The dark canal water, the snow-capped banks, the boat to the north, to the north - at dusk, Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng and Jinnige, who had translated "Aesop's Fables" for a day, sat in the cabin to rest, drinking tea, eating snacks, and watching the snow. King Henry IV admired this gun and wanted to promote it in the army, King Henry was assassinated five years ago, and the French generals did not trust this new type of musket, and the ramming flintlock pistol was snubbed - Zhang Yuan wanted to try the power of this flintlock pistol, but there was no ammunition in the wooden box, asked Kinney Pavilion, Kinny Pavilion smiled, went back to the cabin and took out a cowhide bag from his luggage, there were more than a dozen projectiles slightly smaller than pigeon eggs, heavy, Zhang Yuan checked it, this projectile is about half a tael, the diameter of the projectile is about the same as the caliber of the barrel, Jinnige stuffed a projectile into the barrel of the gun, stabbed the projectile to the end with a strip, stuffed it tightly, put a piece of polished flint on the hammer jaw, and said with a smile: "Does Zhang Gongzi want to try to fire a shot?" ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "Will this barrel explode, it is said that the musket often explodes, so that the sergeant is afraid to use the musket." He said, "Please ask Priest Kim to audition for us." ”

Jinnige pushed open the canopy window, put the gun on the edge of the window, and said: "The longest range of this gun is about 300 feet of Daming - where Zhang Gongzi wants to shoot, our marksmanship is not accurate, and it is not good to hit small objects." ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "Three hundred feet is nearly 100 meters, and it takes about two or three minutes to complete a shot depending on the speed at which Jinnige has just loaded the projectile." Looking towards the left bank, this is the northern suburb of Yangzhou City, the river bank is empty, there are no pedestrians, so he pointed to an old tree full of ice and snow not far away: "Just shoot at that tree." ”

As soon as Jinnige took aim, he pulled the trigger, and the spring drove the hammer to hit the flint, and the gunpowder in the firing groove was ignited by the sparks splashed by the flint, and with a "bang", Jinnige's body was shocked, and the projectile roared out of the barrel, and the old tree twenty zhang away shook in response, and the ice and snow shook down, only to recognize that this was an old pear tree, and with a "click" sound, a broken branch fell on the river bank, and the smoke of gunpowder spread -- Zhang Dai, Huang Zunsu, and others in the front and rear boats walked out to the bow and stern of the boat one after another, and asked in surprise what was the sound just now, what happened?

Zhang Yuan smiled: "Don't be surprised, I will test the musket with Jin Siduo. ”

Zhang Daixi said: "Jiezi, one more shot." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Okay, wait a minute. Asked Kinney Pavilion: "Can you shoot continuously?" ”

Jinnige said: "This barrel is made of fine iron, and it can be fired continuously, so you don't have to worry about exploding." ”

Zhang Yuan followed the instructions of Jinnige, stabbed the projectile, and put the gun on the window railing, this flintlock gun has a crosshair in front of it, and a door in the back, and it is quite well-made, Zhang Yuan bowed down and aimed at a willow tree on the riverbank, he could only hit the tree, the first time he shot a gun, he was a little nervous, and the boat was still moving, he looked for a while, and pulled the trigger violently - "bang", Zhang Yuan's body shook violently, and the old willow tree on the river bank was also trembling, broken branches were scattered, snow droplets were flying, and the front and back boats cheered.

Zhang Yuan was satisfied with the power of this flintlock pistol, Jinnige introduced that the success rate of the ignition of this flintlock pistol was more than 80 percent, much higher than the 50 percent of the arquebus, and the impact of the flintlock not only greatly simplified the shooting process, but also not afraid of wind and rain, can fight around the clock, with these advantages, and then well-trained, it is enough to change the fate of a soldier and an army on the battlefield, but as far as Zhang Yuan knows, in the battle of Salhu, the soldiers of the Houjin Eight Banners seem to be completely unafraid of the firearms of the Ming army, regardless of the headwind, dampness, These unfavorable factors of the chamber, some Houjin soldiers did not suffer any damage even if they were shot by muskets, which made Zhang Yuan a little confused, is it because the Houjin armor is strong in protection or the power of the Ming army's bird gun is too limited?

