Xiao Dayouwei said: "But there are no official roads along the canal. The rainy season is coming soon. The dirt road is difficult to travel. It is more comfortable to take a boat."
Jiang Shuo said: "I am also a hard-luck person. How can I sit on the boat with peace of mind when I see the big brothers working so hard to pull the string? Moreover, if it rains and the mud road is difficult to walk, wouldn't it be even harder for the big brothers to pull the string?"
Xu Lai said: "The boat is heavy, even as heavy as a few of us."
Jiang Shuo said: "Even so, I really can't bear it..."
Xie Yanchang sighed: "Young master is kind-hearted and I admire him for it, but there are no horses to get off the boat here. It is better to take a boat to Sizhou City in front and buy horses before taking the land route."
Jiang Shuo said, "Then I'll get off the boat and walk first."
Dugu Xiang said with a smile, "You really want to take the land route, but you don't have to worry about not having a horse. I'm riding an old horse."
Jiang Shuo asked curiously: "Xiang'er, you are only in the boat, but where is the old horse?"
Duguxiang slapped her head and said, "Ah! I forgot about it on the lake weir!" As she said that, she jumped from the boat to the shore and ran back as fast as she could fly.
The ship was at least two feet away from the shore. She jumped ashore lightly. No one in the Cao Gang recognized Dugu Xiang except Hun Weiming. When they saw her for the first time, she was a young girl with just hair. Although she was pretty and charming, no one recognized her. I thought he was satisfied, but he didn't expect that her skills were so good, and he immediately lost his contempt for her.
Seeing Xiang'er running away, Jiang Shuo said to everyone, "Brothers, let's get off the boat and walk."
Everyone could only say hello and followed Jiang Shuo ashore. Xu Lai said to the trackers: "Young Master feels sorry for everyone and does not want to take the boat and go north by land. Everyone will rest here and wait for the canal to be connected." Then we will help the brothers from Jiangnan to transport grain to the north!"
All the trackers cheered loudly, but the cheers at this moment came from the heart, and were even more enthusiastic and loud than before.
After Jiang Shuo and the others disembarked from the boat and walked for a while, Dugu Xiang came back on his old horse. She rode on the horse and said, "Brother Shuo, get on the horse, let's ride together."
Jiang Shuo said: "Xian'er, you come down first. All the eldest brothers are walking. How can we, the two youngest, ride on a horse?"
Dugu Xiang pouted and said, "The mud is too dirty. It will stain my boots."
Jiang Shuo said, "What's the big deal if the boots are dirty? I'll clean them for you. They'll be better kept than new ones."
Dugu Xiang said: "Really or not? Do you know how to clean boots?"
Jiang Shuo said: "Why not? When I was a boy for Mr. Taibai, he would often get drunk. When he was drunk, he would step into the mud puddles and sleep in the mud, so I am very good at washing and cleaning boots." He then explained to Xiang'er in detail how to brush the boots, including how to brush the black boots, how to brush the thread boots, as well as the high-wall shoes and heavy platform shoes. He told Xiang'er in detail. Dugu Xiang was stunned when he heard that. De Ma Lai said: "There are so many things to pay attention to when cleaning your shoes?"
The heroes were all secretly amused, thinking: This young master always talks about being a servant for others, but they don't know that he now has hundreds of thousands of gang members, what kind of robes and boots do he need? If you want to coax a woman, what if you buy her a new pair every day? It's really funny that this little girl Xiang'er likes to listen to him talk about these trivial things.
However, Jiang Shuo sympathized with his brothers in the gang and treated them with courtesy, which he admired in his heart. You must know that whether it is the Cao Gang or the Jianghu League, the majority of the gang members are actually poor people. Having such a young master who thinks about the poor is really a blessing to everyone.
Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang were walking side by side, and then he remembered to ask her: "Xiang'er, you haven't told me how you came here."
