Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 105 I am willing to be your godfather!
After Zong Ze met Li Liangsi, the two had a conversation, and Su Wu ordered the soldiers to set up camp.

There is still work to do.

Zong Ze did not return to the city at night, but stayed in Su Wu's army. The two sat in the tent, reminiscing about the past.

Even Zong Ze asked, "How many ships do you want?"

Su Wu actually had no idea. He had only seen inland ships on the river and didn't know how big a sea vessel was. He just replied, "I have so many people and so many things. Please take a look, old magistrate..."

Zong Ze thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want to take all these people and things with you?"

Su Wu nodded: "Bring it."

"Five ships of 500 tons each, that would be plenty of space," Zong Ze replied.

"Then send fifteen ships!" Su Wu said directly. He was not only going there, but also had to come back. When he came back, he hoped to have a lot of goods and even more so, a lot of horses.

We are not afraid of having too many ships, as it doesn’t matter if the ships are not used. We are only afraid of having too many things and not enough ships to carry them.

The north and south of the Bohai Bay are actually very close, so there is no need for long-term sailing. Even for a wind-powered boat, two or three days are enough to cross the bay, instead of ten days, half a month, or even several months. Therefore, it will not be a big problem for horses to take the boat.

"Do you need so many big ships?" Zong Ze was a little surprised and looked at Su Wu.

Su Wu nodded directly: "I want to exchange some things back, just see how much, just in case."

"It's a good plan. You... are actually preparing for a rainy day, right?" Zong Ze asked.

Su Wu simply waved his hand and said: "If we don't know the future, how can we prepare for it? We should do our best and leave the rest to fate."

"I have gradually come to know you better. You have read many books and are familiar with many things. You are brave enough to die, you have the ability to make plans, and you are loyal to people and things..."

Zong Ze spoke slowly, but then sighed: "Okay..."

"Old magistrate, where is the boat?" Su Wu asked anxiously.

The old magistrate did not answer, but said slowly: "Five hundred ships are large ships, and they should be equipped with many small boats. If you want fifteen large ships, you must at least have twenty or thirty small boats to go ashore. Among them, there are hundreds of boatmen and sailors. You also need to leave people to guard them. There must be at least one soldier on each ship..."

Su Wu knew that he had thought things were too simple and just acted recklessly. Fortunately, he had old Zong Ze. This was the meaning of talent.

Su Wu only asked: "Can the coastal areas of Laizhou and Dengzhou be gathered together at this moment?"

Zong Ze smiled and said, "It's impossible to gather them all together, but I will send someone to take you there. If you go... maybe we can gather them all together."

Su Wu understood and laughed: "Of course, I am a reckless soldier, I will go and rob it myself."

"Haha..." Zong Ze also laughed. In fact, the two of them were saying the same thing. It was just forced requisition. With official background, secret orders from the court, and swords and guns on their bodies, as long as there were boats parked on the shore, they could get enough. Su Wu had a conscience and even gave money.

"There are still many things to do. You must have thought them through clearly." Zong Ze asked again.

Su Wu shook his head directly: "No, please advise me, old magistrate."

"You..." Zong Ze smiled and said, "You probably haven't even seen the sea, right?"

"Then I have seen it!" Su Wu replied.

"Huh? You've seen the sea?" Zong Ze was a little surprised, and then said: "Bring me some paper and pen, I'll draw it for you..."

Su Wu just took paper and pen and watched Zong Ze slowly draw. After a while, Su Wu understood that the painting was of the coastal terrain of Bohai Bay.

Su Wu only asked: "How does the old magistrate know the terrain on the other side of the sea?"

"Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the other side of the sea has always been our Central Plains. The Han Dynasty conquered the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties also conquered Goguryeo. In fact, Laizhou and Dengzhou have never fought in successive dynasties. There are many old books and maps in the case library, but no one reads them."

Zong Ze said as he painted.

Su Wu understood. In fact, maps have always existed, but they were not used in the Song Dynasty. Places like Laizhou have not been battlefields since ancient times, and many old things are well preserved.

Others don’t look at it, but Old Zong Ze does. He thinks this old ox is really a treasure.

I also heard Zong Ze say: "This map, I drew it simply. Tomorrow, I will go to the Ye County and Laizhou government offices and draw a few for you. Tonight I want to ask you, have you decided where to land?"

Su Wu just shook his head and said, "Please give me some advice, old magistrate."

Without Lao Zongze, this family would break up.

This is the meaning of talent.

