Wu Song, the traveler, was the 14th person in the Shuibo Liangshan Ranking and served as the leader of the Liangshan Infantry Army. He was highly skilled in martial arts and was fierce and unyielding. He once killed an eye-catching white-fronted tiger with his bare hands. He is a character that has been written about in Water Margin.
Xu Zizhen has loved Water Margin since he was a child, and the one he admires the most is Wu Song. It can even be said that his current temper and character are more or less influenced by the characters in this novel. Now he sees his idol right in front of him, and he has had two drinks with him.
How can you not be excited when you make friends after drinking for the first time?
Wu Song frowned. He could feel that Xu Zizhen was really excited and did not have any bad intentions towards him. He pondered for a moment and smiled lightly: "You do have good eyesight."
Seeing that he had admitted it, Xu Zizhen was even more excited and didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to put his hands, lifting them up and putting them down, with a silly smile on his face.
Seeing his appearance, Wu Song couldn't help but laugh. He patted his shoulder and said, "I'm leaving now. I'll see you again someday."
Xu Zizhen suddenly came to his senses: "Second brother, do you really want to leave? I haven't mastered my sword skills yet..."
Wu Song smiled and said, "Have you not memorized everything? The rest is just to practice on the battlefield. I will give you this sword." After saying that, he waved his hand and strode away without looking back.
Xu Zizhen was so anxious that he shouted: "Second brother, seeing that Jin Kingdom is about to attack, won't you come out again?"
Wu Song stopped for a moment and said calmly: "Mr. Song Ting, I'm just a reckless man. What impact will it have if I don't get out of the mountain?"
Xu Zizhen was speechless, watching helplessly as Wu Song walked away and finally disappeared into the distance.
Wu Song's last words were very straightforward. The imperial court is so rotten, so what's the use of a commoner like me? When fighting a war, we risk our lives against the enemy, but behind the scenes we have to guard against the mischief of corrupt officials and even that fatuous emperor.
Even the brave and invincible second brother Wu Songwu was disheartened and lost his fighting spirit.
Before finishing the jar of wine, Xu Zizhen felt uninterested. He sat alone on the top of the mountain watching the white clouds change, holding Wu Song's knife tightly in his hand, and did not return to the wine cellar until dark.
During this period of time, his injuries have almost healed, including the knife wounds he suffered during the previous fight with Hu Sihai and the arrow wounds. From here to Lanzhou Prefecture, it almost crosses most of the Northern Song Dynasty territory, and the journey is extremely long.
He thought about it all night and decided to leave the next day.
There was no way to go back to Suzhou City. Xu Zizhen said goodbye to Uncle Cheng who had been trying to persuade him, and left a letter for him to deliver on his behalf. The letter was addressed to Hao Dong, Taihu Water Village. He told him where he was going and made some inquiries.
Regarding He Liangliang's situation, he was worried about whether he would be okay after He Liangliang helped him escape that day.
As for the other people, he is unable to contact him for the time being. Brother Duan Chen may have returned to Dali, Liuli is unlikely to return to Hongxiuzhao, and there is no need to contact Master Jingde and Li Sheng in Chongyuan Temple. They have nothing to do with this matter on the surface.
They couldn't be involved, and as for Mo Lier, even if he wanted to look for her, he could find her nowhere.
Seeing that he couldn't keep him, Uncle Cheng had no choice but to let him go. Before leaving, he brought a donkey to Quan to walk with him. It was difficult to buy good horses in Jiangnan. Xu Zizhen also had gold and silver donated by Wang Manfu and Hu Qing, so he just wanted to wait.
After crossing the Yellow River, just find a horse market to exchange for another horse.
Xu Zizhen didn't know exactly how to go. Anyway, it was right to go northwest. He said goodbye to Uncle Cheng, wearing coarse cloth clothes and a big bamboo hat to cover his bald head. There was a bag on his back and the knife Wu Song gave him.
He hid in it and rode his donkey swaying toward the west.
Now he was dressed like a villager going to the market, and he deliberately walked only on country roads. In two days, he safely avoided Kong Qilin's comprehensive search and arrived at the junction of Jiangnan East Road and Huainan West Road.
Jiangning Prefecture.
Jiangning Mansion was Nanjing in later generations, the capital of Jiangsu Province. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it was also a very wealthy big city in the Jiangnan area. Before Xu Zizhen entered the city gate, he could see the towering city wall from a distance, and the endless crowds of people coming and going at the city gate.
It was very lively.
There were several notices posted on the wall at the gate of the city, among which there was a portrait of Xu Zizhen. However, the city defense soldiers here did not seem to care about this. They just carefully checked the passing people, and those who could exploit them were more cunning. Xu Zizhen
The very knowledgeable man pinched a piece of broken silver in his hand, and when it was his turn, he stuffed the silver into the hands of the guards and sneaked into the city easily.
Jiangning Mansion, also known as Jinling, was the ancient capital of several dynasties in Chinese history. For example, the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period was the capital here. There were rows of high-rise buildings in the city, and the streets were extremely bustling and lively. Xu Zizhen looked at it and secretly admired it, but then he
This reminds me of another thing: when the Jin Kingdom invaded and captured the two Huiqin clans, the Northern Song Dynasty became the Southern Song Dynasty. By then, Jiangning Mansion would become an important border city reaching the Jin Kingdom in the north.
Xu Zizhen sighed with emotion for a moment, and then went to find an inn. He had already thought clearly that the road from the south of the Yangtze River to the northwest was far away. It would be too long and too hard to go by land. The only way was to go by water, from Nanjing to the Yangtze River, all the way.
Head west, disembark at Jiangling Mansion, then change to land and cross Beijing Southwest Road, which later became Hubei Province, and go straight to the northwest.
Although this is more troublesome, it can save more than half of the land route, and there are often large merchant ships heading west from Jiangning Prefecture. Most of these flat-bottomed wooden ships are built like a water castle, which is stable and fast. In order to avoid water bandits, these merchants sometimes
They will also recruit some skilled people to serve as escorts for the boats. This is what Xu Zizhen had in mind. He could borrow a boat and make a living. What's wrong with that? Escort the boats. How could there be so many water bandits in this world?
This inn is not very high-end, and the location is relatively remote. Xu Zizhen is still wanted by the East Route Army. Such a small inn suits him well. He asked for a room, took a piece of silver and gave it to the waiter, and inquired
Regarding the merchant ship heading west, the waiter naturally became enthusiastic when he saw Yinzi and talked for a long time in Jiangning Mandarin. Xu Zizhen didn't understand a word.
Jiangning's Mandarin was half Jiangnan accent and half Jiangbei accent, which was the most difficult to understand. In the end, the waiter himself felt embarrassed, so he simply spoke to the shopkeeper and personally took Xu Zizhen to the dock.
The Jiangning Pier was crowded with people, and there were carriages and carts coming and going everywhere. The inn boy led Xu Zizhen in a familiar way to a shore where there was a rather luxurious merchant ship parked.
Any markings are not very conspicuous among the piles of ships at this pier.
The boat owner was a middle-aged man in his late forties, and he seemed to be very familiar with the waiter. After the waiter briefly explained his purpose, he turned to look at Xu Zizhen, looked him up and down, and said without asking any questions.
: "Small-sized merchant ships are usually not attacked by blind thieves. Strong men don't need to bother, but the reward is... I wonder if strong men are willing?"
Xu Zizhen smiled: "I just want to take a smooth sailing for convenience. I am very grateful that you don't charge me money. I just wonder where your boat is going?"