The boatman turned around, and Yang Guangcai saw clearly that this was an old man in his sixties, his bronzed face was full of wrinkles, and in the early winter season of October, he was only wearing a coarse cloth shoulder on his upper body, and he was bare with two thick and powerful arms, but he didn't seem to feel cold at all. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Yu Xiaoren stood beside Yang Guang, listening to the old boatman's loud voice, he guessed that he was mostly behind his ears, but he didn't hear Yang Guang greet and greet him, so he hurriedly walked forward, walked to the old boatman's side, and said loudly in his voice: "Old man, we have all come from afar, and we haven't eaten yet, can you give us some of the fish grilled on the shelf?" ”

"Ah, you have to cross the river, no, no, today has missed the hour, tomorrow." The old boatman was really a little deaf, and mistakenly thought that Yu Xiaoren was asking him to cross the river with a few people, shook his head, and said loudly.

Yu Xiaoren wanted to solve the problem of hunger and satiety first, and then annoy the old boatman to cross the river with them, but when he heard the boatman mistakenly say that they had missed the time to cross the river today, he couldn't help but be anxious at the moment, turned around and pointed to the sun hanging high in the western sky, and argued to the old boatman: "You see, the sun is still high, why can't we cross the river today?" Don't worry, we will pay you the fare. ”

The old boatman heard it clearly this time, first pouted in the direction of the river, then pointed to the horses led by Yang Guang and others, and said loudly: "After noon, the waves here will be big, even if I can cross the river with a few of you, these horses will not be able to cross it anyway." If you're willing to leave these horses behind, we'll go now. As he spoke, he picked up a pair of oars on the ground next to him, and made a posture of crossing the river with a few people.

You must know that Yang Guang, as a prince and a prince, if he did not accept the Turkic prince's dyeing and giving away horses in Chang'an, he only had a big green donkey as a mount on weekdays. In the world of war, the price of a war horse is enough for a family of five to live a good life for ten or eight years. Because of this, Yu Xiaoren heard that the old boatman asked them to leave all their mounts, and only willing to cross the river, he was inevitably moved, and replied to him unceremoniously: "Even a fish is reluctant to give us food, good guy, this opening requires us to leave the horses, you old man, naked to guard this ferry, dare not to carry people for the ferry, but like a roadblock." ”

Although the old boatman's ears were not good, he heard Yu Xiaoren's words very clearly, and immediately threw the sculls in his hand to the ground, stretched out his hand to Yu Xiaoren angrily, and said: "I didn't say that you are like robbers, but you came to me?" If you want to eat fish, you can buy it with money. ”

Jiang Tuozi stood aside and listened for a long time, before he came up, bowed to the old boatman, and said with a smile: "Old brother, they are young, don't be surprised." We have a very important matter, and we will cross the river today, and I ask my brother to try to fulfill it. As for the fare, one horse is worth the fare of one person, what do you think? ”

The old boatman stared at Jiang Tuozi with a pair of bull's eyes, and saw that he was less than ten years younger than himself, and he was the eldest in Yang Guang's party, and he couldn't see his status and identity in this group of people from the way he dressed, only heard that he was going to take a horse to pay a person's fare, and then shook his head like a drum, and pointed at the gray donkey that Jiang Tuozi was riding with his hand, and asked him rhetorically: "You estimate and touch, just say that this donkey, in terms of weight, how many can you do?" Didn't I just say that today is the best time to cross the river, and if you want to cross the horse, you should find a place to stay for the night early, and cross the river tomorrow. ”

"Okay, brother, please give us some pointers, there is a place for people to stay and stay nearby." Jiang Tuozi thought in his heart, Duan Da and the others probably wouldn't have thought that they would turn around and head west when they left the north gate of Luoyang, even if they rested on the side of the river for a night, so they changed their words and asked the old boatman.

"Hey, isn't that it?" The old boatman pointed to the river with his hand and said with a smile, "The lodging money for one person and one night is to feed the horses, and the accounts will be settled." ”

Jiang Tuozi looked in the direction of his finger, but saw that there was nothing on the river except for two small boats moored in the water, and he heard the old boatman ask for such a high price of accommodation, even if he was well-informed, he inevitably felt a little unhappy at this time, and replied coldly with a stiff face: "We are only used to staying on land, and we can't live on a boat." Please make a bid, brother, if I want to take people and horses to the other side of the river today, how much money will I need to cross? ”

"According to me, at this hour, crossing a horse across the river must at least be worth the ferry money of all of you, and the two donkeys are lighter, so it is worth four people, and one person is counted as half a hanging, six people are three hangings, four horses are worth twenty-four, and two donkeys are worth eight people, which is four hangings, so that you only need to pay me nineteen hangings." The old boatman counted the ferry with his fingers on his fingers.

Zhang Xutuo held back a breath, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but approach Yang Guang, and said in a low voice: "Lord Wang, I don't think this old man is a good person, let's simply take the boat from him and row to the other side by ourselves." ”

Yang Guang also felt that the old boatman seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for himself and the others, so he turned around and quietly asked Zhang Xutuo: "In this big river, can you make a small boat?" ”

Zhang Xutuo shook his arms and replied as a matter of course: "It's nothing more than having the strength to do it, what can't be done." ”

Although the old boatman didn't hear the question and answer between Zhang Xutuo and Yang Guang, but after seeing that he had made a bid, Jiang Tuozi was worried about it, and he was silent, mistakenly thinking that he thought the price he offered was too high, so he turned around and pointed to the panting river and said: "It's not that I boast, once you miss my Mengjin ferry, it is more difficult to find another boatman who can cross the river with you and your horses within a radius of 100 miles." If you want to be too expensive, come early tomorrow, and I will only charge you eight dollars for people and horses. ”

According to the price level at that time, a penny was almost worth two months' rations for a Ding Zhuang man, and the old boatman in front of him, who was so poor that he couldn't even afford to wear cotton clothes, actually claimed unashamedly that even if he crossed the river again tomorrow, he would have to spend at least eight taels of money for the crossing.

Yang Guang was really angry with the old boatman, and glanced at Zhang Xutuo, who stretched out his hand to draw a knife, snatched two small boats from the old boatman, and rowed the boatman across the river by himself. Before he could draw the knife, An Ruoxi, who was standing not far behind him, had already opened his mouth to ask the old boatman: "Old man, why did we meet you here alone?" It's not far from the eastern capital, isn't there anyone living in a radius of dozens of miles nearby? ”

Yang Guang listened to An Ruoxi's question to the old boatman about what he was eager to know, so he hurriedly stopped Zhang Xutuo with his eyes and listened attentively.