I

After arriving at Wuzi Shuiyi, Poyang Lake is further ahead.

Several Fei family boatmen refused to go any further for fear of encountering water bandits in Poyang Lake.

Zhao Han couldn't force them, so he simply stayed at the post station, spent his own money to buy new year's goods, and everyone celebrated the New Year here.

After staying at the inn for several days, Chen Maosheng's injuries have healed, leaving a large scar on his forehead and hairline.

After asking the postman about it, it turned out that there was no need to enter Poyang Lake.

Wuzi Shuiyi is located at the mouth of Sancha River. The one to the west is the tributary of Ganjiang River. There is no need to go around Poyang Lake.

There were many merchant ships coming and going. Zhao Han and the four of them paid the fare and took the merchant ship straight to Nanchang.

A few days later, when we docked, there was Tengwang Pavilion on the shore!

Well, the remains of Tengwang Pavilion.

Seventeen years ago, Tengwang Pavilion was destroyed by fire, and now Jie Xuelong is preparing to rebuild it.

Jie Xuelong was a man of some ability. He was not from the Donglin Party, but because he offended Wei Zhongxian, he was labeled as a member of the Donglin Party by the eunuchs. When he was on patrol in Jiangxi last year, he encountered eunuchs jumping up and down. Jie Xuelong did not dare to confront him tit for tat, so he had no choice but to devote himself to culture and education.

After staying in Nanchang for a few days, we changed boats and continued south.

On the way, there were three private checkpoints set up by eunuchs, and they encountered a water bandit in Xiajiang County.

The water bandits didn't take action directly. They just surrounded the merchant ship and let it go after receiving a few taels of silver. It looked more like they were here to collect taxes.

Arriving at Ji'an Prefecture, there is a branch of Ganjiang River called Heshui.

Zhao Han hired a boat to sail up the He River and arrived at a valley three days later.

It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with water passing through it. The valley in the middle is shaped like the bottom of a well, and the peaks on all sides are shaped like the walls of a well. It is called "Jinggang Town", and the imperial court established the "Jinggang Inspection Department" here.

It has no connection with Jinggangshan in later generations, and before the Republic of China, the name Jinggangshan did not exist.

If we insist on talking about it, this place is about 70 kilometers away from Jinggangshan, and it takes hundreds of miles to walk on the mountain road.

"Mr. Zhao, there is a banknote checkpoint ahead," the boatman suddenly reminded. "If you pass the banknote checkpoint, you have to pay the tax yourself. If you don't want to pay more money, you can get off the boat here."

"Then get off the boat." Zhao Han said.

Heshui is an important waterway from central Jiangxi to Huguang. It is expected that eunuchs would set up private checkpoints here to make money.

The four people disembarked and walked, while the passenger ship turned around and returned to Ji'an.

Zhao Han observed the mountains all the way, and when he came to the mouth of the valley, he immediately exclaimed: "If you put five hundred soldiers here and build a water fortress, you can withstand tens of thousands of troops."

Pang Chunlai said with a smile: "You still have to build a water division, otherwise the officers and soldiers can enter the valley directly by boat."

"Indeed." Zhao Han nodded.

The valley is a closed world, sealed by the mountains on all sides.

Arable land is relatively scarce, and many hillsides have been reclaimed to grow some miscellaneous grains to increase food production.

Zhao Han inquired all the way and finally found the location of the Inspection Department. It turned out to be a ruined temple...

Several archers were lying on the ground basking in the sun. They didn't say a word when they saw Zhao Han, and they didn't even bother to open their eyes.

"Is Inspector Fei here?" Zhao Han asked.

Archers are not a military branch, but soldiers of the Inspection Department, who work part-time as civilian police, criminal police and armed police.

The archers finally opened their eyes, and one of them asked, "Do you have anything to do with Fourth Master?"

Zhao Han cupped his hands and said, "We are Fei Xunjian's family. He hasn't been home for the New Year in two years, so the master asked me to come and visit."

