Chapter 153: Xunyang River, Finding a White Shark in the Waves
Jiangzhou has many names.

From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, it had many names such as Chaisang, Xunyang, Jiangzhou, Pengli, Dehua, etc. In the third year of Sui Daye, Jiujiang County was briefly established here.

Thus the name Jiujiang came into being.

This inland city is bordered by the surging Yangtze River to the north, the Mufu Mountains to the west, and China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, to the southeast.

Guarding the northern gate of Jiangnan West Road, Jiujiang is the gateway for this inland province to the sea. Because of its importance, Jiujiang became the earliest and largest commercial port in Jiangxi, with a place in the four major tea markets and the four major rice markets.

Even in the Northern Song Dynasty, Jiangzhou was valued by the imperial court because of its important geographical location.

Many checkpoints were set up here, collecting huge taxes on salt and tea...

Otherwise, why would the ninth son of Grand Tutor Cai come here to be a prefect?

As soon as they entered Jiangzhou, everyone felt a sense of prosperity and vitality.

It is evident that under such high taxation pressure, there is still such prosperous business activities.

"Brother, as one of the three tyrants of Jieyang, I have some friendship with the brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun. Why don't I host them and invite them to come and meet you, brother?"

Li Jun, Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun all made a living on the river, so they naturally got to know each other.

However, Li Jun was a private salt dealer, while the two brothers were operating illegal ships, so they kept to themselves.

The reason why the saying "People working in carriages, boats, inns, and shops should be put to death even if they are innocent" was popular in the old society was because the five types of people mentioned in the saying did a lot of evil things that were against the law of nature.

Compared with the two tyrants Li Jun and Mu Hong, the brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun were less powerful, and they only engaged in smuggling on the river and running black ships.

"My elder brother Zhang Heng is not as good at swimming as I am, but my younger brother Zhang Shun is so good at swimming that I have to admire him."

"Oh!"

Ruan Xiaoqi was surprised and said, "Even the brothers admire him? How good is this person's swimming ability?"

Chao Gai was also incredulous: "Yes! Brother is a river dragon, and we all know how good he is at swimming. Zhang Shun is just a white shark in the waves, a fish."

"My dear brothers, I am not trying to destroy my own prestige, but Zhang Shun is really amazing. He was also born by the Xunyang River and grew up at the foot of Xiaogu Mountain. Because he is as white as snow and is an expert swimmer, he is known as the White Shark in the Waves. He can stay underwater for 40 to 50 miles and stay under the water for seven days and nights. I am not as good as him!"

"really?"

"Indeed, that was the strength from a year ago. I wonder if my strength has improved recently."

"Hiss! What a shame! Brother Li Jun, let's go and invite this hero together. I wonder where the two brothers Zhang Shun and Zhang Heng are..."

"They used to run a ferry business on the Xunyang River. This year, Zhang Shun thought the ferry business was too immoral, so he separated from his brother and became a fishmonger on the Xunyang River in Jiangzhou."

What are fish teeth?
He is the boss of the gang that monopolizes the local fresh river food business.

We also saw in the book that when Li Kui wanted to ask for live fish, the fishermen all said that they would only sell it to them after their fishmonger (Zhang Shun) gave the word.

Moreover, they do not hesitate when starting a group fight. It is obvious that they are not good people and are definitely not just fishermen.

Zhang Heng is far inferior to his brother Zhang Shun. He is simply a black boat operator and a member of the bottom-level "peddler" industry.

Of course, his methods were more ruthless, often involving extortion and even murder for money.

This industry has never been lacking in all dynasties, and some have even formed powerful gangs, such as carriage and horse companies, shipping companies, and water transport companies.

If it develops to that extent, even the authorities will not offend easily, and both parties will often adopt a cooperative relationship.

Zhang Heng naturally didn't have the ability to do so, he only had a few boats.

Everyone arrived at the Xunyang River.

Because Xunyang is so famous, even the Yangtze River changed its name when it flows here.

There is a poem saying:
The misty scenery of the Pen River is out of this world, and the mountains on the river are like a bun. The people playing the pipa in the bright moon are gone, and the yellow reeds and bitter bamboos are back in the evening tide.

But when Cao Jie walked to the riverside, he saw about eighty or ninety fishing boats lined up in a row, all tied to the green poplar trees.

Among the fishermen on the boat, some were sleeping on the stern, some were making nets on the bow, and some were bathing in the water.

Although it was already winter, the fishermen were not afraid of the cold and dared to go fishing in the river even in the coldest days of winter.

A red sun was hanging in the western sky. Looking around, the owner was nowhere to be seen coming to open the hatch to sell the fish.

Li Jun walked to the side of the boat and shouted, "Bring me two live fish from your boat."

The fisherman glanced at Li Jun and saw that there were many burly men following him. He did not dare to offend them and stood up and said, "Good man, we dare not open the hatch until the owner of the fishing trolley arrives. You see, the peddlers are all sitting on the shore."

"He really has some skills. Let me trick him out."

Chao Gai passed by Li Jun and shouted, "What are you waiting for, Master? Bring me two fish first."

The fisherman was not afraid of the fierce King of the Pagoda, and replied, "The paper has not been burned, how dare I open the hatch? But I can't give you any fish!"

"Brother, don't worry, let me provoke him to come out. As for Zhang Shun, if you don't come, we will get the fish ourselves to go with the wine." Li Jun shouted towards the river.

After saying that, he jumped onto a fishing boat.

He laughed and said, "Zhang Shun is used to being lazy in the water. If we wait for him to open his warehouse, we have to wait until sunset. Let me disrupt his fish market, and he will come in a hurry."

The fishermen were unable to stop the river dragon and threw them into the river one by one. Then they reached under the stern and grabbed a two-jin river knife.

It turned out that the fishing boats in the river had a large hole at the stern to let the river water flow in and out, so as to raise live fish. Then they blocked the hole with bamboo strips to allow the water to flow in and out of the cabin so as to raise live fish.

Therefore, Jiangzhou has good fresh fish.

"Who is coming to my dock to act so unruly?"

Soon, a loud shout was heard from the river.

But the man who came with a fishing boat pushed by a bamboo pole was completely naked, except for a water boat that was tied up, revealing his snow-white skin; except for the turban on his head, the red spot with a pierced heart was visible.

"Brother Zhang Shun, long time no see?" Li Jun stood at the bow and clasped his fists towards him.

"Oh! It's Brother Li Jun. Brother wants to eat fish, and he can catch big fish and precious fish by himself. Why is he making trouble in my fish market? I guess he wants to provoke me to come out!"

"That's right."

"My brother is in big business, but he made a lot of money, so he wants to help his brothers?"

"Brother, you are right. Come with me to the shore and see who I will bring to you today."

"Who?"

"Look toward the shore."

Zhang Shun looked towards the shore following Li Jun's finger and saw a group of unfamiliar men surrounding a young man with extraordinary demeanor.

"Who is that?" Zhang Shun landed steadily next to Li Jun.

"To be honest, brother, this is Cao Jie from Shandong!"

"Ah! It's this brother!"

Zhang Shun jumped onto the shore, strode towards them, bowed and said, "Zhang Shun, the white shark in the waves, greets Brother Cao!"

(End of this chapter)