Dugu Xiang then told Jiang Shuo that she had followed her parents and Li Tengkong's master and apprentice to Yuezhou Jianhu Taoist Monastery, but He Zhizhang had passed away at home in July last year. They wanted to return the old horse to He Zhizhang. He Fu, his son, He Fu said: "My father believed in Taoism all his life. In his later years, he even called himself a Taoist priest. He believed in fate the most. This old horse should have died when it fell into the water. I didn't want to follow him. Now I heard that he traveled south and north. I need this horse, but it is of no use to me, so I will give this old horse to Su."
So everyone took the horse back to Xixi Mountain Villa, thinking that Jiang Shuo would give the old horse to him when he returned to Jiangnan in the future. Li Tengkong and his disciples stayed in Xixi Mountain for three days before saying goodbye and returning to Maoshan. Xiang'er was depressed and panicked at home. , wanted to come to look for Jiang Shuo, but Ge Ruliang refused, so one day she stole the old horse and ran away at night.
This old horse was so fast that he traveled from Yuezhou to Jingkou in one night. However, Xiang'er was afraid of her coming, so he didn't dare to cross the river at Jingkou, so he took a detour to Dangtu to find a small ferry to cross the Yangtze River, and then circled back to Yangzhou. , Jiang Shuo and the others had already left, so she rode the old horse north along the Shanyangdubian road. The old horse's legs were as strong as gods. The distance from Yangzhou to Hongze was only more than 300 miles, and it took only one day to reach Hongze. They happened to see Jiang Shuo and the others at the lakeside changing from the painting boat to Xu Lai's boat. Xiang'er was just wondering how to find a reason to meet Jiang Shuo in detail, but something happened about Jiang Shuo's night exploration of the black boat.
After listening to Dugu Xiang's words, Jiang Shuo said: "Ah... Xiang'er, you escaped from home? Then how worried are you?"
Dugu Xiang said: "What are they worried about me for? In fact, I have long wanted to make a career in the world, but my mother has been in poor health. I want to stay with her at home. Now that she is well, I naturally want to gallop across the rivers and fight for justice. Let’s be a hero!” After saying that, she raised her head and waved her hand, looking down at the world.
It's a pity that she is short, and now she is standing on the dirt, without any aura of looking down on the world. Dugu Xiang was originally taller than Jiang Shuo two years ago, but in the past two years, Jiang Shuo's height has grown by leaps and bounds, and he is already half a head taller than Dugu Xiang. Seeing Dugu Xiang's appearance, he couldn't help but reach out and caress her head, and said: "Okay, okay, Dugu Nuxia..."
Duguxiang flicked his hand away and said: "I hate it, if you try anything again, be careful that this heroine wants to give you a taste of violence."
Jiang Shuo hurriedly put his hands in his sleeves and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare."
Dugu Xiang raised his head and said, "Isn't that enough..." A sudden shudder ran through the back of his head.
Jiang Shuo's move was the skill of Qiankun in his sleeves, and it was done very quickly. When Xiang'er looked back, he still had his hands folded in his sleeves, shook his head and said, "It's not me..."
Dugu Xiang said: "What's not you? I think it's you..." Then she jumped up and hit him on the head. How could Jiang Shuo be hit by her? He held his head with both hands and said: "I don't dare anymore, Xiang'er, please spare my life..." …”
Hun Weiming shouted half-jokingly from behind: "Xiang'er must not be rude to the young master."
The two children didn't listen to him. They started running on the road, fighting and fighting all the way. Dugu Xiang's boots made mud and water splash on the dirt road. How could he care about whether the boots were dirty or clean?
After chatting and laughing like this, we arrived at Sizhou City in a short time. The heroes bought horses here and rode north together. Fortunately, it was late Huangmei this year, and there was not much rain along the way. The distance from Sizhou to Bianzhou was eight hundred miles. The post horse could arrive in one day at the fastest, but the eight hundred miles plus was in urgent need of changing horses every thirty miles. Everyone did not change horses, so they could only travel two hundred miles a day, and they would arrive in less than five days.
