"Sir, I'm leaving now, it's too hasty, but I don't treat you well?"
"What are you talking about, Mr. Liu? In the past two days, Mr. Liu has treated me with generous gifts and I have lived and eaten well. Especially yesterday, Mr. Liu's enthusiasm and the simplicity of the villagers have been rare in my life. In fact, I really want to stay here longer." A few days." Song You said sincerely to Mr. Liu, "I'm just going to Liaojun here, and I have to bring a family letter for an old father-in-law. I have already stayed for two days, and it is really inconvenient to stay longer."
To prevent him from overthinking, Song You showed him the letter sealed in the bamboo tube.
"even so……"
Old official Liu couldn't help sighing and stamped on the ground with his crutch, but delivering the letter was an important matter and related to integrity, so he couldn't stay any longer, so he only ordered people to get money and dry food.
"Sir drove away the evil tigers in my village and saved a lot of assets. Besides, even if I don't have my husband, I would still have to spend some money to send people to the county to invite people. Due to circumstances and reasons, I should give something as a gift." Mr. Liu The official stood up with his cane, picked up a plate of money and said to Song You, "It is unreasonable to just give some dry food. I will prepare some money to give to Mr. Song as payment."
Song You lowered his head and saw a plate of scattered silver, which probably contained twenty or thirty taels.
These days, most people can't see so much money at once, and it's far less than that much money to hire people to drive away tigers in the county. Most of the money is a premium for "experts."
And Song You absolutely cannot ask for this money.
Not to mention that yesterday's sentiment was worth a thousand dollars, even the delicious food and drinks in the past two days and the courtesy of distinguished guests were more than enough to make up for his persuasion to leave the tiger.
This is how things in this world are, one party does it casually, the other party treats each other with courtesy, there is really no need for anything else, even if they leave here, neither party will feel guilty.
So he only took dry food and no money.
Old official Liu was helpless, but he also felt that this young gentleman was very great, and he was different from those strangers and gentlemen who also had some abilities, so he used crutches to send him out in person.
"Sir, go right along the main road. If you have good feet, you can reach the county in about half a day's journey. This county is called Nianping County. If you want to rest in the city, or if you need help with something, you can go to the county government office. Find the chief clerk, Liu Hong and Liu Yangsheng, who is the second son of the old man. If you don't want to go, you can go to Liaojun by water, which is easier than by land. Prepare food and grass, and the boat can also carry horses."
"waterway?"
"The water route is smoother and more comfortable than the land route. Although I traveled down the mountain, I don't know that Xuzhou is full of mountains and rivers. This trip to Liaojun is even more picturesque, and going down the river is so comfortable."
"What's the name of this river?"
"The Liujiang River leads all the way to Liaojun."
"The landscape is picturesque..."
"That's right! No one else knows how to get to Liaojun from here, but I told you, sir, that you have to take the waterway!"
"How to get there by water?"
Song You gradually became interested.
For long-distance travel these days, if there is a waterway, it is definitely a better choice than land. It's just that I wanted to appreciate the mountains, rivers and people in more detail before, so I didn't go looking for a waterway. But the old officials in front of me said so, and Song You also had the idea of taking the waterway to Liaojun.
The old official told him in detail.
How to find the way, where the ferry is, how to take the boat, how much the price is, how to avoid being scammed, all explained in detail.
"Liu announced his resignation!"
"Sir, walk slowly."
The old man was still holding his cane and shouting at the door.
The Taoist, the cat and the horse gradually walked away.
…
After a half-day trip, we arrived at Nianping County.
The world in my heart lit up again.
Song You heard a saying that in most people's minds, the world and the world are just a concept, and even this concept may be very biased. Even if you have seen maps, pictures, or listened to someone describe a place in detail, it will still be dark, flat, and illusory. Only when you go to that place and actually get there, will it become more substantial. It is lit up and becomes a three-dimensional real place in your mind.
The more it lights up, the more complete the world in your chest becomes.
This is Song You's first trip to a far distance.
The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, the waterfalls are picturesque, there are delicious rice noodles, and the temperature is warmer than Lingquan County where Yidu and Taoist Temple are located.
After eating rice noodles, we passed through Nianping County and no longer took the original road. Following the guidance of Mr. Liu, Song You walked about twenty miles and walked along the left road to Nianping Ferry. When he reached a gentle hillside, his downward vision suddenly became clear.
Below I saw a shallow river bay, an ancient ferry on a stone beach, scattered small boats floating on the river, and large boats connected to ropes. Countless dark and short trackers were on the other end of the ropes, each leaning forward and trying their best. , slanting, looking from a distance, I thought it was the shadow cast by the afternoon sun.
There was a faint sound floating from the air.
"Oh ho oh...
"Hey...
"Oooh..."
