Chapter 3 The three baron's ship was seized in Jiujiang

More than ten days ago, Xiao Fusi, who was honored as a baron, received an imperial edict agreeing that he return to his hometown of Xiangxiang to attend his father's funeral.As early as the days surrounding Jinling, he had inquired clearly: the gold and silver treasures in the city, firstly, there were more officials of the Heavenly King, and secondly, the two elder brothers of the Heavenly King believed in King Yong.That day, he led his troops into the city of Jinling and first aimed at the Tianwang Palace.But the battle outside the palace was fierce, and he couldn't get in for a while, so he turned to fight Yongwang's mansion.After searching and searching, when he found Prince Yong's Mansion, Zhu Hongzhang's Huanzi Camp had already taken the lead, so he hurried to Prince Xin's Mansion.Some people in the Jiezi camp were besieging, and his subordinates relied on the large number of people to drive away the Jiezi camp, and surrounded the three floors of Xinwang's mansion, and did not allow others to get involved.Prince Xin's Mansion was brought down, and indeed, gold and silver were like mountains, and goods were like seas.Xiao Fusi divided the wealth into three parts.He has one share for himself, and the remaining two shares will be divided among his generals.The generals received a lot of property according to their official positions.Ordinary Yong Ding, the strong ones got some, but the weak ones couldn't get it, so they went around robbing each other, and everything that could be exchanged for money went into their pockets.

Xiao Fusi's share was worth at least four or five million taels of silver. His nephew Xiao Bendao supervised the carpenter to make a hundred boxes and packed them all.Qian Xiang has transported two ships ahead.This time, I hired a strong ship on the Yangtze River, and quietly transported the remaining fifty wooden boxes containing gold, silver and jewelry to the ship.Xiao Bendao bought three young and beautiful women in the Fangshan area with a lot of money, kept one for himself, and gave two to his uncle.After receiving the decree, Xiao Fusi, who was sad on the surface but happy in the heart, boarded the big ship containing fifty boxes of gold and silver, took her nephew, three beautiful Jiangnan girls and a few personal soldiers, bid farewell to everyone, set anchor and sailed, and went back to Jiangxi. superior.

There have always been a lot of bandits on both sides of the Yangtze River, Xiao Fusi didn't dare to be careless, he built fifty wooden boxes in the back cabin, covered them with old oilcloth, so they couldn't be found easily.He, his nephew and his own soldiers all dressed up as ordinary merchants.In order to make the boat go faster, he doubled the boat price to the boat owner, encouraging the boat owner to get up early and drive late, and sometimes his own soldiers helped to row the oars.All the docks along the way are large wharves, and there are many people on the boat, which is safer.If there is really no big wharf, Xiao Bendao will take his own soldiers, hide sharp knives in his clothes, and patrol the shore all night without sleep as soon as the boat stops.They are all battle-tested men with outstanding abilities, and one can be worth ten.Therefore, since the boat sailed from Jiangning, the journey has been smooth. Although it is Shangshui, it is not slow to travel a hundred or twenty or thirty miles a day.This morning, I saw Jiujiang City from a distance.Xiao Fusi rejoiced in his heart, nearly 20% of the 30% of the Yangtze River waterway has been traveled, and he will arrive at Yuezhou Mansion in seven or eight days; as long as he enters Hunan, he can rest assured.

In the evening, the ship berthed at Jiujiang Wharf.Xiao Bendao went ashore with two soldiers, bought back marinated chicken, duck and beef, carried a basket of fresh fruits, and held a jar of Xunyangqiu strong wine. The crew on the boat burned two large herrings from the Yangtze River.The boat was full of more than a dozen men, happily drinking and eating meat, and guessing and playing games; three Jiangnan women were also eating at the side, watching them have fun. While eating and drinking on the boat, a team of 300 to 400 people gathered on the shore at some point, all of them were dressed in neat uniforms of the green battalion, with guns and knives in their hands, and one of them was wearing a guerrilla suit riding a tall horse, with cold eyes Looking at the hundreds of ships of all sizes moored on the shore.A soldier shouted: "Under the order of Governor Shen, all ships docking at this wharf, regardless of official ships, civilian ships, merchant ships, and cargo ships, will be inspected. Anyone who resists will be arrested and brought to justice. No tolerance will be tolerated."

