The waterway in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is much safer than the Yiling Three Gorges where Heifu went, and there are old boatmen who are familiar with the waterways to guide them, and it is not impossible to sail at night, so at night on the second day of leaving Echeng, hundreds of warships with hard sails have arrived at Jiujiang, which is more than 300 miles away.

The so-called Jiujiang River is the Yangtze River flowing here, because of its low-lying terrain, the water flow is scattered, forming a number of divided-shaped water systems, so take the ancient Chinese in the number of the number of virtual words "nine", call it Jiujiang, "Yu Gong" recorded in the "Jiujiang Kongyin, east for Peng Li." "After this stretch of water, you can reach Peng Lize (lí) Ze.

The flotilla did not go further, but moored in the calm waters where the Jiujiang River and Peng Lize meet.

There are 3,000 people under Heifu, the "Sima of the other department", who are divided into six building boats, all of whom are from Nanjun, living according to the Jianghan Dynasty, and most of them know the nature of water, so there is no seasickness and vomiting. After the fleet came to a halt, the soldiers each nibbled on dry food and drank fish soup, and Heifu was invited by Tu Sui to dine on his flagship.

Most of the food in the fleet is rice and soup and fish, but Heifu heard that Tu Sui has always tasted good, and he has to take the cook with him on the expedition, and the food on his big ship today must be extraordinary.

When Heifu climbed onto the deck in a small boat, he saw a young soldier with a spine hair, raising his axe high and slashing at a large crocodile three meters long, and for a time the ground was splashed with flesh and blood!

It turned out that they were dismembering two crocodiles with knives and axes under the command of Tu Sui's cook......

The crocodile is called "鼍" (tuó) this year, a very vivid text, not to mention the Yangtze River, even there are a lot of Han water in Nanjun, often for the people on the riverside, "Moon Order" has "autumn and July, cut down Jiao to take the dragon" words.

Heifu remembered that at noon, on top of Jiang Zhu, there were a few crocodiles that had not yet hibernated, with long mouths basking in the sun, and it seemed that some had been hunted by the soldiers.

The drum made of crocodile skin is an important ritual vessel in the sacrifice, but the bearded Tu Sui is interested in the meat of the crocodile, and he watched the crocodile being disemboweled, and when he saw that the black man was coming, he invited him over, and said with a smile:

"The soldiers are troublesome, and they killed a few big rays (tuó) with a strong crossbow, although I am from Guanzhong, but I heard that the soup is delicious, so I asked the cook to make it and taste it today!"

This is what makes people amazing, Tu Sui is a native of Tuchuan in Heyang, Guanzhong, and his ancestor is said to be a certain Qin State chief, it stands to reason that this northern man can never have anything to do with the boat master.

When the two chatted, Tu Sui explained: "My home is close to the Yellow River, so I have been proficient in water since I was a child. The king asked me to take charge of the Southern Boat Division, and I was a little uncomfortable at first, but after a few years, I became familiar with it. ”

Not only Tu Sui, but also some boat division officers, who he also brought from the north, in Heifu's thoughts, maybe Xianyang is not worried that the boat division is completely from Nanjun in power.

The cook cut the best meat of the crocodile, put it in the ding with ginger and cinnamon and cooked it slowly, and gave the rest to the soldiers who hunted it, and they happily erected reed poles on the shore under the leadership of the thin black soldier with the spine, and roasted them whole, and the meat was fragrant for a while.

The crocodile meat has been boiled into the ding, Heifu and Tu Sui sit opposite each other on the deck, the west is the surging Yangtze River, the east is the endless Peng Lize, the withered reeds on the bank are endless, the sunset is in the west, reflecting the river water for a long time, but it is also a good scene.

"The day after tomorrow, I will say goodbye to Captain Tu Du."

Heifu toasted to Tu Sui, the boat master just gave them a ride, Tu Sui's real task was to take the fleet and carry hundreds of thousands of stone grain from Nanjun, go to Huainan to supply Wang Jian and Mengwu's army that was about to run out of food, so that after the soldiers were full, they would defeat the Chu Zhou division on the river and protect the Qin army to attack Jiangdong.

This set of plans is modeled after many years ago, Bai Qi captured Yancheng by land, Sima Coo's boat division transported the grain of Bashu to help, and the two armies combined to capture Yingdu in one fell swoop.

Tu Sui has been training in Jiangling for a year, so he naturally knows the reason, so he said with a smile: "Thanks to the suggestion of Sima from other departments to the county guard, the counties of Nanjun overhauled public toilets and fertilized the fields with beautiful manure, so that Nanjun had a bumper harvest for two consecutive years. ”

The public toilet is an eternal pain in Heifu's heart, and he didn't want to mention it again, so he diverted the topic and said: "I heard that since last year, the commander has sent people to sail on the river several times, and he knows the hydrology and geography of Jiujiang and Pengli. ”

"Stand your ground first."

