"Hmph! Do you still need to ask this? The Hunjun is just... just..." Yin Chengliang stuttered when he said this.
It turns out that although the current emperor Zheng Rong was in an unfair position, since he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he has worked hard day and night and worked hard to gradually bring the government that had been declining in the previous dynasties into a regular state. This is an indisputable fact, and there is no way to dispute it. place. Even if Yin Chengliang deliberately slanders like this, he is still at a loss for words and cannot even utter the word "no".
Yin Chengliang stammered for a long time, and finally remembered a verse and said: "There are treacherous ministers in the court, and if the emperor cannot get rid of them, he is a coward."
"Oh? Traitor? I wonder if the so-called traitor Yin Master refers to is Prime Minister Zhongli Kuang or Marshal Dai Luanxiang?" Qiu Yizhi asked.
"Both of these are traitorous ministers." Yin Chengliang replied, "Zhongli Kuang, a failed scholar, did not read a few sages' books, but he dared to be high up in the temple, and even sat in the position of prime minister, making ideas and actions. Things like that are all about profiting from the people. At first glance, he is not a disciple of a saint. Isn't such a person a traitor? There is also Dai Luanxiang, a member of the general family who has served the Holy Lord for several generations, but he actually abandoned his country Zhengshuo. Aren’t people traitors? And…”
While Qiu Yizhi listened to Yin Chengliang's eloquent words, he turned his head and winked at the two people behind him, "Iron-Headed Jiao" and "Alligator". The two people understood and secretly moved to the ship where Yin Chengliang was, quietly took off their clothes, and plunged into the extremely cold water.
Qiu Yizhi was also afraid that Yin Chengliang was old and cunning, so when he noticed the two men's actions, he deliberately quarreled: "Master Yin said it well, these two are traitors. Then I would like to ask this junior: Master Yin is now serving the King of Lingnan, is it right? Aren’t you treacherous and traitorous?”
Yin Chengliang was stunned by Qiu Yizhi's rhetorical question - he did not expect that the psychological defense he had finally built up would be completely defeated by such a simple question. In fact, with Yin Chengliang's intelligence and ability, how could he not think of this? It's just that he is now undoubtedly a "rebellious official and traitor", so of course he doesn't want to think about it.
Just when Yin Chengliang was stunned and didn't know how to answer, Yin Tai stepped forward half a step behind him, appeared on the side of the ship, and said bitterly: "Father, why bother talking to him here? Today we were stolen by this little thief again." Fortunately, we haven't failed yet. We still have two to three hundred sailors on board. If we can capture this little thief, we can still explain it to Prince Lingnan."
After that, Yin Tai greeted the sailors on the ship and lined up on the deck, preparing to disembark to capture Qiu Yizhi.
But after all, Yin Tai does not understand the art of marching and using troops. Although these sailors are all strong and healthy people, they have not received special combat training and lack valuable combat experience. How can they be like Qiu Yi's men? The opponent of a soldier who has experienced hundreds of battles, not to mention Qiu Yizhi who has already made the first move...
I heard a sailor on the boat scream in surprise: "No... no... it's not good! The boat is leaking!"
Because he was frightened, he shouted very loudly. Even Qiu Yizhi, who stood on the dock and raised his head to speak to Yin Chengliang, heard him clearly.
It turned out that it was Qiu Yizhi who had just signaled "Iron-Headed Jiao" and "Alligator" to dive into the water and pierce the ship. It's just that the sea water is too cold. Even the "Iron-Headed Jiao" and "Alligator" who are proficient in water and have some martial arts background are frozen by the sea water as soon as they enter the water. Their hands have no strength, and the holes dug in the bottom of the boat are not big. ; In addition, Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai's ship was not small, so the ship only leaked slowly and did not sink immediately.
But in this case, after all, people have to be sent to the bottom of the ship to repair the holes. Otherwise, no matter how big the ship is, sooner or later it will sink to the bottom of the river together with the crew on board.
Under such circumstances, Yin Tai on the deck hurriedly ordered the sailors who had just ran from the cabin to the deck to immediately return to the bottom of the cabin to repair the leaking hole. Finally, he had no strength to arrest Qiu Yizhi and others.
At this time, "Iron-headed Jiao" and "Alligator" also emerged from the water. The two of them were already shivering from the cold sea water, and they couldn't even speak clearly. Qiu Yizhi saw how pitiful they were, and hurriedly asked the generals to dry their bodies, and raised torches to keep them warm.
He raised his eyes again and saw that order was gradually restored on Yin Chengliang's ship, and the ship stopped sinking. It was obvious that the sailors on the ship had plugged the leaks, and it was no longer possible for the father and son to drown in the sea water.
Qiu Yizhi knew that he had no ships under his command, so he could not capture Yin Chengliang, Yin Tai and his son alive.
However, a dead opponent is always stronger than a living one. After thinking about this clearly, Qiu Yizhi ordered his crossbowmen: "Shoot these two people on the boat to death."
Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai heard and saw clearly on the ship, and knew how powerful the crossbow was. They quickly retracted their heads and ordered the ship to immediately weigh anchor and leave the harbor for a distance so that their opponents could not send troops to board the ship to attack them.
Qiu Yizhi saw the opportunity very quickly and had an idea. He pointed to the fire that had just risen to warm the two people, "Iron-Headed Jiao" and "Alligator", and said: "Go quickly and find something to ignite the fire. Give it to me." Burn this ship!"
