There are four rivers in Hangzhou from north to south, which are called Huansha River, Shijiao River, Yanqiao River and Caishi River respectively from west to east. Of course, this is the scientific name, and the local people in Hangzhou are used to calling these four rivers the West River, the Small River, the Middle River and the East River.

These four rivers in the city all converge outside the north gate of Hangzhou, together with the Sui Dynasty in the north of the city. The Grand Canal, the Grand Canal and the four rivers in the city are like a huge dragon's claws, holding the entire Hangzhou City tightly in their hands. This is also the pride of the people of Hangzhou. The golden dragon's claw enveloped the whole city, indicating that the millions of people in the city were under the protection of the dragon's claw, and they were naturally safe.

The four cities run through Hangzhou City from north to south, dividing Hangzhou City into five long strips of terrain. It is not an exaggeration to call these four rivers golden waterways, and there are fifty or sixty wharves of the four rivers in Hangzhou. These terminals collect and distribute countless cargoes every year. Products from all over the southeast are sent to the whole country of Dazhou through the canal from here, and goods from other places will also arrive at these dozens of wharves in a steady stream. At busy times, all the wharves are docked with cargo ships, and the dense wharf coolies load and unload goods like ants, and the scene is really breathtaking.

However, every year after September, the seven or eight large wharves in the city are empty, not because there is no business to do, but after September, these seven or eight wharves will no longer have civilian ships and merchant ships docked, because they have become special wharves for transportation. After September every year, the annual water luck will begin.

Cao Yun is the lifeblood of every dynasty, because Cao Yun transports grain. Grain, to be exact. In a predominantly agrarian society, the grain harvest is basically a matter of looking at God's face. There are years of great harvests, and there are also years of great droughts and famines, and whether it is a year of famine or a good year, the whole country has to eat. Once there is no food, then there is a big problem. Historically, there have been many turmoil and rebellions caused by famines, and even the collapse of the regime due to the food problem. Therefore, as the old saying goes: there is no food and there is no stability.

For the Great Zhou Dynasty, all this is naturally no exception. Cao Yun is the top priority of the annual Sansi Yamen. After June every year, the three divisions of the yamen began to convene the transshipment envoys from all over the country to Beijing to discuss the matter, first, to estimate this year's harvest and formulate the quota of grain, and second, to start arranging the transportation of grain. And this point is particularly important for the transshipment envoys in Lianghuai and Jiangnan.

The grain production places of the Great Zhou Dynasty were in Lianghuai and Jiangnan. The land south of the Yangtze River is particularly important, as the so-called 'Suhu Lake is familiar with the world', although it is a bit exaggerated, but Suzhou and Huzhou, which belong to the two Zhejiang roads, are indeed the largest producers of grain.

Every autumn, taking advantage of the high autumn water, while the north wind has not risen, the river has not yet frozen, and the grain from all over the country is transported to the north by land and water in a dense time of a month. Tens of millions of stones of grain were transported to seven or eight giant granaries such as Longdong Warehouse, Biannan Warehouse, Kaifeng Beida Warehouse, Luoyang Luokou Warehouse and Luobei Hanjiacang for storage. These large granaries often stored millions of stones of grain, ensuring the supply of grain at critical times in the border towns and the northern cities such as the capital Bianliang and Luoyang. As the saying goes, "the granary is the national vein, and the people's will is determined", all this is the foundation for the stability of the country and the stability of the DPRK.

The Lin family in Hangzhou City on Liangzhejiang Road was an important member of the large-scale grain transportation operation. Although it is only responsible for the transportation of the two Zhejiang roads, because it is in the granary of the world, the number of grains on the two Zhejiang roads accounts for almost sixty percent of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. The Great Zhou Dynasty was stable for more than 100 years, and the population grew rapidly, so the number of Cao Yun every year was also rising. At the founding of the country, the country's grain was only 5.8 million stones, but now, the total number of grains transported in the second year of Qingfeng has reached 14 million stones, almost tripling. Among them, the Lin family was responsible for transporting as much as 8 million stones.

The eight million stones of grain needed to use almost all of the Lin family's resources and manpower. All the ships of the Lin family's ship, nearly a hundred ships of all sizes, will come in handy. In addition, it was necessary to rent and borrow ships from other merchants, and a total of three or four hundred ships needed to be organized to transport the eight million stone grain to the north via the canal within a month.

This is a huge project, and it is also a major event that cannot be missed. Therefore, the Lin family began comprehensive preparations in late August. At the beginning of September, a steady stream of grain arrived in Hangzhou from various state capitals. These grain carriers with the Yellow Dragon Banner had the privilege of entering the city and docking at the wharf, and the rest of the ships had to make way for them, so that they could gather the grain of the various state capitals on seven or eight special wharves, and wait for the inspection of the transshipment envoy Yamen to issue an order for unified transportation.

On the wharf of the Lin family in Xihe, Lin Boyong personally sat in charge, watching the bags of grain transported to the dock yard and stacked up. And let people cover the rain cloth, and send special personnel to prevent theft, arson and moisture. Several sons of the Lin family also sat on other docks and did the same thing. For the Lin family, the annual transportation is the top priority, which is not only the profits that can be obtained from it, but also a symbol that the Lin family can dominate the merchants in Hangzhou. To tell the truth, in terms of benefits, Caoyun is far less than the trade income of the Lin family's sea ships going to sea once a year. But the fact that it can carry the fortune is not something that can be measured by silver, and the significance of this is far greater than money. This is a symbol of the strength of the Lin family.

