The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 165 Sailing
"Oh oh oh."

The faint sound of roosters crowing could be heard in the distance.

Inside the room, the two, who were about to make love again, were still entwined. After a while, An Yuanzhen remembered and nudged Xiao Yi.

"Did it crow? I have to go back, Youniang will wake up soon."

Why are the nights so short in Xiangzhou?

"It's because you're tall."

An Yuanzhen said she was leaving, but lingered in Xiao Yi's arms.

When another rooster crowed, she said, "I'll wait for it to crow once more before I leave. I want to have a good talk with you for a while."

"Your period should have ended two or three days ago, right?"

"Hmph, always prying into other people's private affairs. It didn't come this time."

"what?!"

"Look how scared you are, I was just teasing you. He left the day before yesterday, but how did you know? Did Youniang tell you? When did you two start talking so intimately?"

"It was calculated. It's almost here before we set off, and the journey will take about ten days."

"Hmph, you're really concerned. If I get pregnant, your father will break your legs but still keep you in Xiangzhou."

"I'm afraid he has offended His Majesty."

"I don't want to hear any of that. I always feel guilty towards Youniang; she was the one who fell for you first. So I think..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hmph, I haven't decided yet. I'll talk about it when you get back. Since you've come all this way, how about I take you to Longzhong for a spring outing?"

"If there were a boat, I would head south today."

"Huh? But... but you haven't rested well, and my grandfather said he's going to make things difficult for you for a while."

"We've overcome the difficulties; we reached a consensus last night."

"You're very good at manipulating our family."

Xiao Yi helped An Yuanzhen to her feet. Seeing the embroidered shoes under the bed, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Can you write poetry?"

"I've studied it."

"There's a poem I only remember the gist and some of the sentences. Could you help me revise it?"

"Poetry? That only flourished in Western Shu and Southern Tang. You can even do it? Xiao Yi, how come you're so good at everything you do?"

"I just wanted to write down what happened to you last night."

"You're so nice, I like you so much."

The two of them, unusually, became quite refined, gathered around the table, one speaking and the other writing, piecing things together.

"The first line describes the night scene, with flowers, the moon, and fog. I remember most of the rest, except for one word I forgot how to pronounce. It was written like this..."

After a long while, An Yuanzhen finished writing and was momentarily lost in thought, muttering a sentence to himself.

"What beautiful words."

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a well pulley coming from the neighboring courtyard, and she hurriedly got up from Xiao Yi's arms.

Xiao Yi tidied her clothes and hair, watched her tiptoe to the end of the corridor, and then turned back to see the first light of dawn.

He picked up the colored paper from the table, looked at it for a while, and then put it in his pocket as a token.

He had been sleeping for about an hour when a knock on the door woke him up.

"Lord Xiao, the merchant ships are ready. Shall we head south today?"

"Let's do it today."

Xiao Yi stood up and went out, looking refreshed and energetic.

He left behind seven soldiers who were most severely seasick, ordering them to gather intelligence in Xiangzhou, act as intermediaries, look after the horses, and protect Li Fang's family.

Li Zhaoning then came out to see Li Fang off, and took the opportunity to step forward and say goodbye to Xiao Yi.

“It’s rare for your stepmother to come home, and she’s sleeping so soundly that we can’t wake her up no matter what we do, so we won’t let her come to see you off.”

"It doesn't matter."

"You are already young and hold a high position, so don't work so hard. Take good care of yourself."

"it is good."

"Xiao Yi".

"Ok?"

"It's been so long since we've had a proper chat. When you return, how about we drink together by the river?"

"it is good."

"Then, we'll wait for you to come back. Until we meet again."

"Goodbye."

Xiao Yi mounted his horse and rode quite a distance. He turned his head slightly and saw that the woman in red was still standing in front of the door.

In my heart, the promise to drink together by the river inexplicably became heavy.

When the delegation arrived at Xiangzhou Wharf, An Youjin greeted them and led them onto a large merchant ship.

On the river, a three-masted cargo ship was moored, about five zhang long and more than one zhang wide, with a considerable draft. The hull was painted with the four characters "利涉大川" (meaning "beneficial for crossing great rivers").