Everyone on board was surprised.Xiao Bendao looked at his uncle nervously, only to see Xiao Fusi's expression was calm, without the slightest panic, and said loudly to everyone: "Come on, let's drink our wine, let him check if he likes to check, it's going to rain, mother If you want to marry, we don't care about him." Seeing his uncle's expression, Xiao Bendao felt a little more at ease, but still uneasy.He is not afraid of robbers and robbers, what is afraid of is this kind of high-sounding order inspection, not to mention that he has long heard that the governor of Jiangxi, Shen Baozhen, is not afraid of heaven and earth, with a stern face. , instead of helping, he kicked him in the face, which almost ruined the overall situation.What if they were serious and the contents of the wooden box were exposed?He had no intention of drinking, so he dragged his uncle into the back cabin, where the uncle and nephew discussed it for a while.

"Where is this boat going?" a small official who looked like Mr. Qian yelled on the shore, and then more than a dozen heavily armed soldiers stepped aggressively across the gangway and boarded the boat. "Boss, this ship is bound for Yuezhou." The owner of the ship hurried out of the cabin and answered.While talking, Mr. Qian also boarded the boat. "Is the cargo owner on board?" Mr. Qian asked. "Yes." Xiao Bendao walked over hurriedly, with a humble attitude. "What are you pretending to be?" Boss Qian tensed his face. "Nothing, dozens of boxes of porcelain clay." Xiao Bendao replied straightforwardly.

"Porcelain clay?" Mr. Qian asked strangely, "Is it porcelain clay from Jingdezhen?" "Boss, it's like this." Xiao Bendao bent down and said, "We are from Changsha Tongguan Porcelain Factory. Last month, a master who was a high-ranking official in the imperial court wanted to celebrate his mother's 90th birthday and ordered from our factory. The cups, plates and bowls of the one-hundred-table banquet should be burnt with the words "Congratulations to the loving mother Jiuzhi's birthday". Determined to make one hundred sets of the best tableware. Tongguan has a good cellar master, but the clay is not good. The boss specially asked the guys to go to Jingdezhen, Guizhou Province, and bought 50 boxes of high-quality porcelain clay to ship back. Copper officer. Boss, the box is full of mud."

Mr. Qian walked into the cabin, drew out his waist knife, and opened the old oilcloth, revealing fifty new wooden boxes neatly stacked.He tapped on the boxboard with his waist knife: "Is it all mud?" "That's right, it's all mud." Xiao Bendao looked happy. "Pry it open and have a look!" Mr. Qian stared at Xiao Ben and shouted. "You ignorant bastard, the boss doesn't treat you well when he comes." Xiao Fusi suddenly broke into the cabin and cursed at her nephew. "This is my uncle." Xiao Bendao introduced to Mr. Qian. "Boss, say a few words here." Xiao Fusi took Boss Qian's hand and walked to the back of the boat cabin.He took out two three-inch long garlic strips from his pocket and stuffed them into Mr. Qian's pocket. "It's a small thing, buy two glasses of wine for the brothers, please raise your hand and forgive me."

Mr. Qian touched the two stiff gold bars in his pocket, and thought to himself: These two bars may weigh half a catty. If you don't share them out, it will be enough for the rest of your life. Even if you share some out, you will get a fortune. Considerable property.Don't want the windfall you get, that's the real fool, what's in his box is none of my business! "Boss, is this box really filled with porcelain clay?" Mr. Qian calmed down and asked Xiao Fusi again. "Boss, we are all loyal men, will we still harm you? Don't worry, go to work, the box is full of high-quality Jingdezhen porcelain clay!"

