Yangzhou is one of the nine states in the world, and it is the first of the three states in the south of the Yangtze River.

The prosperity of Yangzhou is the best in the world, and people often use it to wrap 100,000 yuan around their waists and ride a crane down to Yangzhou.

In order to be in a hurry, Wang Xu chose to take the waterway.

Take a boat from the Sanding River in Liyang County, transfer to Jinshan Mansion, and then from the Grand Canal of Jinshan Mansion, all the way east to Yangzhou Mansion.

"It is said that the Sanding River is a small river, but I didn't expect it to be so big!"

Standing on the wharf, looking at the Sanding River in front of him, Wang Xu didn't feel that the river was small at all.

The Sanding River is said to be a small river, but it is only a small branch under the Grand Canal, in fact, it is at least half a kilometer wide, and modern cruisers can drive in.

On the wharf, hundreds of boats, large and small, were parked, some were pulling goods, some were pulling people, and there were patrol boats directly belonging to the imperial navy.

"Guest officer, are you going to Yangzhou?"

A passenger ship more than 30 meters long docked at the pier asked from a distance.

The boatman was an old man, who looked to be in his sixties, and he was dressed as a few middle-aged people in their thirties and forties, dressed as helpers.

"Uncle, is your ship fast, is it safe, how many days do you have to walk to Yangzhou Mansion?"

Wang Xu was dressed in a Confucian suit, carrying a bookcase, and looked up and down at the passenger ship.

"Don't worry, I guarantee that you will arrive in Yangzhou Mansion in eight days. As for safety, hehe, everything that hangs this on the flagpole is for the above, and you can't do anything if you want to. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the large flag on the bow of the ship.

Wang Xu raised his eyes and looked, but he hadn't noticed it before, and this flag actually read: "Yangzhou Dragon Palace, Jinshan Water Mansion, Water General Li An!" ”

"Ang Lee?"

Wang Xu asked with doubts: "Uncle, who is this General Li An?" ”

"You don't even know this, you haven't been on a boat before, have you? General Li An is the river uncle of Jinshan Water Mansion, in charge of the top and bottom of Jinshan Mansion, hundreds of rivers, and no one is allowed to worship General Li An in the families who run boats in these river basins! ”

Speaking of the water-dividing general Li An, the shipowner looked in awe.

The Terrans have a covenant with the Dragons, and all the rivers in the Terrans are under the control of the Dragons.

All the well-known river areas, lakes, rivers, the dragon clan will send the dragon monarch or the water clan general to guard it, and because there are people on it, there will rarely be a saying that the water demon is troubled.

In return, in the annual dragon king festival, the people who eat this bowl of rice on the water have to hold sacrifices.

This kind of sacrifice is recognized by the imperial court and even Confucianism, and it is said that if the dragon monarch or the water tribe general is satisfied, he will even usher in the appearance of the saint in front of people.

Li An, the general of the water division, is the general under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Longjun and is in charge of the waters of Jinshan Mansion.

The people who can hang this flag on the boat have paid filial piety to the above, and then count the wind and waves on the river, the boat capsizes, and there are also water demons who push the boat to the shore, just like insurance.

After receiving the guarantee, Wang Xu paid the fare and boarded the passenger ship.

The passenger ship does not look big from the outside, but there are many rooms inside, and the upper and lower floors add up, saying that there are more than 30 rooms.

The rooms are big and small, the big ones are similar to the modern hotels, and the small ones are like the bathrooms.

Wang Xu chose a first-class room, asked about the boat fare, and the eight-day journey from Liyang County to Jinshan Mansion was five hundred taels of silver.

The boat fare is much cheaper, the same distance, the same number of days, just because the B-shaped room is not next to the deck, the area is smaller, and the boat fare is 200 taels cheaper than the A-shaped room.

Ask again, the T-shaped room on the lower floor is cheaper, only one hundred taels, there is a bed in the room, and people are crowded in it like canned sardines, and you have to queue up to go to the toilet.

Wang Xu was not short of money, and he didn't want to wronged himself, so he directly occupied one of the only two A-shaped rooms.

In another A-shaped room, Wang Xu inquired, and it seemed to be occupied by a medicinal herb merchant who went to Yangzhou Mansion to see the goods.

Yang Fan, set sail, a passenger ship full of people, went straight to Yangzhou along the Sanding River.

In the evening, there is a free meal provided by the boatman.

Free food, of course, will not be too good, even if it is a first-class guest, it is just salted dried fish with sauce tofu, plus a small plate of kelp shreds and two nests.

