The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Although it was a feint, Zhang Pingan and his companions became more certain of their guess.

No one was discouraged!

After instructing Gousheng and others to continue guarding, he returned to the inn to rest.

At dawn the next day, Gou Sheng returned to report, "Sir, we followed them all night and saw with our own eyes that they transported the sacks to the orphanage three miles away before they all went back home. I sent a stranger to inquire around and found out they were all servants of the Lu County Magistrate's household."

"Saints' home?" Zhang Ping'an raised his eyebrows.

It seems that County Magistrate Lu has probably turned a blind eye to this matter.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an's slow pace, he was actually more anxious: "Sir, what should we do now?"

"You guys go down and rest first. I have my own plans in mind. I will tell you if there is anything," Zhang Pingan said slowly.

I guess this is what the saying goes: the emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is. After eating, there is no other way, so he can only go down and rest with a heavy heart.

I was thinking to myself, I don’t know how long I can do this job, alas!

It wasn't until dusk in the afternoon that Green Bean Eyes knocked on the door and came in with a serious expression: "There's movement, it's three o'clock in the morning!"

"Yeah," Zhang Pingan nodded, and his expression became serious.

He went to the desk, took the written letter, and handed it to Gou Sheng, saying, "Take this letter to Jixian Bookstore and give it to the shopkeeper. Tell him my last name is Zhang and I live in the post house. He will then understand what I mean."

Gousheng nodded and asked, "Sir, is there anything else you need to do?"

Zhang Pingan shook his head: "Just come back after delivering the letter. You don't have to do anything else!"

"I understand," Gousheng said and went out.

Zhang Pingan asked Chi Bao to come in again: "Pick a few smart ones, bring their tools, and go out with me tonight. We don't need too many people, about ten will do!"

After hearing this, Chi Bao was even more excited than Zhang Pingan: "Is a fight going to happen?"

"Okay, just follow my instructions later," Zhang Pingan said.

"Okay!" After eating a full meal, he responded loudly and ran out in a hurry.

Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this. It goes without saying that Chi Bao was loyal and absolutely trustworthy, but he was still a little impatient. Gou Sheng, on the other hand, was much more stable, and the two of them complemented each other perfectly.

After a simple dinner, wait for night to fall.

The group disguised themselves and went out from the backyard of the inn.

They were riding in a relatively low-key mule cart, and the driver was a stranger who was hired on short notice.

After circling around a few times and making sure no one was following them, the mule cart headed towards the seaside.

Speaking of which, the rampant smuggling in coastal areas is inseparable from the local geographical conditions.

There are too many hidden anchorages along the coastline to avoid official supervision.

For example, there are plenty of places suitable for anchoring in natural bays or estuaries, sandbanks, and fishing villages along the coast.

In case of emergency, it is better to run away.

Generally, smugglers will dock at night, unload the goods quickly, and have them transported away by personnel on the shore, or disguise themselves as fishing boats and blend into the fleet of fishing boats.

In order to curb this situation, the government issued various measures, such as setting up inspection offices, blocking small ferry crossings, collective responsibility laws, and naval patrols.

But there are policies from above and countermeasures from below.

Bribery to superiors is an effective means that has always been used.

Even secretly, it is controlled by the people above.

Especially now that national policies are relaxed and control over local areas is insufficient, this situation will become more serious.

After everyone arrived at the agreed location, they lay in ambush on the side.

Chi Bao had already knocked the driver unconscious quickly and efficiently to prevent the news from leaking out.

After all, our group of people were acting so sneakily that they didn't look like good people.

It was late at night and the dew was heavy. Gusts of cold wind blew from the seaside. Not only was it cold, but there were also all kinds of small insects crawling around.

A group of people lay on the grass, feeling uncomfortable and unable to move.

It was not until the sky grew darker and a waning moon climbed up above the branches that some movement was heard in the distance.

Green Bean Eyes quickly pushed Zhang Pingan and whispered, "Here I come!"

"I heard it," Zhang Pingan replied.

"They really know how to pick the time. The moon is dark and the wind is strong, which is the best time to do bad things," said the man with green eyes with a pout. After saying that, he rubbed his arms. He had been lying there for a long time and his arms were stiff.

"Haven't you heard of murder on a dark and windy night?" Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

Green Bean Eyes wanted to ask again.

Hua Wanli kicked the two of them and said, "Shush!" "Stop talking!"

Everyone knew their limits, and as they saw the carriage getting closer, they all stopped talking.

Twenty or so carriages stopped at the simple little dock and stopped moving, and the people in the carriages did not get out.

On both sides of the car were seventy or eighty tall and strong men who looked like thugs. They looked around vigilantly from time to time and looked at the sea.

After waiting for nearly another quarter of an hour, there was finally any movement on the sea.

More than a dozen fishing boats slowly and silently rowed over. It was obvious that the rowers were very familiar with the nearby sea area, and there was not even a lantern on the bow.

After docking at the small pier, the two sides may have exchanged secret signals, and after a while, the people on the fishing boat came down.

At this time, the person in the carriage also got off. He was wearing gorgeous clothes and wearing beautiful jade. He had his back to the crowd and his face could not be seen clearly from a distance.

After nodding to his left and right, attendants carried four large wooden boxes down from the carriage.

It opened with a clang, and inside was full of white ingots of silver.

Nowadays, one box of silver is worth about one thousand taels, and four boxes are worth four thousand taels.

Looking at the size of the convoy and the fleet, the amount of smuggling must be considerable.

The person on the opposite side checked carefully and confirmed that everything was correct before waving his hand to let his men carry the sacks out of the fishing boat.

There were more than a hundred bags in total.

Seeing that the transaction was at a critical juncture, Green Bean Eyes asked in a low voice: "Ping An, shall we start now?"

"Be patient, the real owner hasn't gotten off the boat yet. It's too early to start the trap game," said Zhang Ping'an, holding his green eyes.