The palace that the officials and the queen entered together was, of course, the Jinling Imperial City located in the northwest of Jinling New City and built around the Lion Rock, which was only more than 20 feet high.
And the section of road from outside the Dongjiang Gate in the west of Jinling City to the Lion Mountain in the Imperial City is really like going through five levels to kill six generals... There are many layers of dangers, if it weren't for Zhu Lian's sister-in-law It was so good that if Zhao Kai wanted to climb the Lion Rock, he wouldn't know how many people would die.
Although the city defense of Jinling is not a fortress, it relies on the terrain surrounding Jinling City to the greatest extent. The city wall is very thick and is a very solid rammed earth brick structure.
In addition, Jinling City is not a city, but a fortress group composed of a series of large and small castles.
The first step to enter Jinling City from Dongjiang Gate is of course the Dongjiang Gate Barbican itself. Although the barbican cannot withstand bombardment, it is not easy to destroy it with cannonballs... a large number of them must be concentrated no matter what. artillery and waste a lot of ammunition.
Moreover, there are also cannons mounted on the Wengcheng of Dongjiangmen. Although they are not as sharp as the cannons in Zhao Kai's hands, they are not without the power to counterattack. In particular, the dozen or so 12-pound cannons have a long range and pose a great threat to enemies attacking Jinling City from the west.
The second pass after Dongjiang Gate is Dongjiang Bridge. This is a stone arch bridge on the West Qinhuai River. It is also the only bridge on the West Qinhuai River where ships come and go. It is extremely busy on weekdays, but it will be very busy during wartime. It was blocked by a bridgehead built on the east bank of the Qinhuai West River.
If the Dongjiang Bridge cannot be captured, then the attacking troops will have to forcefully cross the Qinhuai West River... The Qinhuai West River is still very wide. Although the east bank of the West River is full of docks, no city walls or fences have been built, but the temporary female head wall has been erected. Arrangement of wood can still be done.
And taking down the Dongjiangmen Urn City, seizing the Dongjiang Bridge or forcibly crossing the Qinhuaixi River is just the beginning. What will be attacked next is the middle city wall built on the main channel of the Qinhuai River connecting the old and new cities of Jinling. This city wall is not a bastion, but it is still very strong. It is also built on the main channel of the Qinhuai River, so it is extremely strong!
If Zhao Kai's Red Turban Song Army could really break through the city wall, they would only rush into the area between the old and new cities of Jinling. Jinling New City and Jinling Imperial City are to the north of this area... Those are the real solid fortresses. Not only is the city strong, but the trenches are wide, and many horse-faced fortresses (protruding fortresses) have been built along the city walls. ), with camel cannon mounted on them.
After the Jinling New City was broken, there was also the Jinling Imperial City, which was built on top of the mountain and built layer by layer from the foot of Lion Mountain to the top of the mountain... Only when the Imperial City was conquered could Jinling New City be truly conquered. !
And when Zhao Kai entered the imperial city through the open Xuande Gate at the south gate of the Jinling Imperial City, dismounted outside the Daqing Gate, and then walked with Zhu Lian to the Daqing Hall at the foot of the southern mountain of Lion Mountain, this experienced man The officials of the Song Dynasty who were fighting actually said to Zhu Lian in a grateful tone: "My sister-in-law is better for me... It's such a powerful city. If my sister-in-law wants to defend the city, I really don't know how long it will take to fight." Come here!"
Zhao Kai and Zhu Lian led a large group of subordinates into the imperial city together, and now these people are still following... So when Zhu Lian heard what Zhao Kai said, his cheeks became a little hot.
"Where did the officials come from?" Zhu Lian took a breath and said calmly, "I know that the late emperor passed the throne to you... The queen before me came here in an arrogant way, so it should be How can you dare to resist the heavenly soldiers with your perseverance when you have tied yourself up in front of an official to plead guilty?"
Zhao Kai glanced at Zhu Lian and thought for a moment about how she had tied herself to plead guilty, and then smiled and said: "Sister-in-law is so kind to me, even if she has overstepped her bounds, I will not pursue it. I have tied myself to plead guilty." ...It’s better to avoid it.”
While he was saying this, he was thinking: He just wants to plead guilty to himself, and just have fun in the palace, so forget it about publicly apologizing.
The two of them entered the Daqing Hall while they were talking.
The Daqing Hall is the main hall of the Jinling Imperial City, where grand ceremonies are held. It is majestic and majestic, and looks even more spectacular than the Daqing Hall in Kaifeng Mansion.
Zhao Kai and Zhu Lian entered the Daqing Hall side by side. After entering the palace, Zhao Kai, who was still wearing armor, strode towards the high throne, and then climbed up with a golden sword. Zhu Lian was standing next to the throne. A chair was placed behind her, but she did not sit down.
Zhao Kai saw her standing and said to her with a smile: "Sister-in-law, sit down quickly... My sister-in-law is also a queen, you can sit on the dragon bed with me!"
Sitting on the dragon bed with you? Zhu Lian blushed again after what he said, but he did not sit down. Instead, he smiled and said to Zhao Kai: "The official family... I have to perform the worship ceremony with all the officials of Wu State, and also I want to return the territory and household registration of Southeast Seventh Road to show my surrender. It won’t be too late to sit down again after the ceremony is over.”
Zhao Kai is not here to attack Wu State, so Wu State does not need to surrender to him, but it is still necessary to return the edition... because Wu State has been "excluded"!
