Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 603
It took Zhang Jianxiu nearly half an hour to explain the Huya Shanshui Bandit's matter clearly. It is not easy to elaborate on his historical narration here, so I have to briefly explain it.

Different from the wide and gentle middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River is especially steep in the Chuanjiang and Jingjiang stages. Therefore, boats in the Three Gorges have two completely different feelings since ancient times.

One is the pleasure of going straight down.It is "Among the colorful clouds of Chaoci Baidi, a thousand miles of Jiangling will return in one day. The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the light boat has passed ten thousand mountains"; free will.

The other is just the opposite. One can imagine, since the downstream is so fast, how fast the water should be?Under such water speed, paddling is purely a dream. It is one step forward and three steps backward, and the boats can only be pulled by the trackers on both sides of the strait.

However, the terrain on both sides of the Three Gorges is changeable, and trackers can get off the boat to pull the fibers in the section of the tidal flat, but there are many sections of the river with steep cliffs on both sides, so they can only use other methods.For example, many strong long poles will be prepared on the boat, with iron hooks at one end, and the hooked long poles of the trackers on the boat will be hooked on the rock cracks of the cliff and pulled forward with difficulty.

If the wind is favorable, you can still spread the sails to borrow some wind power, but if the wind is not favorable, you will be completely slow. (According to the data, it is not possible to sail against the current in the ancient Three Gorges with the wind alone.)
Therefore, since ancient times, the waterway from the river to the river in one day, if it is changed to the waterway from the river to the river, it may not be reached in ten days.

As a result, there are a large number of trackers around this section of the Yangtze River. These trackers make a living by pulling fiber, which is not only extremely difficult, but also very dangerous. If they are not careful, they may fall into the water. The water flow is not only fast, but also eddies and undercurrents are everywhere. No matter how good the water quality is, there is no guarantee that you will survive falling into the water.

"Thousands of miles of the Yangtze River, the danger lies in the Jingjiang River", these are the situations mentioned.

The difficult living environment is always the best way to exercise human cooperation ability. The trackers on both sides of the Three Gorges of the Ming Dynasty gradually formed some kind of organization spontaneously, which was later called the Tracker Gang, also known as the Tracker Gang.

In the 39th year of Jiajing, exactly 20 years ago, a catastrophic flood occurred in the Yangtze River Basin (historical facts, recorded in Shizong's memoirs). The Chuanjiang, Hanjiang, and Jiujiang rivers rose at the same time. There was no one out of ten, and the disaster-affected area covered Jingzhou, Chengtian, Hanyang, Changde, Yuezhou and other prefectures in the Lianghu Plain.

Since then, the two lakes and plains have seen floods in Sichuan and Han at the same time in summer and autumn, and there has been no peaceful day.The tens of thousands of taels of silver used to build dikes every year are paid for by running water, and the people in this area began to fall into the endless labor of building dikes to fight floods, but they still inevitably suffered from drifting and drowning.

Life for the trackers just got tougher.As a result, the fiber gang, which originally existed only for the convenience of everyone to pick up business together and unify pricing, split.

Some people usually show themselves as trackers, but in the days when there is no business, or even if there is work, they can't support the whole family, they start to rob houses and houses on both sides of the strait.

The group of trackers is originally composed of people who can bear hardships and stand hard work. There are a lot of strong people, and they are extremely organized and extremely cooperative. Comparable?
As a result, needless to say, the local government and guards sent troops to wipe them out. If there were fewer troops, they would deliver food. If there were more troops, the family would have been broken into pieces, and no real master could be found.However, it is impossible to kill all the trackers. Otherwise, wouldn't this main channel be abolished?

Therefore, for nearly 20 years, the Huyashanshui bandits split from the Xian Gang have become more and more powerful, but they are unable to suppress them, and the local government is helpless.

Recently, it was the autumn flood season, and the trackers were also in the off-season of business. Naturally, the Huyashanshui bandits started to mobilize again, looting everywhere, and Zhang Jianxiu's warning came from this.

