Jiangzhou has a dense water network, and there are many lakes and swamps in the counties under its jurisdiction. Therefore, there are often places that cannot be reached by official roads, so you have to rely on Guandu and Mindu to travel.
The business of two people and three horses is just money in the eyes of the boatmen at the ferry. Those ferries are spacious enough to rush forward to solicit passengers. There are a few quick-thinking boat bosses. Although the boat is small, they can go up in groups of two or three.
, the asking price is even lower.
However, the eldest of the two gentlemen obviously does not care about money. He does not even look at the shabby boats without a canopy, and does not even ask about the price of the smaller boats.
many.
Could it be a big-name customer with some status? The bosses of several large ships murmured to themselves, and they were a little afraid of the big man with a sword on his waist, so he lowered the price of the rip-off by a few points.
"Boatman, what's the price for two people and three horses to go to the boundary of Yanyulou?"
I never thought that these two people were still Jianghu people. The joy of the ship bosses was completely wiped out, and they were almost in tears.
Who knows that the Yanyulou disciples are the most arrogant, and forced buying and selling are commonplace, and it is difficult for the local government to control them. If they are sued, they cannot really let a few policemen carry ropes to seize people from the sect.
The matter of a few taels of silver is just a trivial matter when the yamen on duty persuades them to go back. For items worth a few hundred taels or more, one can only ask the older generation of Jianghu people with some qualifications to come to the door and make up some money.
Secondly, the main thing is to ask for an explanation so that the big issue can be reduced to a minor issue.
Several young and strong men did not dare to answer Mr. Qian's conversation. Only an elderly ship boss stretched out two trembling fingers.
Twenty taels? It was slightly more than Wei Changpan had expected, but looking back at the two and three people in the group, he didn't think it was that surprising, so he stopped helping the master bargain.
Along the way, Mr. Qian, who spent a lot of money, was inevitably treated as a fat sheep to raise prices wantonly. Wei Changpan, his apprentice, felt aggrieved and often argued with these profiteers. Along the way, he helped Mr. Qian save hundreds of dollars.
Spending of money.
The master doesn't care. The extra hundred taels of silver and the lack of this hundred taels of silver won't have much impact on his second master Qian's family business. What's more, he is now the head of the Qian family. He can spend more or less.
Only Wei Changpan tried to dissuade him.
He threw an ingot of ten taels of silver to the old ship boss. The latter stuffed it into his mouth and bit it hard. He looked at the mark on it and smiled happily. This disciple of Yanyulou has changed his temperament today and is so generous. He originally wanted two taels.
Silver is the most indispensable expense. Who would have thought that someone would give you ten taels of silver?
Around
With the envious eyes of the boat boss, the old man put away the ten-tael silver ingot, which was rare at this ferry, and led Mr. Qian and Wei Changpan to lead their horses to his boat.
The boat is not small, and it also has a canopy, but it is just as old as the old one. It is so old that it is almost unusable, and there is some water seepage in several gaps. Apart from the old one, there is only one boat and oar on the boat.
Judging from his appearance, he is his son.
Even the arrogant Mr. Qian was a little worried about the creaking planks of the boat, but the boss of the boat assured him that his father and son had been boatmen on the Yangpai River all their lives, and there was absolutely no way anything could go wrong.
The official can just rest assured and go to sleep. Tomorrow, he will be at the boundary of Yanyu Tower when he gets up to three poles. It can also save half a day.
Seeing the mature posture of father and son, Mr. Qian and Wei Changpan were relieved. Now they could not see their fingers. If the boatman dared to go boating at night, he would either be short-lived or he would know the Baili River nearby. Obviously, this
If you haven't lived enough for your father and son, you can't do anything like dragging the two masters and apprentices to become water ghosts.
Before going to bed, Wei Changpan fed the three horses some oats and horse grass, then turned around and got into the canopy of the boat, wrapped himself in a shabby quilt like Mr. Qian and fell asleep.
It was early spring, and it was freezing cold on the river. Even though Wei Changpan was wrapped in the old thin quilt, his teeth were chattering loudly. He had no choice but to get out of bed and go to the stern of the boat where the horse was hitched to take out the luggage on the horse's back.
When I put a thick piece of clothing on top of the quilt, I felt a little bit of warmth.
The master and apprentice were even wrapped in cotton quilts for baking in the stove. The father and son went barefoot for the convenience of boating, and their clothes were thin...
Wei Changpan, who spent the night on a boat for the first time, was only a twelve-year-old boy at this time. His mind was full of the scenes with Mr. Qian. How could he sleep?
The sound of oars, whispers, running water, wind, horses snorting, stoves crackling, and Mr. Qian's snoring all reached my ears.
I don't know how long it took before Wei Changpan closed his eyes in a daze, and the corners of his mouth raised before falling asleep.
....
Wei Changpan was aroused by an unusual fragrance. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and found that Mr. Qian was already dressed. He glanced sideways at Wei Changpan and said:
"It's your first time sleeping on a boat, and you feel so at ease."
He couldn't say that his master was not bad either. The snoring last night drowned out all other sounds, so he hurriedly got out of the bed, grabbed some clothes and put them on.
He rubbed his face several times with the river water that came up, and Wei
Chang Pan woke up a little and walked towards the place where the scent came from. Mr. Qian was already standing by with bowls and chopsticks, swallowing his saliva.
There was an iron pot on the small stove. The milky white soup in the pot was bubbling, and the delicious aroma made Wei Changpan bite his tongue.
"Young guest, are you up?" Old Zhouzi, who was squatting by the pot, saw Wei Changpan coming to greet him. "There is nothing on the boat. I just have two fresh fish caught in the morning to make some fish soup noodles for my guest."
"This fresh fish is the most delicious when stewed in soup." Mr. Qian, who was holding bowls and chopsticks, was filled with emotion. "Boss, your fish soup smells as good as the cooking skills of the chefs in the big restaurants in the city."
"You are just joking. The old man just took advantage of the freshly caught fish. He doesn't have much skill. But just talking about this fish soup, you can only eat it on this river."
The boat boss's laughter was quite proud. He felt that the heat was almost done, so he poured down another handful of noodles.
"Okay, okay." Mr. Qian shouted, "If you wait any longer, the batter will stick to your teeth."
The boss of the boat put some green onions into it, and then filled two bowls in the hands of Qian Erye and Wei Changpan.
"This smell... is so damn good."
Qian Erye and Wei Changpan squatted at the stern of the boat, each holding a gapped coarse porcelain bowl, slurping noodles. After slurping twice, they put their mouths to the edge of the bowl and took a sip of fish soup.
"Your Majesty, you might as well look up and take a look at the scenery on the river." It was the boss of the ship who spoke.
Wei Changpan and Qian Erye reluctantly left the bowl for a moment and looked up.
See the sunrise, the flowers on the river are as red as fire, and the scales on the river are dancing and falling.
When spring comes, the water of the river is as green as blue, and the breeze blows on the face.