In May, when the scorching sun is scorching, but it is also the time of abundant water, the water surface of the Yangtze River is very lively, there are constantly ships passing by the river, some of them are starting from Nanjing, some are starting from Hankou, and some are starting from the distant Chengdu Mansion, a sail shadow hangs high, but it is prosperous and numerous.

In the midst of the large ships with high masts, there are also those small boats passing on the river, and some boatmen are rowing oars and poles to ferry on both sides of the Yangtze River, and they are also busy.

The Yangtze River is wide and windy, during which there are both turbulent water, and there are rocks and rocks scouring and stirring, so not long after, there is a small boat capsized in the middle of the river, it seems that a boatman and two young brothers fell into the middle of the river, seeing that the water is very urgent, they want to carry the three people into the river together.

Those large cargo ships sailing in the Yangtze River were difficult to turn around, but they could not be saved, but at this time of great danger, they saw a red boat on the shore sailing out like an arrow, and there seemed to be a small red flag fluttering in the wind on the boat, but it looked extremely conspicuous.

Just when the red boat arrived at the capsized place, the cries for help of the three men became weaker and weaker, and the strength of their hands and feet was much smaller, and there were two men on the red boat, with long thick ropes tied to their bodies, and one of them plunged into the river, and then disappeared into the river.

I only heard a fluttering sound, but the two men carried one on their backs, and grabbed one of them together, and then dragged them to the boat with the help of the people on the red boat.

It's just that the three people who were dragged to the boat were out of breath but not in at this time, and they couldn't live when they saw it.

When the two saw this scene, they hurriedly shouted: "Brother Cheng, come quickly, someone is almost gone!" ”

While the two were shouting, a rough-looking man came out of the cabin, with a long scar on his face, and with the beard, it looked a little oozing, but one of the man's legs and feet seemed to be a little inconvenient, and he limped to the three, and then he bent down and pressed the chest of one of the young men.

"Hurry up, follow me, put the palm of your hand on their chest, and press down, with a little force!"

The man beckoned to the other two on the red boat, and the two of them were busy learning the man's tricks and began to rescue the other two.

After a while, the three of them spat out a few mouthfuls of water, and then their chests contracted violently as if they had pulled bellows, and they survived.

"Hey, it's alive, Brother Cheng, you can really do it!"

"Brother Cheng, where did you learn this hand? This is simply taking his life from the hands of Lord Yama! ”

The two imitating men had a bit of excitement on their faces, and it was not in vain to learn this hand, after all, this kind of kung fu to save people between life and death is not taught by ordinary people!

Cheng Shi looked at the two of them with excited faces, but his expression was faint, as if what he was doing in front of him was just a trivial matter, and it was not worth mentioning at all.

"Where did you learn it? Learned from the dead man's pile! You two boys, follow Lao Cheng to learn hard, and you will also be a bowl of eating in the future........"

Hearing Cheng Shishi say this, one of them grinned, "Brother Cheng, if you don't say it, I understand, it's not in the army...... My eldest brother joined the army, and when I looked at you, Brother Cheng, I remembered my eldest brother who came back from the army! ”

Just when Cheng Shi shook his head and denied it, he saw a young man on the ground slowly waking up, he was still wearing a turban on his head, but as he fell into the water, he didn't know where it fell, his hair was directly scattered into a ball, but his mouth was muttering in a low voice: "Didn't you see the Dragon King of the River?" ”

"Hmph, because you are still a scholar, how can you believe in the truth of the Water Dragon King, didn't Confucius say the truth of 'respecting ghosts and gods and staying away'?"

Cheng Shi took a sip, as if he was very uninterested in these readers, but his attitude towards the readers was a few points worse than that of the two stout men.

The scholar smiled bitterly and said: "This strong man, although Xiaosheng is a scholar, he is also a mortal in the flesh, and when he encountered this strange water situation just now, he didn't believe it. ”

Cheng Shishi didn't want to continue grinding with him, so he wiped his palm with the towel on his shoulder, and then stretched out his palm and spread it out.

"Just the three of you for one life, ten copper plates per person, take the money."

"Ten copper plates....... How can it be so expensive? ”

The scholar was not a wealthy and extravagant person at first glance, and when he heard that he wanted ten copper plates, he immediately hesitated, but it was also a life-saving grace, and he didn't dare to say anything for a while.