Zhu Lian's son Zhao Song attacked the King of Wu, not the King of Wu - there was only a king, but no country.
"Then there's Sister Lao." Zhao Kai smiled from ear to ear.
At this time, the officials of the Wu State who stayed in Jinling, the officials of the Northern Song Dynasty who came south with Zhao Kai, as well as a group of Zhao Kai's brothers and Zhao Huan's two older sons, had all entered the main hall and stood separately. good.
The officials brought by Zhao Kai and his brothers were all standing on both sides of the hall. These people did not participate in the "gift of returning the edition" of the Wu officials. Zhao Huan's two sons and Wu officials stood in the middle of the hall, waiting to salute Zhao Kai.
A chamberlain from King Wu's palace had placed a map and a scroll symbolizing the edition on a plate and handed them to Zhu Lian. Zhu Lian took the plate, faced everyone, raised the plate high, and said loudly: "Listen, gentlemen, this is the seven-way map of the Huaihe, Liangjiang, Liangzhe, and Fujian states of the Song Dynasty and the household registration of the people... ...Today, I, on behalf of the King of Wu, return it to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. Our Kingdom of Wu in the Song Dynasty has been eliminated. From today on, you, your ministers, are all direct ministers of the Emperor. You must abide by your ministerial duties and serve with sincerity!"
After saying this, Zhu Lian turned around, then knelt down with a plop, held the tray high, and knelt down in front of Zhao Kai, "Guan family, here is the edition of the Seventh Route of Wu State. Please accept it."
As soon as she finished speaking, all the civil and military officials of Wu State in the hall knelt down together and said in unison: "I respectfully ask the officials to accept me!"
Zhao Kai quickly leaned down, reached out to take the tray, and handed it to Yu Yunwen, a Hanlin scholar next to him, for collection. Then he stretched out his hands, held Zhu Lian's arm, said "Sister-in-law, please get up," and gently lifted her Helped him up. Then he pointed to the chair next to him and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, please sit down."
Zhu Lian was not polite. After thanking him, he sat down on the chair.
Zhao Kai then said to the Wu officials who were kneeling below: "Everyone, get up!"
The people below immediately got up from the ground, and then stood respectfully, waiting for Zhao Kai to lecture.
Zhao Kai said with a smile: "Thanks to Queen Jingkang and all the ministers for their understanding of righteousness, the prosperous land in the southeast was saved from war, and the prosperity of our Song Dynasty was saved! You and Queen Jingkang all made great contributions... ....I will never treat heroes badly!"
As he spoke, Zhao Kai smiled at Zhu Lian again, and then said: "And my sister-in-law, Queen Jingkang, also raised 30 million yuan for me so that I could reward the three armies and the civilian officials accompanying them. .....I can’t thank you enough for having such a virtuous sister-in-law!”
Zhu Lian handed over Jinling City to Zhao Kai completely, of course it was good for Zhao Kai, but she raised 30 million yuan of wealth for Zhao Kai in an understatement, which further showed her strength.
This is not only a good sister-in-law, but also a good and capable sister-in-law...so you must cherish her!
Thirty million dollars is really a huge sum of money for Zhao Kai, the lord of the world! His court's revenue last year was only 17 to 8 million...but Zhu Lian was able to raise 30 million for Zhao Kai in a short period of time!
These 30 million were not taken from the official warehouse of Jinling City or the sealing warehouse of King Wu, but were raised by Zhu Lian through the money industry of Jinling City... This shows that the finance of Jinling City The industry is quite powerful, and Zhu Lian controls the financial industry of Jinling City!
What surprised Zhao Kai even more was that Zhu Lian did not need Zhao Kai to repay this huge sum of money... This sister-in-law is really rich!
"These are all what I should do, so why do officials need to say thank you?" Zhu Lian said with a smile, "And the money is not all from me. All walks of life in Jinling deeply appreciate the benevolence of the family and are willing to take the money. Come out and serve the country... This is also because officials are virtuous!"
What she said was right...Zhao Kai can let go! And you can also put it on the neck of that profiteer and demand money. Isn’t that what he did in the north? Those local tyrants and evil gentry in the north can fight better than most of the profiteers in the southeast!
What happened to Zhao Kai in the end?
He could have done this, but he did not do so. Instead, he used Zhu Lian's kind words to inspire everyone's loyalty and patriotism, and asked everyone to "lend" money to the court and issue "interest-free and period-free" loans. This is Virtue!
Of course, the reason why these profiteers from the southeast are willing to give money to Zhu Lian is because Zhao Kai praises Zhu Lian very highly... There is no one else who has this kind of uncle-sister-in-law love!
The second reason is because Zhu Lian is an insider of theirs... she knows who of you is rich and who is not!
So don’t toast and eat as a penalty!
And Zhao Kai is not an insider in the Southeast business and financial industry... He has no way to accurately attack these people. He could only attack a large area at a time and kill people indiscriminately. You can make money with this approach, but it's killing the goose that lays the egg, and it's not a long-term solution.
So Zhao Kai really needs Zhu Lian, a good sister-in-law, to help him get money from the pockets of the profiteers and tycoons in the southeast...
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai smiled and said to Zhu Lian: "Sister-in-law, I can't stay in Jinling for a long time, so I will give my sister-in-law a long-term residence in the Jinling Palace. I also ask my sister-in-law to take care of the affairs in Jinling for me."
