Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun bade farewell to Teng County and set off for Jinling.
Their party numbered seven, with two coachmen.
The two coachmen would not accompany Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun to Jinling. Their only duty was to take them to the ferry landing at Xiacun.
Xiacun lay more than sixty li southwest of Teng County, beside the Huitong River.
Seeing Gu Zhengchen pick up a copy of The Great Learning and leaf through it, Liang Family Jiajun could not help asking, "Brother Gu, is The Great Learning your specialty?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head slightly and smiled. "I know a little."
Liang Family Jiajun grew interested. "Then in your opinion, what is the most brilliant argument in The Great Learning?"
Gu Zhengchen turned serious. "Naturally, the three principles and eight articles."
Somewhat taken aback, Liang Family Jiajun looked at Gu Zhengchen in puzzlement. "What are the three principles and eight articles?"
Gu Zhengchen had forgotten that the terms "three principles" and "eight articles" had been coined by later generations. Taking a boiled egg from the basket and cracking its shell, he said, "The way of great learning lies in illuminating luminous virtue, renewing the people, and resting in the highest good. Illuminating luminous virtue, renewing the people, and resting in the highest good-these three constitute the three principles. As for the eight articles, they are, of course, investigating things, extending knowledge, making intentions sincere, rectifying the heart, cultivating oneself, ordering the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under heaven."
Liang Family Jiajun savored the words. "Three principles, eight articles—what a refreshing way to put it. You are a man of many talents, Brother Gu."
Gu Zhengchen handed the peeled egg to Liang Family Jiajun. "You flatter me, Brother Liang. I am merely picking up scraps of wisdom from other men's teeth. Speaking of investigating things and extending knowledge, how do you understand them?"
Liang Family Jiajun launched into an endless stream of words...
The carriage traveled at a leisurely pace, reaching Xiacun before dusk.
Xiacun was not large, but as a ferry town, it had plenty of inns.
Unlike in the south, boats in the north did not sail at night.
Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun had no choice but to settle into an inn for the time being, while the two coachmen returned to Teng County.
After supper, they left Sun Shiba at the inn to watch their luggage, and Gu Zhengchen, Liang Family Jiajun, Gu Cheng, and Liang Wujin went to the ferry landing.
A bald, middle-aged man approached, rubbing his head. He looked Gu Zhengchen and the others over and smiled. "Gentlemen, my name is Wu Zhong. I make my living here at the ferry landing. Are you heading north or south? Would you like me to recommend some good boatmen?"
Liang Family Jiajun stood with his hands behind his back and said nothing.
Liang Wujin stepped forward, took out ten copper coins, and handed them over. "Our masters wish to head south to Jinling. Tell us about the route."
Seeing the money, Wu Zhong grew even more pleased. "South to Jinling? That is quite a long journey. The boats here in Xiacun do not go that far."
"How far can they go?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Wu Zhong pointed south. "There are routes you can choose from. One goes south from here to Xuzhou, where you change boats for Suqian. The other heads east through Hanzhuang and Taizhuang, then turns south to Suqian. If you gentlemen do not want to change boats, take the eastern waterway. But the river winds quite a bit there, so it takes a day longer than changing boats at Xuzhou."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Liang Family Jiajun. "What do you think, Brother Liang?"
Liang Family Jiajun considered it. "Changing boats would be a nuisance. We might as well go straight to Suqian."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and looked at Wu Zhong.
Wu Zhong hastened to say, "The eastern route to Suqian takes five days. The fare is eighty copper coins per person."
As he spoke, Wu Zhong found a boatman and led Liang Family Jiajun and Gu Zhengchen over to inspect the boat.
The boat was five and a half zhang long and one zhang wide amidships, with twelve cabins. Its anchor bore the inscription "Made in the fifth year of Hongwu," along with some smaller characters they could not make out clearly.
Gu Zhengchen nodded. "Then it is settled. Can we depart early tomorrow morning?"
"We leave when the sun comes up."
The boatman answered.
