The water of the vast canal flows slowly southward.

This Grand Canal, which has been dug from the Sui Dynasty and has lasted for thousands of years, has long become the most important artery in the north-south transportation of the Han family. Especially now that the Ming Dynasty follows the ancestral precepts and generally forbids the sea, water transportation is led by this, and its busyness is even higher than that of land routes.

Not only does freight rely on waterways, but also ships carrying passengers on the canal. Especially now that this spring day is just right, when everything is recovering, there are thousands of sails competing on the river, hundreds of boats competing for the current, looking down from the sky, it is like a huge loom with countless shuttles swinging back and forth.

However, the speed of these shuttles is also fast and slow, especially when the wind is not too strong, on the slightly calm water, the ship will suddenly come to a standstill, especially those large hulls, loaded with a large amount of cargo, even more snailing on the water, enough to make the cargo owner standing at the bow of the ship sweat profusely.

Of course, there are also ways to increase the speed of the boat, such as hiring a slender man on both sides of the canal to help pull the boat and drag it over the area where the current is gentle. However, the cost of the ship's owner will be doubled.

The emergence of the canal not only made the north-south transportation more convenient, but also gave birth to a large number of groups who lived by the river and relied on the river for food. In order to protect themselves, in order to negotiate with those merchants and even the government, and obtain greater benefits, this huge group naturally united in one place, so there was this world-famous big gang - Cao Gang.

This Cao gang has gradually taken shape since the Tang and Song dynasties, and in today's Ming Dynasty, it has become a civil force that the government and the court cannot underestimate. Because it has almost a monopoly on everything related to the canal – fiber pulling, dock handling, and even small freight ...... It has become half of the master of the canal, which has forced the government to rely on their power and turn a blind eye to some of their outrageous actions.

It is precisely because even the slender man is a member of the Cao gang that the price that the ship needs to pay to find someone to pull the fiber is quite low, and only those who are rich enough and in a hurry will throw money to order someone to pull a section.

Today, in the entire eastern section of the canal, there are only a few ships being pulled forward by the slender men shouting trumpets, and among them, there is only one merchant ship that is not full of goods, but a three-story building ship with carved railings and extremely luxurious buildings.

This ship doesn't seem to be as tall as those merchant ships, and there are not too many people on it, but there are more than twenty people, and they can't compare the weight with the cargo stacked high on those merchant ships. But judging from the look and movements of the slender man on the shore, it is clear that this building ship is far heavier than it seems.

Looking at the men on the shore who were barebacked, gritting their teeth, stretching the thin ropes of their arms, and moving forward desperately step by step, a middle-aged man dressed as a scribe at the bow of the boat sighed unconsciously: "Sailing like this, people can't bear to sit anywhere anymore." ”

Another scholar who was sitting at the same table with him nodded with emotion: "Yes, it turns out that the book said how Emperor Yang of Sui served the people of the world is not too clear, but now I just want to let 100,000 people pull fiber for one of them, and it can be said that the Sui Dynasty should die at his hands." ”

"Yes, this canal is no longer flowing in my eyes, but has turned into the blood and tears of the people on both sides of the river, I really can't bear to look at it." The third person shook his head and sighed again, looking compassionate.

If one takes a closer look at the behavior of these three people, they will find that when they talk about such topics of concern for people's livelihood, their eyes are more focused on the cabin above, but not much attention is actually cast on the shore, obviously their purpose is only to attract the attention of someone above.

And in the hatch of the ship on the first floor above them, there was also a table of wine and food at this time, but there were two young people present. One looks handsome and a little aristocratic lazy, while the other is handsome and more angular.

These two people are naturally Lu Zhen and Xu Chengzong, who got on the boat from Nantong Prefecture and went all the way south.

Xu Chengzong's boat is indeed magnificent, and there are many people with him. In addition to some of the people who served and protected him, there were actually three more scholars and scribes below. Those were all the talents who came here when he was in the capital and wanted to go to Nanjing to find opportunities, because he spoke pleasantly before, Xu Gongzi brought them with him.

At this time, the words that the following people specially said to him had already been transmitted, which made the corners of Xu Chengzong's mouth unconsciously take a trace of arc. In order to attract his attention, these people often said such words of worrying about the country and the people when they were in the capital, and they couldn't imagine that they could still express such emotion when they were walking on the canal now.

