In the midst of the autumn breeze, Wang Renshou from Qi County in the east of the river also walked along the rushing river towards Jingzhou, which is the upper reaches of the river; it was really not an easy result for him to walk this way.
Along the way, the thieves and officers, the gangs of thieves and officers, the towns that constantly invaded and annexed each other, and the local soil groups that acted their own way under the banner of the whole land of Guandong all the way to Lianghuai and Jiangdong were almost chaotic.
The greatest danger, however, comes from those local tyrants who erected trenches and built docks to form their own self-defense. Almost every trip that lonely near them will encounter unexplained bad luck and accidents.
And in the cities where the refugees gather, it is not necessarily safe; many people who have no other place to live after awakening under the eaves or at the roots of the walls will be caught inexplicably and become the local officers and soldiers. New pawn under.
And living in the soaring price of houses and di stores, the unaccompanied foreigners also have an unpredictable risk; he has seen foreign tourists who walked with him for a short time several times, and was accused of being suspected of being a spy. I took it out and never came back.
Wang Renshou has also been interrogated more than a dozen times. If it weren’t for the visits from Taiyuan County’s Gaoshen and Daibeihangying, it would be powerful and deterrent. I’m afraid that it would be a force to take pride. The seizure method fell into the trap.
Despite this, he lost his luggage and escaped from the window when he was in the city of Shouzhou once; because the other party had no intention of colluding with the government, but privately sharpened his knife, Huohuo, and negotiated to chop him up and make a table. Meat dishes.
Another time he had to draw his sword and kill someone when he passed through the customs city, because he was robbed by a poppi rogue under the crowd of Shouding, and then robbed a donkey and ran away. This is the biggest corruption of the ritual system. Bad consequences.
The bigger bad news is that when he went through all the hardships and finally set foot on the land of the south of the Yangtze River, he came and took shelter in accordance with the arrangements of the family, and thus obtained the cover of identity as candidates in several places. No longer exists.
Some of them were destroyed by the rebels, some were persecuted by the local government and the clans were scattered, and some of them participated in the rebellion and were easily suppressed by the passing thieves, and they were all killed and wounded. The result is exhausted.
This also made him deeply feel that the so-called great family in the south of the Yangtze River, with the first-of-its-kind reputation, may not be able to persist longer than the ordinary people in the face of the turmoil.
Either relying on one party to seek refuge and comprehensiveness, or breaking the family and prospering the army and mastering the knife to protect yourself; otherwise, the reputation and family business managed by the so-called Taiping will only become a reckless generation of all kinds. The first conspiracy choice for careerists.
Therefore, he can only be Wang Renshou, a Northland scholar who is wandering about Jianghuai. Fortunately, he discovered that there are quite a few scholars with similar experiences and backgrounds during the journey, and there are even the existence of the family with the mouth. And his presence is not conspicuous.
Wang Renshou only inquired, and he knew that most of them came from Jiangsu, Chang, Hu, and Hangzhou from all over Jiangdong, Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and some came from He and Lu prefectures in Huainan, Jiangbei, and even from the coasts of the five states of Fujian. .
After the imperial court’s local order collapsed, there were almost all kinds of forces emerging, and they attacked and killed rampant townships, coupled with bandits who flew and had numerous roads.
Under the nuisance of such a crop of repetition and reaping and annoying; even the homes of the middle-aged and the prudent families that they can barely maintain, they really can't survive.
Although it is not that no one has broken their families and gathered together or surrendered to wealthy families and surnames to protect themselves; but more people do not have such credentials and hopes, and can only be forced by Luokuo Guangtian’s family homes, or being coerced to add trenches. Before the cannon fodder, the idea ran out.
However, no matter how these peaceful thieves rebelled and rebelled, they were notorious for killing officials and cruelly surnamed tyrants; but at least they are also powerful forces that have hit all over Hunan, Jingnan, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.
Therefore, we can also use strong hands and evidence of force to ensure peace and tranquility under the rule; not to mention that there are large enough ambitions and claims to overthrow the court and contend for this world.
Since the declining court's righteousness and reputation are no longer able to protect them, the people, the people, it is not surprising that it turns to the most powerful and decent one among the thieves of the world.
At least the Taiping thieves are willing to take in and receive them, as long as they have a bit of knowledge and knowledge, or craftsmanship and expertise; and they also provide temporary shelter and transportation in the Dantu to Xunyang area along the south of the Yangtze River.
This alone has overwhelmed most of the thieves in this world, as well as the local forces that have swarmed in the area, and overwhelmed many people. And as a convenience in a certain sense, any ships traveling between Jingnan and Lingnan are willing to take them a little bit.
