The canal was built in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was greatly expanded and penetrated in the Sui Dynasty, after the development of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, now the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has become a lifeblood of the southeast Cao Yun.

Suzhou and Hangzhou have been prosperous since ancient times, connecting Jiangning and Yangzhou in the north, so commercial trade is very frequent.

At that time, there was also a saying that the canal was not flowing with water, but gold!

Such a statement is no exaggeration, not to mention anything else, that is, the salt transported out of the canal from Suzhou and Hangzhou is at least tens of thousands of tons or even hundreds of thousands of tons a year!

In addition, embroidery and other special goods in Suzhou and Hangzhou, as well as goods transported from the north, almost all pass through this river.

Therefore, such a river is indeed a heavy role.

But because of this, there are also many water bandits.

These water bandits are commonly known as the salt gang, they are mostly entrenched in an unknown stronghold in the southeast, when there is illicit salt, they go out to sell, in ancient times it was a capital crime to sell illicit salt, so they are all outlaws!

When there is no business to do, these outlaws turn into water bandits, they often find out the movement of the water army first, choose the most appropriate time to come out to commit crimes, once the crime is successful, they will retreat immediately, and there is no need to worry about leaving footprints on the canal, so few water troops can arrive in time and wipe them out.

Originally, it stands to reason that in this place of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, especially in Hangzhou, the people are rich, and they should live and work in peace and contentment, and there should be no breeding for water bandits, but it was different in ancient times.

The gap between the rich and the poor in feudal society has always been very large, and the area of Chongde and Haining is located between Suzhou and Hangzhou, but it is a place of 'three regardless', so this situation has been created.

When Ye Heng and their boat marched to Chongde, a flat boat came to them, and there was an old man on the boat, and when the two sides passed by, the boatman greeted the old man, and then asked a few words.

The boatman frowned, knocked on the outside of the cabin, and then said, "Young master, the front is not very peaceful, we are afraid that we will not be able to pass!" ”

Ye Heng walked out of the cabin, and Liu Yong also followed, shaking his head and saying, "Why do you get into trouble every time you take a boat to Haining?" ”

"What's going on?" Ye Heng asked the boatman.

The boatman said: "I just went to an old man, saying that the canal has not been very peaceful in the past two days, and it is very likely that the water bandits are active, we ...... I'm afraid I'm going to hide for a while! ”

"Where to hide?" Ye Heng's brows furrowed.

The boatman said, "Half an hour ago we passed by a place where smoke rose from the mountains, and perhaps some people might have told us that we could hide there, but in this case, we would have to delay for two or three days!" ”

"If it's only two or three days, there should be no problem!" Ye Heng nodded and said, "Old man, you can do it!" ”

After receiving Ye Heng's instructions, the boatman immediately turned the bow of the boat with his son, and when Ye Heng entered the cabin, he asked Hongshang with some worry: "After two or three days, will it really be peaceful?" ”

Hongshang shook her head, but just scolded: "These bandits are all inhuman!" ”

It is said that when Hongshang was a child, it was because her parents were killed by water bandits, and Ye Heng's mother happened to pass by at that time, so she took her in when she was still very young, so Hongshang has always been very grateful to the Ye family, even if Ye Heng's mother died, she has never left Ye Heng.

Sitting opposite Ye Heng, Liu Yong poured a glass of wine, and then used his fart. The stock squeezed Pang Tietou, who was lying down and sleeping, and replied: "Don't worry, the person who is now sitting in the yamen of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Caosi is Chen Yaozuo, and this person has strict laws, so this Guangde army will definitely not dare to be lazy." Therefore, within three days, the Guangde army will already surround it, and if the bandits do not want to be wiped out, they will have to leave before this! ”

Hearing Liu Yong's analysis, Ye Heng nodded, but he also sighed: "I can't imagine that this paradise-like Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth also have such a place with poor mountains and bad waters in the middle, alas! ”

After sighing, Ye Heng continued to drink with Liu Yong.

Of course, it was Liu Yong who drank fiercely, and Ye Heng had always been very restrained, but that's it, Hongshang was still dissatisfied.

Seeing that Liu Yong drank a bowl of wine after two grunts, Hongshang glanced at him, and then said, "Sir, you drink like this, how much wine is there on the ship for you to drink?" And don't take my young master to drink, what's so good about this drinking? When you drink, you go crazy......"

A mouthful of Wu Nong's soft words, but the little girl's words were quite majestic, although Liu Yong nodded after listening to it, but he also sighed: "Alas, after drinking that rich wine, these ordinary wines, I can't get drunk after drinking several bowls in a row!" Uh, don't stare at the girl in the red coat, I'll go to sleep with this iron head after drinking this bowl of wine......"

