Chapter 10: Leaving the Frontier (10)

A river about eighty zhang wide rushed past everyone, its turbulent currents crashing against the rocks along the banks, splashing up waves. (Note 1) “Damn it, with such a big river in the way, how are we supposed to cross it?”
Chen Bala’s repressed anger flared up again; he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, causing everyone to frown.
“What should we do? There’s no bridge nearby. Do we really have to roll up our pants and wade across?”
Lao Cao’s eyebrows were knitted together in worry.
“Why worry? General Li will surely find a way!”
Xi Nan retorted stubbornly. In his view, General Li was resourceful enough to solve any problem.
Guan Yuyuan cleared his throat and said to the merchants, “Let’s unload the goods first and rest a bit. Let the animals take a break too. General Li has already sent soldiers to explore the river valley; I’m sure they’ll find a shallower spot.”
As the leader of the Jiyuan caravan, he was the backbone of the group. As long as he remained calm, the others wouldn’t panic.
Yet Li Kuo wasn’t at ease. As the commander of an army, it was his responsibility to ensure everyone’s safe arrival in Liangzhou. Since he had chosen this route, he had to find a way to get them across—this was both a promise and a duty.
“Brother Dou, have the scouts sent downstream returned yet?”
Li Kuo frowned and turned to ask Dou Qing. After the night attack by bandits, he realized the importance of reconnaissance, so he assigned thirty men from various units to form a scouting team tasked with exploring and keeping watch. Xianyu Yucheng was chosen as their leader. Though lacking experience, he had earned the respect of all his comrades through the night battle against the bandits.
“Reporting to you, sir, all scouts have been sent out. Results should be coming soon,” Dou Qing replied loudly, bowing to Li Kuo. Though he said this, he wasn’t optimistic. There were no wooden bridges near the river, and the water was fast and turbulent—wading across would likely be difficult.
“Hmm.”
Li Kuo nodded, gazing across the river valley, his eyes shadowed with concern.
“General! General! Captain Xianyu and the others have brought news!”
Pu Dachui rode in, raising a cloud of yellow dust. He leaped down and stood firmly in front of Li Kuo.
“Don’t rush. Drink some water first.”
Li Kuo took a leather water bag from the saddle and handed it to Pu Dachui.
“Ah.”

Pu DaChui snatched the water bag and gulped it down. “That’s right. Captain Xianyu and his men brought good news—three li downstream along the riverbank, there’s a fisherman who occasionally runs a ferry business!”
Perhaps drinking too quickly, Pu DaChui choked on the cold water and kept coughing nonstop.
“Oh? Where’s Xianyu Yucheng? Why doesn’t he come to see me?”
Li Kuo gently patted Pu DaChui’s back and spoke calmly.
Pu DaChui wiped the water from his mouth and grinned, “They’ve reserved all three of the boatman’s boats. Right now, they’re guarding them with their men. With just those three boats, we can’t let other ferry passengers take them.”
Li Kuo shook his head and said with a wry smile, “That’s really like him. Roads are for people to walk on, and boats are for people to ride in. There’s no such thing as forcing others to buy or sell.”
But Pu DaChui disagreed, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s not the case. We haven’t shortchanged him on the ferry fees. We even brought him so much meat—how could he refuse when he’s so grateful?”
“Just this once. It won’t happen again.”
Li Kuo didn’t want to say more and stopped there.
“I know! I, Old Pu, am not here to annoy you, General, but to help ease your worries.”
Pu DaChui scratched his head.
“Shameless!”
Ni Xin appeared beside them at some point and coldly spat out those harsh words.
“Hey, what are you talking about here, escort? You led everyone to a place with no villages or shops in sight. I, Old Pu, haven’t even bothered you yet, but you’re already acting arrogantly?”
Pu DaChui rolled up his sleeves, clearly angered.
“Superficial!”
Escort Ni was concise, delivering those two cold words again.
“You!”
Pu DaChui turned red with anger at Ni Xin’s words and clenched his fists in fury.
“DaChui! Don’t be rude.”
Li Kuo glared at Pu DaChui, restraining his subordinate’s impulse, then bowed to Ni Xin and said, “He just has that temperament. Escort Ni, please don’t mind him. There will be many more times we’ll need your help in the future. Please bear with us.”
“Once I take on your shipment, I’ll naturally lead them there. I just hope you won’t use your power to pressure others. After all, not every hardworking person can live a comfortable life like you, General Li.”
Escort Ni didn’t show any gratitude and walked away.
“That’s too much!”
Seeing their own officer humiliated like this, even Dou Qing couldn’t stand it and voiced his indignation.
“Alright, as long as everyone reaches the other side safely, I don’t care about anything else. Why should you worry if I don’t care?”
Li Kuo waved his hand generously and smiled forgivingly.
“Order the whole team to set off and head downstream!”

