Yongji Canal, large wharf.Zuo Xiuyuan tightened the reins and locked the horse in place with a "whoosh".It is a dock market and a gathering place for fishermen, traders, and civilians.In Daming, waterways are the most important mode of freight.The journey of more than 2,000 miles is too strenuous and unrealistic to fly in the air.The most important thing is that if you encounter a monster on the way, you will find that your spiritual power has been consumed by flying in the air, let alone fighting.Therefore, when he went to Wuyi County, Zuo Xiuyuan finally chose to take the waterway.The Grand Canal connects the north and the south, and through the continuous efforts of later generations, the Grand Canal connecting the north and the south is no longer the original Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.The later construction of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal and the Zhedong Grand Canal greatly relieved the pressure on the canal, and of course, to a certain extent, also shortened the itinerary.Compared to taking the land route, the waterway is more convenient.Besides, for Zuo Xiuyuan, the life of touring the mountains and rivers is also more comfortable.The commercial street at the pier is bustling with people, but most of them are fish vendors.Fishermen catch fish from the river and sell them directly on boats, which is very fresh.Compared with the center of the capital, the price of fish here is still a few copper coins a pound cheaper.But the more you go to the riverside wharf, the less people flow, and even fewer vendors, which makes Zuo Xiuyuan puzzled.Why do fishermen have to travel half a mile to sell fish far away from the river?
In Daming, fish is the mainstream meat for ordinary people, and it is a category that is in short supply, and it stands to reason that fishermen will be sold as soon as they are caught, and there is no need to go so far to sell, after all, the production cycle of pigs, cattle and sheep is too long.Before I knew it, I had arrived at the big wharf, and I thought that there would be a lot of ships on the wharf, but when I arrived at the wharf, I found that there were only a few big ships running freight on the canal, and the small boats were almost gone.Zuo Xiuyuan was puzzled again.As soon as he stopped for a while, a few pimping boatmen immediately greeted him, and they were very courteous.It is clear that they have competition.Most of these boatmen were middle-aged men, but there was also a young man in the middle, who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and his body was thin.came out to beg for a living at such a young age, it must be because of a bad family background.In the process of crowding and grabbing just now, he was quickly squeezed out by these middle-aged strong men."
Where are the guest officers going?
Our ship went to Tongzhou, Tianjin, Cangzhou, and Dezhou, and departed in the afternoon, ten taels of silver. ”"Guest officer, our ship can go directly to Taierzhuang and Xuzhou, twenty taels of silver, and there is a mage sitting in the formation........""
I'm going to Hangzhou!"
As soon as he heard that Zuo Xiuyuan was going to Hangzhou, the faces of the original enthusiastic pimps instantly dimmed, and they turned around and left one by one, but at this time, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old man was full of happiness."
Guest officer, when we go to Hangzhou, it only costs eighty taels of silver, which is a bit expensive, but the distance is so far after all.""
Eighty taels!"
For this amount, Zuo Xiuyuan was also surprised, you must know that eighty taels is not a small amount, if you buy fish, eighty taels can buy a few baskets.Seeing that Zuo Xiuyuan was a little hesitant, he explained anxiously: "If the guest officer is really willing to ride, I will open a back door for you, and I will miss you a tael of silver."
But this is already the lowest price, and it can't be less, because the rebate I pull a customer is only one or two or five dollars. ”He was sweating profusely, and his cheeks were red.The kickbacks were told the truth, and it was clear that he was not lying.It is not easy to make a living, and for a few taels of silver, these low-level people live a very hard life.Zuo Xiuyuan grinned, revealing a mouthful of big white teeth, to be honest, he liked this guy's sincerity."
Okay, just take your boat!
When to go?
”"An hour later!"
Hearing that Zuo Xiuyuan agreed to take the boat, he was very excited, and the joy on his face could not be concealed."
Guest officer, it's hard to wait for an hour, you can go to the teahouse over there to drink tea first, where you can not only drink tea but also be ........happy" Zuo Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, and when he heard the word "happy", he glanced at him again: "At a young age, do you know what happiness is?"
Open your mouth and talk nonsense. ”The boy scratched his head embarrassedly and whispered, "Those old boatmen said so, and I learned from them." ”Zuo Xiuyuan touched his head, and then said, "...........
Count yourself honest.I ask you, how many years have you been working by this river?
Is it clear what happened on this ship?
”Zuo Xiu saw that these cargo ships and passenger ships were covered with yellow talismans, and guessed that there must be monsters in this river, and these yellow talismans must also be used to guard against monsters.In addition, after those boatmen knew that he was going to Hangzhou, their enthusiasm instantly cooled down, and it was obvious that Hangzhou was not only far away but also dangerous, and no one usually went.The son of the man is making a living by the river, and he must know about the things in the river, so he can find out a thing or two in advance, and if there is a river monster, he can also take precautions.Seeing Zuo Xiuyuan asking, the servant immediately replied heartily: "The guest officer is asking about things!"
Don't look at my young age, but when I was young, I grew up begging for a living by my parents on the dock, and there was nothing I didn't know about on the dock. ”The man was very clever, and at a glance he could see that Zuo Xiuyuan was going to inquire about the news, and patted his chest and said loudly, looking at his puffed up chest, he was very confident.Zuo Xiuyuan smiled and nodded, it was really a poor man's child who was in charge early."
