Xinshui originates from Huaiyushan, passes through Yushan and Xinzhou Fucheng, and confluences with the Tongmu water originating from Wuyi Mountain at the mouth of the Lead Mountain River, and then flows down to Poyang Lake, and the estuary is the meaning of the mouth of Tongmu water.

A large number of iron artifacts produced in Fujian came to the estuary through the Chong'an water dividing pass, and then loaded onto ships through Xinshui, entered Poyin Lake, and entered the Yangtze River to be transported to the chiefs.

The estuary of the land of commodities gathered, business travel is endless, it is actually a more famous merchant wharf in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are many shops and hotels along the river.

In recent years, due to the southward movement of Mengyuan's iron hoof, Jinghu and Shuzhong have been in turmoil, although the Xinzhou area has not suffered from military disasters, but business travel is also sparse. The shops along the street are closed more and less open, and the life is quite light. The pier is also deserted.

The group walked to a teahouse by the dock for business and travel. A man had already arrived, and he diligently led the horses to the straw hut by the teahouse and bolted them.

Zhao Mengchen sent the old servant to the dock to inquire about the news of his wife and son, and asked his entourage to eat and rest in the bamboo shed outside, take care of the horses and salute by the way, and led his daughter and entourage into the teahouse hall. They found a clean place to sit down and ordered the shopkeeper to have something to eat.

After a while, the food came up, and the old servant also came back to resume his life, but the ship of the lady and the son had not yet arrived.

"Why hasn't my mother arrived yet? We came from Fucheng at the same time, and it stands to reason that they should be faster than us when they went down the river. Daughter Jiu'er Qidao.

The guy who had just finished eating on the side said with a smile: "The guest officer is from the post road." The guest officials may not know that although Fucheng to the mouth of the river is downstream, but now that the spring news has not been issued, the water in the river is shallow, but it is not necessarily faster than coming from the post road. However, the boat should arrive in the afternoon. The shopkeeper is here to eat and wait. ”

"Hmm." Zhao Mengchen nodded.

"The food and wine are ready, please use it slowly."

looked at the few black-clothed men standing behind Zhao Mengchen, who didn't know that the current guest officer was a master who was either rich or noble, and he didn't dare to say more, so he hurriedly bowed and retreated.

"Zhao Fu, Zhao Zhong, you can also use some casually." Zhao Mengchen waved his hand, and the old servant took a few men to sit down at the side table and order some food.

There were only some braised pork, cakes and some soup on the table, and the father and daughter ate the braised pork at will.

There were more than ten tables in the hall of the teahouse, and in addition to his own two tables, there were only two or three people, all of whom were merchants waiting to catch the ship, which seemed very deserted.

Maybe it's time for lunch, and the more than ten tables placed in the bamboo shed outside the teahouse are not free, and they are full of people who are passing merchants and porters. Some local people also went to the tea shed to ask for some food and drink, and sat under the shed to eat and chat.

Xinzhou Lead Mountain is close to Chong'an, Fujian, and there is a road that "the green mountains go north to connect Fujian, and the green water flows north to the Xinjiang River", which is an important passage from the south of the Yangtze River to Fujian since ancient times. There was an active group of porters named Chong'an Dan on the ancient road into Fujian, who carried the tea, ironware, and sea salt produced in Fujian to the estuary wharf and transported them to the mainland, and also carried the silk, cloth, and porcelain from the inland land to Fujian. This estuary wharf is also a place for porters to find a life, and there are many porters stationed all year round.

The continuous war in the north and the sudden decrease in the number of merchant ships docking at the estuary naturally caused problems for the livelihood of many porters. They waited by the docks, looking forward to the arrival of merchant ships, so that they could earn a few buckets of rice and go home to raise their wives and children. They stared at the wharf and the cold street shops not far away, but there were few boats on the wharf, and the streets were deserted like never before, so there was no livelihood to do.

"Brother, are you from Fucheng?" A porter noticed the porter who was calmly eating and drinking, and stepped forward to talk. These people were the porters hired by Zhao Mengchen from Shinshu.

"Hmm." Looking at the peers who were more down than themselves and had no livelihood, the porter who came to Fucheng was a little proud, and asked instead: "Isn't business bad here?" ”

"I haven't had a boat in days. There are few goods coming over from Chong'an now. "There is a porter who is dejected.

"Do you want anyone from your host?" Someone asked, with a glimmer of hope.

"Our owner doesn't have any goods. The owner returned to Lead Mountain from outside, and walked more than 20 miles to get there, where would there be people. ”

"Alas. We haven't received anything to do for half a month, and if we do this again, the elderly and children in the family will starve to death. When is this day going to be the head? A porter sighed.

"I think you should figure out a way as soon as possible, whether it will get better in a moment and a half. I haven't heard of it, it's messed up on many sides. ”

"I've heard about it, but it's not a way to be bored at home, so let's come out and touch it." The porter sighed.

"If you don't have the goods to pick, you won't go back to farming." Said a local in town.

"Ouch, brother, if there is land to plant, who will be a porter to grind shoulders! I don't say anything about others, but since my grandfather (the name of my grandfather in the Shinshu area), my family has eaten the food of the porter. The porter complained.

Many porters nodded, and everyone was in a similar situation. This Fujian and Xinzhou are all mountainous and fieldless, and the field rent is high, and the simple soil is shaving, and the year is good or mixed, and the year is poor, and there is not a meal. In addition to farming, most farmers have to find a job to work as a part-time worker or as a porter. The work for a few months was light, and the people who gathered at this dock and waited were all full-time porters who had no land to plant.