Xiao Fusi opened her blouse, revealing her chest with a mountain leopard tattoo, and burst out laughing.When Qian Zong saw it, he was shocked: This is not a gangster!Is the wooden box filled with opium or foreign guns?Just as he was about to yell, his fingers touched the hard gold bar again, and his voice immediately became hoarse.He walked out of the cabin and waved his hand at a dozen soldiers: "Brothers, get off the boat! The wooden box contains Jingdezhen porcelain clay, I have seen it all!" After Mr. Qian brought all the soldiers off the boat, Xiao Fusi clinked glasses with everyone again, shouting loudly, completely ignoring the heavily guarded troops.The people who were ordered to search all went back to work, the shore became quiet, and the sound of finger-guessing orders on Xiao Fusi's boat became more heated.Half an hour later, another group of lanterns and torches lit up on the bank, and they walked down the stone steps noisily, towards the river.The people in the cabin were all surprised: Why did the one who was checked just now come again?Xiao Bendao put down his chopsticks and said, "Third Uncle, I'll go ashore to have a look." Xiao Fusi nodded, feeling a little puzzled.

Xiao Bendao came ashore, and saw that there were not as many people as before, but judging from the distinctive armor on their bodies, their status seemed to be higher, and there were four or five more horses, and the leader was a general.Xiao Bendao thought: It's not a small background, time and time again, what are you going to do?I saw a Dusi riding a horse talking: "Everyone, don't panic. To tell you the truth, the prince who was going to the capital was robbed by robbers and lost a large amount of gold, silver and jewels. According to investigations, he will pass through Jiujiang in the next few days. Why don't you The bandits slipped through the border, and General Gou and his brothers were ordered by Governor Shen to conduct another search. This time, only large boats will be searched, not small boats." After finishing speaking, he jumped off his horse, and several other military officers on horseback also jumped off their horses. They each led a dozen or twenty people and ran towards several big boats by the river. Only the general general Gou was still sitting on the horseback. On the ground, watching this very rare search with a murderous look on his face. Xiao Bendao quickly ran to the boat.Before he could finish telling his uncle what he had heard, Du Si had already led more than twenty soldiers across the gangway to the deck ferociously. "Who is in charge of the ship, why don't you get out of here!" Du Si was furious when he saw that no one came out to pick him up when the cabin was full. The boss of the boat was about to get up when Xiao Fusi held him down.He stood up, straightened his clothes, and swaggered out of the cabin. "Are you deaf? I brought more than twenty brothers to the boat, but you didn't hear the sound?" Du Si shouted. "Boss calm down, I am indeed a little deaf." Xiao Fusi replied with a smile all over her face. "This is our Master Sixiang, you have to understand!" A soldier glared at Xiao Fusi. The former admiral of the Fujian Land Road couldn't help laughing in his heart, and said in his mouth: "Yo, I really don't know Mount Tai with my eyes. It turns out that Xiang Dusi has neglected me." "I don't have the time to talk to you! What's on your boat, tell me honestly!" Du Si was still vicious. "The boat is loaded with porcelain clay, the boss has inspected it one by one just now." "Porcelain clay?" Du Si was puzzled, "What is porcelain clay?" Xiao Fusi didn't even know about porcelain clay, so Xiao Fusi almost laughed out loud.He suppressed a smile and said, "Porcelain clay is the clay used to make porcelain." "Where are you taking the mud?" "Shipping back to Hunan." "Bastard, you Hunan don't even have mud for bowls, you're obviously lying!" Du Si scolded loudly. Xiao Fusi was taken aback, so were Xiao Bendao and Manchuan men and women. "Xiangdusi." Xiao Fusi said as he took a step forward, "Although we have clay for making porcelain in Hunan, it is not as good as Jingdezhen, so we come here to pretend." "It's mud, I want to take a look!" Turning