Liu Mang quickly bid farewell to Liu Qi in Xinye and headed for Xiangyang. On the way, Liu Qi had planned to send some soldiers to escort Liu Mang, but Liu Mang refused because he did not have any extra war horses. They needed to reach Xiangyang City as soon as possible.
"My lord, what about Liu Qi?" After leaving Xinye, Jia Xu asked. In his opinion, investing in Liu Qi was a mistake. In times of peace, people like Liu Qi could be friends because he valued righteousness and was honest and would not scheme against others. But in times of chaos, people like him would be eliminated by time. If Liu Qi was smart enough, he would have sought the support of the Huang Clan, the Pang Clan, or even the Pang Clan instead of being sent to Xinye. Although he had avoided direct persecution from the Cai Clan, he was also far away from the center of power.
Helping Liu Mang was equivalent to becoming an enemy of the Cai Clan. Such a person was not worthy of Liu Mang's help. Just because of Xinye City and the ten thousand shi worth of provisions?
"Wenhe, Wenhe, sometimes the choice of allies isn't just something we can control. There are also things we can't control!" Liu Mang did not accept Liu Qi for Xinye, but for his trip to Jingzhou. Liu Mang had received information that Pang Tong had joined forces with the Cai Clan, the Huang Clan, and the Pang Clan to attack him. It was fine if Liu Mang had the Huang Clan and the Pang Clan, but the Huang Clan had lost Jiang Xia because of his Lvbu's Army. Although Liu Biao had given Changsha as compensation, how could Changsha, which was close to the barbarians, be as rich as the Jiang Xia? The taxes alone were enough to make the Huang Clan rich. Moreover, Liu Mang had once captured Huang She. In order to win over Huang Zhong's heart, he had made Huang She suffer a lot. If Huang She could get over it, then Liu Mang would have a whole new level of respect for Huang She. The Pang Clan was originally Pang Tong's clan. Pang Tong and Liu Mang were enemies, so naturally, the Pang Clan would not side with Liu Mang.
However, Liu Mang really did not know how he had offended Cai Mao. Cai Mao had been trying to trip him up again and again. Most of the reason why Liu Mang sent the envoy to Jingzhou was because of the Cai Family. The Cai Family was responsible for the defense of Xiangyang and the safety of the relay station. Without Cai Mao's permission, the envoy would not have been killed so easily. One must know that the envoy was accompanied by dozens of Liu Mang's soldiers. However, other than the one who brought back the envoy's head, the rest of the soldiers were all killed. How could a fight between hundreds of people be small? Therefore, Cai Mao did it on purpose.
Liu Mang did not know how he had offended the Cai Clan, but since the Cai Clan was his enemy, then he did not need to think too much about it. He only needed to know who his enemy was, and the enemy of his enemy was his friend. The Cai Clan was afraid of Liu Qi, the eldest son of Liu Biao. If the Cai Clan made Liu Mang uncomfortable, then Liu Mang would not let the Cai Clan have a good time.
Moreover, there was another benefit to accepting Liu Mang. That was, the White Horses that were heading towards Nanyang would have a safe haven. Although the horses of the White Horses were amazing, they couldn't keep running. They needed a place to rest. Yiyang and Zaoyang were too far away, while Xinye was close to Nanyang. Moreover, the provisions of the White Horses were also solved. Although Liu Mang could not mobilize provisions, he could still transfer some of his 5,000 soldiers to the White Horses.
Therefore, Liu Mang did not choose Liu Qi as his teammate. Liu Mang had no choice but to passively choose Liu Qi as his ally. The Cai Family had already made it clear that they were against Liu Mang. Liu Mang could only passively choose Liu Qi as his ally.
The warhorses galloped quickly towards the river. From here, they could cross the river and reach Xiangyang.
Liu Mang refused Liu Qi's escort, but he did not refuse to sit on the warship.
On both sides of the Yangtze River, there were trees and trees. The current Eastern Han was not like the later generations where various dams and industrial areas were built. The river water was not the same color as it should be. It was not polluted by industry, so the current Yangtze River water was crystal clear. The sound of the river water was simply mesmerizing.
He could not help but sigh at the masterpiece of nature. This was a mother river.
"The rolling Yangtze River flows to the east, the waves wash away the heroes.
Right and wrong, success and failure vanish in a blink of an eye.
The green hills are still there, the sunset is still red.
The white-haired fisherman on the riverside, accustomed to the autumn moon and spring breeze.
A pot of turbid wine is a happy reunion.
How many things in the past and present are jokes. " It was no wonder that the ancient writers and poets could make such poetic poems about the Yangtze River. It was because the Yangtze River was too beautiful, and its virtues made people unable to extricate themselves. Liu Mang could not help but sing Yang Shen's poem, Riverside Immortals.
"Good poem, good poem! I did not expect the lord to be able to make such a poem! " Jia Xu applauded. The first two sentences were still acceptable, but the last two really made Liu Mang roll his eyes. What did he mean by the lord could make such a poem? This was naked contempt. Although this poem was not written by Liu Mang, the author of this poem was a person more than a thousand years in the future. So what if it was plagiarism? Could it be called plagiarism?
Liu Mang rolled his eyes at Jia Xu. Jia Xu also seemed to know that he had said something wrong, but it was inevitable. This was because this poem was obviously not made by someone like Liu Mang. Although Jia Xu was not good at making poems, he could understand the artistic conception of the poem. The author of such a poem must have seen through the world of mortals, or had experienced the ups and downs of life for decades. It was a kind of emotion and a kind of admiration for his decades of experience. It was not the kind of emotion that a person like Liu Mang, who was only in his twenties, should have.