Xiao Yi boarded the ship and saw that the deck was spacious and piled with more than ten lumps of tea leaves and medicinal herbs covered with tarpaulins.

"Where are your twenty best men?"

"My lord, look, they are they."

Where An Youjin pointed, porters were moving tea leaves into the lower cabin; two thin boatmen hung from the mast like monkeys; the old man at the helm was kicking his grandson barefoot; the accountant was counting goods with his apprentice, the abacus clicking away...

"Along this route, we'll encounter the forces of Nanping, Nantang, and various prefectures like Ma Chu. It's safer to disguise ourselves as a merchant caravan. Lord Xiao, how about we unleash our ceremonial regalia once we reach Langzhou?"

"That's quite appropriate."

Xiao Yi then ordered that the imposing banner of the Pacification Envoy be taken down.

Many people in this world die tragically because they can't bear to give up this air of importance. It sounds foolish, but in reality, it's quite a contrast for high-ranking officials to dress as businessmen.

Put away the official robe and change into a silk cross-collar robe.

An Youjin looked at them and said, "The magistrate is the son of a wealthy merchant, Vice Minister Yan is the son's cousin, Official Li is the son's tutor, Li Guanxiang is the accountant, and the rest are guards and laborers. Is that alright?"

Xiao Yi said to Li Fang and Yan Jinqing, "Then I'll have to trouble you two."

"It would be an honor. If I really had a cousin like you, I would be more than happy to have one."

Li Fang said, "We will do our best to teach the young master."

Xiao Yi knew he might have some reputation in the south, so he needed to change his name. Seeing that there were many medicinal herbs among the goods, he said, "My surname is Ximen, and my given name is Qing. I'm new to business and don't know anything about commerce. This is my first time traveling with you." "Alright." An Youjin clasped his hands and said, "Don't worry, young master. The checkpoints along the way are used to asking for money, but they won't question you too much. As long as you don't reveal your identity as an envoy, I can handle it."

"Good work."

The men removed their armor, packed their banners and long weapons into boxes, hid them in the hold, and covered them with tarpaulins.

They continued moving goods, stacking them into the ship's hold: jade from Nanyang, sable fur from the north, brocade from Sichuan, and finally dozens of baskets of water chestnuts, covering the armor and weapons completely.

Although there were stables on the ship, only a few horses could be taken. The soldiers from the Central Plains were very uneasy when they saw that their horses were about to be taken away, and they held onto the reins tightly, reluctant to let go.

Zhang Mantun cursed and said, "You're all still breastfeeding, aren't you?! Don't embarrass me!"

"Brother Iron Teeth, what do we do when we encounter a dry road?"

An Youjin said, "Don't worry, from here to Langzhou, it's a total of 700 li, all by water."

"How far?!"

Even Zhang Mantun was startled and exclaimed, "It's so far, it will take several days by boat."

“It will only take ten days or half a month to get there,” An Youjin said with a smile. “You don’t even need to take a single step; you’ll be right there once you disembark.”

"what?"

"Weigh anchor—"

The sails were billowed by the river wind, swollen like a full moon, propelling the boat forward. At first, the speed was slow, but gradually it increased.

Everything was going smoothly and easily, just like his situation since he joined Guo Wei's group.

Xiao Yi was already tired. After arranging everything, he went back to his cabin to sleep.

The cabin was very small, just two wooden planks sandwiching a bed. According to the locals, the smaller the room, the more energy it held, and sleeping in it felt like being in a cradle.

When I woke up, it was already dark, and the mountains on both sides of the river resembled lurking wild beasts.

There were only a few boatmen on the deck. Xiao Yi tried to talk to them, but they spoke with thick accents and neither side could understand the other, yet they chatted quite enthusiastically.

He ate some flatbread, practiced his martial arts, and then went back to sleep.

The days on the ship were quite boring. When they woke up during the day, everyone was either playing dice or gambling. There was a long line in front of Yan Jinqing, waiting to gamble with him.

"Brother Iron Teeth, once you've made enough, it's my turn."

"What's the rush? I have a lot of people in my family, let me play a few more games with my uncle."

Xiao Yi wasn't interested; to him, gambling was nothing compared to the excitement of doing business.

