There is a mountain named Laoshan in the southernmost part of Chuzhou, and there is a town called Taishan Town to the east of the foot of the mountain. The town is directly across the Yangtze River from Nanjing City. Because it is close to the ferry of the Yangtze River, the town is very prosperous. It is a resting place for merchants traveling from south to north, including teahouses, restaurants and inns. Everything.
The sky cleared up in the middle of the afternoon, and soldiers and horses came from the north, breaking the tranquility of the town.
This is a cavalry team, with three to five hundred people at the end of the month. The strange thing is that everyone is shirtless, which is really confusing.
Needless to say, this is Chang Yu and his party marching in the rain. As for why they are shirtless, you are comfortable wearing wet clothes.
The Yangtze River was right in front of him, and Chang Yu was a little excited. He had visited Nanjing several times in later generations, and now it was as if he were in a dream. There were no high-rise buildings and busy traffic, but only natural scenery. He was deeply moved. He could even deduce it based on the terrain. It turns out that this Taishan Town is where the Yangtze River Bridge will be built in later generations.
When the rain gradually slowed down yesterday evening, Chang Yu decided to march in the rain. He walked so wet all night, and he stopped at the riverside town a little later than expected. The sky cleared up just in time, but he was suffering along the way. A lot of pain.
Chang Yu would never treat his soldiers badly. He shouted at more than 400 horsemen and rushed into the town. Whether it was a roadside stall or an inn or restaurant, he would directly take care of the food and drinks. Dongchang was not short of money.
But it also made the tourists who came and stayed in the hotel complain quite a bit, but it was a good thing for the local villagers, who took out their own chickens, ducks and fish eggs to sell to these soldiers.
After Chang Yu washed up in an inn and changed into clean clothes (his luggage was not wet in the carriage), Lian Xin had already brought his meal, five or six eggs, soy sauce beef, and chicken soup, which was very rich. .
While they were having a good meal, Kuang Ren came to report: "A group of people came and said that the Duke of Wei was sent to greet Mr. Chang Gong. He said that the Duke of Wei was waiting for him on the other side."
Chang Yu was startled that the information was so well-informed.
It is worthy of being the Duke of Wei. Is this a show of strength?
However, if you want to pick me up, let you pick me up. Chang Yu decided to avoid seeing me. After a little repair in the town, he asked Kuang Ren to lead his troops across the river, while he sneaked in with his master and apprentice Su Jing, Song Luoshu and Li Muchian in disguise. The dock hired a boat to cross the river.
The river was long, and Lian Xin and Su Jing were very excited when they saw the Yangtze River for the first time. Chang Yu looked at the faintly visible Nanjing Outer City and smiled half-heartedly: "Huh, Wei State."
When Li Muchian heard this, he looked sideways and said, "That's not true."
"There's nothing wrong with it. The environment can make people swell and get lost. I'm here to make them sober up." Chang Yu sneered slightly.
Nearly half an hour later, the ferry crossed the river and turned directly into the Qinhuai River. There were constant traffic on the river and it was very congested. The boatman and his son carefully propped their poles and paddled. The master and apprentice pointed at the scenery at the stern of the boat. Chang Yu and Li Muxian and Song Luoshu were on the boat. He raised his head and looked at the Nanjing City Wall. This was also Chang Yu's first time seeing the outer city walls of Nanjing. They were three feet high (8-10 meters) and majestic. The capital was even more majestic, with a city height of 14-26 meters. It was so tall and solid that it was often Yu Shi could not imagine how incompetent Zhu Yousong, Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng were.
"How much manpower and financial resources were needed to build this wall so high!" Song Luoshu lamented, and Li Muchian nodded: "I heard that it took twenty-eight years to build it, and it cost nothing." After hearing this, the boatman also interjected: "It is rumored that it took 28 years to build the city wall. At that time, there was no money to build the city wall, so it was still the money donated by Shen Wansan. The origin of the Jubao Gate in the south is related to Shen Wangsan..."
The boatman kept talking about rumors and anecdotes, and the people on the boat listened with interest. Du Changyu rolled his eyes in his heart. In fact, Ming Chengqiang had nothing to do with Shen Wansan, and even Zhu Yuanzhang and Shen Wansan had no intersection, because when he conquered the world Shen Wansan had passed away long before he sat on the throne. These have been verified based on the epitaphs of Shen Wansan and his descendants. They were not from the same era at all.
