Zhao Xingde and others hurried up, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, and finally arrived in Luzhou as scheduled, there was already a medium-sized merchant ship of Fuhaixing moored at the dock and waited, and as soon as Zhao Xingde and others got on the ship, they immediately took anchor. When the Yangtze River is still dry in early spring, many reefs are exposed to the water, and boats flow down with the turbulent river and Yang Fan. The trumpets of the boatmen on the waterway and the hooves of the apes in the towering mountains rose one after another, and several carvings sounded from time to time in the canyons, which made Du Fujiao and other northern sergeants excited, regardless of the cold river wind, and stayed on the deck most of the day to watch the river scenery.

Most of the cliffs that the river passes through are washed out by the river for thousands of years, and as far as the eye can see, the top of the mountain is still covered with snow, and the woods below the mountain are already full of green. Because the high mountains on both sides of the river are steep and steep, the goods between Shuzhong and Jiangnan rely on this river, and it is extremely fast to go down from the upstream, and it is slower to go up from the downstream, and sometimes it is necessary to drag the merchant ships by slender men and mules and horses. In addition to merchant ships and fishing boats, bamboo rafts are also seen carrying goods on the river from time to time. Occasionally, when I met the Shu warship, the merchants on the ship handed over the customs and tax stamps for the completion of the customs in Luzhou, and the trade officials allowed them to go. This ship's cargo is mainly the old liquor of Luzhou's specialty, because the Shu road is difficult, the cost of grain transportation is high, the old grain will be used to make wine over the years, transported along the river to Jiangnan to sell, and then from Jiangnan to buy tooth horn incense medicine silk and satin and other goods transported back to Shuzhong. If these wines are not taxed by the Song Kingdom, they are counted as moonshine, and sometimes they are also considered moonshine after paying taxes. Zhao Xingde's identity at this time was also a businessman, in order to avoid trouble, they trafficked Shu brocade to the lower river, and Du Fujiao and a few Shu soldiers pretended to be his buddies.

After the ship entered this section of the Three Gorges, it was only to see the cliffs on both sides of the strait, the confrontation was like a wall, the people in the mountains were so inaccessible that only the hooves of the apes could be heard, and as the channel narrowed, the river suddenly accelerated, and the ships were like the wind and lightning to go downstream. At this time, the reefs in the river are hidden from time to time, and sometimes the boats seem to rush straight towards the river, crashing into pieces, and passing by the river and the reef at the last moment. The mountains on both sides of the river are stacked and green, the dangerous peaks are like cutting, sometimes like stone pillars and spring shoots, sometimes like the screen continuous, sometimes like a covered clock, sometimes like a pen stand. The river is turbulent, accompanied by the roar of the angry waves, the river water is like a broken jade, the water foam splashes straight towards the boat, and the continuous mountain situation changes endlessly, and quickly retreats backwards.

Du Fujiao and other sergeants all felt a little seasick, but the shipwrights and the merchants who accompanied the ship were at ease. Zhao Xingde sighed: "With the narrowness of the river here, the heavy artillery on both sides of the river cross-fires the river, and it is difficult for the sailors to resist it." If a fort position is set up on the hilltop along the river, so that the fire along the coast is continuous, the ships in the river will suffer heavy losses. It is almost impossible to attack these lofty mountains one by one on land. The Xia State only controls the Three Gorges natural hazards, and it has become a solid trend for the southeast. ”

After the river rushed out of the mountains and valleys like a herd of wild horses, the mountains on both sides of the river gradually opened up, and the river gradually became gentle, compared with the Three Gorges, there was no wind or waves on the water surface of Jiangling, and the river water bubbled to the east, Du Fujiao and others breathed a sigh of relief, while the boatmen and merchants were nervous. When the ship left the Three Gorges, there was no doubt that it entered the border of the Song Kingdom. Generally speaking, the merchants who often walk the river and the Jiangling sailors of the Song Kingdom, and even the powerful giants along the river have a bit of a friendship to buy roads. The so-called people die for money, birds die for food, the more turbulent the time, the greater the profit from trafficking goods, the businessmen all know that the Liao soldiers invaded the south, the southeast is in chaos, and the news of bandits is rampant, and their hearts are looking forward to making a lot of money, while worrying about it.

