Chapter 029｜Terrifying Stone Array

Wen Zhongyuan was extremely calm, unaffected by the noise on the shore. He led the way, boarded a small boat, ferried to a medium-sized vessel, and then welcomed Xie and Li into the passenger cabin. "The cabin was already set with a banquet, and candles flickered as they burned. "Your brother, who is inexperienced in worldly matters, has prepared some modest wine to calm you down, dear brother. After you have had enough to drink and eat, you can rest assured and sleep soundly."

At this moment, a boatman reported: Xiao Mohe has chased them to the riverbank but is unable to board the boat and is furiously cursing Pu Zhao.

 Wen Zhongyuan laughed and said, "General Xiao is quite impetuous, pay him no mind. Brother Xie, let's drink

So the two of them drank three cups. Li Jing was not a good drinker, but he still toasted Wen Zhongyuan: "Thanks to Mr Wen for his help on this journey."

Wen Zhongyuan said, "Little brother, without your attentive care, Xie boat owner could not move an inch. Don't worry, this fast boat of mine can go straight to Wushan, just focus on eating, drinking, and sleeping. No matter how skilled a fighter is, they cannot commit violence in the midst of this great river."

As the fast boat moved, Wen and Xie drank and caught up. Li Jing did not understand why Zhang Ke, Xie Kangtu, Puzhao, and Wen Zhongyuan worked so closely together, so he asked truthfully at that moment.

Wen Zhongyuan laughed, "What's so strange about that? As confidants, we naturally have a tacit understanding. Do we really need to discuss things in advance?"

Li Jing was worried about Mei Niang and asked, "After we leave, what should you and your family do, Prince's maternal uncle?" When he said "your family," he was actually only worried about Mei Niang. Mei Niang main record ship's atlas, now Boat Owner Xie has been unable to draw the ship's atlas ,the world only Mei Niang can draw - as for those text notes are good to do, and drawing method, others copying the fear of difficult to achieve results.

Xie Kangtu having escaped the perilous situation, relaxed his spirit and energy, showing a face full of exhaustion.

He smiled forcibly and said: ''Princess and Prince's maternal uncle can stay out of this matter as long as they hand over the ship's atlas. However, no one in the world except me knows how the wang family's shipbuilding atlas is. Even if someone takes the original or a copy, it is difficult to discern its intricacies and subtleties, and most people still won't use it."

Li Jing suddenly had a moment of realization:"Could it be that Boat Owner Xie did not draw a full score?"

Wen Zhongyuan said: "The ship's atlas is naturally fully drawn, otherwise how can it be concealed from Chen? That Xiao Mohe, not only has the courage of a million men, but also knows how to control the ship, and one look at the atlas will tell you whether it is true or not. If he see that it is a fake, the princess and the prince's maternal uncle will be in trouble."

Li Jing couldn't figure it out from side to side, so he just couldn't stop shaking his head.

Xie Kangtu said, "Young brother, do you know that in all generations, armies conduct reconnaissance before they march?"

Li Jing nodded. This is the method by which the imperial court controls its generals and commanders: the military talisman with gold, jade, copper, wood, etc. made into a tiger, divided into two, the right half to stay in the hands of the emperor, the left half to the generals.If there is a war, by the emperor's royal approval, fast horse delivery of the other half of the talisman, the commander-in-chief of the public inspection is correct, the army can be mobilised. This is to prevent the commander-in-chief to rebel or pass the order wrongly and set up the system of mobilising the troops, which has been the same for thousands of years.

Xie Kangtu said, "Little brother, if I give you the atlas I drew, can you build an invincible fleet?"

Li Jing said, "I cannot at present. If I am given enough money, food, soldiers, and craftsmen after I reach adulthood, I may be able to build it."

Wen Zhongyuan laughed loudly: "If you join the army in the future, you may be a commander. Money, food, soldiers, and craftsmen are indeed necessary for the navy. Without money and food, it is impossible to choose good wood, build docks and recruit craftsmen. However, even with craftsmen, it's still impossible to build according to the plans. To build a ship, you need to train skilled craftsmen, each craftsman must have five years of carpentry, three years of carpentry base, and then by the experienced master supervision, can build a good ship.

The master shipbuilder must have more than twenty years of experience. It is not difficult to build one or two ships, but to form a massive naval force that stretches for hundreds of miles, you need at least one hundred masters and one thousand capable labourers. May I ask you, little brother, even if you have ten thousand taels of gold, where can you find such talents?"

