The Giant Ship of the Yangtze River

The boat passed through Mount Yushu and Mount Qibao, and the situation was suddenly opened up, and the mighty river was in front of us. The old boatman stood at the bow of the boat and explained to Zhang Ke and the others, pointing to the two mountains facing each other. This place is said to have been excavated by Dayu when he was ruling the water. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao had his troops stationed here to fight with Sun Quan, but his 400,000-strong army was unable to shake the 70,000-strong navy of the Eastern Wu, which is precisely why the terrain here is so dangerous.

At that time, there was no war along the Yangtze River for a long time, and the population flourished, Jiangdu, Jiankang, and Jiangling were all metropolises, and on the Yangtze River, hundreds of barges competed for the flow. Moo Shu Kou as a transit town, merchants gathered, masts, large and small boats, pedestrians on board as if they were walking on the ground, to see people dazzled. Li Jing was born in the north and has never seen such a scene.

Zhang Ke was grateful for Li Jing's help, and paid the fare for him. The group of people said goodbye to the old boatman, along with the crowd of people, stepping on a few feet wide wooden boards, onto a large ship. The whole ship is a wooden structure, about thirty zhang long, seven or eight zhang wide, more than ten zhang high, up and down four layers, all kinds of cabins hundreds of rooms. Xiao Meiniang after all is the princess of western Liang, since the top layer of the first class cabin. First class cabin a total of sixteen, port and starboard each eight, leaving a long narrow passage in the middle, each cabin about nine feet square, built-in hollow short couch, easy to guests rest. Li Jing was lucky enough to bring Alone Star to live with Zhang Ke, while Meiniang and Qing Ni were in the next cabin.

The guests on the boat seem to be chaotic, but also in accordance with certain rules of the boat. The guests who had previously boarded the ship gathered on the deck to watch the scenery, speaking in a southern accent and pointing. When the passengers were settled, the ship whimpered three times, the heavy cloth sails were raised, and hundreds of oars stretched out from both sides of the ship, rowing hard to the rhythm of the drums. The large ship, surprisingly in the sails and manpower together to promote the breaking of the water backward, although not as fast as the galloping horse, but also far from walking can be compared.

Li Jing, after all, was so young that he stood at the porthole looking at the receding shore shops in a bit of a daze.

Zhang Ke had obviously been used to travelling on boats for a long time, and asked Li Jing with a smile on his face, "Little brother, do you know what the origin of this boat is?"

Li Jing knew nothing about boats and ships and could only shake his head.

Zhang Ke said: "This boat is a change from a building boat. During the Three Kingdoms period, the navy of Wu had big ships such as 'Flying Cloud' and 'Covering Sea', each of which could carry 3,000 soldiers; Wang Joon, a famous general of the Western Jin Dynasty, made a big boat, each of which could carry more than 2,000 soldiers, and horses could be galloped back and forth, and by virtue of the world's unparalleled boat divisions, the Eastern and Southern Wu were defeated in one fell swoop. Today, the north and south confrontation, the Chen kingdom all rely on the Yangtze River, the danger of the boat solid to be able to save. And these boats on the river, seemingly civilian, actually controlled by the Chen Dynasty, usually used as a merchant ship, wartime as a warship."

Li Jing heard Han Qinhu said, the North and South Dynasties a hundred years of confrontation, in addition to the danger of the Yangtze River, the main reason for the southern oar advantage. Almost all of the northern people are dry ducks, to the south of the infantry cavalry disadvantage suddenly obvious. Not to mention the combat on the river, this is the way to travel, Li Jing several times seasickness to vomit. Now in this big boat, with the boat swaying, the shoreline moved back, more feel dizzy.

Li Jing hurriedly withdrew his gaze, helped Little Alone Star to lie down, stabilised his mind, and looked for words without words, "Dare I ask Mr. Zhang, why is this boat so fast when it's supposed to be travelling against the water?"

