On the tenth day of July in the thirteenth year of Zhengde, not long after the Qiqiao Festival, Xu Jin set out for Nanchang to take the exam. He spent five taels of silver to charter a small passenger ship and headed west along the Xinjiang River to Yugan County. With the exception of Er Niu,

There are also Xie Xiaowan and maid Yue'er, which means they have "come out in full force".

Xu Jin's original plan was to buy a carriage in mid-July, travel overland to Qianshan County, meet up with the Fei brothers, and then rush directly to Nanchang.

However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Recently, I received a letter from my father-in-law in Yugan County, saying that Xiaowan Niang was ill. Xie Xiaowan was so worried that she could not sleep at night, so Xu Jin decided to leave early and detour to Yugan County to take Xiaowan back.

A trip to my parents’ home to visit my mother-in-law, and then from Yugan County to Nanchang.

Xu Jin also sent a letter to Qianshan County a few days ago to inform the Fei brothers to change their itinerary and ask them to go to Nanchang on their own.

At the Chengnan Pier in Shangrao County, Xu Jin and Xie Xiaowan waited on the boat and waved goodbye to their elder brother Xie Yidao on the shore.

It is said that my brother-in-law Xie Yidao is currently working as an errand in the yamen. Due to the recent floods, the number of homeless people has increased. The public security in Shangrao County is obviously deteriorating. Cases such as theft and fights occur every day. As the yamen chief, Xie Yidao

Yidao was naturally busy with official duties and couldn't get away at all, otherwise he would have gone back to Yugan County to visit his mother.

The passenger ship left the Shangrao County pier and went down the Xinjiang River, first passing through Hekou Town in Qianshan County, then entering Yiyang County, passing through Guixi County, Yingtan County, and finally arriving at Ruihong Town in Yugan County.

Ruihong Town is located on the edge of Poyang Lake, with a network of rivers and waterways, and water transportation is extremely convenient. It is the surrounding cargo distribution center. It is only about a hundred miles away from Nanchang by land. If you take the waterway, you can also reach Nanchang through the tributaries of the Gan River.

The original name of Ruihong Town was actually Hongya Township. According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, fought against Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake. As a result, he led his army to retreat to Hongya Township, tired and sleepy, and fell asleep on the warship.

When I woke up, the sun was rising in the east, and the sky was filled with red clouds. The sky turned red when I slept.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that this was a good omen, so he ordered the navy to go to war. As expected, there was a favorable wind today. Zhu Jun used fire attacks to defeat Chen Jun. Chen Youliang himself was shot in the eye and escaped. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the name of Hongya Township to commemorate this great victory.

It is Ruihong (red) town.

Xu Jin and others abandoned their boat at the pier in Ruihong Town and planned to buy a carriage in the town to travel because it was still several miles away from the town to Xiaowan's natal village, and they were carrying a lot of luggage this time.

, most of them are various gifts brought to my parents’ house.

Speaking of which, Xu Jin took Xie Xiaowan back to her parents' home for the first time since they got married. Naturally, it couldn't be too shabby. What's more, when he married Xiaowan, the bookworm Xu Jin was still seriously ill in bed, so he didn't come in person, but the patriarch sent someone from Xujia Village.

The villagers came to deliver the betrothal gift (a bushel of rice) and then took the person back.

Because of this, Xu Jin felt that it was necessary to have a taste of Xiaowan and return to her parents' home in glory.

Erniu and the boatman moved the luggage on the boat to the dock quickly and piled it up in a pile.

"I wish Xu will be the first to take the case again!" The boatman accepted the final payment of two taels of silver, said some auspicious words with a smile, and set off for the return voyage.

"It's so deserted!" Xu Jin took a look at the cold and depressed dock and couldn't help but be quite surprised. It was said that Ruihong Town was quite prosperous in later generations, and was even called Yugan Xiao Nanchang. He didn't expect it to be so desolate and desolate now.

Xie Xiaowan looked surprised and said: "Why is this happening? The town used to be very lively."

Xie Xiaowan's natal family is located in Beipo Village, a few miles away from the town. Usually when her father and brother return from fishing, Xiaowan and her mother take the catch to the town and sell it. After selling the money, they buy some food and daily necessities.

Home.

Not only the villagers of Beipo Village, but also people from eight nearby villages and towns would come here to attend the market. In addition, Ruihong Town is a water transportation hub with many cargo ships and passengers passing by, so it is very lively every day. Xie Xiaowan did not expect that she had only been married for a year.

It was hard to avoid being shocked that Ruihong Town had become so deserted and depressed.

"Er Niu, go to the town and see if you can buy a carriage!" Xu Jin felt something was wrong, so he gave up the idea of ​​going to the town for a stroll.

"Okay!" Erniu ran towards the town carrying the chain bag containing the silver.

