The bright moon is reflected on the water surface of the Huajiang River, and with the surging waves, it is like a dream; And the dark-skinned captain of the ship was already waiting on the shore as promised. At this time, he was carefully stacking the goods in a large and thin fishing net. Shen Gui knew in his heart that these things should be the goods he smuggled to Nankang along the ship; Judging from the trivial sound, it must have been some porcelain knick-knacks.

After carefully stacking the goods, the boat boss directly tied the fishing net to the raised stake at the stern of the wooden boat, and the belly of the net carrying the goods naturally sank in the Taotao River......

The captain of the boat took the three fifty taels of silver tickets handed over by Shen Gui, and arranged them to sit at the bow of the boat, balancing the counterweights of the head and tail; After that, he took two large rattan basket covers, and told them to use this thing to protect the left side of their body when the ship was halfway through, so as to prevent accidents.

When everything was ready, the boat boss took out a knife, cut the rope tied to the trunk of the tree, and used the oars to prop up the river bank, and the small fishing boat sailed towards Nankang on the other side of the river under the reflection of the starry sky, along with the spring water of the river...

This small boat was originally a fishing boat, and even with the addition of three adult men and a net of black goods, this weight was completely unable to cover the turbulent waves of the narrow waterway. But there is no diamond, and people don't dare to take this porcelain work, Shen Gui saw with his own eyes that the unsightly boat boss, paddling with one hand and rocking the oars with the other, as if instantly incarnated as a river god, driving this small boat into the depths of the water either smoothly or reversely, fast and slowly. There was no need for the boat boss to drink well, just waiting for the waves to be together, Shen Gui and Qi Yan carefully hid behind the simple shield woven by rattan; The two felt the speed of the water and looked at each other, both of whom saw the wonder and admiration in each other's eyes......

What a subtle ability to manoeuvre a boat? As soon as the small fishing boat left the relatively flat riverbank, it immediately became a fallen leaf falling on the waves, and involuntarily swayed from side to side and flew up and down with the turbulent current. In such a dangerous water situation, the boat boss who operated the boat still did not have half a look of worry, but comforted the two passengers with blue faces and white lips with leisurely words:

"You two are lucky, today's river wind is not strong, and the waves are low, which is the most suitable for running boats! But don't be careless, take care of your body, maybe sometime, something will have to fly! If anyone accidentally falls into the river, I won't return you a copper plate for this boat......"

As soon as the ship's boss's brainless words fell, there was already a sound of feather arrows breaking through the air in Shen Gui's ears. However, firstly, the ship shook very frequently, secondly, listening to the sound of breaking the sky, there was still some distance from the boat, thirdly, there was a vast night as a cover, and the simple rattan shield of the two was extremely thick, so he did not make any superfluous moves, but cautiously protected his body......

After a faint sound came from the vine shield, the boat boss took a closer look, then immediately put down the oars and rocking oars in his hands, picked up a broken gong at his feet, and struck it three times, and then continued to control the fishing boat and continue to drive towards the opposite shore:

"Okay two, put that thing down, it's fine. Which of you has sharp eyes? Help me see what the end of the arrow is engraved with! ”

Shen Gui pulled out the feather arrow on the vine shield with his backhand, and took a closer look through the moonlight, only to see that on the shaft of the arrow under the tail feather, a bean character was engraved crookedly.

"The arrow is engraved with the word bean, the bean of tofu."

The boat boss was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then grinned widely, laughed and scolded a word of shit luck, and then explained to Shen Gui.

It turned out that this feather arrow was shot by the guards on duty at the Anqing Prefecture Water Military Camp, which was intended to crack down on and deter illegal acts such as smuggling and smuggling. Each shift of their patrol was an establishment of forty people, so it should have been a rain of arrows, not a lone arrow; It's just that the recruit named Little Bean happened to be lucky with shit tonight.

Since the break between Nankang and the Northern Yan court, this place has become a gray area where smuggling and smuggling are extremely rampant.

Although the north and the south were in the very beginning, large and small, openly and covertly encircled and intercepted, they were also staged every day, and all the methods that could be thought of were exhausted, but they always had little effect; In the long run, this kind of thing has become a tacit practice that the people do not raise and the officials do not investigate, and both Beiyan and Nankang are tacitly acquiesced.

Tonight's smuggling behavior, in fact, the boat boss has already passed the anger with the patrol sergeant on duty tonight; And this symbolic rain of arrows is just a superficial effort. If no one hits the target in this rain of arrows, then the fifty taels of filial piety silver of the ship boss will be used for the food of the forty river patrol defenders; If any of the sergeants is skilled in archery and can hit with one arrow, then they can get the fifty taels of silver as a prize.