Only after contacting these so-called Jiangnan scholars on the same ship, Wang Renshou could not help but regain some confidence; because most people have limited speech and knowledge, so they are better than open reading. The private school students who have been in "The Rabbit Garden" are so much better.
If the Taiping thief is under the jurisdiction and is governed and maintained by this kind of merchandise, he is completely confident that with his talents and experience from the Qixian king sect, he will easily stand out, and then get an interview with the top of the Taiping thief in order to impress the other party. Opportunity.
The most obvious feeling and contrast comes from the two sides of the strait when sailing on the river.
On the land on the south bank of the big river, faint fields of mulberry forest stretched from the bank neatly to the inland, with large traces of already harvested intertwined among them. Occasionally, we can see the signs of buffalo activity in the water network and ponds.
In Jiangbei, the roads and fields are flooded by wild grass, and there is no lack of typical ruined scenes between the absurd estuaries. Although it seems that people are more frequent than Jiangnan, they are basically running and fleeing on the road. Silhouette.
And when the boat is mooring down to rest at night, you will also see the sporadic firelights rising in the north of the Yangtze River and the noise from the wind. According to the head of the ship during the trip, it was the thieves/official army in Jiangbei who were robbing and killing the refugees who had fled and passed by.
The few relatively peaceful areas are those in the port city guarded by the so-called rebels; the people who live in them are only able to find that under the surveillance and alert of many variegated soldiers with swords and bows lined up around the city’s outposts. Some sense of order and stability.
And in these places, there are also scholars who have come here at intervals of three to five stars; after almost a dozen people have gathered, they will arrange and entrust a licensed boat to pass by and take them to Jiangling City.
But what you can see more on the river are the ferry boats that continue to travel between the two sides of the strait; and those who gather outside these ports and cities to receive selection and screening, and then ship to the management area on the south bank for labor and resettlement. Refugees from Jiangbei.
Under the looting and driving away from places along the way, they almost lost all their possessions, died most of the old and weak, women and children, and escaped some dangerous men and women; therefore, most of the remaining people were left with only one pair. It's just a limb that can barely work;
Different from these refugees who only serve thin porridge and barely maintain their mobility, the servants on the boat provide preferential diets; cooked but tasteless vegetable soup, and occasionally some freshly caught fish and shrimps. Inside, a miscellaneous dough with one hand;
It's probably just half full. If it's not enough, you have to spend a few words to add another one yourself. Although Wang Renshou has some leeway in his baggage entrainment, he has not been too far away from the public to order himself a cooked fish or a plate of salt-boiled shrimp.
But in private, I asked for a few more dumplings, and then distributed them to three temporary traveling companions who were familiar with the same ship, which was regarded as a meager reward and thanks for inquiring about the news on this passage.
Since the boat passed through Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province) and entered Ezhou (Hanyang, Hubei), the waterway has become busy again, full of boats and piers and piers. It's as if the movements and riots that happened before have never existed.
And every man, woman, and child in the Hong Kong city is spurred and urged by invisible forces, or is rushing to and fro in his own place. No matter which port city, the most common are many large and small open-air booths.
Among them, the best sellers are undoubtedly the various tools, utensils and other iron products produced in the South China Sea. Occasionally, you can see three or five people dressed up by Shanyi, all covered with shiny iron products.
Others are holding river boats full of iron pots, bowls, and scoops, swaying toward the north or east. Wang Renshou also saw that there was a scholar on the boat going down, negotiating and playing sounds, and then came back with one or several iron utensils on his back.
"Cast iron pots and soup kettles are sold according to size,"
"The smallest five inches costs thirty dollars, and the largest three-foot cauldron costs one hundred and fifty-five dollars..."
"If you buy ten at a time, then you only need to pay 90% of the money..."
"So... Is it cheap..."
He couldn't help sighing.
As a child of the Wangmen of Qixian County, a large ethnic group in Hedong, he is not surrounded by people who are not engaged in business; nor is he lack of understanding of market prices. Sensitivity to a certain profit-seeking quickly made him aware of the business opportunities and benefits;
Such a thin and polished pan with ears can be lifted with one hand, but it is clear and strong when knocked on. Used for cooking, it is much less fire-saving and quick-cooking than those heavy utensils such as kettles, retorts, pots, knives, spoons, etc. he used in Hedong;
The more important thing is that this kind of circular ironware is obviously finely forged. The small round cauldron can be used as a helmet. The large pan is also quite a good choice for shielding. Are these peaceful thieves already. Can you take out the extravagant things and sell them casually.
But Wang Renshou still resisted, took out the gold pieces that he had sewn in his jacket, and bought a bunch of impulses and desires in one go, and taking advantage of the opportunity to bargain with a tin kettle, he continued to inquire about it. The attitude and strategy of the local Taiping thieves towards commercial activities. (End of this chapter)