After the Qin family fleet set off from the Longzang Puwu port in the south of Jiangning City, sailed all the way to the north, did not stop after nightfall, the two sides of the ship were hung with lanterns, and the two sides of the Shiliang River were reflected as bright as day, when the wind was weak, in addition to the rowing oars, the Qin family also paid to hire the displaced people on both sides of the strait to pull the fiber, and arrived in the forest at dusk the next day.

The ferry was on guard, and all unrelated ships cleared out of the ferry, or docked at the shallow wharf in the upper reaches of Shanglin Creek. Lin Jian changed into a cyan official robe, stood on the ferry, and watched in the direction where the Qin family's fleet was coming. The sky is getting late, and the sunset hangs on the northwest summit of the Iron Curtain Mountain, reflecting the rippling waves and golden scales of the river.

In addition to Lin Bin, officials such as Shen Rong, the prefect of Dongyang, Lin Tingli, the general judge, and Liang Zuoren, the magistrate of Shiliang, all wore official robes to welcome the arrival of Qin Chengbo at the ferry, intending to give Qin Chengbo a trip in Shanglindu.

Shen Rong only came to Shanglin Du at noon to see off Qin Chengbo, which was also the first time Lin Lian saw him. Shen Rong was wearing a crimson official robe, less than five feet tall, with a thick waist and a round neck, a black face, a neatly trimmed beard, and a large mole on the tip of his left eyebrow that was very conspicuous. It is said that Shen Rong ranked second when he participated in the Yanjing examination, but because of his poor appearance, he fell into the second class in the palace examination, but his talent and political cultivation have a great reputation in the government and the opposition. Seeing that after Shen Rong arrived in Shanglindu, he inquired and instructed in detail about what he did to Qin Chengbo, regardless of the size, and others never imagined that at this time, he was coldly watching Qin Chengbo walk towards the depths of the death trap step by step. Shen Rong is also quite enthusiastic about Lin Lian, but Lin Lian knows to be more wary of this kind of smiling and cannibalistic character.

The fleet of the Qin family came in a hurry, the momentum of the building ship at the head was extraordinary, the shape was more huge than the Dongyang, there were thirteen or fourteen zhang in length, there were three floors on the deck, near the ferry, only the cabin above the deck was nearly three zhang high, the double mast was in the stern, there were five or six zhang high from the top of the cabin, each cabin was surrounded by a half-person high female wall, and it was like a moving fortress near the shore, which was very majestic and magnificent. The top cabin of the building ship is a lookout post, and you can see that the warriors of Qin Cheng and Hu are all standing in armor and guarding the sentry, and the blades are shining with cold light.

"Shen Rong, the prefect of Dongyang, led the Dongyang gentry to welcome the Fuguo general through Dongyang, wishing the Fuguo general a smooth journey......" Shen Rong led the Dongyang gentry to salute the building boat at the ferry, and sent the list of greetings and farewell gifts to the ship.

After a while, a middle-aged scribe dressed as a staff member got off the boat, and he said to the Dongyang official gentry who was looking forward to the ferry: "My general thanks Dongyang father for his kindness, but the cabin on the ship is small, and it is inconvenient to ask you to get on the ship to thank you one by one, so I specially asked me to get off the boat to apologize to everyone......

Others scolded in their hearts: They prepared a big gift, but they couldn't even see half of Qin Chengbo's figure, so how happy did they feel in their hearts?

"Lord Shen, my general invites you to get together with Lin Tongju and others on the ship...... Qin Mansion staff took out a list to read, in addition to Shen Rong and Lin Tingli, Liang Zuoren and other major officials of Dongyang Mansion and Shiliang County, as well as more than ten famous squires, were invited to the ship, and Lin Lian's name was not among them.

Although Lin Jian used Gu Wuchen's power to make a splash in Jiangning, after all, he was only a Confucian Lin Lang of the Nine Grades, and it was reasonable for Qin Chengbo to invite him to come on the boat or not, but when the Qin Mansion staff reported the list of invitations to the ship, his eyes deliberately glanced at Lin Lian twice, and his demeanor was obvious: You are not qualified enough. Everyone else looked at Lin Jian with sneer before turning their faces, and some even showed contemptuous smiles without concealment. Shen Rong smiled inadvertently in the twilight, and glanced back at Lin Lian, hoping to see a look of frustration and humiliation on his face.

The staff of the Qin Mansion is surnamed Wang, he is a lifter, he has not been able to pass the Jinshi, and he has not entered the office, and he has been a staff member of Qin Chengbo for many years, and he is called the "second general" in Jiangning, Qin Chengbo trusts him, and many military orders and political systems of the Jiangning Garrison Military Government are mostly from his hands. When Dongcheng Jing'er attacked the estuary, he appeared with Qin Chengbo, and Lin Jian recognized him. They want to maintain a harmonious atmosphere in Jiangning, and they will not offend Lin Tie too much, but after leaving Jiangning, they didn't take Lin Tie's small role in their eyes at all, and deliberately wanted to tease him.

