Chapter 45: Happy River
According to the law, if the chief officer is kidnapped, his subordinates will be held accountable afterwards; rescuing the chief officer, or killing the thief and the chief officer can reduce their guilt.

Laws are laws, and reality is reality.

With powerful bows and crossbows hanging over their heads, how could the more than 40 Yangzhou officials, guards, servants and five scholars who were good at painting dare to take action?
It didn't take long for the 44 people on the shore to surrender their weapons and board the ship. They also transported a car and a yellow cow onto the ship.

War horses are valuable, and oxen are also valuable.

When seeing this cow, countless ways of eating beef came to Black Bear’s mind.

I’m almost sick of eating fish. Without the heavy oil and seasoning, it’s easy to get tired of fish.

In comparison, sashimi is more acceptable.

Huainan is different from other places. It is a remote suburb of the provincial capital Hefei.

The team of state officials who were hijacked was indeed somewhat terrified. The people who were watching from far and near ran and shouted. Some hurried back to Hefei to report the news to the governor Liu Fu, while others mobilized sampans and small boats in an attempt to pursue the thieves.

On the flagship, Black Bear watched the figures running on the shore with a smile, and raised his hand to put on his leather helmet.

He said to those around him with emotion and a smile: "I have been to the Central Plains and Hebei, and I have never seen the people care so much about the safety of officials. It seems that under the rule of Liu Shijun, the love between officials and the people is far greater than that in other places."

Liu Ye also smiled slightly, then hid it: "Cao Gong is now concentrating on Hebei and has no time to pay attention to Huainan. Sun Quan in Jiangdong is also preparing troops to attack Huang Zu and has no intention of invading. Both of them are a threat to Huainan."

If Cao Cao really has time and his troops can be flexibly mobilized, a large army will definitely be stationed in the Huainan direction, and by then the execution of the wrong military service will only be a matter of an imperial edict.

It was all because Yuan Shu’s fighting ability was so poor. Otherwise, when he occupied Shouchun, he and Cao Cao would have shared the convenient water system in the Central Plains, which would have been enough to disrupt Cao Cao and make him unable to move.

It was precisely because Yuan Shu was eliminated that Yuan Shao could not allow Cao Cao to develop.

The death of Yuan Shu triggered the Battle of Guandu.

Otherwise, if this person was still alive, Yuan Shao would have rested calmly and tortured Cao Cao in every way, and he would not have ended up easily.

While we were chatting, the flagship set sail.

As they were facing headwind and could not get any help from the wind, the nine large ships sailed downstream in a line.

The boat was not going very fast, about the same speed as the people jogging on the shore.

When the boat was about to leave Shishui, we saw the vast Juchao Lake stretching as far as the eye could see, like an endless ocean.

Three or four miles away from the water mouth, there are ferry docks on both sides of the river. Black Bear vaguely recognized the words on the stone tablet: Xiaoyaojin.

It’s not that the black bear’s eyesight is very good, but the water supply is not that abundant and can barely support a large ship.

He was so close to the shore that he could see the words on the stone tablet clearly.

Thousands of people on the west bank rushed over after hearing the news and watched the fleet move slowly.

Look in the distance to the west of Shishui River, that is Hefei city.

Liu Ye is considered a local and can describe the surrounding tributaries, river bridges, and even the nearby ancient tombs of nobles in detail.

Hefei City has a moat, which draws water from the upper reaches of Shishui River and then digs a canal to drain it into the lower reaches of Shishui River.

The water in this moat can be used to irrigate paddy fields and discharge sewage, and is called Xiao Shi Water.

The bridge in the south of Hefei is naturally called Xiaoshi Bridge.

Black Bear watched for a long time, and said to Liu Ye with emotion: "Next year, if you and I are free, we can come here to watch the battle. When Cao Cao and Sun Quan clear the hidden dangers and fight for the Central Plains, the first battle must be here."

After hearing this, Liu Ye just sighed and said that the people of Huainan were suffering too much.

There was chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, abnormal climate, unbalanced seasons, frequent droughts and floods, and plagues swept across the states from time to time.

Huainan was originally prosperous, but was severely weakened by Yuan Shu's turmoil. Now that it has finally settled down, it will become a battlefield where the two sides confront and stalemate in the future. How can there be any good days?

Don’t you see that both sides of the Yellow River are almost empty?
While they were communicating with each other, the fleet sailed into Juchao Lake one after another.

