The Yalu River was called Zhushui in ancient times, Mazishui in the Han Dynasty, and Yalu River only in the Tang Dynasty.
The origin of this name is said to be because of the clear water of the river.
Liu Zhaosun stood on the boulder by the river, looking worriedly at the turbid river surface in the distance.
At the peak of flood season, the Hunjiang River carries sediment and debris and flows into the Yalu River. The river surface is much wider than before, and naturally it is no longer clear.
Liu Zhaosun is not worried about water quality. As the river water rises, it becomes more difficult to pass through the river.
There was no bridge connecting the Yalu River in the Ming Dynasty, and the bridge would not be built until several hundred years later during the Japanese colonial rule.
On weekdays, goods and people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait travel by ferry, and Kuandian hires boats to ferry people there, which is called Guandu. The North Koreans, of course, didn't pay.
There are ten passenger ships in this section of Guandu, with five anchored on each side.
Of course, it is not possible to expect these ten ships to transport thousands of soldiers and horses across the river. Each ship transports two or three soldiers at a time. I don't know if it will be delivered to the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
Yuan Chonghuan sent people to the surrounding fishing villages to hire some fishing boats and fishermen, and managed to collect thirty boats, but it was still not enough.
Li Tiran, who came with Yuan Chonghuan, finally met Marquis Ping Liao.
After some pleasantries, Chao Angel urged the army to cross the river as soon as possible.
Lord Ayang will take action in Seoul the day after tomorrow, on the third day of March, to expel Lord Gwanghae in the name of Lord Qing. If Marquis Pingliao cannot lead his troops to cross the river on time, Lord Ayang will be in trouble in Seoul.
Liu Zhaosun heard what Yuan Chonghuan had said about the North Korean envoy and knew that he had a stubborn temper, so he suppressed his anger.
He also wanted to set foot on North Korea as soon as possible, but the transportation capacity was not enough. In addition to transporting soldiers, he also needed to transport war horses, and there was also food and grass behind him.
In desperation, Liu Zhaosun had to send his elite soldiers across the river first, leaving the auxiliary soldiers and fire soldiers behind.
Yuan Chonghuan looked at the turbid Yalu River and said uneasily:
"Sir, the Mongolian foreigners captured last time confessed that they have accomplices in Qinghe, Fushun. Several tribes on the grassland are ready to make a move, waiting for us to make a comeback when our troops are thin."
"So we have to fight quickly this time. No matter whether we want to fight Seoul or not."
Liu Zhaosun nodded in agreement.
"This group of evil wolves is really difficult to deal with. They are constantly gathering and dispersing. We have to find a way to clean them all up."
Soldiers are valuable and quick. If they can't capture Uiju quickly, things will be in trouble when Gwanghaejun mobilizes his troops to move north.
When I was anxious, a few rafts (also called rafts) floated far upstream.
Liu Zhaosun was born in the south and knew that someone was setting up a raft.
The so-called rafting refers to logging in forest farms and using the felled wood to build large rafts.
Most of the forest farms are on mountains with higher terrain, so you can raft directly down the river.
The raft is both a means of transportation and cargo, killing two birds with one stone.
Liaodong has dense forests, and all the fine trees such as fir, pine, and cypress needed for sea ships can be obtained from here.
During the dry season, loggers go up to the mountains to cut down trees and carry the cut wood to the nearest ditch.
"Spring is full of peach blossom water." When the flood season comes, wood and bamboo materials are pushed into the water. When the river opens up, the wood and bamboo poles are woven into large rafts, and several rafts are connected end to end in a row, and then several raft launchers drive them down the river.
The raft releasing industry has a long history in Liaodong.
During the Kangxi period, the emperor personally visited the border to inspect the Jilin Navy, and wrote a poem about it: "Lian Qiang, pick up the ship and station in Jiangcheng".
I saw a few lean men standing on the raft. They skillfully maneuvered the raft to avoid the rocks in the center of the river and drift forward.
