Chapter 202: ferry

Woke up the next morning, Xie Li thanked the grandmother of the chief for her hospitality last night, and paid half of the boat fare according to the negotiated price.
However, he did not dare to mention the fact that her granddaughter came to bed in the middle of the night. Even in the Shan family’s opinion, it’s not a big deal even if this happened. Maybe he still thinks his granddaughter is taking advantage, but Xie Li still can’t make it by himself. threshold. The old grandmother was so sophisticated, she just handed over the remuneration and the boat and the boatman to Xie Li, and did not say anything else, which made him very relieved.
This time Xie Li they requisitioned four papaya boats in the stockade.
The so-called papaya boat is the most primitive simple boat in Myanmar. This kind of boat uses a black-hearted nanmu tree hugged by two or three people. After felling, the straight section is taken and broken into the hull, and then the center of the tree is hollowed out. Such a small papaya boat can carry more than ten people, and two small papaya boats are tied together and fastened together to become a larger boat with better stability and capable of carrying 30 or 40 people.
Although Xie Li's team had a total of only more than 30 people, it was equipped with a lot of equipment and large livestock, so it directly requisitioned four boats and tied them in pairs. This is the means of transportation they will travel nearly 600 kilometers of waterway next.
Xie Li divided the team into two groups, each with a dozen people and one boat. When all of them got on the boat and were ready to set off, they saw several Shan girls coming to the riverside together. Among them, the leader was actually Yuen.
Yuen did not speak when he came to the riverside, and took the lead to sing. The other girls responded at the same time and heard them sing:
"The sun shines on the top of the mountain,
Brother and sister linger on the shore,
Sister picks honeydew melons and feeds brother,
Just ask elder brother sweet or not? "
Xie Li was stunned as soon as he heard it. This little girl came to see him off to force her marriage. How could he dare to speak up with the lyrics? I just wanted to learn Quail to shrink his head into the pile of people, but I didn’t think he was shrinking like this, and I found that several guys were in sync with him
He immediately understood. It seems that he was not the only one who was forced into marriage last night!
But there was a roar of love to join in the fun: "Sweet."
It's a pity that these are crooked melons and cracked dates that other girls didn't like, and it's useless to let them cry out.
The girls sang vigorously by the river, but the boys in their minds all turned into turtles with their heads down, and none of them responded. It seems that most Han Jia Erlang still cannot accept the weird setting of "marrying" someone else.
The Salween River was rushing, the papaya boat propped up from the river bank, and went down the river. The girls' singing gradually weakened as they got farther and farther away. Xie Li vaguely heard it, and Yuen's song was crying:
"The river is surging and surging,
My heart is stronger than iron and stone,
You can't see the ebony boat,
Amei's eyes are full of tears,
..."
Xie Li smiled bitterly and shook his head, this little girl, hey.
The Salween River, originating from the Nyainqentanglha Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, is called the Nu River in China, and it is called the Salween River after it flows into the territory of Burmese Jade from the Xinhekou in southern Yunnan.
From north to south, it winds about 1,660 kilometers in the territory of Burmese jade, flows through many high mountain valleys along the way, and finally splits into two branches into the Andaman Sea at Mawlamyine. Except for about 200 kilometers downstream, the open water flow is gentle and navigable throughout the year. The other sections of the river have complex water conditions and different navigable conditions in different seasons. Therefore, sailing on this river requires considerable experience, technology, courage and courage.
Burmese jade has a typical tropical monsoon climate. The whole year is divided into three seasons: hot, rain, and cool. During the rainy season, the amount of precipitation is huge, which will cause the water of the Salween River to surge. At this time, the water is particularly turbulent and there are many rapids, even the most rapid. Experienced boatmen dare not say that they can travel across the Salween River; the situation will be much better in the cool season, and the water is relatively flat, making it easier for boats to travel. But now it is January, which is the cool season for Burmese jade.
In order to avoid trouble, Xie Li led the fleet to advance along the east bank of the Salween. They did not pursue speed. They set off every day in the morning, taking advantage of the thick fog in the early morning of the Salween. Coming for kilometers, when the thick fog on the river was about to dissipate at noon, the boat docked and camped on the east bank. In order to conceal, they even took the papaya boat from the river to hide in the forest on the shore every time when they set up camp, and arranged special guard posts at the same time.
Maybe it's God blessing, maybe Xie Li's carefulness played a role. After this journey, I didn't encounter any real troubles. I arrived in Mawlamyine in early February. Counting the days, the ship from Karachi probably hasn't arrived at the port to unload the cargo. They still need to wait a few days.
After discussing with a few players, they decided that the brigade would not enter the city for the time being, but instead find a place to stay on the banks of the Salvin River. Lin Shuangxi, who has always been more stable, took a few brothers into the city to find the Mon State who was entrenched in it. The People's Liberation Army, striving for their support and help, must at least let them not help each other, so that it can unload cargo smoothly and find a bulk carrier that is willing to go upstream.
After the discussion was settled, everyone split up. Xie Li and the boatmen sent by Mengdong Zhaizi had settled the ship’s wages and waved goodbye to them. They had to sail against the current on the way back. It was hard work, but it didn’t matter to Xie Li. What happened to them, the old sailor had his own way.
Lin Shuangxi picked a few good brothers and set off for Mawlamyine City.
Although Mawlamyine is known as the third largest city in Burma, it is more appropriate than a small town.
It is located on the east bank of the Motama Bay of the Andaman Sea, at the confluence of the Salween, Jiying and Atlan Rivers. Smaller ships can enter the port directly, while larger ships can enter the center of the river. Bilu Island in Haikou, loading and unloading by barge.
