Rugao County and Tongzhou (Nantong) are separated by more than 150 miles, bordering north and south, there are canals to connect them, and the city of Tongzhou is located on the edge of the Yangtze River, down the river, after Chongming Island is the vast East China Sea, as for the Rudong County of later generations, it is still immersed in the water now.

Baihe Town is a small town under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou, which is the waterway node that must pass from Rugao County to Tongzhou, and there is an inspection department here, which is called the inspection department of Baihe Town.

On March 25, the sky was drizzling, and in the afternoon, the rain became heavier and heavier, turning into a dripping moderate rain.

Xu Jin took off the hat on his head, and the careless soldiers woke up, and hurriedly took off his coat for him and put it outside the eaves steps, and Wang Lin'er, Xie Erjian, Zhao Datou and others, who were watching the map around the table, hurriedly greeted him and saluted.

Xu Jin waved his hand casually, took out a handkerchief to wipe the water on his head and face, and then walked straight to the table and asked, "How is the situation?" Can you find traces of thieves? ”

Wang Lin'er shook his head and said, "There has been no movement for three days, and this gang of thieves is estimated to have found an uninhabited place to hide." ”

"Damn, these turtle eggs can really hide." Zhao Datou scolded and said angrily.

It is said that on the afternoon of March 18, Xie Erjian took the lead in catching up with the fleet of pirates, killing and wounding more than a dozen people, but then he was blocked by a ditch, and he could only watch the fleet of pirates flee.

When Xie Erjian led the brothers around the ditch and continued to track along the canal, he lost the trace of the thief fleet, and the other party probably deliberately sailed into a certain fork in the river to hide, playing a game of hide and seek.

Xie Erjian turned back along the way to search, but in the end it was fruitless, and when it was almost dark, Wang Lin'er and Zhao Datou led people to arrive, they were taking the waterway by boat.

Xie Erjian and Wang Lin'er discussed, and finally decided to divide the troops into three routes, Xie Erjian rode a horse by land to the Baihe Town Inspection Division to block the waterway to Tongzhou, while Wang Lin'er and Zhao Datou led the fleet to search for those river forks along the canal one by one.

On March 20, Wang Lin'er's fleet and the pirate met on a small river, and the two sides fought fiercely, killing and wounding each other, and finally the pirates set fire to several boats to cut off the river and then fled.

On March 22, the robbers plundered a small village along the river, and when Zhao Datou led his people to arrive, the thieves had already fled, and finally pounced on the air, so hated that Zhao Datou gritted his teeth.

Since March 22, until now, Wang Lin'er and others have not found any trace of the thieves for three days, and it is obvious that the thieves have obtained a lot of supplies after looting the village, and they have been hiding at the moment.

Xu Jin stared keenly at the map on the table, and the generals also surrounded him, Xie Erjian pointed to a place on the map and said, "The thieves looted this village on the 22nd, and the name is Xiahe Village. ”

Xu Jin nodded, centered on Xiahe Village, drew a circle on the map with charcoal, and said confidently: "The thieves will not run too far, and when the rain stops, search the range of Xiahe Village within a radius of twenty miles, pay attention to the mountains and forests and grass swings that are easy to hide, well, the focus is on the grass swings by the river." The officer thought that the thieves would not abandon their boats, and that their ships were most likely hidden in the grass somewhere by the river, as long as they found them! ”

Qi Jingtong frowned and said, "My lord, what if the thieves entered the Yangtze River from a certain small river, or fled to the seaside?" ”

Xu Jin shook his head decisively and said, "Neither of these two is basically possible. ”

"Why are you so sure?"

Xu Jin said calmly: "If the thieves want to go to sea, they can go directly to Dongtai County, why bother to run to Tongzhou, it's just to snatch the sea boats, where are the sea ships nearby?" ”

Wang Lin'er's eyes lit up and said: "The Jinling Shipbuilding Bureau must have sea ships, Chongming Shaqianhu also has them, and the wharf in Haimen County, Tongzhou is estimated to also have them, so if the thieves want to capture the sea ships, they must first enter the Yangtze River, and the Jinling Shipbuilding Bureau is upstream, and there are hundreds of thousands of defenders in Jinling, and one person can drown these two hundred thieves with a mouthful of spit."

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for the thieves to swim against the current and run to Jinling to die, and they will run down the Yangtze River and run to the wharf of Haimen County, or the sea boats snatched by the thousands of households in Chongming, of which the wharf in Haimen County is the most likely. ”

Xu Jin nodded: "That's right. ”

Zhao Datou scratched his head and said, "Okay, it seems that the thieves are bound to enter the Yangtze River, but my lord, why did you say just now that it is basically impossible for the thieves to enter the Yangtze River from a small river?" ”

Xu Jin asked rhetorically: "Big head, if there is a road that you don't know at all, according to the direction estimate, it is possible to reach the goal, will you take it?" ”

"If you really can't help it, you will go!"

"Then if this road has nine twists and eighteen turns, you have walked for a few days and you have not reached your destination, and the direction of this road has deviated from the direction of your destination, will you continue to walk?"

Zhao Datou rolled his eyes and said: "Definitely don't go, you will choose to turn around and return under the mark, and the idiot will waste time to continue walking." ”

Xu Jin smiled and said: "So, the canal is the fastest and shortest way to enter the Yangtze River, and the thieves will eventually choose to take the canal if they are not familiar with the river." ”

"What if any of the thieves knew the river?" Brother-in-law Xie Sangun raised the bar.

Xu Jin spread his hands and said: "Then we can only block the Yangtze River, but the water system in this area is so developed and there are many rivers, even the locals estimate that it is impossible to figure out the direction of each river, let alone these thieves." ”

Xie Erjian nodded approvingly, he was a fisherman who grew up by Poyang Lake, and he didn't dare to say that he was familiar with all the rivers around Poyang Lake.

Xu Jin set the general policy of encircling and suppressing the thieves, and then everyone discussed the specific direction, and then assigned their respective tasks.

When everything was agreed, Xu Jin immediately wrote several official documents, stamped them with the seal of the Qincha, and then sent people to Haimen County, Chongming Shaqianhusuo, and Suzhou Prefecture respectively, ordering Haimen County to strengthen its vigilance and transfer seagoing ships, and ordering Chongming Shaqianhusuo to send troops to block the mouth of the Tongzhou River, and Suzhou Wei and Zhenhaiwei to block the mouth of the Yangtze River.

In this way, it is equivalent to closing the pocket urn to catch the turtle, unless the thief abandons the ship and goes by land, it will be impossible to escape.

On March 27, the annoying rain finally stopped, Xu Jin personally sat in the Baihe Town Inspection Division, and Wang Lin'er, Qi Jingtong, and Xie Erjian soldiers attacked in three ways to launch a carpet search within a radius of 20 miles from Xiahe Village.