After eating this long piece of mooncake, lunch is over. Lin Ming only felt full in his stomach, but also felt empty, as if he had eaten nothing. What kind of meal is this!
"How is it? Does it taste good?" Cummins looked at Thorpe who kept drinking tea.
"It's okay." Thorpe certainly understood the teasing in Cummins' words. This compressed grass ration has become a topic in the Fubo Army since its inception. Countless jokes and witticisms in the army have been based on it. Except for the recruits who had not eaten enough before joining the army, no one said it was delicious.
The reason why it tastes bad is not because of the so-called "emergency dry food must taste bad, otherwise soldiers will use it as snacks", but because its main ingredient is sweet potato dry powder. The cellulose-rich potato starch powder was difficult to swallow, and the army could not get more oil supplies. Therefore, it cannot give the same aroma as compressed ration fried noodles.
But for Thorpe, the key problem is that the caloric content of grass rations is too low, less than half of the traditional compressed dry rations. This means that the same supply standard must be doubled. Therefore, "energy bars" were added to the grassland rations this time, using a large amount of sugar to increase the calorie supply. In order to relieve fatigue, the supply of mustard vegetables was increased.
"You'd better pay more attention to when you might get hungry. This is the first time the new suit has been tested."
"We are transporting by boat, so we don't consume a lot of calories. I guess I won't be hungry until seven or eight o'clock in the evening." Cummins touched his belly, "Xiao Xie, let's continue working!"
Thorpe watched as Cummins continued to guide Xie Peng in his combat staff duties, his attention focused on the geographical scenery along the way. In another time and space, he had been to many cities in the Pearl River Delta, but here and now, there were still those familiar scenery on the horizon. In addition to the intricate river branches, harbors, and puddles, there are rice fields, fish ponds, mulberry gardens, sugarcane gardens, and litchi forests... Small villages sit among them, and the people wear blue cloth jackets and bamboo hats. Driving the boat to and from various places... a rural scene in Guangdong that is rarely seen in the old time and space.
The river in this area is very wide, and boats are crisscrossing the water. Very busy. Thorpe noticed that more than 90% of the places here were small boats, with very few large boats. Regardless of the size of the boats, they all gave the impression of being dilapidated. Almost none of the bamboo curtains on the boat awnings were intact. They were either torn with holes or patched with a small piece of straw mat. The sails are also riddled with holes. The materials used for the hull are not particular, and the processing is very rough.
He noticed that rags and rags were hanging out to dry on many small boats. There were stoves cooking food at the stern of the boats, and from time to time he could see people naked. Toddlers - all tied with ropes around their waists. I thought this was probably Danhu.
But I saw a small boat fishing in the river bend. The woman on the boat was standing at the stern and rowing, and the man was trawling the bow of the boat. Both of them were unkempt, and the woman only had a cloth skirt, which was so tattered that the color could no longer be seen. There was a baby wrapped in cloth behind her, who was crying loudly because she was probably hungry. The woman paid no attention to it and was concentrating on rocking the oar. From time to time, she would also tell her husband to pay attention to the fishing nets.
Thorp sighed secretly, and suddenly saw seven or eight small boats coming out of the river branch in front of him, gathering here as if under a unified order. However, after getting close, they suddenly separated and left. Thorpe was a little strange. Just as he was about to ask a question, Lin Ming had already spoken:
"These are Danhu water bandits. They are probably people of the fourth surname. They thought our boat was good, so they originally wanted to commit robbery." Lin Ming said, "But they still know what they are doing."
Hearing that it was a water bandit, Thorpe couldn't help but feel a little nervous: "So it's your amulet that worked."
"They are not that stupid," Lin Ming said. "There are so many unbacked cargo ships and merchant ships. Why bother with us?"
"So that's it." Thorp was secretly surprised. This was not a wilderness. It is the essence of the Pearl River Delta and is densely populated. The water bandits were actually committing robberies during the day!
"This place is not far from Foshan Town. Water bandits are so rampant?"
"Foshan Town is nothing. This place is only more than ten miles away from Sanshui County." Lin Ming said with a smile, "These people usually fish and weave bamboo. If they have the opportunity to steal and rob, they will not let it go. The scoundrels are erratic. Uncertain, there is no fixed place to live, and the government is helpless.”
The Senate was no stranger to Danhu. Lingao itself had quite a number of Danhus. Later, pirates were recruited several times, including Danhus. They live on the water year round, mostly fishing and weaving bamboo, and because they are untouchables, they rarely have contact with people on land, forming a closed social community.
Although the government discriminated against Danhu, because they were good at water and physically strong, they often recruited Danhu to serve as water warriors. During the Hongwu period, there were also reports of people from Dan households in Guangzhou serving as naval forces. In the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary three years ago, the navy fought with Danjia Shuiyong more than once. According to estimates from the Great Library, there are about 500,000 Dan households in Guangdong. People with low social and economic status and an urgent need to turn around are a force that can be harnessed. So Thorp paid great attention to their situation.
