Chapter 278 [Bloody]

The convoy moved forward, not very fast. There was nothing urgent about returning to the imperial capital this time. It was purely to attend the year-end banquet. Calculating that there were still twenty days left, Du Wei was not in a hurry. Anyway, even if he was going back, it was just a matter of time.

There are endless feasts and feasts, as long as you arrive before the Prince Regent's annual ceremony.

Ten days after setting off, we had already passed through Nulin Province and paid a visit to Governor Bohan on the way. However, at this year-end ceremony, Bohan was not recalled to the imperial capital by Prince Chen. According to his own words, before the eldest prince's coup failed,

At the end of every year, he would be recalled to the Imperial Capital to receive awards. Since the failure of the First Prince's coup the year before last, Bohan had never returned to the Imperial Capital. Obviously, this was also the reason why he, as an official of the First Prince's faction, had fallen out of favor.

Very obvious signal.

However, Bohan seemed to have seen through these things and did not have any impulse to be too frustrated. Instead, he asked Du Wei to help bring some gifts back to the imperial capital to visit his family. According to the imperial practice, any governor like Bohan

, the important figures in charge of the military and political affairs, when they took office, their family members stayed in the imperial capital. The meaning of this does not need to be explained clearly.

After the carriage traveled for ten days, it left Nulin Province and entered the central part of the empire. Following the road east and then south, you can reach the port on the upper reaches of the Lancang Grand Canal, where you can board the ship and follow the

Going down the river, you can reach the imperial capital directly.

Although it is slightly faster to go by land, it is more comfortable to take a boat after all, and there is already a large ship under Du Wei's name waiting at the port.

Mingfan Port is the most upstream port of the Lancang Grand Canal, and it is also the last terminus of the Lancang Grand Canal to the west. The excavation of the Grand Canal ends here. Further west, there are difficult river channels and several tributaries.

As the last stop on the Grand Canal's direct route to the west, Mingfan Port is the busiest time every year at the end of the year...even more lively than the annual summer celebrations that Roland people value most.

Countless merchant groups and caravans come and go from here. The caravans from the west want to rush home before the end of the year, while the caravans from the east want to take advantage of this time to transport the most in-demand goods in winter.

to the northwest.

At this time of year, the river traffic is busy and the ships are very busy.

As an inland river port, Mingfan Port is already very large. However, in the past few days, all the berths of the wharf are still full, and all merchant ships have announced that their cabins are full, resulting in many caravans waiting for cabins.

I had no choice but to live in a small port town.

This is a last resort. After all, the transportation cost of river transportation is much cheaper than that of land transportation. For the same goods, the transportation fee of land transportation is about four times more expensive than river transportation. After all, the goods of a carriage fleet only need one big ship.

Can be transported.

Du Wei and his party arrived at Mingfan Port in the evening. Thanks to this bustling port, the small town next to the port has also benefited greatly. It has become a very lively market town, even because of the east-west exchanges.

The caravan brought all kinds of rare goods, so that there were actually a large number of shops in this small town, and there were even several high-end porcelain shops. For a town with a population of less than 20,000, this was already

It's very rare.

The arrival of Du Wei and his party did not notify the security officials and mayor of the town in advance. As a result, they were blocked directly outside the town.

There are too many caravans. I heard that in the past few days, about forty caravans have been stranded in the small town. The hotel alone has been filled up, not to mention the guest rooms in the hotel, even the kitchen.

There was no room for people to live in. Several warehouses at the port were already full. Some caravans who often traveled to the northwest were used to sleeping in the open air anyway. They simply set up tent camps on both sides of the road outside the town and sent people there every day.

Check with the port to see when space will become available.

On the streets that were not originally too wide, too many convoys and horses coming and going had blocked most of the roads. It took Duwei's convoy a full two hours to reach the port.

Finally, after the river transport official at the port saw clearly the family emblem on the carriage of Du Wei and his party, it was not because the river transport official was proficient in emblem science. It was just that the "flaming tulip" was used as an emblem. This was the only one in the entire empire.

Right! Even an idiot can see it.

Soon, the mayor and the sheriff hurried to the dock. Because there was no hotel in the town, Duwei declined the mayor's invitation to stay at his home. Instead, he decided to live on the boat.

But when Du Wei asked to sail away immediately, the river transport officer broke out in cold sweat and said hesitantly: "Sir... this may be difficult."

Later, under Du Wei's questioning eyes, the river transport official reluctantly explained the reason.

Du Wei's big ship has been moored in the port for many days. Because Du Wei was taking his time along the way, he was not sure when he would arrive, so the river transport officer ordered the ship to move in in order to free up the berthing channel.

