Chapter 16 A Peach Forest

In a light sleep, the black bear was trying hard to drag his house.

On one side of the three-way intersection in the town is a steep hillside. Twenty or thirty meters up the hill are his family's old and new courtyards, with a cement path on either side.

Below the century-old courtyard is a reed highland surrounded by water. The houses have become ruins and there are more than a dozen fruit trees growing there. Pink and white peach and apricot flowers are in full bloom, filling the air with fragrance.

The area below the new yard was blurry, and the courtyards of several relatives and the second and third floors were gone. Only a building with only the third floor was floating.

The houses that are most memorable from the two lives are put together like this. Across the road at the foot of the mountain, there is a townhouse built with a one-stop school, factory and hospital.

Memories like houses can be pieced together harmoniously, while relatives and friends from two lifetimes are fighting in the distance.

Obviously, the relatives and friends in the memory of the previous life are more numerous and stronger, and they defeat the relatives and friends in this life one after another.

The dream suddenly stopped and fell apart after only the relatives and friends from the previous life were left.

Black Bear opened his eyes and felt them a little dry. He raised his hand to rub them and lay down in the corner of the cubicle. Only in this way could he feel a sense of security that made him calm and peaceful.

Having lived two lives as a human being, the experience of escaping in the middle of the night with nothing on your body and a bird in your arms is something that is hard to imagine even in a dream.

Thinking about it now, I just feel that night was so cold.

Rays of light filtered into the cabin. Black Bear took a few deep breaths, lowered his head and walked out of the small compartment. Five sailors in the cabin were catching up on their sleep.

Following the stairs to the bird room, two sailors were rowing the stern oar, with slight movements just to adjust the course.

He lowered his head and walked out of the bird room, turned around, climbed the ladder and turned over to enter the observation deck above the bird room.

Xuan Liang bowed slightly: "Commander Qu."

"How's the wind?"

Black Bear looked up at the bulging sail, and Xuan Liang replied, "The wind is light, and the boat is sailing with the current, so it's as fast as a horse."

The sail is a great invention. If operated well, it can sail against the current and wind.

Rather than a transport ship, he wanted to be the owner of a warship, and good warships all had names.

These three transport ships also have ship numbers, but Black Bear doesn't care or pay attention to them.

If you want to expand your fleet, you only need to do two things these days. The first is to train qualified sailors, and the second is to acquire ships.

Excellent sailors need training and growth, and this cannot be rushed.

It is not possible to have a shipbuilding base in the short term.

These days, it is not realistic to spend money to order one. If you want a good ship from design to construction, it will take more than a year if there is no shortage of materials.

In the midst of years of war, the ship you spent money to order might not even be launched before you and your entire family are killed by colluding with the rebels.

It is unrealistic to manufacture, so we can only grab what is already available.

Thinking about the development of the fleet, Black Bear asked Xuan Liang: "Aren't you curious about what I'm doing in Xudu?"

"He is a deity in this world, and is proficient in the ways of ghosts. How can I guess what this servant is talking about?"

Xuan Liang raised his hand to touch the healed wound on his face, and looked up at the slightly bulging gray sail and the dark sky. "I have followed three generations of the Sun family in the battles for twenty years. I am used to life and death. I have no children for a long time and I am looked down upon by my colleagues. My life is also very boring. Even if the commander goes to plunder Xudu, I am happy to follow him. If I unfortunately die... I beg the commander to spare me from the corvée of Taishan Prefecture."

In the Qi culture around Mount Tai, after a person dies and becomes a ghost, he or she must live under the rule of the Lord of Mount Tai, and even as a ghost, he or she must perform labor service.

Corvée labor is a nightmare for the living and is on the same level as death.

"On this journey to Xudu, you must die by my side. I will take action before the Lord of Mount Tai captures your soul, and I will make you my personal Taoist soldier."

After making the promise, Black Bear slightly turned his head to look at the peach grove in the distance on the north bank. The blooming peach blossoms embellished the sky and the earth.

How can people who are not well fed and well clothed have any brilliance?

The buildings were dilapidated, the yellow mud walls were cracked and falling in patches, and there was almost no color that could comfort and make him happy.

It was a cloudy day like today, and although the grass and trees were sprouting and green everywhere, in his eyes the world was still gloomy and gray, as if covered with a layer of dust.

The bright red peach trees far downstream made him stop and stare.

