I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 559: Jinling Situation

However, it doesn't matter to Zhang Chen whether he goes by water or by land. He can use his escape technique anyway, so it doesn't matter which route he takes.

Zhang's eyes swept over the three little ones, and after a moment's hesitation, she said, "Let's go by water! The land route is too bumpy, and we need to get familiar with the water before we go to the Jiangnan water village. You can also take this opportunity to learn how to swim."

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this. What Zhang said made sense. Since he was going to Jiangnan, how could he survive without being familiar with the water?
"Can I learn to swim now?" Zhang Taowei's eyes were bright, as if there were twinkling stars in them.

"Of course." Zhang Chen touched Zhang Taowei's little head and said, "Since we are going by water, we must learn to swim. When we reach Jiangnan in the future, if we encounter an opponent and cannot defeat him, we can jump into the water and escape."

If one wants to travel by water, the most convenient way is to take a caravan. If Zhang Chen is asked to build a boat himself and operate it southward, it is not impossible, but it is too troublesome and will delay Zhang Chen's practice.

Moreover, the government will inevitably check the travel permit along the way. If Zhang Chen can find a caravan to ride on, it will be a good choice for him.

After crossing the Qinling Mountains, there are waterways connecting all directions. Zhang Chen sent the Blood God Son to look for a large dock nearby. The Blood God Son flew in the air for a while and finally found a dock three hundred miles away.

Zhang Chen directed Zhang Taowei to drive the carriage towards the dock. When they arrived at the dock, they saw that the dock was crowded with people and countless large ships were docked at the dock.

Zhang Chen's eyes swept across the dock, and when he was thinking about where to start, a fifteen-year-old boy in coarse linen clothes came over and said, "Sir, do you want to take a boat?"

Zhang Chen looked at the young man in front of him. His coarse linen clothes were full of patches, but he was clean and well-groomed.

Zhang Chen saw the young man and asked with a puzzled look: "Who are you?"

"I work here at the dock as a errand boy, relying on the appreciation of passing customers to give me a meal." The young man glanced at Zhang Chen's horse and said to Zhang Chen respectfully.

Although Zhang Chen was dressed in ordinary clothes, the horse he rode was extraordinary. It was not something that ordinary people could own.

"I want to go to Jinling. Is there a boat to Jinling?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Yes!" the young man replied firmly.

"Is it possible to take a boat without a pass?" Zhang Chen asked.

The pass before Qinling Mountains is no longer suitable for use. After all, it is a fake pass and cannot withstand inspection. The accent of the family is the biggest flaw.

Hearing this, the young man looked Zhang Chen up and down, then looked at the carriage behind Zhang Chen, and said with a little hesitation: "It costs more money!"

Zhang Chen nodded with satisfaction when he heard this. He was indeed a local tyrant and had considerable power.

"How much?" Zhang Chen asked.

The young man asked, "How many people?"

"Five people, plus this carriage." Zhang Chen said.

The young man made a rough estimate after hearing this, and then held up a finger.

"Ten taels?" Zhang Chen asked tentatively.

"One hundred taels!" the young man said, "I want one tael of silver as a reward. The remaining fifty taels are for the boat ticket, forty taels are for the fake travel permit, and nine taels are for food expenses." said the young man.

One hundred taels of silver?

Zhang Chen took a breath when he heard this. If his money had not been lost before, a mere one hundred taels of silver would have been nothing. But since that day when the sandstorm made the sky dark and the earth gloomy, and his money was lost, one hundred taels of silver was now a huge sum of money for him.

"It's seven thousand miles from here to Jinling. There are five of you in total, including your food expenses. Fifty taels of silver is definitely not a lot! As for the forty taels of travel permit, it is absolutely worth the money. Even if you take it to the government for inspection, it is a real travel permit. The remaining nine taels of silver will be your food expenses. I have solved so many problems for you. Is one hundred taels of silver too much for you?" the young man explained to Zhang Chen.

Of course not much!

So Zhang Chen turned his head and looked at the carriage: "Mom, how much silver do we have left?"

Zhang searched the carriage for a while, then handed out a purse: "There are only 105 taels left!"

These one hundred and five taels were accumulated by Zhang Chen with great difficulty.

"How long will it take?" Zhang Chen asked the young man in front of him while counting the silver.

"Three hours! You just need to wait for me here for three hours." The young man held up three fingers. Zhang Chen counted out a hundred taels of silver with some pain and handed it to the young man: "Go and do it!"

The young man saw Zhang Chen hand over a hundred taels of silver directly, and couldn't help but look surprised: "Aren't you afraid that I will take the silver and run away?"

"I wish you could run away." Zhang Chen said indifferently.

How could his silver be taken so easily? A drop of blood had already dripped onto the young man's clothes. As long as the young man took the silver and ran away, he could make a profit without any investment.

