Chapter 14: Suhang
The sand ship set out from Yueyang, entered the Yangtze River to Honghu Wuchang, passed Jiujiang Pengze, passed Chizhou Wuhu, and reached Yingtian Prefecture.

Because they were in a hurry, everyone did not stop in Yingtian Prefecture, but directly turned into the Grand Canal and headed for Hangzhou.

In fact, in addition to the Grand Canal, there is also a man-made Xu River from Yingtian Prefecture to Hangzhou.

It is the oldest artificial canal in the world, the earliest recorded canal in my country, and the earliest canal dug in the world.

It is a pity that after the Ming capital moved north, the transportation route was abandoned in the early years of Yongle. The Xu River lost its status as a major transportation route and gradually became silted up, shallow and narrow.

Later, in the sixth year of Zhengtong, a flood occurred, a breach appeared in the East Dam, and the flood in the Shuiyang River basin flowed eastward, causing the two states of Suzhou and Changzhou to be flooded.

Therefore, the East Dam was raised again and a Lower Dam was built. Since then, the Xu River has been lifeless.

It was not until the founding of New China several hundred years later that this ancient artificial canal was restarted.

Ou Zanghua asked Qu Feiyan to open the window. The damp and cold air poured into the room, making people instantly more awake.

After arriving at the Hangzhou dock, Ou Zanghua left Xiang Danian to guard the boat, while he took Qu Yang and Qu Feiyan to visit Hangzhou.

Xiang Danian became a little uneasy when he heard Ou Zanghua's arrangement. His face flushed red and he stood up and said, "Big Brother, Master told me that I can't leave you."

"Da Nian, calm down."

Ou Zanghua held Xiang Danian down and explained slowly, "Most of my savings are spent on this ship. I would be worried if you don't help me watch it. Besides, the place we are going to is not far. It only takes three or four hours to go back and forth."

"But Master."

"Master, I will explain."

Ou Zanghua smiled, patted the young man on the shoulder seriously, and said solemnly: "I entrust my wealth, property, future and destiny to you, Junior Brother."

"This..." Xiang Danian himself didn't expect that looking at a boat could be so important.

He looked at his senior brother's serious expression and nodded: "I understand, please rest assured, senior brother, we are on board!"

"That's not necessary"

When Ou Zanghua heard this, he suddenly felt that he had overacted.

With Xiang Danian's temperament, he might end up dying with the ship.

But Xiang Danian suddenly turned around, knelt down, and kowtowed three times to Qu Yang, saying in an extremely solemn tone: "Senior Qu, please protect my senior brother. Danian will be grateful to you!"

Qu Yang was so frightened that he almost jumped up. He quickly helped Xiang Danian up and said sincerely, "Da Nian is a very kind and good young man. Please rest assured that I, Qu Yang, will protect you even if I risk my life."

"Thank you, Senior Qu!"

He bowed to Danian, looked at Ou Zanghua and said reluctantly: "Big Brother, I will wait for you to come back here."

"Well, thank you for your hard work." Ou Zanghua had something in his heart but he didn't say it out loud.

The dock in Hangzhou was much busier than that in Yueyang. Ou Zanghua even saw foreigners wearing exotic costumes in the crowd.

In front of those shops, various stalls are scattered around in an orderly manner. In some secluded places, as long as there is space, there will be people setting up stalls.

Various shouting sounds came one after another. Ou Zanghua looked back and saw that the sails were being unloaded on the canal, and the market was bustling with people.

Qu Yang followed beside him and thought that Ou Zanghua had never seen such a lively scene and was shocked. However, in fact, Ou Zanghua saw his hometown in his previous life through this bustling scene of people.

That new first-tier city is also so lively when night falls.
"Let's go! To the West Lake." Retracting his gaze, Ou Zanghua turned and walked towards the city.

Qu Yanghe and Qu Feiyan hurriedly followed. Although the dock was bustling, there were also many people from all walks of life. They, the grandfather and grandson, had to protect the young master and not let some villains take advantage of him.

Thus, a strange pair appeared on the streets of Hangzhou.

A handsome young man was strolling leisurely down the street, with an elderly man beside him looking down at his face, and a lively little girl.

This lineup looks like a piece of fat meat, and many players have started to pay attention to them.

However, when they got closer, the old slave's gaze shot over like a sharp arrow.

Those who were touching the bags were frightened by the cold gaze and consciously avoided it.

They are the lowest level rats in this society. If they are caught stealing and beaten to death, the government will not care, so there is no need to risk their lives for this one deal.

Ou Zanghua walked to the outside of a bookstore and saw a sign on the door that read "The Four Books of the Hongzhi Period of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng and Mo Tongwenlu, and Cheng Wenxuan of the Second and Third Provincial Examinations of the Hongzhi Period of the Ming Dynasty" are in stock, and he immediately became interested.

These two books are similar to various compilations of past college entrance examination questions and college entrance examination simulation questions in later generations.

It is a collection of model essays for the imperial examinations, including the eight-part essay model essays for the first round, as well as the model essays for the second round, including essays, judgments, imperial edicts, imperial decrees, and memorials, and the model essays for the third round, as well as the classics, history, and current affairs policy essays for the court examination.

Previously, Ou Zanghua also had these two books in Hengyang and Yueyang, but they were model essays from the Chenghua period, and the update speed was obviously slower than that of Hangzhou.

After walking into the store and buying the two reference books, Ou Zanghua was overjoyed. Regardless of whether he achieved his purpose or not, this trip to Hangzhou was worthwhile.

Seeing that it was still early, the three of them got on the carriage and headed towards West Lake.

Seeing the driver's gray beard, Ou Zanghua smiled and asked, "Are you from Hangzhou?"

"Haha. To be honest with you, I'm sixty-seven years old and have lived in Hangzhou for forty years." The coachman answered with a hearty laugh while controlling the carriage.

After hearing this, Ou Zanghua continued to ask, "That's great. I want to visit an old friend at Plum Manor in West Lake. Do you know where Plum Manor is?"

The driver's expression changed visibly, and he laughed and said, "This guest is very strange. How can you visit an old friend without knowing where his home is?"

"Because he has moved!" Ou Zanghua said with a smile: "Father-in-law just needs to send us to the vicinity of Plum Manor in West Lake, and there is no need to look for the ten taels of silver."

Ten taels?!
The driver's eyes widened immediately. It usually took him several months to earn this much money, but this time one order was enough?!
"Does the guest take it seriously?"

"It's true."

The driver gritted his teeth and whispered, "Okay! But don't tell anyone else that it was I, an old man, who took you to Plum Manor."

"I don't even know you, how can I tell others?" Ou Zanghua said with a big laugh.

These words completely dispelled the driver's worries and made him feel relieved.

In the carriage, Qu Feiyan pursed her lips and said, "Young Master, why bother giving him so much money? Xihu won't run away. We can just look around and we'll find him eventually!"

"Of course West Lake won't run away, but my time is running away!" Ou Zanghua said calmly: "Even if I use ten taels to buy half a day's time, it's quite cost-effective."

(End of this chapter)