Chapter 2206
The battle between the two major salt merchants in Yangzhou has been going on for several generations. In fact, fighting was not uncommon in the past, but it was rarely as fierce as it is now. There were even cases where one party assembled a large group of armed personnel to directly attack the other party. The situation in the old nest.
Now that both sides have used their best tactics to kill each other, when it comes time to fight to the death, there will naturally be no room for action. Dai Yingda wanted to execute all the prisoners, and he was indeed cruel. He would not leave any escape route for himself, and he would fight the other party to the end.
Several other salt merchants currently living in Daijiazhuang were also awakened by the noise outside. Knowing that a foreign enemy was attacking, they did not dare to sleep in the second half of the night until Dai Yingfan led the team back and confirmed that the enemy had escaped by boat. The people in Zhuangzi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At the fifth watch, the interrogation of the prisoners came to an end. Yuan Tao gathered his energy and went to Dai Yingda's house, where the heads of several salt merchants were already there, waiting for him and Dai Yingfan to explain the situation of tonight's battle. .
When these salt merchants saw his presence, they were very polite and stood up to express their gratitude to him. Tonight's battle in Daijiazhuang actually lasted very little time. Yuan Tao commanded the Golden Shield Musketeers, and it only took a moment to repel the invading enemy, which fully proved that their high price was indeed worth the money. .
The salt merchants are all worth tens of millions, and of course they are willing to spend money to protect themselves. However, they did not have absolute confidence in the quality of the Haihan armed organization, which is not an army. But after tonight's battle, no one has any doubts about the strength of this team.
And what Yuan Tao said at this time naturally had higher authority. Even people who don't agree with the conservative tactics he adopted before dare not question it at this time. After all, the men of Jindun achieved such results without any damage. This is not the servant of the salt merchants. Things that can be done.
"Everyone, let me briefly talk about what happened last night." Yuan Tao hurriedly drank a cup of tea, moistened his throat, and then began to report the battle situation to the salt merchants present.
"According to our interrogation of the prisoners, the thieves who attacked Zhuangzi last night were indeed driven by salt merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi. The organizer behind the scenes was Lu Kangtai. This name must be familiar to everyone here, but this person last night He did not cross the canal and go to the front line in person, but handed over the command of the operation to his two leaders. "
"Because our preparation measures were perfect enough, we left almost no chance for our opponents to resist in last night's match. However, judging from their reactions, they must have realized that there was nothing they could do, so they ate After suffering the consequences, he immediately chose to withdraw from the battlefield. Although he followed up with pursuit, the effect was not very satisfactory.”
"During the clearing process, we found that among the people who were killed and injured, there were almost no musketeers. This means that the opponent's musketeers did not suffer any losses, and it is even possible that there were no casualties in terms of personnel like our Golden Shield. I think everyone should understand what this means. Their main force was not lost in the battle last night, so we still cannot relax our vigilance!”
Yuan Tao finished speaking in one breath, took the cup of hot tea handed to him, and drank it all. Although the battle last night only lasted a short moment, in fact, from the moment he discovered his opponent crossing the river from the front, he had been giving orders non-stop, mobilizing his men and horses to respond. After the battle, he rushed to interrogate the prisoners non-stop. For several hours My mouth was already dry when I got down, and I had to keep drinking water to make my throat feel better.
In terms of Jindun's daily business, there are very few situations that require Yuan Tao to personally direct the whole process. After a busy night, he also felt the tension of commanding operations in the army for the first time in a long time. However, in his highly excited state of mind, he did not feel tired, and he was able to give these salt merchants an overview of last night's situation.
Someone asked at the moment: "Does Shopkeeper Yuan think they will make a comeback in the near future?"
Yuan Tao said: "Although they were defeated this time, their vitality is still intact, and they will definitely not give up. For safety reasons, I suggest that you should not leave Daijiazhuang in the near future, and especially try not to go to areas controlled by the opponent, lest the opponent The dog jumped over the wall in a hurry.”
