Although the Yellow River is full of turbid waves, there are always a lot of aquatic animals in the river, and there are also some strange creatures.
According to superstition, there is also a man of water living in it.
Many people have witnessed strange phenomena such as the river god. , probably some kind of big fish.
In the past, the government strictly controlled the salt tax, so some people were forced to take risks and use the Yellow River waterways to traffic in illicit salt.
This involved using a sandwich boat with plywood in the bilge to hide the illicit salt inside to avoid interrogation.
However, There is no airtight wall under the sky.
This is a way to hide It took a year or two, but it couldn't be concealed for ten or eight years.
Although the officials who patrolled the river knew about it, they always turned a blind eye after taking some benefits.
After all, the salt owl were all desperadoes, and they were really desperate.
Dare to kill officials and rebel, as the saying goes: "Officials do not tolerate needles, and they engage in private affairs."
Boat gangs that traffic in smuggled salt on the Yellow River, in addition to providing benefits to the brave soldiers patrolling the river, also have to offer sacrifices to the river god when setting sail, throwing whole bags of salt into the river, praying to the underwater gentleman to keep the boat safe and avoid strong winds and waves.
But he said that there was such a sandwich boat.
He had never been to this part of the river before, and it was the first time he used the Yellow River to traffic in illicit salt.
The boss of the ship used to be a ruthless bandit and very stingy.
A boatman persuaded him to offer sacrifices to the river god, but the boatman refused to throw a bag of salt into the river, and only sprinkled a handful of large salt particles.
That night, the boat gang stayed in front of Qingtong Gorge.
Suddenly an old man came in the night, wearing a green cap with thorns on his head.
Usually the thorns on people's hats are red, but this old man happened to wear a green one on his head.
It looks very eye-catching.
The old man held a ladle in his hand and wanted to ask the boat boss for a ladle of salt.
The boss of the ship believes that trafficking in smuggled salt is clearly against the king's law.
It is a business of making a living with your head behind your back, but it is not a business of running a porridge shop to do good deeds.
Business is based on profit, and there is nothing you can do about being exploited by the government.
How?
Ken Ping gave alms to unrelated people, so he coaxed the old man away.
The young shopkeeper in the boat gang was kind-hearted.
Seeing that the old man was pitiful, he took out his money and asked the boss of the boat to buy a ladle of salt for the old man.
The old man went away with great gratitude.
The next day, we continued sailing and reached the Qingtong Gorge.
Suddenly, a flood broke out in the upper reaches, and the turbid waves emptied out.
In an instant, the sun lost its color, and the sky was dark and the earth was dark.
Everyone was busy stabilizing the boat, and suddenly they heard someone shout, " The Dragon King has spread his wings."
Everyone quickly raised their eyes to take a look, and saw a huge black creature, with a hill-like back exposed, emerging from the Yellow River.
It turned out that it was a giant turtle, as big as two or three houses connected together. .
The giant turtle rammed directly into the sandwich boat, and finally overturned the entire boat.
The entire cargo of the boat sank into the river.
However, no one on the boat died, and they were all swept ashore by the river water.
Later, people said that it was thanks to the young shopkeeper’s generous ladle of salt that the River God Ancestor graciously let them go
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