On the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, Li Xiang's three boats arrived at the mouth of the lake. Looking south at the vast Poyang Lake, Li Xiang sighed, "It's no different from Dongting Lake, you can't see the edge at a glance", and continued to sail.

On the twenty-sixth day of the first month, Li Xiang arrived in Anqing. The fleet was followed by two sand boats, and Old Man Zhang went on board to inspect the medicinal herbs and cloth. There was still room for the five ships, and Fang Weiliang, Zhang Qingping, and Da Niu went into the city to buy grain and coarse salt, and filled the five ships to the brim.

On the 28th day of the first lunar month, five fully loaded ships arrived at the port of Wuhu, passed through the middle of the merchant ships, boats, passenger ships, and warships that were frightened and avoided, and stopped at the wharf in a staggering manner.

Zhang Qingping, whose face was dark, ignored the ridicule of Yang Yingdong and Liu Sheng, and forced his spirit out of the cabin, pushed away the dock officials who greeted him, and found a place to vomit. Yang Yingdong and Liu Sheng checked the surrounding situation on their own, and took a few of the best village owners to guard a foothold.

The temperature in the south of the Yangtze River rises faster, and the Yangtze River is still a little wet and cold, but the land under the direct sun is warm and comfortable. Those who have the conditions to wear fur may feel uncomfortable. Unlike during the day, Gangnam at night is surrounded by a clammy and cold atmosphere. Except for the gentry and wealthy businessmen, ordinary people can only shrink their bodies, looking forward to the early arrival of spring.

Li Xiang stepped out of the cabin and was stabbed in the eye by the sun.

The temperature and humidity of the river and the land are different, and they are competing with each other. Li Xiang sneezed twice, and then lifted his feet onto the board of the boat and stepped onto the stable dock. In order to help his father-in-law, he had to deal with the gentry, wealthy businessmen, officials, and military generals.

Although the little official who was pushed away by Zhang Qingping was embarrassed, he was not annoyed, who let this gang of fierce guys in front of him have money, and the adults have instructions to ask for it. Seeing Li Xiang approaching surrounded by strong guards, the official surnamed Ximen stepped forward and arched his hand, "Dare to ask Your Excellency, is it General Liu Chengdong's son-in-law, Li Xiaoying?" ”

Li Xiang approached quickly, and politely hugged his fist at this official who was not tall or short, with a white face and a slightly chubby face, "Yes, it is Li Xiang below, dare to ask what the lord commands?" ”

"It's just a meal under the hands of the adult in the transfer, what kind of adult is ......it" The official surnamed Ximen introduced himself, and waved his hand politely, "The envoy has been waiting here for a long time, if it is convenient for Li Xiaoying, please clean it up as soon as possible, and go down to see the envoy How about it?" ”

Compound surname Simon? Li Xiang was stunned. Not long ago, he heard that Liang Shanbo had made a big fuss in the three state capitals, and he remembered the plot of the Water Margin in the original time and space. Now that he has seen the Ximen family with his own eyes, Li Xiang teased in his heart: I wonder if this Ximen official's family has a single heir with a single Qingzi, and has he ever engaged in someone else's Pan Jinlian?

Hearing that General Han Shizhong, who was sitting in Jiangnan, was looking for him, Li Xiang suppressed that little bit of low-level interest, and said solemnly: "The boy is grateful to make the adults worry about his father-in-law, how dare he delay a little." Wait for the kid to arrange a few words, and then follow the adults to set off. ”

Li Xiang instructed Fang Weiliang to transport the materials to Xuancheng, and then instructed Old Man Zhang to hurry up and cut, mix, and pack the medicinal materials, and also instructed Lei Lei to take people to buy wood and add gun barrels to the more than 700 steel gun heads hidden in the cabin. The rough and brave Liu Sheng and the vomiting Zhang Qingping left behind with most of Zhuang Ding, one to escort supplies, and the other to seize the time to restore Zhuang Ding's strength.

After arranging all this, Li Xiang took Ding Shihang, Fang Weiliang, and seven personal guards to set off and take a speedboat to Huzhou Daying.

The three cities of Huzhou, Guangde and Changxing, like the three vertices of a triangle, firmly contained the Yongle Dynasty. The rebels never invaded the west of Taihu Lake, and Li Xiang's clipper boat was able to navigate the intact and busy canal system.

