The wind whistled through the hills by the river, whimpering and falling in the torrential rain, adding a bit of ghost to this uninhabited rainy night.

It had been raining for half an afternoon, and their ship had been parked here for several hours, and with the current momentum, they had to spend the night here today.

The shipowner, Jiang Lao Liu, motioned to the boatmen who kept scooping the water to take a break, and said in a deep voice: "I'll go and discuss it with the others, you guys look at it." ”

This ship, along with the other two, belonged to Jingtai Shipping Company, which belonged to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was the largest shipping company of the Great Merchant.

Jiang Lao Liu is one of the stewards of these three ships, specializing in running the entire section of the canal from the south to the north, and has been floating on the water for decades without doing anything, but he didn't expect to plant a big heel today.

Jingtai Boat Company belongs to the emperor's private property, because of the safety and speed of the famous, every time the boat is always some small business ships to go with it, but also to save the passing military town to be embarrassed, by the water bandits.

Jiang Lao Liu is an old senior in the shipping industry, and he is basically in a semi-retired state now. Usually bring newcomers, when there is nothing to do, take the bow of the boat to fish, drink tea, and when the people under him practice, he can also go home and tease his grandson.

The steward who walked together on weekdays respected him as an old man in the boat line, and he had to come to him to ask him for advice if he was uncertain, but not today, the other two boats were all ancestors.

Jiang Lao Liu jumped into the boat next to him in the rain, and there were already two people in the cabin waiting for him at this time.

Seeing Jiang Lao Liu, the young man who was sitting and drinking tea directly dropped the cup in his hand and said angrily: "What the hell are you doing?" What kind of weather is this, take us to sail! If something happens to you, your whole family's head won't be enough to compensate for a single hair of your master! ”

Jiang Laoliu stood with his hands tied and lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything, even if he didn't think so in his heart, he didn't dare to bring out a point on his face.

That's right, their whole family is indeed not as good as a single hair of the person in front of them, but no matter how expensive Jin Gui is, it is only Jin Gui's flesh and bones, and the others are not necessarily more than them.

Dashang believes in having many sons and many blessings, and the emperor likes to show his talent at the time, even after layers of palace fighting, each emperor can still leave a bunch of princes and grandchildren.

Anything too much, it's all trouble.

The same is true for the children of the royal family, who have been overcrowded for generations. Emperor Taizu listened to Master Duyi's construction at that time. The children of the royal family cannot indulge in comfort. All children of the royal family will be automatically demoted after three generations, and after five generations, they will be no different from ordinary people. This ancestral precept is still aimed at those who are qualified to inherit the title, and those concubines have nothing but a little family property.

Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs gives subsidies to the children of the royal family every year, it can't afford to have too many people. Each person is not getting enough for the usual expenses. Those days when they can't wipe their face and come out to work are even more sad, and they are not as decent as ordinary rich people.

Of course, the two people in front of them are not the kind of broken households, the two grandfathers are the younger brothers of the former emperor, and they have passed on to their generation because the two are concubines, and the father thinks that he still has some rights to help his son. After stuffing the two of them into the Internal Affairs Office, there is a way out.

There are many royal children who want to enter the Internal Affairs Office, and their father is not a very capable person, so he asked the two to start from the grassroots first. Shang Yuzhang understood the importance of the canal, and knew that the emperor was not at ease to hand over the canal to outsiders, so he took the initiative to take his younger brother to the canal to familiarize himself with the business, and planned to work hard in the direction of the canal in the future.

Shang Yuzhang, who was standing by the window and watching the storm outside the window, turned around and reprimanded when he saw his younger brother talking: "Okay, let's say a few words!" Steward Jiang, I see that the water level is still rising, what should I do now? ”

Jiang Laoliu nodded and praised: "Young Master Zhang is aware of everything, and he is following this momentum. The water level will rise at night, and these boats will not be able to stay, so they must get off the boat and find a place to take shelter. ”

Shang Yuzhang looked at the storm outside and was annoyed, and arched his hand and said, "We don't understand this, and we are tired of managing Jiang." ”

Jiang Lao Liu returned to the boat and directly signaled the boatman who was still scooping water to stop, and said in a deep voice: "Inform the guests that the rain is too heavy and you can't stay on the boat anymore, let everyone pack up and get off the boat!"

The cabin was banged, and the boatman left a sentence of "I can't stay on the ship, get off the ship!" Get off board! He hurried to inform the other passengers.

The passengers who didn't dare to sleep in the first place were all blown up!

Disembarked? How do they get off the boat on a rainy day!

There is no store in the village before. Where do you go when you get off the boat? If you really want to stay in the rain all night, not to mention the old people and children, even these young people can't bear it. For a while, the whole ship was noisy, but no one really opened the hatch and came out.

