The river surging, hundreds of boats competing for the current, thousands of sails competing for the sky, and a prosperous scene.

A fleet of more than a dozen canal ships went downstream, as fast as galloping horses. The sides of the ship's side of the pilot ship were filled with flags of various colors, fluttering in the wind, which was spectacular. On its main mast was a large black-backed white-shaped flag several meters wide, and the large "Xu" character was extremely eye-catching.

At noon, a thin and handsome young man in black robe walked onto the deck, stood under the mainmast with his hands behind his back, looking into the east.

An old man in gray walked up to the young man in black and smiled and greeted, "Young Master, you have about half an hour's trip to Baimajin. If nothing unexpected happens, the young master will be able to go home to see the boss at dusk."

"This trip to Jiangzuo has been delayed a little longer." The young man in black robe smiled and nodded, with a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes. "Uncle Jiu is also very hardworking. Will he go home with someone after he arrives at the White Horse?"

The old man in gray hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and looked worried, "Last month, the flood of the river flooded, flooding most counties on the north and south sides. It is said that there were millions of victims in Henan and Hebei. In this case, the emperor should order local governments to open warehouses and release grain to provide relief to the victims. However, along the way, all the things they saw were about preparing for the Eastern Expedition. Rarely, governments opened warehouses and relief. The victims had no way to survive, so they had to gather people to rebel, burn, kill and loot, and the first to be affected were the rich people from all over the country."

The old man in gray glanced at the young man, and wanted to speak but stopped.

The owner Xu Gai is the first person in the shipping industry on both sides of the river. He has many industries and amazing wealth. Of course, he is the target of plunder of the rebels. Although Xu Gai is in Weinan County and has guaranteed personal safety, his farms, workshops and other industries distributed in various places will not be guaranteed and will be robbed by disaster victims at any time. However, Xu Gai is generous and good at doing good deeds. He has a reputation in Henan. At this critical moment, he will not be stingy with wealth and will do his best to help the victims. This trip, the young master Xu Shiji traveled to Jiangzuo to buy food, which can be used for disaster relief. So if nothing unexpected happens, after the fleet arrives in Baimajin, the disaster relief move of Xu will be further launched. People like Jiu Bo who are employed to work for the Xu family must be busy all the time, so how can they have time to go home to reunite with their relatives?

Xu Shiji's face gradually became gloomy and his eyes were filled with melancholy. He was not only worried about the future of his father and family, but also worried about the disaster-stricken civilians struggling on the line of life and death. At the same time, he was full of resentment for the various "rapes" that the emperor and the powerful bureaucrats in the capital for the sake of the eastern expedition. (The so-called "Shandong" generally refers to all areas east of the Taihang Mountains, including the north and south of the Great Henan and most of the Central Plains.)

The damage caused by the flood this year to Shandong increased multiple times because of these "rapes". In order to complete the war preparations issued by the emperor and the Dongdu, local governments not only led to a sharp reduction in the number of soldiers, but also uncontrollably recruited corvee labor, resulting in no farming, no production of workshops, and unlimited collection of war materials such as money and grain, which led to the exhaustion of granaries in various parts of Shandong and the loss of relief. What is particularly outrageous is that after the disaster, the emperor and the powerful and wealthy bureaucrats of the Dongdu turned a blind eye and ignored it, allowing the Shandong people to die helplessly and miserably.

The people of Guanlong should die, and the people of Guanlong should go to hell. Xu Shiji cursed angrily.

The grudges between the people of Shandong and Guanlong people have been around for a long time. Since the Northern Wei Dynasty split into two independent regimes in the east and west, Shandong and Guanlong people have fought in the Yellow River Basin for decades. During this period, Shandong people have always had the advantage, but the people of Guanlong have the advantage of the territory, which has shattered the Shandong people's dream of unifying the Yellow River Basin again and again. More than thirty years ago, the people of Guanlong miraculously defeated the Gaoqi regime in Shandong and unified the Yellow River Basin. Later, the dynasty was replaced, and Yang Jian established the Great Sui Dynasty, defeated the Chen State in Jiangzuo, and unified the Middle Earth.

The Guanlong people, who were once called barbarians, actually won the final victory in the war of unification of Middle-earth. They were proud and ruled Middle-earth with the arrogant attitude of the winners, unscrupulously attacking and curbing their former opponents, Shandong people and Jiangzuo people. Although Shandong people and Jiangzuo people regarded themselves as the heirs of Middle-earth civilization and were proud of their thousand-year-old culture and pure Han blood, they could only lower their proud heads, swallow their anger, patiently wait and create opportunities for counterattack, in order to make a comeback.

Xu Shiji was born in Lihu County, Dongjun, Henan Province. He was a pure Shandong native and an angry Shandong youth who had a strong sense of resistance to Guanlong's rule.

"I am more worried about the refugees." Xu Shiji looked at the old man in gray with a sad look on his face. "Maybe, after returning home, I saw hunger everywhere, and hell on earth."