The shipment of the grain will not be until mid-September, and before that, the Lin family must tense their nerves and make all preparations. When all the grain was loaded on the ship and began to be shipped, it could be regarded as a half sigh of relief. When all the grain arrived at the destination, the other half of the breath was relieved, and then the Lin family could raise a glass to celebrate that everything went smoothly for this year's Cao Yun carrier.

Of course, for Lin Jue, the busyness of the Lin family has nothing to do with him. Lin Jue is not qualified to participate in this matter. In fact, Lin Jue also vaguely proposed to Lin Boyong that he could take a few days off from school to help on the dock, but this move was immediately misunderstood by Lin Ke and others as Lin Jue's whimsical desire to meddle in affairs, and was rejected by a sarcasm insinuation.

Lin Jue had no choice but to smile helplessly, he sincerely wanted to help, but just like he thought beforehand, he was really misunderstood as wanting to meddle in the family's affairs, and he had bad intentions. Since this is the case, Lin Jue can only enjoy his leisure with peace of mind. Anyway, I don't really have much interest in it.

In recent times, Lin Jue has kept a low profile. After the Oiran Competition, Lin Jue did not go to the Moon Tower again, the Moon Tower was very popular during this time, the effect of the Oiran Competition was emerging, Lin Jue never wanted to run to join in the fun at this time. Although Xie Yingying ordered someone to send several letters to invite Lin Jue to meet in the teahouse outside, Lin Jue did not go to the appointment. Lin Jue thought that what he had done for them had been done, so there was no need to entangle with Mochizuki Tower.

Of course, it is not because of Xie Yingying's identity, in fact, Xie Yingying is self-respecting and self-loving, and Lin Jue admires her very much. It's just that Lin Jue knows that Xie Yingying is now red and purple, and she is the object of attention wherever she goes, and if she goes to see her by herself, it is inevitable that some extraneous things will happen. Lin Jue's principle is not an infinite challenge to Lin Boyong's bottom line, he just wants to be safe and secure without oppression until next year's autumn and the next year's spring. Lin Jue's purpose was not to destroy the Lin family, but to save himself and save the Lin family. I woke up from several nightmares, and the massacre I experienced was vividly remembered, which seemed to remind Lin Jue not to forget his purpose, and not to forget to reverse the desperate path that the Lin family had embarked on.

However, on the evening of the third day of the ninth lunar month, Lin Jue was on his way home from the academy, but the mule cart was stopped halfway. A large car was in the middle of the road, and Jiao Da had to hold on to the reins.

It was Xie Yingying who was sitting in the big car, and she was waiting for Lin Jue on the way back. This was the first time she had met Lin Jue after the Oiran competition.

Lin Jue and Xie Yingying walked slowly in the leafy woods on the side of the road, and after a long time, Xie Yingying finally spoke.

"Is Engong hiding from the warbler? Is there anything that offends the Grace Father? ”

Lin Jue said with a smile: "Where is this, how can Miss Yingying have offended, where do you start." ”

Xie Yingying nodded lightly and said, "I understand, Yingying came to see Lin Gongzi today, just to thank Gongzi in person." Childe's kindness to Yingying and Moon Tower is like a mountain, and Yingying has nothing to repay. It's understandable that Childe doesn't want to see Yingying, after all, Yingying is just a Qinglou woman, Childe is a clean person, I can understand it. Today, I promise Childe that I will not bother Childe again in the future. ”

Lin Jue shook his head and smiled: "You are angry, I didn't see you because of what you said, but for your own good." The Oiran matter must not be leaked, otherwise it will be very detrimental to you and Mochizuki. I'm sure someone is secretly investigating this matter, and the more you and I see each other, the more risk it is. It's not good for you or me. That's why I didn't see you, not because I disliked your identity, but because I was protecting you and me. ”

"Are you telling the truth? Aren't you disgusted with my identity? Xie Yingying asked.

"Of course not. When did I lie to you. Although you were born in a green building, you are a good girl, and you are not stained by the mud. ”

"Thank you for the compliment, but ...... I myself dislike my origins. During this time, I often wondered, why can't I get out of this cage and have to fight in the green building? I had wanted to be an Oiran so that I could save the Mochizuki Tower and the sisters in the building. But in recent days, the building is full of guests, and there is a lot of chaos all day long. The sisters also have their own benefactors, and the income in the building is also very good. But I was very unhappy. Xie Yingying sighed lightly.

Lin Jue was surprised and asked, "Why are you still unhappy?" Isn't business what you want? ”

Xie Yingying squatted down and reached out on the ground to pick up a withered yellow leaf, pointing the leaf to the setting sun. Under the sunset, the yellow leaves are almost transparent and visible, which is very poignant.

"The leaves fall in autumn and turn into mud in winter." Xie Yingying said softly.

Lin Jue smiled: "Yes, the glory is withered, the principle of nature." ”

Xie Yingying said: "People are like this, the good times are just a moment." Lin Gongzi, I don't want my sisters to be like this, I think things about the Oiran Contest seem to be ...... Seems to have done something wrong. Don't get me wrong, childe, I mean I shouldn't have won this oiran. ”

Lin Jue frowned and said, "What does Miss Yingying mean by this?" ”