In the lower reaches of the Yongji Canal, dozens of small warships of various sizes and mainly a water bandit unit docked on the shore, and the water bandits on the boat did not feel the tension of the fierce battle in the upper reaches of the Yongji Canal at all, and most of them gathered together in twos and threes, or bragging about cowhides from all over the world, or sitting around playing with a pu (gambling), without any guards and guards around, and it did not look like an army at all.

Among these dozens of warships, the most eye-catching is the two-story building in the center, 20 feet high, 100 zhang long luxury medium-sized dragon boat, this is the imperial dragon boat of the Great Sui Emperor, as well as those hulls are narrow and long, covered with raw cow skin, the two compartments are opened, and there are crossbow windows and spear holes on the left and right. It can be seen that with such a big hand, this is not an ordinary water bandit!

Speaking of Xu Yuanlang's family history, it can also be said to be the history of the development of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty.

In that year, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered the canal to be dug, and appointed Ma Shumou as the river superintendent, in the first year of the great cause to six years, before and after the use of millions of manpower and material resources, dug a west to Guanzhong, south to Guangdong, north to the North China Plain artificial canal, these artificial canals and natural rivers can be connected by the river to most of the area of the Great Sui Dynasty.

This Xu Yuanlang was a small river opener under Ma Shumou, and he participated in the excavation of the canal in Tongji Canal, Hangou, Yongji Canal, and Jiangnan Canal, and he couldn't be clearer about the situation of the canal.

Then, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty exhausted the domestic people's strength in Goguryeo with three expeditions, but prospered the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty built by himself, and Xu Yuanlang also made a fortune by relying on this Grand Canal, from a small river opener, and gradually climbed to the local real power faction in charge of Cao Yun.

In the end, the world was in turmoil, and the rebel armies from all over the country rose up one after another, and the Great Sui Dynasty fell into endless wars. And Xu Yuanlang simply transformed, from an illegal organization gang in charge of local transportation to a big gang of roving criminals. He often led his sailors to plunder and rob the merchant ships and passengers passing through the canal, and sometimes even the officers and soldiers dared to rob him, and he robbed the medium-sized dragon boat and the warship.

Over the years, Xu Yuanlang has also attached himself to many leaders of the rebel army, such as Liu Yuanjin, Lu Mingyue, Meng Rang, etc., but they all failed, and almost even worshiped Zhang Liu'er several times.

Now, the situation in the world has begun to change, after the competition of heroes from all walks of life, each region has gradually had the existence of a hegemon, and although Xu Yuanlang has been through many years, he has also collected a lot of outlaw water bandits, and has a water bandit army of more than 20,000 people, which is much stronger than ordinary thieves, but he also has to rely on Li Mi, a big prince, to survive and develop.

Xu Yuanlang is a water expert, he is not used to living a life of cramming into the city and developing step by step with peace of mind, he still likes to lead his sailors and wander around to commit crimes. Therefore, Xu Yuanlang led his troops to temporarily annex Li Mi's Wei army early, and often had nothing to do with his water bandit troops to wander in the Grand Canal, and this time it was also at Li Mi's order and Xu Shiji's invitation, he brought more than 20,000 water bandits to Yongji Canal to help in the war.

Despite this, years of experience in the world have made Xu Yuanlang more cunning. Never put his eggs in one basket, this is his experience, and the lessons and painful experience of blood and fire made Xu Yuanlang understand that in this troubled world, the army is the biggest capital in his hands, and as many troops as there are in his hands, he has as much right to speak, this is the reality.

Even in response to Li Mi's order and Xu Shiji's request for help, Xu Yuanlang is still lying in the bedroom on the second floor of the medium-sized dragon boat, served by two shy Jiangnan women, one left and one right, playing with Xu Shiren, a chivalrous guest from Rencheng, waiting for the military information from the front.

"Report~! The big boss, the Sui army began to throw stones to strike! ”

"Report~! The big boss, the Sui army began to build bridges! ”

"Report~! The big boss, the Sui army began to force the crossing! ”

"Report~! The big boss, the Sui army has successfully landed! ”

"Report~! The big boss, the Sui Army Sailor has been dispatched! ”

"Report~! The big boss, General Xu's fireship array did not work, and the Sui army was still constantly increasing troops to the other side! ”

Although from time to time heralds came in to report the situation, the two masters in the cabin did not have time to pay attention to the battle outside, they sat facing each other, and on each table was a pile as tall as a hill of money, and the two of them were busy with the gambling game.

Xu Yuanlang is of medium stature, with dark and shiny skin, but at the age of thirty or forty, because he walks on water all year round, his face is wrinkled by the wind. He didn't seem to care about the battle situation in the upper reaches of the Tongji Canal at all, his two rough big hands hugged left and right, enjoying the pieces of fruit handed over by the beauty in his arms with his jade fingers, and he was holding his breath and concentrating, waiting intently for Xu Shiren to place a bet.

Xu Shiren was dressed as a swordsman, with fine skin and tender meat, which was in stark contrast to Xu Yuanlang's rough appearance. Dressed in civilian clothes, with a turban and his hands tied, and a quaint sword pinned to his waist, he was staring at a chessboard in front of him with a frown, crisscrossed by seventeen squares, with descriptions of mountains, rivers, and dangerous valleys, and two horse-headed chess pieces were marching on this criss-crossing chessboard, towards the opposite finish line--- a grid drawn in the shape of a fortress. In his hand, he held five wooden dice seeds, which shook loudly in his hand, and his lips trembled slightly.

What the two are playing now is the most popular gambling item in the gambling house, that is, the Pupu, which is said to have been made by Lao Tzu when he entered the Guguan River, and is very popular among the Hu people in the north. With the Wuhu Chaohua, this drama was also introduced to the Central Plains and became the most popular gambling method.

This game is similar to the later Ludo chess games, where two people each control a piece to move forward and win by reaching the end. The number of squares to walk is determined according to the number of points thrown by the five woods in the hand, that is, the five dice.

There are five dice used in the cattail, some black and some white, one of the three black faces is painted with a calf, called a calf, and on the three white surfaces, there is also a white side with a pheasant, called a pheasant, and the five dice are called "five woods".

They can be combined into six different permutations, which are six colors.

Among them, the all-black one is called "Lu", which is the highest color, the four black and one white one is called "pheasant", second to Lu, and the remaining four are called "owl" or "calf", which is variegated color.

There are five permutations and combinations of owls, lu, pheasants, calves, and plugs. If you throw it to the expensive color, you can throw it in a row, or hit the horse, or pass the level, but the miscellaneous color cannot.