Jiujiang, within Liuzhou.
The cargo ship is moving down the river.
"Ugh..." Gong Shujin lay by the window and retched for a while, but only spit out a mouthful of sour water.
"Drink some ginger soup, I asked the cook to make it." Gong Shuwang handed a water bag to his younger brother.
He didn't expect that this clan brother who was not related to him would actually get seasick.
The ship they boarded was already a good lion ship. It was not only wide and large, but also had a cabin in the middle of the hull for people to sleep on. But even so, Gong Shujin had vomited completely while crossing the rapids, and had not eaten properly for almost two days.
Gong Shujin took the water bag and reluctantly took a sip. Then he took a deep breath and sat down slowly, "How long until we get to Jinxia City?"
"I asked the boatman. Not far ahead is Huiyang City. After Huiyang, it takes at most a day and a half to enter Shenzhou." Gong Shuwang said, "There are unsailed ice ships in Shenzhou. I heard that they are very fast. It is several times larger than an ordinary ship. We only need to change to an ice ship and we can reach Jinxia in one day."
"Ice ship?" Gong Shujin frowned slightly, "It's not winter now."
"That's what the boatman said. Even in the hottest months of July and August, these boats can run back and forth on Jiujiang."
"Is this also something the Mo family has tinkered with..."
"I don't know. But I can't do this with machine skills alone." Gong Shuwang shrugged, "Whether it is true or false, everything will be revealed when we get to Shenzhou."
Gongshu Jin nodded and stopped answering.
His eyes turned to the window again.
Gong Shuwang naturally knew what his younger brother was looking at. In fact, this was what he had seen the most in recent days - whenever he looked towards the river bank, he could see a group of ragged refugees slowly heading south. Sometimes there are dozens of people, and sometimes there are hundreds. These migrants who don't know where they are going all have sallow faces, withered hands and feet, and they will even fall on the road while walking. Sometimes he will even have the illusion that he is not seeing the same kind of people, but a group of similar people. animal.
"Is this really Liuzhou?" After a moment, Gong Shuwang heard a whisper from his younger brother.
It's not surprising that he has this question.
Because according to their knowledge, Liuzhou is a quite fertile area in Qi State, second only to Gyeonggi Shangyuan.
"It shouldn't be wrong." Gong Shuwang replied softly, "I will write down every town I pass."
"Where are they going?" the younger brother asked again.
"This... is probably a place to stay, right?" To be honest, this is the first time Gong Shuwang has seen such a situation. When he was in Xu State, he rarely left Dadu, either staying in the Ministry of Industry or In the premises of your own institution. With the popularity of mechanical waterwheels and wooden oxen, Dadu has always been the most prosperous city among the Six Kingdoms. There are many people walking on the streets, but they are basically lazy people, disabled people and ruffians. It is easy for him not to see them. .
"Oh, where are you going?" Someone suddenly interrupted, "Actually, they don't even know where they are going."
Gong Shuwang turned around and saw the middle-aged man next door leaning on the door, holding a pot of rice wine in his hand.
He is also one of the passengers on the cargo ship. His surname is Mo and his identity seems to be a businessman.
The rooms on the ship are small, poorly soundproofed, and have no privacy. The two brothers are used to this.
"Mr. Mo." Gong Shuwang cupped his hands, "You said they don't know it themselves? Then why do they still leave?"
"Because if you don't leave, you will die. Since it means death anyway, it's better to take a walk."
"If you don't leave, you will die?"
"You...are not from Qiguo, are you?" The middle-aged man looked them over.
These words made Gong Shuwang's back clench.
According to the plan, their new identities were that of a small family from a remote town in the Gyeonggi region. Because their family had undergone major changes and they were in urgent need of money, and they learned from the Shenjin Daily that they accepted Qi-infected people from all over the world, they decided to go to Jinxia for a chance encounter. Try your luck. This reason makes perfect sense when the Privy Council is paralyzed and the examinations have long been cancelled.
"Of course we are from Qi State." Gongshu Jin coughed twice, "Why did you say this, sir?"
"That's all, where you come from has nothing to do with me." The other party shook his head, as if he didn't want to dwell on this issue anymore. "After the defeat of the Privy Council, the court is now torn apart. Powerful people from all over the world are vying for power and money, so where can we continue to fight for it?" Take care of the local people. In the past, there were restrictions from the government, but now there are no restrictions. Naturally, these people can do whatever they want. Of course, the people can only choose to flee."
"So... this is all Jinxia City's fault." Gong Shuwang said solemnly.
"Oh? What you said is quite interesting." Mr. Mo glanced at him, "Instead of blaming the robbers, you should blame the people who are against the robbers? As far as I know, the situation in Jinxia is much better than here, at least the people Everyone has enough to eat.”
"But you also said that there were government restrictions in the past. In other words, weren't they the ones who released the bandits?" Gong Shuwang retorted, "If Jinxia does not conspire to rebel and let the Privy Council take over the local government, then things won’t happen.”
The other party suddenly showed a half-smiling look, "Do you think everything will be fine if you leave it to the Privy Council?"
Is there something wrong
Gong Shuwang said stubbornly, "Exactly."
"After all, they are from a rich family." Mr. Mo opened the wine bottle, raised his head and took a sip, "But now... it's hard to say that he is rich!"
"I'm sorry, we are just ordinary people -"
"Ordinary people don't carry leather water bags with them." He waved his hand and interrupted, "And the shoes, your soles are too clean... If you want to hide your identity, you should use more care."
After speaking, the man shook the wine bottle and walked out of the boat house.
The brothers looked at each other.
They had already put on the simplest linen clothes before setting off, leaving not a single jewelry or pendant behind. In order to match their status, they only carried the most basic travel expenses and a package of dry food, and even the machine tools that they rarely left behind. The tool kits were all left in Shangyuan City.
I thought this would be perfect, but unexpectedly, an ordinary businessman on board the ship saw the flaw.
Gong Shujin glanced at the water bag in his brother's hand and said, "I'm afraid this thing will be thrown away."
"Do you even need to change your shoes?" Gong Shuwang raised his feet with some embarrassment. These cloth shoes were much worse than the soft deerskin boots he wore every day. In order not to irritate his feet, he deliberately stuffed two more shoes into them. It's just a soft pad, but I didn't expect that the cloth shoes themselves had problems in the end.
At this moment, a shout suddenly came from the bow of the ship.
Gong Shujin stood up and looked around, only to see a gray-white city wall not far away from Zuo Xian. Long iron cables were stretched on the Jiujiang River, and many ships piled up on both sides, forming a dense forest of masts. At the same time, several fast boats were approaching the cargo ship. The shouting man standing on the bow of the boat was wearing a government official's robe and shouted loudly, "Stop the boat! Accept inspection by Huiyang Mansion!"