Chapter 658: The First Pass of the Great Xuan

Everyone stood on the deck of the canal boat, looking into the distance.

They saw the confluence of the Huitong River and the Wei River, with the setting sun dyeing the river surface golden red.

Along both banks of the river, there were guard towers and checkpoints everywhere.

Black-robed minor officials, sallow-faced trackers, merchants, porters...

People of all kinds shuttled back and forth, and the noisy sounds even drowned out the surging waves.

The entrance to the river was cut off by a tall wooden sluice gate.

Dozens of canal boats and passenger boats were squeezed in front of the gate, waiting anxiously.

"Flip the dam—!"

As the old official at the gate beat the copper gong, the canal workers nimbly set up the jumping boards.

"Heihou heihou~"

The bare-chested trackers on the shore shouted the chant and dragged the cables, sweat rolling down their bronze-colored spines.

As the windlass turned, the huge wooden sluice gate slowly lifted.

The boats that had been waiting for a long time immediately entered.

After a dozen boats passed, the wooden gate slowly lowered again, and the boats behind continued to wait.

This was the "dam flipping" at the canal pass.

The scene and scale were not inferior to any wharf.

Li Yan and the others were not surprised when they saw it.

This Linqing City was not simple; it was the premier commercial hub in the north of the Great Xuan Dynasty, the head of the eight major banknote passes of the Grand Canal, governing a 400-li water route port, with tax collection far exceeding ten times the total commercial tax of the entire Luzhou, ranking first in the country.

Not to mention Jinan Prefecture, even the two prefectures of Su and Hang had to step aside.

"Prosperity surpasses the two capitals" was not an empty statement.

Not only were heavy troops stationed here, but it was also a place where merchant groups from various states gathered.

"Li Li Shaoxia."

A Boatmen Gang assistant respectfully cupped his hands. "The sky is about to get dark, and this Linqing banknote pass won't be passed for a while. Either you all go ashore later, stay in Linqing City for a night, and wait until tomorrow when we pass the pass, then you all get back on the boat."

Li Yan frowned slightly. "Is it very troublesome to pass a banknote pass?"

"Sigh~"

The Boatmen Gang assistant sighed. "This is the imperial court's money bag, and there are many troublesome things. In short, there are many flies and dogs, just leave it to us to handle, don't dirty your ears."

Li Yan pondered for a moment. "That's fine."

His original plan was not to stay here.

Before arriving in Tianjin City, he would only go to Cangzhou on the way to visit the Wu family.

But since things had come to this, waiting one more night didn't matter.

As they spoke, the canal boat gradually approached the gate.

As the trackers stirred the turntable, the gate rose, and the canal boat entered.

Li Yan looked around, and a familiar feeling welled up in his heart.

He had seen this structure when he took a boat through some dams in his previous life; he didn't expect it to have been used so early.

If he wasn't mistaken, there would be sluice gates in the river section ahead, which would change the height of the river channel, and the water flow would also become gentle.

The difference was that there were guards and guard towers on both sides of the riverbank, holding bows, crossbows, and fire guns, watching with tiger-like eyes, and there were small boats on the river surface, which were tax officials responsible for inspecting goods and collecting taxes.

Li Yan remained calm and glanced at the left side of the riverbank.

He saw wooden poles standing on the shore, with several corpses hanging on them, with bamboo tallies tied to their necks.

"Those are private boats that evaded taxes..."

Seeing his gaze, the Boatmen Gang assistant hurriedly explained in a low voice.

And just at this moment, a tax boat also slowly sailed over.

It was already sunset, the light was dim, and an elderly tax official jumped onto the deck holding a "Tian" character lantern. His clothes were tattered, and there was a sour smell of alcohol on him. He was arrogant, looking left and right. "What are you still stunned for? Search!"

At the command, two minor officials behind him immediately rushed into the cabin.

They were aggressive, like wolves and tigers, rushing into the cabin and turning everything upside down.

Seeing this, the Boatmen Gang disciples hurriedly handed over a "seal ticket" stamped with the red seal of the banknote pass.

