"You haven't eaten in the morning, have you? Eat some together. After reading the list, Xiao Han pointed to the empty seat opposite him and motioned for Ma Lao Liu to sit down together.

Ma Lao Liu was a little flattered, and after thanking Xiao Han repeatedly, he put half of his butt next to the seat, and as for the buns on the table, he didn't even dare to move.

Seeing his nervous appearance, Xiao Han smiled and pushed a plate of steamed buns in front of Ma Lao Liu, and said teasingly, "Eat, feel free, I remember when I first saw you, I didn't see you so restrained, and I knew to lie to me to drink!" ”

Ma Lao Liu heard Xiao Han talk about the two when they first met, his old face couldn't help but turn red, he hurriedly got up, took the plate of buns with both hands, and thought in his heart: God grandpa! At that time, how did I know that you were the Hou Ye? Besides, now in front of Yangzhou people, which one dares to be casual in front of you?! If this is known by others, if you don't be killed by Lord Shi, you will have to be scolded to death by hundreds of thousands of Yangzhou people!

"Ahem, the villain didn't know Taishan when he had eyes, but now he ......"

Catching the bun pushed by Xiao Han, Ma Lao Liu didn't dare to sit down anymore, and stood there for a long time, but he didn't say a complete sentence, but because of the entanglement, his long face suddenly stretched longer.

If the small traces of Xiao Han's house are pulled over at this time, it is estimated that the two brothers can recognize each other on the spot.

Xiao Han glanced at him, smiled, and stuffed a bun into his mouth.

The fat chef's hand-wrapped xiao long bao stuffed with radish and shrimp is full of umami, and if it is accompanied by a little garlic paste, the taste is definitely enjoyable!

"Okay, don't say anything beautiful if you don't know how to say it, you look aggrieved, which makes people lose your appetite."

Biting the delicious and abnormal buns, Xiao Han shook his head and said, "Well, what you said is not true, what you asked you to do yesterday was done well!" How to say, you are also an expert on the water, do you think that with these people driving the boat in front and hiring some experienced boat bosses in the back, can you drive all the way to Chang'an? ”

"This ......"

Hearing Xiao Han finally talk about his profession, Ma Lao Liu was obviously relieved, but he didn't dare to talk about it as before, but first carefully calculated in his heart, and when he confirmed that it was enough, he nodded and said:

"According to what Hou Ye said, there should be no problem, after all, most of the canals opened up by the former Sui Dynasty all the way, the river is still new, and the water situation is not complicated, as long as you pay attention to a few dangerous points! And with those who are familiar with the route, as long as the people who follow are proficient, they will definitely be able to pass safely. ”

"Well, that's fine!" Xiao Han was waiting for this answer, he nodded, handed the list back to Ma Lao Liu, and then tapped on the table and said, "Then I bother you to help me as a merchant and put together some more sand boats!" Remember, I'm going to be big with these sand boats! The bigger, the better!

And the skilled ship boss, too! As for hiring a ship and hiring people, tell those people that I will give them a lot of money at the market price! If you do a good job this time, there will be another reward! ”

When Ma Lao Liu heard this, his heart suddenly moved.

In fact, last night, he was very curious about why Xiao Han went out on patrol in micro-clothes and refused to identify himself.

Now that he is still going to hire ships and personnel as a merchant, this doubt is a little deeper.

However, Ma Lao Liu has always been a smart person, although he was curious like a cat scratching, he didn't show half of it on his face.

He waited for Xiao Han to finish speaking, then quickly straightened up and said humbly: "Don't dare to call it tireless, just give you direct orders if you have something!" It's just that I don't know how much food you have to transport, Master Hou, so you can calculate how many ships and how many people you need. ”

"How much grain is going to be delivered?" Xiao Han scratched his head, and said in his heart, this thing, naturally, the more the merrier!

The price of grain in Jiangnan is low today, and because of the large population in Chang'an and the famine, even if it is not used as military food, it is only transported to Chang'an to be sold, it is a deal that cannot be lost.

However, this can only be said to think in his heart, if he really wants to do this, not to mention whether he can buy so much food, even if he can, he does not have so much money to buy it.

Xiao Han thought anxiously in his heart for a moment, and then slowly spoke: "This time, I want to test the grain delivery capacity of this canal, if it is too small, it will be meaningless, so I will tentatively set two million stones!" ”

"Two million stones?" When Ma Lao Liu heard this number, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching! With so much food, it is estimated that he will never see it once in his life!

However, when he thought about Xiao Han's identity, he was quickly relieved.

People are Hou Ye, and what they do is naturally a big thing for the sky, how can they be the same as these rural farmers themselves?

Perhaps, 2 million stones is to others as common as 200 stones to oneself.

"If Master Hou wants to transport so much grain, it will take hundreds of ships, I'm afraid this is not easy to make! If you want to make it up, you can only urgently transfer it from other places, or I'll do it? Ma Lao Liu finished counting the numbers, and said to Xiao Han with some embarrassment.

Xiao Han also knew that Ma Lao Liu was uncomfortable here, and when he saw this, he also smiled and nodded: "It's okay, you can go and get busy, remember to take the buns and eat them on the road." ”

When Ma Lao Liu heard this, he thanked him and left the room with a plate of steamed buns.

Judging by his cautious appearance, it is estimated that eighty percent of this plate of steamed buns will be placed on the offering table, rather than into anyone's stomach.

Seeing off Ma Lao Liu, Xiao Han quickly walked out of the room and walked around the inn, feeling that there was nothing to do, so he simply called Xiaodong Ziyi and them to go to the dock in Runzhou to see the legendary sand boat.

The sand boat, also called the anti-sand flat-bottomed boat at this time, is a special type of transport ship in the inland river, so don't mistake it for a sand boat.

The advantages of this type of ship are obvious, the draft is shallow, the carrying capacity is large, and it is suitable for carrying goods and grain!

The sand boats recorded in history can even carry more than 5,000 stones, which is almost 500,000 catties when converted into the current unit, even if it is placed in later generations, it is definitely a terrifying number.

Xiao Han's place where they stayed was not too far from the dock, so a group of about a dozen of them walked to the dock without riding horses.

As for Li Yifu, who came out of his sadness, he acted as a guide, walking in front all the way with his toes high, and that appearance was the same as that of the fox in the primary school text.

The group walked around the city for a cup of tea, and saw the huge pier that sits on the edge of the canal.

In the early morning, the wharf was a little deserted, and in the river, several big ingot-like ships were moored close to the shore, and the sails were lowered.

On the ground, a few porters basking in the sun may have heard Xiao Han's voice, and they all stood up and looked here.

Perhaps they thought that these people would not bring them much work, and soon lay down again, continuing to bask in the warm sun.