This grand and solemn send-off ceremony conveyed a lot of important information.

The Long Dai tribe is a large tribe in the ascending period, and the tribe can be said to be united as one. Opening up the Mekong River channel is a matter of life and death for the company. The infinite expectant gaze of the elders and the people made Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao unforgettable and moved, and they felt a heavy burden on their shoulders.

They also had a full understanding of the danger and difficulty of the voyage.

The galleons were loaded with cargo, all of which were wooden cargo ships common in the Mekong River, with a full load of 80 tons each, and a 135-horsepower diesel engine drove the propellers. Longji's large fleet mainly ran the entire Mekong River basin between the mouth of the Kowloon River in Hoi Sai and Annam.

And Xishuangpanna, which runs from Huisai to China, is the upper waterway of the Mekong River. In this section of the river, in the early eighties of the last century, it was very difficult for eighty-ton cargo ships to sail. The small fleet of small cargo ships of twenty or thirty tons is mainly responsible for running this section.

From Huitan to Xishuangpanna, the riverbed is mostly composed of primary bedrock or sand pebbles, and the channel is curved and narrow, with turbulent currents, whirlpools, and reefs. The width of the river gradually shrinks from top to bottom, and the width of the river is generally 50 meters during the dry season, and only 25 meters at the narrowest point.

During the high season, the channel is blurred and the current is turbulent, and the flood often submerges the reef in the middle of the river, and if the ship does not navigate properly, it may run into the reef. In the dry season, when the flow of the water is constant, the Mekong Bambario water is wide and shallow, which can easily lead to the stranding of ships. At its shallowest level, the water is only about one meter deep.

In order to ensure safety, several large boats in Longji, with bridges and sides of the boat all the way to the underwater, were wrapped in iron plates to keep bullets out. This thin iron sheet is okay against pistol and submachine gun bullets, rifle and machine gun bullets, which can be easily penetrated at close range. On both sides of the largest main cabin on the big ship, there are double layers of iron sheets, which can block machine gun bullets.

Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao lived in the most spacious main cabin on the ship, and the two tribal girls made tea for them. They couldn't stay in the cabin, so they went to the deck from time to time to try to help. But the boatmen are doing their jobs, and they can't get their hands on it. So, the two of them simply set up Go on the deck amid the rumbling sound of the machine.

Mei Xue and Su Ji first sat on the side of the board and watched the scenery on both sides of the river, chatting in Lancang language. Later, he also sat next to them on the deck and quietly played chess with them.

Two tribal maids, who were only fourteen or fifteen years old, kept peeling fruits, peeling bananas, and adding tea to them.

Yu Songyuan asked Mei Xue and Su Ji in Chinese, "Will you also go down?" The two girls seemed to understand what he meant, and shook their heads shyly. But the naughty expression is clear, you can learn if you teach us, and we are willing to learn.

The Mekong River stretches from Vientiane to Taqu in a large semicircle, along the border between Lancang and Siam, and begins to head south. In fact, the vast majority of the border between Lancang and Siam is bordered by the Mekong River.

The Mekong River originates in China's Tibetan Plateau and is nearly 4,900 kilometers long. Counting from the border of the Lancang River in China to the mouth of the Jiulong River in Annam, it is nearly 2,100 kilometers long in the Indochina Peninsula of South Asia. It is not only an important irrigation river in South Asia, but also the main water transportation route of the South Asian delta.

Indochina is located in the tropics, and there are no four seasons here. In a year, there are only two seasons, one is the rainy season and the other is the dry season. October is still the end of the rainy season, and it rains all the time, as if once or twice a day. The Mekong River is still in the peak season, and boating is particularly smooth.

The mountain peaks, rainforests, palms, coconut palms, plantains, bamboo seas on both sides of the river, the large waterwheels, bamboo buildings, and houses on the riverside water, the fishing boats, small passenger ferries and cargo boats that come and go, and the canoes that cast nets on both sides of the river, etc., are full of poetry and picturesqueness, such as a tranquil landscape painting, and its scenery can be comparable to the Three Gorges in China.

By the time the ship arrived at Bamba Tui City, it was already late in the evening, and the fleet had dropped anchor. Mei Xue and Su Ji got up and went around the cabin, then rushed back into the cabin, twisted their ears, and dragged them out of the cabin.

The Mekong River here is about seven or eight hundred meters wide, the river surface is wide, chaotic and yellow, and the soup is mighty. In the sky, a rainbow appeared in the red glow. In the distance, the setting sun was like a huge fireball, falling into the forest. Although it is impossible to have a "lonely smoke in the desert" here, this wide river and the magnificent scenery of the sunset are still breathtaking.

Yu Songyuan suddenly had an incomparable sense of closeness to South Asia, and he sighed in his heart that one day, when this place is too peaceful, this magnificent evening view of the great river will surely become an overseas tourist destination for Chinese citizens.

The big ships were moored on the shore, and they were joined together by gangs. The kitchen was on the last boat, and while the tribal warriors were cooking, the two girls were still not far from Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao. When the meal was ready, Mei Xue and Su Ji helped the maid to set up the meal sent by the boatman, and then started the meal with Yu Songyuan, Lin Tao, Long Ji and Lao Zhou.

"Oh my God, there are so many mosquitoes here." Yu Song said with annoyance.

