Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 264 Tao Luo Field

Chapter 264 Tao Luo Field

On the night of the fifteenth of March, at the beginning of the hour of Yin, the sea was pitch black.

Five shallow boats drifted on the sea about five miles from the shore, without raising sails, moving forward only by oars.

The seawater was dark and murky, with small but turbulent waves that pushed the ship slightly, and the small flag at the top of the mast crackled in the night wind.

This is their sixth day traveling north.

For the first two days, we traveled along the coastline. After passing Tongzhou, we turned northeast and took advantage of a sudden southerly wind to speed up our journey.

This time, the personnel structure has changed significantly compared to the past. The simplest reason is that the proportion of personnel who are not from seafaring backgrounds has increased, as the rough seas are quite difficult for them.

However, after six days, some people had begun to get used to the rocking. Of course, there were still quite a few people suffering from seasickness and vomiting. Every now and then, someone would lean over the side of the ship and dry heave, only vomiting up yellow fluid, as there was hardly anything left in their stomach to vomit.

Overall, the situation is actually not bad.

Having just finished inspecting the lower deck, Shao Shuyi went up to the deck.

I looked up at the sky first. The clouds were thick, and I couldn't see the stars or the moon.

He glanced down again at the people lying haphazardly in the cabin.

One hundred and sixty people were crammed into five ships, with about thirty people on each ship. The hold was covered with straw, and people slept side by side, making it difficult to even turn over. That's how it is at sea. The living space of the crew is compressed to the extreme, and every possible space is made up for cargo.

"We must reach the shore before dawn," Shao Shuyi said to Li Fu and Hou Tai, the boat manager, who were standing beside him.

"Yes, sir." The two men looked solemn and went their separate ways to prepare.

At the second quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), a faint black line appeared on the sea ahead; that was the coastline.

The five boats slowed down.

The boatmen moved with minimal effort, making almost no sound as the oars entered the water.

Fog rose before dawn, enveloping the entire fleet in a grayish-white hue. This increased the difficulty of the landing, but also provided them with cover.

Tie Niu held up a torch, while Shao Shuyi held a nautical chart he had obtained from the Caofu government office.

The nautical chart is very new; it must be a hand-drawn version, with the locations of many salt fields marked on it.

Shao Shuyi's gaze fell on Tao Luochang.

This salt field was managed by the Jiaolai branch of the Shandong Transportation Bureau. During the Song Dynasty, it was once the largest salt field in Shandong, producing over 32,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of salt annually. After the Yuan Dynasty came to power, it was temporarily merged into the Xinyang salt field, located 120 li (a unit of distance) to the northeast, but was later re-established. Currently, the Xinyang and Taoluo salt fields rank first and second in terms of output among the nineteen salt fields under the Shandong Transportation Bureau.

For a country of this size, one or two salt fields are nothing, but for local powerful figures, one salt field is enough to make them rich.

The first battle is set at Tao Luo Field. You're out of luck, since I was just about to go ashore to replenish my fresh water supply.

The ship's foreman, Hou Tai, walked past Shao Shuyi and arrived at the ship's location.

The navigator (also known as the "boat master") took a bamboo pole out of the sea; the wet marks on the pole only reached the third mark.

"The water is too shallow," he said. "According to the route Zhang Gong pioneered back then, if we go another half a mile, we'll probably run aground."

"Stop the ship," Hou Tai ordered immediately.

"Yes." The fire chief immediately went to deliver the message.

Moments later, the boatmen immediately sprang into action.

As they busied themselves, Captain Li Fu also went down to the lower deck and mobilized the crew (soldiers) and porters (auxiliary soldiers, temporarily conscripted able-bodied men).

Still half-asleep, they leaned against the bulkhead, ate some food and water, and then began to check the equipment.

The five boats eventually anchored about a mile from the shore.

The two small boats were lowered.

The fourteen men were divided into two groups, plus four sternmen, making nine men on each boat, each carrying two torches.

Li Fu led the first small boat, rowing at the very front.

The closer you get to the shore, the more turbid the seawater becomes, and you can vaguely see churning mud and sand underneath.

After rowing for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the hull of the small boat hit the mud and sand, making a slight scraping sound, and finally came to a stop.

"Get off the boat." Li Fu flipped off the boat and stepped into the muddy seawater that was up to his thighs, his lips twitching slightly.

The seawater in March was still icy cold, and the silt was sticky and heavy, requiring a lot of effort to pull one's legs out each time.

But he suppressed the burning desire within him, and then waved to another small boat behind him, signaling to follow.

The eighteen men jumped into the mud one after another, dragged the boat onto the beach, and left two men behind to guard it. The soldiers then reorganized their formation and continued forward.

The mudflats were completely silent.

The fog churned ahead, and the chimneys of salt stoves and the dark silhouettes of shacks on the shore could be vaguely seen.

There was a strong smell of brine in the air, salty and bitter, mixed with the smoky aroma of firewood, probably left by the cooks boiling salt at night. There was no other way; the imperial court was pressing for taxes very hard. The southern barbarians had value in the united front, so the extra salt and surplus salt were exempted without hesitation. But the north could not be exempted. The per capita tax burden was much heavier than in the south, including the salt tax, so they had to "work overtime."