After that, Liu Yong also looked at the curtain behind Ye Heng and Hongshang with a meaningful look, and glanced at Ye Heng.

Hongshang is a daughter, and it is naturally a little inconvenient to be in a cabin with three men. Fortunately, one of the three men was Ye Heng, so she even dragged Ye Heng with her when she slept at night, and hung a cloth curtain in the cabin to divide the cabin into two.

Now seeing Liu Yong's eyes, coupled with Liu Yong's mocking look, where does Hongshang still not understand what he means? So the little girl blushed and spat Liu Yong: "Sir, you are so improper, disrespectful to the old ......"

After thinking about it, Hongshang added another sentence: "Insulting Sven!" ”

She has been following Ye Heng's side, especially after Ye Heng planned to participate in the scientific expedition, she naturally bought a lot of related books to read, Hongshang followed behind Ye Heng and watched Ye Heng read, and occasionally helped Ye Heng sort out the books, so she also learned a few words to chew the words, and at this time, she happened to scold Liu Yong all at once.

"What a mouth!"

Liu Yong's face is also thick-skinned, don't look at him in his forties, and he is a famous lyricist, but in front of Hongshang and Ye Heng, Liu Yong is not polite at all.

Of course, Liu Yong has never been polite.

He was obsessed with fame all his life, but the current emperor couldn't look down on him, and in his early years, he was nostalgic for Yanliu Alley, mixed in the Qinglou painting boat, so his wife was depressed and finally died of illness.

Maybe that's why Yoo Yong's personality is so interesting.

On the one hand, he is a great writer, but on the other hand, he is also a very realistic person.

For many years, he has been nostalgic for the Qinglou, relying on the relief of those courtesans to survive, and he has also developed a skill of seeing the wind and steering the rudder, and knows how to look at people.

Liu Yong knew that this Ye Heng seemed to be very good to him, and although the maid Hongshang had a humble status, it seemed that her weight in Ye Heng's heart was not low, so she couldn't really offend!

However, Liu Yong also knows that no matter how powerful this girl is, she is also afraid of Ye Heng, anyway, as long as Ye Heng opens his mouth, he will agree to anything!

Therefore, after Liu Yong entered the cabin, as long as he was fighting with Hongsheng, he would move Ye Heng out in a timely manner.

In this way, Ye Heng often has to play the role of a peacemaker!

But Liu Yong is also funny, and he often makes this group laugh, of course...... If he is very old-fashioned, it is impossible for him to blend in the Qinglou painting boat, and he can still be left and right!

The bow of the boat jerked, then turned around and returned to the back of a hill wall that it had passed earlier.

Tie the boat to a gentle river bay, and the boatman and Ye Heng and his party got off the boat, went ashore and walked into the ravine.

After a journey, I saw a small village in the ravine, and it seemed that there were still many people, but when Ye Heng and the others wanted to enter the village, they were stopped by a few men with spears in their hands.

These spears seemed to be homemade by them, that is, a long wooden stick was attached to the front of the pointed iron head, they looked at Ye Heng and his party vigilantly, and even verbally insulted Ye Heng, asking Ye Heng and them to leave quickly.

Ye Heng frowned, and Hongshang was so frightened that he hid behind Ye Heng and hugged Ye Heng's arm tightly.

"Don't worry, they're supposed to be just people like that......"

Ye Heng comforted Hongsheng, and then he looked inside the ravine, and found that most of the people in the village looked like sturdy men, and although the men with spears in front of him drove away their people as soon as they opened their mouths, they didn't have that nervous look on their faces, so Ye Heng couldn't help frowning, and then immediately denied what he had just said!

"Let's go!"

Ye Heng whispered hello to the boatman and Liu Yong, and immediately turned his head.

"What's going on?" Liu Yong chased and asked.

Ye Heng looked back and saw that no one was chasing after him, so he said, "We are very likely to ...... I stumbled into a den of thieves! ”

"Huh? No way? ”

The boatman is old, although his body is still healthy, but his courage is very small, and after listening to Ye Heng's words, his body trembles with fright.

"Let's go!" Ye Heng grabbed the boatman, and then said, "While they don't know, we can see the clues......

Before the words fell, there was a sudden shout and hurried footsteps behind him, and I saw the men with spears just now running quickly from the top of the mountain.

A moment later, Ye Heng and his party were surrounded by them!

"Good fellow, I almost missed a big thing!"

Among those men, a guy who seemed to be the leader was relieved when he saw that Ye Heng had been controlled, and then said: "Hu Sandao, you kid is not mistaken, right?" Does this kid really see it? Forget it, no matter, you go and invite the big boss to come, and the rest of the people will tie them up for me! ”

PS: This chapter has a lot of words, so I'll update this chapter in the morning, and the other two chapters will be updated around dinner!