It was the ninth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of Hongwu.
From Tojo Kingdom, oh, it should be Taira Takaramori, the special envoy of the King of Japan. He carefully rode a tall and shameless Qinghai Cong, followed a group of Banzhi cavalry in an unusually neat formation, and marched on a straight official road that had just been repaired for an unknown length of time. Seeing that the sun was approaching dusk, just when Ping Zhongsheng thought he was going to find a place to sleep outside Shuntianfu City tonight, the Banzhi cavalry leading the way suddenly slowed down. It was the first time for Ping Zhongsheng to ride such a big horse, and he couldn't control it. He almost hit the butt of a big horse in front of him. He quickly tightened the reins hard, and the Qinghai Cong under his crotch made a sucking sound. Neighing, he then raised his front hooves and stood up with two back legs.
At this moment, Taira Zhongmori also saw a huge red bastion in front of him, bathed in the golden sunset.
A Banzhi cavalryman turned his head and watched Ping Zhongsheng comfort Qinghai Cong, and then said to him: "Your Majesty, the Red Fort ahead is the Shuntianfu New City!"
"Oh..." Ping Zongsheng had stopped Qinghai Cong on his crotch, then looked up at the red castle in front of him, and murmured, "It's actually red... What kind of material is it made of? of?"
"Red bricks!" Banzhi Cavalry shouted loudly, "It is built with red bricks wrapped in compacted soil. It has eight sides and sixteen corners, and there are two trenches on the outside..."
Zhao Kai's current cavalrymen are all selected from graduates of the five military schools of infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering, and supplies. They usually serve with Zhao Kai for one to two years, and then go to the grassroots units to serve as officers with the rank of sergeant. This Banzhi cavalryman who is introducing Shuntianfu New City to Ping Zhongsheng is no exception. He graduated from the Engineer School two years ago and became a Banzhi cavalryman. However, he did not follow Zhao Kainan in the expedition, but stayed on Beijing Road to guard the palace. .
In the past two years, he would occasionally protect the Queen Zhu Fengying and the Crown Prince Zhao Ping (who was not crowned prince) to inspect the project of Shuntian New City. It can be said that I watched Sunchon New Town being built from scratch, little by little. And because he graduated from the Engineering School and knew how to build cities and dig trenches, he was sent by Zhu Fengying to participate in the acceptance inspection of several triangular forts.
So he knows the situation of Shuntianfu New City very well, and now he can speak clearly and logically.
Among them, what makes this Banzhi Cavalry the most proud are the red bricks used to build the outer walls of Shuntianfu New City... because his engineering school participated in this kind of bricks used to build Shuntianfu New City in the first phase. Tianfu New City "researches and develops" red bricks, so he can also bake red bricks himself.
Of course they did not invent red bricks. Different from the high-quality and high-priced green bricks, these cheap bricks fired in open brick kilns (that is, kilns without roofs) have long appeared on Fujian Road, where the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Yes, but because the color of the bricks is a bit taboo (red walls are not suitable for everyone), they are not available in the Central Plains.
But wasn’t Zhao Kai’s court extremely poor? At the same time, there are too many infrastructure projects to be carried out, so there are no taboos to worry about... The most important thing is to make the castle strong and durable!
After the establishment of the Engineer School, we invited masters from Fujian who could bake red bricks, built an open kiln in the Engineer School in Luoyang, and taught a group of engineer officers how to burn bricks quickly. Therefore, the engineering officers of the Red Turban Song Army are very comprehensive in skills. They can not only dig holes and move bricks, but also bake bricks...
After introducing the castle of Shuntian New City, the Banzhi cavalryman who knew how to move bricks and bake bricks continued: "There is also a Ganchang City on the east bank of Lushui to the east of Shuntian New City... We will do it later. We will bypass Xinshun Tianfu City and then cross the river on the Lushui Stone Bridge to reach Quechang City. We will spend the night at Guanyi in Quechang City tonight and enter Xinshun Tianfu City early tomorrow morning."
Ping Zhongsheng looked at the Shuntianfu New City, which looked particularly majestic under the setting sun, and nodded, "Okay, okay, then please continue to lead the way!"
The Guanyi where Ping Zhongsheng spent the night was also built with cheap red bricks, and the wall of Ganchang City where the Guanyi was located was also built with red bricks covered with earth, but it was much thinner than the outer wall of Shuntianfu New City.
The brick kiln where those cheap bricks are fired is also in the city of Quechang, occupying a corner of the city. It emits thick smoke all year round, which makes it very unenvironmentally friendly at first glance...
These brick-burning brick kilns have a large output. In addition to supplying large-scale construction in Shuntianfu New Town, they also sell bricks to external parties.
Therefore, in the city of Quechang, there are houses built with red bricks everywhere. There is no paint on the outside of the red bricks, they are just naked... If you look at it from the perspective of future generations, they do not look magnificent at all. , and it also means that you have money to build a house but not money to decorate it.
Ping Zhongsheng, who slept all night in a rough room, was finally taken into the Suncheon New Fortress in the early morning of the tenth day of October!
This bastion is really big!