The elderly tax official glanced at it lightly, dipped his finger in saliva, and checked it page by page.

"Ouch!"

Just at this moment, a scream rang out.

He saw the minor official who had rushed into the cabin fly out directly and roll twice on the deck.

Lu San walked out of the dark cabin with a cold face. "Move again, and I'll chop off your dog claws!"

It turned out that these two minor officials saw that Li Yan and the others' luggage were all in high-quality sandalwood boxes and wrapped in leather for waterproofing, so they became greedy and wanted to pry them open to steal something, but were directly beaten out by Lu San.

"You..."

The elderly tax official's expression changed, and he was about to flare up.

Seeing them take action, he wasn't panicked.

This Grand Canal connects the north and south, and is mixed with dragons and snakes. He had seen all kinds of people from all walks of life.

But Linqing had heavy troops stationed. No matter what kind of greenwood hero they were, once they arrived here, dragons had to coil and tigers had to lie down. If they dared to resist taxes, according to the imperial court's order, they could be beheaded directly!

However, before he could open his mouth to shout, he saw Long Yan'er beside him wave her sleeve.

The three tax officials immediately stiffened, their eyes becoming dull.

"Searched, nothing happened before..."

Long Yan'er's red lips parted slightly, and then she beckoned to take back the Gu insect.

The three tax officials gradually regained consciousness.

"Searched?"

"Searched, just some grain..."

"Hmm."

The elderly tax official nodded, feeling that something was wrong, but couldn't think of anything, so he squinted and pointed to the cargo hold: "There are two baskets of Zhangzhou oranges inside, they weren't recorded in the tax book!"

There was only grain on the Boatmen Gang's boat, and no Zhangzhou oranges at all.

However, the Boatmen Gang disciples smiled and handed over some broken silver. "Yes, yes, we will make up for it."

The old tax official stuffed the silver into his sleeve, scanned the stern of the boat with his lantern again, and then waved his hand:

"Alright, next one!"

After saying that, he took his two subordinates and jumped onto the small boat to leave.

"Good fellow..."

Sha Lifei was amused. "We've walked the martial world and passed quite a few checkpoints, but this is the first time I've seen such blatant behavior. It truly deserves to be the First Pass of the World where geese pass and feathers are plucked!"

"Everyone, calm down."

The Boatmen Gang assistant smiled bitterly. "The one managing the tax supervision of Linqing City is Eunuch Ma from the capital. He has been by the Emperor's side since he was a child and has great power. Even the garrison has to be restrained by him. We really can't afford to offend him."

"So it's a eunuch from the capital..."

Li Yan shook his head slightly. "Does this count as passing the pass?"

"How could it be that simple."

The Boatmen Gang assistant sighed. "The Linqing banknote pass is the head of the world, a place where money and grain are concentrated. Everyone wants to get involved, and there are procedures one after another. Even if our Boatmen Gang often handles things, it still takes a whole day."

"I've made arrangements. You all go into the city to rest for a night. By tomorrow afternoon, I estimate we can leave."

"That's fine."

Li Yan nodded and didn't say much more.

It was easy for them to leave, and offending people here didn't matter, but it would inevitably cause trouble for the Boatmen Gang.

After getting the red seal sticker, the canal boat was able to dock.

The prosperity of Linqing City goes without saying; the story in "Jin Ping Mei" happened here. Nowadays, nearly half of the various folk stories circulating in the market are related to this place, which shows its status in the hearts of the people of the Great Xuan Dynasty.

Someone once arrived at Zhujing Town in Songjiang Prefecture and wrote a poem to describe Zhujing Town:

"Ten thousand families' smoke and fire are like the capital, the Yuan Dynasty once set up great abundance. Merchants come and go fully loaded, to this day people call it Little Linqing."

Zhujing Town in Songjiang Prefecture is the Shanghai of the previous life, now called "Little Linqing."

Even at night, the noise and prosperity rushed toward them.

Especially since Li Yan has the supernatural powers of smell and hearing, all kinds of details couldn't escape his investigation.

