Chapter 15: Fighting for Innocence
Most of those who apply to be sailors are young and single widows or teenagers.

Although Xia Pi was deserted, it was the county seat after all. There was no shortage of water after the Si River flood, so the residents did not suffer from poverty and famine.

But since we didn’t experience war last year, people’s savings are really limited and they lack the confidence to settle down.

Seeing that there was a legal opportunity to leave, many people applied.

Referring to Zhang Ding's plan, Black Bear recruited 29 new sailors before noon and arranged them on the Chen Yang and Zhang Ding ships respectively. He also transferred five people from the two ships to supplement Xuan Liang's ship.

It was a deliberate arrangement to temporarily separate Xuan Liang from his fellow townspeople in Xia Pi.

More than 200 people from Xia Pi watched on the shore, watching the new and old sailors operate the sails as the three transport ships gradually set off.

The smallest of the two boats that were originally towing the boat was given to Xuan Liang's relatives, and now it is towing a black-sailed boat.

In the past two days, the White Goose Bandits have been passing through the country, and rumors have been spreading in the countryside. Pengcheng has been alarmed several times a day, and has had no choice but to close the city gates to cut off communication between the inside and the outside.

There was chaos inside and outside Pengcheng. The people's unrest affected the spring ploughing and the subsequent water transport scheduling to provide food and fodder supplies to the army on the front line.

In addition, the price of rice in the city has been rising for three consecutive days, which has given Prime Minister Yin Gong a headache.

He was originally from Yelang, Zangke County, Yizhou, and entered the officialdom as a filial and incorrupt official. At that time, Li Jue and Guo Si were disturbing Guanzhong. Yin Gong served the emperor as a palace attendant and never left him. Later, he followed the emperor to flee Chang'an, traveled to Hedong, and finally arrived in Luoyang, and then moved to Xu County with the court.

In recent years, he was sent out to serve as a county magistrate twice, and was also appointed as a counselor. This year he was sent out to serve as the prime minister of Pengcheng.

Nowadays, there are only a few career paths for officials in the counties and towns of the Central Plains. Either they enter the government as a palace official and are appointed to a county or town, then become a court official, and finally become the head of a county or town; or they are sent out as an official in Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion, or are recruited into the Sikong Mansion for training, and eventually are appointed to a county or town.

Different career paths mean that if there is any problem in Pengcheng, Cao Sikong will definitely deal with it strictly and severely!

At night, Yin Gong stayed in the north city of Pengcheng and monitored the granary in the north city.

Pengcheng suffered from severe population displacement, so large granaries were rebuilt in the northern part of the city. These warehouses were connected to the county governor's office and stored the rice collected and purchased last year.

“Fire!”

Yin Gong, who hadn't slept for two days and was tired and sleepy, woke up suddenly with a cry and broke out in a cold sweat. He heard the chief clerk outside the door shouting, "Ming Gong! There's a fire in the south of the city!"

Yin Gong quickly went out to look around and asked his attendants, "Did the thieves in the city set fire?"

An official who was watching from the rooftop answered loudly and affirmatively: "There is no chaos inside the city, it is outside the city!"

"It's good just outside the city... It's good just outside the city!"

With the help of the chief clerk, Yin Gong also climbed up the bamboo ladder to the roof. He saw that there was no other movement in the south city except the long line of torches of the patrolling guards, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as there is no chaos in the city, the granary will be safe.

If there is no problem with the granary, at most he will be dismissed from office, but he will not lose his head.

At this time, a raging flame was burning in the hayfield outside the south city. The overly strong fire caused a whirlwind airflow, and countless burning bundles of grass flew up, and red sparks filled the sky.

The fully burned white ash flew up and down like snow, along with burnt grass clippings with sparks.

In the light of the fire, more than a hundred ships on the Si Shui River were sailing in a line, racing against time, fearing that they would be intercepted and hunted down.

At this moment, whether they were from Liang or Pei, men and women alike were paddling with their lives on the oars.

As long as you cross the Pengcheng line, you will embrace freedom!
Downstream in Lu County, Black Bear looked at the red light rising into the sky in the distance and didn't know what to say for a moment.

I always feel that Xuzhou is a powder keg. The slightest disturbance is like hitting a beehive with a stick.

Heroes from all walks of life are unwilling to be ordinary and are vying to stand out, just like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The flagship, Black Bear, was not very happy, and said to Xuan Liang: "Appease the newcomers on each ship, have a good rest tonight, and turn east after dawn. If anyone regrets, return the resettlement fee, and I will let them go off the ship. I will be on guard tonight, and I will rest in the morning. Tomorrow morning you will command the boats to return to Xia Pi."

"Yes."

