Chapter 8 Yuhang (Part 2)
The Dongming Sect originated from the Ryukyu Island. The sect is mainly composed of women. The women are named Shan, while the men are named Shang. The Dongming Sect’s greatest skill is creating high-quality weapons, which is very famous in the martial arts world.
The world is at war, and of course there is a huge demand for weapons. As the Dongming Sect grows in prominence, it must also be watched covetously by countless forces, all of which want to swallow it up in one gulp.
Although he knew that the Dongming Sect would go to the coastal counties every year to select young men and women to go to Ryukyu, Zhang Xuanning was not yet twenty years old, so if he wanted to, he could indeed get close to the Dongming Sect. However, Zhang Xuanning had no intention of doing so. If he did not have enough strength, forced contact would only cause endless troubles. He was not a fool like the two Xiaoqiangs!
Thinking of this, he turned around and led his men towards his ship: "Let's go buy some things in the city, and then wait until midnight to load the cargo!"
It was morning, past breakfast time but still early for lunch, so a group of people went into a restaurant. It was empty, with no one inside except for one person leaning over a table.
"What would you like, sir?" asked a shopkeeper.
"Give me five pounds of cooked beef, anything else?" Zhang Xuanning asked, he smelled a fragrance.
"Also, we have dog meat. Would you like some, sir?" the shopkeeper said, and sure enough, there was a dog cooked in the casserole.
Although Zhang Xuanning himself doesn't eat dog meat, he saw that the three of them were interested, so he said, "Cut a dog leg first, and wrap up the rest. We'll take it away."
As he spoke, he took out some change, about one ounce of silver, and asked, "Is that enough?"
The shop owner took it and looked at its quality and weight. He then said, "It's enough. There's more. I'll get you some more dishes and some wine."
After saying that, he laid out a large plate of beef and some vegetables, put a large bowl for each of the four people, poured some wine, cut off a dog leg, and mashed some garlic and put it on the table.
The three men were originally hooligans. They were very hungry and naturally stole things. They knew that dog meat was delicious, so they were very happy when they saw it. They quickly took the dog meat, dipped it in mashed garlic and ate it, and then drank a few sips of wine.
"What a nice smell, what a good wine, shopkeeper, please give me some too."
"Humph, you already owe me two taels of silver. It's fine if I don't ask you for the money, but do you still want to owe me money?" said the shopkeeper with a cold face.
Zhang Xuanning glanced at him nonchalantly, and saw a shabby man in his forties dressed in gray. Originally, this didn't matter, but for some reason, his heart was moved.
"Come on, it's fate that you met me today. How about you come over and have a drink with me?" Zhang Xuanning said with a smile, but his eyes were fixed on him.
The man in gray glanced at the table and nodded slightly. He came over without any hesitation, took a glass, poured himself a glass of wine, and tilted his head back to drink the wine down his throat.
"How refreshing!" The man in gray wiped his mouth with his hand, said nothing, and poured himself another glass of wine.
The other three people all frowned a little, but seeing that the boss remained calm, they said nothing, acted a little cold, and just drank by themselves, which made Zhang Xuanning very satisfied.
"Well, after drinking your wine and eating your meat, I will also look at your face!" The man in gray drank the wine, ate the meat, and then looked at Zhang Xuanning.
Zhang Xuanning did not comment. He noticed that this person only ate beef and not dog meat.
The man in gray examined his face carefully and was secretly surprised. He said, "There is a flash of purple air at the end of your life official position, which means that one of your ancestors was very rich. But you have a death wrinkle. This owner died last year. I don't know how you avoided it."
"And then?"
"After a great disaster, there will be a great blessing. I think your overall facial features are good. Maybe you can achieve something!" The man in gray said lightly.
Zhang Xuanning didn't care. Before leaving, he gave him one or two taels of silver, then took his brothers out. Not long after, they saw an ox cart coming from afar, with dead grass on the cart.
Suan Si Cao had obviously seen him, and then the ox cart slowly drove in front of Zhang Xuanning, and the driver stepped forward and asked: "Are you the owner of the goods?"
"Yes!"
"My boss asked me to familiarize myself with the route first," said the driver.