Why is Jiangnan rich, why is it full of culture, and why is it loved by literati and writers of all ages? The servants hired by the government shouted neatly rocking the oars, and Li Xiang thought about what he saw along the coast, and the doubts in his heart quickly dissipated.

Jiangnan should be rich, and if you are not rich, there is no heavenly reason!

There are streams, rivers, lakes, canals, rice paddies everywhere, mulberry gardens, embroidery and weaving mills...... In the vast area east of Jiankang, Ma'anshan, and Wuhu, a family of eight planted a few acres of paddy fields, and the women spun and embroidered during the slack time, and the men in charge of the family worked, and the monthly income was five to ten times. Such a family has accumulated for seven or eight years, and as long as there is no catastrophe, they can always provide for one or two literate children. In two years, as long as the family can have a reputation, or open a workshop, the foundation of the small rich family will be there.

The sun on the west slope reflects the canal paddy fields and blue brick houses.

On both sides of the canal, from time to time, women in laundry and laundry sang slang songs. It was not uncommon for peasant children in thick clothes to run around the riverbank, and they were not afraid of the boats of the officers and soldiers. The old man led his adult children and grandchildren, repaired his paddy fields, touched a few handfuls of soil, and then walked home, ready to take out ploughs, hoes and other farm tools to polish.

The plan of the year lies in the spring.

Li Xiang's personal guards on the clipper boat, all of them were born in the north of the Xiangyang-Huai River, how have they ever seen such a prosperous "countryside"?

Li Xiang brought seven personal guards, the youngest was twenty years old, and the oldest was twenty-five years old. The youngest guard, lost all his family in the process of fleeing. He compared the wealth here with the poor ravine in his hometown, and he was a little suspicious of life, and the toes in his shoes kept hooking, and he wondered in his heart: Is this really Da Zhou? What is my hometown?

The clippers used by the officers and soldiers to deliver the news passed one stone bridge after another. The official surnamed Ximen took Li Xiang and the others ashore twice, and then changed boats and moved forward. Whether it's a canal or a lake, all the boats, fishing boats, and cargo ships have to make way for this clipper. When the sunset was still shining and the milk swallows returned to the nest, Li Xiang and others passed by Yixing City at the beginning of the lanterns and slid into Taihu Lake.

Looking back at the exit of the canal, Li Xiang estimated the distance. He was shocked to find that they had traveled three hundred miles in two and a half hours by alternating clippers in the Jiangnan waterway. Considering the busyness of the canal system, Li Xiang scolded the unscrupulous media of the original time and space in his heart: Who said that the ancient times were backward?!

The slightly wet and cold surface of Taihu Lake is scattered with pieces of firefly-like light spots. When I looked closer, I realized that it was actually a fleet of ships, with pointed bottoms and flat bottoms, square heads and round heads, and single masted and double masts...... Cargo ships, boats, sea vessels, and mule and horse boats of different shapes and loads are moored together, swaying slightly with the surface of the water.

Li Xiang's fast boat lit a lantern and beat a gong to pass through the first fleet of ships to reinforce Jiangnan, like a deer leaving home to break into a herd of fierce beasts. Li Xiang raised his head and carefully observed every type of ship he had never seen, and before he knew it, his eyes were wet.

……

From Wuhu to the water up 3,000 miles.

On the surface of the Han River, ice water and water vapor are intertwined to create a short stay of the inverted spring cold. Two of the most ordinary cargo ships brushed the water and slid into the mist.

Two hours later, the bright moon set east and went to Hangjiawan, seventy miles away. With an iron hook in his hand and iron claws in his arms, Shen Lao Ying landed ashore with three lean and fierce men who were also masked.

After crossing two mountain ranges, Shen Lao Ying came to a small recess covered with gravel and met a trafficker surnamed Chen. After the code provided by Wang San, Shen Lao Ying raised his head and squinted at the small leader of the traffickers opposite.

Chen Jiaxing, a stinking trafficker, was cursed by countless people behind him and could not die well, and cut off his children and grandchildren, and the big mole on his face was very appropriate. This scumbag who sells people for a living is used to being despised and spurned, and he is not annoyed at all when he is stared at by a "big man" like Shen Laoying.

