Chapter 100 A huge fleet

In the past two days, He Zhuzhu did a good job on his mission, and he thought about everything carefully. On the way to the fleet, Li Ping praised him a few words.

He Zhuzhu immediately became obviously excited. He said a little show off: "Sir, do you know how valuable this food is now? Now, a piece of cake or a steamed bun can be accompanied by a girl, whether in the city or outside the city.

Once in a while, there are girls from good families who are willing!"

"Really or not! Don't exaggerate in front of the commander." Hu Zhongshan, who was listening on the side, asked fiercely with some disbelief.

Li Ping also looked at He Zhuzhu suspiciously.

He Zhuzhu became a little anxious and said in a much louder voice: "Director, I'm not telling lies, it's true. I don't dare to lie in front of our general. I have found out clearly in the past two days.

Some houses in Xiangyang City leave their doors ajar, which is a public expression of this meaning. You only need to bring a bowl of rice or a steamed bun or something to go in and find the woman in that house happy. I have personally seen people go in.

Yes, I asked specifically after I came out, just because I was afraid I might not get it right."

"There are such good things!" Hu Zhongshan said casually without thinking.

But immediately, he was startled and hurriedly looked at Li Ping. What he saw was Li Ping's expressionless face, and his attitude towards the matter could not be seen at all.

So, Hu Zhongshan carefully added: "The poor people are suffering! There is nothing we can do about it, we have to survive."

Li Ping turned his head and glanced at Hu Zhongshan. He said nothing, but rode forward silently on his horse.

Li Ping felt a little heavy in his heart.

In fact, he is generally considered a more emotional person, although he is used to seeing cruelty and suffering in this barbaric world. But after staying in the villa for a few days, he was exposed to these human tragedies in the past two days, and he was not quite ready for the moment.

Adaptation makes me feel very uncomfortable.

Seeing that Li Ping was silent, Hu Zhongshan, He Zhuzhu and others did not dare to say anything anymore. The three people on the horse all rode forward slowly and silently.

Although there were more and more officers and soldiers along the way, and there were teams driving thin people to carry wood and sundries everywhere, no one bothered Li Ping and the others.

Perhaps no one would think otherwise due to the attire and imposing manner of Li Ping and his group, thinking that they were young generals from some family who were patrolling. However, Zuo Liangyu's army had many generals and many new faces, so it was impossible for everyone to recognize them all.

.

When they got close to the fleet, a little leader wearing a red coat came forward and asked politely. After He Zhuzhu signed his name, the little leader immediately left politely without asking Li Ping and others about their purpose.

It's one thing when you look at it from a distance, but it's really different when you look up close.

The closer he got to these ships, the more Li Ping was deeply shocked by the scene in front of him. It was not how tall and big the ships were, but that there were too many ships gathered together tightly and connected to the sandbanks in the river that they were close to, just like a floating ship.

city.

Li Ping had never seen so many ships either in reality or in various photos.

Most of these ships are large ships, 20 to 30 meters in length. Many of the buildings on board are two or even three floors. They are probably the building ships mentioned in the book! Anyway, it is the ship with buildings built on it, but Li Ping doesn’t know.

Do you understand it correctly?

Some of the largest ones also have battlement-shaped buildings on them, which look like warships at first glance. There are also a large number of rows of small openings slightly above the waterline of many ships. Li Ping knew that these certainly could not be cannon ports and should be used for rowing.

mouth.

If you look carefully, you can also see that some boats have large paddle wheels (artificial propulsion devices, similar to pedal boats in the park) on both sides of the hull, except that the propeller wheels are not located under the boat, but on the side of the boat, with a diameter of up to

meters), Li Ping didn't even know that the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty had become so developed.

In short, these ships have different shapes, styles and sizes. The high and low masts stand like a forest of guns, densely packed.

This is a very large fleet and a very crowded fleet.

The more Li Ping looked at it, the more strange he became. Why would he want to run away with such a fleet? How could the enemy cross the river? This fleet is simply invincible on the water! Even if they were piled up, the enemy would be killed.

If Li Ping turned more into thinking and novelty after being shocked, then Hu Zhongshan was always stunned.

Hu Zhongshan's eyes were full of awe.

Hu Zhongshan had never seen so many ships, nor had he ever seen such a big ship, especially the tall ships that were easy to distinguish, which shocked him. Although this guy was older, even

In this era, his knowledge still belongs to the relatively small group.

After looking around the fleet for a long time, Li Ping was no longer curious. He wanted to know more about the crew members. However, after looking around for a long time, he found that many ships were completely empty with no people on them.

After asking a few soldiers, I found out: most people do not live on boats. After all, boats are inconvenient, and many of the forcibly recruited boatmen were sent to build more boats. There are only a few people to look after them here.

Li Ping looked farther away in the direction pointed by the soldiers. Sure enough, the shore further ahead seemed to be bustling with people, so he continued walking forward.

After crossing the large sandbar where the huge fleet rested, the river began to slow down a lot.

I saw a very large construction site on a flat shore. There were half-finished boats everywhere on the construction site near the water. Countless people were busy around it.

A vicious overseer who walks around with sticks and whips.

Without even getting close, Li Ping could clearly hear the sound of whips and shouts of curses from the side. He could clearly notice that most of the busy people were skinny, with dull eyes and ragged clothes.

This is both a huge shipbuilding site and a slave construction site.

Li Ping didn't intend to look inside anymore, it was pointless, so he just turned around aimlessly at the edge.