Of course, Yuan Tao couldn't be sure whether the other party would take the risk and continue to attack Daijiazhuang. He could only give his own opinion from a professional perspective. Although it will be inconvenient for so many big salt merchants to crowd into Daijiazhuang, this is probably the safest approach at this stage.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Yuan Tao continued: "According to our investigation, there were about two hundred thieves who attacked last night, and they have all received special training, can use various weapons, and know some basic tactics. If you think your manor can prevent so many thieves from knocking on your door in the middle of the night, you can choose to go home.”
Although the salt merchants have many housekeepers at home, most of them are to prevent thieves from breaking into the house, but no one will hire hundreds of bodyguards to guard the house, let alone a large-scale invasion by foreign enemies. How can we guard against so many robbers without proper preparation and training? They had moved to Daijiazhuang temporarily before, and it was precisely because the guards of each family were insufficient, and the hired Golden Shield manpower was limited, so they could only be deployed in one place.
The battle last night also just confirmed the reliability of Daijiazhuang's defense strength. Just imagine if this group of thieves attacked other salt merchants' estates, they would probably have suffered a disaster.
Yang Chengye was the first to express his position: "I think what Shopkeeper Yuan said makes sense. Now the situation has changed. The longer the delay, the smaller the opponent's chance of winning. It should be them who are panicking, not us. Although we are temporarily staying in Daijiazhuang will cause a lot of inconvenience to Mr. Dai, but now is the time when our seven surnames need to be united and open to the outside world as one, I believe Mr. Dai will also support Shopkeeper Yuan’s opinion. "
Dai Yingda responded: "I think back when our ancestors of the seven major surnames first arrived in Yangzhou, they found a village outside Yangzhou and all lived together to keep warm. After several years of struggle, we were able to live in the same place. Yangzhou has gained a foothold. Now that everyone is staying in Daijiazhuang for a while, what does it matter? Compared with the conditions of our ancestors, now we at least have enough food and clothing. As long as everyone survives this period, the future of Yangzhou will be better. The sale of salt will be in the pockets of us... and the Haihan Kingdom. When the time comes, we will enjoy endless glory and wealth, and today's grievance will be nothing at all!"
When Dai Yingda saw that Yang Chengye was knowingly and interestingly steering the topic towards unity, he naturally wanted to say some appropriate words to block any possible objections. He now needs to take advantage of this opportunity to further consolidate his voice in the group of Seven Surnames. Since these salt merchants live in Daijiazhuang, people have to bow their heads under the eaves. Dai Yingda will have less resistance to whatever decision he makes. , he naturally wanted to try to let these people live in Daijiazhuang for a longer period of time, and Yuan Tao's opinion just met his needs.
Dai Yingda now even mentioned the deeds of the ancestors of the seven surnames. Even if someone has objections in his heart, it is difficult to say it out loud now, otherwise Dai Yingda will label him as disrespecting the ancestors' precepts, and there is no way to talk back.
Someone else asked: "Now that we have the upper hand, can we wait for an opportunity to take the initiative to attack and destroy these men under Lu Kangtai? Then we won't have to be so worried anymore." Yuan Tao responded: "Don't act too hastily, maybe your opponent will He is just waiting for us to take the initiative. Lu Kangtai is quite scheming and has a musketeer team of hundreds of people at his disposal. If we come to him at this time, it will be equivalent to exchanging offense and defense and putting himself in danger! ”
Yuan Tao certainly understood the purpose of raising this question. This was not the first time someone had made a similar request. The Dai brothers had tested him several times in the past few days, hoping that he could take the initiative and try to eliminate Lu Kangtai's A musketry team. But Yuan Tao knew the dangers involved and was naturally unwilling to risk the lives of his brothers, so he used safety as an excuse every time. Although someone mentioned the matter again at this time, he still did not relent and insisted on treating the current situation with a conservative and cautious attitude.