Li Jing's heart flinched and he said, "It's my folly for not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth, thinking too simplistically about building a fleet of ships. In that case, not only is it exceptionally difficult to build boats, and the people who command the fleet must also be knowledgeable in astronomy, geography, water currents, sandbanks and waves, offense and defense, rescue operations, and so on. In this case, I'm afraid tens of thousands of people would need to be trained."

Wen Zhongyuan high-fived and praised: "Little brother really heard one know ten! Not bad, the water war is not like the land soldiers and horses to kill, construction is difficult, driving is even more difficult. I'm not hiding from little brother, just now Boat Owner Xie of the ship mentioned 'surveying and cooperation', which means that even with a atles, you still need experts. The charts are virtual, the connoisseur is real. When the real and the imaginary are combined, great things can be accomplished."

Li Jing understood in his heart - Wen Zhongyuan had been building ships for decades, seemingly for the sake of making a living, but in fact, he was ready to go. If there is an opportunity, the tens of thousands of skilled craftsmen under the control of the Wen can show their skills, Wen Zhongyuan is the "master of masters", deciding the situation in the north and south, no wonder Xiao Mohe is both fearful and apprehensive of him.

Xie Kangtu said: "For the past twenty years, the three shipyards under Lord Wen have built about more than five thousand ships, which are still sailing smoothly on the rivers and seas to this day. North people do not know navigation, the South people rarely learnt water warfare, only Wen Gong dedicated to this way, enough to sway the situation, proud of the past and present."

Wen Zhongyuan laughed, ''Little brother, this is the boat owner flattering me. Although I have the manpower, I would be at a loss without the atlas. Over the years, fortunately, thanks to the selfless help of Boat Owner Xie, my tens of thousands of brothers have been able to feed their families and settle down. This time, when I take time out to return to Qingjiang, it is the time to serve my country."

Li Jing understood at once: the Wen family was determined to help the revival of the Liang state. However, he could not help but realise that Liang was a weak and poor country with a small population, and that Xiao Kui was so indecisive and sickly that even if he could recover the lost territory, would the increasingly powerful Sui Emperor allow him to rule the country by dividing it into two rivers?

On that night, Li Jing and Xie Kangtu slept in the cabin. The next day dawned and the ship arrived at Yidu. Wen Zhongyuan wanted to ask his guests to get off the ship as a favour to the host, but Xie Kangtu insisted on going to Wushan. So Wen Zhongyuan urged the boatmen to sail with full sails, the fast boat sails upstream against the current travelled very fast against the water. If they encounter dangerous shallows, the thirty-two boatmen on the ship then act as workers pulling the towing ropes, dragging the ropes along the route. Into the Three Gorges, the daytime, but see the cabin outside the dangerous cliffs, overhanging walls; night winds, apes and monkeys cried sadly. Li Jing was often worried about the boat sinking and falling into the water, and sometimes the bumps were so severe that he had to spit out the food that had gone into his stomach. Xie Kangtu and Wen Zhongyuan were obviously used to it, and they laughed and talked freely.

On the evening of the fourth day, the boat arrived at the bottom of Wushan Mountain, only to see the fog, the mountains undulating layers, hidden. The river passed through the canyon like a long dragon, with no head or tail in sight. On top of the mountains, there were apes and monkeys crying occasionally, drowned out by the roaring sound of the river. Wen Zhongyuan got off the boat and chanted, "In Badong, Wu Gorge is the longest among the Three Gorges, where the sorrowful cries of gibbons on both banks moisten the garments of travelers."

Xie Kangtu said on Li Jing's back, "This is the Wushan fishing song. Back then, when I first came here, I heard this song and wept like rain. Now that I'm going back to the north, I'm afraid I'll never see this majestic scenery again in this life."

Wen Zhongyuan said, "Today's weather is cloudy and gloomy, the road up the mountain is extremely difficult.

Little brother is working hard, if you come to Qingjiang in the future, no matter who you meet, you only need to take out this waist tag, that means you can see me." He said, "You just need to take out this belt tag, that means you can see me." He then took off a two-inch square jade tag and handed it to Li Jing. Li Jing thanked him and took it, seeing a small boat engraved on it, which must be Wen Zhongyuan's token.

Wen Zhongyuan and Xie Kangtu bowed their hands in farewell. Li Jing realised that this pair of dear friends parted with no words, nor did they seem to be long-winded, and seemed to have no feelings of attachment. Yet perhaps such a parting is what friends do.