The wind is roaring violently, as if countless unjust souls are crying in the dark, making people feel sad.

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Baimajin gradually entered Xu Shiji's sight.

Baimajin is an ancient ferry with a long history. Especially since the Yellow River was diverted at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Baimajinkou has become the most famous ferry connecting the north and south of the Great River. It is also a famous military pass and one of the important gateways to enter the Central Plains. At the beginning of the year, the emperor issued an edict to conquer Goguryeo in the east, and the whole earth and the middle ground were busy for war. Baimajin became one of the busiest and crowded Jinkou on the north-south transportation channel.

The ships of all sizes and large docks on the ferry stretched out in line for several miles, and various types of ships on the wide river surface were scrambling to and from the road connecting Jinkou and Baima City, the capital of Dongjun, were even bustling with people, bustling and bustling.

The Xu fleet slowly sailed in the middle of the river and slowly approached Baimajinkou.

Xu Shipping is well-known in the north and south of the Great Henan. It has its own special terminals in some shipping hubs or famous Jinkou. For example, the Baima Jinkou has a freight terminal built by Xu. During the war, all resources were controlled by the empire and its bureaucratic institutions. Even if a wealthy businessman such as Xu Shipping had a powerful family as a backer, he could not escape the fate of being forcibly "requisition". However, Xu Shipping was a member of the empire's immediate interest group. Although its position was very low, since ancient times, it has been able to obtain the protection of powerful power. It can earn money from the empire, plunder the wealth of civilians, and make great war money.

There was a busy scene at the Xu family freight wharf, with all kinds of materials piled up like mountains, and hundreds of strong men were loading cargo to a fleet docked on the dock. Several clerks in green were either shuttled on the shore or wandered on the canal ships, followed by a group of followers and black-clad merchants, surrounded by them. In the distance, you could see some guards in the Guards in yellow uniforms. At a glance, you could know that this fleet was transporting war materials for the government, and their destinations were probably Zhuojun, an important northern town.

There was also a group of idle people on the pier, about a dozen strong men, either white or gray, with disheveled clothes and uneven expressions. They almost didn't engrave the four words "a rascal" on their faces. They gathered in the northwest corner of the pier. One of them was tall and broad, about twenty-five or six years old, with a pair of short black beards and majestic men standing on the top of a pile of wooden boxes without any hesitation, looking out, as if looking for something on the river.

No one went to provoke them. Although the Xu family wharf had been requisitioned by the government and was a military forbidden area, everyone seemed to have not seen them, including the clerks in green and military uniforms, pretended not to see each other, doing their own things and not interfering with each other.

"Here, come..." The mighty man suddenly shouted excitedly, "Xu Dalang is back."

This scream was so loud that not only a group of "idlers" raised their eyes to the river, but even many busy people around stopped their work, looking for "Xu Dalang" to the river, and shouting to each other, "Young Master is back..."

Xu Shiji's fleet came with the water and soon appeared in everyone's sight, but the capacity of the pier was limited, so Xu Shiji and his fleet could only pause the river.

"Shiko thief..." The mighty man frowned and sweared in a sneer, then waved to a group of "idlers", "Let's find a small boat, I'm going to meet Xu Dalang."

=

Xu Shiji saw a small boat rushing out of the dock and rowing in a hurry, and a trace of ominous thought flashed through his heart. Could it be that Jiu Bo had made the decision and something happened at home? While he was thinking about it, a sailor pointed to the small boat that was moving quickly and shouted, "There seems to be a single owner on the boat..."

Shan Xiongxin? Brother? Isn’t he helping Ming Gong to provide disaster relief? He actually has time to come to pick someone up? Maybe it’s for the food of this ship? Xu Shiji smiled and walked forward. Suddenly, he thought of something and his face suddenly became serious. While walking towards the side of the ship, he ordered the sailors beside him, "Put down the rope ladder immediately."

The rope ladder hangs down, and the boat is coming like an arrow.

Xu Shiji waved at Shan Xiongxin, "Brother..."

Shan Xiongxin waved his hand, but did not speak, and his expression was very serious. Xu Shiji's misunderstanding became even more serious, and he suddenly felt a sense of suffocation in his heart. He couldn't help but open his mouth and sucked a few deep breaths of cool wind. A faint coolness gradually spread throughout his body, which slightly dispelled the sudden tension.

The boat approached, Shan Xiong went up the rope ladder. Xu Shiji reached out and pulled him onto the deck, without any greetings, and asked anxiously, "Brother, has there been any changes in the family?"

Shan Xiongxin still didn't say anything, with a gloomy face, pushed away the sailors around him and strode towards the cabin.

Xu Shiji hurriedly followed. He entered the cabin and covered the door. Before Xu Shiji could speak, Shan Xiongxin said angrily, "Mr. Ming was arrested and imprisoned and was about to behead him."

Xu Shiji was very shocked. Although his guess was confirmed, this incident still made him unbelievable.

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Chapter completed!