"That's one of our own. I'll take you there right away." An archer stood up and led the way.

Zhao Han asked as he walked: "Why is your inspection department's Yamen such a ruined temple?"

The archer said depressedly: "The yamen has been taken over by the eunuchs, and there is no money to be made. We are the only ones left in the entire inspection department."

"I see." Zhao Han felt a little interesting.

Continuing to inquire about the details, it turned out that King Fei Ying Gongqin had meritorious service and was thrown to Jinggang Town for inspection. The bandits under his command also turned into inspection archers.

It was quite nourishing at first, after all, it was guarding a commercial town.

But just last year, the tax inspector suddenly parachuted in with more than a dozen thugs. Without saying a word, the eunuch occupied the Yamen of the Inspection Department and offered money to lure the archers to join him.

One-third of Fei Yinggon's soldiers joined the eunuchs, and one-third chose to leave.

After the beginning of spring, Lu gradually left some more, and now there were only six archers left.

Being so cowardly is purely due to his identity as a eunuch. Killing the eunuch is tantamount to rebellion, because the eunuch represents the emperor's order.

Everyone quickly entered the town. There was only one street along the river, and its scale was not comparable to that of Hekou Town.

"The fourth master lives here." The archer leading the way pointed to a residential building and said.

After knocking on the door for a while, a strong black man came out.

Zhao Han immediately smiled and said: "Tie Slave, we meet again."

The strong black man scratched his head and had no impression of Zhao Han, but he still let them into the yard.

In a very ordinary folk courtyard, Fei Yinggong was dancing with a sword in the courtyard. The dance was obviously a drunken sword.

This guy was holding a wine bottle in his hand, his steps were staggering, he couldn't even stand steady, and his beard was unkempt and he didn't take care of it for an unknown amount of time.

"Fourth Uncle!" Zhao Han shouted.

Fei Yinggong's eyes were blurred from drunkenness, and he walked over with his sword crooked. He stared at Zhao Han for a long time: "You are... the one in the eldest brother's courtyard..."

Zhao Han cupped his hands and said with a smile: "My name is Zhao Han. I would like to meet my fourth uncle."

"Brother asked you to come find me?"

Fei Yinggong burped and said unsteadily: "I... won't... not go back. I'm not... from the Fei family!"

Fei Yinggong's wife died early, and he brought a daughter home, but was not recognized by Mr. Fei. He was so angry that he took his daughter away directly.

"Dad, are there guests?" Fei Ruhui walked out of the house.

Looking at her bun, you can tell that she is married. This is probably the home of Fei Yinggon's son-in-law.

Zhao Han cupped his hands and said, "I've met my sister. My name is Zhao Han, and I'm here to join my fourth uncle."

Fei Ruhui greeted quickly: "Come and sit in the room."

"Sister, you don't have to be polite. If you have anything to do, go ahead and do it." Zhao Han said with a smile.

"Not busy, not busy." Fei Ruhui said enthusiastically.

Fei Ruhui is sixteen years old. She is relatively dignified and is wearing a simple cotton coat.

She was busy setting things up, bringing a few benches to the courtyard, and making tea and water for everyone. She had such a virtuous and generous character.

Zhao Han vaguely remembered that there were two followers around Fei Yinggon.

There was only one black man left at this time, and the other one probably ran away. No wonder Fei Yinggong stayed at home drinking all day.

Down and out.

After calming down for a while, Fei Yingcong sobered up a little and spoke more eloquently: "Where is my eldest brother? Have you passed the Jinshi examination?"

Zhao Han replied: "The eldest young master failed the examination and is now the magistrate of Suqian County."

"It's good to be a county official," Fei Yinggong sat on the ground with a wine bottle, then simply lay down again, and said confusedly, "Why are you here?"

Zhao Han was 30% false and 70% true, and began to make up a story: "The young lady's fiancé died at the hands of the bandits, and the old man forced the young lady to sacrifice her husband..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Fei Yinggong suddenly sat up and cursed: "That old bastard, he can really do it! Even if he denies my daughter, he will even push my eldest brother's daughter to death!"