After taking a sip of wine with a smile, Xu Chengzong looked at Lu Jin: "Brother Lu, what do you think of these things in the outside world?" ”

Lu Jin's eyes swept outward, and he quickly took it back, picked up a chopstick dish with a smile and put it in his mouth, and only after eating it did he say, "I don't have much feeling about this." People always have to do things if they want to survive, they were born on the edge of the canal, and they have the strength to be a handmaker, so it's good to be a slender man. ”

Xu Chengzong sighed in some surprise, and then said, "Then don't you feel that they are a little bitter?" ”

"Whether it is bitter or not, only they know best in their own hearts. If they were forced, they might have suffered, but judging by their previous behavior when negotiating the price with the people on our boat, they couldn't see the slightest hardship. Lu Zhen said and laughed again: "In fact, compared to them, the border soldiers are really bitter, they need to practice day and night to guard them, not to mention, they may confront the Tartars who have committed the border at any time, and the salary may not be able to get it in full and in time." So I think these slender men are still quite good, at least they don't have to worry about their lives, and they can get paid immediately when they get to the ground, isn't it good? ”

"Hearing you say that, I envy them a little." Xu Chengzong couldn't help laughing: "Brother Lu, your angle of seeing things is indeed very different from others. ”

"It's not different, it's just that it's a different position when you look at things. Some people are always self-righteous and look at the people below from a high perspective, so they feel how hard they work, but in fact, do they really care about these lowly people in their hearts? Lu Jin's tone was a little sneering and he glanced down.

Xu Chengzong's eyes lit up: "Interesting, not only do you act differently from ordinary people, but your thoughts are completely different from these readers, I can't understand you more and more." ”

"It's just a superficial opinion, and it's not worth mentioning at all."

Xu Chengzong smiled, if what he said was a shallow view, then what did the people below say? However, as the master, he didn't want to let the people below get off the stage too much, so he changed the topic: "I heard someone talk about Emperor Yang of Sui just now, I don't know what Brother Lu thinks of him?" ”

"Emperor Yang of Sui?" Lu Jin was stunned for a moment, and then said solemnly: "This is a great king, but he was born at the wrong time, and as a result, he became the king of the dead country and was scolded by the world." ”

"What do you mean by that?" For a long time, people all over the world regarded Emperor Yang of Sui as a tyrant like a tyrant, and scholars constantly criticized him, but Lu Zhen was good enough to speak for him.

"The reason why Yang Guang is so infamous today is only because he is the king of the dead country. But is it really his fault? I don't think so, that's the inevitable result of the times at that time, Xu Gongzi, should you know what the situation was like before the Great Sui established by Yang Jian? It was a turbulent time under the confrontation between the north and the south for hundreds of years, and the lords of various families in various places were in control of the military power, and everyone wanted to be the king and emperor. Yang Jian is indeed eloquent and strategic, relying on various conspiracies and tactics to forcibly unify the world that has been divided for hundreds of years. However, can this really bring the hearts of people all over the world together?

"I thought it wasn't. They are just forced by the situation to compromise, but in fact, those people are still looking for an opportunity to rise again. And Yang Jian's death, coupled with Yang Guang's several failures in conquering Goryeo, as well as various large-scale projects, allowed these people to seize the opportunity. If Yang Guang had sensed their dissenting intentions earlier and stabilized the people in the government and the opposition first, perhaps the situation in the Great Sui would have been completely different. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Zhen smiled again: "In fact, how similar is the situation in the Sui Dynasty to the Great Qin a thousand years ago?" The same unified the world from hundreds of years of division, the same two died, and then there was a Han and Tang who came to pick peaches...... Therefore, it is not so much that Emperor Yang of Sui fell because of his brutality and unkindness, but rather because of the times at that time. ”

Xu Chengzong was stunned, Lu Jin's words were too beyond his twenty-odd years of cognition, and he didn't know how to react. In fact, Lu Jin's remarks are just some views of ordinary lovers in later generations, but now there is no so-called reversal of the case in hundreds of years, which is particularly novel.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen just smiled: "Let's talk about this canal again." Does Xu Gongzi really think that Emperor Yang of Sui spent countless money to dig this canal in order to go to Yangzhou for fun? No, he did all this in order to give the imperial court more control over the many counties in the south. The Yang family originated in the north and has always lacked a foundation for the south of the Yangtze River, so he started to dig a canal, in order to make the traffic smooth and transport the elite of the northern lineage to the south faster. The only mistake he made was to rush too far, and to take everything that took three or five generations to complete, and he thought that he could complete it with the strength of his own generation. In this way, under the instigation of those who lost the support of the people and those who were already intent on rebellion, the world was in chaos again. And this canal was finally regarded by the world as another proof of Emperor Yang of Sui's extreme desire for poverty and luxury! ”

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The new volume is opened, and I want a wave of support first!!!!!