Zhang Ke said, "This ship has five sails, and the wind is blowing in the right season, plus there are 120 oarsmen in the bilge, rowing with the sound of the drums, so it is naturally fast. If the wind is unfavourable, the sails will be retracted, and the 180 strong men will step on the oars in the bilge and drive the boat forward. If it comes to a dangerous beach, there are hundreds of fibremen pulling the boat along the shore. Therefore, up to Jiangling, down to Jiangdu, boat to and fro, can travel more than a hundred miles a day, so it is also known as 'a thousand miles boat'."

Li Jing heard, couldn't help but sigh that the south people harness the boat just like the north people harness the horse. He was about to ask again, when he suddenly heard the sound of knocking. Zhang Ke got up and opened the door, only to see a scribe-like person standing by the door.

The visitor was nearly forty years old, of medium stature, with a Chinese character face, wearing a black robe and a gauze hat, with kind eyebrows and a short beard. When he saw Zhang Ke, he arched his hand and saluted, "I pay my respects to Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Ke was stunned, not expecting someone to know his identity as soon as he boarded the ship. So he hurriedly bowed, "Please, Lord. My name is Zhang Ke from Jiangling, I don't know what you are doing here."

The visitor said, "My name is Xie Kangtu, is the owner of this boat, always travelling on the river, had the honour to meet Mr. Zhang of state in Jiangling, only you does not know me."

Only then did Zhang Ke relax: "So it's Boat Owner Xie. We are on our way back to Jiangling, and we still need to take care of the boat owner."

The two of them were just being polite. Li Jing, however, was secretly thinking: there were hundreds of guests on the ship, so why did the ship owner come to the door just after Zhang Ke and the others had settled down? Even if the identity of the Princess of Western Liang has been leaked, but this section of the journey waters are owned by the State of Chen, it is not so bad that the owner of the ship came to the door to pay his respects ...

In the midst of his misgivings, Xie Kangtu glanced at Li Jing and Little Alone Star and asked, "I suppose these two young masters, they are yours close followers?"

Zhang Ke said, "These two little brothers are good friends of Zhang. Even though they met on the road, they are quite compatible, so they were invited as companions."

Xie Kangtu suddenly closed the hatch and whispered a few words beside Zhang Ke's ear. Zhang Ke's face changed greatly, and he looked back at Li Jing, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Li Jing sensed that something was different, and immediately linked it to Alone Star's life.

After Xie Kangtu finished whispering, he opened the door and went out. Zhang Ke turned back, sat next to Li Jing on the small couch, and said with some difficulty, "Little brother, I'm afraid we can't live in the same room ..."

Li Jing said, "Duke Zhang, but there is no harm in saying so. Our brothers are originally grasshoppers, since we can not be in the same cabin with the prince's maternal uncle ..."

Zhang Ke shook his head, "In fact, all the way, I suspected the identity of your brothers, but you have your own unspeakable secrets, I am not forced to ask. Just ... just thank the ship owner for coming to the door, not because of me, but your brothers are afraid of danger ..."

Li Jing was shocked, "Then we'll change to the fourth class cabin immediately."

Zhang Ke waved his hand repeatedly, "I don't mean this. Xie shipowner said that just now an official approached him, saying that he saw a three or four year old child get on the ship, ordering the shipowner to assist in the search, with a heavy reward ..."

Li Jing glanced at the little Alone Star lying on the couch and lost his mind for a moment. It seemed that the assassin chasing Alone Star had been on the ship long ago. If it was land, Li Jing might be able to deal with it temporarily. But on the ship, which was extremely difficult for him to adapt to, how could he protect Alone Star when he could not even protect himself?

While hesitating, the door was pushed open and Xiao Meiniang walked in, saying, "Uncle, there are two couches in my room as well, so I'll squeeze in with Qingni, and the two little brothers can go to my room."

Li Jing looked at Meiniang gratefully. The situation is urgent, and Zhang Ke can t think of a countermeasure, so he immediately said, "The woman s room, or it can be exempted from the search ... You brothers will first go to Meiniang s room for a while."

