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Text Chapter 219 Goods from Prince Qi¡¯s Mansion

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    The winter in the north is so cold and windy that it is no exaggeration to say that drops of water turn into ice. This is especially true in the twelfth year of Zhenguan. The temperature dropped below zero early. Even in sunny weather, people still cannot feel the slightest warmth.  Therefore, unless necessary, most people stay at home.

    On the cement road from Gunzhou to Luoyang, a large convoy is rushing towards Luoyang in full swing. They have walked two-thirds of the way and now they have reached the boundary of Bianzhou. The so-called Bianzhou actually refers to the place of later generations.  In Kaifeng, Bianzhou City is on the north bank of the Yellow River, while the cement road from Gunzhou to Luoyang is on the south bank of the Yellow River. Therefore, this convoy cannot enter Bianzhou City unless it crosses the Yellow River, which has long been frozen.

    There are a total of two to three hundred people in this convoy on the road. They are all men in their prime. Everyone is wearing the same style of thick cotton-padded jackets, dog-skin hats, and uniform cotton gloves on their hands. It is estimated that these should be  All are uniform equipment of the team. It seems that the team owner treats his workers well.

    This convoy drove a total of dozens of large vehicles, almost all of which were four-horse carriages pulled by two horses. Since the construction of cement roads began, transportation has become more and more convenient, especially in terms of cargo transportation, it is even faster.  A lot, but soon someone discovered that with the same horsepower, a four-wheeled carriage can transport more goods, so more and more people choose to use a four-wheeled vehicle to haul goods first. As for the steering of a four-wheeled vehicle, it is not a big deal at all.  Technical difficulties, because as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, four-wheeled carriages appeared in the Central Plains, but because of road problems.  It is not as practical as a two-wheeled carriage, so it has not been popularized on a large scale.  It wasn't until the advent of cement roads that horse-drawn carriages were given a chance to shine again.

    At the front of the convoy.  There were several single carriages pulling people. On the middlemost carriage, the window had been opened. A young man stuck his head out and was talking to a big man on a horse next to him.

    "Brother Wu, it's the Chinese New Year. Can we get to Chang'an in time for the Chinese New Year?" the young man in the car asked loudly.

    "Brother Zhou, don't worry. We can get to Zhengzhou tonight. It's only a few days away from Luoyang. Since Luoyang is already here, Chang'an is certainly not a problem." The big man on the horse, surnamed Wu, is the manager of the team. There are two or three hundred people there.  It's his buddy.  Shopkeeper Wu and his assistant are both from Dengzhou, and this time they are transporting goods from Dengzhou to Chang'an. However, he is just a transporter, and all the goods on the truck belong to others.

    But after Shopkeeper Wu said the above, he frowned again, and said to the young man in the car with a somewhat embarrassed face: "Brother Zhou, if we get to Zhengzhou, the convoy will be fine. We can just go directly to Chang'an, but  The thing on the river has two choices, so you still have to make the decision!"

    Although Shopkeeper Wu is a large and well-known transporter in Dengzhou City, he not only has a truck fleet, but also a large transport fleet, so he is very familiar with both land and waterways.  But even though his business was very big, he was always in awe of the young man on the carriage, just because he was from Prince Qi's palace.  And despite his young age, he is one of the top managers in charge of King Qi¡¯s industry in Dengzhou. That¡¯s why shopkeeper Wu attaches so much importance to him. He even ignores the biting cold wind and follows the convoy on this trip, mainly just to get along with him.  Take care of the relationship, and you might be able to ask the other person for something in the future.

    "That thing on the river" When the young man heard what Shopkeeper Wu said, he immediately had a headache expression on his face.  This young man's name is Zhou Yu. He was originally just an ordinary young fisherman. However, because of his cleverness, he was first recruited to work in Prince Qi's Mansion. Later, because he was smart and willing to work, he was promoted to manage the fishing team of Prince Qi's Mansion. Later, he became the manager of the fishing team of Prince Qi's Mansion.  Because of his outstanding performance, he was appreciated by Li Min. As a result, before Li Min left Dengzhou, he was promoted to one of several big officials and became a prominent figure in Dengzhou City.

    When Li Min left Dengzhou City, he gave them an order. As a result, Zhou Yu and the other senior managers prepared for more than half a year, and finally completed the preparations a month ago. Then they found the big transporter Wu, the shopkeeper, and asked him to  The prepared things were sent to Chang'an, but these things were relatively expensive, so an important person from the Prince of Qi's Palace had to escort the car.  But this is hard work. After all, it¡¯s winter and the New Year is approaching, so no one wants to go outside.  In the end, because he had little experience in Prince Qi's palace and was young, several other stewards unanimously recommended him to escort the car. Zhou Yu had no choice but to accept this hard job.

    "Brother Wu, we have been going well this way. Why do we have to have two choices when we get to Zhengzhou?" Zhou Yu asked puzzledly.  Although he had a headache, the thing was requested by His Highness. As a servant, he had to find a way to deliver it no matter how difficult it was. Who asked him to eat this bowl of rice?