As the sun sets in the west, a city emerges from the rice fields and river network in the distance. This is Hekou Town, where the seat of Sanshui County is located. The terrain of Sanshui slopes from northwest to southeast, with high hills in the northwest and alluvial plains and low hills in the southeast. Beijiang, Xijiang and Suijiang converge into Sanshui, hence the name Sanshui. And Hekou Town, the seat of Sanshui County in the Ming Dynasty, is where the three rivers converge.
This place is the backlash zone of the Pearl River Delta and the gateway to the west of Guangzhou. It has always been a battleground for military strategists. In history, the warlords of Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as the Chinese and Japanese armies, all fought around this place.
"Master Suo, please look, this is Sixianjiao." Lin Ming pointed.
Sixianjiao is just opposite Sanshui County. This is a river connecting Xijiang and Beijiang, about 1.5 kilometers long. It connects Xijiang and Beijiang, plus the Suijiang River that flows into the river three kilometers north of Sixianjiao. It became the "Three Parallel Rivers" in Guangdong. The river here is vast and vast, stretching as far as the eye can see. Standing on the bow of the boat, you can see where the turbid water of the Xijiang River and the clear water of the Beijiang River meet. Where the two rivers meet, you can clearly see the intersection of clear and turbid rivers forming a magical landscape.
Thorpe already had a rough idea of the hydrological data of Sixianjiao: the water depth is about 5 meters, the mouth of Xijiao is 100 meters wide, the mouth of Dongjiao is 200 meters wide, and the middle is 500 meters wide. This jiao is like a natural canal, regulating the flow of the west and north rivers and communicating shipping. Convenient drainage and irrigation. Development of production plays an important role.
The width and water depth of this short Sixianjiao can be used as a berthing place for ships. Thorpe probably remembered that in another time and space, 5,000-ton ships could be berthed here.
"Si Xian Jiao, Si Xian Jiao, this name is really elegant." Cummings said.
"This name has a lot of origins." Lin Ming hurriedly interjected, "This place was originally called Cangjiang. It is said that Mr. Baisha once visited here to visit his disciple Chen Mian, but he didn't meet him. He left the book with the word 'Sixian', and later generations used this name. Name it. This is one of the Three Rivers and Eight Scenic Spots."
"Oh?" Cummins didn't know who Mr. Baisha was, and he wasn't interested, but he was still very interested in the scenery.
Seeing that he was very interested, Lin Ming introduced that every time the floods in the Xijiang River or the Beijiang River rise during the news period, they will flow back to each other through Sixianjiao. This is often due to the large difference in water levels, and the water colors of the two rivers are obviously different. The west water is yellow and the north water is green. , forming a unique "flood of thinking about talents".
"...At that time, I saw turbulent green waves and surging yellow waves. Howling and roaring, it shook the heaven and the earth, as if a hundred thousand yellow dragons and green dragons were making noise in the river and sea. This spectacle, which resembled the Jingwei mixed current, was called Yuanyang Water by the locals."
"That's it." Cummins nodded. He noticed that there was a hill at the confluence of the three rivers. Although the altitude was not high, the terrain was very favorable. Almost all ships traveling to and from the three rivers passed under it. Setting up a fort here can control the nearby river. He turned around and asked Xie Peng: "What kind of mountain is this?"
Xie Peng was holding a drawing board in his hand and was making marks. When the leader asked a question, he immediately replied: "This is Kundu Mountain. The altitude is 62 meters."
Cummins picked up the telescope and carefully observed the hill. It was said to be a mountain, but in fact it could only be regarded as a hill. It was neither strange nor dangerous. But this does meet their needs.
"Although this mountain is inconspicuous, He Weibo, the former Minister of Rites, once studied in a cottage in the mountain. There are still ruins of a reading hall and a reading table." Lin Ming was like a competent tour guide.
Then he turned the telescope to the direction of Sanshui County. In his opinion, these counties were almost all copied from the same mold. City walls, towers, barbicans...the county seat is roughly shaped like a triangle along the river. The east and north sides are close to the river, and the moat is dug to the south. If it were an army in the cold weapon era, Sanshui County would indeed be a very difficult target, but for the Fubo Army, it could capture it in less than an hour thanks to both water and land forces.
"What's the name of the tower on the high hill outside the county town?" Cummings asked.
"Oh, that's a cultural pagoda, and the hillside is called Kuigang. At first, the local gentry thought that the feng shui here was good, so they built this pagoda specifically to use the water here to accumulate the cultural heritage of the four directions."
"This name is auspicious." Xie Peng said, "It is both literary and noble."
Since it was almost dusk, Lin Ming suggested mooring the boat in Hekou Town for the night. It is not safe to sail at night, especially on a large river like the Xijiang River that has not undergone any channel regulation. Moreover, the security of this time and space is also unreliable.
The boat docked under the river embankment outside the north gate. There was a Taoist temple built here. Thorpe and Cummins were not interested in praying to gods and Buddhas, and only asked the bodyguards to keep a close guard on it.
Not long after the boat stopped, county officials carried food boxes and brought a banquet to express their gratitude to the landlord. It just so happened that everyone had to give up a tooth ceremony after being tortured by the rations at noon. Among them, the blindly roasted grass sparrow has attracted a lot of praise: this is the time when the grass sparrow is at its most plump. (To be continued)
