At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 721
Gao Bufan rested on the wooden squall for a while, his physical strength was almost recovered, and he plunged into the water again. After seven or eight times, he salvaged a lot of things, all of which were of high value, such as cloth and silk, etc. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was hard currency, which could be used to buy things.

When Gao Bufan got out of the water for the eighth time, he was holding a black pottery urn in his arms, which looked quite heavy. When Ah Qing and Ah Mi brothers and sisters saw each other, they immediately looked at each other in surprise. The former blurted out: "This is us. The money urn, you actually let Brother Gao pick it up."

Gao Bufan handed the heavy black pottery urn to A Qing, and said with a smile: "You're lucky, take it, don't lose your wife again."

Ah Qing grinned in embarrassment, Ah Mi opened the cork of the pottery urn, and saw that it was full of copper coins, a few pieces of silver and a handful of pearl hairpins, which was specially given by my elder brother in Jiangling. My future sister-in-law bought it. Fortunately, the cork is tightly packed. If I pour it all out, I'm afraid I won't be able to get it back.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao, for getting back the hard-earned money. We spent half a year digging out the medicinal materials, and then transported them to Jiangling to sell them." Auntie said gratefully from the bottom of her heart.

Gao Bufan smiled slightly: "Miss Ami, you are welcome, now please drive the raft back to the shore." After speaking, he got on the raft.

Only then did the Aqing brothers and sisters realize that Gao Bufan was still holding a hemp rope in his hand, which should be the cable untied from the sunken ship.Gao Bufan tied the cable to the raft, waved his hand and said, "You can start paddling."

Brother and sister Ah Qing hurriedly paddled the raft with all their strength, and the cable gradually became tense, so that the wooden squall completely sank into the water.Ah Qing couldn't help muttering: "What is so heavy? Brother Gao didn't mean to salvage it with the entire bow of the shipwreck, did he? How can our broken wooden raft bear it!"

Auntie shook her head and said, "It should be porcelain or cloth from Zhong Laoliu's boat!"

Gao Bufan showed a hint of appreciation in his eyes and said: "Miss Auntie is really smart. Zhong Laoliu has a lot of cloth on the boat, which is too heavy when it gets wet. It is too tiring and time-consuming for me to carry it by myself. It just so happens that you have a fishing net on the boat. I packed them with fishing nets, and then tied them with cables, which would save a lot of effort.”

Ah Qing couldn't help but gave a thumbs up and said: "Good idea, but it's still too heavy, our raft is too small to drag it!"

Gao Bufan jumped into the water, and after losing one person's weight, the raft obviously floated up a bit.

"Try again." Gao Bufan ordered, Sister Aqing hurriedly paddled the raft again, and Gao Bufan was also holding the cable in the water to help exert force. Finally, the originally tight cable suddenly became loose. Obviously, the underwater fishing net has been dragged away from the bottom of the river, and under the force of buoyancy, it is naturally much easier.

The three of them worked together and finally rowed the raft back to the shore. Zhong Laoliu and the boatmen immediately helped to pull the cable without asking. Soon, a heavy wet cloth of a fishing net was pulled ashore.

Zhong Laoliu and all the boatmen were so excited that they danced with tears in their eyes. Although the cloth was wet and its value was discounted, it could still be sold after drying, at least it could earn back the cost.

Everyone hurriedly untied the fishing net, and found that a small amount of intact porcelain was wrapped in the cloth.

Gao Bufan said regretfully: "Porcelain is fragile. The cargo ship was hit by a stone directly. Most of the porcelain on board has been damaged, and only these are left."

Zhong Laoliu was so moved that his eyes were red, and he quickly said: "If it is broken, it will be broken. I am satisfied if I can restore these things. Thank you, Mr. Gao, for your kindness and virtue. Zhong Laoliu will never forget it forever! "

After Zhong Laoliu finished speaking, he fell to his knees and wanted to kowtow to Gao Bufan, and the dozen or so boatmen also knelt and kowtowed to express their gratitude.

Gao Bufan quickly helped Zhong Laoliu up, and said: "Everyone, get up quickly, a man has gold under his knees, how can he kneel down casually."

Zhong Laoliu knelt down again stubbornly, and said solemnly: "Gao Gongzi not only saved our lives, but now he helped us pick up the goods and recovered part of the losses. With these goods, as long as we sell them in the city, we will buy them for you." I have the travel expenses to go home, so I don’t have to do odd jobs here anymore, Mr. Gao has treated me like a kind person, we should kowtow to you.”

Gao Bufan was not supercilious, so he couldn't stop him, so he could only smile wryly and accept the thanks of the boatmen.

Although Gao Bufan picked up less than one-third of the goods, it rekindled hope for Zhong Laoliu and the others. Everyone had light in their eyes. They wrung out the cloth diligently and dried it on the spot. It was impossible to leave, so Gao Bufan and others bid farewell to Zhong Laoliu, and left first with the Miao brothers and sisters.

This place belongs to Badong County, and the county seat of Badong County is the current Fengjie area, which is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Gao Bufan and the Miao family brothers and sisters crossed the Yangtze River and came to Padang County City. They planned to rest here for one night and leave for the Miao Village in Linjiang County early tomorrow morning. When they arrived outside the Padong County City, they found that the city wall It actually collapsed, the city was full of desolation, countless houses collapsed, heart-piercing cries kept coming and going, this scene really made those who heard it sad and those who saw it shed tears.

