Wang Yuan shook his head and smiled: "These two old men are quite interesting. Although it was noisy, it was clear that they should be old friends who cared about each other. ”

Helan Jinming nodded and said: "That's true, these two live in the fishing village on the opposite side, and they have grown up together on the bank of the Yellow River since they were young. In terms of water sex and boat skills, the two old men can be said to be the best in my Beihai County. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and nodded, turned his head and smiled at the two old men who were arguing with themselves: "Two old men, can you stop arguing for the time being?" How about listening to me? ”

Seeing Wang Yuan speak, the two old men hurriedly stopped arguing. Wang Yuan said: "Since the two fathers-in-law think that they are powerful, it is useless to just verbally argue, I think it is better to see the truth in action." The two of you should know that this time you are going to help the people and soldiers and horses cross the river, so how about dividing this matter into high and low? The two of you each bring boats to cross the river with the people and the soldiers and horses, and whoever helps the people and the soldiers and horses to cross the river is the one who is powerful. How about me and the two Taishou in the middle of the judgment? ”

"It's a good idea, and it's better to see it in action than to argue in words. Can the two old men dare to compare? Yan Zhenqing said with a smile.

"It's better than that, old Zhangtou, whoever loses will nod their heads when they see each other in the future, and they will have to drink during the New Year's holidays." Uncle Niu shouted.

"Then you are sure to lose your old fortune, and my old Zhang also has wine that doesn't cost money to drink during the New Year's holidays. I'm not going to let you go this time. Let you for a lifetime, this time you don't want me to let you. Lao Zhangtou smiled.

"Whew! Who wants you to let it? Don't put gold on your face. ”

"Whew! Shame on the face, right? ”

The two of them twisted their necks again.

Wang Yuan coughed, Helan Jinming hurriedly waved his hand to stop the two, and said with a heavy face: "Xiangguo wants to ask you, and you want to quarrel later, don't be rude and lose the face of our Beihai County." ”

The two old men sneered. Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I do have something to ask, that is, about the things in this river, the two of you must know everything about it." ”

"Of course, we know every bend in the river, every reed. When we were young, we went down to the river to play in the water, and we have been begging for a living here all our lives. Wang Xiangguo asked. The two old men knew that this was the right matter, and finally stopped arguing and replied in unison.

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Very good, then can the two old men tell me whether this section of the Yellow River in front of me can be used as a place to cross the river?" ”

Mr. Niu and Mr. Zhang actually knew that Wang Yuan had the intention of crossing the river here, and they were also mentally prepared for this issue. The two had actually had an exchange about this matter before, and when they heard Wang Yuan ask, Uncle Niu said without thinking: "Wang Xiangguo asked, and the old man had to tell the truth." We are all people who were born on the edge of the Yellow River, and we know the temperament of this great river. As the saying goes, fire and water are merciless, crossing a river is a very dangerous thing, hundreds of people drown on the river every year, and there are many boats that are subverted, so you need to choose a gentle water surface instead of a rapids river surface to cross the river. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "I know, but I just want to ask if this section of the river can be crossed?" Is it impossible? ”

Mr. Niu said: "It's not completely impossible to cross the river, this section of the river has neither reefs nor shoals, and the biggest danger is that the turbulent water is high, the boat is difficult to control, and it is easy to capsize." But if my old man and old Zhang Tou are in charge of the boat, there will be absolutely no problem. To tell the truth, Lao Zhangtou and I often operate boats and fish in this section of the river, and we are not afraid of the rapids and waves at all. But this time, it was hundreds of small boats that carried people across the river together, and it was not the business of the two of us old guys. Those young offspring and inexperienced boatmen will never be able to cross the river safely. ”

Wang Yuan nodded slightly and said, "Can I understand it this way, whether it is because our ships are all small boats, so it is easy to be subverted in the wind and waves." If it's a big boat, it should be possible to cross the river. ”

Uncle Niu smiled: "Big boats are naturally okay, but our boats are all small fishing boats, and there is not a single big boat." If there were big ships, these small storms and rapids would be nothing. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "That's fine, to put it mildly, because the ship is too small, then things will be easy." I have an idea that we can find a way to turn a small boat into a big boat, which should solve the problem of small boats making it difficult to cross the river. ”

"A small boat becomes a big ship? So how can it become a big ship? The fishermen and Yan Zhenqing and Helan Jinming didn't understand what they meant.

Wang Yuan told everyone about his idea 1510: "I think so, let's fix several small boats together and connect them with bamboo ropes to form a whole, which is the simplest big boat." If such a ship could only withstand the rapids and waves, wouldn't it be able to solve the problem at hand? ”

Everyone was stunned at first, but soon understood what Wang Yuan meant. After Mr. Niu and Mr. Zhang discussed a few words in a low voice, Mr. Niu said to Wang Yuan: "Wang Xiangguo, the old man has never done such a thing, so I don't know if it is feasible." But the old man, Lao Zhangtou and I are willing to give it a try. We plan to tie several boats together with bamboo ropes according to Wang Xiangguo's proposal and go to the middle of the river to try it out. If it works, you can do it according to Wang Xiangguo's method. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and smiled: "That's right, I also have this idea." Then the two old men will be bothered. This matter has been decided, and tomorrow morning I will invite the two old men to try this method. Whether it succeeds or not, it depends on tomorrow's results. If there is anything that the two old men need the help of the soldiers, they can bring it up. ”

The two old men nodded in agreement, and after chatting for a while, they retreated to rest. Wang Yuan and the two Taishou couldn't rest, because they had to wait for the brigade that might arrive at any time. At the same time, the three of them had a lot of tricky things to discuss and solve, so they gathered around the fire and talked in low voices.