Li Jing carried Xie Kangtu and travelled up the mountain road. The mountain wind was whistling, and there were no pedestrians on the road. Climbing over a small hill, a large river appeared in front of him, and the flowing water was injected into the river, which opened up the surface of the river. Xie Kangtu signalled Li Jing to take a break. Li Jing wiped the sweat, put him on a boulder, help him sit down.

Li Jing pointed to the confluence of the river and stream and said, "Boat Owner Xie, the water here is open and the mountains are full of rare materials, is it possible to build boats here?"

Xie Kangtu said, "This place looks open, but the mountains are steep and it is not easy to transport good materials. A hundred miles up the river, under Baidi City, is an excellent place to build ships. The timber on Wushan Mountain can be transported from the peaks of the mountains by rolling logs in parallel, and then put into the river by ropes from the steep cliffs, which is extremely convenient. In addition, Baidi City is rich in tung oil, cypress oil, lacquer, and mulberry flax, which are essential materials for waterproofing ships, so it is most appropriate to use materials locally."

Li Jing said, "It turns out that this shipbuilding needs to be adapted to the local conditions. The area above Yidu is already within the boundaries of the Sui Dynasty, and if the boatowner's drawing is captured by the Sui Dynasty, I am afraid that this area will become a hot spot for shipbuilding."

At this time the sky will be late, the fog is thick, Li Jing is worried about tonight to sleep in the wilderness, despite the fatigue, back Xie Kangtu stride to hurry. Xie Kangtu several times to persuade, Li Jing gritted his teeth forward. Fortunately, he had been practising martial arts since childhood and was physically strong. In addition, Xie Kangtu had lost weight after breaking his leg, so he could barely hold on.

Passing through a quiet canyon, and then along the mountain, the sky has gradually darkened, only to see a valley between the two mountains. The two mountains are as if cut by a knife and chopped by an axe, such that even monkeys cannot climb them; the valley is filled with stone forests, and can not see the edge. Those stones strange shape, rise up, some two or three zhang high, some thick as a city wall, seems to be natural, but there are countless passages between them, It's just dark and gloomy, exuding an eerie and strange atmosphere.

Li Jing boldly walked in, a group of crows suddenly rushed out, black, swept up a cloudy wind, raucous scattered flying away. Li Jing couldn't help but shiver, gritted his teeth and continued to walk in. The more you go, the darker the light, those stone pillars, stone piers, stone walls ghostly, seems to open its mouth to swallow people.

Suddenly, a gloomy wind rose in all directions, and miserable cries and hisses were faintly heard in the stone forest, interspersed with the sounds of knives and spears clashing. Li Jing's legs were weak and he desperately ran forward. However, the stone forest seemed to be endless, the further the road went, the heavier Li Jing's panting became. Seeing this, Xie Kangtu said, "Little brother, please stop first."

Li Jing stopped walking. Xie Kangtu took off his hat from his head and hung it on a protruding stone prong. Li Jing did not know what he meant and continued to walk. The wind grew stronger, and the cries of ghosts and wolves became clearer and clearer. Li Jing ran wildly, trying to find his way back, but he was trapped in the stone forest, with countless paths in between, and he didn't know which path was the right one. Suddenly, his feet slipped, nearly throwing Xie Kangtu out. In this instant, his right hand reached out, and he seemed to have grabbed an object in his hand before stabilising himself. Picking up the object in his hand, he couldn't help but be creeped out - it turned out to be a skull!

Li Jing was horrified and threw the skeleton and continued to run. After running for an unknown period of time, Xie Kangtu shouted to stop. Li Jing stopped and looked up to see the hat hanging from the stone prong.

This time Li Jing understood: this stone forest is a stone array, is a high person according to the ancient array set, if not proficient in the nine palace gossip, simply can not go out. It seems that just touched the skeleton, is trapped in the array of visitors.

At this time, he suddenly remembered in his mind that the Wushan fisherwoman had told him when he was at the Jiangxia Villa that the stone formation could not be broken through, and that he must wait for someone to lead him up the mountain.

So he gently put down Xie Kangtu, padded his bag on the ground, helped the boat owner to sit down in the same place, and told the original reason.

Xie Kangtu said, "In that case, we'll just wait."

When they stopped walking, the lurid sounds in the stone formation also stopped, only to be shrouded in a gloomy, chilling atmosphere. Li Jing took out the new clothes that Xiao Niangniang had made for her and covered Xie Kangtu's body, saying: ''The lady warrior doesn't know when we will go up the mountain, so it seems that we will have to sleep out here tonight. Ever since I have known Boat Owner Xie, we have yet to be alone together, I have some questions in my mind that I would like to ask you."