The flagship set sail again and returned to Xiaoyaojin Wharf, where thousands of people gathered and dozens of sampans were also gathered and waiting.

Seeing the enemy's flagship return, the people of Huainan, who had not experienced a war for three or four years, became somewhat frightened.

However, the green umbrella-covered carriage of the envoy Liu Fu was parked at the west bank pier, and the officials and people of Huainan were only slightly shocked but did not retreat.

The flagship gradually reefed its sails and slowed down as it approached the west coast pier.

Opening the video from the side, Jiang Ji's head and beard had been shaved off, his face and nose were bruised, and his lips were cracked and bleeding.

Liu Ye still couldn't bear it, so he took out a half-worn cloak and covered Jiang Ji's upper body, then led Jiang Ji off the boat and onto the shore.

Liu Fu was in his prime, wearing a plain black crown and a sleeveless leather armor over his clothes. He stood on the carriage and stared at Liu Ye. He obviously recognized this young celebrity from the royal family and a famous scholar in Huainan.

At the end of Emperor Ling's reign, the royal family began to be reused on a large scale, and even Chen Wang Liu Chong was given special hospitality; during the periods of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, in order to demonstrate the orthodoxy of the court and to weaken the scholars, they were also particularly generous in promoting and appointing officials from royal families.

Not only Liu Fu, but also the officials and scholars of the prefectures and counties near Liu Fu's carriage were in an uproar at first, and then they talked in low voices. Within a few breaths, almost everyone knew about Liu Ye.

Liu Ye led Jiang Ji and walked slowly. Jiang Ji's upper body was wrapped in a cloak and he could not see anything clearly. He was sad and angry and his thoughts were confused. He was led along in a daze.

After walking more than thirty steps, and only seven or eight steps away from the imperial carriage, Liu Ye raised his voice and said, "Sir! Jiang Zhizhong is holding an apricot yellow flag, and there are several painters hiding on his left and right who want to paint the image of the White Goose General. What is the reason?"

How can a thief not hide his identity?
Jiang Ji's behavior can be understood as an attempt to exterminate General Bai Goose's entire clan.

Not to mention the end of the Qin Dynasty and the Xinmang Dynasty, even during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, how many of the leaders of each faction had their real names at the beginning?

The Yangzhou officials around Liu Fu were in an uproar. The White Goose Bandits were just passing through and did not provoke the Huainan people. The Yangzhou officials were immediately less angry. They respected Liu Fu more than the Xudu court or Cao Cao.

Liu Fu waited until the discussion around him died down before asking, "What should we do about Yi Ziyang?"

"General Bai E was cautious and wanted to stab Jiang Zhizhong's eyes, cut off his tongue, and cut off his left and right hands to prevent his portrait from being circulated in the world. After my repeated persuasion and the general's respect for the envoy, he agreed to release Jiang Zhizhong."

Liu Ye said, pushing Jiang Ji on the back and said, "Zhizhong, let's say goodbye now."

Jiang Ji did not speak, but slowly moved forward. After walking seven or eight steps, an official from the prefecture came forward to take him. Just as he was about to untie his cloak, he saw Jiang Ji struggling: "No! No! It's me, not the thief!"

The officials had no choice but to give up, and the two men led Jiang Ji back to the carriage.

Seeing this, Liu Fu signaled his men to help Jiang Ji get into the car. He pointed at the hostages' families and said to Liu Ye, "Zi Yang, is there nothing you can do? Can you bear to see so many families destroyed? And to leave the elderly and weak without anyone to take care of them?"

"If you are interested, you can send someone to ask the families of the people. If they are willing to follow, General Baie is willing to stop the ship and wait. As long as you dare to let them go, the general will accept them."

After hearing this, Liu Fu turned his head to look at the distance to the side. There were the families of the hostages, young and old, and there was also a woman carrying a baby who was waiting nervously.

As for the current situation in Yangzhou, the families of the kidnapped people are almost all in Hefei city.

He immediately summoned the chief clerk and asked him to go and ask in person.

The chief clerk was not worried about anything and immediately went to inquire about the families of the hostages.

Yangzhou is different from other places. Liu Fu pacified it single-handedly, and it is currently equivalent to the self-government of Huainan people.

As soon as the clerk finished speaking to the hostages' families, women carrying children on their backs or holding their hands walked towards the dock regardless of anything, walking quickly for fear of being stopped.

Most other family members followed, but those with multiple sons did not move.

Whenever the breadwinner of a family was robbed, they would run and board the ship without hesitation.

