Insufficient balance

  "Huh?" A loud shout rang out, drawing out the sound, and then many people shouted in unison: "Hey!"

  Xue Chongxun was on the small boat of an old boatman, and as soon as they had passed a rocky mountain, he heard this voice. Because the boat was small, there were only five or six people in their party, with over ten guards waiting on the northern shore.

  The boat went on for a while, and soon many large ships came into view on the river. There were not only boats, but also countless people trekking on the rugged small roads on the shore with ropes connecting the big ships in the river, those people were trackers, using manpower to pull the boats.

  The river water was unusually turbulent and flowed upstream, and it could be seen that the trackers were pulling very hard. Xue Chongxun estimated that each grain boat had hundreds of trackers pulling it. The shouting voices heard at the mountain pass just now were from these trackers. Each boat's trackers had a leader who first shouted "heave ho" loudly, then the trackers shouted "heave" in unison and used their strength together.

  The riverbank was bustling with activity, and in the distance, people could be heard wailing loudly, their figures appearing and disappearing in the rushing water.

  Xue Chongxun's small boat approached the grain transport ship. Since there were only a few of them and they didn't look like bandits, the people on the ship didn't pay attention to them. There were still many small boats between the big ships, with people holding long poles searching for something.

  Xue Chongxun turned his head to look at a large ship in front of him, and on the deck, a middle-aged man with a hat was leaning against the side of the boat, staring at something while crying out, "Wulang! Wulang ah, can you hear me...!"

  It seems that someone has drowned in the water and several small boats around are searching everywhere. The small boats behind are busy salvaging things, as if a boat had sunk.

  Just then someone shouted: "Over there! I'd love to see someone stick their head out!"

  The middle-aged man on the boat stopped crying and shouted, "Is it Gorō?" The others were busy shouting to dive into the water to search. Someone else on the small boat shouted, "The water is murky, all mud and sand! Be careful with your own life! Throw a rope!"

  No one paid attention to Xue Chongxun and the others, they looked at the busy river surface and continued driving their small boat east. At this time, Xue Chongxun saw something popping up in a place not far from the side of the boat, he immediately turned his head and said: "Who is good at swimming? That position! I think I see someone."

  "I'm from Jian'nan, I've been good at swimming since I was young, look at me!" By the time Xue Songxun turned his head to look, that guard had already jumped into the water with a splash. Xue Songxun hastily said: "The Yellow River's water can't compare to Jian'nan's water, we're the ones rescuing you on the boat, quickly throw down a rope!"

  A rope was quickly thrown down from the big ship beside, and before long, the guard emerged from the water, splashing and shouting: "Got him! There's really someone in the water, throw a rope!"

  Fang Yuzhong took out an inkstone from his backpack, tied it to one end of the rope and threw it into the river with great force. Xue Chongxun saw the guard grab the rope and let out a sigh of relief, personally helping to pull him over. The guard was still laughing: "Ha! The Yellow River water is indeed muddy!"

  Xue Chongxun and others quickly pulled the person who had fallen into the water onto the boat. He was covered in mud all over his body, like a mud man. He lay limply on the boat, it was unclear whether he was dead or alive. The guards were busy pressing his chest to administer first aid.

  At this moment, the people on the big ship lowered a rope ladder and shouted: "There is a doctor on the boat, hurry up and bring the person up." Then Xue Chongxun's guards carried the fallen man on their backs, and everyone supported and protected him as they moved him onto the big ship.

  "Go-oro!" The middle-aged man who had been crying and shouting on the ship's side rushed over, wiped his face with a splash of water, and burst into tears. "Go-oro! How can I explain to your wife if you go back like this?"

  The cabin quickly invited Lang Zhong out. Xue Chongxun took a look and exclaimed with surprise, "Li Gui Shou! Ha, I didn't expect to see you here."