Li Jing lifted his bag and pulled up Little Alone Star to follow Meiniang into the next cabin. Qing Ni had already packed a small couch for Li Jing and Alone Star to stay. It was only when Li Jing sat on the couch that he realised that the walls of the cabin were not very thick, and he could still hear Zhang Ke's pacing in the next room.

Xiao Meiniang said, "Brother Mu is not afraid. My teacher once taught me that things in this world are divided into heaven's will and man's will. There is always Heaven's will, but everything can also be man-made. Heaven's will is destiny, and man-made is luck. If luck cannot change fate, we can only accept fate. The act of panic will only confuse oneself and will not help."

Li Jing bowed and thanked him, admiring more and more the determination of the sister in front of him.

The ship continued to sail. Gradually, it was already past noon, the clouds outside the cabin hung low, only the drum beats and the sound of water and wind could be heard. Qing Ni had bought some steamed cakes and dried fruits when she boarded the ship, and took them out at this time, first giving them to Zhang Ke who was next door, and then taking some to Li Jing and Alone Star to eat.

Li Jing had wanted to talk to Xiao Meiniang, but he couldn't find a topic for a while. As for Qing Ni and Meiniang, they were also reticent to talk look at the window. With no other choice, Li Jing could only place Little Alone Star on the pillow, closed his eyes and rested his mind, and without realising it, he actually fell asleep.

He didn't know how long it had been, but Li Jing was suddenly awakened by a loud noise next door. He hurriedly got up and listened with his ears. He only heard Zhang Ke say, "... Never seen ..."

A voice like a flood bell said, "Duke Zhang, on the basis that I am a clansman with the Emperor of Liang, you have to tell the truth ... official business, and there is no room for selfishness." The first two words of "official business" seemed to be the person's self-registration number, which Li Jing did not hear.

Zhang Ke said, "Great General, the Princess and I came east in search of a doctor and took this ship not long ago, so how could there be the three-year-old child you mentioned?"

That person said, "So, the one living in the cabin is the princess? In terms of seniority, I'm still an ancestor, but the royal family has its own rules and regulations, so I'd better go and greet her. ..."

Li Jing was sweating. Without waiting for any reaction from him, the door was slammed open and a man in his fifties, with a scar on his face, a yellow face, thick beard, and black clothes barged in, not even looking at Xiao Meiniang with half an eye, and stretching out his big hand to grab Alone Star who was lying on the couch.

Li Jing reacted instinctively and grasped his hands. The man let out an "eek" and sank his elbow, Li Jing felt a numbness on his shoulder and fell to the ground. The man dragged Alone Star over, and with his left hand, he ripped open Alone Star's lapel, revealing his back.

Xiao Meiniang was furious and said, "Where did the wild man come from? Don't you know that this is the residence of this princess?"

That person looked at Alone Star's back, seemed to be quite disappointed, even pulled open Alone Star's belt again, to the abdomen to see. After looking, that person put Alone Star down, turned back and saluted: "Great Chen Che Cavalry General Xiao Mohe, see Princess Liang!"

Li Jing was shaken inwardly. He had heard his uncle say that this Chen general Xiao Mohe was a famous figure, and it seemed that he could be listed among the top ten masters of the world, so it was no wonder that only a gentle elbow made himself limp on the ground.

Xiao Meiniang, however, did not treat him politely, "Yo, what a big official! I don't dare to accept the salute. Besides, this is under the rule of your Chen Kingdom, so it's easy for the Great General to break into the women's room." Li Jing could hear the sarcasm in Xiao Meiniang's words.

At this time Zhang Ke came over, see Li Jing brothers two no matter, the heart a little more comfortable, immediately cupped his fists and said, "Great General, the princess if there is an offence, but also look forward to bear with ..."

Xiao Mohe did not find the person he was looking for, and lost his poise and looked ashamed. Immediately closed the door of the room, bowed and said: ''Back to the princess, I was ordered by the Emperor to track down a person. Months since, along the river barrier have checked all, is no trace. Recently received a secret report, this person is hiding in this ship, so the emperor ordered me to personally catch and bring back the case ..."

Xiao Meiniang said angrily, "Is Great General Xiao's handling of a case all about tearing children's clothes and looking at children's crotches?"

