Chapter 225 Unexpected
It was still chilly in spring, and the coolies at the Datong Bridge wharf were wearing thinner clothes than each other. Some of those who had taken on the "big jobs" even went shirtless.
Sun Shaozong and Xu Shouye were sitting in the tea stall, watching this lively scene, and they couldn't help but feel a little agitated.
Xu Shouye rolled up his sleeves, revealing half of his bronze arms, and said enviously, "Sometimes I really want to be like these people, working hard all day to make money to support the family, without having to worry about anything else."
From the sound of it, it seems like he is quite dissatisfied with the current situation.
Sun Shaozong asked curiously, "Isn't it said that this job at the dock is a top-notch job? Why are you complaining?"
"It's fat, but it's also very annoying!"
Xu Shouye raised his head and drank a bowl of tea. He chewed the tea leaves and said incoherently, "We have to deal with all these officials coming and going. Even the rich dog owners should not be offended easily. How can the one who greets and sees off people all day look like a military general? He looks just like a brothel madam!"
Sun Shaozong laughed, pointed at his black bearded face, and joked: "If the madam of a brothel really looked like you, she would have lost all her underwear long ago."
As the two were chatting and laughing, they saw a commotion on the dock. Two merchant ships that were originally preparing to unload cargo suddenly removed the gangplank and hurriedly moved aside.
Soon after that, a passenger ship came and parked across the empty space with two flags, one big and one small, fluttering in the wind at the bow. The big one read "Imperial Inspector of Nine Provinces" and the small one read "Fu'ning Prefecture's Yamen".
Sun Shaozong and Xu Shouye looked at each other and realized that Xu Tai had arrived, so they hurriedly stood up and went to the dock to greet him - as for the tea money, the servant would be in charge of the settlement.
From a distance, they saw two naval captains, one tall and one fat, coming down from the boat with whips in hand. They shouted in a harsh voice and asked the coolies hired by the merchant ship to unload the cargo on their own ship first.
But even if there is no principle of first come first served, it is unreasonable for the laborers to unload the goods for others before others after they have received the deposit .
The foreman stepped forward and explained a few words with a smile, but was whipped on the head several times. He had no choice but to accept it and carried boxes of silk brocade from the boat.
"Sure enough, he is so arrogant. No wonder he was able to fend off Ma Xingyi."
Sun Shaozong smiled at Xu Shouye, hurried forward a few steps, aimed at the fat centurion who was beating people, and slapped him without saying a word!
There was a crisp sound, and the fat centurion turned around two and a half circles, then fell to the ground, tripping over his left foot and right foot. He groaned for a long time and was unable to recover.
The tall captain was startled at first, then flew into a rage, rolled up his sleeves and retreated, shouting, "Where did you come from, madman?! The people of Wang Taiwei, the inspector of the nine provinces, dare to dare to raise their hands recklessly, are they going to rebel?!"
"Rebellion?"
Sun Shaozong sneered, chased after him and kicked him in the heart, kicking him directly into the river.
"Master Baihu!"
"There's a thief trying to assassinate me!"
"Catch the thief!"
At this time, more than a dozen sailors came down from the ship, some holding weapons and some with bare hands. They were noisy and first accused the two of being thieves and were about to surround and attack them.
Xu Shouye was at a loss when he saw Sun Shaozong coming up and attacking him without saying a word. However, seeing this, he gritted his teeth and rushed forward, saying proudly: "I am Xu Shouye, a captain of the patrol camp, and this is Lord Sun, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. Who dares to attack me recklessly?!"
At this time, the officers and soldiers had also rushed over after hearing the news. They saw from afar that Xu Shouye was in conflict with others, and they shouted at the sailors to put down their weapons and surrender.
At this moment, the fat centurion spat out two molar teeth, and finally recovered a little. He shouted like a pig being slaughtered: "Even if it is the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, there is no reason to hit someone without asking the right and wrong questions! You must know that Wang Tai... uh~!"
Before the fat captain could finish the three words "Wang Taiwei", Sun Shaozong stepped on him and made him roll his eyes. He leaned over and sneered, "How dare you mention Wang Taiwei! Although I have no chance to meet the Taiwei, I have a close relationship with the Taiwei's son-in-law, so I know that what Wang Taiwei hates most is people using his name to do business!"
"You are flying the official flag of Grand Marshal Wang, but you are unloading so many private goods. Aren't you deliberately trying to discredit him? I just took action for the sake of Grand Marshal's reputation!"
The fat captain was stunned. How could he have thought that the amulet he had brought along along the way would become the reason for his beating?
Sun Shaozong suddenly let him go and asked sullenly, "Isn't Xu Zhizhou also on your ship? Why don't you see him coming out?"
"Xu Zhizhou?"
The fat captain, who could not keep up with his footsteps, was stunned for a long time. When he saw Sun Shaozong stepping on him again, he hurriedly said, "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and call Xu Zhizhou out!"
The dozen or so sailors were now surrounded by more than twenty officers and soldiers from the patrol battalion. They had long lost the courage to fight and kill. Upon hearing this, most of them ran back to the boat and pulled out a tall man like a thin bamboo pole from the bottom of the cabin.
"Old Xu!"
Seeing the man's skinny appearance, Xu Shouye was horrified. He jumped onto the boat in two steps, grabbed the man's arm, and said, "You...you...this..."
After saying this for a long while, he suddenly turned around and glared at the fat centurion, gritting his teeth and cursing, "You bastard, this is what you call escort?!"
Seeing that Xu Tai, who was known for his sturdy build, was tortured into a consumptive state, Sun Shaozong was very angry and was about to kick the fat centurion again.
"Brother Shao Zong, please don't make things difficult for them."
Unexpectedly, Xu Tai hurriedly shouted: "The reason I'm in this state now is because I was injured in the ninth year of Guangde, but it has nothing to do with them."
Sun Shaozong then let the fat centurion go, pointed at the box and warned him, "Remember to report it to the Ministry of War, and use it as military supplies."
As he spoke, he bowed to Xu Tai from a distance and said with a smile: "Brother Xu, Shouye and I have already ordered a table of good wine, and we are waiting to welcome you!"
Unexpectedly, Xu Tai shook his head and said, "I am a guilty person. I really don't deserve such kindness from you two young brothers."
Seeing that Sun Shaozong and Xu Shouye both looked puzzled, he sighed again and said, "To be honest, before I went to Beijing, General Wang met with me in person and analyzed the situation of the nine provinces in the southeast. Only then did I realize that I was an ignorant lunatic who only saw the world from a well."
I'll go~
Sun Shaozong and Xu Shouye, who were on one boat and off another, were dumbfounded when they heard this - just now they were still thinking hard about how to protect Xu Tai from the wind and rain, but they never expected that he had already given in!