…… After more than half a month, Zhang Yuan every time he translated books with Jinnige, and talked with friends, sometimes he enjoyed the scenery along the way, observed the people's feelings, the long journey was very fulfilling, "Aesop's Fables" has been fully translated, by Wen Zhenmeng for the final modification and transcription, Zhang Yuan has begun to cooperate with Jinnige to translate the "Push the Year of the Rites of Worship", Jinnige is quite tired, he has to deal with three co-translators alone (Huang Zunsu also joined), but also to see the needle preaching, fortunately, in addition to translating books, he has also gained a lot, and Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhen and Meng got along with each other day and night, and his cultivation of Sinology increased with others, and Xu Zhuan, a man from Shanghai, was very interested in the Catholic master, and said that he would receive Catholic baptism in Yanjing -- on the afternoon of November 19, Zhang Yuan and his entourage of five boats crossed the Yellow River from Xuzhou to the north, and the Yellow River in the Ming Dynasty was at the intersection of the canal in Xuzhou, and then passed through Huai'an to seize the Huai into the sea, which was completely different from the river course four hundred years later. Zhang Yuan inquired about the tragedy of the six counties in Shandong Province that there had been no rain for five months this year, locust plagues everywhere, Qingzhou, Yizhou, and Mount Tai were burning for hundreds of miles, and not a single bud was growing, and hundreds of people in Feixian and Changle gathered to become thieves, robbing and robbing grain and livestock during the day, and even the tragedy of some people eating people -- Zhang Yuan stood on the bow of the boat and looked right, and said in his heart: "Is this the real situation in the late Ming Dynasty? But the civil disaster relief of the gentry in Jiangnan is still relatively effective, which should also be due to the fact that there are many wealthy households in Jiangnan, and in Jiangbei, is it so miserable in the event of a famine! ”

On the afternoon of the 28th, I went to Jining, an important town in Shandong, the canal waterway in front was blocked by ships, impassable, the boatman went to ask, came back and said that the Linqing banknote pass in the north of Jining was occupied by thieves, the river boats were robbed and did not dare to pass, the north-south traffic of the canal was cut off, Zhang Yuan and others were shocked when they heard this, Linqing is an important place for banknotes, and the annual tariffs are among the best in all banknotes, and more importantly, the canal traffic is cut off, and the loss is not trivial!

Huang Zunsu said: "The disaster in Shandong is so serious, the imperial court doesn't provide disaster relief, the hungry people are thieves, we should take disaster relief first, pay equal attention to suppression and appeasement, and the civil uprising will soon be quelled." ”

Ruan Dacheng said worriedly: "I don't know when this commotion will come, wouldn't it be bad if I missed the exam." Zhang Yuan said: "Linqing is an important tax area for the imperial court, and it is impossible for the government to ignore it, so we will wait here for a few days, and the river should be unblocked soon." ”

So the group waited in Jining, and the blocked boats on the river stretched for more than ten miles, complaining.

On the morning of the 29th, Zhang Yuan did not have the heart to translate the "Pushing the Calendar Year Ritual Law", and Huang Zunsu and Jinnige went ashore to take a walk, and inquired about the situation ahead, Mu Zhenzhen, Wang Dazhu, Wu Ling, and Huang Sangao followed behind -- Jining is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, is only fifty miles away from here, with abundant products and ancient customs, Jining in the winter of Wanli 43 years is also affected by the drought, because the canal is not passable, and because of the fear of thieves, many shops are closed, and the market is quite depressed, Zhang Yuan and several people entered from the west gate of the city, Preparing to go around to the north gate to go out of the city, at the north gate, I saw an unkempt girl sitting under the root of the city wall crying mournfully, a man in rags was lying on the ground, his head rested on the girl's lap, half dead, the sun could be basked under the wall, but the sun was bleak, there was no warmth - seeing Zhang Yuan and several people walking by, the girl raised her head and said weakly: "Help, save my husband." "I didn't have much hope, there were a lot of people walking past her this morning, just looking, asking a few casual questions, and finally turned around and left.

Zhang Yuan took a few steps closer and asked, "What's the matter, is your husband hungry or sick?" While instructing Wu Ling to run to the steamed bun shop he had passed by earlier to buy some hot steamed buns, the girl was so cold that her little face turned blue, and she looked down at the man whose head was resting on her lap, and cried: "I don't know what's wrong with him, he suddenly fell to the ground while walking, and I couldn't drag him, woo woo, he was hot-"

Jinnige knew some Western medical skills, touched the man's forehead, rolled the man's eyelids to see, and knelt on the ground without being dirty, listened to the man's heartbeat and lungs, stood up and said to Zhang Yuan and Huang Zunsu: "It should be a cold, high fever, hunger, and extreme tiredness, so I am in a coma, if I don't save it, my life will be in danger, but there is no medicine around me——"

Zhang Yuan said: "Find a medicine shop to save him." ”

At this time, Wu Ling bought the steamed buns, put them in a paper bag, and handed them to the girl, who was also hungry and fierce, and didn't have time to thank her, grabbed a steamed bun and took a big bite, puffed out her cheeks and chewed, and then handed the steamed bun that bit a big gap to the mouth of the man lying on his back, and said vaguely: "Husband, there are steamed buns, take a bite, eat the steamed buns and have the strength to hurry——"

The man was blushing, his mouth was half open, he was just panting, he couldn't eat, and the girl didn't know how to take care of people, so she stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth, and the vegetable filling in the steamed bun fell to the corner of his mouth, and he still didn't eat it-" He died. The girl cried, such a precious steamed bun, if her husband didn't eat it, it would definitely be death.

