When the ship arrived in Yangzhou, a person immediately became lively.
"I have long heard that Yangzhou is a prosperous place in the world. If you are here today, you must visit. Zhongheng, don't miss it."
Seeing Zhang Haogu's virtuous behavior of swinging a folding fan and pretending to be romantic, Zuo Mengeng didn't even bother to expose him.
Did you come to Yangzhou to see the scenery?
"Business matters, let's go straight away."
When he heard that he was not staying in Yangzhou, Zhang Haogu was very anxious, as if he had lost 100 million.
"Second left, don't you know what your brother wants?"
Zuo Mengeng said sadly, "I'm afraid you'll lose contact."
Zhang Haogu didn't understand this idea and was confused, stamping his feet and wailing.
"Second left, second left, it is in vain that I regard you as my confidant, but you are so incomprehensible to me. You will be a married man soon. If you miss today, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
Zuo Mengeng was too lazy to pay attention to him, and just observed the nearby terrain and said to Huang Zongxi: "This place is very important. As long as we occupy it and deploy a division of troops, no matter whether it is Nanjing, Songjiang Prefecture, or Suzhou Prefecture, no one can sleep. "
Huang Zongxi had the same idea as him.
“There’s a lot to do here.”
When the fleet reached Phoenix Dam, the river was divided into left and right. The fleet sailed into the east side of the river, completely away from Yangzhou City, and finally entered the Yangtze River.
The Liaojiagou river channel is already very wide, but when it enters the Yangtze River, the spectacular view of the sea and the sky is still shocking to the northerners on the boat.
Wang Siyi stood on the bow of the ship and happened to see this change.
"Wow... ugh..."
Seeing Wang Siyi who was vomiting to death, everyone looked at each other in shock.
Who would have thought that she, who was fine on the boat, would actually get seasick after entering the Yangtze River.
It is not difficult to see from this that the Yangtze River is indeed different from other rivers.
"Who dares to stop the arrival of the divine soldiers? They will drink their horses in the Yangtze River Margin. No wonder Soochow can fight against the Central Plains for decades without falling. The Zhao and Song Dynasties lasted for hundreds of years and even consumed the Jin Kingdom. Guard this There are natural dangers, as long as you don’t make any mistakes, who can take a step across the natural chasm?”
Listening to Xu Yuandu's praise, Zuo Mengeng also observed the Yangtze River.
"To conquer Jiangnan in the future, we must conquer the Yangtze River."
Huang Zongxi was also filled with emotion.
"This river stretches for unknown lengths. It can be connected to the land of Yunnan and Shu in the distance, and it can be connected to the sea as close as possible. There are countless people who make a living on this river. What kind of river is this? What is flowing here is clearly gold."
After seeing it on the spot, Zuo Mengeng discovered that the reason why ancient people rarely crossed the river from the east of Nanjing when attacking Jiangnan was probably not because of the defense of the Huaihe River.
It is probably because the Yangtze River in this section is too wide, which greatly increases the difficulty of crossing the river.
What should we do if the new army comes to fight?
Zuo Mengeng kept thinking about this problem while the fleet was going down the river.
Two days later, the fleet turned into the Huangpu River and finally arrived at Songjiang Prefecture.
At this time, Xu Ruolin was obviously in a bad state.
"What's wrong? Are you afraid of facing Lord Taishan and Taishui?"
Xu Ruolin rolled her eyes.
"Who can be as shameless as you? I originally went to the capital to accompany Yaya, but ended up talking about marriage. I don't know what my father and mother thought?"
Zuo Mengeng was afraid that she would be confused, so he deliberately explained: "Am I not good enough? Don't worry, I will definitely satisfy Lord Taishan and Taishui."
Xu Ruolin sighed, feeling that Zuo Mengeng was too optimistic.
When she and Xu Gandi talked privately, she already knew the intentions of Xu Ji and his wife.
In fact, Xu Ji and his wife did not agree with the marriage arranged by Xu Guangqi.
As a Christian family, the Xu family must consider religious issues in their children's marriage. Even if your relatives are not believers, they should at least know the basics.
Except for Xu Ruolin, everyone else's marriages are basically to local close friends.
Another one is the Xu family's poetry and etiquette family. Although only Xu Guangqi is an official, he can be regarded as a scholarly family. For warriors, they didn't think he was a good match.
Although Xu Guangqi praised Zuo Menggeng in his letter as rare in the sky and unparalleled on earth, Xu Ji and his wife were still worried about their daughter's future happiness.
Especially Xu Erjue's complaints after returning made them even more worried.
Fortunately, Xu Erjue, who came back for the second time, had a good opinion of Zuo Mengeng. Otherwise, Xu Ji and his wife would definitely oppose this marriage.
Even so, Zuo Menggeng will probably have to undergo a lot of tests when he comes to visit this time.
The fleet entered the Huangpu River, and the scenery on both sides became familiar. Xu Ruolin somewhat diluted her nervousness. He kept introducing the scenery to Zuo Menggeng, and he found countless treasures.
"Look, that's Panjiayuan, known as Qixiujia Jiangnan."
Everyone couldn't help but look around and saw a large and elegant garden on the west bank of the Huangpu River, which stood out among the low roof tiles.