Mawlamyine has a population of less than 200,000. When Burmese Jade was still under British rule, it was the capital of the Burmese Jade Province at that time. After 1947, Myanmar became independent and became the capital of Yangon. In addition, the river with high sand content brought by the Salween River gradually silted up the port, which affected the entry and exit of large ships, resulting in the gradual decline of Mawlamyine. Small and medium-sized sea vessels with low tonnage will also choose to dock here.
Of course, Mawlamyine still plays a very important role in Burmese jade as the only two transport port for Burmese jade’s most important cash crop, "Teak" and the capital of Mon State. Another "teak" transport port is located in Mawlam. Opposite Mian, Ma Daban across the river.
In the current situation where there are as many banners as the "Mindi Martial Arts" of Burmese jade, Mon State certainly has its own team, namely the "Mon State National Liberation Army", which is dominated by the Mon nationality. It was established in 1962 and was established by the "New Mon State". The leadership of the "Party" was one of the first armed forces to play the banner of opposing the promotion of "big nationalism" by the Burmese Jade government. At its most glorious time, its fighting team once reached more than 8,000.
But in 1980, it experienced a split internally. Some people advocated laying down their weapons and negotiating with the Burmese Jade government to gain political status. This faction was named Wu Jinghao, vice chairman of the "New Mon State Party" and former chief of staff of the "Mon State National Liberation Army". The other group adhered to the original line of struggle and would never lay down their weapons before Myanmar Yu did not agree to their autonomy claims. This faction was headed by Nai Ruijin, the chairman of the "New Mon State Party" and the commander-in-chief of the "Mon State National Liberation Army".
Due to this split, the strength of the "Mon State National Liberation Army" was greatly weakened, and Wu Jinghao took several thousand troops to occupy Mawlamyine and signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese army, accepting the jurisdiction of the Burmese Jade government in name.
Lin Shuangxi's task is to establish contact with this Wu Jinghao and obtain his help, at least, not to cause them trouble.
In fact, before Xie Li and the others set off, Bao Qixia communicated with Wu Jinghao by telegram and obtained the consent of the other party. This is the daily communication method between more than 30 rebels, large and small, in Burma. They have different positions and different political demands, but we all need to face a common and powerful enemy-the Burmese Jade government. Therefore, it is commonplace to exchange information and intelligence with each other.
Even though Wu Jinghao has ceased fire with government forces and accepted the reorganization, this communication channel is still smooth.
On the one hand, although Wu Jinghao nominally accepted the government army’s adaptation, he is actually an independent small group, and he is also a national armed group. He has a natural affection and identification with these people, and it is nothing to help these innocent small favors;
On the other hand, this is actually because he has no bottom in his heart and wants to leave a way for himself. Regardless of the fact that the government army has promised quite well at present, but who knows if they will turn their faces and turn themselves into the second Zhao Ruitai?
Lin Shuangxi’s group of people successfully entered Mawlamyine and met Wu Jinghao. In fact, Lin Shuangxi’s heart had long been labeled as a "surrender". In his opinion, this person must be a roe-headed rat eye. It's trivial, but when you see a real talent, it's not like that at all.
This person Wu Jinghao looks delicate, elegant, and has soft lines on his face. Except for his dark skin, he looks a bit of a scholarly temperament. This is true indeed. This Wu Jinghao graduated from the most famous Yangon University in Myanmar. The most important national leaders in Myanmar’s history are all alumni.
Because he was born in the Mon nationality, he suffered a lot of troubles in the school, and then he joined the "Mon State National Liberation Army" after graduation. Because of his high level of education and thoughtful thinking, he quickly showed himself in the team and gradually climbed to the position second only to the party chairman Nai Ruijin.
However, like most intellectuals, he actually hates war in his heart, so after connecting with the leaders of the current government through several alumni the year before, he chose the path of compromise, hoping to realize his national unity in another way. As a result, he and Nai Ruijin had a great disagreement and finally parted ways.
These things are quite different from Lin Shuangxi's previous guesses. Of course, Wu Jinghao would not explain all this to a trousers soldier who met for the first time.
Wu Jinghao received Lin Shuangxi and they were also very enthusiastic. They asked about the situation and knew that they came to Mawlamyine to receive a shipment. Without asking too much, he called one of his subordinates, Dean Chen, to do this.
Mawlamyine is located in a shipping hub, and various armed forces often use their ports to send and receive goods. This is often the case, and it is also one of their sources of income. It is not a major event, and Wu Jinghao did not take it seriously. At the end, it's an old rule.
This Dean Chen was a clever man. After simply asking about the situation, he enthusiastically took Lin Shuangxi to the pier and set up a broker. Zhang Luo helped Lin Shuangxi to book an inland bulk cargo ship to the upper reaches of the Salween River. If he wanted to come to this business He can get a lot of benefits from it.
Lin Shuangxi has lived in two lives here, and he just needs such a person to lead the way. Seeing that Dean Chen is so enthusiastic on the road, it is just what he wants, so he will not refuse. Considering the tonnage of the goods received this time, he is in Several boat owners recommended by Enchen picked and bargained, and finally selected a flat-head cargo ship "Mengla" with a length of more than 30 meters and a load of 400 tons. In Myanmar, this inland riverboat is absolutely outstanding. The Big Mac is now.
After booking the boat, Lin Shuangxi paid some US dollars as a deposit, which was given to him by Xie Li when he was leaving. In Mawlamyine, "yellow arsenic" is not easy to use. People here only recognize money, the dollar is the best, and the renminbi is also good.
Lin Shuangxi then sent a soldier back to report, and he took the rest of the people and found a wooden house near the pier to rent, and waited for the ships to arrive at any time. After all, this is not his own site. Be careful, this shipment is too important, he doesn't want to make any mistakes.
However, he didn't notice, seeing the light flashing in Dean Chen's eyes, who had rented such a large boat.