Seeing that a large group of officers and soldiers were approaching from the shore, the man who launched the raft quickly controlled the rudder stick, and a few workers held up the long pole and wanted to leave quickly.
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand towards Jin Yinghe, and Jin Yinghe immediately sent archers to draw the bows to full length, forcing the row of rafts to stop.
"Master Liu is here to question you. You are not allowed to escape!"
Two arrows were shot on the raft, and a lean stacker (note 1) quickly leaned the raft against the shore and trotted to the crowd.
The people who carried the piles regarded Yuan Chonghuan as the manager, and saluted with their hands clasped on their left shoulders. They always saluted like this when they met the gangster.
"A cloud hangs in the northwest sky, and crows alight on the phoenixes. I wonder which one is the king and which one is the minister?"
Yuan Chonghuan came to Liaodong for the first time, so naturally he couldn't understand these slang words and looked at the lean boatman with a confused expression.
Several generals who had taken refuge in Liao Town were about to come up to talk to him, but were stopped by General Liu.
In his previous life, Liu Zhaosun had watched "Lin Hai Xue Yuan" and the movie "Take Tiger Mountain by Outsmarting the Tiger Mountain", so he had some knowledge of Northeastern slang.
Knowing that this is a compliment from the person who picks the stacks, it is equivalent to Yuan Chonghuan's catchphrase "Push on the street".
But as soon as he opened his mouth, he reduced his status to a coward, which was really a loss of status.
Liu Zhaosun asked the stacker politely: "Where did you come from?"
The man who picked the pallets was shocked. He didn't expect that the official in front of him knew this, so he quickly replied:
"I don't dare to call you a man, so I'll give you a thumbs up."
The meaning of these words is to tell Mr. Liu that he is a fool and only eats rice.
After that, the stacker handed over a ticket. Pei Dahu took it and carefully handed it to General Liu.
The so-called ticket is a small wooden sign the size of a bowl, proving one's identity. In layman's terms, it is a license to transport wood.
Liu Zhaosun took the row of tickets in his hand and looked through them for a while. On the front were engraved the five characters "Dusi Shizhi of Liaodong", and on the back was the name of the person who picked the stacks: Meng Jinbao.
"Oh, this brother is a rice cook. Is he from Changbai Mountain?"
Meng Jinbao hurriedly said: "Go back to the Commander-in-Chief, there are thirty (companions) here, and I know hundreds of people. They are all miserable. It's not easy to get down in this row. I only made this little money." Yin Zi, I respect you and let us have a way to survive."
As he spoke, he took out a few pieces of broken silver from his body and raised them high above his head.
This man really regarded himself as a gangster who was robbing families and homes. Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but turn around and ask Qiao Yiqi:
"Qiao Jianjun, do you think I look like a green forest hero?"
Qiao Yiqi thought about Liu Zhaosun's refusal to pay back the money and blurted out:
"More than just a look, you are simply a robber. This time, aren't we going to North Korea to rob?"
Liu Zhaosun laughed.
The slang I learned in outsmarting Weihu Mountain has been used up.
So I didn’t talk nonsense with this stack picker and got straight to the point:
"I am the Commander-in-Chief of Kaiyuan, the Marquis of Pingliao conferred by the Emperor. I don't ask you for money, but I want to give you money!"
The man carrying the stacks was shocked and quickly knelt down and knelt down to worship.
Liu Zhaosun's name has spread throughout Liaodong as early as possible, and in remote places he is as famous as Wong Tai Sin.
"How much money do you earn for one trip?"
The man who carried the piles raised his ravaged face and looked at the commander-in-chief, as if he was looking up to a god, and said tremblingly:
"Mr. Liu, a raft worker can earn two taels of silver for a hard trip, and he can make a few taels of silver and deduct it from the Liao soldiers, but in the end he only gets less than half a tael. Many of our people in Liaodong were robbed by the Tatars and starved to death. We are still alive after all. In the past two years, the Tatar fire has plagued Liaodong. We are not allowed to go into the mountains to cut trees or launch rafts. The Jiangkou Shipyard has also stopped. Many brothers have no work and no food to eat. Last year, my mother Starved to death.”