Xuan Liang took the torch from a sailor nearby and said, "General, you are very kind. I would like to thank you on behalf of my fellow villagers. But now is a time of chaos, and returning home is not a good destination."

"Well, go and persuade her."

Black Bear waved his hand and continued to look at the fire at the end of his sight. He felt that the scene was very familiar and muttered in a low voice: "It is really a fire that burns to ashes and lights up the night."

There was no need to send anyone to keep watch at night. The black bear stood quietly on the roof of the bird room, looking at Pengcheng upstream.

The armored black warrior was patrolling back and forth on the deck, the unarmored black warrior was standing behind the black bear, and there was a sailor holding a torch beside him.

These people are really thick-skinned. Not only are they not afraid of the dark warrior, but they want to get closer to him.

"You should also go and rest and have a good sleep."

"Yes."

The sailor put the torch into the brazier on the deck, turned around and went into the birdhouse, then returned to the cabin in the dark.

It is strictly forbidden to make fire in the cabin, and even flint and the like are strictly controlled.

The transport boat rocked gently, and Black Bear kept watch alone.

When he was tired, he didn't force himself to stay awake. He just covered himself with a cloak and leaned against the protective wooden board to sleep.

If there is any unusual movement, the Black Warrior will make a sound.

Soon Xuan Liang held a torch and climbed onto the boat with one hand grabbing the ladder. The lightly sleeping Black Bear woke up and also arranged for Xuan Liang to go into the cabin to rest.

The three transport ships, not to mention the cargo, the ships themselves are wealth.

After Xuzhou was destroyed, the shipbuilding industry inherited from the pre-Qin period also completely collapsed, and now people in Xuzhou can no longer build such large transport ships.

Just these three transport ships were worthy of some Xuzhou heroes to take action. As the cocks crowed in the distance, some sailors in the cabin woke up and made fires in the braziers on the deck, while some sailors cast their rods to fish.

After handing over to Xuan Liang, Black Bear returned to the separated dormitory in the cabin to sleep, with two black warriors guarding the door.

The north bank where the Lu County Wharf is located was filled with smoke, while on the south bank more than a hundred ships gradually gathered and docked to rest.

As the fleet grows larger, this is the only suitable place for collective mooring.

Because of their arrival, the new sailors in the transport ship were a little nervous and unfamiliar with the operation of a large ship. Under the command of the three captains, they stumbled to pick up the stone anchor that had sunk at the bow, steered the boat away from the shore with oars, and drifted downstream when they reached the center of the river. Only then did the new sailors on the deck hoist the hard sails one by one.

On the south bank, Zhang Jun stood facing north with his hands on his hips, his face darkened by the flying grass dust, and he looked at the transport ships that were setting sail one after another.

The environment in Pengcheng was worse than they had expected. There was an almost endless stream of poor people joining the fleet on small boats, bamboo rafts, and reed rafts along the way. Now there were some reed rafts following the fleet.

The more people he has, the bolder Zhang Jun becomes.

At this moment, they are not very interested in entering Huainan quickly. The longer they stay in Huaibei, the more people from Xuzhou can be attracted.

As he stared in deep thought, Song Wu came over quickly: "Zhang Feng and others invite you."

"Let them wait a little longer. Now it's their turn to be anxious."

Zhang Jun smiled and looked at Song Wu: "Brother Song, do you think these three Jiangdong transport ships are a bit strange?"

Song Wu squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. The sun rose in the east. Song Wu placed his palm across his brow to block the sunlight and observed the stern of the nearest transport ship shaking: "What's wrong?"

"Jiangdong is good at sailing, but most of them are novices when it comes to raising the sails."

Zhang Jun smiled and looked at Song Wu with a blank expression. "It's like the characters have all changed. Brother Song, don't you think this is very interesting? The captured Pei people mentioned these three Jiangdong transport ships. Do you think Zhang Feng and his men know some secrets that you and I don't know?"

Song Wu frowned: "Do you think Zhang Feng wants us to continue to be the vanguard?"

"Brother Song, I am not in a hurry. I want to stay in the rear team to receive the people from Xuzhou who have come to seek refuge. Zhang Feng and his men want to lead the team forward, so let these people from Pei go."

Zhang Jun put his hands on his waist and stuck out his slightly protruding belly, a smile on his face: "After all, the right time, right place and right people are on our side."

"I understand. I'll follow Brother Zhang's instructions."

Song Wu still frowned: "Brother Zhang, go see Zhang Feng. I will go and ask each family what they think, and then see how many people each family's boat can accommodate."

There is only Lu County between Pengcheng and Xia Pi, and below Lu County is Xia Pi.