Seeing that no one was moving, Jiang Lao Liu angrily shook the rain on his face and shouted at the cabin: "This rain has no intention of stopping at all, the water is still rising." I don't believe you open the window and take a look, but when the boat was stopped, it was dragged to the shore, and now it has overflowed the bottom of the boat. Both sides are high mountains, the waterway is very narrow, and the water level will rise after a long time, and you can't go until the boat is flooded! After speaking, he yelled at his subordinates: "Two pillars! Leave them alone. Pack up and disembark! ”

The boatmen shouted in unison, and the boat remembered the sound of luggage churning, and it was obvious that they were really about to get off the ship.

The passengers in the cabin couldn't sit still.

"You can't go! What are we going to do when we're gone! ”

"We paid the money, how can we ignore it!"

"Didn't you say that Jingtai is the best! Lao Tzu spent so much money in vain! The old man of the boat is out! Spit out the money for Lao Tzu! ”

There was a lot of noise outside, and Second Master Liu had already gathered in the cabin of Master Joy with his two little servants early.

Master Joy looked at the few adults who didn't know what to do like headless flies, sighed and said, "It's a blessing or a curse, it's a disaster that can't be avoided, there must be this one!" ”

Everyone shouted in their hearts, 'Master, it's all like this!' Stop talking nonsense! ’

"It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, this rain will not end for three days and two nights, the water level will definitely rise, the boat we are sitting on now is parked on the shore, waiting for the water to flood up first It must be here, let's quickly pack up and leave!"

"Huaiming hurry up and go to the kitchen to 'borrow' food while people are not paying attention, don't forget to light the flint, and see that the clothes and oilcloths are all 'taken' back."

Second Master Liu was stunned for a moment and quickly reacted, there were so many people on the boat for a long time, and it was definitely not enough to eat, so he first attacked and ordered, "Qingfeng, hurry up and help." ”

"The benefactor brought some of the futon." Master Xile said to Aunt Xiaorou, and Xiaorou didn't say much, tearing off the damp-proof oilcloth by the window and stuffing the quilt inside.

Master Xile thought of it for the time being, and looked at Second Master Liu faintly, "Do you have a knife?" ”

Liu Erye is a smart person, although this cleverness is mostly used in business, but people are not stupid, after the initial panic, he already understood what it meant by following the train of thought of Master Xile, nodded and took out the short dagger hidden in his boots.

Master Joy was stunned. Then he nodded, "Yes, it's good to cut the fruit." ”

Liu Erye "......" said that the good self-defense small arms!

Master Joy then mended the knife, "Our purpose is to scare people, and the donor will break off all the legs of the table and take them for self-defense later." Master Xile commanded with another of Second Master Liu's servants.

Huai Ming quickly rushed back with Qingfeng. The two entered the door with a bunch of things. A big bag of steamed buns, a jar of pickles, clothes and oilcloths that I don't know where I came back, and the most popular thing is half a bag of rice and an iron pot.

Master Xile was very satisfied with the apprentice's harvest from this trip, and said again and again: "Not bad. Yes, I can't take any more. ”

"Wait a minute, we'll get off the ship, now we have to get ready. We have five pieces of robes, one for Lao Wei, one for the Liu donor, one for the Xiaorou donor, and one for the Qingsong donor to put it up first, and now it's raining so hard outside, if we all have the clothes, maybe someone will grab it. When he went out, the old man took the happy girl, and the Liu donor took the Liu Xiao donor. Xiaorou donor brought the bedding, and Qingfeng donor brought food. Huaiming, Du Liu, and Qingsong donors, you first wrap your body with an oilcloth, so as not to get caught in the rain. Divide the dim sum into one point, bring some with one person, and don't get scattered. ”

Everyone was already confused, and subconsciously did what Master Joy said, and there was no way to think about how Master Joy could be so unbelievable.

Soon everyone dressed up, a few people in lily clothes were either children or bulging things on their backs, and Du Liusan was wrapping a long oilcloth in his clothes, and he was also holding a large oilcloth in his hand and waiting to put it on his head when he went out.

Master Xile stepped forward and picked up the iron pot that had nowhere to put it, and directly buckled it upside down on Du Liu's head. found a rope and tied it to the handle of the pot to fix it for Du Liu, and then covered it with an oilcloth, which looked like a straw hat inside, and no one would have thought that it was the iron pot on the ship.

After tidying up, before Master Joy could shout and leave, the sound of the boatman calling them off the boat came from the aisle. Qing Song glanced at Master Joy and opened the door and walked out.