Most of them are syllables with no words to be heard, as if there is no language at all. I don't know how many mouths were shouting, and they merged into one sound. It seemed to be coming from the river beach far below, or it seemed to come from a more distant past, mixed with the sound of the wind above the river crossing, which was more ancient and mysterious than the Taoist scriptures.
Go straight to the heart.
Song You stood in the wind at the mountain pass and was stunned for a moment.
I just feel that this is the echo of ancient history, the labor chant that has echoed for thousands of years on the Liujiang Ferry, and the wear and tear of this era. I just listened to one sentence, but it kept echoing in my mind. After listening to it for a while, it felt like the whine of high-intensity labor, which made people feel depressed and sad.
"Taoist priest, what are you doing?"
"Nothing done."
"Why don't you leave?"
"Let's go now."
"What are they shouting?"
"I can't hear you clearly either."
Song You just walked downstairs.
The bay horse and cat followed behind.
Yesterday I just witnessed the simple joy of this era, and today I saw again that this is also an era full of hardships. Perhaps there is no contradiction between the two. The happy farmers at the banquet yesterday and the hard-working boat trackers on Jiangkou Ancient Ferry today are the same people. Or maybe contradiction is the norm in the real world.
This is also a scenery that cannot be seen on Yin Yang Mountain.
Watching and walking, we gradually descended to the edge of the ferry.
Song You only felt that the cloth shoes were light and flimsy, and the stones hurt his feet.
"Is there a boat to Liaojun?"
"I'm going to Long County."
"Can I bring a horse?"
"A melon boat cannot carry horses."
"I can take care of you!"
Song You looked along the sound.
It was a shed-roofed boat, neither too small nor too big. It just happened to be in this shoal without landing on the bottom. There was an old man standing on the bow of the boat, wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat. There were already several people sitting in the boat. .
"How much?"
"Where are the guests?"
"Lingbo County."
"We can't reach Lingbo County. We can only get off the nearest ferry. There is nearly a hundred miles of mountain road up there." The old man shouted loudly, his voice lingering like a song. "It takes six days and costs two hundred yuan per person. A horse has to be paid according to the price of two people, and the materials are brought with you. As for the guest officers, if they don't mind the smell of river fish, they can also take care of the food on the ship."
The calico cat at his feet looked up at Song You.
Song You caught her gaze and understood it.
"Doesn't the cat want money?"
"What does the cat want?"
"A total of five hundred dollars, that's the price."
"Five hundred and fifty, get on the boat and leave."
"Give it all to Xiaoping."
"Sir, please come aboard."
Song You led the horse and cat to the boat.
Xiaoping is a common small copper coin.
In the past few years, the imperial court has introduced some large coins, some worth five and some worth ten. As the name suggests, one coin can be worth five or ten ordinary copper coins, but one coin can be used as a five-tong treasure or a ten-tong treasure and is not as heavy as five ordinary copper coins. Or as heavy as ten. Even though it was just launched and the Dayan court was at the time of its prosperity, it has not depreciated much yet, but the acceptance among the people has gradually decreased. Anyway, a big piece of money worth ten discounts is absolutely worth it in real life. It cannot be used as ten pieces of money, it must be reduced to some extent.
That's why the boatman is so happy.
"Your Majesty, just let the horse stay at the bow. Are you afraid of the water?"
"Not afraid."
"That's good. As for the shit and urine, I will clean it up on my own."
"It will try its best to row into the river. If my husband is willing to find a place to dock on the way, it will go down for convenience."
"Guest, this horse is obedient and uses words elegantly, haha..."
"May I ask when we will set off?"
"Let's go!"
The boat drifts away from the shore easily, gently and gently.
Song You turned around and took a look. There were four people sitting in the boat.
There was a scholar holding a book, and a family of three, a couple and a young daughter. They didn’t know why they were traveling so far.
He had no time to care, he just stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the ancient ferry in the shallows getting farther and farther away, and listening to the desolate ancient chant, he seemed to be thinking about it, but he seemed to have nothing in mind.
However, the scholar behind him saw that he was wearing a Taoist robe and raised his head to talk:
"Are you a Taoist gentleman?"
"I grew up in a Taoist temple."
"Sir, haven't you seen the crossing?"
"First time meeting."
"Haha, it was novel when I first saw it, but it's just the same after watching it for a long time!" The scholar was a talkative, and he kindly invited, "It's windy outside, why not come and sit in the cabin. To be honest, sir, I am also a Taoist lover. People who practice magic bring this Taoist scripture with them when they go out. We still have a few days to go to Liaojun. Wouldn't it be nice for you and me to talk over wine?"
Song You still stood at the bow of the boat, only smiling.
The sound of the boatman's chant is getting farther and farther away, but the strange thing is that the farther away it is, the more charming and powerful it seems.
The scholar didn't know what he was thinking——
The Taoist scriptures are not as good as this.