When Cao Cao first attacked Tao Qian, he defeated Tao Qian in a decisive battle in Pengcheng and captured more than ten cities. The counties around Pengcheng suffered heavy killings.

Cao Cao then withdrew his troops and remembered that his father was still taking refuge in Langya, so he quickly asked Ying Shao, the governor of Taishan County, to send troops to support him. Before the Taishan troops arrived, Zhang Kai, sent by Tao Qian, arrived first with a kind heart.

After Zhang Kai slaughtered Cao Song and robbed more than a hundred carts of property, they all fled and went to join Yuan Shu.

When the two Yuans in Guandong were fighting, Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian and Liu Bei belonged to Yuan Shu's camp. Zhang Kai soon took the lead in assassinating the neutral Prince of Chen Liu Chong and Prime Minister of Chen Luo Jun for Yuan Shu, thus resolving Yuan Shu's biggest worry.

Intimidated by Cao Cao's reputation, Ying Shao, who had failed, resigned from his official position and fled to Hebei.

After Cao Song was killed, Cao Cao led his second expedition to Xuzhou and marched directly into Donghai County, blocking Tao Qian's door.

In view of Cao Cao's bad behavior during his first eastern expedition to Xuzhou, Tao Qian asked for help early on, which led to Liu Bei rushing to reinforce with more than a thousand soldiers from his own army, and even bringing along two thousand miscellaneous soldiers who were recruited along the way to strengthen their momentum.

Also intimidated by Cao Cao's reputation, Zhang Miao and Chen Gong joined forces with Lu Bu, who was not afraid of Cao Cao, and raised an army with the support of Yanzhou scholars. They almost destroyed Cao Cao's lair in one fell swoop, and Cao Cao then withdrew his troops.

Later, when Lu Bu captured Xuzhou at night, Lu Bu's own soldiers did not even participate in the battle, but he took Xuzhou, which was actually the area around Pengcheng and Xia Pi. After that, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, and Chen Deng surrounded Lu Bu. When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou for the third time, he slaughtered Pengcheng and flooded Xia Pi.

To this day, there is no decent city in the Huai-Si region below Pengcheng!

A team of over a thousand young and strong people is itself the capital for advancement and expansion!

The surrounding situation has changed completely, and they have more choices before them.

However, the people of Qiaopei have already developed a great away advantage mentality between Pengcheng and Xiapi.

As a result, Peiren had other ideas. When Zhang Jun arrived, he heard Zhang Feng say, "Brother, according to investigation, the White Goose bandits are few in number, barely dozens of people. They have looted the merchant ships under the command of the brothers Sun Taolu and Xu Pinglu in Jiangdong. If we can defeat these bandits, it will not only be a contribution to the country, but also clear our name."

Zhang Jun saw the Pei people who were joining the front and back of the river on the shore preparing their fleet to pursue them, so he immediately advised: "What if there is a misunderstanding and Sun Taolu's troops are wrongly killed? Besides, their boats are tall and big, and you and I have no weapons, so it is difficult to destroy them."

"Brother, we are going to surrender to Lord Liu of Yangzhou. How can we leave empty-handed?"

Zhang Feng raised his hand and patted Zhang Jun's arm, his tone even more resolute: "I think the thieves have become cowardly, otherwise why would they flee by boat as soon as we arrived?"

"It's easy to defeat this cowardly fellow!"

"I only hope that you will take care of the rear troops and my wife. When the mission is accomplished, you will be as meritorious as Xiao He in the rear."

"Ugh……"

Zhang Jun sighed and tried to persuade them: "Their ship has tall sails and can take advantage of the strong wind. It also has more than 20 oars. How can we catch up? If we work together, we will both benefit. If we split into two teams, we may be taken advantage of by the people of Xuzhou."

"Brother, I am not greedy for merit, I just have no choice but to do this."

Zhang Feng pointed to some reed rafts still floating upstream and said, "In Pei, the officials and people mistook us for the White Goose Bandits. Now that we are in Pengcheng and Xiapi, the people of Xu have also misunderstood us. If we don't capture the real bandits, the imperial court will send troops to punish us someday, and we will have no chance to defend ourselves!"

Zhang Feng also sighed as he spoke: "I can't prove my innocence. If I go to Huainan, won't I be causing trouble for Lord Liu? We have come thousands of miles to meet each other, but Lord Liu rejected us. We have nowhere to stay. Won't my parents, wife and children be pitiful?"

Seeing that what Zhang Feng said made some sense, Zhang Jun still tried to persuade him: "The bandits are very brave, I hope you will be very careful."

"Brother, please be at ease. I will entrust my wife and children to you."

"Then, my dear brother, please rest assured and defeat the thieves. I will not be biased."

(End of this chapter)