In the past, I always traveled to Xia Pi at night and missed the magnificent spring scenery.

"Looking for the waterway, I want to go see the peach blossoms."

As Black Bear spoke, Xuan Liang raised his hand toward the downstream and roughly estimated the distance with a ruler: "About twenty miles. I will notify all the ships right away."

When Xuanliang turned around and was about to get off the wooden platform, he stopped and asked, "There should be a village near the peach blossoms. Would you like to visit it?"

Naturally, he is not afraid of encountering any accidents. It would be an accident if others encountered him.

"When I go to appreciate flowers, I take a piece of brocade with hundreds of flowers, and if there are people there, I will just give it as a gift. I will also take two boxes of brown sugar, tea leaves, white rice, etc., and make tea and eat when I get there."

Black Bear said as he took a breath, straightened his chest, stretched his arms, and asked with a smile, "If someone asks me, if I say I'm a descendant of Sun Jian's clan, will they believe me?"

Xuan Liang examined it carefully and said: "Sun likes red scarves. If he wears this scarf, he will look about 70% similar to Sun Lang."

"I don't like scarves. Take a piece of scarlet brocade and make it into a scarf for me. Let's give each of us one. Go and cut it."

After saying this, Black Bear took a step back and sat on the stool. He felt more and more that a rocking recliner should be placed here. Xuan Liang then left along the ladder.

There is no shortage of high-quality silk fabrics in this cabin. Whoever uses these things will use them, so there is no need to feel sorry about it.

In the bottom cabin, Xuan Liang carried out two bundles of beautiful brocade to the second cabin according to his memory, opened the seals of the thick silk bags for dust and insect prevention, and took out the rolls of silk fabrics one by one.

Using the elimination method, he put the green silk fabrics back, took out two pieces of bright red silk embroidered with flowers and placed them on the side. He would cut them into square scarves and distribute them later. The square scarves with the best embroidery layout would naturally belong to Qu Shuai. He then examined the other silk fabrics. It would be a bit abrupt to give them too bright silk fabrics on his first visit.

Based on his aesthetic and etiquette awareness, he chose a piece of embroidery with a solid color as the base. The plain silk was of high quality, and light blue and light green silk threads were blended into it during the weaving process. Then he embroidered branches of red plum blossoms.

This piece of light green and red plum embroidery is simple and elegant yet gorgeous, and is considered the best piece of this batch of silk fabrics.

If it is given to someone else, Black Bear will not feel sorry, and Xuan Liang will feel even less sorry.

If we encounter other caravans or transport teams of powerful people, what kind of fine silk fabrics can we not grab?
Xuan Liang had been in the army for twenty years. Although his hands were not very dexterous, he could make and mend clothes for himself.

After wrapping the gifts, Xuan Liang asked a few sailors to help stretch the red brocade and began to cut square scarves for everyone. The sailors were all happy.

A bright red embroidered headscarf... well, even the previous ship guards were not qualified to use such high-quality items on a daily basis.

Three boats towed the wupeng boat into a reed-covered canal, and the sails were lowered one after another.

The sailors on each ship rowed and rowed slowly, and the canals were barely enough for the ships to pass.

This main canal for water diversion and irrigation has been abandoned for a long time. The black-sailed boats led the way to check the water conditions, and the flat-bottomed transport boats following behind crushed the dense reeds.

The water conservancy foundation of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties has now been abandoned.

The destruction caused by the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty was beyond everyone's expectations.

The branch canals of this main canal have been blocked, and many villages are located along the branch canals, but they have all become ruins and are swallowed up by weeds and shrubs.

Looking around, Black Bear clenched his fists and stretched out his five fingers, grinning coldly: "It's not as bad as no rooster crowing for a thousand miles, but it's almost the same."

Xuan Liang has already adapted to it. Last year, Chen Deng died of illness and the Chen family of Xia Pi was destroyed. Guangling and the southern part of Xia Pi had already collapsed.

Not only is there population loss, but local heroes have also given up on developing their hometown. Those who can leave will leave, leaving behind this undefended plain with dense rivers. Anyone who wants it can take it, but after taking it, do they dare to invest manpower and material resources in its development?

After development, do you have the confidence to maintain it?
We went twelve or thirteen miles deep into the main canal and docked directly at Taolin Manor.

Black Bear touched the flowery scarf wrapped around his head before climbing down the ladder and stepping onto the hard ground.

