Chapter 42: Liang County Pier Robbery
Li Ji saw that everyone was surprised and said loudly:
"Those who do great things should not be too particular about small details. Those who gather great achievements should be open-minded. I agree with Chief Li's idea and join the Wagang Army. "
Li Ji ordered the guards to bring several large jars of "Gaoliang Red" liquor and pour the liquor into a large copper basin.
Li Ji took out his sword, rolled up his sleeves, and with a "swish" sound, the blade flashed and blood splattered in the copper basin.
Li Ai followed Li Ji's example and rolled up his sleeves. With just a stroke, a trickle of blood flowed into the basin like a rainbow piercing the sun.
All the leaders present rolled up their sleeves and cut their wrists, and their blood flowed into the wine.
The guard brought in a large stack of Black Sea bowls.
The large bowls were lined up on the large table in the meeting room.
Crash!
Fill them all with blood wine.
Li Ji sang loudly:
"We swore an oath of blood to fight for the Sui Dynasty. Life and death are determined by fate. My fate is in my hands, not in the hands of God!"
He picked up a bowl of blood wine and drank it all.
Li Ai recited:
"The Sui government was immoral, the people were living in misery, starving people were everywhere, and all living things were poisoned."
He paused, then shouted:
"Rob the rich to help the poor, eradicate corruption, restore order, and bring peace and prosperity to the world."
The leaders shouted:
"Be loyal to the master, obey orders, and fight for the Central Plains. Who else but me can do it?"
Li Ai took the lead, and all the leaders held up the wine bowls with both hands and knelt down to pay homage to Li Ji again.
Everyone knelt on the ground, raised their wine bowls above their brows, and then said yes in unison.
"promise!"
The cheers were earth-shaking.
Clatter, gurgle, gurgle...
Then flash in seconds!
Bowl after bowl of blood wine was immediately poured into the throats of the heroes.
Li Ji saw the crowd was getting excited, so he said:
"Xingyang and Liangjun are where the Bian River flows, and there are many merchants and travelers. If we seize merchant ships there, we can be self-sufficient."
Li Ai responded: "All leaders, listen to my order. First, rob the merchant ships passing through Liang County."
Li Ji said: "When robbing a merchant, we must act quickly. We must only rob property, not kill people. Those who disobey the order will be executed!"
After he finished speaking, he counted with his fingers and then said mysteriously:
"Tomorrow evening at midnight, a cargo ship of Yu Wenzhi will pass through Liangjun."
Li Ai asked: "My Lord, Yu Wenzhi often does business with the Turks. What kind of goods are on this ship?"
Li Ji whispered, "They are all top-quality furs. I've observed the clouds and weather, and I think a cold current will move southward in the next few days."
Li Ai shouted happily: "My Lord, I will take people to rob it and make cloaks for my brothers."
"This is a good idea. Robbing Yu Wenzhi is the best deal."
Li Ji took a sip of wine and said loudly:
"Yuwen Huaji didn't have any special abilities, but his father, Yuwen Shu, was a favorite of Yang Guang and had great power in the government."
Li Ai smiled and said, "My Lord, don't worry. If Yuwen Shu can command the Sui army to attack us, we can kill him."
Li Ji said with a smile: "Butler, it is not a wise move to take the life of an old minister. We need Yu Wenzhi to supply us with goods continuously."
Li Ji turned around and looked at everyone, "Think about it, which is more satisfying, killing people or getting cold-resistant supplies?"
The second leader Yu Cheng replied:
"If we have money and supplies, we won't starve or freeze to death. Of course, it's great to get supplies."
Li Ai deployed the troops separately and immediately followed the strategy set by Li Ji.
The first stop is Xingze Wharf in Xingyang County.
Li Ji was waiting for good news in the camp.
Li Ai took Yu Cheng with her, and at nightfall, a small team quietly set out.
On the wide surface of Tongji Canal, one can see white sails, flickering lights, and wealthy merchant ships coming and going.
At this time, a luxurious merchant ship sailed southward along the river from the direction of Dongdu.
There were men in black with knives patrolling all around the side of the ship.
An official in his forties stood at the bow of the ship.
When he saw Li Ai, he recognized the man as General Yu Wenzhi of Youtunwei.