    "The so-called things on the river are actually a piece of cargo, which is the same as the cargo pulled by the carriage. It's just that the volume of this cargo is too large and it is impossible to transport it with a carriage.It couldn't be transported, so at first they used large ships. Later, when they reached the mouth of the Yellow River, they used oxen and horses to drag the goods to the shore. While the Yellow River was freezing, they found a section of the river that could bear the weight of the goods and put them on a special oversized sled.  on the river, and then sent a small team, pulled by more than a dozen ox-horses, to advance on the river.

    "Brother Zhou doesn't know. When we came from Gunzhou, this road was always parallel to the Yellow River. But when we got to Zhengzhou, the Yellow River changed its course to the north and went around in a circle before reaching the boundary of Puzhou near Chang'an, so  At that time, if the cargo still travels by river, it will have to travel separately from our convoy and then meet up in Puzhou. If it goes to Zhengzhou to pull the cargo ashore and take the land route, then it will have to use rolling logs to put it under the cargo.  Moving forward bit by bit will be slower than taking a detour, so we may arrive in Chang'an a few days later." When shopkeeper Wu mentioned the item of goods, he had a look of helplessness on his face. He had been helping people transport goods for half his life, and this was his first time.  Such a large volume of cargo.

    "Brother Wu, if we take the waterway as a detour, how much more distance will we have to walk?" Zhou Yu asked with a frown. The goods on the waterway were very valuable, and he was really worried if they walked separately.

    "This is probably going to take a hundred miles of walking." Shopkeeper Wu knew the terrain well, so he answered immediately.

    "Hundreds of miles" Zhou Yu's brows furrowed even more tightly. He wanted to reach Chang'an as early as possible to ask for merit from His Highness King Qi. He really didn't want to take a long way around, but if he didn't take a long way around, the goods would have to be moved slowly on rolling logs.  If you move forward slowly, the speed will probably be even slower.

    Shopkeeper Wu is a good person. When he saw Zhou Yu's appearance, he immediately guessed what he was thinking. He was older and experienced in traveling all over the country. He quickly thought of a way to reach Chang'an quickly, so he immediately said:  "Brother Zhou, I have a way to speed up the movement of that cargo on land, but I need your help!"

    "Oh?" Zhou Yu was overjoyed after hearing this and asked eagerly, "Brother Wu, please tell me quickly. As long as the goods can reach Chang'an as soon as possible, I can do anything you want!"

    "Hehe, the method is actually very simple. After we land in Zhengzhou, you can, in the name of King Qi, order the local government to send people to assist and let them splash water on the road we are going forward. Once the water freezes,  It's almost the same as a river, so you can naturally go by land, and it's very fast. We can probably reach Chang'an five or six days in advance." Shopkeeper Wu chuckled and explained the method he thought of.

    Zhou Yu was very moved after hearing this, but after he thought about it carefully, he finally shook his head firmly and said, "Brother Wu, although your method is good, you may not know the temper of my prince.  These goods are a private matter of the prince's palace. He definitely doesn't want us to disturb the government. Moreover, if the road is icy, it will also cause trouble to other travelers and affect local traffic. If His Highness knows about it afterwards, I'm afraid you and I will be punished, so  This method is definitely not feasible!¡±

    When Shopkeeper Wu heard Zhou Yu's words, he felt ashamed and admired King Qi's character even more. Finally, the two of them discussed it and decided to go separately. However, Zhou Yu decided not to follow the convoy and instead escort the item in person.  Shopkeeper Wu gave some advice to the goods. After all, walking on the ice was very difficult and dangerous. However, Zhou Yu was determined. He couldn't persuade him at all, so he had to give up.

    In the afternoon, Zhou Yu took a few followers to say goodbye to Shopkeeper Wu's motorcade, and then hurried towards the Yellow River in the north direction. In fact, the road was built along the river, and the distance between them was only a few hundred steps.  The convoy often sends people to contact the teams on the river to report the situation on the road. If there are any difficulties, the convoy can also send people to help.

    When Zhou Yu rushed to the river, he immediately saw a huge thing moving slowly forward on the river in front of them. This huge thing was exactly the cargo he had mentioned to shopkeeper Wu before, but this cargo was covered all over.  It was wrapped in a huge piece of thick linen, and it was impossible to see what was inside. In front of the cargo, more than a dozen cows and horses were struggling to pull it forward. The hooves of the cows and horses were wrapped in anti-slip coarse cloth, but even so  , from time to time, animals would slip due to excessive force. There were dozens of Shopkeeper Wu¡¯s men nearby, and most of their work was to pull up the fallen animals.

    Zhou Yu looked at the ice of the Yellow River like a silver snake, felt the river wind like a knife, cursed a few palace stewards in Dengzhou in a low voice, and finally tightened the sheepskin cloak tightly.  , the horse rushed down the river embankment and rushed towards the cargo team in front.

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