  "Isn't that Li Gui's hand, Li Xuan Yi? Who is he?" "Yu Wen Ji's master." Li Gui said with a bow: "First save the person."

  The crowd said in a flurry of voices: "Let Zhang's family go first. If they can't be saved, it won't be too late to cry afterwards."

  "Hold on, lift him up upside down!" Li Xuan-yi said. A man beside him quickly hugged Wu Lang's legs from behind and lifted him up. Li Xuan-yi swiftly pulled out a silver needle from his waist and pointed at another person saying: "Use force to bind Wu Lang's chest, exert strength in batches."

  The man next to him acted accordingly, and the two of them did this and that. As a result, Wu Lang's mouth kept spewing out dirty water. At this time, Li Xuan Yi squatted down, stretched out his hand and pressed hard on Wu Lang's collarbone area, while suddenly inserting a needle. "Puff!" Suddenly, a lot of filthy things were spat out from Wu Lang's mouth.

  "Cough...cough..." The person who was like a dead man just coughed a few times. "He's got breath!" The crowd immediately cheered, "Li Gui's hands are indeed those of a world-renowned doctor!"

  At this time, the middle-aged man pulled over a young man in his twenties wearing a long gown and walked over. Without saying a word, the two of them "thudded" three loud heads: "Great kindness to save my life, first accept my Zhang family's three bows. In the future, wherever we can be used, just speak up. My name is Zhang Yue Ran, ancestral home in Shaoguan, Qujiang, and this is my cousin nephew Zhang Jiuling..."

  "Ha!" Xue Chongxun heard Zhang Jiuling's three words and suddenly exclaimed, thinking that the Five Great Mountains of China weren't that big after all.

  Middle-aged Zhang Yue said, "Li Gui Shou Li Shen Yi is my good friend, I know him, but I don't know what department this young man and the benefactor who fell into the water belong to. Please tell me your name, so we can also know who the benefactor is."

  Xue Chongxun helped Zhang Yue up: "We were passing by here and happened to see someone falling into the water next to us. It was a matter of course to lend a hand, don't make it so serious. As long as the person is alive, that's all that matters, hurry up and get up. I am... Li Gui knows me, we are familiar with each other, haha. The one who fell into the water is my follower Zhao Er."

  When a middle-aged man asked which government department he belonged to, Xue Chongxun thought that the Zhang family's people were indeed insightful, probably because they saw the decorative object on his waist.

  Li Xuanyi also helped to lift up the two people from the Zhang family and said: "I know both sides, so I'll introduce them. This gentleman is Lang Jun, the Duke of Wei Guo, the emperor's nephew, the eldest son of Taiping Gongzhu's house, named Xue Chongxun. Hmm, I remember you're the Minister of Tai Temple, how did you end up in Jianghu?"

  Xue Chongxun observed Zhang Jiuling's appearance while saying: "He has been transferred to a new official position, as the Vice Minister of Revenue in addition to being the Commissioner of Transportation, he has come to inspect the grain transportation."

  Zhang Jiuling has a long face, small eyes and big ears, but the five senses are relatively harmonious, and the facial features are also quite dignified. The two eyebrows are shaped like sharp blades, with three vertical lines between them, looking very serious.

  Li Xuanyi coldly laughed: "Manage the canal transport? Don't be ridiculous, what good can you people do? Look at these boats in the river, they're all from Lingnan, it took them ten months to get here! And that Liu An in Luoyang, his subordinates are a bunch of 'slanted officials', they only know how to make money and nothing else."

  What is called a "slant seal official" refers to the officials appointed by Princess Taiping. She would put the names of officials in letters and hand them over to the emperor for approval, and then appoint them to office. Because the seal was affixed at an angle, those who entered officialdom through this route were called "slant seal officials", and they were always looked down upon by other bureaucrats. Among these people, there were some with talent, but most were unscrupulous characters who had bought their offices with money. In short, they were a mixed bag.

