Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 597 Return to Hebei

At noon that day, after lunch, Sima Yi, Cao Rui and others hurried to the dock. They saw the Huang family's housekeeper waiting for them at the dock as promised, and they couldn't help but feel a lot more at ease.

Because there were too many of them, they had to split into two boats. Sima Yi let most of the guards take one boat, and he, his two sons, Cao Rui and two other guards took another boat. At the same time, in order to prevent the other party from being tempted by the money, Sima Yi specifically asked the guards to carry all the large and small bags.

Sima Yi even made some changes to the identities of the personnel, ordering one of the guards to pretend to be the "head of the family", his youngest son Sima Zhao to pretend to be the "young master", himself to be the "housekeeper", and Cao Rui to pretend to be the guard. In this way, even if something really happened, there would be a certain buffer space.

Everyone boarded the Huang family's boat. When the boat untied the ropes and weighed anchor and sailed towards Hebei, everyone felt a little relieved. However, they still did not dare to relax. After all, you can't judge a person by his appearance. Who knows what these people from the Huang family are thinking? If they are tempted by money, it is not impossible for them to engage in a business of murder and robbery on the Yellow River.

After all, logically speaking, they were illegal immigrants, and no one would know if they died.

However, with Sima Yi's arrangement, even if the other party took action, they should first attack the ship where the guards were, because that was where the gold, silver and treasures were.

Fortunately, it turned out that Sima Yi was overthinking. The journey was smooth and nothing happened. However, the Huang family did not spoil them too much. The cabin they were given was just a warehouse for storing goods, and they could only sit on the ground. Similarly, no one from the Huang family came to ask them, let alone provide water or food.

However, the more this happened, the more Sima Yi felt at ease. If someone showed his kindness without any reason, he was either a traitor or a thief. The other party's attitude was in line with his position in the matter. It was Sima Yi who was begging him, so the other party's indifference was a normal reaction.

"Stop! General Yan orders us to inspect your ship!"

Soon, everyone felt the boat slow down, and then heard a commotion outside. Sima Yi and Cao Rui looked at each other, then Sima Yi stood up and went out with another guard to see what happened.

Sima Yi came outside and saw that the Huang family's four or five boats had been surrounded by more than ten small boats and two large ships of the Han army, and these small boats had already approached.

"The Han army's ships are truly terrifying. No wonder the Eastern Wu was defeated by the Han army in a naval battle."

Sima Yi saw that the two large ships were about thirty or four meters high, almost as high as the city walls of some counties and prefectures, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Sima Yi was a northerner after all, no matter how evil he was. He knew nothing about naval warfare, and even mistook the two-story, carrack-like medium-sized ships of the Han army for large ships. If he had seen the three-story, large, paddle-sailed ships of the Han army that imitated the Ottomans, his jaw would have dropped.

Sima Yi was looking at the Han army's ships while looking at the small boats coming towards him. Although they were called small boats, there were dozens of fully armed Han soldiers on them. If they really wanted to take action, he was afraid that the number of people he had would not be enough to fill the gap.

"Are you the Huang family's ship?"

A man who looked like a Han army general jumped onto the deck after the ship approached and looked at the Huang family's steward who was dressed in fine clothes.

"Yes, General, we are from the Huang family. Thank you, General Yan, for your generosity. This is just a token of our respect."

The Huang family's steward changed his arrogant attitude in front of Sima Yi, and walked forward with a smile on his face and a lackey's appearance, and stuffed a cloth bag into the officer's hand.

"We will also send General Yan's regular salary later. Please say hello to General Yan." The Huang family's steward smiled and complimented the Han army. The officer nodded, glanced at everyone on the deck, and without stopping his eyes on Sima Yi, he returned to his own ship. Then the Han army waved the flags, the ships dispersed, and the Huang family's ship was able to continue moving forward.

Sima Yi did not notice anything wrong in the process, so he returned to the cabin and told Cao Rui and the others what had happened. Everyone felt relieved and continued to squat in the warehouse, waiting for the boat to cross the river.

"We've reached the shore! Pack up and get out quickly, don't damage our cargo."

After a long time, the voice of the Huang family's manager sounded. He opened the door of the warehouse, looked at a few people with a little impatience, and then looked at the goods behind them. He left only after making sure that the goods were intact. He never even looked at Sima Yi and the others during the whole process.

"This man is really a dog who looks down on others. He was so fawning on the Han army just now, but he is so condescending to us."

The guard who had just gone out with Sima Yi couldn't help but complain, and Sima Yi pressed his hand to signal him to be quiet.

"Merchants are profit-oriented. We beg them and trouble them. It is normal for them to be nice to us. After we get off the boat, we will have no contact with them. There is no need to bear it in mind."

Sima Yi looked calm, but it was unknown how they would deal with the Huang family after they joined forces with Wu Zhi and stabilized the three states.

Sima Yi and his party left the cabin and came to the deck, where they saw that the boat was not far from the shore. Soon, the boat docked, and Sima Yi and his party got off the boat without the Huang family's steward urging them. Not far away, their guards also got off another boat. Both the gold and silver silk and the people were intact, which seemed to show that the other party was quite trustworthy.

After the group reunited, they left the dock and headed towards Heyang County, which is the closest large county to Pingyin, so it seemed that the Huang family was loading the goods here and transporting them to the other side of the river.

The port was still some distance from Heyang County, but Sima Yi was already very familiar with this area, because Wen County was a little further east of Heyang.

Sima Yi was from Wen County, Henei Prefecture.

"Your Highness, let's take a short rest in Heyang, prepare the carriages and horses, and then we can go to Wen County tomorrow. Once we get to Wen County, my Sima family has some influence, so it won't be difficult for us to go north to find Wu Xiaozhong."

Sima Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the territory of his hometown, just like a tiger returning to the mountains.

"Okay, in that case, let's do as Mr. Sima wishes."

Cao Rui thought about it and found no better way, and now he really had to rely on Sima Yi to accomplish his goals, so he could only listen to Sima Yi's advice.

Sima Yi wanted to laugh when he saw Cao Rui's expression. Now in Henei County, his Sima family was a jack of all trades. When the time came, he would find Wu Zhi, and the two of them would work together to "assist" Cao Rui. Wouldn't the power fall completely into their hands?
As for the Han army, in Sima Yi's plan, although the Han army was powerful, it would definitely need to rest for a while after taking Luoyang. He would take Cao Rui and go north during this period to occupy Youzhou and Bingzhou. By the time the Han army reacted, he could also ask the northern ethnic minorities for external aid.

After all, no matter how powerful the Han army is, they can't be stronger than the cavalry in the north, right?

(End of this chapter)