Mr. Liu came to Xu Tong and said, "Sir, we have found six fishermen who can drive a boat."
At this time, Xu Tong was not sitting in the sedan, but sitting on a wooden box on the river bank.
He raised his head, glanced at the fisherman standing a little further away, and said, "Let him row the boat to transport the salutes of the officer and several ladies to the other side of the river."
"Yes." Mr. Liu agreed.
Xu Tong added: "First send my wives to the other side, and then carry the luggage across the river."
"Student, please let the fishermen prepare." Mr. Liu bowed to Xu Tong, then turned around and told the fishermen to do their work.
The servants were carrying the luggage on the cart to the ferry, and the whole ferry looked busy.
Several fishermen rowed their boats over.
Xu Tong's wives each boarded a fishing boat, along with several suitcases.
When there were people on the boat, the fisherman used the long pole on the boat to prop it up on the shore, pushed hard, and pushed the boat into the river.
Leaving the shore, the fisherman put down his long pole, replaced it with an oar, and rowed the fishing boat to the other side of the river.
The ferry does not move in a straight line in the river, but follows the current and goes downstream for a while before landing on the opposite bank.
Xu Tong sat on the bank, watching several ferries rowing back and forth on both sides of the river.
Mr. Liu, who was standing next to him, said at this time: "Sir, it will take some time to send all the luggage to the other side of the river. If you are tired, you can go to Tianhe Village to rest until the luggage is almost transported. Students go to the adults.”
Xu Tong waved his hand and said: "No need, I will cross the river when the ferry comes back this time."
Mr. Liu did not expect Xu Tong to cross the river so early. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized and said: "Students will go to the ferry and wait for the ferry from the other side to come back."
"Go ahead!" Xu Tong said, and then added, "Remember to take all my boxes and go with me."
"Students understand." Mr. Liu agreed.
As for the boxes mentioned, he also knew that they contained some gold and silver items, as well as some famous people's calligraphy and paintings, but the quantity was not large, and it was mainly gold and silver that had the most items.
The ferry on the other side of the river returned to the ferry, and Xu Tong got on the boat with the help of Mr. Liu.
The wooden boxes on the ferry were carried onto the boat one by one. The boxes were filled with gold and silver, making the ferry quite deep.
"My lord, you can't carry your luggage up there anymore, or the boat won't be able to hold it up," the boatman reminded.
Mr. Liu hesitated for a moment and then said to Xu Tong: "Sir, why don't we wait for the remaining luggage to cross the river next time, and the students will keep an eye on it here at the ferry."
"No, the luggage I asked you to prepare must be carried on the boat." Xu Tong said in an unquestionable tone.
Mr. Liu had no choice but to say to the boatman who was punting the boat: "There are only a few boxes left on the ferry. The boatman should work harder and carry the remaining boxes onto the boat."
The boatman shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that your boxes are too heavy. I'm afraid my boat won't be able to hold it. If it reaches a place with strong currents in the river, it will easily capsize."
Hearing that there was a risk of the boat capsizing, Mr. Liu turned to Xu Tong and said, "Sir, it's better to leave the remaining boxes at the ferry. When the next ferry returns to the ferry, the students will take the remaining boxes with them. Go to the other side of the river.”
"Didn't you understand what I said? Put them all on the boat, and I will transport them to the other side of the river myself." Xu Tong said in a bad tone.
The wooden box is full of gold and silver. How can he safely hand it over to others, not even his own staff? He can only feel safe if it is kept by his side.
Mr. Liu saw that Xu Tong must take those boxes with him, so he had no choice but to look at the boatman again and said: "Boatman, if you think this will work, just bring more of the boxes on the ferry."
"Must I bring it?" the boatman asked with a frown.
Mr. Liu nodded.
The boatman added: "You can take them all with you, but you can't get on the boat. This way the boat will have a lighter draft."
"This..." Mr. Liu hesitated.
Xu Tong was a little worried when he was asked to cross the river alone with the boatman.
Thinking of this, he said again: "Boatman, what do you think of me crossing the river with my family?"
The boatman looked Mr. Liu up and down, then shook his head and said, "No, there are so many heavy and heavy boxes on the boat, and the draft is already very deep, so I can only take one person across the river."
Mr. Liu looked at Xu Tong and said, "Sir, with so much luggage, the boatman only takes one person across the river."
Xu Tong turned his head and looked across the river.
Thinking that the ferry under him had made several trips back and forth between the two banks, and that there would be no problem, he said, "Get off the boat and I will cross the river alone."
Mr. Liu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Students will go back to the ferry first and arrange for people to carry the remaining boxes onto the boat."
"Go." Xu Tong said.
Mr. Liu stepped on the bow of the boat, jumped onto the ferry, and arranged for the servants on the ferry to carry the remaining wooden boxes onto the boat.
As soon as a few wooden boxes were put on the boat, the boat obviously sank, and the draft was quite deep.
"Sir, please take a seat, the common people are sailing the boat." As he said, the boatman propped up the ferry with a long pole and rowed the ferry to the other side of the river.
There were a lot of heavy wooden boxes loaded on the boat, and the boatman obviously used a lot of effort to push the boat. It was not until the ferry reached the deep water area that the boat was replaced with long poles and paddles.
Due to the heavy things on the boat, the ferry was not as fast as the previous times. In addition, the boatman went back and forth several times, so everyone was getting tired.
The water rushes down from the upstream and drives the ferry downstream. The boatman feels a lot more relaxed. He only needs to control the paddle to prevent the ferry from losing its direction.
Soon, the ferry arrived in the middle of the river.
The boatman took two steps to one side and stepped on a raised plank on the boat.
At this time, a click was heard, and a fist-sized hole leaked out of a plank under the ship's hull where the wooden plank was connected, and the river water poured in through the hole.
Xu Tong, who had his back to the boatman, frowned when he heard the noise and turned back to look at the boatman.
Unexpectedly, he happened to see river water pouring in not far from the boatman's feet.
"The boat leaked!" Xu Tong's expression changed drastically.
The boatman looked down at the leaking boat planks and exclaimed: "My boat, my boat."
As he spoke, he dropped the oar in his hand and jumped onto the leaky boat deck, trying to plug the hole in the boat deck with his hands.
Unfortunately, it was not possible for the boatman to plug such a big hole with his hands. Instead, cracks began to appear on the ship's board, and several surrounding ship boards seemed to be washed away by the force of the water.
There was no boatman to control the direction by rowing the oars, and the ferry went downstream with the current.
Mr. Liu, who was standing on the ferry and had been paying attention to the ferry, saw that the boatman had lost his oar. He immediately knew something was wrong and shouted loudly: "Quick, catch up with that ferry."
Following his shout, the servants on the ferry hurriedly ran downstream along the river bank.