Zhao Han continued: "The young lady wanted to betroth the young lady to me, but the old lady found out about it, so he took away my childhood education status. The young lady returned my body deed, and wanted me to start my own business, and then marry the young lady to me. . The county master took money but did nothing, and colluded with the old man to lure me to the county government to arrest me and put me in jail."

"How did you escape?" Fei Yingcong asked.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "I couldn't get angry anymore, so I killed Master and Dianshi, and burned down the county government office."

"Hahahahaha!"

Fei Yinggong's eyes widened at first, then he laughed loudly, pointed at Zhao Han and said: "You have the guts to kill corrupt officials quickly. Come on, come on, have a drink with me!"

"Dad, don't drink any more." Fei Ruhui quickly dissuaded her.

"Okay, don't drink, don't drink," Fei Yinggong shook his head and smiled bitterly, and took another sip of wine, "You came to join me, but it's a pity that you came late. This inspection is really boring in front of you, and you were beaten by a guy with no balls. The eunuchs bullied me. There are only a few of the brothers who followed me now. You have no future if you join me, so leave quickly, leave quickly. I am a useless person!"

Zhao Han didn't really want to take refuge, he just wanted to find a place to stay first, and then observe which countryside was suitable for rebellion.

Zhao Han said: "Fourth Uncle, the world is so big, where can't you go? Being bullied by a eunuch, you hide and drink all day?"

"It's none of your business, get out of here!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Fei Yingcong was kind and nice just now, but suddenly he started scolding him. It seemed that he was still drunk.

"Then I'll get out of here. See you again, Fourth Uncle." Zhao Han wasn't angry either, so he found an inn to stay at.

Fei Ruhui quickly smoothed things over: "Don't be angry, everyone. My father has a bad temper recently."

Fei Yinggong was still drunk, sitting on the ground and yelling: "I have always had a bad temper. If you want to get out, get away! Get out of here, get out of here!"

Zhang Tieniu didn't say anything at first, but he couldn't help it at this moment. He held an ax and said angrily: "What kind of air does a run-down patrol look like? You have the guts to fight Tieniu for 300 rounds!"

Chen Maosheng hurriedly advised: "Brother Tieniu, don't be angry. If you have anything to say, speak it out."

Pang Chunlai kept silent. He didn't bother to care about such trivial matters.

"Tie Slave, kick people out!" Fei Yinggon roared.

The strong black man picked up a stick and hit Zhang Tieniu on the head, not afraid of killing him on the spot.

"You thief, you are really desperate." Zhang Tieniu quickly dodged.

Upon seeing this, Fei Ruhui shouted: "Stop fighting, stop fighting!"

There was a commotion in the yard, what the hell.

Zhao Han was also speechless and said: "Let's go, don't behave like a drunkard, wait until he sobers up."

Before the four people left, another person suddenly barged in.

The visitor was dressed as a farmer, about 20 years old, and ran with a hoe and said: "Master Taishan, there is a fight outside the town."

"Just beat them all to death!" Fei Yinggon roared.

Zhao Han raised his hands and said, "Brother-in-law, I am the fourth uncle's family member. What happened?"

The man was stunned, and then said: "The Liang family turned to the eunuchs to fight for water during spring plowing and took over the canals outside the town. The other families were so angry that they entangled the tenants to grab water. Unexpectedly, the eunuchs actually sent thugs, and now they The fight is about to begin.”

Fei Yinggong suddenly asked: "There is no water in our fields?"

"No more. Once the canal is occupied, we can only carry water from the river to irrigate the fields." This person said.

Fei Yinggong stood up suddenly, raised his sword and rushed out: "Damn it, I didn't bother him, but this damn eunuch kicked his nose in his face. I will chop him down today. I won't do this inspection anymore. Enter Go and become a bandit!"

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