Zong Ze did not despise him. He looked at the sketch he had drawn and raised his hand to point: "Look, the Liao people set up Zhenhai Prefecture here. There are many places suitable for landing on this side, but this side is too far to the west. I am afraid it is unsafe due to the chaos of war. Go east, this side, Baozhou, there is a big river here. There must be mudflats at the mouth of the river, that is, shallows. Find a slightly harder place to land, so I suggest that you choose a place from this area..."

Su Wu naturally leaned over to take a look, and then he understood clearly, isn't Baozhou Dandong? Isn't this river mouth the mouth of the Yalu River?
In other words, as long as we find the outlet of the Yalu River first, the landing will be successful.

Su Wu nodded repeatedly: "Okay, this place is good."

Zong Ze continued, "After landing, don't go due north, and don't go west. Go northeast first. There are mountains here. You have to walk at least four or five hundred miles along the mountains before you dare to go northwest to look for the Jin people."

The mountain, Changbai Mountain, Su Wu understood that this was to avoid the Liao people...

Old Zongze, you are such a treasure.

Who says studying is meaningless? Who says people who study are useless?

Zong Ze also came to remind him: "Look at the river. Follow this river to the northeast, then follow this river to the northwest. In this way, you will surely find the land of the Jin people."

Su Wu understood, he understood completely. If he walked northeast along the Yalu River, he would find the Hunhe River. If he walked northwest along the Hunhe River, he would find Huanglongfu.

"Thank you, old magistrate!" Su Wu stood up and saluted. In that era, there was no positioning system and geography relied entirely on landmarks. Zong Ze had already fed Su Wu's mouth.

"I'm going to come back and draw a map. I've also planned out the main route for you and found two backup routes for you. I've written them all down clearly for you. You take them there, but be careful and come back..."

Zong Ze spoke slowly.

Su Wu was deeply moved. This old man was so nice. Su Wu even subconsciously wanted to say: I am willing to take care of you until the end of your life.

I wish to be your godfather!
Zong Ze looked at Su Wu's excitement, stood up, and waved his hand: "Alright, alright, that's all for today. Tomorrow I'll send someone to take you to a few ports and docks on the coast, and I'll go to the county government office myself."

"Thank you, old magistrate. Thank you, old magistrate. Thank you again..."

"Enough, enough. I only have a few years left to live, and you still have a long time to live..." Zong Ze prepared to leave.

Su Wu immediately stopped him and said, "Old Magistrate, I also want to tell you something."

"You say." Zong Ze waited.

"It won't be long before you receive the transfer order," Su Wu said.

"Huh?" Zong Ze was a little surprised and asked, "Where are you being transferred to?"

"Dongping Prefecture, Judge." Su Wu replied. This matter had not been finalized yet, but Su Wu couldn't help but say it.

"So...did you plan this?" Zong Ze asked. He was not surprised. He had been transferred countless times in his life, having wandered around for decades.

Su Wu smiled and said, "The old magistrate must not refuse..."

It is common to be unwilling to go through such things. Even if the court transfers you but you refuse to go, there are many reasons for it, such as being sick, being delayed by other things, or simply not going, or wanting to retire. All of these are normal.

So Su Wu was afraid that Zong Ze would not go.

Zong Ze smiled and said, "Why wouldn't I want to be promoted?"

"Okay, it's a deal!" Su Wu was very happy.

"But... even if the transfer document arrives, I will not go..." Zong Ze said again.

"Why is this?" Su Wu's heart tightened.

"I'll wait for you to come back, and then we'll go together." Zong Ze said.

Su Wu felt his nose sore when he heard this, not to mention he was deeply moved. How could this stubborn old man be so lovable?

Zongze smiled and said, "Let's go..."

Su Wu bowed and saw him off. He thought to himself, with old Zong Ze around, there was one thing he must do, and that was to just study. He learned from Zong Ze, as Zong Ze was a treasure.

After a night of walking, at dawn, Zong Ze's men arrived quickly and took Su Wu to the seaside of Ye County. Before they saw the sea, the sea breeze was already blowing.

As soon as he saw the sea, Su Wu shouted to his left and right: "All ships, whether loaded or empty, should be boarded and seized, and all the people should be driven ashore to be detained."

Just look at the group of people riding their horses like wolves and tigers behind Su Wu. Things need to be done quickly. There are not enough boats here. They have to go to Dengzhou and rob more... and requisition more.

This was also the first time that Su Wu saw the sea vessels of this era. They were really big, much bigger than the ships on the river. There were even one or two ships with strange shapes, not like Song ships. I'm afraid they came from Arabia...

These people really ran far.

For the first time, Su Wu also had an idea of ​​the five hundred tons, and estimated that the draft was at least two hundred tons.

