On the wedding night, the prince asked me to see an andrologist

Chapter 499 The storm is very strong
"And 'water thieves' like this usually don't appear one by one, but appear in patches. Once you find one, you have to stop quickly and check out the 'water thieves' in nearby waters. We have only found them for the time being. Three, I don’t know how many are hidden nearby.”

The ship boss said with a grimace.

The fourth prince, "..."

At this time, the sky was getting dark, the boat was parked on the river, and there was river water in all directions.

Lanterns were lit on both sides of the deck, and the river breeze blew the flames. The light of this star seemed particularly weak in the dark night.

Looking around, people seem to be very lost in the vast river. The waves under the water are heard one after another, and it is impossible to see what is at the bottom of the river.

"Who on earth would use such immoral means? Is it aimed at us?"

The fourth prince frowned.

The Minister of Agriculture added, "It may not be aimed at us."

The fourth prince looked at him.

Ning Muqing said calmly, "Using chains to block roads is very common during robberies, just like someone using ropes to block passing horses on the side of the road. Generally, there are only two types of people who do this. One is when the court sets checkpoints. There are enemies coming on the blocked waterway."

"But if it was the imperial court that did this, the fourth prince would have already received the news."

The Minister of Agriculture answered.

When the fourth prince heard this, he glanced at Chu Lixuan calmly.

Chu Lixuan shook his head almost invisible.

Chu Lixuan was in charge of all water and land traffic defenses, and he had not received such news.

Ning Muqing said slowly, "If it hadn't been for the imperial court's order, then it would have been the water thieves."

"There are actually water thieves on this river guard?" The fourth prince looked astonished.

Ning Muqing found it a bit funny that the fourth prince had never seen the world. "There are bandits on this continent. The whole length of the river protection is so wide. There are so many merchant ships coming and going. They are all rich businessmen. Isn't it normal to have water bandits?"

The fourth prince, "..."

Ministry of Agriculture official, “…”

What she said made sense, and they couldn't refute it.

The boss of the ship agreed with Ning Muqing very much and said with a wry smile, "These adults are so proud of themselves, but I'm afraid they don't understand this. What this guard said is absolutely right. There are always water thieves on this river protection, and Are there many gangs?”

"Have you seen him before?" Ning Muqing asked.

The boat boss said helplessly, "The younger ones are from Wuzhen. Their ancestors have relied on the Hujiang River to make a living. It is impossible to avoid them from a distance! But even if you know that there is such a thing, they appear and disappear all day long. I can't care either.

Usually they mainly rob passing merchant ships. If it is just a small business, they will only surround them with ships. After getting a satisfactory number, they will disperse. Only when they encounter extremely rich fat sheep, they will Drop chains into the water,
The big ship and their small boats can't get close. They use iron chains to force the ship to stop and check the chains. After the people disperse, it will be much easier for them to board the ship and rob it again! "

After hearing this, the fourth prince's expression suddenly changed and he said, "Boarding? You mean they will come up again..."

"I don't mean that I will definitely do this. I just heard that they did it before."

"Why don't you report this to the government?" Chu Lixuan suddenly said in a cold voice.

The ship boss glanced at him, then shook his head helplessly and said, "Brother, you are really joking. What is the use of reporting this matter to the officials? There is nothing the government can do!"

Around the cabin, the faces of the fourth prince and several other officials from the Ministry of Agriculture all changed.

Ning Muqing asked, "Did you ever report to the official, but then the court ignored you?"

"It's not that the court didn't take care of it, it's that the court wanted to take care of it. The local officials had a headache, but they couldn't do anything about it." The boat boss said helplessly.

"This river runs across the entire Zhou Kingdom. You can control this side of the river, but not the other side of the river. You can control the head, but not the tail. Moreover, there are so many branches along the river, and the water conditions are even more complicated.