When passing a small courtyard that was hastily fenced with broken wood, the unpleasant sounds and the sound of women breathing from several small houses made of thatch and soil in the courtyard immediately attracted the attention of Li Ping and others.

This small courtyard is located on a small road. There are always people coming and going on the small road. There is even a small group of exhausted workers sitting right outside the courtyard taking a rest.

But no one seemed surprised by what was happening in the courtyard. Only occasionally did someone look around or smile evilly.

Li Ping took a closer look, and it was easy to see what was going on inside through the tattered fence with big gaps.

At this time, several thin women were being teased by seven or eight soldiers in the courtyard, and there were constant filthy sounds in the room...

A thin man sitting next to the group of workers looked at Li Ping in disbelief and looked at everything inside. He said teasingly: "Why, Master Jun, you haven't seen it before? Are you curious?"

Li Ping turned to look at this bold guy and asked: "Isn't it novel? Those girls are very well-behaved no matter how I look at them?"

"Some do it for stuttering, and some do it to prevent the working men from being beaten to death or starving to death. Who doesn't want to live! This happens every day, and you, who have never been here before, are the only ones who are curious." The man said nonchalantly.

Li Ping nodded as if he agreed, and casually said: "That's right." Then he asked the man curiously: "I don't see anyone watching, why don't you run away?"

"The people watching went inside to play. Aren't there two more in the back? They were lying down. Besides, where to run? As soon as we are alone, we will be stared at by the soldiers. If we catch them, we will definitely die. Even if we run,

Even if you can run, you will starve to death. If you don't die from exhaustion here, you can always have a mouthful of porridge." The man pursed his lips towards the courtyard and looked back.

Following the man's gaze, Li Ping saw a guy who looked like he was wearing a weapon lying on the ground at the end, and another half-lying side by side, propped up on his elbows and looking at Li Ping sideways.

But the guy who was half-rising didn't say anything or make any other moves. Li Ping's words obviously caught his attention, but he didn't want to interfere at all.

While Li Ping was talking to the bold man, Hu Zhongshan, He Zhuzhu and several guards kept looking into the yard with confused expressions. They didn't know what to say and didn't dare to say anything. They just

Looked at the yard and then at Li Ping.

At this time, Li Ping really didn't want to go on. He was afraid that he couldn't help it and would fill more obstacles for himself. He didn't want to feel resentful.

In this world, being too compassionate will only make you die faster.

Therefore, after he shouted "Let's go", he mounted his horse and walked back without looking back, and the four guards immediately followed him.

But Hu Zhongshan and He Zhuzhu were left behind, and both of them could not help but look back with some reluctance.

When passing by the fleet on the way back, Li Ping muttered: "The people are like this, how can we fight a war! Don't let anyone set Red Cliff on fire."

Li Ping was really thinking about a problem, that is, so many ships were tightly packed together, with countless layers inside and outside. What to do if there was a fire? They couldn't disperse even if they wanted to.

Soon, they arrived at the place where they originally disembarked. The boats were waiting for them. After seeing Li Ping and others from a distance, more than a dozen people got off the boat early to greet them.

However, after getting on the boat, Li Ping asked the boat to walk along the river. He wanted to see the color of the river and experience the feeling of walking along the river.

After sailing along the river for a long time, it was already past noon. Li Ping asked all the boats to find a place to dock. Then he asked He Zhuzi to take out all the food and invited the boatmen to have a "simple meal" together.

The boatmen, men, women, old and young, were all so happy that they could not close their mouths.

After finishing their meal, the half-grown men in the boatman went into the water to fish even though they were not afraid of the cold.

A woman with a good figure also got into the water. Li Ping noticed that the woman looked more pleasing to the eye. She was a little dark and a little porcelain. The thin clothes she wore when getting into the water were soaked by the water and stuck to her body, which was really unique.

.

After a long time, the young men finally caught two small fish, which they offered to Li Ping for a taste. Of course, Li Ping would not refuse.

At this time, the rickety old man suddenly knelt down in front of Li Ping and begged Li Ping to take in his grandson and the woman as slaves. He said that they were good at water, so if Li Ping wanted to eat fish in the future, he would be right to let them catch it.

, just hoping to have a way to survive.

Otherwise, his little grandson would have been beaten to death just when he was growing up and would have been stubborn if he did not starve to death. And the woman estimated that those soldiers in the morning would look for her again, and she would be worse off than dead if she went back.

Well, it would be better to follow the general and become a rough servant maid.

After the old man finished crying, the boatmen all knelt down and begged together.

Li Ping's heart softened, and he agreed somehow, and also agreed to take in the other young men and young girls.

In an instant, all the boatmen became happy.

Seeing He Zhuzi being surprised and dazed, Hu Zhongshan went up and patted him and said: "You are too young to understand the general."

In the afternoon, when I returned to my residence, the Third Company and the Transport Company also arrived.

While settling in his subordinates, Li Ping received news: in the two days since he left, a theft had occurred in the support camp, and a lot of gold and silver had been lost. This matter had spread in the villa.

Li Ping, who was already in a bad mood, finally couldn't help but burst into rage: "Let me know who did it, and I'll chop him up. Go back tomorrow!" The surrounding soldiers looked sideways, and they all saw a very angry man.

's chief.

Li Ping didn't want to visit Zuo Mengeng anymore. He was suddenly upset with the boy who was fawning over him for no reason. He cursed in his heart: "Fuck him."
Chapter completed!