"Okay, follow me out of the city!" As he said that, he asked his men to carry all the things, and then led them out of the city. After walking for half an hour, they arrived at a parking place outside the city.
The driver looked at the boat, then at the people, and then said, "I see. You wait tonight. The boss will come here with the goods. You don't need to do anything, just wait."
"Okay, I'll wait." Zhang Xuanning said.
After the people on the ox cart had gone far away, Zhang Xuanning distributed the meat and wine he had brought with him to his brothers. As for dry food, there was some on the boat. The brothers ate it with big mouthfuls, and then chatted with each other when they had nothing to do, waiting for dark.
The boat was very small, and even Zhang Xuanning didn't have a separate room, but when he lay in the cabin, everyone around him moved very quietly and didn't speak loudly.
"Master Xiang, once we get the salt, will we transport it to Yangzhou?"
"Of course not. Yangzhou is a coastal area, and salt is not valuable. If we transport it there, even if we don't pay salt tax, we still have to pay for official business and the gang. Our hard work will be in vain. If we want to make big money, we have to go further inland, first by sea and then by land. In the inland areas where salt is most needed, white salt is equivalent to pure silver. In this way, if we send a ship, as long as it is successful, even if we have to make arrangements, it will only cover our expenses for a year." Zhang Xuanning said.
"Yeah, that's true. Then, we will be rich, haha." The brothers around were very satisfied.
Zhang Xuanning knew that the journey was not easy. There were thieves on the water and on land. In addition, there were officials along the way, and it was very dangerous to transport goods to the inland. However, he also knew that only such experience could make his brothers mature quickly.
Making money is a small matter, but it can be said that after walking thousands of miles, his subordinates are considered real gang members. Of course, for him, it is also a rare process to consolidate his authority - away from the gang, he is the only backbone, if he can succeed, then his prestige will be unbreakable.
As I was thinking, time passed quickly. The afternoon sun slowly set and the moon came out. As soon as the moon appeared, the brothers who were patrolling farther away heard the sound.
"Master, someone is approaching."
"Look who it is, and everyone, get ready to fight."
After hearing the order, although everyone reacted differently, they all picked up their knives. But before long, they saw four ox carts and a group of black people rushing over.
"Master, it's the salt." After a while, someone else came to report.
"Go and greet them, and everyone else stay on guard." Zhang Xuanning said as he pressed the hilt of his knife and stepped forward.
"Can we load the goods now?" the middle-aged man walked to the side of the boat and asked.
"Okay."
"Okay, load the goods and don't make any noise." The middle-aged man said, and then the group of people behind him silently loaded bags of salt into the boat. Their actions and words made Zhang Xuanning feel ashamed - they were much more disciplined than his brothers.
"Bang!"
The last bag of salt was put on the boat. The people who came were all boatmen, loading the boat with a bullock cart. The middle-aged man was also there. When he saw that the boat was full, he snorted, "One hundred bags of salt, is the count correct?"
At this time, the ship was very deep and the water was close to the deck, and there was the moon and stars in the sky.
"Good, sir. How much is it?"
"It seems that this is your first time to come and deliver goods. Didn't Mr. Yan tell you that we settle accounts once a year?" The middle-aged man said with some suspicion.
"You didn't tell me that this is our first time to receive goods." Zhang Xuanning replied.
"Humph, I don't care. Anyway, you brought the iron plate." The middle-aged man looked at him again, and then said, "Let's go back."
After they all left, Zhang Xuanning also said, "Let's go. We have to leave quickly too. Don't let the Haisha Gang notice us. We must get out of their range before dawn tomorrow."
The Haisha Gang is one of the three major gangs on the southeast coast, as famous as the Shuilong Gang and the Jukun Gang. The three major gangs are suspicious of each other, and they were able to divide their territories and spheres of influence in the past, maintaining a general peace. However, since the fall of the Sui Dynasty, many heroes have emerged in the world, and the three major gangs have also been ready to move, plotting to expand their power, and the struggle has become increasingly fierce.
Under such circumstances, the disappearance of some insignificant people was commonplace, so Zhang Xuanning had no choice but to be cautious.
The shore was immediately opened, the boat slid into the river, the small sail was raised, and the speed of the boat gradually increased.
