Including Yongshun, Longshan, Huayuan, Baojing, Luxi, Fenghuang, Guzhang seven counties, north to south length of about 240 kilometers, east to west width of about 170 kilometers, Wuling Mountains from west to east meandering territory, the east edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Wuling Mountains of the northeast, west riding Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, north of the western Hubei Mountains, southeast to Xuefeng Mountain as the screen, is the northwest gateway of Hunan, that is, Xiangxi.

Originally, Xu Hao planned to go to Governor Li's mansion for a while the next day, but when he thought that he would startle the snake, he instructed Wu Jing a few words, and he went away alone.

Xu Hao was full of interest in Xiangxi, and according to legend, several small vassal states on the land of Jingchu in ancient times were described as Southern Barbarians by the Central Plains, and were forced to retreat to a corner of Xiangxi by the Chu State in Yunmeng, Dongting Lake and other places. Because there are five streams here, it is also known as "Wuxi Man", which should have a great relationship with the Tujia family, perhaps their ancestors.

Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu who was exiled during the Warring States Period, once set up a boat to go upstream, and the mountain spirit and cave spirit mentioned in the poem, the stinky grass and fragrant flowers often borrowed in the chapter, and the religious ceremony of rewarding the gods in the "Chu Ci" are likely to be related to the ceremony of rewarding the gods presided over by Miao Wu in Fenghuang County.

Ma Yu's ancestor Han Fubo general Ma Yuan Zhengman, trapped in the Hutou Mountain in the middle of Yuanshui in Xiangxi, so far Yongshun and other counties still have Fubo Palace, the incense is good. The Tusi system in Xiangxi existed as early as five dynasties ago, and the big bronze pillar of the agreement between the official Ma Xifan and Peng surnamed Yichang still stands in the Qingyutan in Yongshun County.

Xiangxi is rich in natural resources such as tung oil, tea, wood, bamboo, zongzi, etc., and various underground mineral deposits are also very rich.

At this time, Xiangxi is more authentic, with many cultural monuments well preserved, but if you want to choose between development and destruction and maintaining the style, Xu Hao will definitely choose development, too many later generations condemn the destruction of the environment, but forget that they grew up in the city. Enjoy the superior life brought by development, self-righteous want blue sky and white clouds, want nature, and have a kind of moving to the western mountains to protect the nature you admire? Is it good to go back to 20 years of life? Don't stand and talk without backache.

The mountainous roads in Xiangxi are not smooth, even if she is located in the throat of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guizhou, the terrain must be contested, and it has been backward in all aspects for thousands of years, and it is generally regarded as "barren and poor", and the scarcity of the Han people has made it for hundreds of years. The largest tung oil, timber, cowhide, lacquer, ash, wood oil, and mercury business were almost monopolized in the hands of merchants in Jiangxi and Hankou, and the Tujia and Miao people rarely went far away, closed and conservative.

The people of Xiangxi have the strong nature of the mountain people, and the Tusi soldiers are the most powerful in the Ming Dynasty, but they also produce a very stubborn rejection of others, even if there are mountain people out of the mountains, they are almost fighting on their own, mixed with the contradictory character of conceit and self-abandonment.

The counties like to resist the orders of the central government. When the earth overlord, this time the donation seems to be accidental, but it has continued in history until modern times, kidnapping and gambling. Fighting for territory, bandits are rampant, so in modern times, Xiangxi is called the Miao Barbarian Bandit Area, and the people of Xiangxi are called Miao Man Bandits. This is a humiliation to all Xiangxi people, and the other is the Kanto region that has been a horse since ancient times.

The Ming Dynasty's understanding of Xiangxi is that this is a place where Miao people live. Miao women are more likely to release Gu, and men especially like to kill, commonly known as the poor countryside.

The second is the danger of the road, this journey is no less than an adventure, and single travelers can get out alive, and they will have a feeling of the rest of their lives.

The third is the advantage of road insurance, not only the scenery is excellent, when passing through Wuling, you may meet the remnants of Qin, the people are very hospitable, meet the guests from afar, every household kills chickens and cooks wine, and is hospitable. If you encounter a dead body walking on the mountain road, you don't need to panic, it is a unique "corpse chase" in Xiangxi.

Because I don't understand, Xiangxi seems to always give outsiders an illusion and illusion, this is a special area, full of primitive and mysterious horror, barbaric ignorance and simple and beautiful intertwined, and people who often come here know that Xiangxi is nothing special, what is special is her primitive landform, as well as unique people and customs.

It seems that Xiangxi has not belonged to the rule of various dynasties since ancient times, but her geographical location is destined not to give up, from the Great Chu of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the powerful Qin and Han dynasties, Xiangxi has actually been firmly controlled in the hands of the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times.

The secret is rarely discovered, that is, it is not the Miao people who really control the throat, but the tens of thousands of boat households who dominate the Yuanshui Basin.

Xu Hao stood on the riverbank, looking at the big river, the water was full of boats of all sizes, but it was difficult to find a fishing boat. This is the lifeblood of transportation connecting all parties, and the Hunan government may dare to collect taxes everywhere, but it will never dare to touch the waterway, not only because it is afraid of the powerful power of the boat owners, but also because the imperial court will never allow it.

The scene depicted in Du Fu's poem is exactly the same as the scene in front of him.

The most eye-catching is the three-masted big square-headed boat, which is from the Yangtze River across the lake, and is a "salt boat" controlled by the government for thousands of years.

There are also two masts or single masts, the hull is very delicate, the head and tail suddenly converge, and the whole body is also black The boat is called "Wujiangzi", which is characterized by not being afraid of wind and waves, and is the fastest kind of ship in Dongting Lake, which is used to carry grain.