Gao Bufan sighed secretly, the earthquake should be above magnitude [-] or [-], and Badong County City is near the epicenter, so there may be many casualties.Yang Qingruo frowned and said sadly: "During the reign of Emperor Kaihuang, there was also a big earthquake near the capital, which collapsed tens of thousands of houses and killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people. It took several years for people's livelihood to recover. Such a natural disaster cannot be resisted by manpower!"

Aqing curled his lips and said: "You Han people like to live in the city. They build houses with bricks and stones. Although they are comfortable and safe, once the earth dragon turns over and the house collapses, there will be heavy casualties. Our Miao Village is better. Our bamboo buildings and huts Even if it collapses, it seldom kills people.”

Yang Qingruo said calmly: "Natural disasters like earthquakes are just accidental. They only happen once every few years or even decades. How can you give up eating because of swallowing? It's normal for you Miao people to live in the mountains and live in bamboo huts."

Ah Qing was still thinking about the meaning of "wasting food and drinking blood because of swallowing", Ah Mi was already unhappy: "Gao Erlang, do you look down on us Miao people?"

Only then did Ah Qing react, and said angrily: "Gao Erlang, do you mean that our Miao people are not civilized yet?"

Yang Qingruo said calmly: "You said it yourself."

Gao Bufan couldn't help feeling overwhelmed, and was about to smooth things over, when he suddenly saw a group of people coming out of the city, many of them were still wearing official uniforms of the Sui Dynasty, they should be local officials.

"Get out of the way, everyone out of the way, the sheriff is out of the city!" The officers, soldiers and yamen servants held weapons and yelled loudly to drive the pedestrians on the road to both sides.

Everyone had to dodge to the side of the road. At this time, the team of magistrates was getting closer and closer, and passed in front of everyone. The leader was about 50 years old, of medium build, with long beards under his jaw, and wearing crimson prefects. Clothes.

Gao Bufan's heart moved, and he thought to himself, this person should be Xu Zhi, the prefect of Badong County, and this person is still wearing the official uniform of the Sui Dynasty. From this, it can be seen that the Tang army has not taken Badong County yet.

Yang Qingruo and Gao Bufan looked at each other in surprise, obviously thinking of going together. Xu Zhi was wearing an official uniform of the Sui Dynasty, which showed that this person still regarded himself as an official of the Sui Dynasty. Maybe he could try to recruit him. After all, Gao Qi still respects Yang Tong, the clan of the Sui Dynasty. As the emperor, if Xu Zhi was loyal to the Sui Dynasty, he should agree.

However, before Gao Bufan and Yang Qingruo were happy for too long, they saw a group of troops approaching from a distance from the official road, their banners were unfurled, their military appearance was in good order, and a yellowish yellow banner was unfurled in the wind, with the word "Tang" embroidered on it.

Obviously, this is a Tang army, and Xu Zhi, governor of Badong County, came out of the city in person, probably to meet this Tang army.

In an instant, Gao Bufan and Yang Qingruo seemed to be drenched with a bucket of cold water, and the latter said coldly with a sullen face, "You are a traitor!"

A concubine glanced thoughtfully at Yang Qingruo and Gao Bufan when she heard the words.

At this time, the Tang army was getting closer and closer. When Gao Bufan saw the majestic Tang general on his horse, he couldn't help but secretly called out that the enemy's road was narrow, and Yang Qingruo was also slightly stunned, because the Tang general who was about to arrive was not someone else. One, it is Li Tang's clan famous general - Li Xiaogong.

Li Xiaogong didn't notice Gao Bufan in the crowd, he got off his horse several meters away, and quickly walked up to Xu Zhi, governor of Badong County, and others, while saluting with fists in his hands, "It's so hard that Governor Xu and your lords go out of the city to meet them." , Xiao Gong is ashamed and dare not accept it, it's a sin, a sin!"

Li Xiaogong looks good, has a refined temperament, and is extremely skilled in dealing with people, and his size is just right, making people feel like a spring breeze.

Gao Bufan secretly sighed, Li Tang has a lot of talents, this Li Xiaogong is one of the best, and now he has the upper hand, Badong County is already in his pocket.

"Let's go!" Gao Bufan whispered, turned around and walked away after speaking, Yang Qingruo, Gao Dahe and others quickly followed.

Although Li Tang signed a peace treaty with Gao Qi, this thing is unreliable. Now that there are so many soldiers in Tang Dynasty, it is better to avoid it, lest King Qi be recognized by Li Xiaogong and cause unnecessary trouble.Li Xiaogong is not of the easy-going generation, maybe he will break the contract and kill him, then King Qi will be in danger, after all two fists are hard to beat with four hands.

"Brother Gao, aren't you going into the city?" Ah Qing chased after him and asked.

Gao Bufan shook his head and said: "The city is ruined like this, why go in there, if you want to eat or not, if you want to live or not, it's better to sleep in the wild."

Ah Qing nodded and said, "That's true!"

So everyone left without making a sound, Li Xiaogong was suddenly blessed, and looked up at the back of Gao Bufan walking away, a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Xu Zhi, governor of Badong County, wondered, "Could it be that Prince Li knows that person?"

Li Xiaogong shook his head and said with a smile: "The back looks a bit similar, that person is unlikely to appear here."

Xu Zhi didn't ask any more questions after hearing the words, and said gratefully: "This time the county was severely affected by the disaster, and Jun Wang Li came to help this time, which is really a great help. I thank Jun Wang Li for his help on behalf of the people of Badong."

(End of this chapter)