In the auxiliary channel of the river, after all, Du Wei's boats are all sea-going ships. Although this is the smallest sea-going ship, it is still a bit too big on the inland canal. Such a big ship always stops and stops.

In the port, at such a peak busy time, it is really a waste to occupy the berths of two merchant ships.

Du Wei's ship had already paid the berthing fee for fifteen days, but in this busy season, the river transport officer ordered the berthing fee to be refunded, and then vacated the berthing lane for other merchant ships.

Originally I thought the Duke would get furious, but Du Wei just smiled, patted the pale river transport official on the shoulder, and said with a gentle smile: "Well, it's not your fault, it's my fault. You are a very good person.

Official... Then I will live on the boat tonight, but I don’t know when the river will be cleared for me to go on the road? "

"Probably until tomorrow...tomorrow morning." The river transport official breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay." Du Wei shrugged: "Okay, gentlemen, don't be too nervous. For me, it is a wonderful thing to be able to close the night view of Mingfan Port here."

The mayor and the river transport officer were sent away. Du Wei even declined the town's sheriff's offer to send soldiers for protection. After all, in this busy season, there were only two hundred security soldiers in the port, and the manpower was already very tight.

.Moreover, Du Wei felt that he did not need any protection.

"You didn't punish these officials? They took your parking lane and you paid for it."

After everyone left, Queen Medusa asked Duwei: "This doesn't seem to be in line with the practices of your human nobles that I know."

"What do nobles do?" Du Wei smiled: "Who told you what these nobles do?"

"Your fiancée." Queen Medusa said in a very calm tone: "In the days when she stayed with me in the town outside the imperial capital, I asked her to read a lot of your human books to me. According to what I know

What you human nobles are doing, I'm afraid you will immediately order this river transport officer to be hung up and whipped."

Du Wei shook his head: "He is a very good official. Our ship is parked here. Although there is no my family crest on the ship, the sailors and captain on the ship are not mute. So this river transport official will not know about this ship."

Who does it belong to? But he still did it. It shows that he is a very pragmatic official. The fault of this matter is not his, but mine."

This is a Sea Spirit-class sea-going ship, but it is already very large for an inland river. That night, Du Wei boarded the big ship in a small boat. He lived on the ship and waited for the river transportation officials to clear the river and prepare for the second wave.

You can set off in the morning.

In the morning of the next day, the ship finally docked at the berth of the pier.

The river transport official and the sheriff came to see Du Wei and saw that the Duke was about to leave. These people were relieved. Although the Duke seemed very kind, after all, dealing with such a big man was really stressful.

.

Such a big ship entered the berth on the dock. Du Wei's sailors were busy carrying the cargo. This Sea Spirit-class ship was so big that even carriages and horses could be loaded on it.

But here the sailors were busy, but there was a problem there.

Du Wei was sitting in the cabin drinking hot tea when he heard noisy and yelling sounds coming from outside. The sound seemed not too far away, which made him pay attention. He asked someone to open the window of the cabin and saw a group of people on the pier outside.

The northwest aliens in leather robes were gathering under his boat, shouting and cursing, and other aliens had climbed onto the boat from all sides. Several sailors had bruises and swollen faces, and they had already suffered a loss. Fortunately, Du Weidi had a few guards.

I saw it and rushed forward. The two sides had drawn their weapons and were confronting each other.

These prairie people looked very arrogant, and even though there were several guards with swords on Du Wei's side, they were not afraid. The noise seemed to be getting louder.

"What's going on?" Du Wei turned around and glanced at the river transportation officer and the sheriff beside him. The two guys were sweating on their foreheads. The sheriff quickly confessed and ran out, calling a few security soldiers from a distance.

But this group of prairie people only had a dozen people at first, but after shouting, dozens more people gathered from the pier. Everyone on the prairie defended themselves. Although these guys were all caravans, everyone was carrying

He would draw his scimitar at the first sight, so those who were watching the excitement stood far away.

Although the Sheriff had gone out, these prairie people didn't seem to buy it either. The few leaders led by him kept yelling and cursing at the Sheriff.

"What's going on?" Du Wei turned to look at the river transport officer: "These grassland merchants are so arrogant here? They even dare to draw swords against the imperial police officers?"

The river transport official had a bitter look on his face and was hesitating. Du Wei's face had turned cold: "Yesterday I thought you were a good official and I had a good impression of you. Why are you so cowed when facing these prairie people today? Could it be that you Have you accepted their benefits?"

"Absolutely not!" The river transport officer was startled, and then he quickly spoke out.