Xie Kangtu said, "Why are you polite, little brother? It is fate that you and I meet. but I am now a crippled man. After I have personally thanked the lady hero, I can only return to the north to live out my days in solitude." He finished with a long sigh.

Li Jing said: ''Actually, the boatowner is in you prime, but you is just that he has difficulty moving. When I look at the deeds of the sages, I see that none of them were enraged by their predicament. Ji Chang was detained and deduced 'Zhou Yi', Kong Qiu wrote 'Spring and Autumn Annals' due to embarrassment, Zuo Qiu lost his eyesight and had 'Guoyu', Sun Zi, despite having lost both legs, wrote 'The 'Art of War'. Take the sage of commerce, Fan Li, for example. It was only after he achieved his goals and withdrew from the state of Yue, starting from scratch, that he was able to build a successful business and benefit the people of the world. With my limited knowledge, building a successful career does not lie in the soundness of the limbs, but in the strong heart and strong will.

Farmers are strong in body, skilled only in fishing, woodcutting, farming, and hunting; those willing and capable individuals who contribute to the state, though physically frail, can strategize and plan behind the scenes. Master Xie, being comparable to the contemporary Tao Zhu, how can you lose heart and become despondent due to physical disability?"

Xie Kangtu looked at Li Jing for a long time before he cupped his fists and said, "I have lived half a lifetime, but I am not as insightful as my brother! My brother's words are better than ten years of realisation, so I thank you!" He removed the word "little" from "little brother", and already had respect for this young man in his heart.

Li Jing hurriedly returned his salute, "There is one more thing, I don't know if I should speak or not?"

Xie Kangtu said, "Brother's guidance, I begs for it, but there's no harm in saying it."

Li Jing said, "On the night of the boat company in Jiangzhou, I heard the lady warrior talk to the boat owner about finding young Mr Zhang Yu, and Boat Owner Xie promised ... to do the same."

Xie Kangtu said, "This is natural. As I am a close friend of Mr. Zhang Xian, it is my duty to seek out Young Master Zhang."

Li Jing said, "However, why did the lady warrior pledge her disciple to you?"

Xie Kangtu averted his gaze, "This matter must not be done... I decisively rejected it at the time."

Li Jing said: ''The Lady Warrior is high-minded and proud, but if she hadn't saved us, I'm afraid that you and I would have already died. She saved you for moral reasons, but also for personal reasons. She seems to owe something to Mr Zhang, so she searched everywhere, but she also knows that if you don't have a competent close friend to serve you, you can't find Mr Zhang even if you try your best. Even if you find him, how could Young Master Zhang return to Wushan just because of your words? With her meticulous mind, she have naturally taken all the reasons into consideration, and that's why she proposed to let her maid Yue Xiu serve you. You are afraid of delaying others, how do you know that Yue Xiu will be aggrieved if she follows you? As a once-in-a-generation business genius, don't you have the confidence to provide happiness for your wife? If you are afraid of troubling others, and others are afraid of troubling you, then most of the world's affairs will come to a standstill, so how can we talk about the future of our career?"

For a long time, Xie Kangtu did not make a sound.

Li Jing added: "Back in the day, when Fan Li was in business, he was based in Dingtao, conducting trade throughout the world.

You have travelled all over the world for more than twenty years, and already knows the customs of towns and cities in the north and south like the back of his hand, so even if he doesn't live in Chang'an, he can still set up a merchant brigade. It's just that you have difficulty moving around, so you need someone competent to take care of you for a long time. Although I have been taking care of the ship owner's daily needs these days, it is ultimately difficult to be meticulous and thorough. In the long run, a woman would be more suitable for this role."

Xie Kangtu said: "Brother, your advice is good, and I wholeheartedly agree. But Yue Xiu, being a heroic lady and in the prime of her youth, if she is compelled by love to attend to a middle-aged man like me, I would feel uneasy. Although marriage matters are usually decided by elders, if she herself is unwilling, it would be difficult to have a harmonious relationship with me. Moreover, in my current state, being a burden, which woman would be willing to take care of me?"

Li Jing thought about it carefully. If Xiao had married Mei Niang to someone she didn't like, she would hardly be happy in her life.

"What if someone else is willing?" A voice came out of nowhere. Xie Kangtu thought it was Li Jing, but Li Jing did not speak. The voice was flat, just like the greetings of acquaintances in the market, neither warm nor cold.

In the gloomy mist, a woman slowly walked over.