"Mr. Wang, please stay," Lin Lian smiled kindly, and said loudly, "Please Mr. Wang give a message to the auxiliary general: Hongzepu is in a dangerous situation, Lin Lian has a boat in Shanglindu, and I beg the auxiliary general to allow Lin Lian to escort him." ”

The look on Lin Bin's face was "sincere", which made many people look sideways, and they thought: This son is really thick enough, and he has to stick his face on it if he doesn't give his face. The staff of the Qin Mansion were also stunned, thinking: It is not for nothing that this son is prosperous in Jiangning, and he does not have such a cheeky skin as him.

Lin Rong peeped at Shen Rong, who was about to board the boat to see Qin Chengbo, his face sank slightly, and he sneered in his heart: his little Confucian Lin Lang had to be escorted by boat, and Shen Rong, the prefect of Dongyang Mansion, naturally couldn't just do something perfunctory in Shanglin, but Shen Rong knew in his heart that there was a lot of danger from Shanglindu to Hongzepu, and his words forced Shen Rong into a corner and couldn't turn around.

Shen Rong frowned, where could he have thought that Lin Jian had the intention of fishing in troubled waters? It's just that Lin Jian didn't want to be embarrassed and wanted to stammer with Qin Chengbo, and said coldly: "If Lin Sijiao insists on seeing the auxiliary general, I will help you say a few more good words when I get on the boat, whether the auxiliary general is willing to see you or not depends on your creation." Master Gu probably didn't know that you had such enthusiasm for honoring the chief. ”

Shen Rong's words were very unkind, Lin Lian just didn't understand, his eyes were still looking at the staff of the Qin Mansion, and said: "Farewell to the estuary, Lin Lian also admires Mr. Wang, and the demeanor of the auxiliary general is even more convincing...... I hope that Mr. Wang can tell the sincere intentions of Lin Jian and these many people to the auxiliary generals. ”

Although others didn't bear to listen to Lin Bin's words, they all nodded and said yes, and they all said that they must escort the auxiliary general to the border of Huai'an Mansion to feel at ease, but they scolded Lin Jian in their hearts.

Shen Rong didn't expect that his precise planning would cause trouble for this beam-jumping clown, and he was also angry in his heart, but he couldn't say more. Only by getting on the boat first, hoping that Qin Chengbo can reprimand Lin Jian again and reject his shameless request, otherwise he and the officials and squires will inevitably escort Qin Chengbo north to the border of Dongyang Mansion, which will almost reach the north of Luoyang Lake.

Shen Rongming knew that the Hongzepu Shuizhai forces regarded Qin Chengbo as a prey, so how could he dare to enter Luoyang Lake with Qin Chengbo easily? Shen Rong's original plan was to quickly return to Shiliang County to wait and see the situation after Shanglindu gave Qin Cheng Bo Yang. Once the Qin fleet fell into Hongzepu, and the Hongzepu fishermen raised their flags at the instigation of the Shuizhai forces, he Shen Rong could dispatch troops in Shiliang County to deal with the crisis. Regardless of whether Qin Chengbo can get out in the end, his Shen Rong's benefits are naturally indispensable.

Watching Shen Rong get on the boat to meet Qin Chengbo, Lin Lian smiled coldly, and turned around with Zhou Pu and walked towards the dock where the Dongyang was moored in the distance, and others looked at him with pity and contempt.

Lin Tie and Zhou Pu climbed up the Dongyang from the rope ladder, and Lin Tie stood at the bow of the ship, watching the Qin family's fleet in the afterglow of the setting sun. In addition to the building ship headed by a fortress, Qin Chengbo was accompanied by more than 20 large and small ships on his trip north. Before the Qin fleet arrived at Shanglindu, Cao Ziang and Ge Cunxin respectively led people disguised as fishermen in Hongze Puli to sneak to Luoyang Lake.

Qin Chengbo did not mean to stop the boat and go ashore, on the one hand, the boat was bound to be extremely luxurious, and the enjoyment and luxury that should be had, Shanglindu might not be able to provide it to him, on the other hand, Qin Chengbo should also want to pass through the Hongzepu area quickly, so as not to give the coastal water village and Liukou too much time to react and gather, but he didn't know that the forces of the Hongzepu water village had already united to weave a big net for him to plunge into.

Lin Jian waited on the Dongyang for a while, and an errand runner from the Qin family came over and told him that Qin Cheng had allowed him to escort him. Lin Tie wanted to escort, Dongyang officials and gentry naturally couldn't escape, and Liao Liao a few people who really knew that the situation in Hongzepu was in crisis, Lin Tie stood at the bow of the Dongyang and saw Shen Rong running downstairs in a panic to arrange the boat, and said to Zhou Pu with a smile: "Shen Rong is only afraid that he will hate me to the bone......"