Wu Ling carefully looked at the man lying on his back and said, "This is very similar to the Qingmo Mountain man who told fortunes on the cross street-young master, do you see if it looks like it?" ”

Zhang Yuan also felt a bit similar, but the Qingmo Mountain people on the cross street had three locks of long hair under their chins, shaking a feather fan, half-closed eyes and pinching their fingers to calculate the luck of the passing year, a bit like a fairy wind and bones, and although the man in front of him looked haggard, he looked younger than the Qingmo Mountain people, and he didn't need to have a jaw - but the girl listened to Wuling's words and said busily: "Yes, my husband's name is Qingmo, and he is from Shaoxing Mansion." ”

Zhang Yuan was surprised and said in his heart: "It's really a Qingmo Mountain person." At this time, I didn't have time to ask more, so I asked Wang Da Hammer to find a sedan chair to carry the people of Qingmo Mountain to find a medicine shop for treatment - Wang Da Hammer said: "You don't need to call a sedan chair, I will carry him, I Wang Da Hammer has strength." As he spoke, he bent down and stretched out his hand to lift up the man lying on the ground, and said, "It's very thin." He asked Zhang Yuan again: "Young master, where are you going?" ”

Zhang Yuan stopped a passer-by and asked, and the passer-by pointed south: "Go down from here, there is a medicine shop around the corner." ”

As soon as Wang Dazhui heard this, he held the sick man in both hands and strode south.

The unkempt girl struggled to stand up on the ground, Mu Zhenzhen stepped forward to pick up the girl, half dragged and half hugged Zhang Yuan and went to the medicine shop, when he arrived at the medicine shop, the doctor of the medicine shop had ordered the boy to decoct the medicine, Xiao Chai Hu Tang, and said to Zhang Yuan that the patient would wake up if he had a dose of decoction - Zhang Yuan, Huang Zunsu, and Jin Ni Ge sat in a teahouse opposite the side of the medicine shop and drank tea, and after about half an hour, Wu Ling ran over and said: "Young master, it is really a Qingmo Mountain person, and now I am awake." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "That's good, let him keep it first, don't talk much, just say I'll come to see him in the evening." Leaving Xiao Wu and Wang Da Hammer to help take care of it, he and Huang Zunsu went back to the boat first.

Zhang Dai heard that the Qingmoshan people on the cross street almost died on the streets of Jining, and they also followed Zhang Yuan in the evening, if it is a stranger, it is very good to apply medicine and then help some travel expenses, but the Qingmoshan people are fellow villagers, so they naturally have to take more care - the Qingmoshan people have been able to sit up, and when they saw Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan's brothers, they burst into tears: "If it weren't for Zhang Gongzi's rescue, the mountain people would have starved on the side of the road." Let the girl help him to stay and thank him, Zhang Yuan hurriedly stopped, because he asked why the people of Qingmo Mountain came here?

Qingmo Mountain said: "I'm ashamed, the mountain people are conceited of what they have learned in their lives, they know astronomy, they know geography, and they want to go to the capital to find a chance to develop, because their ancestral home is in Lu County, anyway, there is nothing to do, so they came to take a look, but they encountered this great famine, eating tree bark, digging grass roots, starving people can be seen everywhere, it is really miserable, in Tai'an, there are evil young people who are not willing to starve to death, ten hundred for a group, robbing during the day, snatching all the mountain people's entanglements, fortunately, the mountain people have art, and they will not starve to death if they tell their fortunes and sell a hexagram——"

Zhang Dai couldn't help but laugh and said: "Since the people of Qingmo Mountain are familiar with yin and yang, they should know how to avoid evil, why did they crash into this fierce place?" ”

The people of Qingmo Mountain are not easy to be ashamed, and sighed and said: "There is a fierce spirit in this world, which is not something that can be fought against by personal fate. ”

Zhang Yuan was secretly surprised, this Qingmo Mountain man seemed to be boastful, but sometimes what he said was very reasonable, pointed to the unkempt girl, and asked, "Is this Ling Zheng?" I thought: "When the Qingmoshan people opened a fortune-telling shop on the cross street, they didn't seem to see a wife's room. ”

The unkempt girl bowed her head shyly.

Qingmo Mountain nodded and said, "Exactly." But he asked the girl again: "What is your name, what is Dong, I said it last time, I forgot." ”

The girl whispered, "Dong milk tea." ”

Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan looked at each other, thinking about where this girl was abducted and brought by the people of Qingmo Mountain, otherwise how could she not even know the name of her wife!

(To be continued)