Jia Xu was right. The author of this poem, Yang Shen, was really the kind of person who saw through right and wrong, success and failure. He was the person who won three times consecutively. Because he offended World Sect's Zhu Houzhi, Yang Shen was sent to Yunnan to be exiled. He wore shackles and was escorted by soldiers to Jiangling, Hubei. Coincidentally, a fisherman and a woodcutter were cooking fish and drinking wine by the river, chatting and laughing wittily. Yang Shen suddenly felt very emotional. Hence, he asked the soldiers to find a pen and paper and wrote the poem, "Immortal Linjiang".
Liu Mang was too lazy to discuss this poem with Jia Xu. If he continued, Liu Mang would really be exposed.
Jia Xu also did not want to poke at Liu Mang's foot. After all, people who exposed other people's concealment were not welcome. Liu Mang and company went downstream from Xinye to Xiangyang. Their speed was also very fast. Very soon, they could no longer see the direction of Xinye City. Although the nine bends and eighteen bends referred to the Yellow River, the Yangtze River was also very winding.
"Your Highness King Of Shu, the fork is just ahead! Should we take the official road or the Luokou Ferry? "The boatman asked Liu Mang.
"Luokou Ferry? The official road? " Liu Mang did not know much about the waterways in Jingzhou. The waterways were very winding. Sometimes, there would be more than ten forks in a branch.
"The Luokou Ferry is a small road, which is a tributary. The official road is the main stream of the Yangtze River!" The boatman explained.
"Then which one is faster?" Liu Mang continued to ask. What he needed was to reach Xiangyang as soon as possible. Even if the negotiations went smoothly from Xiangyang, the provisions would still need half a month to be transported to Yangzhou. Hence, Liu Mang could not afford to waste any time.
"The Luokou Ferry is faster!" The boatman replied.
"Then let's take the Luokou Ferry!" Liu Mang did not hesitate to choose the Luokou Ferry. There were many ships coming and going on the main stream. The merchants in Jingzhou were also very developed.
Liu Mang's warship quickly turned around and sailed in the direction of the Luokou Ferry.
Jia Xu's eyes were also scanning the river. Suddenly, he looked at the small boat behind them. His intuition told him that he had seen this boat before. Jia Xu walked in front of Liu Mang and pointed to a small boat behind them. "Milord, that small boat seems to be following us." Previously, there were many ships on the main stream of the Yangtze River. However, it was very obvious now that there was such a small boat behind Liu Mang's warship.
"When did it follow us?" Liu Mang also looked at the small boat following Jia Xu's finger.
"Send someone to check it out!" Liu Mang frowned. It was better to be careful. Liu Mang had few people, so he had to be more cautious.
"Understood!" Jia Xu nodded his head and was about to order a few soldiers to stop the boat so that they could inspect the small boat. "Boatman, listen to the boat and wait for the boat behind us to arrive. We will approach it!"
"Hey, what's there to check for a small boat like that? Isn't it just a fishing boat?" The boatman heard Jia Xu's words and said indifferently. It was a small boat with two sheds. It was probably used to catch big fish. It could also be used to transport passengers temporarily.
"Fishing boat?" Liu Mang was not a swimmer. He did not even know how to swim in the modern world. How could he tell if it was a fishing boat or not?
"Your Highness King Of Shu, look. Isn't there a net covering the shed?" The boatman pointed at the boat and said.
Liu Mang looked over. There was indeed such a net-like object.
"That's a fishing net. Now that it seems to be transporting passengers, the net was put away. Look at the side of the boat again. Don't you see two birds?" The boatman pointed at two black birds at the bow of the boat.
"Those are Old Cormorants. They are used by the fishermen to catch fish," the boatman continued to explain. The Old Cormorants were not crows, but cormorants. They were also called Old Water Crows or Osprey. Cormorants were good at diving and could catch fish in the water with their long and hooked beaks. In the south, fishermen would often bring domesticated cormorants when they went out to fish. The cormorants stood neatly at the bow of the boat with a collar around their necks. When the fishermen found fish, they would whistle and the cormorants would jump into the water to catch fish. Because of the collar, the cormorants could not swallow the fish they caught. They could only return to the boat with the fish in their beaks. After the master took the fish, the cormorants would dive into the water to catch fish again. When they encountered a big fish, several cormorants would work together to catch it. Some of them pecked the fish's eyes, some bit the fish's tail, and some bit the fish's fins. They cooperated very well. After they finished catching fish, the master would take off the collar of the cormorants and reward them with the small fish they had prepared. This method of fishing was very interesting and effective.
"Using birds to catch fish? Fishermen?!" Although Liu Mang found it interesting, he still sent some men to investigate. The boatman twitched his mouth in disdain. Wasn't this unnecessary? However, Liu Mang was the most senior.
"What are you doing? What are you doing?!" A white-robed scholar shouted in the cabin. A fisherman by the side also had a look of realization. He shouted to the soldiers as if he was trying to explain something.
After half a day, the soldiers returned to the boat and realized that this was really an ordinary fishing boat. Occasionally, they would send off guests.
"Perhaps Wen He, you are making a mountain out of a molehill!" Liu Mang mocked himself when he saw that they did not catch anything. Even if there were enemies on such a small boat, there would only be one or two enemies. Although Liu Mang did not bring many men, there were still more than 20 of them. There was also Guan Hai and Zhou Cang. Some thieves were nothing in their eyes.
"My lord, it's better to be more cautious!" Jia Xu did not know why, but he kept feeling that a pair of eyes was watching him.
"Haha, let's go. The journey to Xiangyang is not far. A day's journey will be over soon!" Liu Mang patted Jia Xu's shoulder and the two entered the cabin.
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