In the middle of the night, the people couldn't bear it anymore, and they were sleeping in the cabin in their clothes.

Xu He is also a strong chick pecking rice, and he is extremely sleepy.

However, Xiao Er at the stern of the boat kept checking the surface of the river, whether he tapped the bottom of the river with a penny, and chatted with Xu Peng with a match.

The entire cabin was so big, Xie Liang took up most of it, and Xu He could only curl up in a small range on the side.

After sitting cross-legged for a long time, his blood was not connected, and he couldn't lie down, so he had to get up and go to the bow of the boat.

At this time, the night was as cold as water, and he tightened his robe and kicked his legs.

Suddenly, there were waterfowl on both sides of the river, and the sound of flapping wings frightened Xu He.

In this dark environment, it seems that there is a giant beast waiting for an opportunity to move, choosing people to eat.

Xu Peng and Xiao Er at the stern of the boat also heard the movement of the water birds.

The two of them stopped talking for a moment and looked around vigilantly.

Xu He became even more nervous when he saw this.

The air seemed to be viscous at this moment, as if the whole world was only the sound of boats paddling and the sound of breathing.

The three of them listened to the movement for a while, but the surroundings were unusually quiet.

Xiao Er pointed to the oil lamp in the cabin, and motioned for Xu He to enter the cabin and don't stand at the bow of the boat.

When Xu He entered the cabin, Xu Peng blew out the oil lamp with a "sigh".

Suddenly, the atmosphere of loneliness and tension came to them again because the oil lamp was extinguished.

The three of them didn't dare to breathe, and even Guo Xiaoer's penny action deliberately slowed down.

Xu Peng tiptoed to Xu He's side, protected him behind him, and stared at the shore by moonlight like a leopard in the dark night.

But a stick of incense passed, and there was only the "rustle" sound of the wind blowing through the reeds on the shore.

Finally, after another stick of incense, the two sides of the river were no longer reeds, but empty fields.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.

Guo Xiaoer said: "There must be someone in the reeds just now, but I don't know if it's the one who caught the long fish at night!" ”

Xu Peng nodded: "Recently, it has become popular to eat long fish in the city, which has caused many dolls to go to the river to find a hole in the evening every day. ”

Xu He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, okay, Bai was nervous, it turned out that the initiator was still himself!

It's not that the three of them are cowardly, but the wind has been too tight recently, and everyone has the meaning that the wind is all soldiers.

Now it's okay, the original sleepiness is gone all of a sudden, Xu He simply doesn't sleep at all, and just sits and chats with Brother Peng and Xiao Er.

Before you know it, the sky is slightly bright.

In the distance, there were already farmers getting up to work.

Xiao Er held the boat all night, the whole person was a little sleepy, he yawned, pointed to the mist in the east and said, "In the past two or three miles, I have arrived in Dong'anji!" ”

In those days, many towns were crowded with market people.

Therefore, some villagers call Dong'an a town, and some call it Dong'anji.

This place in Dong'an, adjacent to Rugao, is at the junction of Hailing and Rugao, because the waterway is developed, so many people from Hailing and Rugao will hold boats to catch up with the market and sell goods at the big gathering.

This kind of water and land are important, and Hailing County has set up a patrol inspection department here to arrest thieves and bandits.

Xu He's uncle Xie Bin is here to inspect, and the inspection is a petty official from Jiupin, and this position has been in the Xie family for three generations.

Although the inspector is also an official, Xie Bin is also in charge of more than 20 soldiers, but in Xu He's impression, his uncle's family is slightly better than ordinary people.

Because of the need for the two cousins to study, the family is also tight, even so, the Xu family has difficulties, and the uncle and aunt can still help and never shirk.

After a while, there were more boats moored on both sides of the river, and not far from the shore, a small market town was imprinted in everyone's eyes.

"Hah...... Owe! It was at this moment that Sao Ren yawned and woke up.

Seeing that the other three people on the boat were all looking at him with resentment, Xie Liangcai was a little inexplicable: "Arrived?" Why are you all looking at me? Got eye droppings? ”

After speaking, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his hands.

This guy is really lucky, the three of them were nervous all night last night, and this guy ......, sleeping on a boat is more comfortable than sleeping in a bed, so that the three of them really want to beat him.

When everyone went ashore, Guo Xiaoer found a dock for his fishing boat and parked it, and followed the three of them into the town.

Xu He didn't go directly to his uncle's house, but bought some fruit and vegetable snacks, bought two pieces of cloth to bring on, and then walked towards his uncle's house according to his memory.

Xie Bin's house is at the east end of the town, not far from the water village of the inspection department.

Just as the four of them were walking east in the market, Xu He suddenly noticed five or six small boats with a deep draft coming from the river not far away.

The word "salt works" is written on each boat.

Xie Liang saw Xu He looking at the boats, so he smiled and said, "This is a ship transporting salt." ”

"Salt ships?" Xu He was a little puzzled.

At this time, Xiao Er spoke: "These are the ships that transport salt from the major salt farms to our Hailing. ”

Xu He understood when he heard this.

It turned out that the salt industry of Lianghuai began to flourish in the Northern Song Dynasty.

In this dynasty, the imperial court attaches great importance to the salt industry, and Taizu set up the Salt Envoy Department (referred to as the "Transport Division") in the six major salt areas of Lianghuai, Liangzhejiang, Changlu, Shandong, Hedong and Fujian, and the chief is the Salt Envoy, referred to as the "Transport"), and in other salt-producing areas, there are 7 salt departments and other yamen responsible for managing the salt production and marketing affairs of each salt farm. The salt industry departments such as the transportation department are under the jurisdiction of the household department and are not subject to the control of the local government.

The coast of the Yellow Sea north of the Yangtze River is an important gathering place of salt pans in Lianghuai.

These salt ships are supposed to be salt ships that transport salt to Yangzhou from nearby Dongdaiba, Anfengchang, and Fuanchang.

Seeing that the draft of the boat was so deep, Xie Liangcai said: "The salt in these ships will be turned into salt when they arrive in Yangzhou and will be used by salt merchants to buy, and the salt merchants will buy salt and then transfer it to various places, among which Baoba near your Xujia Village is a famous salt tax customs, and merchants can only sell salt after paying taxes there!" I just said that the salt farms produced more than 6 million catties of salt a year, so you can imagine how much grain the imperial court will collect just by collecting taxes! ”

Xu He was secretly speechless when he heard this.

Baoba is on the river not far from Xujia Village, but I didn't expect such a small salt tax customs to be one of the important sources of salt tax in the Great Wei Dynasty.

Several people chatted while talking, and soon came to Xu He's uncle Xie Bin's residence.

The courtyard of Xie Bin's house is very large, and the old man in the porter was surprised to identify Xu He for a long time, and finally confirmed that it was the nephew of his master, and the old man hurriedly introduced everyone into the courtyard.

After a while, a man in his thirties came out of the hall.

The person who came had a thick beard, and when he saw Xu He, he was pleasantly surprised: "Little Crane, it's you who came!" ”

Xu He hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Uncle, how is your aunt?" ”

When Xie Bin heard this, his expression was gloomy: "I suffered from the wind chill in the winter and kept coughing, I thought it would be better in the spring, but I didn't expect to suddenly cough up blood two days ago, the doctor said...... The doctor said it might not work! ”