However, Zhang Jianxiu also said that he has no idea how many Huyashanshui bandits are. These people are not simple bandits. They are usually the worst survivors on both sides of the river haha. Maybe there are only two to 3000 of them in total. Maybe there are 3 or [-] people... There are more than [-] trackers on both sides of the Yangtze River for food!

After listening to Gao Wushi, there is nothing wrong with it. This kind of thing can't be solved even if his family has millions of dollars, unless he orders all the mine guards and factory guards in Henan to be called in, gather two to three thousand people and go directly along the river by land. Only by entering Sichuan at the speed of a tortoise can we guarantee absolute safety - after all, the Xianbang is just asking for money, and if two or three thousand armed servants don't bring a lot of money, they will definitely not mess with it.

But how is this possible?Not to mention time-consuming and laborious, tofu has risen to the price of meat.

Gao Wushi smiled wryly and said, "So, we really have to make a detour?"

Liu Xin frowned and asked, "Since they're just asking for money, and I brought two hundred family members along the way, I shouldn't be targeted by them, right?"

Zhang Jianxiu thought for a while, and said: "During the autumn flood season, sailing against the current is more difficult than usual. Large boats are not allowed, and at most only medium-sized boats can be used. Miss Liu has two hundred family members, so at least three boats are needed... If you hire trackers, you will need more than 100 people, and you can even hire 200 people to be safe."

Gao Wushi and Liu Xin looked at each other, but they didn't understand what Zhang Jianxiu meant.

Zhang Jianxiu also saw their doubts and explained: "Two hundred trackers are not too much for the Xian Gang, but it is also a big deal. In fact, the Xian Gang is usually honest, only when there is no way out. You will take the risk. If Ms. Liu is willing to hire so many trackers, the Xianbang might be willing to give you a rope of contempt—this is the symbol of the Xianbang, and if you hang the rope of scorn, you will not be attacked by Huya Shanshui bandits."

Now Gao Wushi understood, and slapped his thigh: "Brother Zhang said so long ago, isn't it all over? Isn't it a matter of money? How do you buy this rope? How big of a deal are they willing to hang on? "

Zhang Jianxiu shook his head in embarrassment and said, "Well, I don't know too much about the specific brothers. I have to go to Jingnan Water Station to ask."

"Jingnan Water Station?" Gao Wushi was slightly taken aback: "Isn't this the official post of the imperial court?"

Zhang Jianxiu nodded and said: "That's right, it's the official station of the imperial court. If you start from Jingzhou and enter Sichuan, if you only count the waterway from Jingzhou to Kuizhou, you have to start from Jingnan Water Station and pass through Liudian Water Station in Zhijiang County. Fenglou Water Station and Huangniu Water Station in Lingzhou, Jianping Water Station in Guizhou, Bashan Water Station in Badong County, and then Yongning Water Station in Kuizhou."

"The trackers of these towing gangs all pick up jobs near these water stations, and the trackers will not travel thousands of miles. They are all a section of a water post, and each section of the road is calculated separately, so if you want to ask the price, You have to go to the water post."

Now Gao Pragmatism understands that the boat trackers sailing against the current in the Three Gorges is also a relay race, otherwise the labor intensity is too high, and they must die of exhaustion on the way.However, is Shuiyi really just a gathering place for trackers?I'm afraid not.

Gao Pragmatically estimates that these water stations must have something to do with the Xianbang, and it is likely to benefit allies.

But he doesn't plan to take care of this matter, otherwise Huguang officials will definitely regard him as a bandit.

Under Gao Wushi's insistence, Zhang Jianxiu personally led Gao Wushi, Liu Xin and others to Jingnan Water Station to discuss matters. At this time, Gao Wushi discovered that the Jingzhou Zhang's family still had a deep foundation in Jingzhou.