Tu Sui does not have a background like Li You, he can be a county lieutenant at the age of forty, and he is the chief of the left concubine, so he naturally has his advantages. He was bold and did not hide his selfishness, and gave his own advice to Heifu.

"Sima to capture the area, the Spring and Autumn Period is also called Yuzhang, enveloping the river, the lake, left and right Wu, Chu, although there are not many cities, but it is an important place on the river, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Chu attacked, there must be something here, Chu Yuzhang can be forced into Wu, Wu Yuzhang can be five battles into Ying."

However, this area, the Qin army has never set foot in the past, so only know a few cities on the edge of Peng Lize, and I heard that there is Gan water running through its interior, except for the feudal monarch of Chu State, most of them are Yue people's settlement tribes. Sima went deep with 3,000 people from the southern counties, and if he didn't know anything about roads, mountains, rivers, and settlements, it would be really difficult step by step. I heard that the Chu people described his early years, using the word "blue wisps" and "enlightening mountains and forests", and it was similar to what Sima would face. ”

Heifu arched his hand and said: "That's what I think, so I want to ask the lieutenant to transport us to Peng Zeyi in the east of Pengli Lake, and then sail and beat drums by the lake, so that we can take this town as a foothold!" ”

Tu Sui already knew everything about the cities by the river, and he could remember where Peng Zeyi was with his eyes closed, so he plucked his head and said, "Why isn't it a closer Xunyi?" You must know that Xunyi has surrendered to Qin, but Peng Ze is still in the hands of Chu Peng Zejun. ”

Heifu responded: "First, Peng Ze and Xunyi are one east and one west, choking the two lake mouths of Peng Lize, which can be used as a place for ships to anchor and rest. ”

"Second, although Xunyi has been surrendered to Qin, but it is located in Pengli Jersey, far away from Fanyang, the largest Chu County in Yuzhang, and the capture of Fanyang will be able to sweep away the remnants of the Chu army in the territory. I heard that the east coast was drier than the south, and I had no scruples about taking the road south from Pengze-eup......"

After Heifu finished speaking, Tu Sui slapped his hands and laughed: "I said why Sima took the initiative to ask to attack Yuzhang, it turned out that he was confident, I am willing to help Sima to capture Peng Ze and let Sima gain a foothold here!" ”

After the two drank each other, Heifu said again: "The subordinate has a reluctant request." ”

"Sima, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

"The art of war is cloudy, the army will die if there is no baggage, if there is no food, if there is no accumulation, if I only take 3,000 foot soldiers to go deep alone, I am afraid it will be difficult to succeed, when the captain goes east, can you leave a few ships for me to transport grain and straw, and report the military situation to Nanjun and Jiangdong?"

"You can't do it."

Tu Sui happily agreed, called out to a personal soldier, and whispered a few words in his ear, and the personal guard immediately ran to the side to dismember the crocodile, and shouted among the people who were making crocodile barbecues on the shore, probably the man who was going to leave it to Heifu was among them......

At this time, the big tripod next to the two has also been uncovered by the cook, this tripod is still snatched from the treasury of Ejun, and the aroma is fragrant for a while, and after the kitchen seasoning is sprinkled with green onion leeks, a large piece of crocodile meat and meat soup are presented to the two of them on their respective tables.

Tu Sui has a big belly and good food, and he has already moved his index finger, so he said with a smile: "Although this thing is not as good as the hump, bear paw, monkey brain, scarlet lip, elephant pull, elephant trunk, leopard fetus, rhino tail, and deer tendon, it is also a delicacy of the rivers and lakes!" Sima, try it! ”

Hefu picked up a piece of crocodile meat, only to feel that the fishy smell has not been completely removed, after putting it in his mouth, it feels like overcooked chicken, the taste is average, but the cooked crocodile skin is flexible and chewy, and the crocodile soup soup is also very delicious......

At this moment, Tu Sui's personal guard also came over with a military official of the same age as Heifu, and the military official bowed to the ground from a distance: "The subordinate has seen Du Wei and Sima of other departments!" ”

In his words, there was a hint of a northern accent, like Zhao Di's.

Hefu saw that it was the thin black soldier who was holding an axe to chop crocodiles when he boarded the ship today.

Tu Sui pointed at the military official and said: "I will leave this five hundred lords and a few ships and big wings to Sima, don't look at him I brought from the north, but the water is no worse than the southerners, Sima will treat him as his subordinate, scold when he should be scolded, and punished when he should be punished!" ”

"Thank you, Captain, for your love!"

Although this person is only five hundred masters, he can enter and exit the slaughtering boat, and he also slaughters crocodiles for him with his own hands, so he should be a cronie.

Heifu bowed his hand to the military officer and said, "I don't know what to call the five hundred lords?" ”

The military officer also knew that he might have to follow Heifu in the next few months, so he raised his head and smiled: "Subordinate Zhao Tuo! ”