A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 671 Walking on the Waves

When Lu Su's grandmother and mother heard that Lu Su wanted to follow Lu Cheng, they also stood up to support him: "In today's chaotic times, a good man should make achievements and establish a career instead of staying at home all the time. Since you think that Lu Taishou is a wise leader, you should follow him as soon as possible. You can make your own decisions about the outside world."

After receiving replies from his grandmother and mother, Lu Su immediately worshipped Lu Cheng as his lord.

Of course, Lu Su had a large family and great wealth, so Lu Cheng did not urge him to leave with him.

Besides, Lu Cheng still has some things to do.

Therefore, Lu Cheng only stayed in the camping house for three days before leaving with his men again and heading straight for the Yangtze River.

If it is the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, which side has the strongest navy, it must be the Eastern Wu that occupies the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.

Of course, at this time, Sun Jian, the founder of the Eastern Wu, was still serving as the prefect of Changsha in Changsha. He had not yet established his own foundation, and was only followed by a group of veteran generals such as Huang Gai, Han Dang, Cheng Pu, and Zu Mao.

Some of the later powerful generals of the Eastern Wu were still working as pirates on the rivers.

Of course, some people become pirates because they are forced to do so by life, while some people become pirates simply because they yearn for freedom and do not want to go home and inherit the family business.

Of course, at this time, the Jinfan thief, who was wealthy and had a civil servant job arranged for him by his father but was unwilling to inherit the family business and only wanted to be a pirate, was still active in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, while another group of pirates was active in the lower reaches.

Somewhere by the river, an intelligence officer was reporting the situation to Lu Cheng.

"My lord, after our long investigation and tracking, we found that Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin have been active in Moling and Danyang for a long time, specializing in collecting river crossing fees from the ships of wealthy merchants passing by.

If the passing ships cooperated and paid some protection fees, Zhou Tai and others would not only not embarrass them, but would also escort them. When the merchant ships ran aground, Zhou Tai and others went to help.

If the passing ships did not cooperate, Zhou Tai and his men would launch an attack, and might even drill through the merchant ships from underwater. Zhou Tai and his men were very good at sailing, and they could sail on the river as if they were walking on flat ground, coming and going as fast as flying. The merchant ships were very troubled, and the local government's navy could do nothing about them.

Therefore, merchants in the past would take the initiative to pay the river crossing fee in order to seek safety. Now, there are dozens of bandits of all sizes downstream, all following the lead of Zhou Tai and others..."

After hearing this, Lu Cheng casually asked, "Has Gan Ning appeared recently?"

"Gan Ning had been to Jingzhou half a year ago, and has been entrenched in Bashu ever since."

Lu Cheng nodded slightly, feeling somewhat regretful. The naval commander he wanted most was Gan Ning and Gan Xingba, who dared to raid the camp with hundreds of riders.

It’s a pity that this guy is still in Shu and we can’t see him for the time being.

Lu Cheng's trip to visit the wise this time took him a long time, from north to south. Although he traveled light, it took him a long time. When he returned, he would have to bring along the civil and military officials and their families that he had won over along the way, which would definitely take even longer.

Therefore, Lu Cheng did not plan to continue traveling.

As for Jingzhou, Lu Cheng had no intention of going there.

Zhuge Liang is still a little kid of six or seven years old at this time, and he should be living with his uncle in Yuzhang.

Jingzhou is inhabited by aristocratic families. Those talented people and scholars are basically children of aristocratic families, or some hermits in the mountains who don't want to be officials. Lu Cheng is too lazy to go there again.

Moreover, he now has advisers such as Tian Feng, Guo Jia, Lu Su, Xi Zhicai, etc., which are basically enough, so there is no need to run around anymore.

By next year, Dong Zhuo will enter the capital, and the world will be in complete chaos, so we should make plans early.

Just as Lu Cheng was thinking about the future, two carrier pigeons flew from a distance and landed on a guard.

The guard took the note from the pigeon's leg and handed it to Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng took a look at the situation. Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin had just collected the river crossing fee from upstream and were about to return. It was expected that they would pass by here in less than an hour.

At this time, Dian Wei, who had been following him, also understood what was going on: "My lord, do you want to subdue Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant."