He looked behind him and saw four geese also coming ashore to eat grass.

The other sailors all got off the boat with bright red embroidered headscarves on their heads and were transferring daily necessities to the shore.

The veteran sailors and guards sank the anchor, put on leather armor, and took out spears, halberds, bows and crossbows stored in the bottom hold. Three people were left on each ship to guard the wooden platform.

Sixty-eight new and old sailors disembarked. The new sailors had not yet adapted to the management and could only look at the peach forest from a distance.

With so many people arriving, and three large transport ships at that, the manor was already on alert.

The young and strong men who stayed behind each held a weapon, some climbed up the arrow tower and watched with bows, while others gathered with spears and halberds. Many half-grown boys ran out and called out to the young and strong women who were farming outside the village.

Xuan Liang, who had seen the world, walked in front, facing the vigilant eyes of the archers inside the earth wall and knocked on the wooden door.

A man poked his head out of the manor gate. His beard was gray and his blue clothes were bleached by the sun. He looked up and down and asked, "What brings you here?"

"My son saw the beautiful peach blossoms in this farm, so he came to bother you."

Xuan Liang slightly turned sideways and extended his arms to introduce the two black bears guarding in leather armor: "We were ordered by Jiangdong General Sun Huiji and General Xu Junhou to go north to Xudu. The White Goose Bandits rebelled and blocked the Si River, so we had to retreat. May I ask who the owner of the manor is?"

"So it's Sun's army. Do you have any proof?"

When asked, Xuan Liang took out a few scrolls of silk books from his sleeves and held them in both hands. A small hanging basket slowly lowered down. Xuan Liang took two steps forward and put the silk books and official documents into the hanging basket.

The basket was lowered up, and the old man in green flipped through the books one by one. He said to Xuan Liang, "I will inform my master right now. My master also loves this peach forest, so he came here to build a manor. In his early years, he was also famous in Jianghuai and the coastal areas. Now he lives in seclusion here, and few people know about him."

"May I ask your name?"

"I dare not. The old master, Xue's taboo is Zhou."

After the old man answered, Xuan Liang stepped aside and extended his arms to introduce: "This is my master, a brother of the Sun Taolu clan."

"You are such an honored guest. I hope you will forgive me for my impoliteness."

The old man turned and left the village gate. Xuan Liang also retreated to Black Bear and whispered, "Captain Qu, the owner of this manor is called Xuezhou. In the past, he occupied overseas and often invaded. Nearly ten thousand families followed him, and he often traveled between Langya and Wujun. Later, Chen Yuanlong ruled Guangling, so he led his people to follow Chen Yuanlong. I didn't expect that this manor would live in seclusion here."

Soon the wooden door opened, and a young man strode out and bowed: "My father is about to wake up from his nap, I don't want to keep you waiting for too long, please come in."

Xuan Liang walked in front, with two guards surrounding Black Bear, and sailors followed behind with daily utensils, spears, swords and the like.

The young man also took the initiative to introduce himself as Xue Guang, the son of Xue Zhou.

Xue Guang is very enthusiastic and seems to be longing for the outside world.

Black Bear simply agreed to a few words to avoid making a mistake and revealing his mistake.

Most of the time, Xuanliang was given the responsibility of socializing. When they entered the manor and came to the gate of a large courtyard, Xuanliang seemed to recognize the butler in the crowd. He stepped forward to hand over the gift list and whispered, "My master came here just for leisure and pleasure, to appreciate the peach blossoms. Don't think too much. I didn't expect this to be Mr. Xue's secluded residence. I hope you will forgive me for disturbing you."

"If you come here just to enjoy the flowers, it's also a pleasant experience."

The butler took a look at the gift list and determined how much to spend on the entertainment. He said to Xuan Liang, "In that case, I will inform the old master right away."

"That's how it should be."

Xuan Liang responded, stepped back a dozen steps and waited for a dozen breaths, then Xue Zhou strode out, stepped on his clogs and took off the brocade robe he had just put on as he walked, rolled it into a ball and threw it to the young maid, the housekeeper, and the old man in blue who were jogging behind him.

As soon as he went out, he looked at the black bear, who had a strong presence in the crowd and seemed to be a bit out of place. At first glance, he felt that he was extraordinary, so he smiled and said, "You and I are friends through flowers. Let's not worry about worldly matters today. Follow me to the peach forest!"

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)