"Amazing! The Lord is truly a god. He knew that Yu Wenzhi was going to pass by by boat before he even came to the canal."
Li Ai silently praised Li Ji's divine calculation in his heart. Yu Cheng approached him and asked, "Do you want to attack?"
Li Ai whispered, "Everyone must be careful to avoid the patrol officers and soldiers, and don't act rashly."
Li Ai and Yu Chengfen led their soldiers to squat in the reed marsh beside the canal, closely watching the movements in the canal.
While waiting for the large ship to gradually sail into the nearby river, dozens of small boats rushed towards the center of the river like arrows.
Yu Cheng led the rebel army and quickly climbed from the small boat to the big ship like a frog leaping.
"There's a thief!"
Several officers and soldiers discovered Yucheng and his group.
Yu Cheng raised his sword and killed five guards. The rest of the soldiers were chopped down into the water by Li Ai.
Li Ai rushed to the bow of the boat, and Yu Wenzhi saw that it was a wanted criminal of the government.
He shouted loudly: "Come here, catch the fugitive."
Yu Cheng grabbed Yu Wenzhi's neck from behind and drew his sword to cut off his head.
Li Ai quickly stopped him and said, "Don't take his life for now."
Yu Wenzhi shouted angrily: "General Li, as a guard of the Eastern Capital, why did you participate in Yang Xuangan's rebellion?"
Li Ai laughed out loud: "The world is in chaos, and the end of the Sui Dynasty is approaching. Who wouldn't want to ascend the throne in Dongdu and look down on the world?"
He looked at Yu Wenzhi, the general of the Right Guard, and sneered, "Although you sound like a gentleman, if you have the chance, won't you rebel?"
Yu Wenzhi was speechless for a moment.
On the other side, Yu Cheng ordered the soldiers to load the furs, rice, flour and cloth from the big ship onto the small boats.
Yucheng suddenly discovered that there were more than a dozen large boxes, all of which were sealed with seals from the Dongdu Internal Affairs Department.
"General Li, we found more than a dozen boxes of Dongdu's things in the cabin."
Yu Wenzhi's face suddenly turned pale, and he trembled as he said, "Those are the imperial supplies being transported to Jiangdu, and they must not be looted."
Li Ai laughed, "General Yu, I, Li Ai, am no longer an official appointed by the court. There is nothing I cannot touch."
“Crack!”
Li Ai split the box open with a sword, and inside were all gold, silver, jewelry, jade, silver, ruyi, hairpins and rings.
“Move everything away!”
At Li Ai's command, dozens of soldiers resisted and carried the treasures, and more than a dozen boxes of the imperial treasury were looted.
According to Li Ji's secret book, Li Ai did not kill Yu Wenzhi.
They just tied his hands and feet and quickly disappeared into the busy night.
After a victory in the first battle, Li Ji and Li Ai held a banquet to reward Yu Cheng and all his soldiers.
Li Ji kept a portion of the loot for future use and distributed all of it to the leaders of each camp.
Each camp will then reward the soldiers in the camp.
Li Ji said to Li Ai:
"You can't plunder all the money, so just enough is enough. Distribute the money to the soldiers, and they will fight to the death."
Li Ji picked up the wine glass and whispered, "This is what we call money scattering and people gathering."
Li Ai nodded in agreement.
Li Ji sent people to Wagangzhai to secretly contact Zhai Rang and express his intentions.
On the one hand, he arranged for Li Ai to travel between the various rebel armies, persuading them to take advantage of the chaos and seize the Central Plains.
At that time, people were in confusion, and more than 10,000 people came to join Li Ji and Li Ai.
In the Central Plains, bandits were rampant and rebel forces suddenly emerged.
Several forces gradually grew stronger.
Wang Dangren of Waihuang, Wang Bodang of Jiyang, Zhou Wenju of Weicheng, and Li Gongyi of Yongqiu each occupied one side.
Li Ji knew that these people did not interact with each other and fought on their own.
Sooner or later, they will be eaten by the Sui Dynasty's official army.
On this day, Li Ji was sitting on the armchair, reading a book called "The Book of the Green Bag" written by the old man on Qishang.
Suddenly, Li Ai came to report: " A mysterious guest has arrived!"