"It's only evening, and more in the evening and at night. On the surface of the water, there are not only mosquitoes, but also all kinds of small insects, small bites, and a handful of them. There are only December to February of the following year, and there are fewer mosquitoes throughout the year. Longi explained.

There are especially many mosquitoes on the water, so they rest on the boat at night, and everyone becomes a good meal for mosquitoes. Although everyone slapped it with a large plantain fan from time to time, it was still impossible to prevent it. In addition to mosquitoes, the Mekong River at night is dark and swarthy, and countless bats fly over the water. More small black flying insects, some like flies, bite a bite, and immediately pick up a big bag, red, swollen and tickle.

Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao watched the night view of the Mekong River in the moonlight on the deck, Mei Xue and Su Ji took two handmaidens to pour tea for them, used a fan to repel mosquitoes and flying insects, and carried a bamboo tube to pour water for them to wash.

At bedtime, Yu Songyuan slept under the mosquito net. This is the largest cabin on the ship, with three mosquito nets on three sides. Lin Tao was about to get into the mosquito net next to him, but Yu Songyuan stopped him, "Let's sleep together, the other two are theirs!" ”

"Are you sure there's a lot of tension on the ship?"

"Since it's covering us, we must sleep in a cabin, and there are two little ones, where do you let them sleep?"

The two of them lay down, and Mei Xue and Su Ji also washed themselves, and even quietly got into the cabin. The two little maids entered the cabin at the least, and they turned on the lanterns, and then wore collarless blouses and skirts, and thus got into the mosquito nets beside them. Amid the sound of squirming and undressing, the four of them were talking quietly at first, but soon fell silent.

The mosquito net is made of jacaranda cloth, but you can still see the outside clearly. Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao closed their eyes, they didn't dare to peek at the four girls changing their clothes under the lamp in the tent. It's beautiful, but it's a bit thrilling. Soon the fatigue hit, and the two fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Yu Songyuan and the others were still asleep, and the fleet began to continue sailing.

Yu Songyuan was woken up by the sound of rustling again, and it turned out that it was already dawn. The two little maids got out of the mosquito net first, and they were still children, so they put on their own clothes, and then quickly wrapped the small tube skirt around the waist of the little man, and with a simple pull on the right side of the waist, the two of them climbed out of the cabin.

After a while, Mei Xue and Su Ji got dressed before they got out of the mosquito net and climbed onto the deck.

"Boss, you're going to kill me, it's too fucking frustrating. It was so late that I was so scared that I didn't dare to move, and I finally fell asleep. ”

"Bear with me, I'm just like you, I can't be so beastly and directly throw people down to the Fa."

"Anyway, if it's like this, I can't guarantee that I won't have a bestiality attack......"

"If you really want to be such a beast, try it if you're brave enough. There are tens of thousands of people in the tribe, and this is the daughter of the elder, the princess of the tribe, see that they don't tear you to pieces. Besides, people can't make mistakes again and again. Let me give you an idea, you treat Su Ji as your sister Lin Dongyu, otherwise everything will be OK! Yu Songyuan said, put on his clothes and walked out of the cabin.

Yu Songyuan's words were not light or heavy, which made Lin Tao's ears warm. But what can I do, I have a lot of handles, and I hold them in the hands of a few brothers.

On both sides of the river are independent, tall green hills, covered with various plants, reflected in the water, and the scenery is unique. After sailing for about two hours, the green hills, rice fields, woods, and cottages on the banks of the river seemed to be motionless. When I arrived at the outskirts of Beishan City, I turned to the south and there were more and more villages near the river.

It is very interesting that in many villages near the river, the villagers' stilted buildings are simply built on the water surface of the bank, and several large wooden pillars support the stilted buildings high in the air, away from the water. Next to the stilted buildings of many people's homes, there are one or two small wooden boats tethered.

Behind the village is a rice field with no end in sight. The breeze blows, and the rice is surging.

Mei Xue and Su Ji took two little maids, carrying bamboo tubes and waiting for them to finish washing, and just arrived in the cabin to sit down, Lao Zhou came in and said, "It's almost time for the bandits to haunt the place, and the weapons are under the cabin." ”

Seeing that they were puzzled, Mei Xue lifted a deck, and sure enough, in the bilge below, there were four or five rifles and pistols, and two small boxes of various bullets. They pressed all the guns into bullets, and Lao Zhou said, "Generally, the gun is not moved, but there are also those who don't understand the rules, so they can only fight!" It is estimated that this trip will definitely not be peaceful, the four boats are heavily loaded, and many people will be red-eyed. ”

"You use this weapon? What are these bandits doing? Lin Tao asked.

"It's complicated." Lao Zhou gave a detailed account of the situation of the bandits along the way. The bandits in Lancang are complex, and they are all the after-effects of years of war. There are not only the remnants of the "special forces" of the former Wang Bao and Miao people, but also the remnants of the armed forces during the French colonial rule, and even the scattered armed and scattered personnel of the local oppressed tribes, as well as some armed people in the riverside villages that make a living from it.

These bandits generally preach "rules" and give a little money to get out of the way. The money earned by running boats basically fell into their pockets. The most terrifying thing is the stragglers in Siam, who fought a major battle in Honsawwady at the beginning of the year with the Shan Gang 'People's Liberation Army' and the Communist Party of Burma's Nanwa guerrillas. As a result, the ranks were crippled and scattered, and many stragglers became ferocious "bandits".