At the alley entrance by the riverbank, a mountain of Jiangnan bamboo was being carried into shops by porters. The bamboo tips swept across the signs of "Suzhou and Hangzhou Silk" and "Songjiang Cotton Cloth," raising a cloud of fine dust and the scolding of southern accents...

The Jin merchant mule and horse team kicked across the bluestone slabs at the end of the alley. Inside, several men spoke with northern frontier accents, and from the bamboo baskets on their backs, there was a faint smell of soil and old mountain ginseng. They should be mountain-goers cooperating with Jin merchants...

On the west bank, the seventy-two official kilns had already raised evening cooking smoke, and the black smoke sprayed from the kiln mouths was entangled with the sunset glow.

Sweaty kiln workers were moving bricks, and the stamp "Kiln Household Zhang of the 13th Year of Jinglong" on the brick surface was still clearly identifiable...

That is Linqing tribute brick. Because it uses the "Lotus Soil" of the Yellow River and nearly twenty processes, "it has a sound when struck, and no holes when broken," becoming the main building material for the imperial palace in the capital. Each brick is engraved with the firing time, kiln household, and craftsman's name.

There were also exquisite painted boats obviously from Jiangnan, from which not only the sound of silk and bamboo music came, but also the laughter of women, and small white hands throwing peanut shells into the water...

The sound of guessing fingers came from the wharf tavern. The short-term workers who finished carrying bags squatted under the eaves, drinking coarse-brewed burning knife liquor with pancakes. Someone cursed drunkenly: "Eunuch Ma's claws stretch longer than the canal!" Others hurriedly covered his mouth, their eyes glancing at the tax official's lantern...

Looking around, Li Yan inexplicably thought of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival."

"It's really lively here, even Chang'an can't compare!"

Even Sha Lifei let out a sigh.

When night fell completely, the Chen family's canal boat finally docked at the South Gate Wharf.

Li Yan and the others stepped on the jumping board to go ashore, only to see the city gate in the distance not yet closed, revealing the lights of the whole city.

Because they were afraid that those minor officials would have crooked thoughts again, they moved all their large and small luggage out, called an ox cart, and under the guidance of the Boatmen Gang disciples, creaked toward the city.

The prosperity of Linqing is especially so at night.

On both sides of the street, all shops were not closed, brightly lit, and the streets were still full of pedestrians.

The accompanying Boatmen Gang disciple chuckled: "You heroes came at the right time. There are many fun places in Linqing City at night. There are three whole streets of flower and willow alleys, Yangzhou thin horses, Mizhi women, and even women from the Rakshasa Kingdom. If you want to listen to music, you can find troupes coming from the north and south..."

"Listening to music is fine."

Li Yan shook his head slightly. "Does this place have any special food?"

"That's plenty!"

This Boatmen Gang disciple was obviously a foodie and said without hesitation: "This Linqing is a prosperous place. Those merchant groups are very rich and particular about food not being tired of refinement, and dishes not being tired of delicacy. Jiangnan's ice-packed shad, ten-fragrance noodles, northern mutton hot pot, everything is available. If you are willing to spend money, 'General Vegetable' can also cook in person..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

"Oh?"

Li Yan also became interested, but just as he was about to ask, he was interrupted by the noise ahead.

He saw in the center of the street in the distance, two groups of martial world people standing, staring at each other with weapons in their hands.

The leader on the left was a lean man in gray cloth short-hitting clothes. His fist frame was set, his left hand formed an "elephant nose fist" lightly buckled on his waist, his right sleeve hung down like flowing clouds, and his soles kicked marks on the ground. Clearly, he had already used hidden strength.

Li Yan's eyes narrowed. "Sun Bin Fist?"

Sun Bin Fist is said to have been passed down by the Warring States military strategist Sun Bin. There is no clear record. Because practitioners often wear long-sleeved clothes, it is also called "Long Sleeve Fist," claiming to have 360 hands connected, chicken legs, dragon waist, and monkey nature. The fist type is mostly "elephant nose fist," which is relatively popular in the Luzhou area.