After the fourth watch, the long-awaited team finally arrived at the cottage after a day and a night of non-stop. With the arrival of these tens of thousands of people, all the soldiers, horses and people of this trip finally arrived on the bank of the Yellow River. Wang Yuan's raid on Plains City to rescue Yan Zhenqing finally came to the last moment.

Before leading 3,000 cavalry to attack, Wang Yuan was prepared for an extremely difficult trip, but he didn't expect that this trip would be more difficult than he originally imagined. Everything that has been experienced for nearly a month has been nothing short of an endless ordeal. After more than ten fierce battles, large and small, nearly half of the personal guard cavalry was lost, and Li Xin'er's grandson Lan Qingyun'er was injured. All in all, the trip was an unbearable nightmare.

Now, this nightmare is finally about to wake up, and at the last moment, as long as you can successfully cross the Yellow River and reach the territory of Beihai County, this trip can be regarded as a complete merit. However, this last shudder is the most important moment of the whole trip, and this most important moment is actually the most difficult moment of the whole trip.

The entire camp was filled with nearly 50,000 people. But more than 40,000 of the 50,000 were people. More than half of the more than 40,000 people were old, weak, sick and disabled. In addition, the only soldiers and horses that could protect the crossing of the river were more than 1,600 personal guards cavalry under Wang Yuan, as well as more than 1,000 infantry from Pingyuan City, plus 2,300 soldiers and horses from Beihai County who crossed the river. The overall strength of the army is only 5,000 people. With these 5,000 people, it is a difficult task to protect more than 40,000 people to cross the river safely. They had to face an enemy army of 20,000, four times their size. It's a lot of pressure.

After dawn, the whole cottage was boiling and noisy. More than 40,000 people here are in a mess. Yan Zhenqing had to put all his energy into managing these 40,000 people, but fortunately, Yan Zhenqing had a good set of things about it, and he was also very patient. So although the people were noisy, they gradually calmed down and became chaotic.

Wang Yuan was not in the mood to care about the affairs of these people, his mind was all on the matter of the ship test in the early morning of that day. That's the most important thing. If the idea of splicing a big boat from your own boat is just whimsical and doesn't work, then it's really tricky. This matter is almost all about the safety of everyone and the ultimate success or failure.

In the early morning, Wang Yuan personally led people to cut a waterway to the bank of the Yellow River in the reeds. Soon after, two old men and eight boatmen drove ten small boats along the river bank into the reed-carved water. Dozens of freshly cut bamboos were dragged here, and dozens of people began to transform the ten boats. Soon after, ten small boats were lined up in two rows, and then tightly fastened with bamboo ropes to form a whole, and bundles of reeds were tied around the periphery of the boat to increase buoyancy and weight.

Although many people frowned at this strange-looking boat, not believing that such a thing could withstand the wind and waves in the river, Wang Yuan was not concerned, and despite everyone's dissuasion, he personally boarded the boat to test whether this kind of assembled ship was feasible with several boatmen. So, with everyone's expectations, this strange boat slowly sailed along the opened Ludang waterway to the Yellow River.

Arriving in the Yellow River, Wang Yuan immediately felt the power of the Yellow River, even if it was only a few dozen steps away from the shore, the surging river already had a strong impact, and it was spinning around with this strange boat. Thankfully, the boatmen were seasoned veterans, and under their penny's control, the boat moved slowly toward the center of the river. The farther you go to the center of the river, the more terrifying the power of the river becomes. The eyes were full of yellow drinking water, an inexplicable strange wind blew on the surface of the river, the waves surged more than one person high, the boats rose up and down in the water, and the tying place made a strange sound of Titicaca, as if it was about to fall apart at any time. Wang Yuan was almost vomited on the ship, but he still gritted his teeth and worked hard with ten boatmen to control the ship.

Eventually, the boat crossed the center of the river and successfully reached the opposite bank two miles downstream. This strange ship actually withstood the huge waves and torrents of the Yellow River, and successfully crossed it unharmed. It's just that everyone is exhausted because so much energy is expended.

But in any case, the feasibility of this scheme has been proven, and all that needs to be improved is some strapping methods and the arrangement of ships. The width is not enough, which leads to the possibility of subversion of the ship. At the wharf of the small fishing village on the other side, Wang Yuan discussed with Mr. Niu and Mr. Zhang, as well as other shipbuilders, to disassemble the boats and rearrange them to join and tie them, this time in a juxtaposition of the three boats to increase the width of the boats. Then the crowd set out again and crossed back from the other side. This time, it was obvious that the ship was much more stable, but even so, it took an hour of struggle to return to Dazhai.