Li Xun's actions were all taught by Zhang Xiaobao. Zhang Xiaobao said that as a leader, he had to learn these things. Li Xun didn't even think about it and did as he was told. Needless to say, the effects were pretty good. When the commoners knew of his identity and saw that he could wear such clothes and say such words, they all became more respectful.
Every day, Li Xun would take a look around, and sometimes, she would even eat a meal with the commoners. After seven consecutive days, the boat finally arrived at Chu Zhou City. Originally, going with the current would have shortened the journey, but who would have thought that a gust of wind would blow in, causing the jib sail to not be raised, which affected the speed of the boat.
In fact, this was Zhang Xiaobao's intention. He was ready to find a reason to slow down the boat. Otherwise, he would have arrived two days earlier. At that time, the biluochun had not been picked yet. He was afraid that the people in the tea garden would think that they deliberately came to buy tea and raise the price.
Otherwise, all the boats would have raised the jib sail and paddled, and it would have taken less than four days to get there. At this time, the spring water was very hot because of the melting snow.
When they arrived at Chuzhou City, Zhang Xiaobao arranged for people to collect the tea leaves. It would be best if the people in the inner courtyard could pick the tea themselves. He asked people to supply the tea while he took his family to eat. The Japanese Grenadier Fish in the river were not bad. Almost every one of them could be eaten with a few pieces of Deep River Stone, which was the thick bones on the fish.
This was not a man-made fish. It was a pure wild Yangtze Grenadier Fish. Zhang Xiaobao not only ate it, but also bought some and froze it for his family to eat in the future. He also bought some shrimps, but not crabs. No matter how delicious the hairy crabs were, it was not the season.
He sold a lot of goods shipped from Huayuan County. It was difficult for him to adapt to the different cultures and eating habits of the different regions, but it was very easy to eat something new.
The boat was suddenly empty. Except for buying some rice and noodles, there was still a lot of space left. He couldn't fill it with tea leaves. He wanted to do that, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough tea leaves.
How could Zhang Xiaobao go on an empty boat? After thinking about it, he began to buy bamboo shoots. He also bought some good purple bamboo. He planned to look for places that did not have bamboo shoots along the way and make them into things to sell. He brought the purple bamboo all the way to his destination and used it to make some utensils. This purple bamboo was not bad at making musical instruments, especially the flute.
Between the big sales and big purchases, the group spent five days here. The people who went to buy the tea leaves also came back with young leaves. There was also a place where the people of the main courtyard bribed the people on the tea mountain and personally went to pick the tea leaves. Zhang Xiaobao treasured these tea leaves very much.
Seeing that there was a lot of tea leaves, he reluctantly made two tea leaf dishes. The two families and Li Xun ate happily.
"Cast the jib and row the oars. Turn the wheels on both sides of the ship. Go to Hangzhou. Hurry up. There's still Longjing tea over there." After Zhang Xiaobao finished collecting the tea leaves, he began to issue new orders.
The speed of the ship suddenly increased. In addition, the front of the ship was deliberately riveted with steel plates, which increased the ability of the front of the ship to divide the water. After the 18 ships were carried by inertia, their speed became faster and faster. Even the small fast boats on the canal could not compare to them.
Along the way, everyone was shocked. After a while, the direction of the wind changed, and all the sails were raised. For twenty-four hours, the people on the boats took turns to paddle. In just a little over three days, the fleet flew to their destination.
This speed was so fast that it could scare people to death. However, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were not satisfied. They felt that it was too slow. In the future, they had to think of more ways to increase the speed of the ship as much as possible. If they were driving on the highway, they would not need three days. As long as they were not afraid of being fined, they could reach their destination in two hours.
As soon as the ship arrived at their destination, they began to sell goods again. They also went to buy Longjing tea leaves. Some of the tea leaves could be bought new, but some were made into tea balls. It was impossible to make green tea from the tea balls like before. Even so, they still bought more. At the very least, Lu Zhou did not have Longjing tea.
This time, because most of the tea leaves had been collected, they did not stay for long. It took them a total of three days to buy and sell goods. The fleet set sail again.
This time, they could not take the inland river. The river there would disappear after a certain extent. It could not be completely connected. If someone connected a few rivers like Sanshui County and Huayuan County, then they could bypass a section of the sea route and go through the inland river.
Usually, the imperial court did not set a time limit for exile. After all, the land route was difficult, and it was easy to die on the way. However, it gave Zhang Zhong three months. He wondered if the imperial court wanted to see how fast a ship with propellers could go.
If it were anyone else, they would rather not go than agree, but Zhang Zhong did. It had been more than a month since they left the capital. The rest of the time, they would have to sail the sea to Lu Zhou. The Zhang family's fleet was equipped with triangular sails, and the bows of the ships had been modified.