This Bianzhou was Daliang, the capital of the Wei State during the Warring States Period. The Bianqu to the east outside Bianzhou City was the old Honggou Road in the Qin Dynasty. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Bianshui was dredged and expanded into Tongji Canal, so the boat people also called Tongji Canal Bianqu. Since the completion of the Grand Canal, Bianzhou has been at the center of communication between the north and the south. It connects fish merchants from Zhuojun in the north and transports transportation from Jiangdu in the south. It has developed rapidly and business has flourished. During the Kaiyuan Tianbao period, it became the most famous land and water metropolis at that time.
However, the Bianzhou city in front of Jiang Shuo at this moment was a vast country. Lu Yuxuan said to Jiang Shuo: "This Bianzhou is among the best in the world, with rivers to the north, Bianshui to the east, Luoyang to the west, and Jianghuai to the south. It is a very advantageous location. , however, Bianzhou is low-lying and has been flooded since ancient times. When the King of Qin destroyed Wei, Wang Ben dug a ditch to flood Daliang City. After this battle, the city walls of Daliang were completely destroyed. After that, the Qin and Han Dynasties built cities here again, but they also suffered from frequent floods. Since the Tang Dynasty, flooding in Bianshui River has been greatly reduced after dredging, but this year, river sand blocked the mouth of Bianshui River and flooded Bianzhou City again."
Jiang Shuo nodded and said: "It seems that the flood in Bianqu not only affects our Caobang, but also harms the people here."
Lu Yuxuan said: "Yes, so we must assist the court to dredge the river as soon as possible, which will be of great benefit to ourselves and the country."
Jiang Shuo nodded in agreement, and the group passed through Bianzhou City without stopping, and walked for another day to Heyin on the south bank of the river.
There is a lot of sediment in the river, and it looks yellow and turbid from a distance, so it is called the "Yellow River". As the sediment accumulates on the bottom of the river, the river bed continues to rise, and the dams on both sides of the river have been continuously raised in the past dynasties. Now it has become a hanging river - river water Several feet higher than both sides of the bank, Jiang Shuo followed the Caobang gang to the river bank. He was surprised to see the turbid waves of the river rolling and roaring eastward.
Jiang Shuo stood at the mouth of the river and looked towards the mouth of the Bianqu River. He saw an earthen dam that completely cut off the water of the river. At this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. The Caobang gang here helped everyone provide raincoats and rain gear. Jiang Shuo saw An old river worker wearing a black hat and raincoat came up to the embankment with a group of people. He hugged Lu Yuxuan and said, "Lu Lang, you are here. This flood is due to the efforts of you boatmen."
Lu Yuxuan hurriedly crossed his hands and said: "Xiangong Wei personally led the people to dredge the river, which is admirable. Today, it's not just me. This is Jiang Shuo, the young leader of my Cao Gang, whose name is traced back to him. He was also very anxious when he heard that the river was flooded, so he brought his thanks The three leaders, Xiao and Hun, will assist you in dredging the river." He then said to Jiang Shuo, "Young Master, this is the water and land transport envoy, Dr. Yinqing Guanglu, and Mr. Wei Jian, the constant servant of Zuo Sanqi."
Jiang Shuo was shocked when he heard that this old river worker with muddy legs was actually a high-ranking official of the third rank. He hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "Junior Jiang Shuo, pay your respects to Xianggong Wei."
Wei Jian snorted in his nose and said: "Lu Lang, I don't know what tricks you are playing. Just don't delay me in dredging the river. Don't think that the whole kid can be made a scapegoat by saying he is the leader of the canal gang. I I told the sage that the first month of dredging the Bian Canal is now ten days old. If it fails after the deadline, I will kill your head first and then go to Chang'an to plead guilty."