When Zhang Juzheng fell from power, he was "removed from his job and concurrently with various positions, and returned to his hometown to live idle, and was not allowed to stay". That period of time must have been the most vulnerable period for the Zhang family in Jingzhou.

However, because Gao Wushi sent his servants to escort Zhang Juzheng back to his hometown, this move misunderstood many speculators, thinking that Zhang Juzheng's downfall had nothing to do with Gao Gong, and Gao Gong might even be nostalgic.So the Zhang family did not suffer too much suppression.

Later, the three sons of the Zhang family won the Jinshi or the same Jinshi one after another, and the status of the Zhang family was established again. To a certain extent, it is better than in the original history that "its prosperity is booming, and its death is sudden". .

Yicheng and others from the Jingnan Water Station were surprised when they heard that the fourth master of the Zhang family had come in person, and hurried out to greet them. When they heard that there was also a Guangxi inspector coming with them, they rushed to the water station all over the place. Come out to meet.

When Gao Wushi came to the water post to have a look, he realized that the water post in the south is really not comparable to the water post in the north.

This Jingnan water station is not in the city, but outside the southeast of Jingzhou City, only about five or six miles away from the city.It is said that the water post, in fact, not only has a large yard like a horse post, which can accommodate four to five hundred people (not counting officials but servants), but also a rather large wharf—it can even be regarded as a river port.

Jingnan Water Station is located in Jingzhou, which is the main road of the Yangtze River waterway. As a rule, it should be equipped with "Ship 30". There are six large inland river boats. As for the small boats, Gao Pragmatically doesn't bother to count them. Anyway, there are at least dozens of them.

The horse stations in Daming had been short of horses for many years. After the tribute was awarded by Alda, the Jinghua Chamber of Commerce purchased a large number of horses from the right-wing Mongolia, which gradually allowed the number of horses in the northern station to reach the original amount. What I thought of was that the horse post was short of horses, but the water post had no shortage of boats at all, and the boats in the Jingnan water post even exceeded the standard!

Gao Yushi was amazed, why?
The question didn't last long before it was answered, because after hearing Zhang Jianxiu's explanation of Gao Yushi, Liu Xin's and others' intentions, the Yi Cheng actually patted his chest and made a guarantee: "As long as the price is agreed and the rope is hung up, the Three Gorges will be free." It’s dangerous!” Then he introduced his prices with a smile, including boats, trackers, safety guarantees, food supplies for the journey, etc., all of which have different standards and different prices, and even said that entertainment activities can also be included—listening to music Whether it's watching a play or a kiln sister, everything that should be there is everything, even Master Rabbit and Mrs. They can provide it!

Gao Wushi was stunned when he heard that, but Liu Xin spat secretly and went out with an excuse.

Only Zhang Jianxiu took it for granted, waved his hands and said: "Don't talk nonsense, Gao Zhizhi didn't want to enter Sichuan, but that Miss Liu who wanted to enter Sichuan just now. Miss Liu's identity is not simple. Weiming Liu Zongrong is her father... Have you seen the two hundred family members outside? That is the strongest "Jingwoyi Ding" under Liu Zongrong's command. Don't say I didn't tell you clearly, if there are Huyashan If a person makes a wrong decision, I’m afraid he won’t even know how he died.”

Although the Yi Cheng was taken aback, his face remained unchanged, and he said repeatedly: "Master Zhang Si, look at what you said, don't you know what kind of person the young one is? He is just an honest little businessman, How can you be distracted? Don't worry about the matter of scorning the rope. A person like Ms. Liu is such a big deal... How about this, from Jingnan Water Station to Kuizhou, the whole line will help you three all Let’s talk about it, a total of 1000 two hundred taels, what do you think?”

Gao Wushi almost had no concept of money below [-] taels, and his face remained unchanged when he heard the words, but Zhang Jianxiu's face turned dark, and he cursed: "Open your dog eyes and see clearly, your fourth master is not from Jingzhou, how dare you?" Such a slaughter!"

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(End of this chapter)