piratefiction Chapter 16 Boarding the Ship
Chapter 16 Boarding the Ship
The boatman and the onlookers were stunned for a moment.
Chen Ye put down the stone lock, switched to his other hand, and raised it again, his movements clean, efficient, and seamless.
A martial artist who has undergone a complete transformation possesses a strength of around 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), and can easily lift a stone lock weighing over 100 jin (approximately 50 catties) with one hand.
But on this dock, the number of people who can do this can be counted on one hand.
The middle-aged man standing on the other side rushed over and said urgently, "We want this person."
The middle-aged man, surnamed Zhou, was in his forties and was the caravan manager in charge of recruitment. He was so anxious about manpower that he had blisters on his lips.
Several of the caravan's originally assigned guards fell ill just before departure. The merchant ships had already been loaded with cargo, and every day they stayed behind meant another day of loss.
He has already temporarily recruited two people along the way, and there is still one spot missing.
Seeing Chen Ye's skill, Manager Zhou immediately decided to hire him.
"Our pay here is calculated based on the guard's rank, two hundred coins a day, including food and lodging. Is that acceptable?"
Chen Ye quickly made a mental calculation.
Two hundred and sixty coins a day.
Five days would amount to one or three taels of silver.
If you redeem your life, it's equivalent to consuming one day every five days.
too little.
"Three hundred and fifty coins!" Chen Ye patted the knife at his waist. "If you can promise me I can get on the ship right away, I guarantee it's worth the price."
Manager Zhou gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, three hundred and fifty coins. Pack your things and get on the ship right away! Once on board, you'll eat, drink, and relieve yourself on the ship. You're not allowed to disembark except when we reach the capital to unload goods."
"it is good."
If it's 350 coins.
Redeem in three days for ten days, and you can breathe one more day.
enough.
The candidate was quickly selected.
Chen Ye then boarded the merchant ship under the arrangement of Steward Zhou.
As soon as they entered the cabin, Manager Zhou, in order to reassure everyone, prepaid six days' wages.
Thus, Chen Ye received his first payment, a full two thousand one hundred coins, before he even started doing anything after boarding the ship.
To save trouble, Steward Zhou gave him two taels of silver directly, and used the dried meat from the cabin to pay the remaining one hundred coins.
Chen Ye didn't pursue the matter further.
Two taels of silver were in hand.
Without hesitation, Chen Ye immediately switched to an eight-day lifespan.
[Remaining lifespan: 48 days]
The merchant ship departed.
On Da'an Lake, the water flows turbulently.
The distinctive, slightly fishy smell wafted through the air.
That night, Chen Ye slept on a shared bed by the dock, placing his crossbow and dagger beside his pillow before going to sleep.
Compared to sleeping in dilapidated temples or piles of dead leaves in the wild, where the sound of wind and the howling of birds could be heard as soon as he closed his eyes, this was the first time since he escaped from the Gao family that he could fall asleep without having to open one eye and close the other.
The tension that had been building up for so long slowly eased on the boat.
I slept without any dreams.
The next morning, Chen Ye woke up feeling refreshed and energetic.
Only then did he have the leisure to properly examine the merchant ship.
This is a medium-sized flat-bottomed cargo ship, with its hold filled with cloth, tea and medicinal herbs, and spare ropes and several barrels of fresh water piled on the deck.
There were five guards on the ship: two were veteran镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) who were used to this route, and one was a retired old bodyguard.
The remaining three were all temporary hires like Chen Ye.
Manager Zhou assigned everyone to shifts for watchkeeping, and meals were served together at the same time.
Chen Ye was assigned to the night watch, and during the day he could freely move around and rest on the ship.
That afternoon.
Several merchants who had taken the boat were chatting idly, complaining that the merchant ships going to the capital were often cut in line lately.
An elderly merchant who had taken a boat trip sighed and said, "Everyone knows which high branch they've climbed onto; there's no use complaining."
"Which high branch have you climbed onto?"
"Which family could it be? In the capital, who else could it be besides the Xie family?"
Upon hearing the name Xie family, Chen Ye immediately perked up.
One of the guards who was on the ship had drunk too much of the rice wine he brought with him and started cursing the Xie family from the capital as scoundrels.
"Last year, our security escort agency did a business deal with the Xie family in the capital, and that money still hasn't been settled. It's caused several of my men to miss the New Year."
A man from the capital chimed in, "The Xie family, a high-ranking family of the second rank, is known to be ruthless and heartless. They only took your money, not your life; that's quite generous of them."
The people on the ship were all traveling to and from the capital and knew the prominent families there very well.
Once they started talking, the group quickly got into a conversation.
Chen Ye listened silently from the side. From what they said, he could tell that although the Xie family was large and powerful, their reputation among the people was not very good.
"The Cui family is upright, but unfortunately, they are not as powerful as the Xie family. The two families have a lot of overlapping business interests, and now that they have met in the imperial court, they often target each other."
One of the guards spoke up, and his words immediately drew nods of agreement from the crowd.
"The Cui family has more daughters than sons. There are only two direct descendants in this generation, and the rest are all young ladies. Their martial arts foundation is also not as solid as that of the Xie family. Fortunately, the Cui family is good at managing their affairs and can still maintain the prestige of a second-rank high-class family. But who knows what will happen in the future?"
A wandering swordsman with a knife at his waist said impatiently, "Forget about the Cui family and the Xie family. What do they have to do with us who work hard for a living? All that fighting between those two families will only end up hurting us lowly people. If you ask me, it would be better if all these powerful and wealthy people were dead."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately lost interest in continuing the conversation.
"Alright, alright. Everyone get some rest. The toughest part is when we get into the reeds. Don't let anything delay our journey."
Chen Ye sat to the side, silently eating his meal, taking everyone's words to heart.
He had only heard about the Xie family from Zhang Tieyi and others before, and only knew that they were a top-tier wealthy family in Jing Kingdom.
Besides that, I have no other impression.
Now, listening to what everyone is saying, I realize that even the top families in Jing Kingdom have equally matched rivals.
At the very least, the Cui family and the Xie family don't get along.
The merchant ship left Da'an Lake and entered the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal is narrow, with many shoals and dense sluice gates, making it difficult to navigate at night and increasing the risk of collisions and groundings.
Therefore, most merchant ships cease sailing after dark to reduce risk.
Chen Ye was assigned to a position where he did not participate in labor during the day, but was responsible for keeping watch at night.
After nightfall, the river was quiet.
Chen Ye, who was on watch, sat on the side of the boat, found a whetstone, and sharpened the short knife he had brought on it.
The knife hasn't been rolled yet, but it's not in very good condition.
According to those "old hands," there are countless bandits on the Grand Canal.
It could be said that there was a bandit every ten miles, and they all lived on the edge of a knife.
He has to be extremely vigilant and can't relax for a moment.
Otherwise, you might end up being thrown to the bottom of the lake to feed the fish.
In this world, human life is even less valuable than he thought.
On the sixth day after entering the river, the merchant ship entered a narrow waterway with reeds on both banks.
Everyone on the boat fell silent without prior agreement.
According to past practice, this was a place where river bandits usually set up ambushes.