The stacker was drifting all the way, and his body was extremely tired. As he talked, tears flowed down his face covered with ravines.
"Fortunately, Mr. Liu helped us defeat the Jiannu, and we had food to eat again. I was unlucky. I met some gangsters again this time. Their big shopkeeper said that this year was not going to be good, so he robbed us of all our money." , only this little bit of silver is left."
The survival of the people in Liaodong is even worse than that of trackers on the Tianjin Canal.
Liu Zhaosun stretched out his hand to help the man carrying the stack, and the people next to him kept shaking their heads.
The peak season for rafting is only three months a year.
Starting from Changbai Mountain in the spring, we encountered stormy seas, mosquitoes, wild animals, God made things difficult for us, and we were blackmailed by bandits.
Finally, they reached the bustling areas downstream, where there were casinos, brothels and lovers, squeezing all their hard-earned money.
Those who return home alive don’t have much money left and can only wait until next year to go out and fight for their lives.
The stacker looked at Liu Zhaosun blankly. He knew that this was Liu Shenxian who was widely rumored to help people in distress.
It is said that Liu Zongbing lived in Liaodong for one year and there were countless people alive. His story was sung by every household, and many Liao people enshrined the statue of Liu Zongbing in their homes.
"Your name is Meng Jinbao? Can you drive a sea ship? A blessing ship or a sand ship?"
"Sir, my name is Meng Jinbao. He is thirty-one years old. He travels between Changbai Mountain and the Yalu River Estuary all year round, and he can use all kinds of boats!"
Liu Zhaosun was overjoyed and looked up and down at the man picking up the pile.
This person is quite courageous, and he seems to be smart and capable in his work. He meets the conditions for soldier selection. Since he can be a stacker, he is definitely not someone to take lightly.
"Meng Jinbao, you are willing to do something big!"
"The villain knows the name of General Liu. Even the hair in Changbai Mountain is worshiped by Master Liu! I heard that Master Liu brought the dead to life in the Hunjiang River. Master Liu only received half of the land tax. He is a god who saves the poor."
Meng Jinbao looked at Liu Zhaosun, this living god spread throughout Liaodong, and his body trembled slightly because of his excitement.
It was really an eye-opener for God. I wandered all the way from Changbai Mountain, was robbed by the gangsters, and bullied by Liao Town. When I was desperate, I met this god.
In front of Liu Zhaosun's eyes was a scene of a mountain eagle (a Northeastern giant) burning incense and bowing in obeisance to him.
"When you join the Liaodong Navy, you will be bound by military law. You will not be as lax as before. You will go wherever I ask you to go. Otherwise, you will be subject to military law. Have you thought about it?"
Meng Jinbao nodded repeatedly, saying that he had a narrow escape from death and was discriminated against in the Paizi business. If it were not for the purpose of supporting his family, he would have given up long ago.
"The villain suffered a lot. He was hung up and beaten in a knot the day before yesterday. He didn't blink an eye. The villain is willing to be an adult's soldier!"
Liu Zhaosun nodded approvingly.
"With two taels of silver a month, I can follow my officer to kill the Tatars and do great things! I can also divide the fields and settle down and start a family. I no longer have to suffer in the mountains and forests."
Meng Jinbao kowtowed repeatedly and said loudly:
"The villain is willing to follow Mr. Liu!"
Liu Zhaosun took out a few pieces of broken silver from his sleeves and handed them to Meng Jinbao:
"Okay, no jokes in the army! From today on, you will be the first commander of the Liaodong Navy. This is your monthly salary for this month."
Meng Jinbao hesitated for a moment, but still took the money.
"Boss Meng, please find some more raft workers who are willing to follow me and transport these soldiers and horses across the river first!"
Note:
(1) Pallet picker: In the rice-making industry, the most dangerous type of work involves exchanging lives for money. It is commonly known as the shifter and pallet picker. "Chai Duo" is a Northeastern dialect that is still spoken by many Northeasterners. It is used to describe a person who takes the lead and turns the tide.
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