With the face of the ship boss, the merchant ship successfully passed the inspection of the Song Dynasty sailors, stopped in Jiangling for one night, on the first day Yang Fan went downstream, after Jiangling, the smoke and waves of the vast eight hundred miles of Dongting appeared in the south of the river, looking at it from afar, the water color is boundless, the dark clouds in the sky are low, and it gradually rains, and countless ripples rise on the gentle river surface. It was not suitable for ships to sail in the rain, so the merchant ships anchored on the north bank of the river. Zhao Xingde thought that once the ship passed through Dongting, it would soon arrive in Ezhou, and his mood was not as anxious as in the past. He lit a lantern like a bean in the cabin, and while thinking, he wrote down the general structure of the Ezhou Military Quartermaster on a piece of paper. He heard that Yue Fei had a heavy temperament and ordered himself to be self-dictatorated, except for firearms, he should not like others to interfere too much in military affairs. Zhao Xingde also had no intention of competing with him for military power. However, the three armies have not moved, and the grain and grass go first, so he can put more thought into solving military needs. He thought that Yue Fei was a talented general, as long as he had soldiers and food, he would defeat the Liao army sooner or later. Personal gains and losses are secondary.

It rains at night in Xiaoxiang, and the raindrops are dripping. Suddenly, Zhao Xingde frowned and put down the brush. There were bursts of women's cries on the shore, mixed with the cries of children, intermittent in the rain, but lingering all the time. He stood up and went to the boat boss with Du Fujiao and the others to find out about the situation.

The merchants who accompanied the ship were all gathered in the cabin, everyone looked at each other, no one spoke, some with suspicion and fear, some with a worried face. The old boulevard of the boat may be the cry of the people on the riverbank, or it may be a trap set by robbers to deceive curious or lustful pedestrians on the river, and once they are merciful and included in the boat, soon there will be accomplices who will come in and falsely accuse the abduction of the people, or rob the boat. In order to prevent thieves from deceit, some of the people on the ship, although they had mercy, did not dare to help. The cabin was silent as if no one was there, and it was creepy to hear only the crying on the shore. The captain of the ship advised the merchants to turn off the lights as much as possible, so as not to be seen by the thieves of the ship. Zhao Xingde also extinguished the oil lamp, he took a deep breath, looked out of the porthole, and occasionally saw the rain on the river, and there was a dark patch on the shore, and he couldn't see anything.

In order to prevent accidents, several people in the entourage gathered in the cabin where Zhao Xingde was. Zhao Xingde, Du Fujiao and Liu Zheng, plus Shi Jingkui and other three Shu soldiers, there are only six people. Everyone took out the crossbow blade and placed it beside them, and sat quietly cross-legged, only the sound of breathing of different lengths could be heard in the cabin. After about three quarters of an hour, the crying finally stopped, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly there was a loud shout of killing, torches swaying, fire and knife light, and it was very messy in the drizzle.

"It's not good," Shi Jingkui's face changed greatly, "I met Shui Kou." Hurry up and get out! ”

Zhao Xingde nodded, and all the sergeants hurriedly stood up and ran towards the outside of the cabin. The cabin was at the stern, and the boat was parked on the shore, and everyone only had to get into the water and swim up to the riverbank. The cargo on the ship is usually not chased after the fleeing guests. However, as soon as he got out of the hatch, Zhao Xingde found more than a dozen sailors on the stern deck, and more people kept climbing up. Seeing Zhao Xingde and the others, the thieves shouted together, each raised their blades and rushed towards this side, and more than a dozen arrows swished at the same time.