While eating cakes, practicing martial arts, and shooting arrows, Li Fang explained the Four Books and Five Classics to him. Before he knew it, he had taken a nap.

Zhang Mantun ran over to complain, "Young Master Ximen, my uncle has won all my money!"

Xiao Yi had never seen him carry money when he went out, so he asked, "Where did you get the money?"

“It was sent by the Prince of Nanyang. He even said he had spoken to you about it.”

"Yes, I asked him for the money to escort the An family."

At this moment, Yan Jinqing's voice drifted on the river breeze.

"It's fine to return all the money to you, but you must protect me if I encounter any danger."

Zhang Mantun was overjoyed and rushed out.

Xiao Yi thought that Yan Jinqing was probably doing it on purpose, trying to win people's hearts without spending a penny.

Having nothing better to do, he decided to teach them a lesson, so he found some ink and red ink, and asked the boatman to cut a thin wooden board. He then drew a deck of cards and invited everyone to play.

He won over a hundred strings of cash from Yan Jinqing that very day.

"These gambling tools are exquisite; I wonder what their name is?"

Xiao Yi casually replied, "The Yama's Token."

Let's just consider it as Yan Jinqing paying a naming fee.

After saying that, he casually drew a barely legible image of Yama (the King of Hell) on a card.

"A good name, Yama's gun makes Yama's brand."

The next day, Xiao Yi was already struggling to win. After losing more than ten strings of cash to Li Fang, he decisively stopped.

A small amount of gambling brings pleasure, but a big amount of gambling harms the body.

Before he could get bored, he soon found something exciting.

In less than three days, the boats sailed down the Yangtze and Han Rivers and arrived at Yangkou.

Further ahead, there are two waterways. One is to continue along the Jianghan River to Ezhou, then go upstream along the Yangtze River and turn into the Yuan River; the other is to turn into the Yangxia Waterway to Jiangling, the capital of the Nanping Kingdom, and then go downstream along the Yangtze River into the Yuan River.

The second route is much shorter and avoids the upstream current of the Yangtze River, but both require passing Yangkou.

Yangkou was controlled by the navy of the Nanping Kingdom.

They had already entered the territory of Nanping and paid taxes in Ruozhou and Juanzhou respectively, all of which were handled by An Youjin.

But I can't handle it today.

Hearing the commotion, Xiao Yi went up to the deck and saw An Youjin bowing and scraping as he explained to the water gate commander.

“Our business is a regular customer. We usually take 20% of the tax, but our boss has an agreement with the military governor that if we use the Yangxia waterway, the tax will be halved.”

"I told you, today is not about money. The general has sent people to investigate. Wait."

An Youjin handed over a bag of money and asked, "What are you investigating?"

"Careful work."

"But that has nothing to do with us."

"We'll have to wait!"

An Youjin returned somewhat uneasily, invited Xiao Yi back to the cabin, and whispered, "I don't know what happened, but the investigation is more rigorous than usual. I need to go over the story with you, young master."

"it is good."

"We plan to go to Jiangling to sell half of our northern goods and purchase local specialties such as square-patterned silk and lacquerware. If there is any cane sugar from Sichuan, we can also buy some. We must not let Nanping know that we are going to Langzhou, so we will only say that we are going to Yuezhou to buy cinnabar, mercury, rhinoceros horn, Dong brocade, and agarwood. Do you understand, young master?"

"take note of it."

"The whole trip yielded a profit of about 700 strings of cash, but the various regions in Nanping would take nearly half of it. Meanwhile, Ma Chu and Southern Tang are currently locked in a standoff in Yuezhou. I wonder how much more money I will have to spend on bribes. Business is not good, which is why I complained to the officials in Nanping."

"Okay." Xiao Yi asked, "Why are they intensifying their checks?"

"With changes occurring in Ma Chu and hidden battles brewing in Yuezhou, Nanping Kingdom must be worried about being attacked from both sides by the Great Zhou and the Southern Tang."

Xiao Yi was somewhat impressed with An Youjin, thinking to himself that a servant who came from humble beginnings had quite the insight.

But having only known each other for a short time, they still couldn't quite understand each other.

(End of this chapter)