Wujiangzi is characterized by high mast, large sails, deep cabins, sharp heads, cabin canopies smaller than the hull, there are cabin guards outside the ship, the shape is very beautiful and clean, relying on the wind when sailing, sailing with the current and countercurrent, there are not many sailors on the ship, oars are not often used, and they rarely go upstream.

The local boats sailing in the Yuanshui Basin have a kind of magnificent giant, which is the "Hongjiang Oil Tanker". This kind of ship has many heads and high tails, and the color is bright, because tung oil is the pillar industry of Xiangxi, and the ship of the rich will have a little gold paint decoration. There is a rudder at the tail end, which can be used to house family members, and each time it goes down, it can carry three or four thousand barrels of tung oil, and when it comes back, it can carry two thousand pieces of cotton.

The flat-headed and big-tailed "White River Boat" sails in the section from Yuanshui Changde to Yuanling, where the water is turbulent and extremely dangerous, the ship must withstand the collision, the hull needs to be sturdy and durable, and can load the load to press the waves, so the tail is like a hip, large and round.

The proverb of the local water people says: "Three oars are not as good as a penny, and three oars are not as good as a pole". The river is shallow and fast, and the oars are of little use. The pennies are particularly long, and the oars are stubby and short. The canopy is made of zongzi leaves, and most of the owners are Yongshun and Baojing people, and the surname is surnamed Xiang Wang and Peng.

Because of the many tidal currents and the narrow riverbed, the boatman needs to have courage and patience, and the boatman often scolds each other instead of singing, and is subject to more natural conditions. Custody will unceremoniously throw people into the water.

Legend has it that there are many caves left by the ancients in the local area, and Xiangxi is indeed full of mysterious caves, most of which have long since decayed. The imperial calendar is the holy book of the boat owner, the boat family taboos are many, do not look at the imperial calendar is absolutely afraid to go out of the ship, in case something happens, will also act according to the book, this is the will of God, let people feel at ease. There are also a lot fewer disputes.

In recent years, in Chenxi County, in the middle of Yuanshui, someone has dug up white lime and black coal, and a local Chenxi boat was born, because it is full of minerals. The hull of the ship was dirty, few people wanted to take it, and the owners themselves did not bother to clean up, because the sails and tents on the ship were almost incomplete. It was broken and broken, and was ridiculed by other boat owners as a broken settlement.

In addition, there are "cave river boats" that can travel between caves, and the boatmen are almost all real Miao people. Friendly and shy, satisfied with three meals, and most of the boat owners are either Han or Tujia people who have great roots with Han people.

The most used by the locals is the ordinary medium-sized "Mayang boat", this kind of bow and tail is held high, delicate and handy, women and children can be seen on each boat, Mayang people are very famous in Xiangxi, with the ancient Teng surname people are the most, there are Mayang boat households in various places.

There is also a very small boat "Taoyuan paddle", floating on the surface of the water like a leaf, the number of fish under the water, because of the light hull of the boat, the speed is more than twice as fast as other boats, people travel the most like to ride. The boat households are the most people in Taoyuan, and after the water reaches Taoyuan, it becomes a flat pool, and there is no bad shoal rapids, which affects the temperament of the boat people, and the character of Taoyuan people is relatively peaceful and sloppy, and they like to be a part-time tour guide.

The continuous migration of the Han people, mostly the Hakka people, brought a lot of changes to Xiangxi, and the boats that traveled up and down were also called "guests", there were several kinds, some came from Yuping in Qiandong in the upper reaches of the Zhijiang River, some came from Tongren in Qiandong in the upper reaches of Mayang, and some came from Donglongtan in the upper reaches of the Baihe River.

Among them, the Yuping ship is mostly re-exported by the Hongjiang River, the Longtan ship is mostly exchanged from Yuanling, and the Tongren ship likes to be directly placed downstream, intersecting at Changde Wharf.

The most striking thing about these boats is that they are bright and eye-catching, and the style is light, such as the dragon boat used for racing, with a narrow bow and stern and a flat and shallow bilge, giving people visual agility and pleasure, which can be described as elegant and exquisite.

Some of the boatmen wore knee-length robes and white turbans, and their demeanor was neat and commensurate with the hull, and the boats were small but could carry loads.

There are a number of long-term dry boats moored along the shore, including local prostitutes who entertain sailors, businessmen who sell daily groceries and snacks, fortune tellers, and teahouses.

Boat owners celebrate their birthdays or get married, and like to rent this kind of water mansion to hold it, so when they encounter the auspicious day of the zodiac, they can see the lively scene of lanterns everywhere, setting off firecrackers, and singing fists.

The prosperity of tens of thousands of boat households, even with the people who depend on the boat households to live as high as 100,000, the long street along the river in Changde alone, there are no less than 1,000 shops of all sizes in the market, the reason why the dynasties do not need to move the Han people into Xiangxi on a large scale, and Xiangxi can always keep the river transportation unimpeded, the mystery lies in this, no one can do without the boat people who have lived here for generations.

Xu Hao did not choose to take a boat, but took the road that had not yet been built. For road construction, it is hard to imagine that the people of Xiangxi show perseverance, and there is no need for the government to mobilize in many ways, just on this winding and difficult mountain road, hundreds of thousands of people have been wrapped in food and water for three years, and they have worked hard to build roads in this high mountain range, and they are really a group of unknown soldiers, and every inch of the road is built by their sweat.

The road is in the mountains and in the valleys, and the road surface is very well maintained, and of course it is easy to maintain because there are no motor vehicles.

Xu Hao couldn't help but squat down and carefully touch the asphalt pavement, a little bit of infrastructure construction in China in the past few years has been done by thousands of ordinary people, who don't even know anything, but the work done is very great. (To be continued......)