Even people like us who have lived by the river for generations cannot figure out what will happen the next day, let alone the people in the government. Even if a robbery is reported to the government, the adults can only send people to patrol nearby for a period of time. Time, strengthen your vigilance,

If these water thieves are brave enough to show up again, they may be able to catch people. If they don't meet people, they can't stay by the river all the time. If they don't meet people, they will leave in a few days, which is of no use. None of the thieves are stupid. No one will stay where they are and wait for the government to come and catch them. They will run far away as soon as they finish robbing, and there are so many ships anchored and sailing on the river.

As long as the flags are changed, no one can tell which one is a merchant ship and which one is a water pirate's ship. In the end, the government's trip will be just in vain and will not have any effect. "

When the ship boss said this, everyone on the deck fell silent.

Ning Muqing also sighed in her heart.

this kind of thing.

There's really no way to control it.

For one thing, this river protection is very long, and there are so many branches. The situation on the water surface is beyond the control of ordinary people. These water thieves who live on the water all year round disappear as soon as they run away, and they can still swim away from the bottom of the water.

After all, the bandits still have a base. They are simply harder to catch than the bandits in the mountains.

Secondly, most of the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty were landlubbers. They fought fiercely on land, but when they came to the water, their combat effectiveness was somewhat reduced.

If we really encounter water thieves and fight on the water, it's hard to say who will be more powerful.

The soldiers at the top may not be able to do anything, let alone the officials at the bottom. You can't sacrifice the soldiers at the top just to gain some businessmen's property.

To do so is to pick up the sesame seeds and lose the watermelon.

The fourth prince frowned, looked at the officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and said, "Why have we never heard of water thieves in the capital? I don't even know what a water thieve is."

"This, this...uh..." The official from the Ministry of Agriculture looked very embarrassed.

One of them whispered, "This part is not under the control of our Ministry of Agriculture, and we don't know the specific situation. However, we have heard of water thieves, and several reports are reported every year, but because the situation is not very serious, and Most of these water thieves left after robbing without harming anyone, so the government did not pay attention to this matter. "

"They only take property?" the fourth prince asked doubtfully.

The ship boss Dalian nodded and said, "Reporting to the fourth prince, this is true. I heard that these water thieves are all in gangs. The final gang is controlled by a boss. This person is also a good thief and will not harm the people nearby. fishermen and common people,
Although they rob passing merchant ships, they will not harm the people on board. As long as the ship pays enough tolls, they will even help people on board negotiate business. I don’t know the details, but I heard that some merchant ships will Take the initiative to hand over water tolls. "

"I have seen this king for a long time, and I never thought that such a thing would happen."

The fourth prince looked surprised.

Ning Muqing looked at the iron chains covered with water plants on the deck and asked, "Are you sure these things were planted by water thieves?"

"The things forged by private iron all look the same, and we can't tell them apart." The ship boss shook his head.

Ning Muqing stopped talking.

The fourth prince frowned and said, "Then what should we do now? There is no way we will delay our trip for them."

"Prince, the common people have an idea."

The ship boss hesitated for a moment, then handed it over.

The fourth prince looked at the captain of the ship, "What do you mean?"

"The people on our boat have been paying attention to the movements of the people around us, but we haven't seen any water thieves coming and going for the time being. Perhaps these iron chains are the remains of water thieves who have not been salvaged before.
But to be on the safe side, someone still has to go into the water to check the situation and see if there are any iron chains in the nearby waters. If there are any, they can be fished out to avoid scratching the bottom of the boat. "

The boat boss knew that these people were not very familiar with things above and below the water, so he explained.

The fourth prince's eyes lit up when he heard this, "You mean, your people can solve this matter?"

After the sky darkened, the wind on the river became stronger, and the water rippled and the boat began to sway. In addition, there was no light to illuminate, and the entire water area felt dark, as if there was a huge giant underneath. A monster capable of swallowing up everyone.

The ship boss said, "It won't be a problem for our people to solve this matter. The brothers are all very good at it, but..."

"Just what?" The fourth prince frowned.

The boss of the boat said with a smile on his face, "It's just that we went to the bottom of the water to salvage halfway. According to the rules, we have to pay an extra head fee. As you can see, my lord, the wind and waves are very strong. It is also dangerous for brothers to go into the water. If one of them fails... …”

(End of this chapter)