bastard seizes tang

Chapter 314
"Thousands of dragon boats are carried among the green bushes, and they will never be returned when they are carried to Yangzhou. It should be that the Tianjiao opened the Bian River, and there is no mountain for more than a thousand miles. It is said that this river died in the Sui Dynasty, and it has been relying on Tongbo for thousands of miles. If there is no water palace In the case of dragon boats, there are not many meritorious deeds of Gong Yu."

The Grand Canal starts from Zhuojun in the north, ends at Yuhang in the south, and connects with the Yellow River to Guanzhong through the Guangtong Canal.

And on this wide river course of more than [-] miles in length and width, there are two most important places, one is Luoyang, which is located in the Central Plains, and the other is Yangzhou, which gathers the power of the southeast in one place.

Yangzhou is a fortress of waterways, with many inland waters converging in canals, and there are more than a dozen large and small ferries, but among so many ferries, they have the largest transport capacity and the most manpower, but only three have the most ships under their jurisdiction. Zhoudu, Dongguandu, and Yangzidu are also called Yangzhou Sancao, and today, Li Ke is hosting the banquet here.

"Clang, clang, clang"

A burst of high-spirited and melodious piano sounds poured out from the strings and flowed into Li Ke's ears. Li Ke's originally slightly closed eyes gradually opened, and he raised the wine bottle in his hand to take a long sip.

"Miaoqin, Miaoqu, Miaoren, this piece of Guangling is scattered like a knife torn brocade, high-spirited and ups and downs, it really wins my heart." Li Ke put down his wine bottle, stroked his palms and sighed.

As soon as Li Kezhi's words fell, the Sancao chiefs who were sitting with him on the spot heard the words, and they all responded: "Your Highness's words are very true, and the music here is good, it seems that what I have heard in the past is very different."

"Hahaha."

Li Yin, who was sitting in the second seat with Li Ke, smiled and said: "The principals have good ears. Just as the principals said, the woman who played music just now is not from Yangzhou, but a musician from the teaching workshop brought by the king from Chang'an. The people of the Jiaofang Division were originally only for the court, and the father was worried that the emperor's brother would be bored and lack of fun in Yangzhou, so he ordered the king to take him south."

The chiefs of Sancao looked at each other, with a hint of surprise on their faces, Zhao Rui, the chief of Yang Zidu, got up and said: "We are all rough people, we can only hear that this song seems to be different from the other ones, but we don't know what it is. I don’t know where the subtlety lies, but I never thought that it was played by court musicians, and I have also been honored by His Highness, so it’s a feast for the ears.”

Zhao Rui was in charge of Yang Zidu. He was originally a fisherman. In the last years of his career, the canal was unobstructed, so he sold his family's river field and bought a small boat for north-south freight. Made a fortune.And because he was born in a fisherman, he is the most sympathetic, so he is also very prestigious in Yangzhou Water Transport.

Zhao Rui's family is wealthy, and he often comes to the brothel for entertainment, but he comes here to find only flesh and blood, so he doesn't have the pleasure of listening to music, so he doesn't know anything about the way of qin music.

In fact, how did Zhao Rui know that what is really rare in this Guangling San is not the musician, but the piece.

Guangling San was originally created by Ji Kang at the end of the Wei Dynasty. He was learned by his nephew Yuan Xiaoji, and then hand-recorded the qin score and passed it on to the palace. Even the current qin score in the palace was handed down from the former Sui Dynasty.

Li Ke waved his hands and said with a smile: "The principals are being polite. I am a young man who is a hostage. I have been in Turkic for four years, and I have heard mostly nonsense. After I returned to Chang'an, I joined the army again, following the orders of my father. Commanding You Xiaowei, he can be regarded as a rough man, and this Qu Guangling San can only be heard in general."