The young man’s somewhat immature voice carried an undeniable authority.
The sound of hoofbeats came from upstream in the valley, reaching the ears directly. Under the vast sky, a dark line moved slowly forward, albeit at a slow pace but in an orderly manner.
Next to a thatched hut by the river, an old man in his sixties nervously held a bowl of hot water and handed it to Xian Yu Cheng.
“Sir, please have some hot water. There’s nothing good here in the mountains; please don’t disdain it.”
The old man was extremely respectful, fearing that saying the wrong thing might anger the officer before him.
“Plain water is fine. Don’t be embarrassed, old man. Please sit down.”
Xian Yu Cheng took the porcelain bowl and smiled broadly.
“Ah, ah.”
The old man was overjoyed and responded repeatedly.
“Didn’t I tell you? My general needs to escort a caravan to Liangzhou, and we happened to come across this big river. Since there’s no wooden bridge nearby, we have to use your ferry. But I’ll pay you well—solid copper coins, no fake money at all!”
“I dare not accept such praise. You soldiers serve the country at the borders; I have nothing to offer in return. I’ll just ferry you across the river—how could I dare to charge money?”
The old man refused to agree. He had been fishing and ferrying people across the river for decades and had seen many arrogant border soldiers. These people either didn’t pay for food or refused to do work even when paid. He only wanted to avoid trouble—just get these “plagues” across the river and be done with it, never daring to ask for payment.
“Grandpa, why shouldn’t we charge money? So many people want to use our boat to cross the river—it’s our rightful payment!”
A young man in his early twenties, dressed in coarse cloth, grabbed the old man’s sleeve and spoke loudly.
“Huzi, shut up. I said we won’t charge!”
The old man turned around in panic, covered his grandson’s mouth, and scolded him harshly.
“Mm, mm…”
But the boy, nicknamed Huzi, wasn’t quiet and seemed to want to argue further.
“Old man, don’t scare the child. This young man is right. It’s only fair that we pay for using your ferry—there’s no reason for you to do it for free.”
Seeing that this man had a kind face and honest words, seemingly sincere, the old man bowed deeply: “In that case, I truly thank you, soldiers. In these times, there aren’t many good people like you!”
“General Li is coming!”
An scout with sharp eyes stood on tiptoes and saw the fluttering military flag of his Zhuque Regiment, exclaiming happily.

Note 1: The units of measurement in the Tang Dynasty came in two sizes. One large foot was equal to one and a half small feet, and one zhang equalled ten feet. Thus, one zhang in the small scale was 300 centimeters, while one zhang in the large scale was 360 centimeters. According to the “Tang Liudian·Shangshu Hubu,” “All measurements are based on the width of a millet grain from the north; ten such grains make up one inch, ten inches make up one foot, one and a half feet make up a large foot, and ten feet make up one zhang.” Here, the large foot is used; one zhang equals 3.6 meters, and eighty zhang is approximately 300 meters wide, which can be considered a large river.

Note 2: Baiqian referred to defective coins made when there was insufficient copper material during casting, resulting in a higher proportion of impurities. During the Tianbao era, when coin-making furnaces were at their peak, there were 49 such furnaces. The specified composition of copper coins at that time was 83.32% copper, 14.56% white wax, and 2.12% lead. Each year, 21,200 jin of copper, 31,700 jin of white wax, and 500 jin of tin were used. Some regional governors, owing to their authority to mint coins independently, mass-produced coins, leading to a mixed quality of currency. Once these defective coins, or baiqian, circulated among the people, they severely affected trade credibility.