prairie people messing around below, he just sneered: "Old Yan?" "My lord!" Lao Yan immediately replied beside him. "Give me an order to raise our flag. Then... have someone withdraw the sampan! None of these prairie wolf cubs on the deck are allowed to disembark and run away!" ... These prairie people clamored for a while, and some people obeyed orders, but when they got to the side of the boat, they saw that some sailors had already withdrawn the sampan, so that no one could get off the boat. Just after reporting to the past, I heard a horn sound, and then on the second deck, above the flagpole, a golden flame tulip flag was quickly raised... These prairie people were attracted by the sound of the trumpet, and they looked up one after another. When everyone saw clearly that the grassland tulip flag was raised, most of them changed their faces! Even the tyrannical leader turned pale when he saw the tulip flag. These prairie people don't recognize other Roland noble flags, but why don't they recognize this tulip flag?When they came to do business within the empire, they all had to pass through Du Wei's territory!This year, in the battle of Jiliat City, the prairie people lost 20,000 cavalry and a shaman, and even the head of the golden wolf head was chopped off! Moreover, afterward, many captured prairie people had their heads beheaded, tied to a frame, and passed around in a carriage to all parts of the Desa province to parade in the streets! Everyone in the prairie knows that such iron and blood methods are the work of the Tulip Duke! Grassland people are like wolves. They bully the weak and fear the hard. If you are soft, they will bully them. If you are hard, they will be afraid of you.And Du Wei's iron and blood methods, coupled with the massacre of prisoners of war, and the behavior of parading corpses in the sun, made the grassland people even more frightened. All caravans passing through the Desa province were cautious and did not dare to make any mistakes. Here at the moment, seeing the tulip flag fluttering, everyone is terrified... At this time, several prairie people suddenly exclaimed. Around the deck, dozens of fully armed guards and warriors of the Tulip family rushed out from both sides. A small shortbow, the most elite shortbow of the Roland Empire military, has been loaded. Dozens of shortbows are facing the densely packed prairie people. The prairie people had already panicked, and the leader didn't dare to be tough anymore, and shouted: "We...we are businessmen, you can't hurt us casually...we..." Du Wei stood on the second deck with a cold face, and casually asked the river transport officer beside him: "Well, let me ask you, according to the imperial law, what is the crime of offending a duke?" "This... is regarded as a crime of contempt for the imperial decree and disrespect. The severe punishment is 30 lashes, and the lightest is..." Whipping? Du Wei sneered disdainfully: "Well, what if it's not an offense but an assassination? What is the crime of assassinating an imperial duke?" Officer Heyun trembled, and vaguely understood Du Wei's intentions, and said in a trembling voice: "If you plan...to assassinate, you will kill without pardon..." "Very good." Du Wei smiled lightly, pointed to the people below, and said with a smile: "You are a local official here, please give me a certification! You have seen with your own eyes that such a group of prairie people took Weapons rushed aboard my ship! My Duke’s flag was clearly hung on my ship! Is this considered convincing evidence? Hundreds of people with weapons, didn’t they want to assassinate me?” Officer He Yun only felt a chill rising from his back, and felt that although the Duke smiled gently, he faintly looked like a bloodthirsty lion. How could he dare to say anything nonsense at this moment, and nodded repeatedly: "Yes Your Excellency, I know how to write a report." "Very good. You are very good. I appreciate you very much." Du Wei praised him a few words, then turned around, and gave an order to Lao Yan lightly: "Get your men ready to strike." After the order was spoken, the transport officer immediately felt his legs go limp. Fortunately, even though he stood still, he couldn't help but whispered in a trembling voice: "My lord...you..." Du Wei ignored him, but said one more thing to Lao Yan: "All the assassins cut off their heads and left them for me... Well, don't these prairie people have a habit of using human heads to make some kind of head frame? There are more than a hundred heads, all of which were put on head frames for me , stand on this pier for three days!" After speaking, he smiled and patted the shoulder of the river transportation officer, and said with a gentle smile: "In this way, your work will be much easier in the future." Du Wei smiled very gently, without any fireworks.But in the eyes of this river transport officer, he could feel the cruelty in it... The river transport official's mind was already pale. The last thing he heard clearly was the Duke's last order in a soft and elegant voice: "Let go and kill, leave no one behind."