"He only thinks you are unintentionally wrong, although he is angry at this time, he shouldn't talk about it to the bone." Zhou Pu said with a smile.

Qin Chengbo did not delay long in Shanglindu, the Qin fleet anchored and set sail in the rich twilight, and the dense wind lanterns hanging on both sides of the fleet reflected the Shiliang River as bright as day. The Dongyang also took anchor and set sail, turning into the Shiliang River and heading north.

Shen Rong, Lin Tingli and other Dongyang officials and gentry were all in a hurry, but they couldn't reveal that they didn't mean to escort each other out of the country before. Although there are eight fast paddle boats in the Shanglinli Township Camp, they are not ready for night sailing, hang up lanterns, shake the waves, and extinguish them as soon as the night wind blows, and there are only more than ten wind lanterns divided into two for each boat, but the lights are too few to shine far at all; There was also a shortage of boatmen and oarsmen, and 100 people were temporarily employed at the docks.

Shen Rong knew that the sword and archers in Shiliang County were all waste, so he didn't let him get on the boat, except that he brought 300 Dongyang Mansion horse infantry, and also asked Lin Zonghai to lead 300 Shanglinli Township Yong with experience in water warfare. Shen Rong hoped to use force to deter the forces of Hongzepu Water Village and wait until the Qin family's fleet and escorts were separated before they could act. Shen Rong, Lin Tingli, Liang Zuoren and other major officials naturally continued to give Qincheng Bo Yang on the building boat, although the number of Dongyang officials and gentry was small, but two ships were used, three hundred Dongyang Mansion horse infantry used four boats, and there were two ships left to carry no less than three hundred Shanglin Xiangyong. Lin Zonghai Tuolin Mengde came over to discuss with Lin Lian, and asked the Dongyang to help carry the three teams of 180 Xiangyong, but Lin Lian was naturally inconvenient to refuse, and asked Lin Mengde to stay on the Dongyang to help restrain the Xiangyong.

The whole fleet dragged on for a long time, the Lou boat and the Qin family fleet were in the front, and in the middle were the eight fast paddle boats of the township camp, and the Dongyang was at the tail end, but the Lou boat and the Dongyang were the tallest in the Shiliang River, Lin Jian and Lin Mengde stood on the top of the tail cabin of the Dongyang ship, and they could see that the lights were bright in the cabin on the second floor of the building ship at the front, and the Qin family's private singing and dancing girls were singing and dancing inside, and most people did not realize the killing machine hidden in the night wind.

The wind was blowing, and the boats arrived at the mouth of Luoyang Lake before midnight. The fleet dragged on for a long time, and the distance between the north and south of Luoyang Lake was not large, less than two miles of waterway, and the building boat that Qin Chengbo was riding had already arrived at the north entrance of Luoyang Lake, and the Dongyang was still outside the south entrance.

Out of Luoyang Lake, out of the Dongyang Mansion, Shen Rong and the Dongyang Mansion are not convenient to send each other forward, the building boat temporarily stopped in Beikouzi for Shen Rong and other officials to change ships, Dongyang naturally anchored at the south entrance of Luoyang Lake, waiting for Shen Rong and them to lead the return.

Lin Mengde knew that the situation of Hong Zepu was critical, but he did not know that Qin Chengbo's crossing was a key opportunity to induce a crisis, and he wondered in his heart that there were enough wind lanterns on the Dongyang, why did he only light four wind lanterns from top to bottom on the mainmast when the ship was stopped? At this time, I heard that there seemed to be a fast horse running on the riverbank, but the stars and the moon were not shining, only a very confused shadow, and the townsmen on the boat were also vigilant to pull out their weapons, and heard a few long and short whistles coming, and heard Zhou Pu in front of him saying that it was his own people, and after a while, he saw seven or eight people coming to climb the rope and get on the boat, Zhou Pu took a man who had just gotten on the boat and had no time to change his wet clothes on the aft deck, and the man Lin Mengmeng looked familiar, only to hear him say: "The back road has been sealed, There are more than a dozen open river boats full of hay, and they will most likely seal the river with fireboats......"

Lin Mengde was just about to ask what was going on, when he saw a fire suddenly burning in the northwest direction. That side is the direction of Qingyang Gang, in order to guard against the power of flood control Zepu Water Village, Dongyang Mansion set up a sentry station over there, Dongyang officials and gentry soldiers all know the Qingyang Gang sentry platform, seeing that there is a beacon fire burning there, and they are in an uproar together: "The lake thieves are in chaos!" ”

Lin Mengde still felt strange, the lake thieves in Hongzepu wanted to make trouble in the middle of the night, why couldn't they hide it from the Qingyang Sentry Post? Just hesitating, I saw that the night in front of Luoyang Lake suddenly lit a dense light like a sky full of stars, I don't know how many ships were ambushed in Luoyang Lake at night, I saw these many thief ships rowing quickly to this side, the lights of the Qin family's fleet were the brightest, and the thief ships naturally concentrated on the Qin family's fleet.