Look, they have turned this business of collecting black money into a lottery game, which shows how common similar incidents are in Anqing City. However, the bow and arrow are the final weapons of water warfare, and this mini-game can not only pass the boring time and have some fun for the sergeants, but also increase their motivation for training.

Of course, after playing this kind of small game over the years, there will be many unlucky eggs on this river; Either they were all shot to death, or they were directly overturned by the huge waves; So overall, the journey seemed very short, but it was a dangerous gamble.

Tonight's water surface was relatively calm, coupled with the boat boss's skillful and exquisite boat manoeuvring, everyone still crossed the center of the river without danger and approached the official ferry head of Nankang.

At this time, the lighting brazier of Nankang Ferry had been lit, and in the tea shed that had been closed on the edge of the ferry, a young man wearing a dark blue robe and a delicate appearance was sitting, and he was looking at the situation near the ferry.

As soon as the man saw a boat approaching, and carefully distinguishing the captain of the boat who was tied to the stake, he immediately stood up! He first dusted off the dust on his body, then slapped his palms twice behind him, and then walked unhurriedly towards the ferry.

"Uncle Qu, you can make me wait for a while! How do you think there will be a few left this time? ”

"Hmm...... Although the river breeze is flat tonight, the waves are not small; As for how many of them can be left...... Then it depends on the face of the Dragon King......"

After the boat boss surnamed Qu crossed the boat, while replying to the other party's gossip, with the help of Shen Gui, put away the fishing net that was dragged in the river.

It wasn't until the three of them landed safely that they saw these ten pieces of porcelain smuggled from Beiyan under the light of the two braziers......

I don't care if I don't look at it, but after waiting for these ten things to show their true appearance, I really almost glared out Shen Gui's eyes!

These ten pieces of porcelain, after crossing a short section of the river, are still intact today, and only three are left; The rest of the porcelain either crashed into the hidden reef under the water, or collided with each other due to the fluctuation of the river, becoming a useless pile of broken porcelain.

Shen Gui could see at a glance that these ten utensils were all top-quality Ru porcelain, and they were also official kilns customized by the Beiyan Palace, and they were all made by the Office of the Internal Affairs Office! The three intact objects, one is a three-legged pen wash, one is a thin-necked plum bottle, and the other is an antique three-legged incense burner. Of course, this kind of thing can only be regarded as a gadget and a knick-knack; As for those large heavy objects such as statues and bottles, they all shattered into a pile of porcelain pieces without accident.

But even so, whether it was the boatman or the young man who picked up the boat, they all showed a look of joy that could not be concealed:

"My Uncle Qu, your old man is really the reincarnation of the river god! I grew up drinking water from the Huajiang River, and this is the first time I have heard of someone who can save three pieces of porcelain in a parallel shipment! When I bring this batch of goods back to Jiankang City, I will have to make a good name for your old man! ”

After some compliments, the lad did not pay any money or give a silver ticket; Instead, he waved his hand and summoned a small job dressed in ordinary clothes, supporting Lao Qu as if he was serving his ancestors, and slowly left the ferry.

"I'm really embarrassed to neglect the two distinguished guests. However, we businessmen pay attention to the priority, and it is not good to snub old friends because of the new distinguished customers. Let me introduce myself first, the contemptible surname is Xie, the single name is a Sichuan character, and he is a small steward in the Yu family's business, who is responsible for dealing with the big and small matters of Beiyan at this ferry. ”

"Shopkeeper Xie doesn't need to be humble, he is young and promising, and he is a talent!"

Shen Gui looked the other party up and down, and then hinted at Qi Yan with the corner of his eye, wanting to leave this place of right and wrong quickly; Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his legs, he was desperately grabbed his wrist by Xie Chuan, who was powerless:

"Don't be in a hurry to leave, two guest officers! Uncle Qu and I have often come and gone, and whenever the guests brought by his old man, Xie is even more relieved...... But it's also a little ashamed, after all, it's just a small steward, and I can't afford such a big responsibility, and I invite the two distinguished guests to have a lot, forgive me for the disrespect! …… This...... Did you forget to pay off the ferry silver of the two? ”

It can be seen that Xie Chuan, the little housekeeper in the family business, not only looks decent and neat, but also has a full fire in his ability to deal with people! Just now, he communicated with the old song who was sailing and manipulating, and he used the vernacular; But now it's Shen Gui's turn to be the two, and what they say is half-literate and half-plain so-called elegant words! Even if he may not have studied for a few days, he has no serious teacher; But just for his clever eyesight, wherever he goes, he will not lose a mouthful of food!