The Mingzhou wharf was filled with military supplies. In addition to grain and grass, there were also a lot of kerosene, torches, pine trees and other igniting items. In just a moment, Qiu Yi's men each took one or two fire mediums in their hands, and after listening to the order, they all threw them onto the boat.
These rural warriors train very strictly on weekdays, and their hands are extremely strong. They can easily throw torches, pine trees and other objects onto the ship that is only about ten steps away from them. Suddenly a thick smoke rose from the ship, and tongues of fire appeared on the deck like poisonous snakes.
"It's done!" Qiu Yizhi couldn't help but feel a little excited. Looking at the fire that was getting stronger and stronger, he felt a burst of ecstasy in his heart - as long as Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai died, and then the Japanese pirates in the city were eliminated, then he could control Mingzhou City. , even if Zheng Yu's sea transportation line is completely cut off.
When I was happy, I heard Yuchi Jiming beside me say: "Uncle, look, there is a small boat next to the big ship!"
Qiu Yizhi hurriedly looked around and saw a ten-foot-long boat emerging from the river. There were only ten people on it, and the two leaders were Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai's father and son.
Qiu Yizhi didn't understand the rules of sea navigation. She didn't know that usually there would always be one or two small rescue boats following a big ship just in case. But he knew that now was the perfect opportunity to deal with the Yin family father and son. It was an opportunity that could not be missed, so he quickly ordered the crossbowman beside him: "What are you still waiting for? Shoot at the boat quickly and shoot all the people on the boat into pieces." hedgehog!"
The crossbowmen received the order and immediately fired a burst of fire at the boat.
Unexpectedly, the person driving the boat was quite experienced. When he saw the crossbow arrows coming from the dock, he quickly deflected the direction and drove the boat behind the burning and sinking ship, so that the opponents on the dock could not see his movements, and even more helpless. Aim accurately.
When the ship appeared again in Qiu Yi's field of vision, the light boat had sailed far away along with the sea wind and current, and gradually became a small gray-black dot on the horizon.
"Alas!" Qiu Yizhi sat down on the ground in disappointment and sighed, "It's a failure, it's a failure! A father and son from the Yin family, and a Wen Honghui, why can't they be caught or killed? Could it be that these people also have God's help? "
While he was sighing with emotion, Wu Changxi came over to congratulate him: "Master Qiu, what is there to worry about? With less than a thousand men, he captured Mingzhou City and drove away these two bastards from the Yin family. Such I can’t even think about the results when it comes to the final general. Now it’s a complete victory. It’s just a victory over a few, so don’t lament!”
Wu Changxi's words of flattery, whether intentional or unintentional, made Qiu Yizhi suddenly realize that the ultimate goal of his adventurous attack on Mingzhou was not to capture Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai and his son alive, but to cut off Zheng Yu's sea transportation line. ; Now that Mingzhou Seaport is in his own hands, the goal has been achieved, and there is really not much to regret.
So Qiu Yizhi changed his mind again: Although Mingzhou City is close to being captured, his troops are still insufficient. Even if more than 20,000 people in the army are mobilized around him, it will be difficult to defend this city without walls. Large cities near the sea can only retreat from here immediately and join the large army.
However, the goal of cutting off Zheng Yu's army's supply line still had to be accomplished, so Qiu Yizhi gritted his teeth and ordered: "These things... these things, and this dock, burn them all for me!"
Wu Changxi was stunned for a moment and asked: "Sir, are you talking about these grains and weapons? Wouldn't it be a pity to burn these things?"
Qiu Yizhi frowned and said: "Of course it's a pity, but it would be even more pity if it fell into Zheng Yu's hands and was used against us. Now we have few people and tight time, so we can't transport them all. We only have one fire to burn them all." There is a way to do it.”
However, although Wu Changxi's words just now did not make Qiu Yizhi waver in his decision, they reminded him, and then ordered: "I see that the city is empty now, and there should be some time to use. You start by burning these boats next to the pier. , take this time to rummage through the goods on the dock and see if there are any good things we can use.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the "iron-headed dragon" who was squatting to warm himself by the fire became excited, stood up suddenly, and said: "This is a good idea, sir. Searching things is a skill that only a villain can do. What good things could escape my eyes in the beginning? It’s just that after I became a master, my knowledge has become a bit unfamiliar. Don’t blame me for missing one or two things.”
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi smiled and said, "Well, let me see if you know what the goods are."
After that, they called the "Tietou Jiao" and they first went to the pier to dry firewood, tung oil and other flammable materials among the cargo, ignited the ship anchored at the pier, and then went to inspect the cargo.
Murder and arson were the specialty of Qiu Yi's eighteen bandit-turned-soldiers. After hearing such an order, they all became very excited and within a short time they had set fire to dozens of ships moored next to the harbor one by one.
The "Tietou Jiao" who was responsible for inspecting the goods was a little disappointed. He ran to Qiu Yizhi and said, "Sir, there is nothing good here. Only tens of thousands of taels of silver are slightly more precious. As for gold, pearls and jade, there are none." ”
Qiu Yizhi smiled and scolded: "You 'iron-headed dragon', do you think you are robbing a big landlord? When the two armies are fighting, apart from food and grass, only silver is most useful. What do you want those Lao Shizi jewelry and jade? Are you hungry? If you don’t have enough to eat, the soldiers may not accept the rewards!”
"Iron-headed Jiao" was still a little unconvinced. He raised his nose and said, "Although what you said is reasonable, the Lingnan Army is too stingy. They have not traveled thousands of miles and sent dozens of jars of black soil here. Could it be?" It’s really inexplicable that the soil in Jiangnan cannot grow good rice!”