Stretch out your hand and don't hit the smiling person, Chen Jiaxing firmly believes in this life motto. is already thin and small, and even bends over, Chen Jiaxing is like a big prawn, licking his face and saying: "Dare to ask if it is a good man in Mingyuezhuang, oh no, look at my mouth." Dare to ask, is it the adult of Mingyuezhuang? ”

"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Shen Lao Ying saw the mole on Chen Jiaxing's face, and resisted the urge to kick him to death, "Twenty-five boys, seventeen girls." Thirteen boys, eleven girls. It's all up to you, according to what I said before, each prefecture will arrange at most one, and try to find someone with a solid family to adopt. ”

"How many copper coins you get, it's all yours, don't die a single one, do you understand? If something goes wrong, your father, daughter-in-law, and more than a dozen children won't be able to escape! ”

Chen Jiaxing, who looked very obscene and ridiculous, suddenly straightened his body, staring at Shen Lao Ying fiercely, like a different person, holding a sharp knife with a snowflake pattern, looking a little imposing, "Adults can trample on it, but they can't threaten the family members below." ”

Although the three good players behind Shen Eagles secretly scolded Shen Eagles for being troublesome, they didn't want to show their cowardice in front of outsiders, so they took out their weapons and set up a scene. Most of Chen Jiaxing's subordinates are crooked melons and cracked dates, showing off their guys without fear at all, and some of them even whistle twice, which should be the unique code words of human trafficker gangs.

Kidnappers, meteor hammers, rusty whips, missing horns, dirty iron forks...... Shen Laoying clenched the iron hook handed down by his master, put on a posture, carefully looked at Chen Jiaxing's subordinates, and gave a pertinent evaluation in his heart: the weapons are messy, and it is rare that he has a fierce aura, and he must often fight with people.

The morning light is approaching, but the atmosphere is gradually becoming solemn.

Chen Jiaxing looked at Shen Lao Ying for a long time without showing any fear, and then he threw away his weapon and returned to his lowly and obscene appearance, "Talk about business, just talk about business, what do you do that is boring?" Mingyuezhuang handed over such a big business to the next, and it must be completed well in the next, and I will never dare to miss the affairs of the adults in Mingyuezhuang. ”

Shen Lao Ying got the steps, sneered and left, thinking: This Chen Jiaxing is interesting, I want to talk to Gongzhong, and I can find him if there is anything to do in the future. No, it can't be called pickling, it's something you can't do.

Calling the waiting personnel on the boat, Shen Laoying and the others left the two ships directly and returned to Mingyuezhuang by land. Chen Jiaxing and his group escorted the unkempt women who had been prepared for a long time, took them directly into the cabin, asked them to take care of the crying baby, and quickly drove away. Under Li Xiang's strict orders, the babies and dolls who were saved in the retaliation are about to start a new life.

At night, somewhere on the Han River.

The crooked mouth that has followed Chen Jiaxing for many years sold a baby boy to a few guys dressed as servants in Tsing Yi, and returned to the boss, "Chen Tou'er, those guys in Mingyuezhuang are too arrogant, and they are still masked one by one. Humiliation, humiliation is too much. ”

Chen Jiaxing smiled bitterly, tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, shook his head and said: "Anyone like us who knows, how can anyone not despise and insult." I heard that Li Xiang, the owner of Yuezhuang, had a mysterious origin, but he always kept his word, and these children on the ship should be the heirs of the enemy. ”

"Near Xunyang Shiyan, the displaced people who were killed and scattered some time ago looted and killed people everywhere. I think there must be people from Mingyuezhuang fishing in troubled waters, and the children and babies in the boat can also come from the right place. ”

Hearing the crooked mouth ask if he wanted to sell this kind of news to the big families who hated Mingyuezhuang, Chen Jiaxing slapped the crooked mouth's head, "Stupid, want to kill the whole family?" If it is not good for us, human traffickers will always be human traffickers, and they will always be spurned upon. ”

"We are walking the dog road, and we can't be human anymore, but our wives and children can be human beings. The enemy's heirs can be tolerated, it seems that the owner of Li Xiang Zhuang is indeed trustworthy and generous enough, so let's do things well. The gentry and the ordinary people think we are dirty, so let's get the consent of Mingyue Zhuang Gongzhong to open a workshop or something on the side of the Han River, and our wives and children will have a place to go. ”

"Let's let our daughters-in-law and children really be people!"