Chapter 71.1 - Preparing to go to the capital
This time Jiang Zhen took his men and the two boats with him to basically wander around Hecheng County, going to many places that he and Wang Haisheng had already visited, so it was still relatively safe. But, in the end, it was still the first trip out, and thus, he had to be more careful and had a lot of work to do.
After a short nap after dinner, Jiang Zhen got up. By that time, their ship had slowly approached Fucheng and stopped at the pier.
When Jiang Zhen’s men stayed on the ship, they all felt it was quite novel, and no one was bored. But when the ship docked and Jiang Zhen told them to move some of the cargo off the ship ahead of time and arranged for a night watch, some of them were unhappy. That person was, of course, Liu Hetou.
“It is already nighttime. Why do we still have to work?” Liu Heitou asked discontentedly, trying to incite those around him.
“You don’t have to do it. Moreover, you can also quit following me . . . Do you think it will be hard for me to find a few people to work for me?”
Jiang Zhen looked at him with a cold smile on his face. He had nothing before, and no one would have come even if he wanted to recruit someone. Coupled with the fact that he was worried that Liu Heitou’s gang would get together and cause trouble for him, he took them in, but in the future . . .
In fact, it was still better to use hardworking and uncomplaining people like Wang Haisheng and the He brothers, who gave their all, right?
As soon as Jiang Zhen spoke, Liu Heitou’s heart jumped. He himself was a jealous man, so he felt that Jiang Zhen would probably be the same. He followed Jiang Zhen, and there were so many people watching. Jiang Zhen couldn’t do anything to him to keep his men from quitting, but if they left from this place . . . That guy Jiang Zhen had seen blood!
Liu Heitou suddenly became silent and started working obediently. When the others heard what Jiang Zhen said, they were startled. But when they thought about it carefully, they found that Jiang Zhen was quite right.
These days, there was no shortage of people, and with the treatment given by Jiang Zhen, it would be easy to recruit people in the future. But they . . . they couldn’t be thugs without this place. What should they do? These guys started working harder.
Jiang Zhen was very satisfied with this and thought that the punishment and reward measures should be perfected. In the future, if there were people who did things carelessly, it would be good to directly drive them out. Of course, he didn’t think there would be anyone like that. These people were actually quite obedient now.
After working busily for more than an hour unloading the cargo from the ship and putting it in the open space, Jiang Zhen went back to the ship and arranged for someone to keep watch over it.
Zhao Jinge was also helping carry the goods off the ship and counting them. When he returned to their room, Jiang Zhen held his hand and asked, “Tired?”
“Not tired,” Zhao Jinge answered. This kind of work was really nothing to him.
Although Zhao Jinge said that he wasn’t tired, it was still the first time they had gone out. Jiang Zhen did not intend to do anything this evening . . . As a result . . .
“Jiang Zhen, you said earlier that you were going to teach me at night . . . what were you going to teach me?” In the darkness of the cabin, Zhao Jinge asked curiously.
What Jiang Zhen wanted to teach Zhao Jinge, of course, was a way to keep the bed board from rocking. For example, with Zhao Jinge positioned on top of him and moving up and down. Zhao Jinge was very patient. He felt that he had taken the initiative, but in Jiang Zhen’s opinion, he was actually very shy. Of course, having a shy partner wasn’t bad, and Jiang Zhen quite enjoyed teaching Zhao Jinge a bit at times, not to mention that Zhao Jinge was always very cooperative with him . . .
This time, the two of them really did not make any sound, and only when it was all over— Zhao Jinge had gotten off him when his legs went limp and he knocked on the bed board—that there was a thumping sound, but this sound was so common in the ship that it would never make anyone suspect anything.
Jiang Zhen thought it was a pity. Zhao Jinge also thought it was a pity. That position was not very good. After it was done, all those things flowed out, which was really disadvantageous for having a child. Thinking that way, Zhao Jinge touched his stomach.
“Is your stomach upset? Do you want me to help you clean up a bit?” Jiang Zhen asked.
He remembered that after it was done, it should be cleaned up; otherwise, it would be easy to get diarrhea.
When they did it for the first time he was so excited that he had forgotten about it. And so, Zhao Jinge didn’t like it. But when he saw that Zhao Jinge didn’t get diarrhea, he didn’t force it either. That was probably because a ger’s body was somewhat different from that of an ordinary man, but unfortunately, he didn’t see any difference at all.
“No need,” Zhao Jinge said hurriedly.
How could he clean it up at this moment? His mother said it was best to lie still afterward. Zhao Jinge gave himself a rub and lay down. Seeing this Jiang Zhen reached out to touch his stomach, he asked, “Do you think there could already be a child inside?”
“I don’t know, but the villagers said before that it wouldn’t be easy for me to have children.”
Zhao Jinge felt a little lost. It was not easy to have children as a woman, let alone a ger like him.
“It’s okay. Take your time.” Jiang Zhen kissed Zhao Jinge, thinking that it would be fine to not have children.
It was already very hot today, and it was even hotter in the cabin. Although they were all used to the heat, it was not easy right after their exercise.
Zhao Jinge took a fan and slowly fanned himself and Jiang Zhen until he fell asleep without realizing it. Jiang Zhen took the fan from his hand and fanned him for a while before throwing it away and going to sleep.
The next day, all the merchants whose destination was Fucheng debarked. Meanwhile, Jiang Zhen had sent his men to patrol around the dock and bring back a few merchants who were going to their next destination.
These merchants were all willing to pay some money to take the big boat. After all, in this part of Yangtze River, large groups of water bandits were rare, which meant that it was very safe to take a big boat.
Because the cargo had already been moved off the ship last night, that day was actually not as busy as Jiang Zhen had previously imagined. So after lunch, he took some time off to show Zhao Jinge around.
After telling Wang Haisheng and the He brothers to keep an eye on the boat, Jiang Zhen went out with Zhao Jinge.
“Boss is so nice to Zhao Jinge. I can’t believe he loves his wife so much.” Someone came over to talk to the He brothers.
He Chunsheng nodded and sighed. If he had known that Jiang Zhen was so good, he would have betrothed his brother to Jiang Zhen earlier . . . Unfortunately, it was too late for it now.
“By the way, He Chunsheng, I heard that you have a ger brother who is very good looking . . . What do you think of me? I swear I’ll love my wife as much as Boss Jiang!” the man added.
He Chunsheng’s face turned black. This man was so ugly, and he still dared to think about his brother? When he thought of this, He Chunsheng couldn’t help glancing at Liu Heitou again.
He Chunsheng and Liu Heitou had a big feud, but because Liu Heitou had only brought his own cousins when he went to the He family to kidnap people, He Chunsheng had no conflict with the others.
Seeing that Liu Heitou was being annoying, He Xiaosheng stared at Liu Hetou all day.
Being stared at like this . . . Liu Heitou felt quite safe. At least, it meant that these people were not going to tie him up and throw him in the river, right?
Jiang Zhen went to buy a few pieces of cloth, then found the tailor who had helped him make clothes earlier and commissioned her to make a few flags. If his escort agency was to be opened, there was still a lot of work to do. First of all, the flag had to be done.
“What should be embroidered on this?” asked the tailor.
“Just embroider the word ‘Zhen,’” Jiang Zhen said and then made a few more suggestions.