It turns out that Mingfan Port is a hub for east-west transportation and river transportation. Many of the merchants coming and going are aliens from the grasslands. These grassland people are wild and barbaric in nature, most of them are unreasonable and often do not follow the rules. The one with a strong fist is the boss. .

Especially when the river transport is tight and the ship's cabins are full, other caravans are still willing to abide by the rules and wait honestly for the port's river transport station to arrange cabins. Even if there are some individual dishonest ones, they can at most quietly stuff some gold coins in an attempt to bribe them. The river transport officer here got himself shipping space.

Having said this, Du Wei smiled: "Oh? Then you must have made a lot of money recently, right?"

"No, no!" The river transport official's face became stern, and he immediately said: "Your Excellency, although I have some power in my hands now, I never dare to accept bribes! I often give stern warnings to the people under my command. , if anyone dares to accept bribes and make random arrangements, he will take my whip! You can send someone to inquire, everyone in the town knows my reputation."

Du Wei nodded: "Well, you dare to delay my ship, which shows that you are on business. Okay. I believe you on this, no need to explain. Let's talk about these prairie people."

The river transport officer had a look of hatred on his face: "Sir... If it were our empire's own caravan, at most it would just be a small trick, trying to bribe... But these prairie people don't care about this. If they don't have a ship's space, When it comes to cabin space, I often just grab it with a knife!"

"Continue." Du Wei's face darkened slightly.

"Prairie people have always been so barbaric in doing business, but because prairie trade is hugely profitable, many merchants are willing to take risks and trade with them. About 20% of the caravans coming and going in Mingfan Port are prairie people. And... Different from our people, the grassland people are the most united. Often when a caravan has a dispute with others, all the grassland caravans in the town will bring weapons to help. It is a headache. They despise local officials. Even when faced with soldiers from the public security station, they dared to draw their swords in a duel. The public security station in Mingfan Port only had two hundred people, so it would be okay if they dealt with a dozen prairie people. But if two or three prairie caravans gathered together, it would be really difficult. It’s hard to deal with people.”

"In such busy times, the cabins are tight. If the goods are kept in the warehouse for one more day, the loss will be one more day. In order to snatch the cabins, the most common tactic used by these prairie people is to lead a swarm of people and run to the port to see which one. If the ship is in an open space or is loading cargo, a large number of people will gather to rush on it and seize other people's ships first. In some cases, they may even throw other people's goods into the water directly. If you wait for other caravans to come and argue, , they drew their knives and threatened. Even if the security team came, these people would just sit on the boat! Anyway, they rushed on the boat and refused to get off. There was nothing we could do to act rogue like this. In the past, we encountered this kind of thing. When things happen, caravans who are overwhelmed often can only admit that they are unlucky. When they come out to do business, everyone only seeks money, but these prairie people are all desperadoes. Most of the caravans in our empire are not willing to offend these prairie people. Fight them desperately."

The more Du Wei listened, the darker his face became, and he sneered: "The public security office just sat back and ignored them? Didn't those foreign businessmen who suffered losses go to the public security office to complain?"

"Of course there are...but sir, as I said just now, the public security station is short of manpower..."

"Nonsense!" Du Wei said angrily: "What's wrong with the lack of manpower? I think they are timid and afraid of getting into trouble! The prairie people are like wolves, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. If you are really determined to mess with them once, it will hurt them."

If they are afraid, they will not dare to mess around in the future! It is because of your blind appeasement that we got to where we are today!!"

When the river transport officer heard this, he felt his neck tremble and protested: "Your Majesty the Duke! I understand what you said, and... we have also made efforts, but the results are disappointing!!"

Du Wei was stunned for a moment: "... Just tell me."

"The year before last, these prairie people were rampant. The Sheriff and I couldn't stand it anymore, so we decided to teach them a lesson. That time we dispatched all the soldiers from the Public Security Station, including some people from our River Transportation Station.

They got weapons and went into battle. They also gave a serious lesson to an evil prairie caravan. These prairie people injured other caravan members on the dock, robbed their cabins, and lost their goods.

Most of them! Such evil deeds have already violated imperial laws! Moreover, after our people went there, they dared to openly resist the imperial security forces with force, which was even more sinful. In a fierce fight, our security guard soldiers died.

Three, more than a dozen were injured, and a total of more than 60 prairie people were arrested! Although we felt sorry for the dead soldiers at that time, it would be a good thing if these prairie people could be convinced by a lesson! Those sixty prairie people were arrested

After that, according to the imperial decree, even if they are not all executed, they should all be sent to Dal'er City to work as coolies!"
To be continued...