Let's go, follow me to the teahouse!
Let's talk slowly!
”Zuo Xiuyuan pointed to the teahouse that he had told him just now, and said with a smile."
Guest officer, this ........
The small one still has to solicit customers here, if you have anything to ask directly, the small one will tell you that it is. ”"How many people can you pull in a day?""
Maybe you can't pull one a month, and you can't pull four or five ....... a day," he said embarrassedly."
The ship will arrive in an hour, and here are ten taels of silver, to buy you an hour.When I go out alone, I happen to be looking for you to learn some interesting things in the river. ”Seeing the piece of silver in Zuo Xiuyuan's hand, which was full of black pores, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his heart seemed to jump to his throat.After doing it for so many years, it was the first time he had encountered such a good thing."
Okay, grandeur!"
After that, the swaggering man led the way in front, and Zuo Xiuyuan followed closely behind.After booking a room, Zuo Xiuyuan ordered another table to eat, all of which were chicken, duck and fish.Through chatting with him, Zuo Xiuyuan also confirmed the guess in his heart, it turned out that there were indeed river monsters on this canal, and there were the most river monsters south of the Yangtze River.This is also the reason why those middle-aged boatmen do not go south of the Yangtze River, even in places like Huai'an and Yangzhou, their boats dare not go."
But don't worry, our ship not only has Huang Fu to suppress the monster, but also invited a mage to suppress the ship.It's just that the price of this mage is not low, at least two or three hundred taels of silver for a trip. ”"Is the mage a high cultivator?"
Zuo Xiuyuan asked."
That's natural, that mage can easily kill dozens of catties of big fish, do you say that his cultivation is not high.To tell you the truth, ordinary monsters are not his opponents at all.If you encounter a fish monster and a crab monster on the ship to eat people, as long as the mage is there, it is guaranteed to ensure the safety of passengers. ”He said proudly.According to his words, Zuo Xiuyuan easily guessed the approximate situation, and was almost amused by his sentence "killing dozens of catties of big fish with his bare hands" into a pig's cry.Killing a big fish of dozens of catties does not require a mage to take action at all, and a person of the ninth rank of martial arts can easily kill it, of course, mortals still have some difficulty.In Zuo Xiuyuan's opinion, this so-called ship crushing mage may be just a monk in the Qi refining period, and he is also a monk who has just entered the Qi refining period.Since Jiangzhong is full of untransformed demons, Zuo Xiuyuan is still a little relieved.Seeing that Zuo Xiuyuan was not afraid after he finished speaking, his heart finally let go.He was also afraid that Zuo Xiuyuan would retreat, and in these years, there are still many people who are afraid of death.Of course, if Zuo Xiuyuan hadn't given him ten taels of silver, he would not have talked nonsense to the passengers, once the passengers were frightened by these river monsters and did not take the boat, they would lose themselves.After a while, the chicken, duck and fish meat were put on the table, and the table was full, but the man just swallowed his saliva vigorously, and he didn't dare to start at all, and even took the initiative to stand up: "Slow use of the guest officer, I'll wait for you outside the door!"
”Zuo Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, guessing his son's thoughts, so he said: "I have already paid for these foods, you eat with me, such a big table of food, how can I eat it alone?"
”"This ......
Lord, this is not good!
The small one understands the rules, and the master can eat boldly and boldly!
.......”"
What the hell is it, eat!
If you don't eat it, even my ten taels of silver will be refunded, and I will go to the riverside to continue soliciting customers!
”Zuo Xiuyuan's face changed slightly, and he said with a little anger in his words.Where is there such a good thing in the world, it's not that you don't eat it, but you're embarrassed to eat it.Since Zuo Xiuyuan said so, he tore off a chicken leg and began to eat it violently.This kind of life, big families may not have it for the New Year."
Delicious, right?"
Zuo Xiuyuan asked with a smile.The boy nodded vigorously, and he had already eliminated a chicken leg.After a full meal and wine, an hour was almost over, but the ship to Hangzhou was delayed.The man was also very worried, after all, he received other people's money and ate other people's food, if the boat didn't come, it would be troublesome, and the person in front of him was a big man at a glance.For a moment, he was sweating profusely.Something must have happened?
After another half an hour, a pale green boat finally appeared on the river, and the boat was full of flags.His eyes lit up, he was very happy, and shouted at Zuo Xiuyuan: "This is our ship, master, look at it, how atmospheric!"
But I'm sorry, the ship didn't arrive on time, and it delayed you. ”Seeing that the boat was gradually approaching, Zuo Xiuyuan did not delay and left after checking out.When he came to the river, he also saw the whole picture of the big ship clearly.The length of the ship is about 20 meters, two floors high, one layer transports goods, and the second floor transports people, which is already a big ship on this canal.Of course, this ship is still incomparable with the big ships on the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and the most important reason is the draft.But just looking at this ship, we know that the shipbuilding technology of Daming is very advanced.The big ship broke down, and more than a dozen passengers boarded the ship one after another, and they helped Zuo Xiuyuan take care of it along the way and chose a good room by the window.After Zuo Xiuyuan entered the room, he was even satisfied, the ten taels of silver for a meal, the cost was worth it, after all, it would take a month to get to Hangzhou, and the comfort of the room was very important.