his face to Du Si, he ordered the soldiers, "Go into the cabin and open all the boxes!" When Xiao Bendao heard this, his face turned pale, and he was eager to step forward to stop them, but the third uncle was dealing with them, and it was inconvenient to make his own decisions. "Slow down, Dusi Xiang, go into the cabin and say a few words." Xiao Fusi stretched out both arms, making a blocking gesture.He thought about repeating the old tricks, and considering that this dude was hard to deal with, he had to add at least one garlic stick. "If you have anything to say, just say it here!" Xiao Fusi didn't expect Du Si not to accept this.He froze for a moment, and then said: "I have a jar of hundred-year-old wine, which was just unsealed last night, please do me a favor by entering the cabin and have a sip!" "Century-year-old wine?" Du Si was both surprised and delighted, "Okay, let's taste how it tastes!" It turns out that Xiang Dusi is a drunkard, and when he hears about good wine, he can't help but salivate.Xiao Fusi was secretly happy, and asked her nephew to open a jar of good wine snatched from the Tianjing Palace, and poured a big bowl full.Du Si took the bowl, and before he drank it, his voice was hoarse from the strong aroma of the wine.After taking a sip, he repeatedly praised: "Good wine, good wine!" As he spoke, the whole bowl of wine had entered his belly. "Xiang Dusi, to be honest, this altar of wine was buried in the soil by my great-grandfather in the 20th year of Qianlong, and it has been 110 years. Today is his 150th birthday, let's drink more Two bowls." While Xiao Fusi was talking, Xiao Bendao poured another bowl, and Dusi drank it up without saying a word.When Xiao Bendao was about to fall again, Du Si waved his hand: "I don't want to drink anymore, I have to work. How about this, brothers don't do anything, open it yourself!" As Du Si spoke, he felt a little dizzy, and was about to sit down, when Xiao Fusi held him up by the waist, and with one hand he took out three golden bars from his coat pocket: "Little boy, take it!" Unexpectedly, Na Dusi pushed it with his hand and said, "I don't want this, you can give me that jar of old wine!" "Okay, I'll give you the wine too, and you'll take this too." Saying that, he forced the gold bar onto Du Si. "Xiang Kaishan, you son of a bitch, where did you go!" A loud question came, and then a tall man walked in. Xiang Kaishan opened his drunken eyes and took a look, he was shocked: "Gou, Gou lord, the humble job is here, here, search, search!" Gou Shenjiang frowned, saw the wine jar with the lid opened, and became annoyed: "Xiang Kaishan, you actually drank here, I will kill you!" Gou Shenjiang rushed forward and grabbed Du Si's shirt.Suddenly, the hand was touched by those few hard gold bars.He let go, and found three gold bars from Xiang Kaishan's pocket. "What is this? Bastard, I told you to lead someone to search, but you're taking bribes. Someone is here!" Immediately, three or four people came in from the cabin, "Tie up Xiang Kaishan!" Two soldiers pulled Xiang Kaishan out of the cabin. "Search! Search through boxes and cabinets for me!" The soldiers searched wildly. Facing this sudden change, Xiao Fusi was not prepared at all, panicked a little, and then quickly calmed down. "Lord Gou, this wooden box is filled with gold!" a soldier exclaimed. "Lord Gou, this box is full of jewels!" Another soldier shouted. "It's the same with this one, it's all gold and silver!" cried the third one too. Gou Shen went over and saw that the three opened boxes were full of dazzling gold and silver treasures.He squinted his eyes, walked in front of Xiao Fusi with a smile on his face, stared at it for a long time, and then shouted loudly: "You gang of lawless robbers have finally escaped my Gou's grasp!" Laughed wildly. Xiao Bendao rushed over and shouted: "We are not robbers!" "Not a robber?" The general said with a sneer, "The stolen goods are here, do you want to rely on them?" "This is not stolen goods!" Xiao Bendao continued to defend. "Stop talking!" Xiao Fusi stopped her nephew, and said to the general, "Take me to see Shen Baozhen, I have something to say to him." "Huh! What a big tone, Master Shen's name is