Yuan Tao continued: "We did have the upper hand in last night's battle, but please don't be blindly optimistic because of this. Since our opponents dare to fight openly and come to the door, it means that they no longer take Wang Fa in their eyes, and it is difficult to predict them. What crazy move will follow? The plan for now is to make the fence south of the canal stronger and not give the other side any chance to take advantage of it. After three months, the children of each family return from Zhoushan. , our country will help you form an armed force strong enough to eliminate your opponents. No matter what tricks they play by then, it will be just a trick. "
After explaining the current situation, Yuan Tao handed over the conversation to Dai Yingda. He knew that Dai Yingda had some special arrangements, so he could settle the matter earlier so that he could go to rest earlier.
Dai Yingda said: "There are still more than a dozen thieves caught by us last night. There is no use in handing these people over to the government. The local government just wants to collect money from both ends and is definitely not willing to intervene in this kind of dispute. So according to my advice Upon seeing this, I will immediately execute these thieves in public as a warning to others!"
Dai Yingfan took over and said: "Please move outside the village and jointly supervise the execution!"
Dai Yingda would not ask whether everyone present wanted to watch the execution. He just wanted all of them to be present so that they would have no way out.
As the chief defense commander of Daijiazhuang, Yuan Tao naturally had to visit the scene in person. However, executions are not a psychological barrier for him. When he interrogated the prisoners last night, he had already executed two people on the spot because they refused to cooperate.
So everyone left the Dai family's residence, and under the leadership of Dai Yingfan, headed west out of Dai's village. Not far ahead was the dock where the Jindun's ship was parked a few days ago.
There were several fully loaded large carts parked on the road outside Zhuangzi. When everyone got closer, they suddenly discovered that the piles of goods on the large carts were not goods, but dead people.
Dai Yingfan said: "These are the thieves in the car who were shot dead by Shopkeeper Yuan's men last night! After the execution, these corpses will be taken away for disposal."
Everyone suddenly felt a chill on their backs. They didn't feel it personally when they heard the battle report. Now that they saw so many corpses, they truly realized that a fierce fight occurred in Daijiazhuang last night that killed and injured dozens of people. This was not just shouting about killing, but dozens of actual human lives. Even if they knew that these corpses were from their opponents, they still couldn't help but feel frightened.
There was a row of people kneeling in the field not far from these large carts, all facing the direction of the canal. Behind them, Dai Yingfan's men were holding them with swords and guns. These people probably also noticed that their situation was getting worse and worse, and many of them were trembling.
Dai Yingfan said: "Everyone, these are the thieves who were captured by us in the battle last night. Today, I ask you to bear witness together. Anyone who dares to offend my seven surnames will be punished!"
Although Dai Yingfan presided over the ceremony, when it came time for the execution, it was Yuan Tao's men who were in charge. The reason is also very simple. Although Dai Yingfan also has some bold and cunning desperadoes, they have no experience in executions. Not just anyone can do the job of beheading, and if these people are allowed to hold swords and make chaos The scene of stabbing and hacking was too ungraceful and could not achieve the effect Dai Yingda wanted.
Therefore, after the Dai brothers discussed with Yuan Tao, they still handed over the last link to Yuan Tao's men for implementation. Of course, this is something that is not included in the employment contract, so it will definitely cost extra, and it is not cheap.
Yuan Tao had already selected the executioners. At this time, he lined up and stepped forward. Dai Yingfan's men controlled the prisoner. They stood behind him, waited for a whistle, and then raised their guns to the back of the prisoner's head.
With another whistle and loud gunshots, these prisoners fell to the ground, twitched a few times and then stopped moving. Each of them had a fatal bloody hole on the back of their head.
The musketeers gathered their guns and lined up, and quickly retreated under the command of the leader, leaving the mess to Dai Yingfan's men to clean up.
The entire execution process was very fast. The prisoners kneeling on the ground probably didn't even realize what was happening before their lives were taken away by a bullet.
Although this process is not as visually impactful as beheading, this cold and efficient method of execution still shocked everyone present. In front of the Haihan people's guns, these living human lives are really no different from animals waiting to be slaughtered. It's no wonder that last night we only heard two or three rounds of gunfire and then stopped. At their killing speed, it would take less than a cup of tea to kill the one or two hundred people sent by their opponents.
(End of chapter)