"Kill!" Du Fujiao swept away the oncoming arrows with a knife, kicked the front leg, and kicked the water thief in front of him to the ground, and the other sergeants were not ambiguous, and fought and marched, rushing forward with a bang. Shui Kou didn't expect that there was such a group of evil gods on the boat, although there were many people, they were caught off guard, and they were suddenly rushed by Zhao Xingde and others. However, this group of water bandits was very fierce, and when they came to their senses, they gathered more accomplices to kill this side. Under the disparity between the outnumbered, Zhao Xingde and others had no intention of fighting and rushed to the side, Shi Jingkui, Wu Zonglian and Xu Dingshan used Zhuge short crossbows to fire crossbow arrows in succession, temporarily forcing back the thieves.

"Jump!" Zhao Xingde snorted, patted Du Fujiao and Liu Zheng on the shoulders, and the two jumped into the water with a puff. Du Fujiao and Liu Zheng are also water-based, and after the two got into the water, they swam desperately to the shore with Zhao Xingde. Behind them, Shi Jingkui and the other three sergeants also jumped into the river as an ordinary person.

Although the river bank is not far away, however, there are more water robbers around the merchant ships, and when I saw Zhao Xingde and others fleeing from the merchant ships. The water robbers did not row closer, but jumped into the cold and biting river water from the boat, and there were even better hands in the water, seeing the direction of Zhao Xingde and the others, without any ventilation on the way, diving over in one breath and scuffling in the water. Although Zhao Xingde and others know water, they can't be compared with these water robbers who live on the rivers and lakes all year round, and soon, they were captured one by one, and they drank a stomach of river water one by one.

"You actually hid a repeater and shot and wounded my brothers in the village? Who the hell are you? A middle-aged water man shouted. He was a burly man with a less noticeable scar on his forehead. A water coward beside him roared: "Slaughter these fat sheep, dig out the heart and liver, and fry them." As he spoke, he ripped off the robes of all the sergeants with his daggers. The robes of Du Fujiao and others were soaked by the river, and at this time, many old scars of swords and arrows were exposed. The faces of the water thieves changed greatly, and several people said in a loud voice: "It's the spies of the official army!" "Kill them!"

With a "snap", a leather bag fell from his arms. The leader of the water bandits' face moved slightly, and ordered someone to take the leather bag. He looked at the letters in Zhao Xingdege's bag one by one, first slowly, then slowly, and his face changed several times. Zhao Xingde was remorseful, and he only hated that he had not destroyed this thing. There are no military secrets of the Xia State in the bag, but there are several letters exchanged with Chen Dong, including the strategy for setting up a military quartermaster's office. In addition, there are a stack of articles written in the past and a few Fuhai Xingjiaozi.

"Brother Lu, what's written on this?"

"It's a spy from the official army, right?"

Several Shui Kou asked, but the leader surnamed Lu raised his hand, silencing everyone. For some reason, Zhong Shui Kou didn't dare to talk nonsense, but only sharpened his knife and glared at Zhao Xingde and the others viciously. Most people thought that the owner of the village must have discovered the vicious tricks of the officials and soldiers, and when the interrogation was over, they worked together to dig out the hearts and livers of these spies, and then throw them into Dongting Lake to feed the fish.

The leader surnamed Lu inspected the leather bag, and then walked in front of Zhao Xingde and said in a low voice: "Mr. Zhao Yuanzhi? ”

Zhao Xingde was silent, although he didn't admit it, but the leader of the water cole confirmed his guess from his expression.

The leader's eyes were full of shock, and he immediately leaned down and said, "I almost made a big mistake, and Lu Mou can't be blamed for his death." Dongting Caokou Lu Mingyu, please punish Mr. Zhao! He was in a trance, so he only knelt on the ground to plead guilty, and actually forgot to untie the rope on Zhao Xingde's body. Many of the leaders of the water bandits in the cabin, as well as Du Fujiao and other sergeants, had puzzled expressions on their faces.