yours?" Gou Shen put his hands on his hips and looked at Xiao Fusi, "Okay, Master Shen is sitting in Jiujiang right now, come ashore with me to meet him!" After going ashore, Xiao Fusi was sent to a small room in the Yamen of Jiujiang Bingbei Road, and General Gou Shen went to report to Shen Baozhen.After a while, he brought back Shen Baozhen's instructions: "This is an important case of robbing the palace, and you must go back to Nanchang to try it yourself. All stolen goods will be sealed up, and all the men and women on board will be escorted to Nanchang." Xiao Fusi was furious, and yelled at General Gou Shen: "Go and tell that boy Shen Baozhen that I am not some robber who robbed the palace, I am the first person to attack Jinling!" General Gou Shen smiled and said: "I advise you to go to Nanchang honestly and confess the truth. A good man should be a good man, don't pretend to be the first person to attack Jinling. If you take ten thousand steps back, even if you really attacked Jinling The Hunan Army, we also know that group of guys, setting fire to the city and looting houses is not much better than robbers!" These few words made Xiao Fusi furious, really wanted to cut off his rotten tongue, and said in his heart: "When we arrive in Nanchang, we will settle accounts with you after meeting Shen Baozhen!" On the second day after arriving in Nanchang, Xiao Fusi was escorted to the Jiangxi Governor's Hall.I saw that the atmosphere in the large hall was solemn, and there were more than a dozen government servants holding water and fire sticks standing on both sides. In the middle of the back of the big table, sat Shen Baozhen, who was wearing a second-rank court uniform.This Lin Zexu's nephew and son-in-law is known for being ruthless.At this moment, with a livid face, he shouted to the people below: "Who is in custody, please report the name!" Xiao Fusi raised her head, stared at Shen Baozhen, and replied loudly: "Master Shen, I am Xiao Fusi!" "Xiao Fusi?" Shen Baozhen asked in surprise, "Are you Xiao Fusi who was made a baron under Zeng Jiushuai?" "Yes, I am Xiao Fusi, the battalion officer of Jiezi under the Nine Marshals and the former admiral of the Fujian Land Route." "Then why didn't you lead the soldiers in Jiangning City, but ran into them at Jiujiang Wharf?" Shen Baozhen asked. "My father passed away last month, and I went home to attend the funeral." "A funeral? Then why are there women on board? What happened to the fifty boxes of gold and silver?" Shen Baozhen chased after her, not because Xiao Fusi's self-reported name changed his attitude. Xiao Fusi became anxious, and said: "Master Shen, please go to the inner room, I will explain everything to you." Shen Baozhen hesitated, and said, "Okay, follow me to the signing room." Shen and Xiao had never met each other before.As soon as Shen Baozhen waited for Xiao Fusi to sit down, he asked: "You say you are Xiao Fusi, do you have evidence?" Xiao Fusi took out a letter from his pocket, handed it over and said, "This is a letter written by Zeng Zhongtang before I left Jiangning. Master Shen must recognize Zeng Zhongtang's handwriting." "Of course I can read his handwriting." Shen Baozhen took out a piece of paper from the envelope while talking.It was written on the paper: Brother Fusi lost his close relatives, and I would like to prepare a hundred taels of ceremony, a section of sacrificial scrolls, and a pair of elegiac couplets, so as to mourn.Zeng Guofan wept and bowed. Shen Baozhen hurriedly put the letter back into the envelope, handed it to Xiao Fusi with both hands, got up, straightened his clothes and hat, made a bow to Xiao Fusi, and said: "Sure enough, it's Xiao Jun's family, I'm rude!" shouted at the door , "Give tea to Xiao Junmen!" Immediately, a little boy came in and put a cup of fragrant tea in front of Xiao Fusi.Xiao Fusi picked up the teacup and took a sip, then said: "Lord Shen, it's important to go home to mourn after a humble job, please let me go!" "Xiao Junmen, don't blame the official's abruptness. I really didn't know it beforehand." Shen Baozhen touched his chin and said slowly, "The search at Jiujiang Wharf was originally to catch the wanted criminal. To be honest, General