The pier on the south riverside of Xiyang City was crowded with people, and many ships were berthed here. Passengers boarded the pier one after another, and many people took boats here to their respective destinations.

Xiyang City, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, is across the river from Wuchang City on the south bank. People travel between the two cities very frequently. Many ferries travel between the north and south of the Yangtze River every day. In addition, the government also uses ships very frequently, so the pier in the south of Xiyang City is very busy.

In addition, there are more and more people coming to Shannan in Xiyang, so the scale of the south wharf in Chengnan is also expanding. The river water here is turbulent. In order to facilitate ships to berth, Huangzhou Prefecture Yamen invested manpower and material resources to expand.

During the dry season, a stone pond was built on the exposed river bank. The stone pond pointed directly to the middle of the river, blocking the surging river water like a huge wall. Several stone ponds and the extension of the east-west direction formed an artificial harbor together with the river defense embankment, which allowed the ships to be berth calmly.

Even so, for civilian ships, Xiyang Chengnan Pier, can only unload passengers but not cargo. Except for the luggage carried by passengers, bulk cargo still needs to be loaded and unloaded at the downstream Bakou Port.

At the bustling dock, a passenger ship coming from upstream is berthing under the command of a water diversion officer. This ship is an ordinary type but not an ordinary logo. It is a "regular ship" from Zhixiakou, Ezhou Prefecture to Xiyang.

In order to ensure the safety of passengers, passenger ships must be supervised by the government, so the logo is different from ordinary ships, easy to manage, and also facilitates patrol and naval forces to take care of them.

The flag on this ship is written with a large "Xiakou Yi character Shiwu number", and is painted with three dog heads, one big and two small. The same words and patterns are also painted on both sides of the hull, with the words "Xiakou" and "Bakou", and there are arrows connected to each other.

The crew members were all wearing white crotch, with the same text and patterns written on it, which was for easy management and prevented passengers from being deceived by the black ship and killed their lives.

With the convenience of water conservancy, it is easy to go to Xiyang in Huangzhou from all over the south of Shannan. From Jingxiang to Xiyang, you can take a boat in Fancheng and Xiangyang and follow the Han River to enter the Yangtze River. The same can be achieved by the people of other prefectures and counties in the Han River Basin.

When you go to Xiyang from Anzhou and its area, you can walk the Shu River into the Yangtze River. The same is true for the people of prefectures and counties along the Shu River. Because Xiyang has an increasing demand for people and materials, water transportation in the Han Mian area is becoming increasingly busy.

In order to prevent the water bandits from committing crimes and killing people and robbing goods, governments along the river and along the water have vigorously rectified local public security. After killing countless people, the fishermen who were originally fishing and bandits gradually became honest and the waterways became smoother.

The increasing number of people heading to Xiyang has also led to the development of shipping. The fleets on the river and Han River have increased dramatically every day, whether it is freight or passenger transport. After the ship passes through the Han River and the Han River enters the Yangtze River, it usually bends at the Xiakou on the south bank of the river and continues to move forward overnight.

The capital of Xiakou in Ezhou Prefecture is an important hub for Yangtze River shipping. Although it has experienced many wars in recent years, thanks to a series of measures by the Huangzhou General Administration, Xiakou quickly recovered its vitality. With the east wind of a significant increase in water transportation, people's livelihood has flourished again.

As a transit port, Xiakou Wharf has returned to its previous scale and has a tendency to expand. There are more and more passenger ships from Xiakou to Huangcheng, Xiyang, Wuchang, Bakou and other places.

Because there are more and more workshops in Huangzhou and nearby prefectures and counties, and a large number of people are required to hire, passenger transport has become a business opportunity. The occupancy rate of regular ships from Xiakou to Xiyang remains high.

After the passenger ship was berthed, the springboard was set up, and the passengers came ashore one by one. Many smiling men were greeted, holding different guises and shouting loudly: "Recruit, recruit workers!"

The workshop owners in Xiyang City and nearby areas sent people to squat and recruit people at the south dock of the city. Now it has become a gust of Xiyang. Those who arrived in Xiyang for the first time are easily frightened by this scene.

Of course, in order to prevent quarrels or tramplings, the government also arranged for people to maintain order at the wharf, and the state soldiers patrol here, preventing theft, robbery, and trafficking of people.

Some of the passengers who had just arrived ashore held their packages tightly, lowered their heads and walked quickly towards the south gate, ignoring the recruiters around them; some stopped and began to "inquiry", attracting many people to surround them.

As long as you have healthy limbs and not bad brains, there are so many workshops waiting to recruit you to work, and it doesn’t matter if you bring your family with you. “When you come to the workshop to work together, you will get the wages!”

After a while, more than half of the passengers on the boat had already got off the boat, but many passengers were still sitting there. Some were carrying large and small bags, some brought their families with their families. They looked ordinary people, and some looked like businessmen.

"Xiyang is here, are there anyone else who get off the boat?"

"If you want to go to Wuchang, you can take a ferry in Xiyang. I won't go to Wuchang, the south bank!"

"I thought it through myself, and the boat will be driven in a while, and then Bakou will stop!"

