Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 453-452 Toyotsu Ferry

Sometimes Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but wonder if Fang Youliu was some kind of genius created by Gaode Navigation—he always arrived within the time limit he said he would.

Sure enough, before dawn, the carriage arrived at Tianpuchuan on time.

The three originally planned to rest on the riverbank for half a day, and then cross the river to Jindi City on the north bank after Fang Youliu had rested enough.

But when the carriage arrived at the shore along the main road, it was discovered that the place was brightly lit. Someone had temporarily fenced off a village with wooden fences, enclosing the entire dock and ferry crossing inside. There were also people on duty at the entrance of the village.

At this moment, Feng Xiuhu and Shunzi were snoring in the carriage, while Fang Youliu was driving alone.

As the carriage approached, the gatekeepers stepped forward and blocked the way.

As the carriage slowly came to a stop, the two gatekeepers approached with torches in hand. One asked questions, while the other circled the carriage to inspect it.

Although he didn't know what they were up to, Fang Youliu didn't want to cause trouble, so he politely cupped his hands and smiled, "What's going on here? We're from out of town, so please forgive us if we've accidentally offended anyone."

The man blocking the way was short and stocky, with a scar on his lip. He raised the torch higher so that he could see Fang Youliu's face clearly.

Upon hearing this, the scarred dwarf curled his lip and said, "This is a new face. Where did you come from?"

Fang Youliu, being cautious, replied, "Prefecture."

The scarred dwarf nodded slightly: "Thousand Isles City..."

He glanced at the carriage behind Fang Youliu and asked, "Who's inside?"

Fang Youliu said, "My master is going north to visit relatives."

The scarred dwarf straightened up slightly: "Are you from a noble family? But this road is blocked. You'll have to find another place to cross the river."

Fang Youliu pointed to the ferry crossing behind the scarred dwarf: "Fengjin Ferry is already the closest ferry crossing in the area. Where else can we go?"

The scarred dwarf grinned: "Can't you understand human language? I said we can't cross, and that means we can't cross. Fengjin Ferry is closed for the next few days. If you want to cross the river, keep going downstream. You have a car, and it will take about a day to reach the ferry terminal in Qichuan County."

Fang Youliu frowned: "I can't make the decision. I have to wait for my master to wake up and ask him what he thinks."

Fang Youliu looked at the ferry crossing not far away and asked, "So, could you let us in first?"

Scarface could easily see through his intentions. He simply felt that Scarface's words were unreliable and wanted to go to the ferry to ask someone else.

So the scarred dwarf stepped aside: "It's the same no matter who you ask. Don't even mention you. These days, even if a bird tries to fly across the river, it will be shot down and roasted."

……

early morning.

Feng Xiuhu was awakened by the noise.

Lifting the carriage curtain, they found Fang Youliu sitting on the carriage shaft, sipping thin porridge.

Smelling the aroma, Feng Xiuhu swallowed hard: "Where did this porridge come from?"

Fang Youliu pointed to the simple shack across the street: "I bought it over there."

Feng Xiuhu then noticed his surroundings. He looked around and asked, "Have we ended up in a refugee camp?"

All the huts in the village were temporary structures, made of a few bundles of straw mats, a few bamboo poles, and a few pieces of wood pieced together. They were as simple as possible, so it's no wonder that Feng Xiuhu thought that way.

“They’re not refugees.” Fang Youliu yawned. “They’re causing trouble.”

After being reminded, Feng Xiuhu also noticed the source of the noise—the dock on the shore. The villagers were gathered together, confronting another group of people, and there was a constant stream of cursing and swearing. It was they who woke Feng Xiuhu up.

At this moment, Shunzi also woke up, rubbed his eyes and saw the porridge in Fang Youliu's hand, so he asked the same question as Feng Xiuhu.

Fang Youliu gave the answer, and Shunzi quickly got off the bus and went to the other side to buy breakfast—after all, a hot meal is better than eating dry biscuits.

Before the two woke up, Fang Youliu had already inquired around. Now, he forced himself to stay awake and told Feng Xiuhu the whole story.

"This place is called Fengjin Ferry. It is the closest point between the two banks of the Tianpu River in the surrounding area, and the shallowest part of the river. So people usually cross the river here."

"The closest town to Fengjin Ferry is a county called Mingshui County. Around this time every year, as the spring flood season approaches, the people along the river hold a river festival to offer sacrifices to the River God in order to ensure a good catch and prevent floods that year."

"But this year's Jiangliu Festival has encountered obstacles."

Fang Youli pointed to the shore.

Feng Xiuhu looked in that direction and saw several large ships docked at the pier, with a large number of people gathered on the deck above.

In addition, a row of construction trestle bridges were erected along the riverbank, but most of them have now been destroyed.

Fang Youliu said, "These large ships came from Jindi City on the other side of the river. The foreigners plan to build a bridge across the Tianpu River. This is a good thing, beneficial to the country and the people, so it was approved by the government and the site was chosen here."

"From surveying and mapping to structural design, all the preliminary work was completed. So the foreigners brought over the bridge-building team, intending to drive the bridge piers down before the spring flood season. Otherwise, if the flood came, they would have to wait until next year."

Fang Youliu shrugged and said, "The result was disastrous."

"The people wanted to hold a river festival, so they asked the bridge-building team to postpone the construction until after the festival. But the bridge-building team couldn't wait and said it didn't matter if the festival was delayed. Besides, they had the government's approval, so they started construction directly."

"This angered the people of Mingshui County, who gathered in droves, dismantled the bridge-building team's newly erected fortifications, and drove all the workers back to their boats."

"Not only that, but to prevent the bridge-building team from resuming work, the people of Mingshui County also cordoned off the ferry crossing and sent people to patrol it day and night."

Fang Youliu pointed to the crowd on the shore and said, "See that over there? The one leading them is Tang Dayuan, the tax official of Jiangliu Temple, known as 'Bald Turtle'; and the one confronting him is Jin, the head manager of the foreign factory, who is also known as Dumb Jin from Jindi City."

Feng Xiuhu listened and nodded, "So what does this have to do with us?"

Fang Youliu smiled wryly: "The two sides really got angry. The bald turtle went too far and seized the big boat, blocked the ferry, and prohibited anyone from crossing the river."

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback: "We can't get through either?"

Fang Youliu nodded: "That's how it seems for now. Either we wait here for a few more days until they've calmed down and the ferry crossing is back to normal, or we continue downstream to find another ferry crossing."

He yawned: "Take your time to think it over. Anyway, I need to rest and can't leave for a while. We'll talk about the specifics after I wake up."

After saying that, Fang Youliu crawled into the carriage.

Shunzi came running back with two bowls of porridge, excitedly saying, "Big brother, this porridge is made with fish broth, it smells so delicious!"

Feng Xiuhu took it and asked, "How much?"

Shunzi said, "It's not expensive. Two big bowls cost me eight copper coins—I'll have to return the bowls to them later."

(End of this chapter)