lethal arsenal

Chapter 158 The Legend of Tu Jiang
The swordsman walked away with his sword in his hand, Lin Dong and the others were not idle, they ate two bowls of Longxu noodles neatly and were about to leave.

Before leaving, Lin Dong left behind a piece of silver that weighed half a tael, which can be regarded as respect for the boss's cooking skills, and it can be said to be extremely generous.But he didn't notice that when the Holy Mother of Splitting the Mountain got up, she exchanged a rather secret look with Old Liu Tou.

"Don't be impatient."

This is what the Virgin Mary of Splitting the Mountain conveys.

Old Liu nodded lightly, buried his head, and cleaned up the soup on the table.

After rushing out to stand for a mile, I really saw the Lord.

Hengzhou on the river bank.

An old man wearing a black hat, squatting lonely, with a blurred back, was eating dry tobacco and puffing out clouds.

"Old man, the boat is leaving."

Lin Dong raised his mouth, and spoke quite politely.

Suddenly, the old man in the black hat turned his head.

It was a weather-beaten face that can only be sculpted by time, "Where are you going?" The old man stood up slowly, his body slightly hunched, and he held the cigarette rod in his hand.

"Near Jiangning Mansion, Longma Station."

Lin Dong reported the destination.

The old man squinted his eyes, wondering if it was smoked by the smoke from the pipe, "One, two, three..." He counted carefully, with the beard on his lips fluttering, and said in a hoarse voice: "One piece for one person." Gold, five of you, that’s six taels of gold per catty.”

There was a slight pause in the voice, and he seemed to think that the price was unreasonable. The old man added another sentence: "This old boat of mine can only carry three people at most, and it takes two trips. money."

Lin Dong laughed straight after hearing this.

Sixty-two five dollars a catty, is it bloody gold?

Counting it down, a person's three, two, three dollars of gold?
Crazy?this old man.

A high-quality war horse can buy a small team, and an ordinary family can use it for a generation.

Not to mention taking a boat at this price, if there are rockets in this era, it is enough to take a rocket.

Previously, when he was the boss in Luzhou Mansion, Ma Xinyi was too busy for a few days, so he asked Lin Dong to help him sort out the discounts on money and food. He is a college student anyway, so such a small matter would not bother him.

It was also at that time that Lin Dong had a thorough understanding of the objects of this era.

During the reign of Emperor Daoguang of the Qing court, when the harvest was excellent in one year, the court could theoretically have an income of 700 million taels of silver (expenditures, losses not counted), which is almost 170 million according to the exchange rate of [-]:[-] of gold and silver. Two gold.

However, in fact, the price of gold and silver circulating in the market far exceeds this exchange rate.

Today, when horse prices, food prices, and silver prices are all rising, one tael of gold can almost be replaced by fifteen to seventeen taels of silver.

It's not that the price of silver is cheap, but that the copper coins in the hands of ordinary people are no longer valuable.

More than half a year ago, when Lin Dong first arrived, he could usually exchange two hundred coins for one tael of silver.

Now - the price of silver in Suzhou Prefecture, one tael of silver can be exchanged for more than 700 Wen.

In a fertile land, the price of silver has soared to this point.

In other places, it is conceivable that the prices should be distorted to such an outrageous degree.

however……

This little old man in a black hat can only open his mouth and shut his mouth like a catty of gold. The God of Wealth's heart aches when he hears this, let alone Lin Dong.

Before, the noodle shop said that the boatman was greedy for money, and Lin Dong had a new understanding of this "some".

As soon as Lu Xiaoxiao heard that the old man was greedy, she immediately sneered: "Is your boat made of gold or silver? I see it's shabby, but it's not worth the price."

Her words were sharp, and she touched Lin Dong's heart.

"You don't need to sit on the old man's boat, you won't cross poor ghosts."

The old man took a sip of the dry cigarette and said without raising his head.

"you……"

Lu Xiaoxiao was angry.

Zheng Dongshan held the knife in one hand and could draw it out at any time.

Lu Ping on the side grabbed Lu Xiaoxiao's hand and shook his head slightly, which meant to warn her not to speak rudely.

In this world, those who are capable and capable often have an unruly personality.

The more capable a person is, the more eccentric their real personality will be. This phenomenon is actually normal.

Those elegant and easy-going big figures are either disguises given to the public, or descriptions that only exist in books.

If a person can easily control the life and death of others, if he is expected to be kind to the weak, the weak, is it his father, mother and father?

Would a normal person salute an ant?
Those who climb the heights must be arrogant, this is the norm.

Because this is human nature.

It's normal for capable people to have some eccentricities. Lu Ping thought that since the little old man dared to boast about Haikou and lived a good life, it must mean that he must be capable. He was beaten to death by the quacks a long time ago.

How many good tempers can a gangster have?

"Old man, please tell me, what is so special about this boat? So that Xiaosheng and others can learn more about it?"

Lu Ping stepped forward and cupped his hands slightly, and asked quite politely.

"It's still you, girl, who can listen to you when you speak..."

Obviously changing his disguise, this old man actually saw through the disguise of Lin Dong and others at a glance.

Lin Dong's eyes scanned the old man repeatedly, and there was nothing surprising. Then he took a closer look at the pipe stem. The middle section is a wooden tobacco stem, which is delicate, and the texture on the wood is evenly distributed.