Zhang Chen is currently in the process of proving his truth, so he naturally won't do anything to commit a crime, but if the other party falls into his hands, he doesn't mind enforcing justice.

The young man looked at Zhang Chen deeply, then counted out forty taels of silver and handed the rest back: "I only need forty taels to apply for the pass, and you can give me the rest when I get the service."

After the young man finished speaking, he took the silver, asked a few people's names, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the crowd waiting quietly.

Zhang Chen didn't have to wait long. Two hours later, a sweaty young man came over with five travel permits. "The travel permits have been prepared. I have also found a boat. You only need to pay the fee and you can go to Jinling."

Zhang Chen took the pass from the young man and his pupils couldn't help but shrink. These five passes were different from the fake passes he had gotten in Qinling Mountains before. These were real passes.

Because Zhang Chen sensed the dragon energy of the Dasheng Dynasty on it!
"Is this a real pass?" Zhang Chen asked in surprise.

"Sir, you have good eyesight, but this pass is both real and fake!" said the young man with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Chen asked.

"If no one asks about it, then this pass is real. If someone asks about it, then it is fake! The local government will never acknowledge that your pass is real." said the young man.

Zhang Chen nodded when he heard this, and after confirming that the pass was correct, he put it away and let the young man lead the way.

"The caravan I'm looking for you this time is a large caravan from Jinling: the Jinling Shen Family Caravan. The Shen Family Caravan is a large caravan, so the price is slightly higher. If you don't want to travel using your real identity, an ordinary small caravan won't do. Small caravans will inevitably have various inspections along the way. Only large caravans can travel unimpeded with fewer inspections." said the young man.

Hearing the young man's words, Zhang Chen was stunned: "Jinling Shen Family? Is this the Jinling Shen Family I understand?"

"Of course! There is only one Shen family in Jinling. And only the Jinling Shen family has such a status and is called: Jinling Shen family." The young man said with a smile.

"You are lucky. This time a young master from the Shen family in Jinling came here to visit his relatives. He happened to have a batch of goods to escort. The young master wanted to make some quick money, so he arranged a passenger ship. To be honest, charging fifty taels of silver per person from you is absolutely a conscience price." The young man kept explaining to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen felt inexplicably emotional when he heard this. He was just about to go to Jinling to look for his relatives, but he didn't expect to meet someone from the Shen family in Jinling.

Then the young man led Zhang Chen and his party to the dock, and came to a medium-sized ship. He came up to a man who looked like a manager and talked for a while. He then led Zhang Chen to pay the money. After arranging everything, he took the agency fee and left.

The manager of the Shen family fleet was an old man in his fifties. He looked Zhang Chen and his party up and down and said, "Our conditions are limited. We sleep on a large bunk bed, with men squeezed together and women squeezed together. There is a canteen for meals. Ordinary rice is provided, but if you want to eat well, you have to pay extra. As for your horses, we can only feed you ordinary grass to ensure that they don't starve to death. As for whether they can lose weight, we can't guarantee it."

"Thank you for your help." Zhang Chen said to the manager.

Then the steward assigned the rooms. Zhang Chen and Zhang Fei were assigned to a large bunk bed with more than 30 people. At that time, there were already seven or eight men in the room, sitting in the room and chatting.

Zhang Chen looked at the large bunk bed, which seemed clean and tidy, so he and Zhang Fei settled down.

When Zhang Chen had some free time, he looked around the entire ship. It had three floors in total, plus the bottom floor, so it could probably accommodate more than three thousand people. If each person was charged fifty taels of silver, the Shen family would definitely make a lot of money.

Three days later, there was a commotion at the dock. Zhang Chen was sitting in the cabin and saw ten horse-drawn carriages coming from a distance. The carriages came all the way to the large ship in the center, and there were workers building a pontoon bridge and then driving the carriages onto the bridge.

"Could that be the noble of the Shen family?" A man who looked like a scholar next to Zhang Chen asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, a local scholar nearby said, "No! She is the daughter of the local salt inspector: Jiang Nan! She is going to Jinling to visit her relatives."

"The Salt Inspector's surname is Jiang. What is his relationship with the Shen family in Nanjing?" someone nearby asked curiously.

"You don't know this, right? The daughter that the Salt Inspector Jiang Zehai married was from the direct line of the Shen family. Jiang Nan is the granddaughter of the old lady of the Shen family." At this point, the local scholar said, "But I heard that the tentacles of the Cao Gang have extended to this place. The Salt Inspector Jiang Zehai has been assassinated several times. If he hadn't been protected by a master, he would have died. But even so, Jiang Zehai's wife was beheaded by the assassin. This time, the young master of the Shen family is here to deal with this matter."

Upon hearing this, someone nearby exclaimed, "The Shen family controls 70% of the world's water transport. If they can't use thunderbolt means to deter this matter, I'm afraid they will inevitably lose control of the northern water transport. I wonder if that young master has thunderbolt means to use?"

(End of this chapter)