If it were usual, Li Jing would have laughed out loud. But at this time, the scene was so awkward, how could he dare to laugh? Xiao Mohe, the first time to encounter such a barbaric woman, angry beard are flying up. However, in front of the woman is indeed the princess of Liang, is also the same clan, and is their own rude in the first place. Immediately forced to suppress anger, one leg on the ground, and then make amends: "The end will be reckless, disturbed the princess, please forgive me!"

Zhang Ke hurriedly smooth things over: "Great General Xiao, please rise. During the time of the late emperor, your father Xiao Lang was the prime minister of Shixing County, and worked with Emperor Wu of Chen (Note: Chen Baxian, the founder of Chen, was the governor of Shixing). The early death of your father, you before the weak crown that followed Emperor Wu of Chen to pacify Hou Jing's chaos, the force of the North Qi strong enemy, the vertical and horizontal thirty years, the might of the world ... However, tracing back to the roots, You still a descendant of the Lanling Xiao clan, is the self family."

After Zhang Ke's words, Xiao Mohe suddenly burst into tears, turned back to hold Zhang Ke's hand, took advantage of the situation to sit on the low couch, and sighed: "What duke Zhang said is very true. The change of the Southern Dynasty is not Xiao's fault. Nowadays, only a small part of Liang is left in Jiangling, but that is the motherland! Trespassing on the princess's private room, is indeed the fault of me. Just because the emperor's order is in the body, act recklessly, please princess, duke Zhang forgive."

Xiao Meiniang is extremely resourceful person, how can she stay angry? At that moment, she said: ''I heard my father tell me that, in terms of seniority, the Great General is still my great- uncle, so it would be unreasonable for me to blame him. However, what is the key criminal even need great- uncle personally capture? Wouldn't it be enough to send a few soldiers?"

"Great-uncle" this name makes Xiao Mohe takes great pleasure, eyes also brighter. He shook his head and said: "Princess, duke Zhang do not know ..." words to the mouth, suddenly changed his words: "This ... these two young masters, what is the origin? "

Xiao Meiniang said faintly: "Great-uncle do not know, I was suffering from a cold disease in my childhood, which could not be cured for a long time, and this is why I sought help from the high priest monk Sen Can master for treatment. I finally had the chance to visit the monk and was able to be cured. The monk said that although my illness is gone, but the root of the disease has not been removed, so he sent two medicine boys, morning and evening medicines in order to treat."

Li Jing perceived that Xiao Meiniang spoke jerky words almost as if they were true. Xiao Mohe, however, believed it, "That's no wonder. Just now, this young master made a fight against each other, his technique is extraordinary, so it is a senior disciple of the Divine Monk ..."

Xiao Meiniang hurriedly changed the topic, "great-uncle, what exactly is the reason that the Chen Emperor ordered you to capture a child?"

Only then did Xiao Mohe whisper: "In the first month of this year, the late emperor (Chen Xuanti Chen Xu) was seriously ill, and the current lord (Chen Shubao) was the crown prince at that time, but Shixing Wang (Chen Xu's second son, Chen Shuling) plotted to take over the first wife, and went so far as to assassinate the crown prince before the late emperor's deathbed, wounding the crown prince's neck. The Prince ordered me to capture the rebels, Shixing Wang lured me with the position of the three dukes, I did not accept, and put all his family to justice ... That night, the soldiers counted the heads of the people, and only one child escaped ..."

Xiao Meiniang said, "Chen Shuling is plotting against the law, his crime is punishable, and there is nothing to say about implicating his wife and child. However, this child that Great-uncle is talking about, who exactly is he?"

Xiao Mohe bowed his head and said, "I am ashamed to say, just now I checked the neck and crotch of this ... this fairy child, precisely to check the identity ... because, this child is less than four years old, and there is a vermillion mole on the back of the neck, it is a girl. "

Li Jing had heard Han Qinhu tell many palace tragedies, but he had not expected a king who had failed to seize the throne, and when he failed, even his young daughter could not escape death!