Chapter 15 Nanjing Six Hundred Years Ago
For He Xi, this question was a bit abrupt.
From that day, he suddenly arrived after the Ming Dynasty. During this period of time, he has been serving Zhu Yuanzhang. In order to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty. But what does he want? But I didn’t think much about it.
Because there is no use thinking about it. Everything is in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands.
If you really want something, it's probably to go back to the next life.
It's just that this is not something he can decide. Perhaps, the unknown life or rules that playfully threw him here in the first place will throw him back in the next second. Or he might be forgotten forever. This requirement was not something Zhu Yuanzhang could fulfill.
Except this.
What else does He Xi want?
Want money? Nothing useful. The function of money is to be able to sell things. But now He Xi has everything taken care of by the palace. No money is needed at all. He Xi also tried to figure out Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts when he wanted a house. He estimated that Zhu Yuanzhang was not willing to let him out of the palace. He even felt that he would be under the surveillance of Jin Yiwei all his life, so he would not find this boring. Want a woman. He Xi actually wanted it.
After all, for He Xi, this is probably the biggest benefit from modern times to future generations.
As long as He Xi spoke. It is estimated that Zhu Yuanzhang will not be stingy with some beauties.
However, He Xi couldn't say this. After all, he was not educated enough to treat women like objects. And he also thought about the impression in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, and he didn't want to be a lustful person in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.
Such people always give people the impression of being unreliable.
What else is there besides these? There seems to be nothing left.
He Xi suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I want to go to the palace to see what Nanjing is like." Not only to see what Nanjing is like, but also to see what the world is like. After all, He Xi is likely to stay here for the rest of his life.
These days, he has learned about the Ming Dynasty from memorials. Get the news from other people's mouths. It's all second-hand and third-hand information. Just trapped in the Ming Palace. Saw too little. It is not the real Ming Dynasty. What does the Ming Dynasty really look like? he does not know.
He really wants to see the world before deciding what to do.
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said: "Okay. Xu Da will return to Beijing tomorrow. I will ask the prince to greet him on my behalf. You can go with him. Take a look at the city of Nanjing and the might of the Ming Dynasty."
He Xi said: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "In private, just call me uncle. I don't have that much track. I asked Xu Zheng to bring you thousands of treasures. Just use it as pocket money."
He Xi immediately changed her tune and said, "Thank you very much, uncle."
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang acted as if he was really an uncle. It's just that He Xi can't regard Zhu Yuanzhang as an ordinary elder. However, even so, He Xi is looking forward to tomorrow's trip. What was Nanjing like during the Hongwu period?
He wanted to know.
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It seems that because the prince knew that he would take He Xi to visit Nanjing, he took He Xi out of the palace early the next morning.
The prince said: "There is nothing interesting in this area. Although we have left the palace, there are government offices in front of us. Here is the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, over there is the Liubu Jiazong Mansion, Hanlin Academy, and Qintian Prison, they are all here. . Ordinary people don’t come here often. It’s a bit deserted and not too lively. If you want to see the excitement, you have to go along Chang’an Street and go directly to Jubaomen. There are lively places along the way.”
The prince turned his head as he spoke. He couldn't help but chuckle and said: "Brother He, you are like this. How can you see the scenery of Nanjing?"
He Xi hardly listened to what the prince said. His attention was focused on one thing at the moment, the horse under his crotch.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, war horses were scarce. At that time, there were only hundreds of thousands of war horses. It is precisely because the number of cavalry is small. Only then did Xu Dalingbei's defeat occur. And now ten years have passed. Zhu Yuanzhang worked hard over the years to promote horse administration. and trade with the Western Tea Horse. There were more horses in the Ming army.
There is no shortage of horses in the Ming Dynasty. The war horses in the palace are naturally excellent.
But no matter how good or docile the war horse is, He Xi can't control it here.
Before He Xi, I had never been exposed to horses, let alone riding them. It never occurred to him that he was going out on horseback. At this moment, he was riding on the horse tremblingly, not daring to move. I'm afraid that if someone gives the wrong hint to the war horse, the war horse will fly out, which will be bad.
He Xi said: "Your Highness, I have never been exposed to horses before, so it is inevitable that I will not get used to it. I didn't know that I would be riding a horse out of the palace today." As He Xi said this, he held on to the reins tightly, wanting to stuff himself into the horse's body.
The prince laughed and said: "Brother He must practice horse riding in the future. This will not work." Then he said to the guard beside him: "What are you doing standing there? Lead the horse for Secretary He."
Immediately a guard stood in front of He Xi, and He Xi led the horse.
Someone was holding the horse, and He Xi took a deep breath before he dared to sit upright. Look at the surrounding houses.
The entire city of Nanjing is newly built. It can even be said that after Zhu Yuanzhang entered Nanjing, he began to carry out large-scale construction projects. At first, it was only for defensive purposes. Starting from the first year of Hongwu, the city was expanded. It's not completely over yet.