Even if Su Wu didn't know, by the Ming Dynasty, there were ships of 4,000 to 5,000 tons, not to mention the Qing Dynasty, when the Age of Exploration really flourished...

But Su Wu also thought that the sea was very important, especially the Bohai Bay, which was extremely important to the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties.

There are many things that we have to think about. Is it possible to really build a Bohai fleet?

It is a pity that the shipping and trade center of this era is not in the north, but in Quanzhou, Fujian, thousands of miles away. The same is true for the shipbuilding industry, which is not here.

Shandong cannot build such large ships, but there is a shipyard in Jeju, but it is not very big.

Also, the current situation in Shandong is not under Su Wu's control. He is just a military leader in a small government office. It is too early to think about these things.

After "robbing" here, he asked the county government of Ye County to send people to watch over it. Su Wu continued to "rob", riding his horse at full speed to the neighboring Dengzhou to "rob" again.

When he went to Dengzhou, he also brought Luan Tingyu with him, which was also Su Wu's intentional move.

Luan Tingyu actually had a junior fellow apprentice named Bing Yuchi Sun Li, who was the military commander of Dengzhou at the time, a military officer of neither high nor low status in Dengzhou.

If there was no Su Wu, according to the story, Sun Li would have harmed Luan Tingyu in the future. Sun Li did some heroic deeds in Dengzhou, robbing the prison and saving the brothers Jie Zhen and Jie Bao who were harmed. Now he had nowhere to go, so he could only think of joining the Liangshan bandits to hide.

It happened that Song Gongming had failed to capture Zhujiazhuang after three attacks, so Sun Li deceived his senior brother Luan Tingyu's trust and ran to Zhujiazhuang to act as an insider.

Then, with the help of both inside and outside forces, a chaotic battle broke out, and Zhujiazhuang was defeated. In the chaos of the battle, Luan Tingyu died fighting.

It is indeed a tragedy. Sun Li did a good deed of saving people out of loyalty, but he lost his loyalty and killed his own senior brother.

It seems that Sun Li did not want to kill his senior brother at that time, but there was chaos and war, and there were too many ruffians under Song Jiang's command. Zhujiazhuang was fought three times in a row and suffered heavy losses. They were very frustrated and just killed everywhere, especially Li Kui. He even killed all the people in Hujiazhuang who surrendered long ago.

Who would care whether Sun Li's senior brother was dead or not? Even if he did, Song Jiang only said: It's a pity to kill that hero Luan Tingyu.

This time, Su Wu didn't think too much, just to prevent the tragedy from happening again. Sun Li, the sick Weichi, was also a soldier and his martial arts were extraordinary.

In the story, he always fought and won, whether he was conquering Liao or fighting Tian Hu and Fang La. It was always the same. In fact, he was very brave.

When Su Wu arrived in Dengzhou, he thought it was about the time. Song Jiang was exiled to Jiangzhou, and it was time for him to have a small gathering of heroes and return to Liangshan.

As soon as Su Wu comes back this time, Song Jiang will be able to officially go to Liangshan with a group of heroes.

Now that we have come to Dengzhou, we must first deal with the hidden dangers in Dengzhou and not let this group of people from Dengzhou go to Liangshan.

So Su Wu rode his horse and led the team straight to Dengzhou City. Firstly, he wanted to meet with the prefect of Dengzhou, and then work together on the secret matters of the Privy Council.

Secondly, there are the brothers Sun Li and Sun Xin, as well as Jie Zhen, Jie Bao, Zou Yuan, Zou Run, and of course Gu Dasao.

Mrs. Gu is a skilled martial artist, and even her husband Sun Xin cannot beat her. And Sun Li's brother-in-law, Tiejiaozi Lehe, is also a talented person and is the most suitable person to work under Yan Qing.

This time he came with a purpose, and he casually asked passers-by along the way. What he wanted to ask was the location of the hotel of Sun Li's younger brother Sun Xin, which was ten miles outside Dengzhou City.

The hotel was beside the official road and close to the city, so they just found it. They saw a group of men gathered in front of the hotel, shaking the dice loudly. They were gambling. It couldn't be called a gambling house. It was just an open space in front of the hotel where people were gambling, so Sun Xin charged a fee.

Many men turned their heads to look, and saw a group of strong horsemen slowly approaching on the official road. The men then fled in panic, holding their money.

A strong woman ran out from the back room of the hotel and asked, "What happened? Why are they all gone?"

As soon as she said this, she saw a group of people coming on the official road. The woman understood what was going on and shouted again, "Those are soldiers, not gamblers caught by the government..."