Cheng Shi looked extremely bitter at this time, "Hmph, save your lives, ten copper plates are too expensive?" It's better not to save it, salvaging the body is cheaper, only five! ”

The two men who went into the water to save people had a loyal personality, and they originally saw that the scholar really had no money, so they had a calculation, but now Cheng Shi was asking them for money, but it was not good to disobey the other party's kindness, and he didn't dare to speak out for a while.

At this time, the other two also woke up one after another, not to mention the other scholar, the boat family was in his forties, he was originally not like this, but after falling into the water, his ankle seemed to be wrapped in the current, and he accidentally landed on the road for a while, and now he escaped from the ghost gate, but he was extremely grateful to Cheng Shi and the three of them, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing a few times.

"I know the rules of the red boat, but my money is on the boat, and now I have made filial piety to the dragon prince, and I will wait for me to go home, and the ten copper plates will be sent to Engong for a while."

Cheng Shi nodded, but he didn't speak again, and the boatman also kowtowed a few times in gratitude, and then got off the red boat and went ashore.

But at this time, the two scholars looked at each other, and the other awakened scholar didn't seem to care about the ten copper plates, his face did not change at all, he arched his hand and said: "The student's surname is Xu Mingzhai, this is my classmate friend Shen Luochuan, this time originally came to enter Beijing, but accidentally fell into the river for a while, thank you for saving me." ”

"The student is also a native of Zuojinxiang, and he has also heard of the great name of the red boat, these ten copper plates are naturally a lot of money, and my brother's money was also given by the student, but now the money has been washed away by the river, I am afraid that I need to wait until I go home to give it back."

Cheng Shishi is not the kind of person who cares, he grinned, "Money is just a heart, just give it to these two brothers, I don't have any effort, I don't want this money." ”

"This, Brother Cheng, although it is said that the person was dragged onto the boat by us, but this life was saved by you, and the money can't help but give you a ......." The two men didn't want to swallow the money and leave, so they immediately spoke.

Cheng Shishi smiled, "The purpose of the imperial court to set up red boats on the river was originally to save people, and asking for money was just to prevent such boring people from deliberately throwing themselves into the river to die.......

Everyone sighed slightly when they heard this, and those who knew the red boat understood that this was a great benevolent government implemented by the imperial court, especially the people near the Yangtze River, and there was no one who was not grateful to the imperial court.

Originally, the red boat had been there since the Kangxi period, but it was done by local organizations, because there were often some ships on the Yangtze River in order to covet profits, overloaded transportation, resulting in water disasters and accidents from time to time, so in order to avoid the adverse effects of water disasters, the local convenience actively organized lifeboats, patrolled along the river, and rescued the people in distress.

Of course, because it is a local organization, it is necessary to hire sailors and buy life-saving boats, and this money can only be paid by the person who fell into the water, saving a living person for one or two silver, fishing for a corpse to give five yuan, and funding for burial, the scale of life-saving is not large, only three or five red boats are running on the Yangtze River, and this price is not something that ordinary people can afford, so the symbolic meaning is greater than the actual meaning.

Such a little red boat is naturally not enough for the Yangtze River, especially from Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Chizhou, Taiping, Anqing, Hezhou and other prefectures, the ferry boat is endless, and there are often people who fall into the water, so the red boat can't be saved at all, but there is no imperial court funding, and it can only be helpless.

After the founding of Ningchu, Ning Yu naturally knew about these things, and issued a special decree on this matter, "Hire in the salt box miscellaneous expenses and other items to allocate annual repairs, labor, food and silver, and patrol along the river to take care of it, and if there is a risk, come forward to protect, and those who have not been covered will try to save it, and those who have been covered will be harvested the population." ”

It was Ning Yu's will that caused the number of red boats on the Yangtze River to skyrocket, and only charged a symbolic fee of ten copper plates to rescue those who fell into the water on the river.

Of course, for those sailors who are in danger on the red boat, there is a separate benefit, that is, for each person saved, they can go to the bureau to receive a reward of 100 copper dollars, and if there is a windy weather, each person saved will be doubled to 200 copper dollars, so as to ensure that the sailors on the red ship will not choose to do nothing because of lack of money.

"Your Majesty's kindness, the students have long remembered it, and they can't wait to repay Your Majesty's holy kindness! In fact, the purpose of the student's visit to Beijing this time is to write to His Majesty, stay away from treachery, and reorganize the dynasty! ”

Xu Zhai put his hands behind his back, standing on the bow of the boat and speaking generously, he didn't even have the slightest scruples about his hair being blown by the river wind, and the whole person really had the temperament of a scholar.

