"Boom ......" A huge impact came from the penny in his hand, Li Kuan almost couldn't hold it, and the raft was carried out of the water with a bang.

"Who? What kind of hero is a sneak attack from behind! Li Kuan glanced at the arrow feathers that were still trembling on the penny, and turned his head sharply to look in the direction where the arrow was fired.

There was a tall man dressed in sackcloth, standing on a small mound not far from the river, with a strong bow in his hand, staring at the river. At first glance, Li Kuan seems to be a little familiar, but for a while he can't remember who it is, but now he is beyond the reach of the whip, this section of the Fen River is not wide, it is only a few tens of meters wide and less than a hundred meters, but Li Kuan is still so far from the bank There is still a width of more than ten meters, this distance plus the distance of the mound from the river is 100 meters, unless Li Kuan also has a strong bow in his hand, otherwise there is no threat to that man. 、

"If you have to spare people and spare people, why kill them all?" The man said loudly, and the bow in his hand opened again, forming an inexplicable threat to Li Kuan.

"You are nosy, you don't know where these robbers were when they tried to take my ship, and now I have the upper hand, but let me spare them, and you know that there are people boarding the ship over there, and their plan is about to succeed. Do you know what's on board? Li Kuan was so angry that his lungs were about to explode, where did this guy come from, what kind of big-tailed wolf did he pretend, you must know that there are dozens of eight-bull crossbows on the ship, if he is accused by these people, then Li Kuan can only flee in the wilderness, the arrows shot by this siege machine are like spears, and they will be injured if they rub it. Nail it and die.

"But you can't kill them all! These are my people of the Tang Dynasty, and these people are doing something wrong, and there is also "Tang Law" to bear their sins and deeds, how can you let you kill them without knowing anything. Those guys can't get on the boat! The man on the shore put down his bow and arrows, and one of them burst through the air, and with a roar he went in the direction of the great ship, and nailed it to the edge of the ship, where the little gang members who wanted to get on board were climbing up, and the top hand was already reaching the edge of the deck, but he saw the arrow less than two inches above his head. Suddenly a cold sweat broke out. If you go a little further down, you'll have to shoot his head straight out.

"Then I'll listen to you!" When Li Kuan saw the arrow hit the edge of the boat, he agreed. This man stood so far away. I can't do anything about him, since I can take the ship back peacefully like this, why bother fighting. So he happily carried the raft back to the river, ready to lead the crew he had hired. Went to sail the boat. This batch of grain must be transported to the disaster area as soon as possible, otherwise I am afraid that there will be extraneous branches.

On the shore, Li Kuan turned his head to look at the man standing on the mound, his linen clothes were covered with a lot of patches, his face was full of beard, and his hair was messy, as if he hadn't taken care of his personal hygiene for a long time, and he was very sloppy. But in him, Li Kuan felt a very familiar temperament. How to put it, it's iron-blooded. Like a soldier's temperament, this temperament is also very strong in Li Er, even if he is now the respect of a country, but the experience of half a life of Na Rong Ma has long said that this temperament is engraved in his bones, and he can't get rid of it.

"You were a soldier?" Li Kuan asked.

"It used to be, but now it's just a wild man in the mountains, thank you for sparing these people!" The Han is extremely tall, and there are only a few people who can be taller than him among the people Li Kuan knows, these people are all fierce generals in the army, without that strong body, how can they fight a way out of the army?

"A person like you is definitely not a nobody, I am afraid that the bow just now has five stones! How will it be decommissioned? Li Kuan was very puzzled, such a warrior will definitely be promoted soon in the army, no matter how bad he is, he will become a full-time marksman, such a shooter is a treasure in the army, and those who can open a five-stone bow can already be called a condor shooter, and they have a very high status in the army and are treated very well.

"Don't talk about the past! Although you are a small man, you are really good at kung fu, and this ship is a warship! You're also in the military? "The linen clothes on the man's body are full of cuts, which are hung by all kinds of branches and thorns when walking in the mountains and forests.

"I'm not a soldier yet, but soon I will!" Li Kuan didn't intend to hide it, his plan to invite Ying to the battlefield had already begun to germinate before the first year of Zhenguan, but he was too young to make the trip.

"Have we met?" Li Kuan was about to take his group of sailors to sail the boat, but he really felt that the person in front of him was somewhat familiar, and asked again.

"What's the difference between seeing and not seeing? We're just a little bit of a meeting! Let's go, although I don't know what's on this ship, but as you are, I will personally go on this trip, it seems that it is really important, and I will not delay you! The Mai man's eyes flashed with a vicissitudes, and he replied loudly.

"You!" Li Kuan wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start, so he had to turn around and leave.

The raft took a dozen small boats, rowed towards the big boat in the center of the river, ready to board the boat, down the Fen River, after reaching the Yellow River, it was not far from Luoyang, and when it arrived in Luoyang, there was no problem.