How could the gamblers return? Even if they could not be called back, the cost of the gambling stall today would be wasted.

Su Wu rode his horse closer and said with a smile: "I lost the gamblers' money, but now I have a big hotel business, so it's not a loss..."

The strong woman also laughed when she heard this: "Please come in, please come in..."

Su Wu dismounted and asked, "Is there enough fodder for two hundred horses?"

"Yes, of course. The city is close, and we can send someone to buy some in time. We will definitely take good care of the horses for you, the generals."

The strong woman was still very happy. Today was really a big deal. Logically speaking, such a large cavalry was rarely seen in Dengzhou. Such a cavalry should not stay outside the city, but should go into the city. The city was only ten miles away.

This big deal was caught today.

Everyone entered the hotel, and there was barely enough room for the hundred or so men to sit.

The strong woman just said, "General, please excuse me. There are so many people here today, so we can't order any dishes. Just serve whatever is available in the restaurant. Just eat your fill. Please forgive me."

"Okay, whatever you have, as long as it's not a knockout drug." Su Wu replied with a smile.

"General, what you said is so wrong..." Seeing that Su Wu was smiling, the strong woman also smiled back. Knowing that it was a joke, she bowed and hurried to give the orders.

Wu Song was sitting next to Su Wu, so he asked, "Brother, do you know this house?"

Su Wu smiled and looked at Luan Tingyu: "I don't know him, but Master Luan knows him."

Luan Tingyu was stunned: "Just asking, General, how do I know this family?"

"You have old friends in Dengzhou," Su Wu said.

Luan Tingyu knew: "My junior fellow apprentice is a deputy commander in the army, how could he be in a hotel outside the city?"

Then the strong woman came back. When she heard someone calling Su Wu "General", she was shocked. What does the word "general" mean?
Even in Dengzhou, there was no general, and in nearby Laizhou, there was no general either. But today a general came.

The strong woman hurried forward and bowed again: "I am sorry for not recognizing you as my distinguished guest, the general. I am so sorry for your disrespect. Today's wine and food must be excellent, and I dare not charge more."

The power this woman holds in Dengzhou is just that of a small military lieutenant, which is far inferior to that of a general.

Su Wu looked at the woman and asked directly, "Is your last name Gu?"

The woman was startled when she heard this. She looked around, still astonished, and asked, "General, how did you know my last name is Gu?"

Su Wu smiled and said, "Your husband's surname is Sun, right?"

"That's right, I wonder if the general..." The woman was stunned for a moment. How could she have an acquaintance of such status?
When Su Wu went to see Luan Tingyu again, Luan Tingyu asked, "Sun? What's your husband's name?"

"Sir, my husband's name is Sun Xin." The woman answered cautiously, even in front of the general, and then looked at this group of soldiers.

They were all burly, tall and strong, and had a ferocious look on their faces. It was clear that none of them was easy to deal with. If they didn't have a relaxed smile on their faces, she would have thought about whether she should run away quickly.

Even though this woman has extraordinary martial arts skills, ordinary twenty or thirty men can't beat her. Compared with these people in front of them, they dare not compare them...

Then Luan Tingyu frowned slightly: "Sun Xin?"

Su Wu did not keep the secret any longer and came here on purpose, saying directly: "Sun Xin, your brother is Sun Li."

Luan Tingyu suddenly realized: "Oh, it turns out that he is Sun Li's younger brother. Then this lady Gu must be Sun Li's brother's wife. Haha... General, how did you know? And why did you deliberately come here to look for him?"

"It's known in the martial arts world..." Su Wu answered casually.

Mrs. Gu was standing aside, still in a daze, with a confused look on her face. She only heard Luan Tingyu turn around and smile: "Hurry up and call your husband and brother to come and meet them..."

"I don't know what the name of this military officer is... I can go and ask him..." Although Mrs. Gu was still cautious, she knew that it was a good thing, not a bad thing, so she didn't need to run away.

"I am Luan Tingyu, Sun Li's senior brother. I am currently serving as the commander of the Dongping Prefecture. The man in front of you is the commander-in-chief of the Dongping Prefecture's army and guerrilla general, whose name is Su Wu. Go quickly..."

Luan Tingyu smiled and waved his hand. In this era, meeting an old friend in a foreign land is always the most surprising thing.

Mrs. Gu nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I will pay my respects to the general first, and I will go right away. I have taken note of everything and will go and tell him right away..."

Mrs. Gu turned around and walked quickly. She also had a horse behind the store. She rode there quickly. She was very excited and couldn't help but feel happy. She had no idea that her family was so lucky and could even meet such an important person.

(End of this chapter)