"Then should we prepare ships and stop them here?"

Lu Cheng smiled calmly: "No need."

Xu Chu touched the back of his head and said, "My Lord, without a boat, how can we catch those pirates?"

"You guys just watch when the time comes. Li Tie, Li Dian, the two of you go to the nearby towns to buy some food and drinks, and set up a banquet by the river."

"Yes, my lord."

Time passed little by little, Dian Wei and Xu Chu were extremely curious and wanted to see how Lu Cheng subdued the bandits in the river from the shore.

Half an hour later, Li Dian and Li Tie bought some wine and food, shot some pheasants and rabbits nearby, and started a barbecue by the river.

Xu Chu and Dian Wei no longer bothered to stare at the river surface. They sat in front of the barbecue and waited for the meat to be grilled.

When Lu Cheng came out, he specifically asked the guards to bring some refined salt and seasonings for the convenience of barbecue and picnics.

Ever since Xu Chu and Dian Wei tasted the barbecue made by Li Tie and other guards, they often pestered them to make barbecue for them.

It’s just that Dian Wei and Xu Chu had such good appetites that the prey they caught was usually not enough for them to share.

While everyone was eating barbecue, a guard who was watching the wind by the river came over to report: "My lord, we have seen the pirates' boats. Judging from the signs on the sails, they should be the pirates of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin."

Hearing this, Lu Cheng stood up and walked to the riverside, looking into the distance. He saw a fleet of boats coming on the river, about twenty in number, of different sizes. The big ones could carry thirty or forty people, while the small boats could only carry a dozen people. Roughly speaking, there should be five or six hundred pirates at this moment.

The river here is several hundred feet wide. Zhou Tai and others walked along the river, less than twenty feet away from the river bank.

Seeing the enemy ship approaching, Lu Cheng signaled Dian Wei, who immediately stepped forward and shouted, "Where are Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin? Do you dare to come out and see us?"

On a boat at the head of the river, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, who were drinking celebratory wine, were startled when they suddenly heard the noise outside. They hurriedly walked out of the cabin and looked towards the river.

Seeing that there were only a dozen people by the river, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin both breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Zhou Tai stepped forward and said loudly, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Dian Wei continued to shout: "My master wants to see you, why don't you stop the boat and go to the shore quickly?"

Zhou Tai and the other two were stunned when they heard this, and then asked, "Who is your master? Why does he want to see my two brothers?"

"My master is the governor of Liaodong, and he has come to recruit you."

Hearing this, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin looked at each other, both of them were a little bit unbelievable. The governor of Liaodong traveled thousands of miles from Liaodong to the riverside to meet them? This didn't sound credible.

"Gong Yi, do you think this group of people are from the government? Do they want to trick us to the shore and then arrest us?"

"It's very likely. Look at those people. They are all strong and sturdy. They are definitely not ordinary people. There may be an ambush nearby. We have to be cautious and can't easily go ashore."

"Yes. Why don't we go back quickly? We have gained a lot this time, so it's safer to go back sooner rather than later."

"That makes sense. Order all ships to speed up and leave the river."

Dian Wei became anxious when he saw that those ships still wanted to leave.

At this moment, Lu Cheng stood up and walked to the riverside, took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, tucked his shirt around his waist, and said loudly: "Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, wait a minute."

Lu Cheng's shout was louder than Dian Wei's, and reached the ears of every bandit in the river.

Suddenly, all the bandits looked at Lu Cheng on both sides.

At this moment, Lu Cheng jumped up from the river bank, jumped three to five feet, and then stepped into the water. The surging river water just covered his ankles.

At this moment, everyone looked at the figure walking on the water in the river in shock, as if they had seen a god.

People who are good at swimming can tread water with their upper body exposed above the water.

When Chinese martial arts are practiced to a certain level, one can lift the body up inch by inch in the water.

When one reaches the level of Hua Jin in practice, one can walk on the waves with the water only reaching above the knees.

In the Water Margin world, Lu Cheng has already surpassed the power of transformation and pushed the national martial arts to a higher level. Now he walks on the waves, the water passes over his ankles, as if he is walking on the waves, like an immortal descending to the earth...