Therefore, He Xi saw that most of these palace yamen were relatively new.
However, walking down Chang'an Street, we soon left the vicinity of the palace. The streets became busier.
The city of Nanjing is different from the city of Beijing. In other words, southern cities are different from northern cities. Most of the streets in northern cities are horizontal and vertical. Divide the city into neat squares. But southern cities are different. The streets in southern cities are generally uneven due to the topography of the river. There are any directions.
The same is true for Chang'an Street in Nanjing, which is completely different from Chang'an Street in Beijing.
The Nanjing Imperial Palace is also completely different from the Beijing Imperial Palace. The Beijing Imperial Palace is on the central axis of Beijing. The Nanjing Imperial Palace is located in the southeast of Nanjing City, directly connected to the outer city. Not far from the Nanjing Imperial Palace out of the city to the southeast, it is in the direction of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.
As a result, Chang'an Street in front of the Nanjing Imperial Palace is also a sloping road. After exiting Chang'an Street, we crossed a stone bridge. It seemed that the street suddenly became noisy.
The prince did not hold a ceremonial guard, because if the prince had a ceremonial guard, a large number of soldiers would be needed to clear the streets. However, even if the prince did not display a guard of honor, there were many guards around him, layers upon layers of guards surrounding him. The twenty or thirty steps away from the prince were occupied by guards.
He Xi took a quick look. There are a lot of signboards on both sides of the street. It can be seen that the Ming Dynasty did not have street management requirements, so that the signboards on the street were as high as one floor. Originally, most of the houses on both sides of Nanjing streets were one or two stories. Many are one-story wooden floors with an attic above them. But there is a big sign on the attic. Written on a line of cloth. A certain restaurant.
On both sides of the street, there was a steady flow of people. Met the prince and his party. It's just avoided on both sides. There was no panic.
He Xi looked at the street and the shops on both sides. Bluestone slabs on the ground. Passing stone bridge. For a moment, I felt like I wasn't seeing enough.
Everything here, that kind of antique, yet lively feeling, cannot be expressed in any film and television city or any TV series.
"I really lived in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty." Something seemed to fall in He Xi's heart. Or something is broken.
Many times, people are reluctant to see the Yellow River. Although He Xi had long realized that he had arrived in ancient times. But deep down, there may not be a trace of fantasy. For example, who pranked him, for example, this is a reality show or something.
Now I see the prosperous and lively city of Nanjing. Just know that no one has such big arms to deceive themselves.
At this moment, He Xi seemed to have given up, but also relaxed a lot.
He has accepted the fact that he cannot go back. So just live well in this era.
After all, it was a journey against the odds six hundred years ago. My peaceful place is my hometown.
"Brother He. What do you think of Nanjing City?" the prince said.
He Xi came back to her senses and said, "Not bad." Although there was a huge crowd. Compared with some pedestrian streets in later generations, it is still much worse. But the fireworks and antique beauty of the human world were something he had never seen before.
The prince said, "Although many places in the world have not yet recovered, Nanjing is the imperial capital after all. My father said that the people of Nanjing have contributed to my family's victory in the world. Especially during the battle with Chen Youliang, the people of Nanjing did their best. Fully support the front line. Therefore, since the founding of the country by my father, up to now, Nanjing and the nearby Taiping areas have been exempted from taxes for more than ten consecutive years. After more than ten years of rest and interest, the people also have some money in their hands, and this situation is only possible. However, this is only the case in Nanjing. People all over the world are still tired, especially in the north."
"Brother He, you come from the north, is that right?"
He Xi was lamenting that Zhu Yuanzhang was quite good to the people of Nanjing. But the prince suddenly asked him this question. I didn't know how to answer for a while.
Tian Jian was pitiful. He had never seen what the north of the Ming Dynasty looked like. However, the identity assigned to him by Zhu Yuanzhang was that of a disciple of Zen Master Dazhi. This Zen Master Dazhi has been traveling in the north. He said he didn't know the situation in the north, and no one would believe him.
He Xi hesitated, not yet figuring out how to respond.
The prince continued: "I think Brother He has been in the temple all the time. He doesn't know much about the people's sentiments. It's too difficult for me to ask this."
"Yes." Since the prince said so. He Xi naturally went downhill. Said: "Your Highness is right. I didn't pay attention to the public sentiment before."
The prince's expression remained unchanged and he continued to introduce the streets of Nanjing to He Xi. But it was already confirmed in my heart. This He Xi was certainly not a disciple of Zen Master Dazhi, nor was he necessarily from the north. Otherwise, how could we not know the sentiments of the people in the north?
This situation was not unexpected by the prince.
The prince had many speculations about He Xi's identity. However, he got some advice from Song Lian. No matter who He Xi is. He didn't even care. He was just asking out of curiosity.