Jiang Lao Liu was irritable, how could this group of fools be so stupid and not listen to persuasion, and was about to take his subordinates away when he saw someone answering his call. Take a closer look at this group of people with their heads and faces covered, and they are not impressed.

Master Xile walked directly to Jiang Lao Liu with Du Xiaoxi on his back and recited the Buddha: "Does the donor know if there is any place to rest nearby?" "Talking about Jiang Lao Liu's memories of the neighborhood, by the way, let's see what he usually does."

Jiang Lao Liu looked at Du Xiaoxi, who was smirking on the back of Master Xile, and then looked at Huaiming, who was standing next to him holding Du Liu's hand with a pitiful little monk. He said in a low voice: "This area is full of mountains, and there is nothing in the wilderness. Let's go quickly, find a place to hide, this water will not be able to fall for a few days, and then some will be chaotic. After speaking, he waved his hand and motioned for Master Joy to leave.

After thanking the sixth child of the river, he stepped on the pedal and walked down the boat.

Jiang Lao Liu didn't know that under his nose, the iron pot on the boat was taken away by others.

Seeing that someone was leaving, the ship was even more chaotic. There are wise old men who sigh and urge the children to pack up and leave, there are those who plan to spend the night on the boat, and there are those who wait for others to leave and wait to 'pick up' things.

The heavy rain was pouring down, even if the rain was pouring on the body in May, he could still feel a biting chill, Qingsong took the lead, and after Du Liu and Qingfeng broke off, the group staggered towards the mountain in the distance.

"Master, where are we going?" Qing Song walked away and shouted to the Joy Master who was following behind.

Master Joy pointed to the distance and said, "There is an abandoned water bandit den in the valley between the two mountains, let's go and see where we should live." ”

Water Bandit Nest!

"Master, will there be water bandits?" Qingfeng, who was walking at the end, interjected tremblingly.

Qingfeng and Qingsong are small guys who have been with Liu Erye for more than ten years, one article and one martial arts, Qingfeng is not a problem to settle accounts, and this kind of thing can only rely on the big Qingsong to fight.

"Don't worry, the concubine's nephew was killed a few years ago, and these bandits who don't have much ability have also suffered, and this piece has already been cleaned up."

Although everyone was apprehensive, they thought that since the master could know where to live in people, the master said that there would be no water bandits.

With the goal in mind, the group relaxed their steps and walked towards the place that Master Joy had said.

When they were about to walk to the valley, there was a sudden cry behind them, and everyone subconsciously looked back, only to see the passenger boat on the edge capsizing on the grass that was gradually overflowing with water, and the people on the boat were running towards the shore with shouts.

Master Joy interrupted the group of people who were distracted, and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, we need to find a place to live before dark." ”

The group was silent as Jia Kui walked in silence.

Look near and far. When the group walked to the mouth of the valley, it was already a few hours later, and they stuffed steamed buns indiscriminately, and they didn't dare to stop and quickly cross the small valley.

"There's a cave through the woods." Master Joy gasped as he nodded through the distant woods.

Du Xiaoxi patted the master's shoulder and whispered, "Master, let me down, I can walk on my own here." ”

Master Joy scolded without looking back: "Shut up, don't make trouble." As he spoke, he walked forward with his stick.

The remaining piece of the robe has been put on by Qingsong, at this time Liu Yao has been transferred from Liu Erye's back to Qingsong's back, seeing that Xi's sister is going to come down and go by herself, Liu Yao is more and more embarrassed, "Uncle Qingsong, let me go by myself!" ”

Qingsong smiled, "Don't worry, little master, I'm not tired at all, this forest is watered by rain, and the bottom is sliding very much, and if you accidentally slip out, there is no one, how can you let you go by yourself." ”

After wiping the darkness, I finally passed through the woods and saw a large connected cave.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the place was big enough, even if other people found it, there was nothing to fight for.

When I walked in, I found that the high and low grass piles in front of the cave turned out to be collapsed adobe houses, and I thought that this was the old nest of those water bandits.

At the foot of the mountain are almost large caves set of small holes, hole after hole. After some comparison, Master Joy made the decision and chose a hole with a small hole to live in.

"Qingsong, Du Liu, you two go find some firewood, dry or wet." After speaking, Master Xile threw Du Xiaoxi and Liu Yao into the small hole, "Don't mess around, Xi girl is optimistic about Liu Yao." Du Xiaoxi hurriedly nodded yes, he can't do anything he wants to do with his short arms and short legs, so let's look at the child.

At that time, the military town that suppressed the bandits only took away silver and valuable things, and the pots and pans were also picked up by the follow-up scavenging team, and now there is nothing left in the cave except for the earthen kang and the decayed tables and chairs.

(To be continued.) )