The sound of "bang-la-la" water kept coming, and when I looked up, a white waterfall was falling from the verdant mountains in the distance, and it was as beautiful as a white dragon when the sun returned.

In later generations, the waterfall scenic spot in the north of Zengcheng is a famous original ecological tourist attraction.

Located in the nature reserve of the remaining veins of Nankun Mountain, the scenery is beautiful, there are hot springs and many mountain streams, among which the waterfall group, the drop has reached more than 400 meters, which is the largest alpine waterfall in Chinese mainland, and it is really a flying down 3,000 feet.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, this little tourism resource was nothing...... The whole Ming Dynasty is original, full of ancient streets, everywhere there are strange and steep natural landscapes, like this kind of place, it is a sinister place infested by bandits in the remote land, no Ming people will complain and come to buy tickets and spend money to watch the scenery.

On February 10, 1631, the tenth day of the first lunar month, in the afternoon, a team of porters and a few donkeys and mules were staggering on the mountain road, and the waterfall in the distance became the background wall of the team.

The destination of this team of porters is a place called Hejiabazi.

Bazi is the abbreviation of mountain basin. Generally speaking, this mountainous terrain has a mild climate and fertile soil, making it a good place to develop agriculture. In later generations, there were more than 1,000 dams in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, which were natural village settlements.

In the mountainous area north of Zengcheng, there are many large and small dams. Hejiazhai, also known as Hejiabazi, is located in a col adjacent to Fogang County in the north.

Theoretically speaking, there is no shortage of transportation waterways in Zengcheng County, and there are as many as 6 large rivers of more than 100 square kilometers such as the Dongjiang River, Zengjiang River, and Xifu River in the territory, not counting all kinds of small rivers.

However, the north of Zengcheng is a mountainous area, thanks to the harsh natural environment in ancient times, there are always some places that are not accessible to waterways, and it is necessary to use manpower to transport materials, and Hejiazhai belongs to this kind of place.

Tracing back into the mountain from the Zengjiang branch in the downstream of Zengcheng, the boats will unload the goods in the waterfall scenic area of the later generations, and the area of Paitan Town, which is close to the forest park. The reason why it is called Paitan Town, because the mountain is high and the water is steep here, there is a deep pool in the side river, the ancients put bamboo rows here to get the name Paitan, and then take the homonym called Paitan.

After arriving in Paitan Town, if you want to go to Hejiabazi, you need porters and mules to fight. But fortunately, the road is not far, and the mountain road is more than 20 miles around, and it takes a morning to get there. In the end, when the caravan bypassed a narrow mountain pass and passed through the checkpoint guarded by Zhuang Ding, the eyes suddenly opened up, and a paradise with a radius of six or seven kilometers was presented to the visitors.

"It's time to get to the ground, everyone work harder, unload the cargo tube and drink a meal of soju!"

With the shouts of the shopkeeper Wu, the skins were dark, the muscles and bones were strong, and the long flat shoulders were carried on their shoulders.

Wu's real name is Wu Qianshan, he is the one who escaped from the bandits' den with He Bian Dan before, and is the deputy general manager of Baiji Grocery Chain Enterprise in charge of external affairs.

After escaping from the bandits' den, Shopkeeper Wu and Bian Dan were rescued by the reconnaissance team and went to the Whampoa Military Port. After that, the shopkeeper Wu and He Biantan were separated: the young man stayed in the military port, and the shopkeeper Wu returned to the county seat safely.

Later, with the large-scale suppression of bandits by the pioneer army in Zengcheng, the shopkeeper Wu also resumed his daily business operations and began to buy and sell goods all over the world. Probably because of the catastrophe, the shopkeeper Wu was full of enthusiasm after this, and he did not stop during the New Year, no, he began to operate again soon after the year, and came to Hejiabazi with a caravan to sell goods.

Hejiabazi is no different from other villages of this era. A small mountain basin is dotted with farmland dotted with sparse farmhouses. In the middle of the basin is a core farm surrounded by earthen enclosures.

Along a dirt road that was not wide, accompanied by the murmuring of the stream on the side of the road, the caravan soon came to the gate of Hejia Zhuangzi.

I don't know if it's the New Year's Festival or other reasons, today's Hejia Zhuangzi, the gate and the suspension bridge are open, which is different from the situation in the past when only the door was opened. After seeing the caravan approaching at the wall, a group of people came out of the Zhuangzi soon. The square-faced robe at the head was about the same grade as the shopkeeper Wu, and this person hugged his fists and laughed loudly: "Brother Qianshan, this is trying to kill my brother, hahaha!" ”

When Shopkeeper Wu saw this person at first glance, he also showed an excited expression, hurriedly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to hold the arms of the visitor, and said with emotion: "Brother He, don't come to harm, it's always good!?" ”

This Brother He, named He Renzhong, is the chief steward of the He family's Zhuangzi.

He Renzhong and Wu Qianshan have been good friends for many years - twenty years ago, the shopkeeper Wu was a young man in the Baiji grocery store, and the manager He was a small errand in the He Jiashan freight team.

Later, as they grew older, both parties had their own social status, and there were fewer opportunities to meet. However, the relationship between the old brothers is still there, and it has not changed color because of the years.

"Okay, okay." He Renzhong nodded again and again: "What kind of wind blew you here, brother?" ”

"Hehe, I've wanted to visit my brother for a long time...... It's just that the road is not quiet! The shopkeeper Wu smiled: "No, a few days ago, I saw several heads of people in Fotou Village at the south gate of the county, and I rushed here non-stop!" ”

"Haha!" He Renzhong nodded again and again when he heard this: "Yes, yes, this Buddha head village is flat, and the road to the county seat under the North Mountain will be opened." ”

When He Renzhong said this, his face was also full of excitement, he reached out and pinched the shoulder of the shopkeeper Wu, and kept looking up and down: "Oh, brother, you have cleared it, and your beard has also turned white, but the spirit is still looking Jianwang!" ”

In other words, in this era, as soon as a man enters the age of forty, he can call himself old. In fact, according to the experience of later generations, the shopkeeper Wu's grade is not very big, this year is only forty-three, but the perennial hard life has already made his face wrinkled and his beard gray, no matter how he looks at it, he does not look like a grade in his forties.

Shopkeeper Wu shook his head and smiled after hearing this: "I haven't seen each other in three or four years, so I'm getting old." Brother, don't talk about me, your beard is also white! ”

Steward He sighed: "Old, old." ”

After standing at the gate of the village and sighing for a long time, the two old men entered the Hejia Village together.

Compared with previous years, this year's Hejiazhai is obviously more festive: it is already the tenth day of the first lunar month, and in the village that has long been deserted in previous years, there are still red confetti on the ground after the explosion of fireworks, and there is a black-faced ticket holder with a rough voice on the stage in the village singing the local Cantonese opera loudly, and many people are watching the play in the audience.

After that, the two sides first inspected the goods brought by the caravan.