Standing beside the Huitong River, gazing at its calm channel, only eight or nine zhang wide, Gu Zhengchen felt momentarily dazed. He said softly, "According to the histories, grain transport in the early Yuan Dynasty depended entirely on this Grand Canal."
Liang Family Jiajun smiled faintly. "Indeed. But in the later years of the Yuan Dynasty, the realm descended into chaos, and river transport was cut off. They could only rely on shipping by sea."
Gu Zhengchen nodded. "Some say Fang Guozhen was the one who set the Yuan's downfall in motion. What do you think, Brother Liang?"
"Fang Guozhen? Heh, that is an interesting claim."
Liang Family Jiajun did not dispute it.
When people spoke of the final years of the Yuan, most focused on Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, and Zhu Yuanzhang. They were the second wave of anti-Yuan rebels; the first consisted of men such as Han Shantong, Liu Futong, and Xu Shouhui.
Yet the first man to raise the banner of rebellion against the Yuan was not Han Shantong or his fellows, but Fang Guozhen.
Fang Guozhen seemed to have little presence in the public mind, yet he had influenced two dynasties-the Yuan and the Ming.
Unable to suppress the Red Turban Army in the Huai River basin, the Yuan Court could only bring rice north from the south by sea if Dadu wanted any to eat. And Fang Guozhen's greatest strength was his navy...
Liang Family Jiajun knew about the trouble Fang Guozhen had brought upon the Yuan Dynasty, but he would never have known that the true scourge the man left behind came after his navy was scattered. Some of its men fled out to sea and became pirates, threatening the coast of the Great Ming. One reason Zhu Yuanzhang imposed his maritime ban was the headache these pirates caused him!
Discussing past and present, passing judgment on the realm-nothing was more common among scholars.
Gu Zhengchen gazed at the Huitong River and sighed inwardly.
Historical records stated that in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, the Yellow River breached its banks at Yuanwu. Floodwaters laden with silt surged north, destroying more than a third of the Huitong River's course and affecting almost all of Shandong.
From then on, the Grand Canal during the Hongwu Era could no longer connect north and south, until the fourth son of the Zhu family later took the throne and put it in order.
It was now the sixth year of Hongwu. There was still time, and still a chance.
Gu Zhengchen clenched his fists. He did not want Shandong to suffer such a calamity, much less see the Grand Canal severed for more than twenty years.
The next day.
It was barely light when Gu Zhengchen, Liang Family Jiajun, and their party boarded the boat.
Boatman Wang had brought eight boatmen. By daybreak, twenty-five or twenty-six passengers were seated in the cabins. With a loud work chant, long bamboo poles pushed the boat away from the landing, and it slowly entered the middle of the Huitong River.
Gu Zhengchen stood at the bow, facing the wind, determination in his eyes.
Liang Family Jiajun picked up his book once again and read tirelessly. Gu Zhengchen admired someone so dedicated and pure-hearted.
Sun Shiba walked over to Gu Zhengchen and said quietly, "Master, there are Horse Thieves aboard."
Gu Zhengchen's heart jolted. He frowned and asked, "Are you certain?"
Sun Shiba shook his head. "Not entirely, but we must be on our guard."
"How many?"
"Three. There may be another one or two hiding among the others."
"Could they be working with the boatmaster?"
"Probably not. The court is cracking down hard on Horse Thieves. When they strike, they usually take everything."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at the sky. The sun hung high overhead. Calmly, he said, "Even if they intend to make a move, they will have to wait until night, won't they?"
Sun Shiba nodded, his expression grave. "They might even wait a few days."
Gu Zhengchen gazed at the river and sighed inwardly.
This journey would not be peaceful. The Horse Thieves of the north and the Salt Rebels of the south both had men who robbed travelers on the rivers. They were most brazen in summer and most docile in winter.
The reason was simple. The Horse Thieves could easily escape through the water in summer, making them difficult for the authorities to catch. As for the Salt Rebels, producing salt in the summer heat was too grueling; robbery brought money faster...
The Great Ming was nowhere near as peaceful and beautiful as it appeared on the surface.
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