At this time, several children in ragged clothes, with sallow faces and skinny muscles came over timidly, staring directly at the pile of luggage and belongings next to Xu Jin and others.

Xu Jin frowned imperceptibly. He could clearly read one word in the eyes of these children - hungry. These children were so hungry that their eyes glowed green.

"You must be hungry. Sister, there is some food here. Take it!" Maid Xiaoyue took some rice cakes from the food box and handed them to the children with a sweet smile.

It was too late for Xu Jin to stop him. When the children saw the rice cakes, they rushed forward like hungry wolves and snatched away the rice cakes, even scratching Xiaoyue's white hands.

Xiaoyue screamed in fright and backed away. She even overturned the food box, and the rice cakes, preserved fruits and the like were scattered all over the floor. When the children saw this, they rushed forward to snatch them wildly.

plug.

At this time, more ragged people emerged from the corner. These were all adults, both male and female. Their eyes had the word "hungry" written on them, and they stared maliciously at the pile of luggage next to Xu Jin.

.

Xu Jin couldn't help but change his face slightly. The maid Xiaoyue had already turned pale with fear and hid behind him, trembling. Although Xie Xiaowan was also scared, she bravely stood in front of her husband.

"You are so presumptuous that you will all be beheaded if you offend me!" Xu Jin shouted with sharp eyes.

As soon as these words were spoken, the hungry refugees immediately stopped approaching, their eyes hesitant.

Xu Jin couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that these refugees were not so hungry that they had lost their minds. The official still had a certain deterrent effect in their hearts.

"Don't be frightened by this kid. How can he be an official at such a young age? What's more, officials are not good people. We are all starving to death. Officials don't care and rob his mother. What a big deal.

Become a water thief." One of the refugees encouraged loudly.

As soon as he said this, the refugees began to slowly surround them again. Xu Jin couldn't help but secretly screamed that something was wrong. There were more than a dozen refugees in front of him, and most of them were adult men, but Er Niu was not there.

A good man does not suffer immediate losses. Luggage and property are small, but personal safety is the most important. Xu Jin was about to pull Xie Xiaowan and Xiaoyue away when he heard a familiar voice shouting: "Brother-in-law, sister!"

Xu Jin escaped from the scene and saw an ox cart driving towards the dock. The driver was his second brother-in-law Xie Erjian, while his brother-in-law Xie Sanqiang was sitting behind the cart, holding a harpoon in his right hand and a harpoon in his left hand.

A green-skinned tortoise tied up with water plants.

Before the oxcart arrived, Xie Sanqiang, the little tiger, jumped out of the car, ran over quickly, picked up the bastard, and smashed it into the face of the noisy refugee. He raised the harpoon and pointed it straight.

He pointed at his throat and cursed fiercely: "How dare you touch a hair of my brother-in-law?"

At this time, Xie Erjian also stopped the bullock cart and ran over. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and punched and kicked several leading male refugees to the ground.

These refugees immediately fled like birds and beasts. Sometimes fists are most effective.

Xie Erjian chased a refugee and kicked his butt a few times, then lazily walked back and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, our father is really good at calculating. I guess you will arrive today, so let me come to the town to have a look.

Unexpectedly, we really met."

Xie Sanqiang picked up the green-skinned tortoise on the ground, came up to it like a treasure, and said, "Brother-in-law, look, I also caught a tortoise on the road. I'll stew the soup for you to try tonight. It's delicious and sweet."

Xu Jin smiled and touched Sanqiang's head, and said thankfully: "Second brother, fortunately you arrived in time, otherwise there would be no trace of this pile of luggage. Is the security here so chaotic?"

Xie Xiaowan also said: "Yes, the town used to be very lively, why is it so deserted now?"

Xie Erjian shrugged helplessly: "It's not caused by natural or man-made disasters. There was too much rain this year, and many nearby villages were flooded. Homeless refugees came to the town to beg for food. In order to get food, these refugees

You can do anything. In addition, the Poyang Lake thief Ling Shiyi visited here some time ago, so passing ships don’t dare to stop."

Xu Jin couldn't help but wonder, no wonder the pier was so deserted.

At this time, Erniu trotted back and said gloomily: "Uncle Ten, the town is as deserted as a ghost. Most of the shops around are closed. There are no carriages to buy. Instead, there are a group of beggars always following behind, asking for help.

If I hadn't turned over several of them, I probably wouldn't be able to get them out."

Xie Erjian patted Er Niu on the shoulder and said: "Er Niu, don't think about the carriage. Fortunately, I drove an ox cart. Put all your luggage on the ox cart."

Everyone moved all their luggage to the bullock cart, which turned out to be so full that there was no place to sit, so they had to walk behind the bullock cart.
Chapter completed!