The tobacco bowl at the front of the pipe is glowing with a cold and hard metal color, and the mouth of the pipe is a touch of cold jade. If you look at it a little more, it is indeed very gorgeous.

I heard the old man say calmly: "My boat is nothing special. Just now the little girl said that it is broken and has nothing wrong with it. It has been driving in rivers, lakes and seas for nearly twenty years. Can the old thing of Master Daoguang not be broken?" ?but……"

The topic changed suddenly, but when it comes to the topic, the essence lies in this turning point.

"Do you know why this branch of the Yangtze River that emerges from Jiangning Mansion is also called Tujiang?"

The little old man asked.

Lin Dong had no choice but to answer, "Don't be a fool."

"Hmph, the so-called Tu River is the wife of Dayu who never entered the house three times to control the water. She watched over her husband's wife day and night. This section of the tributary was named after her surname Tu Shan."

"It is rumored that after the Tu Shan family waited for Dayu to turn into a husband-seeking stone, the emperor Yu sank the jewels on board into the Tu River, which is famous all over the world after his wife's surname."

"For thousands of years, people have searched for treasures in the river. Some people saw the Dragon King from the bottom of the river, some saw the stone chamber at the bottom of the river, and some people pulled out a box of gold, silver and jewelry. Until the last 30 years... There was a man named Xu The merchants formed a fleet to explore the Tujiang River, and all of them were wiped out, which dispelled the delusions of many people."

"Because too many people died, the local government issued a ban prohibiting entry into the river, and offenders were fined with silver, which gradually calmed down Tujiang. What I will do, old man, is to drive you across Tujiang, Straight to the Dragon Horse Station that this little brother said."

"Now, do you all feel that it is worth buying gold for three, two or three dollars for one person?"

The old man took out the dry pipe from his mouth, turned his head to the place where there was no one, and said with a long puff of smoke.

The smoke from the mouth, like an arrow, condenses and does not disperse.

"Uh, may I ask your surname, old man?"

Lin Dong glanced at the air mass in the air, cupped his hands and said politely.

Breathing out, at least the ability of Dan Jin masters, thrown into the Linhuai army, before Lin Dong went, he was Yuan Sanjia's most capable horse boy.

In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the military generals who can rank first among the kings.

Putting it into folk martial arts, that is the master who established the sect.

This master is not a big white radish, once a crop is pulled out, there is often a generation with a lot of strength and strength, and the supreme state of martial arts is normally speaking. one.

There are two, that is, there are two days in the sky, and the country will not be the country. For example, the Qing court at this time is on the verge of collapse.

Lin Dong wanted to ask the old man something, so he kept his posture low.

The old man stared intently at Lin Dong for a while, and then he spoke after a while: "Don't dare to be called a general like that, just call me, Yin Laojiu."

"Okay, then I'll call you Mr. Yin, as for this heavy gold..."

Lin Dong was halfway through his speech, and was about to give it a try, when he heard Yin Laojiu's hoarse voice, hesitatingly said: "General, I like your smell very much, if you are willing to hold the old man's boat for three days, the boat fee will not be charged." Whatever."

"Good guy, you actually got my idea?"

Lin Dong frowned.

He chuckled twice, "That's not the right one. Mr. Yin can't catch me. We can afford the gold, but I just want Mr. to wait for us for a while, because the boat will be divided into two batches. I have something to say. , to explain to your partners.”

Lin Dong called Zheng Dongshan aside.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me about the Twelve Earthly Branches, especially some details, think about it carefully?"

Zheng Dongshan had shared some information with Lin Dong in Yizhuang about the information on the [-] Earthly Branches under Li Xiucheng, the local officer of the Tianping Army.

The reason why I asked him to say it again now is to verify the information to see if there are any gaps and fill in the gaps. Is there any discrepancy between the two replies?
If the difference is large, it shows that Zheng Dongshan's loyalty is worth considering.

The second reason is that if the ship can only carry three people, two must be left behind.

The boatman said that he would carry them directly to the Longma Station... Maybe, after getting off the boat, it is possible to meet the Shenzi troops face to face. The more detailed information you know, the less likely it is that you will be exposed when you meet.

"Yes."

Zheng Dongshan responded, with a thoughtful expression on his face, and blah blah blah blah blah blah.

……

"Sit tight and let's go."

Yin Laojiu uttered a long and energetic yell, and the layers of water vapor above the river were blown away by this yell.

Lin Dong, Lu Xiaoxiao, and the Holy Mother of Splitting Mountain were the first group. The old man will come back later to pick up Lu Ping and Zheng Dongshan.

Lu Xiaoxiao is a saint, so she must be put first. She is relatively ignorant, unlike Lu Ping, who is calm and sensible. Lin Dong didn't want Li Daitao's stiff mission to be completed, but the escort mission ended in failure. .

As for the second passenger, why not release Lu Ping but the Virgin of Split Mountain? The main reason is that she is worried about this girl.

Although the Holy Mother of Split Mountain and the Lu sisters cast evil curses on each other.

But fundamentally, Lin Dong couldn't trust her.

Along the way, the Virgin of Splitting the Mountain looked like a gourd with a saw-mouthed mouth, maybe she was hiding some thoughts, just like this river, it looked clear, who knew what was hidden under the water?
(End of this chapter)