  Zhang Yue said, "Mr. Li, don't mention this anymore. The Tang Dynasty is such a big court, people need to eat, right? If we don't transport grain over there, where will the country's food supply be placed? Let's go and sit in the cabin."

  At this time, Zhang Jiuling said: "My uncle's family was designated as a grain transportation household. I happened to be out of office at home and followed my uncle on this trip. Along the way, we traveled along the entire grain transportation route. It just so happens that I thought of a way to change it... But the powerful are in power, and one can only sigh with emotion."

  Li Xuan-yi, who was standing beside him, suddenly picked up the inkstone that Fang Yu-zhong had tied to a rope earlier and examined it carefully. He chuckled and said, "This thing is quite valuable, using it like this is really wasteful... an inkstone as a lifesaving rope, haha, interesting."

  Xue Chongxun understood what he meant, which was that a big bad guy like him doing good deeds was unexpected. He didn't say anything at the moment and just kept quiet. At the same time, he also saw again how wide Li Gui's social circle was. Although he wasn't in the imperial court, Yao Chong and Song Jing were his good friends, and now Zhang Jiuling seemed to be his friend too, which was quite impressive. Birds of a feather flock together, people are divided into groups, and it's not possible for anyone to get along with everyone.

  Because Li Gui was there, Xue Chongxun didn't rush to leave and had someone pay the old boatman who brought him over. He stayed on the grain transport ship. As promised earlier, he would pay double the price after the matter was settled, and Xue Chongxun did not go back on his word. Zhang's uncle and nephew, other leaders on the ship, as well as Li Xuanyi and others, sat on the ship chatting for a while before Xue Chongxun called Li Xuanyi to the deck for a private conversation.

  Xue Chongxun bowed and said: "No matter what, last time you saved my life, I dare not forget it in my heart."

  Li Xuan-yi gazed at the murky Yellow River water and said calmly, "Didn't we agree on that? I helped you back then for the sake of the Yuwen family; otherwise, I wouldn't have intervened. Let's not bring it up again... However, today the Duke of Wei took action to save a stranger, showing that he still has a good heart. That's good, that's good. The inkstone has the fragrance of books and is used to save people - the fragrance of books combined with the spirit of righteousness, what a wonderful thing! I hope the Duke of Wei can come to some realization."

  Xue Chongxun humbly clasped his hands and said, "I will certainly often recall today's conversation with Mr. Li. But I also have a word to say to Mr. Li."

  "Please speak." Li Xuan-yi's attitude this time was more gentle than last time.

  Xue Chongxun said, "When it comes to healing, one person can only cure a small number of people; but when it comes to governing the country, more people can avoid suffering. Mr. Li, do you agree? You have the skills to heal and govern, why cling to minor righteousness while abandoning major righteousness?"

  Li Xuan-yi burst out laughing towards the Yellow River: "The art of governing a country? Being an official isn't just about having virtue and following the Tao, I'm not suited for being an official, unable to do anything. As long as one takes small righteousness and cultivates oneself, without me Li Xuan-yi, there are still Huang Xuan-yi and Yao Xuan-yi... each has their own specialty, let's just say that's how it is."

  Haha, Li Xuan-yi turned around and looked at Xue Chong-xun: "I'll say something unpleasant to hear. If I really wanted to join the world, I wouldn't assist the Duke of Wei or Taiping, but the Crown Prince is the blessing of the country. Haha... Duke of Wei, let me advise you that being an official is like being a doctor - no matter how skilled your technique is, it's still secondary. Don't forget the two characters 'ren' and 'yi', these are the foundation. In the past, Wei Zheng had a saying: 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.' Now I'm giving this saying to you as a kind intention."

  Xue Chongxun was lost in thought. Li Xuanyi said, "Who among those who hold power hasn't extensively read poetry and classical literature? China's classics are like the ocean; every book you open, every line of text is infused with the words 'benevolence' and 'righteousness'. How can people not see this?"