"Stay away from treachery and revive the dynasty? Just rely on you scholars who don't even have fame? ”

Cheng Shishi had a bit of disdain on his face, he had already seen through the straw bales hidden in the stomachs of these scholars, and snorted coldly: "Do you know what kind of person Your Majesty is today? If you don't know anything, you dare to speak out, and you will reorganize the dynasty, and you want me to say that everything in the world is for you people to stir up! ”

"You!"

Xu Zhai's face turned red, he had the heart to refute one or two, but the other party was to save his life, and he was a reckless man, but it was 'you' for a long time, and he didn't know what to say.

Shen Luochuan was originally a little shy because of the ten copper plates, but now he no longer cares about these, he took two steps forward, "I'm also a scholar!" How dare you, little boatman, humiliate me like this? You say we don't know what kind of person Your Majesty is, so do you know? ”

Hearing Shen Luochuan's questioning, Cheng Shishi's expression suddenly became a little dazed, he lowered his head, looked at the rough black cocoon in his hand, which was not held by holding the oars, but by holding the gun for a long time, and grinned bitterly: "I'm a boatman, what do I know?" ”

"Get out, I'll help you out with the money! Now, get out of my boat! ”

Cheng Shi didn't look at the two men who didn't know what to do, turned around and walked to the cabin, but he was in a hurry, but the injured leg was extremely painful, and he almost knelt down.

It's just that Cheng Shi gritted his teeth and held it up, he endured the pain in his heart, and slowly moved into the cabin step by step, and even when the two men who went into the water to save people wanted to come over to help him, they were also opened by him.

"Hmph, a reckless man is a reckless man, after all, he is a foolish villager who has not been educated by the words of the sage!"

Shen Luochuan had a little disdain on his face, he looked at Xu Zhai again and said guiltily: "Brother Xu, the book I was waiting for before was taxed, and I couldn't find it back at all, so I had to have Brother Lao Xu copy it again." ”

Xu Zhai's face reappeared with a smile like a spring breeze, and said softly: "Brother Shen is polite, fortunately, the younger brother has the ability to never forget, and the left and right are just re-transcribed, and when they arrive in the capital, it will be the time for you and my brothers to become famous!" ”

"That's right! Ten years of hard study, just waiting for the present day, as scholars, we should 'set up a heart for heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, continue to learn for the saints, and open peace for all generations!' In this way, we can live up to our mission. ”

Shen Luochuan resolutely said: "After the other colleagues arrive in Nanjing, we will go to beat the Dengwen drum together and petition His Majesty together!" ”

The two of them made a generous statement, but they seemed to have completely forgotten the boatman who was suitable, and also, how could a little boatman leave the slightest impression in the hearts of the readers?

..........

"Cheng Shishi, from today onwards, you have joined the first team of the first company of the third battalion of the second regiment of the third division of my Fuhan army, I am your captain, my name is Shi Wenfeng!"

........

"Stone, you have to remember that our Fu Han Army is an army with ideals and ambitions, and you have to start learning literacy with us, understand?"

........

"Each of you is my Ningyu's soldiers, if I don't let you kneel, you must not kneel, even if the king of heaven and Lao Tzu comes, stand firm for me!"

........

"Stone, there is Jiangning in front, we are getting closer and closer to victory...... But I can't continue to be your captain...... Now, I order, you, Cheng Shi, to be the captain of our first team, and bring me my brothers..... Take it home! ”

........

"Cheng Shi, Zi Jiangning made great achievements in the first battle, took the lead in breaking through the enemy's defense line, and was promoted to the deputy company commander of the first company of the third battalion of the second regiment of the third division! I hope to continue to work hard in the future and make many achievements! ”

.......

"Stone, just now the military doctor told me that your leg ...... Can't keep it...... You've got to go home! A demobilization notice has been sent from the General Staff, you will be demobilized with the rank of captain and, of course, other work has been prepared for you....... At least I don't have to face fighting and killing ....... anymore."

.......

It was dark, and the red boat was still moored on the river, but there was silence in the cabin, and there seemed to be no one in it at all, but I don't know how long later, but a man's whimper came from inside, and the sound was like the mournful cry of a lone wolf........