The crew kept shouting loudly, fearing that the passengers would not understand, so they kept changing dialects. More and more out of towns came to Xiyang. Over time, the crew would say in various accents, "Xiyang is here!" "The next time Bakou stopped!"

In the cabin, a young couple sat on the side of the dock, looking a little seasick. The woman looked at the crowd recruiting workers on the dock, seemed a little moved. After a while of entanglement, she whispered:

"It's better for us to do it..."

"Go to Bakou!"

The man interrupted the woman's unquestionable attitude, which reflected his determination. Seeing his wife's sad face, he sighed and his attitude eased: "Didn't everyone agree to go to Bakou first...it's really not possible, then go to Xiyang to work."

The woman nodded silently and said nothing. She held a large package tightly, just like the package containing items worth a thousand gold, for fear that she would snatch them away if she was not careful.

The couple spoke with a Guanzhong accent, obviously not from Shannan. However, since the government moved from Guanzhong, many people went to Shannan prefectures to settle in such a situation, everyone has become familiar with this.

"You've started the boat and you've started the boat. Don't get up even if you want to get off the boat. Let's talk about it when you go to Bakou!"

The crew shouted a few times, withdrew the springboard and rang the iron bell, and the other crew members held the long poles to prop the passenger ship away from the dock. After a while, the passenger ship slowly headed towards the downstream Bakou with the river water.

......

A four-** carriage slowly drove westward on the official road. The carriage was painted with a tiger head pattern, and there were about a dozen men and women inside, all wearing cloth clothes and wrapped around, while the one driving was two men in military uniforms.

The carriages were coming and going on the road, and the carriage slowly moved forward calmly and gradually approached a large camp in front of them. There was noisy sound inside, and there seemed to be many people shouting slogans.

The carriage slowed down and finally stopped near the gate of the military camp on the north side of the road. There was a courtyard here that looked like a diner. The flags flying inside were tiger-headed flags like the flags in the military camp.

"When you arrive at the military camp, if anyone wants to join the army, get off the bus. If you have family members, you can stay here." The soldier who was driving shouted loudly, "If you join the army, there will be no charge for the fare. If you go to Xiyang City, the fare will be one penny per person!"

Several people got out of the car with packages, and one of them was the one who had just passed by Xiyang but was about to get off at Bakou.

Seeing someone get out of the car, several soldiers in military uniforms greeted him at the gate of the yard: "Are you going to join the army?"

"yes."

A sparse voice sounded, with different accents. A soldier suddenly shouted: "Hit louder! What are you here to do?"

"Come and join the army!"

This time the answer was much more neat and louder. The soldier nodded and shouted to the driving comrade: "Old Li, you can leave now."

The carriage continued to move towards Xiyang City. The soldiers in charge of receiving led the people into the yard, clapped their hands and said loudly: "Please pay attention, please listen to me first. There are three precautions in total. Don't interrupt. After you finish speaking, ask if you don't understand!"

He said it in various accents, and nodded as everyone seemed to understand, he began to talk about the precautions:

"First, our Hulin Army recruits soldiers, but only recruits male soldiers! So women should not get involved, especially women dress up as men, which is not allowed!"

"The second article is the reception desk. First register your name and then go to the military camp to have an exam! Please keep the family members waiting in the yard with their families!"

Speaking of this, the soldier added: "Of course, in order to avoid the abducted family, we will not take them out of the yard. When you finish the interview, you will come back and meet the family."

"Article 3: Those who pass the interview will be qualified to be enlisted for trial training. If they are a bachelor, they can stay in the military camp that day. If they bring their family members, they can live in the dormitory behind the yard with their families."

"I will be able to pass the trial training and arrange accommodation separately. As for those who fail the interview, turn left to Xiyang City. There are many workshops recruiting people there. Please do it yourself!"

"I've finished saying it. Anyone who doesn't understand it, raise your hand first!"

Almost all the men raised their hands. The soldier sighed helplessly when he saw this and pointed at the person who raised his hand first: "What don't you understand?"

"Uh, I'm from another place and don't understand the dialect here..."

"Well, where are you from?"

The soldier asked imitating the other party's accent. As a recruiter of the Hulin Army, he was already used to the accents from all over the world.

After a while, the people who came to join the army at least figured out three precautions and started queuing up to register their names. Seeing that the registration was about to be completed, the young man and his nervous wife whispered a few words and walked up to him.

The soldier in charge of the registration looked at him, then asked, "Name."

"Someone's surname is Zhang, his name is Dinghe, and his name is Chumi."

When the soldier heard this, he calmed down his movements. Those who could have "words" these days must be scholars, and those who can afford to read books are not much worse than their family background. After recording their names, he asked: "Hometown."

"Jingzhao Wannian."

The soldiers were not surprised by the obvious Guanzhong accent. After recording, he asked, "Did you move to Shannan last year?"

"That's right, I settled in Xiakou, Ezhou at the beginning of last year."

The soldier looked like this indeed. After the record was finished, he asked again: "To avoid misunderstandings, I will confirm again. What are you going to do here?"

"I want to join the army."

"We are the Hulin Army here. Are you sure you want to join the Hulin Army?"
Chapter completed!