"Well, I can't do it. It's hard to find a job anywhere now. It's the same over there. An old porter from the capital of Shinshu put down his chopsticks and sighed.

"yes. It's all the things that the Mongol Tartars are provoking! A slightly younger porter said hatefully as he tightened the cloth belt around his waist.

"Duh, you don't have a head!" The old porter who had just put down the chopsticks changed his face and hurriedly stopped.

"Isn't that so! This Tartar made trouble in Sichuan a few years ago, and occupied Xiangfan in the old year, and now it is having fun in Ezhou, so how can there be a boat. The young porter exclaimed.

The porters were often in contact with the merchants, and they knew a lot about the outside world.

"Shhhh In the afterlife, disaster will come out. The old porter shook his head and said, "Don't you know, you can't be called a Tartar now, you have to call it Yuanren." As he spoke, he said in a low voice: "It's spread all over the city." The Yuan army occupied Jiankang and Xuancheng, and soon arrived at Lin'an Mansion. The emperor is about to change, and we will be from the Yuan Dynasty in the future. ”

"Change the emperor? Didn't you just change the emperor last year? "There was a stout man, stupidly approaching the road.

"You Northlander, five big and three coarse, stupidly know something." The proprietor of the paper and ink shop next door also came over at some point, and sneered with disgust: "The emperor was changed last year, and it was the emperor of Lin'an Mansion who ascended to heaven and replaced his son as the emperor." Now it is said that the Mongols will be replaced as emperors. ”

The rough man who was called a Beidi Yanke was not annoyed, scratched his head, turned to the young paper and ink shop owner and smiled, and said, "Shi Xianggong is well-informed, and that's it when he says this." By the way, Shi Xianggong, do you want to hire people in the store, don't need money, just take care of the food. ”

This Shi Xiang has a small paper and ink shop in public, and has entered the school, and is a well-known and friendly person in the town of Hekou, who usually takes care of himself and will send some work to himself.

"Bah, my little shop can't afford a big man like you. You should see, there is a little bit of business during this time? In this chaos, who will buy ink and paper, have money, and will not buy knives and guns. If this continues, I'm going to go hungry. Shi Dongjia smiled bitterly.

"You're the boss, it's better than us ha." The Northlanders laughed flatteringly.

"Hmph, you don't have a family, you don't have a small family, one is full, and the whole family is not hungry. I am not too old and young, and if I have no business, my family will starve to death! Shi Dongjia sighed. As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something again, and said to the Northlanders: "Northlanders, I've been hungry for three days." I don't think you can go on like this. You are a big figure, five big and three thick, and you have a lot of strength, you might as well go to the door of Chen Patrol Inspection to mix a bowl of rice. ”

"Don't go, there is a way that a good man is not a soldier, and a good iron does not hit nails. Isn't being a patrol a dog just like being a dog? Don't go! The Northlander shook his head.

"Alas, you bull. In this world, you can eat if you have food, walk when you have a way to live, and let you pick and choose. If you want to starve to death along the river, you can do it. If it weren't for the fact that there was a family to drag me down, I would have gone. Shi Xianggong shook his head and said.

"Shi Xianggong, who is this Chen Inspector, and who is he going to recruit?" The Northland guy turned his head and stepped aside in a daze. A porter from Fucheng asked.

"Oh, what a sin. Shijiashan's famous Chen Million has heard of it, right? Chen Patrol is his son. Someone sighed.

"Shi Jiashan Chen million? Is it the Chen Million who used to be known as Chen Bancheng in Fucheng? ”

"It's not him or that. Last month, Chen Million was lying on the hospital bed, making his little ghost (in the Shinshu area, his son is called a little ghost, and now it is the same) angry to death. The man whispered mysteriously.

"Yo, there's such a thing. Brother, you talk about it slowly. The porter from Nafu City suddenly became interested, and handed over a bun casually.

"Thank you." The man took it, took a bite, and said carefully, "This Chen million is more than a million. Not only are there many storefronts and shops in Fucheng, there are mines in Yongping and forest farms in Zixi, so I don't know how much I can earn in a year. The family also went to dispose of the land, and there were hundreds of acres of land alone. gave birth to a little ghost, a Nani (the name of the daughter in the Shinshu area), with his family background, he couldn't eat it all in his life. ”

As the man spoke, he nibbled on the bun again, and felt extremely satisfied when he saw that everyone was envious. continued: "Chen Million is rich and powerful, and what kind of noble person can't pay it." He donated an official to the imp and asked him to do a patrol on the estuary. The man paused. Most people knew something about Chen Million, and nodded in agreement.

The man looked at everyone, sighed suddenly, and said, "Alas, this Chen Million was sick a few months ago, and I don't want him to be angry with this little ghost who patrols and goes directly to the west." This Chen Million, who usually does not do less to repair bridges and roads, may have done evil in his previous life. ”

"What did he do to make him angry." Someone wondered.

"Hey." But the man was silent and sighed, "I don't understand." The descendant of the Chen family is usually common, and he is still kind and sensible. Maybe it's a ghost. Last year, Chen Million fell ill, and all the family affairs were entrusted to him. He was good, and immediately concealed Chen Million, transferred all the shops in Fucheng and the county seat to others, and sold a lot of land. It's not that the cub sells his father's field and doesn't feel heartache. After Chen Million heard this, he kicked his feet in anger and returned to the west. Hearing that the dead eyes were holding up, his youngest daughter touched it with her hand for a long time before closing it. ”

"Bao Baixiao, when Chen Million died, you were on the side, unfounded things, don't talk nonsense." Shi Dongjia stopped.

"A lot of people on the side saw it at the time. Think about it, if there is such a loser, who is not angry? ”

Everyone nodded, convinced.