The first-class rooms are like this, and the second-class rooms are even worse, there are not even dried fish, only nest heads and kelp shreds to eat.

As for the cheapest T-room, sorry, I am not responsible for providing food, and if you want to eat, you have to bring it from home.

It's not all so bad, as long as you are willing to spend money, there is still a small stove on board.

This ship is a family business, and the owner of the ship is the old man, surnamed Shi, who leads four sons and a daughter-in-law to do water business.

Those who are willing to spend money can eat the small stove on the boat, and even if they are lonely, they can rent fishing rods from the boat, and they can go fishing on the bow of the boat if they have nothing to do.

It's just that it's not cheap to eat a small stove.

There are drinks and food, but the price is ten times that of the restaurant, and when I asked about the price, even the pharmacist who also lived in the first-class room shook his head and left.

Everyone has an account in their hearts, eating a small stove on the boat for eight days, and a restaurant that can eat for three months when left outside.

It's not that you don't give food, and patience will pass, unless your family is very rich, who is willing to spend money like this.

"I get tired of eating big fish and meat every day at home, so I just want to try wotou and salt vegetables to change my appetite." The herb merchant said to Wang Xu.

The medicinal herb merchant is a middle-aged man in his thirties, transporting medicinal materials to Jiaozhou, and Liyang is just his transit station.

From the conversation, Wang Xu learned that the medicinal herb merchant has some family background, but he can't say that he is rich, which is similar to the Wang family before he made a fortune.

The medicinal herb merchant is a little picky, he is still a snob, and he only chats with Wang Xu when he is fine, and everyone else is ignorant of it.

The next day, there was a person in the T-shaped room who was seasick and came to borrow hot water, and the herb merchant insisted on asking the other party to buy it with money.

Passengers are not allowed to make fires, and hot water is only supplied to room A, and others can only use cold water.

From this incident, Wang Xu realized that the medicinal herb merchant was the kind of person who was more realistic, and had two attitudes towards the poor and the rich.

Wang Xu gave it, but he was not grateful.

The seasick man was a poor scholar, from a poor family, with a talent and fame, and went to Yangzhou Mansion to participate in the poetry meeting.

drank the hot water given by Wang Xu, but the scholar didn't give him a good face, muttering: "Nothing to be courteous, either a traitor or a thief!" ”

In these years, it is difficult to be a good person, there are many people who hate the rich, and there are few people who are grateful.

The herb merchant knew about this, and specially found Wang Xu, and told him in the tone of a person who came over: "When you go out, more things are better than less, some people you help him, but he thinks you are a stupid fork." ”

Wang Xu didn't answer, because the herb merchant was rushing him to dinner, and after finishing speaking, he didn't wait for him to speak, and sat down like his own person.

"This is the grass carp that was just caught from the river, it looks so tender, I love this sweet and sour fish, I have to drink some with you today." After the herb merchant sat down, he went to get his chopsticks.

Wang Xu still didn't speak, but just blocked the sweet and sour fish with his hand.

"What's the matter, are you still afraid of my brother's food?" Seeing Wang Xu's actions, the herb merchant looked very dissatisfied.

Wang Xu smiled and said softly: "You taught me, more things are better than less things, some people you helped him, but he thinks you are a stupid fork." ”

"Hey, hey..."

The herb merchant looked embarrassed and walked away with a blushing face.

From then on, the herb merchant never came to him again, but Wang Xu heard from the shipowner that the herb merchant had spoken ill of him outside.

What is the bad thing Wang Xu didn't ask, thinking that it was just for the rich and unkind, forgetting righteousness for profit, etc., in fact, none of them knew anyone at all.

Rumble!!

On the fifth day of the ship, it was close to Yangzhou Mansion, and Wang Xu saw the water tribe for the first time.

It was two groups of people fighting, one wave of people with shrimp heads and crab brains, and one wave of people wearing armor, standing on the river to make waves and fight.

Far away, an aquarium with a shrimp head brandished a pair of plate axes and said loudly: "Li Eryu, you have enlarged my sister's belly, you have to give me an explanation for what you say today, otherwise I will put your fish head in wine." ”

Another aquarium with a black fish head wearing a lin-wearing armor said: "Xia Laosan, your sister is as good as she can be, who knows who that child is, I don't recognize this." If you know each other, get out of the way immediately, otherwise you will break your shrimp feet, and it will be difficult for you to make a difference when you go back. ”

Wang Xu was happy when he heard it, sure enough, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, in addition to the difference in appearance, the so-called water tribe, demon race, barbarian, and what is the difference between them and human beings.