There was a lot of space on the ship. There was no need to stop for supplies. Otherwise, if it were another ship, they might not be able to reach this speed even after two to three months.
Zhang Xiaobao did not plan to stay for too long. He went around the sea. As long as they did not encounter typhoons or reefs, they would be fine.
After a month and a half, the fleet finally avoided all kinds of dangers and arrived at Lu Zhou. At this time, Lu Zhou was hotter than the summer in the capital. The people on the ship were all tanned, especially Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. The two of them would come out to bask in the sun when they had nothing to do.
Without sunscreen, it was difficult not to become tanned. There were less than ten days before the three-month deadline. The closest place to the sea was Ulei County. It was just a county below the sea. There were no good docks at all. It was difficult for the eighteen ships to dock.
Fortunately, there was a sunken bay in this place. It was called Qinzhou Bay. It was a very good natural harbor. The eighteen ships went around the bay and arrived at this place. While they lowered the small boats for Zhang Zhong to take over, they contacted the local people and hired them to help build a simple dock.
Zhang Zhong's handover was very smooth. The original Provincial Governor wished he could have brought Zhang Zhong here from the capital. He was too poor. Most of the people here were fishing and farming. When the wind came and the salty rain came, they would not be able to produce much.
It was difficult to find people to work. There were four counties in this prefecture, or rather, four commanderies. Only Jade Mountain Commandery was slightly bigger. However, there were only about five hundred households and less than three thousand people. The total population of the four counties was no more than seven thousand people. A prefecture, even a lower prefecture, could not have such a small population.
It was no wonder there were so many fishermen. Every year, a large amount of local specialties such as silver, hawksbill turtle, turtle skin, jade feather, and armor fragrance were needed. If they did not go to the sea, where would they find these things? Except for silver and peacock feathers, which were found on land, the rest had to be found in the sea.
The four counties were all lower counties, and the province was also a lower province. When the locals saw the eighteen ships, their eyes were filled with surprise and vigilance. Looking from the ship, these people were even darker than Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Especially those who were supposed to be in their thirties, they looked like they were in their fifties or sixties.
Li Xun raised his Clairvoyance and asked Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, who were standing next to him, curiously, "What's going on? Look, that person is obviously the father of the two children. Why does he look like the grandfather of the two children?"
"It's very simple. They eat a simple diet and lack some necessary nutrients. They work too long outside, are exposed to the wind and sun all day, and are eroded by the sea. Coupled with the worry brought about by poor living conditions, they became like this."
Zhang Xiaobao saw that a few children were especially thin, but their stomachs were protruding. Seeing this, Zhang Xiaobao trembled in fear. Wang Juan understood why Zhang Xiaobao had such a reaction. She comforted him, "It shouldn't be because of floating water or parasites. Thin bodies, big counties. Don't think of our children as African."
Zhang Xiaobao took a closer look. Indeed, it was because their bodies were too thin.
Li Xun did not know which province Africa was, but he was even more curious. "Why are people who live by the sea so thin? There are fish and shrimp to eat every day, so they should be fat. "
"Then try to eat fish and shrimp every day. People here live by the sea, so it's very difficult to sell fish for money. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in a county. The neighboring places are better than here. It's just that they don't know what to plant to increase production. If there's a typhoon or something, everything will be gone. Didn't they say that the world is wide and the world is wide? This counts as well, right? "
Zhang Xiaobao saw the scene in front of him and began to worry. He thought that it would be difficult to come here, but he did not expect it to be so difficult. Children in their teens had no clothes to wear, adults only wore a pair of linen pants, and some women were just topless.
The conditions were really too poor. What exactly was the difference? The fishing nets on the shore were also made of linen. Many small boats were directly hollowed out in the middle of the wood. There was not a single decent boat.
The people on the shore and the people on the boat looked at each other. The people on the boat were curious, and the people on the shore were curious with a sense of exclusion.
Zhang Zhong finished the handover two days later and returned. Along with him were the county magistrates of Wulei County, Huaqing County, Ninghai County, and Yushan County. There were also a few other deputies. From these people's official robes, they did not see anyone from the six departments, nor did they see those high-ranking officials in the state.
Li Xun looked at Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, who were still in a daze, and explained, "In Lower Province, there are only a few people who can work in the yamen. Now is not the time to be collecting things, so most of them have returned home to do their work. The imperial court cannot directly give them their salaries, so they can only take from the taxes collected locally. They do not dare to underpay the imperial court, so there are only a few fiefs that are of little use."
"But isn't silver produced here? Is silver not valuable? "Zhang Xiaobao really could not understand. He had never encountered such a situation.
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