Zuo Mengeng was quite curious after hearing Xu Ruolin's many family treasures.
"How do you know so clearly?"
Xu Erjue said from the side: "What else can be done? The fourth sister has already made an engagement with the son of Duke Pan Chong'an, and she is the Xu family's in-laws."
Zuo Mengeng suddenly became interested in that garden.
How did he know that the so-called Panjiayuan was actually the famous Yuyuan Garden in later generations.
This garden was built by Pan Yunduan to honor his father who lived in his old age. It has been preserved until later generations and has become a well-known scenic spot and historic site. It is also one of the famous gardens in Jiangnan.
It has been more than thirty years since Pan Yunduan passed away, and his descendants are now living in this garden.
Pan Yunduan's grandson Pan Xiaona was engaged to Xu Ruolin's fourth sister Martina (Xu Ruoxin) not long ago.
Xu Guangqi was a devout believer and followed God's will. Although he only had one son, Xu Ji, he did not take any concubines.
I was originally worried that Xu Ji was too weak and sick to support him, but unexpectedly, Xu Ji gave birth to five sons and four daughters.
Now that we have seen Yu Garden, the Xu family has actually arrived.
As the fleet approached the dock, someone was already calling from the shore.
"Third sister, is this brother-in-law?"
Zuo Mengeng looked around and realized it was a five or six-year-old boy shouting innocently.
Seeing the little boy, Xu Ruolin was very happy.
"Young brother, do you miss me?"
Only then did Zuo Mengeng realize that this was Xu Erlu, the youngest of the Xu family. (The order of the Xu brothers is wrong. The youngest is Xu Erlu, who was born in 1625. He passed the Jinshi examination in the 13th year of Shunzhi.)
Next to Xu Erlu, there was a middle-aged couple.
Xu Erjue introduced it on his behalf.
"Zhongheng, these are the eldest sister and brother-in-law."
Zuo Mengeng didn't dare to neglect, knowing that this was Xu Ruolan and Ai Tinghuai.
Ai Tinghuai's grandfather was Ai Kejiu, Nanjing's general envoy.
"I've met my eldest sister and my brother-in-law."
Xu Ruolan looked at Zuo Mengeng carefully and felt quite oppressive. Especially behind Zuo Mengeng, dozens of soldiers swarmed ashore, looking on guard, which was even more frightening.
"This brother-in-law is so powerful!"
Of course, this is Xu Ruolan's inner thought. On the surface, there is nothing disrespectful about it.
"Since we are a family, Zhongheng doesn't need to be polite. Have you ever gotten used to the hard work along the way?"
Zuo Mengeng laughed and said: "The spring in March in the south of the Yangtze River is so warm and pleasant, it is really a paradise on earth. I have caught up with you at a good time."
Ai Tinghuai couldn't help laughing.
"Zhongheng is indeed an expert. They say Jiangnan is good, but when summer comes, the heat is unbearable. It's still comfortable at this time, and everything you do is enjoyable."
Because Xu Erjue and Xu Erjue came back with Zuo Mengeng and Xu Ruolin, Xu Ruolan and Ai Tinghuai came to greet them on behalf of the Xu family.
But after Liu Zongzhou and Li Banghua disembarked, Xu Ruolan realized that the Xu family had been rude and hurriedly sent people back to deliver the message.
Not long after, a couple in their fifties came together and were out of breath.
There is no way, it is absolutely not rude for big men like Liu Zongzhou and Li Banghua to visit.
If Xu Guangqi is at home, he must greet him personally.
After a while of greetings, Xu Ji was dissatisfied with Brother Xu Erjue and said, "Why didn't you send the message back early? It has caused everyone in the Xu family to neglect Mr. Nian Taigong and Mr. Meng An, which is embarrassing to me."
Xu Er felt extremely aggrieved.
"The boat traveled very fast all the way south and never stopped. Even if the boy wanted to send a message back, there was nothing he could do."
Liu Zongzhou comforted him and said, "Zhong Heng and your daughter are getting married. I can only wait to welcome the happy occasion. Zi Tu doesn't have to take care of it, he can just do what he wants."
Li Banghua also said: "Nian Taigong is Zhongheng's teacher, I am Zhongheng's elder, today we are all in-laws."
Xu Ji was shocked and confused. He did not expect that such famous figures as Liu Zongzhou and Li Banghua would come to support Zuo Mengeng.
He looked towards Zuo Mengeng.
I saw that this future son-in-law was very tall, with strong and distinct features on his face, and sharp edges and corners. Especially his gaze, very overbearing.
When I looked at him, I was shocked to the point of being stabbed.
Looking at the distant military followers around him, they actually seemed more noble than Liu Zongzhou and Li Banghua.
For a moment, Xu Ji couldn't understand what this meant.
He originally had good intentions, and when he saw Zuo Mengeng, he wanted to give him a good showdown.
In order to prevent the martial artist from being domineering and treating his daughter lightly.
But at this moment, it seems that this warrior is more than domineering.
It is majestic and has eight seats, making it look like a master.
Among the rest, Chen Zilong and others, none of them are leaders in Jiangnan. Now compared with Zuo Mengeng, he has no aura at all and is dull.
Until this moment, Xu Ji vaguely understood why Xu Guangqi admired Zuo Mengeng so much.