In fact, Li Ke also knows a lot about the way of qin music, but Li Ke wants to win over the Yangzhou Water Transport for his own use, so how could he make things difficult for them, so he also described himself as a rough man who joined the army as a young man, so as not to alienate him.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Kezhi's words came out, the tension on the faces of the three of them eased a bit.What they were most worried about was that Li Ke held himself as the King of Chu and was condescending, but since Li Ke said so now, naturally he would not embarrass them too much.

The three looked at each other and nodded. Zhao Rui took out a wooden box from his sleeve, held it in front of Li Ke with both hands, and said respectfully to Li Ke: "This time, Your Highness will manage the two rivers and protect the river. The people of Lianghuai have kindness, and it is even more kind to those who rely on water transportation for their food. I should have come to the mansion to see you, but His Highness is diligent in government affairs and has no time, so I did not see you early. It is rare that His Highness got it today. Kong, this is a small gift from us to Your Highness, and I hope His Highness will accept it with a smile."

Although the water transportation is not as profitable as the salt business, it is also a money-making business, not to mention the three Yangzhou water transportation companies and the thank you gift to Li Ke, this gift will not be light.

Li Ke waved his hand, signaling the maid behind him to step forward, and took the wooden box from Zhao Rui's hand.

Then, Li Ke said to Zhao Rui and the others: "Actually, it's not my king's intention to invite you here this time, but my younger brother's intention."

"His Royal Highness King Liang?" The three of them asked with surprise on their faces after hearing what Li Ke said.

Yangzhou is where Li Ke's fiefdom is located, and Li Ke is the chief official of Huainan, so it is reasonable to see them, but Li Yin is only the king of Liang, and because he is young and has no official position, what can he have to do with them.

Li Yin said: "The king passed through Luoyang when he went south. Zhang Yuanyuan, the governor of Luozhou, made a special trip to visit the king and mentioned the water transport in Luoyang. At present, the water transport in Luoyang is similar to that in Yangzhou. Most of the goods are carried by private water, and they are not under the jurisdiction of the government. The folk shipping industry pays more attention to profit than law, so that there are knives, guns and arrows hidden in the cargo, and many illegal things are done. Zhang Yuanyuan is very distressed by this, and even wants to limit the power of private cargo."

The three people sitting below heard Li Yin's words, and their hearts "thumped".

Although the three of Zhao Rui were all born in the streets and have little knowledge of literature, this does not mean that they are stupid people. On the contrary, those who can get to where they are today are all very shrewd. You won't be able to hear the meaning behind Li Yin's words.

As soon as Li Yin finished speaking, Sun Rang, the director of Guazhou Ferry, got up and said anxiously: "Your Highnesses have clearly observed that there may be some illegal activities in the Luoyang water company, but my Yangzhou water company is doing business in a serious way."

Li Min raised his palm slightly, pressed it down, signaled Sun Rang to take a seat, and then said to Sun Rang: "Master Sun, please rest assured, the emperor's brother naturally trusts you in this matter, otherwise it will not be this Rouge who told you to come tonight." The lake is gone, but the iron prison of the Yamen in Yangzhou."

"That's natural, it's natural at that time, it's the grassroots being abrupt." Sun Rang replied repeatedly after hearing the words.

Li Yin then continued: "It's not easy for you to make a living, Brother Huang naturally knows, not to mention that Yangzhou is not Luoyang, Luoyang is naturally governed by Zhang Yuanyuan, but Brother Huang has the final say in Yangzhou, Brother Huang does not want to embarrass you , causing you to lose your jobs, why do you worry about it?"

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your trust. You should ask Your Highness for your clear instructions on everything." Since Li Yin told them about Zhang Yuanyuan, he would definitely not be aimless, so the three asked.

At this time, Li Ke on the side finally opened his mouth, and the three of them said: "The matter of water transportation is very important. If the imperial court does not allow the people to carry out water transportation, it may hurt the people too much and it will not be good for the stability of the place. But this king must ask about this matter. , so as not to disturb the court. The king has thought a lot recently, thinking that the imperial court should not intervene too deeply in the matter of water transportation, but it is a matter of disrupting the law, but there are still some rules on water transportation, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)