There seemed to be a few barks from a distance.

Li Fu's heart tightened slightly, but thankfully the sound stopped quickly. He wondered if the sound had been scolded by its master and was too aggrieved to make any more noise.

The muddy tidal flats soon passed, and the ground gradually turned into sand and gravel, which felt much more solid underfoot.

The shack was less than a hundred paces ahead. It was low and sturdy, with walls made of reed mats and mud, and a roof covered with thatch and tarpaulin. In some places, it was covered with tattered fishing nets.

Outside the shack lay several wooden buckets, a few salt shovels, and a pile of chopped firewood, lying haphazardly.

The door to the shack wasn't closed properly, and dim light and voices emanated from the crack, which surprised Li Fu.

He walked slowly and quietly, but found that he couldn't understand much. He could only vaguely sense that the person speaking was complaining about someone's salt not being fried properly or the heat not being controlled.

He lost patience and quickly went around to the shack door, smashing open the rickety door made of twigs.

"Don't panic, we're here to collect salt," he said calmly, brandishing his knife.

There were three people in the shack.

Two people were squatting by the stove, holding salt shovels in their hands.

A man sat against the wall, with a bowl of millet porridge and a plate of salted fish in front of him.

When Li Fu barged in, the three of them froze, as if they were frozen in place. Their eyes were wide open, their mouths were agape, but they couldn't utter a sound.

Several more people rushed in and held knives to the necks of the three men.

"Crash!" The bowl fell to the ground, spilling thin millet porridge all over the floor.

"Good... good sir, spare my life." The man's lips trembled, and it took him a long time to squeeze out the words.

Li Fu squatted down, took out two crumpled banknotes from his pocket, handed them over, and said, "Four strings of cash, to make up for this bowl of porridge. Now tell me, where is the salt warehouse, and how many people are there?"

The man opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"Even if you don't speak, others will. It's useless." Seeing his expression, Li Fu's eyes turned cold. He said, "Could it be that you're siding with this corrupt official?"

The man snapped to attention, realizing what he meant, and immediately said, "I didn't understand what you meant earlier, sir. I know where the salt warehouse is. If you wish to—"

"Lead the way!" Li Fu took out another six strings of cash and stuffed them into his hand, instructing him.

After saying that, he turned to his three men and ordered them to put away their tools, saying, "If there's any salt at home, take it too."

The other two breathed a sigh of relief.

You're a salt collector, why didn't you say so earlier? You're making it sound like you're a pirate. Who wouldn't be afraid?

Li Fu stepped out of the door and looked around in the distance.

The fog had not yet dissipated, and the dark silhouettes of five large ships were faintly visible on the sea, but there was already movement on the shore—it wasn't just their group of fourteen people who had landed, but a total of five groups of seventy people.

After they all reached the shore, they slowly gathered together and began to head deeper into the cooking area.

Along the way, the barking of dogs rose and fell, followed by the sound of arrows piercing the air and the dying cries of dogs.

Occasionally, a few people's dying screams could be heard, but not many.

At 3:45 AM, shouts, screams, and the clash of weapons suddenly intensified, mainly concentrated in a cluster of buildings deep within the kitchen area.

The clash of weapons was brief, but the screams rose and fell, continuous and endless, until finally all was silent.

Shao Shuyi was among the second batch to arrive ashore.

By then, the sky in the east was already turning light, and the fog had dissipated considerably.

The moment they stepped onto solid ground, they heard a report from Liang Tai, the commander-in-chief of the front lines: "Commander of Taoluo Field, Assistant Commander..."

The officials in charge of salt administration and the clerk were all present, along with ten salt police officers. In the ensuing melee, two or three escaped, but the rest were all executed.

Shao Shuyi nodded as he walked forward, asking, "How much salt is in the warehouse?"

"It's hard to say, we haven't had time to count it carefully, but it should be over 100,000 or 200,000 jin," Liang Tai replied.

Shao Shuyi then stopped talking and quickened his pace.

Behind him, the boatmen and able-bodied men, carrying hemp ropes and carrying poles, marched in a long procession.

The ten small boats returned again to begin bringing the third group of people ashore.

Meanwhile, security at the salt warehouse had become extremely tight.

The salt fields were too large to be sealed off, so they could only control the most important salt warehouses.

There were guards at both the front and back gates, roadblocks at the intersections, patrols inside, and even archers on the roof.

When Shao Shuyi arrived at the main gate, Wei Erdi and the other four spearmen stood upright with their chests out and stomachs in.

Upon entering the courtyard, Gao Daqiang, Li Fu, Bian Yuanheng, and others came over to pay their respects.

Shao Shuyi smiled and nodded in greeting, then stood in front of a warehouse.

Torches had been lit inside, their dim light illuminating the entire room.

The salt was piled up like small mountains, bulging out of the warehouse.

In the corner of the room, there were many burlap sacks with the words "Taoluochang" written on them.

Alright, everything's here.

"Move everything out!" he ordered. "And be quick about it."

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