The area inside the Core Fort alone is almost the same as the area inside the Shuntian Mansion Old City. However, there are not many buildings in the city and it is very empty. The road was paved, and the bluestone streets were very clean. The horses ridden by Ping Zongsheng and others were all shoed, and they made a crisp "crow" sound when walking on them, which was very pleasant to the ears.
Both sides of these bluestone streets are mostly white. Only in the center of the city, there is a large courtyard. The walls of the courtyard are also made of red bricks. They are not ordinary walls, but city walls. The exterior is piled with a 60-degree slope, and there are crenels on it.
The main entrance of the wall is also built to look like a tower, tall and magnificent. This tower has more than one gate opening, but three gate openings, one large, two small, and one small. There is a large door in the middle, and the door is covered with brass door nails and is closed tightly. The small doors on both sides were open, and there were Banzhi warriors guarding them.
There are two doors, the one on the right is for entry and the one on the left is for exit.
And there is a plaque with gold letters on a black background hanging on the middle gate, with three big characters written in thin gold - Forbidden City!
Of course not everyone has the privilege of riding a horse in the Forbidden City. So Taira Kiyomori dismounted outside the gate of the Forbidden City, followed a Banzhi warrior, walked to the entrance, handed over his sword and ribs at the entrance, and then entered the Forbidden City on foot.
As soon as you enter the gate of the Forbidden City, you will see a quite empty square. On the north side of the square stands a quite "majestic" tall building... The building is four stories high!
There is also a very impressive Xieshan Peak above the fourth floor. However, this Xieshan Peak does not use expensive glazed tiles, but ordinary blue tiles.
This "tall building" is also made of red bricks, and there is no paint...but it looks more majestic than the buildings in Quechang City. The adhesive between the red bricks is white - this It is made of glutinous rice and is extremely strong!
The bottom floor of the "tall building" was built to look like a hall, with huge pillars supporting an eaves, and the three-part main entrance facing south, all open.
"That's the Daqing Palace," the Banzhi warrior who led the way told Ping Zhongsheng. "The officials will summon you in the Daqing Palace...be sure to remember the etiquette."
"I know, I know." Ping Zhongsheng looked a little nervous... He was about to see the famous Emperor Zhao Kai of the Song Dynasty!
Then Ping Zhongsheng carefully held the certificate of credence and gift list he brought with him in his hands, and followed the man to the door of Daqing Hall.
There were also Banzhi warriors guarding outside the gate of Daqing Hall, stopping Ping Zhongsheng.
Ban Zhi, who was leading the way, turned back to him and said, "Please wait a moment."
Then I saw this group marching straight into the main hall, and every moment I heard the voice of roll call coming from inside: "I lead the Japanese envoy, and the Central Affairs Minister Taira Tadamori introduces me to your Majesty's heavenly voice to inquire... "
An energetic voice came from the hall: "Pass!"
The Banzhi warrior guarding the gate then bowed his hand to Ping Zhongsheng and said: "Your envoy, please."
Ping Zhongsheng nodded and returned the gift, and then entered the hall with his credentials and gift list. The interior of the hall was extremely majestic, tall and gorgeous, without losing the majesty of the celestial dynasty. However, the light was a bit dark. Even if many candles were lit, it still could not compare with the outside. .
In the dim light, Ping Zhongsheng saw a bearded man a few years younger than himself, sitting behind the desk, wearing a bright yellow narrow-sleeved round-neck robe, no hat, just wrapped with a handkerchief. bun.
Needless to say, this strong man is Zhao Kai, a member of the Hongwu family of the Great Song Dynasty!
Zhao Kai was also looking at Ping Zhongsheng. This little devil was wearing a purple Song-style military uniform - a long coat with narrow sleeves and a round collar. He was holding a tray in his hand with two scrolls on it.
A chamberlain guarding the main hall went up to take the tray and put it on the desk in front of Zhao Kai.
Ping Zhongsheng followed the chamberlain to the designated position, about seven or eight steps away from Zhao Kai.
Then I saw him bowing in obeisance, and at the same time said loudly: "The envoy of the Heavenly King of Japan, Taira Taira Mori, respectfully wishes the high official's family peace!"
In fact, Tianwang means the Son of Heaven! Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, this title has been synonymous with the emperor.
But Zhao Kai won't argue with the Japanese devils. He still can't spare the time to beat up the Tojo country!
"The king sounds more humble than the emperor," Zhao Kai said with a smile, "Then who is the king of Japan now?"
"It's King Chongde." Ping Zhongsheng replied.
In fact, the person who really holds power in Japan is the Toba Buddhist priest...now called the Toba Buddhist priest.
Zhao Kai nodded with a smile and said: "The title of Chongde is not bad, but since the King of Japan has surrendered to me, I should give him a new title... Let's use the title of Taiping. ! Now that Japan is experiencing many disasters, the King of Heaven must be thinking about returning to a peaceful world as soon as possible, right?"
"The King of Taiping..." Ping Zhongsheng bowed to Zhao Kai again, "I thank the official for the title on my behalf!"
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "Giving a title is a trivial matter... I also plan to teach Japan the method of bringing peace."
"The way to peace is..."
Zhao Kai smiled and said: "Half of the Analects of Confucius by Wang Yecheng, and one of the Zhou Rites lead to peace. How impressive is the Confucianism of the Song Dynasty...Ping Qing, what do you think is the way to bring peace?"