The Qinhuai River runs inside the outer city, close to the capital wall, and actually acts as a moat. After passing the water gate, the boat goes eastward along the city wall. The scenery along the way is sparse. There are many desolate villages on the south bank, until it reaches Shuixi Gate, where the Qinhuai River branches into a tributary. Straight into the city, the main stream still acts as a moat outside the city wall.
This section of the Qinhuai River entering the city is truly the essence of the ten-mile Qinhuai River. The prosperity along the bank is no less than that of later generations. Various nightclubs are lined up in rows. Most of the riverside villas are first-class river view villas with courtyards of wealthy families. There are also Confucius Temple, Jiangnan Gongyuan, etc., although it is During the day, the streets along the river are also bustling with people, and the people watching are dazzled.
"Xiao Song, what did you think of first when you arrived at the Qinhuai River?" Li Muchian asked Song Luoshu with a somewhat vulgar smile.
Song Luoshu smiled and said nothing, but Chang Yu blurted out: "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai".
Li Muchian was startled: "Eight beauties? There are more than eight hundred beauties in the Qinhuai River." He said: "Is it possible that the adults are talking about eight famous courtesans? They are here to give the poor Taoist some insights." Chang Yu smiled bitterly: "We It’s all just hearsay, and things have changed a long time ago.” But he still said the eight names.
Li Muxian scratched his head after hearing this: "I have heard a few names, but I have heard a few names." Then he turned around and asked the boatman. The boatman, like the taxi driver in later generations, knew the best about this kind of place and things, and he was almost a pimp. He was very clear-minded and shook his head after hearing this: "Many people have been doing good deeds, but now there are new people, such as Wang Jiangyue..."
Ten miles of Qinhuai River separates the two banks. The north bank is the Jiangnan Gongyuan, the main examination room of the Southern Examination, and the north bank is where famous prostitutes from the Southern Jiaofang gather. The old courtyard and the Pearl Market are full of flowers, and the ones who stand out from the crowd are good things. Known as the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, this good person was Yu Huai, who wrote a "Banqiao Miscellaneous Notes" to record this incident.
It’s just that the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai have long since faded. Chen Yuanyuan was taken to Beijing and married to Wu Sangui. (Chen Yuanyuan was actually not on the Qinhuai River but on the Suzhou River.) Gu Hengbo married Gong Dingzi and is now also a first-class wife in Beijing. At this time, Ma Xianglan was deeply involved in the sadomasochistic relationship with Wang Zhideng and retired from the world. Bian Yujing married Zheng Jiande after being emotionally hurt by Wumei Village. Dong Xiaowan was originally from Suzhou but actually only lived in Qinhuai River in the early days and later went to Suzhou to do business in Bantang. At that time, she was married to Mao Bijiang, and Kou Baimen married into a wealthy family and became the concubine of Zhu Guobi, the Marquis of Funing.
Liu Rushi was also married to Qian Qianyi and was living in seclusion at Jiangyun Tower in Yushan, Changshu. Li Xiangjun and Hou Fangyu, a pair of star-crossed lovers, may have a smoother relationship because of Ruan Dacheng's death. (Ruan Dacheng is really bad, the kind that is extremely bad. During the Hongguang period, he did not do his job and helped Zhu Youshu to find colorless beauties. Historically, Li Xiangjun was persecuted by him and eventually became a nun with Bian Yujing. Later, he returned to secular life and was with Hou Fangyu but was discriminated against. She died of illness at the age of thirty. Since ancient times, beauties have been ill-fated, and few of the eight beauties died a good death.)
In other words, except for Li Xiangjun, the eight beauties of Qinhuai are now either retired or married. It has become a legend that the waves behind the Qinhuai River push the waves ahead.
A few people on the bow of the boat were chatting and admiring the scenery. The boat had passed the eaves of ten thousand floors. The Qinhuai River turned a U-shape to the south in the city and then headed east. On the south bank in front of the Gongyuan, there were Jiaofang brothels where famous prostitutes gathered. Li Muchian looked at He couldn't take his eyes off and kept swallowing.
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There must be fighting and killing, and the customs and customs of the Ming Dynasty must also be considered.