In the end, only a dozen households remained unmoved. There was no need to put the family at risk just for a son.

If any of them are married, their wives will also go on board.

Within a moment, more than eighty people left one after another, passed by Liu Ye, and boarded the ship to reunite with their husband, son, and father.

The sounds of family reunions could be heard inside the boat, but there were no mournful or helpless cries.

The momentum of the Huainan people had just subsided a little. Liu Ye was about to say goodbye to Liu Fu, but he didn't expect that the Taoist soldier Lu Bu strode off the boat with a halberd in hand, handed a blood peach to Liu Ye, and pointed at Liu Fu with his arm.

Liu Ye understood what Liu Fu meant, and said to him, "Your Excellency loves the people, and General Baie respects you, so I am sending you peaches to express my gratitude."

The officials of the state were moved, and the chief clerk saw that Liu Fu had no objection, so he quickly stepped forward and stretched out his hands to take it.

Liu Ye was about to extend his hand, but Lu Bu stopped him with his halberd. He pointed at Liu Fu with his left hand, hooked his finger, and then pointed in front of Liu Ye.

After doing all this, the Taoist soldier Lu Bu retreated five or six steps and stood with his halberd in hand to show that he had no intention of hijacking.

Liu Fu thought for a moment, then the chief clerk stepped back and said to his colleagues: "There are many rumors among the people, and we all don't believe them. Now the blood peach is right in front of you. If you can't tell the truth from the false, how can you set things right?"

The governor of the gate, who was wearing heavy armor, also spoke up: "I am willing to follow you to fight against the bandits."

Seeing the eager eyes of the officials around him, Liu Fu did not refuse and nodded slightly: "Then I will give it a try."

Liu Fu led the supervisor of the gate forward and took the blood peach with both hands. Then he heard Liu Ye say, "Envoy, please eat it quickly. Jiang Zhizhong has already made General Bai Goose unhappy. This shouldn't be done. I'm afraid these peaches and plums will fall into the hands of Cao's family."

"You're pretending to be something magical. This is just an ordinary red peach."

Liu Fu lowered his eyebrows and looked at the blood peach in his hand, and said with a smile: "In the Ouyue area in the south of Kuaiji, it is spring all year round, so it is normal to produce peaches in winter and spring."

"Your Excellency's words make sense. Eat the peach quickly so that I can report back."

Liu Ye urged with a smile. Liu Fu looked at Liu Ye's smile and wiped the peach fluff with his sleeve. Seeing that it couldn't be wiped off, he held the peach with both hands and ate it clean in nine bites, leaving only a clean peach pit.

The peach flesh turned into juice in the mouth and entered the stomach, and Liu Fu's lips, teeth and nose were filled with rich peach fragrance.

And I felt warmth all over my body, and all my tiredness was gone.

He immediately looked at Liu Ye with surprise. Liu Ye smiled and shook his head slightly, and stretched out his hand: "It is indeed an ordinary peach. Please return the peach pit."

"Zi Yang, you see, peaches that bear fruit in winter and spring are indeed miraculous. I intend to plant them in Hefei so that the people of Huainan can eat peaches all year round. This will be a great achievement for a hundred years. Zi Yang, thank General Bai E on behalf of me and the people of Huainan."

After Liu Fu finished speaking, he held up the peach pit in his right hand to show it to the people of Huainan who were watching from afar, then took a big step back, leaving his followers holding shields and swords to cover their retreat.

Liu Ye just smiled, bowed deeply to Liu Fu's returning carriage with a green umbrella and the team of state officials, then turned around and bowed deeply to the Huainan scholars and people on both sides.

Afterwards, Liu Ye turned around and leisurely returned to the cabin, followed by Taoist soldier Lu Bu holding a halberd.

In front of the carriage covered by a green umbrella, Liu Fu handed the peach pit to the chief clerk, saying meaningfully: "Dry it in the shade first, then plant it. This is a treasure that I risked my life to obtain for the men and women of Huainan."

The thieves passing through the border have no bad intentions. What they are afraid of is Xudu and those who curry favor with Xudu without any bottom line.

The governor and the chief clerk were both locals. The chief clerk took out a handkerchief and wrapped the peach pit in it, and solemnly replied, "I obey your orders and will not fail to do anything wrong."

The peach kernels obtained by the Liangpei refugees had already been collected by Jiang Ji and sent to Xudu.

He even sent people to hunt down a peach that might still exist, but the peach was not found and three guards died in vain.

(End of this chapter)