Gou Shen will When you were taken to the Yamen of Jiujiang, the subordinate officials thought they had caught the robbers who robbed the palace, so they hurriedly reported the situation to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor." "What? It's unreasonable for you to play the Empress Dowager and the Emperor without even asking!" Xiao Fusi became angry. "Xiao Junmen." Shen Baozhen's face darkened, "Although the lower officials have not tried it, they inspected the fifty boxes of goods one by one, and they are almost the same as the sea arrest documents issued by the imperial court, so they are 80% sure about this matter." "It's ridiculous for you to do this!" Xiao Fusi was extremely angry, not because of the laws of the country, he really wanted to beat this hateful Shen Baozhen severely. "Absurd?" Shen Baozhen said with a long face, "The one who is really absurd is your Xiao Junmen, not the lower official. The lower official asks you, where did these fifty boxes of gold and silver treasures come from?" "This is not mine alone. It is the property of all the brothers in Jieziying. I will take it back to my hometown in Hunan." Xiao Fusi had already thought about the answer. "Xiao Junmen, you answer like this. You think you are smart, but you can't deceive the world. Everyone in the world knows that your Xiang army attacked Jiangning and looted Chang Mao's property. Every general made a fortune. You five Ten boxes of treasures are a proof." "Master Shen, please don't mistake the rumors, these fifty boxes of things really do not belong to someone from me, Xiao." Xiao Fusi's tone has dropped. "I won't argue with you about this matter. Let me ask you again, since you are going home for a funeral, why did you bring a woman on board?" Shen Baozhen asked with a straight face. The atmosphere in the signing room was no less relaxed than that in the courtroom.Xiao Fusi knew she was wrong, so she just lowered her head and remained silent. "Brother!" Shen Baozhen stood up, paced around the room, pretending to be earnest, "Don't blame me, you really are too thoughtless." "Okay, even if I don't think twice, let me go!" Xiao Fusi said, with a hint of pleading in her tone. "How can I let you go? You have to wait for the imperial edict in Nanchang City." "The imperial decree arrests robbers, not me!" Xiao Fusi became timid.He was worried that if things got worse, it wouldn't end. "I can't let you go!" Shen Baozhen said resolutely, "You are a dignified second-rank official. On the way to the funeral, you took women and a large amount of gold and silver with you, which violated the laws of the country. Don't let me know. Now that I know, You have to play the queen mother and the emperor, and wait for the queen mother and the emperor to deal with. Xiao Junmen, I have wronged you, so you can stay in Nanchang for half a month! I will treat you well." Xiao Fusi had already heard the meaning of Shen Baozhen's words, it seemed that she came here intentionally at him, he was a little disappointed: "You really won't let me go?" "Really not let go!" Shen Baozhen immediately replied, "Xiao Junmen, you may not know who I am, Shen. I have always followed my uncle Wen Zhonggong as an example, and my family and relatives would not recognize me when I was in office. To tell you the truth, if it weren't for you, Xiao If it’s military, but Jiangxi local civil and military, I’m sorry, I have dismissed him and investigated him, and put him in prison.” Xiao Fusi was discouraged, and it took a long time to say: "In that case, I will wait for the imperial edict in Nanchang City. How about letting my nephew go back to his hometown to report a letter?" "That's fine." Shen Baozhen readily agreed. "If you have anything to do, leave it to your nephew!" So Xiao Fusi called his nephew to his side and told him to hurry to Jiangning City, tell Zeng Guofan the whole story, and ask him to rescue him. The next day, Xiao Bendao left Nanchang with a small burden on his back, rushed to Jiujiang, and took a fast boat going east, wishing that the boat would fly to Jiangning immediately like a flying arrow.Unexpectedly, the more urgent the more accidents occurred, and encountered troubles on the way.