This fist frame and long sleeves were too obvious.

"Li Li Shaoxia has good eyes!"

The accompanying disciple of the Grain Transport Gang flattered him with a remark, then looked ahead and whispered an introduction: "That man is Yuan Heng, the second disciple of the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall. He is fond of fighting and brawling, often wanders around the markets of Linqing, and is a hot-headed youth."

"The one opposite is also not someone to be trifled with, named Tian Fan. He learned Tan Tui (springing legs). Both groups are in the martial arts business, but they don't do martial arts business, instead, they gather city foxes and social rats to fight for territory in the city, often fighting fiercely."

Sha Lifei was amused. "Their masters don't care?"

The martial arts business has its own rules, what food should be eaten, what food should not be eaten, and one cannot overstep.

If such a thing comes out of a sect, the master has no face.

"Sigh~"

The Boatmen Gang disciple shook his head and whispered: "These two are not promising, but behind them are corrupt officials in the yamen who specifically help them do some shady things, and others are too lazy to provoke them."

As they spoke, the bearded man Tian Fan opposite had already bent his legs like an old tree rooting, tucked his robe into his waistband, which was the style of Linqing Tan Tui, and sneered: "Yuan, don't look at your own virtue, like a monkey. If you entered Miss Zhao's boudoir, you wouldn't be afraid of scaring people!"

"Fart!"

Yuan Heng of Sun Bin Fist cursed and took action directly.

His staggering steps were erratic, and in two or three steps, he arrived in front of Tian Fan. His wrist shook, and his long sleeve swept toward the other's face with a swish. Inside the sleeve, there was clearly a hidden copper awl, heading straight for the Jingming acupoint.

"Hey!"

The bearded man Tian Fan gave a low shout, twisted his waist, and kicked sideways. His big foot whistled with the sound of wind.

It was exactly the Tan Tui "Iron Broom Sweeping Dust."

Feeling the strength of that leg, Yuan Heng's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly retreated.

And the bearded man Tian Fan didn't forgive him, a rubbing kick, heading straight for his crotch.

The two of them were insidious and vicious.

"Stop!"

A light shout came from the building on the street.

He saw a white figure jump down from the window.

It was a scholar in white, with a slightly blue face, holding an oil-paper umbrella in his hand.

This person's skills were even better. The umbrella tip stabbed obliquely, lightly tapping Yuan Heng's Quchi acupoint, forcing him back, and then turned back with a backhand. The bearded man Tian Fan's Tan Tui also seemed to kick into a cotton pile, the strength being unloaded like a whirlpool by the umbrella surface.

"The Master said: A gentleman has nothing to contend for, it must be archery!"

The white-robed scholar stood with his umbrella closed, the tip pointing at the bluestone slab between the two.

Crack!

The bluestone slab cracked into a spiderweb pattern, startling Yuan and Tian into retreating three steps.

The scholar smiled faintly. "Uncle Master Yang wrote an article in 'New Records of the Martial World' last month, saying that martial arts competition is like city ruffians. Today, it has opened my eyes."

Kong Shangzhao behind him hurriedly lowered his head.

But the scholar had sharp eyes and had already seen him, laughing dumbly: "Junior Brother Kong, you haven't gone to the martial arts hall to practice for many days. Why don't you greet me when you see me?"

Kong Shangzhao had no choice but to step forward and cup his hands: "I have met Senior Brother."

"Don't be afraid."

The scholar laughed dumbly, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes. "I don't care about the matter between you and Shangqing, but you know his temper, you can't hide..."

Li Yan pressed Kong Shangzhao's shoulder and pulled him behind him.

But just as he was about to speak, he moved in his heart and looked upstairs.

He saw a woman lying on the window, in light yellow clothes, with bright eyes and white teeth, her palm supporting her cheek, her eyes full of smiles. "Young Master Li, long time no see."

It was Zhao Wanfang, the courtesan of Chang'an City...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 659 =====