When he was about to board the boat, Li Kuan suddenly recalled who the man was, so he stood on the raft and turned around and shouted to the shore: "Your brother misses you very much, go back to Chang'an and have a look!" ”

On the shore, the sackcloth-shirted man's body shook suddenly, a painful look flashed in his eyes, and his fists clenched tightly: "Thank you for reminding me, I will go back when I have time!" As he spoke, he wanted to turn around and leave. Because he didn't want people to see his sad appearance, he didn't know how he came over in the past few years, that shame, that failure made his pride all shattered, and he decided to hide in the mountains and forests, but he didn't expect to meet this person.

"When are you going back? I'll bring you a letter! General Xue! Li Kuan shouted out his identity, which immediately made the footsteps of the sack-shirted man leaving.

He turned around and looked at the little figure standing on the raft: "You don't have to worry about this, Xue will naturally go back when he wants to go back, and my eldest brother will bother you to notify him and let him know that Xue is alive and well!" As he spoke, he strode away.

"General Xue, Li will definitely live up to his trust! It's just that if your brother asks, where should I go to find you? Li Kuan shouted loudly.

"On Taihang Mountain, Xuejiazhai!" The sackcloth man left a sentence and floated away.

This man who stopped Li Kuan and helped him recapture the big ship, that is, Xue Wanche, who was captured by Li Kuan before the Xuanwumen Change, and then let go by Li Er, has not been heard from since then, I didn't expect to be on Taihang Mountain, I don't know whether it is the grass for Kou or the mountain for the king, but he looks like he is not very happy, a linen shirt, tattered, full of wind and dust, he looks heroic and hearty, but he is actually down-and-out.

Although Li Kuan wanted to leave him behind, he didn't know what to say, this famous general of the early Tang Dynasty in history would end up at this point and had a direct relationship with him, and neither of them wanted to mention those past events.

The big ship lifted anchor and went downstream along the Fen River, and this giant battleship occupied almost half of the river, and went all the way down.

The speed of the current, coupled with the sailors on the boat rowing the oars, the speed is fast, and it is almost to the Yellow River in one day, as long as you enter the Yellow River, then Luoyang is far away, and the hope of the people of the Tang Dynasty is on this big boat.

I don't know how the locust plague ended in the end, perhaps because the people were strained in food and clothing, and the grain mobilized from other places was on the road, and it would probably take some time for them to travel all the way, and Li Kuan came out for more than half a month, which was not enough for them to transport grain to the disaster area.

Land transportation can only lead to the narrow official road of Guò, ox carts, stretching for several miles, dozens of miles, the ancient golden bull road, Jiannan plank road, these places are all a little careless to fall into the abyss of the dangerous path, to transport grain can be imagined.

Along the way, countless people of the Tang Dynasty stopped to watch when they saw this big boat on the riverside. The cold and shining corners, the daunting skulls, have become the focus of these people's discussions, and the government along the way also sent people to check, Li Kuan had no choice but to take off his disguise, hang his identity token on the bow of the ship, and stand at the bow of the ship in a brocade robe. A dragon robe grinned in the river breeze, the hairpin in his hair was removed by him, and his long hair flew and stood at the bow of the boat like a sculpture.

Those sailors were already stunned when Li Kuan walked out of the cabin after changing his clothes, this is still a child, he fought endlessly with countless thieves on the river before, and the wielding tiger and tiger penny was deeply imprinted in their minds, I didn't expect the age to be so young, is this God joking? And the brocade robe and the dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging on the bow of the boat show the identity of this child, this is the child of the royal family, a little prince.

So all the sailors of the ship fell to their knees, and all their curiosity to open the closed hatch and see what was inside was pressed in the depths of their hearts. In fact, the royal things can be coveted by these people, and it is better to drive the ship honestly.

Luoyang, the second most prosperous city in the Tang Dynasty, cannot even be compared with Yangzhou, which is the largest city in the Tang Dynasty except for Chang'an. Now the population has reached 600,000, although it is not comparable to the 800,000 people in Chang'an, it is also very remarkable in this era. This place is intended to be built as the second capital of the empire, the emperor's palace, the minister's official residence, these things are there, but these places are not inhabited now, and they are all just guarded and cleaned by some subordinates.

At the same time, Luoyang also has the most developed water transportation in the Tang Dynasty, the former Sui Yang Emperor Yang Guang originally connected some of the canals that existed in the Spring and Autumn Period, and directly built here, and connected to Zhuo County in the north, which is now the capital of the Celestial Empire. This is also an important basis for those historians to criticize Yang Guang, this canal is completely built on the bones of the people, but it is undeniable that this canal has also strengthened the communication between the north and the south, and does not only rely on people to pick up horses. In short, there are pros and cons, and it is undeniable that this has also made Luoyang's water traffic reach a certain level, at least Li Kuan's big ship can dock here. (To be continued......)