Chapter 6: The Duke's Manor

  Entering from the Yangtze River into the Qinhuai River waterway, along the way you can see Dinghuaimen, Qingliangmen, Shichengmen, and then Xixiaomen. The majestic city wall is like a mighty dragon, extending southward without an end in sight, magnificent and impressive, showing off the grandeur of Nanjing as the imperial capital.

  "How many meters high is the city gate? Thirty-six meters high. Riding a white horse, with a knife on his waist, walking under the city gate." Peng Jingrong first recited a nursery rhyme. Then she began to talk about the famous gates of Nanjing: "In fact, when it comes to the capital's city gates, people in Nanjing can count them out with their fingers: 'thirteen inside and eighteen outside'. There is also a folk proverb that lists the names of the city gates: 'Shen Ce Jin Chuan Yi Feng Men, Huai Yuan Qing Liang Dao Shi Cheng. San Shan Ju Bao Lian Tong Ji, Hong Wu Chao Yang Ding Tai Ping.' These city gates are listed in order from southeast to northwest: Chaoyang Gate; Zhengyang Gate, Tongji Gate, Jubaomen, Shuixi Gate; Shicheng Gate, Qingliang Gate; Huaiyuan Gate, Yifeng Gate, Zhongfu Gate, Jin Chuan Gate, Shen Ce Gate, Taiping Gate. This is what people usually call 'thirteen inside'. The 'eighteen outside' refers to the city walls and gates, with Qilin Gate, Xianhe Gate, Yaofang Gate, Guanyin Gate, Foning Gate, Shangyuan Gate, Cangbo Gate, Gaotai Gate, Shangfang Gate, Jiangan Gate, Fengtai Gate, Daxiao Ande Gate, Daxiao Xiangmen, Jiangdong Gate on the east side. The thirteen inner city gates are all connected to the main streets in the city, with streets intersecting and dividing into primary and secondary roads, forming a solid defense system and convenient transportation network."

  This girl is simply a living dictionary, no, it's a mobile search engine. Liu Ziguang was really impressed by Peng Jingrong's extensive knowledge and strong memory, but what he didn't realize was that every word Peng Jingrong said had already been imprinted in his mind. As for extensive knowledge and strong memory, the modified brain of his could hold much more information than any child prodigy or genius, with a much stronger memory.

  There is another water gate on the south side of Xishimen, called Xishuiguan. It corresponds to Dongshuiguan on the east side of the city wall. It is the entrance where the Qinhuai River flows through the city and enters the Yangtze River, and it is also an important passage for boats entering Nanjing.

  There are many ships waiting in line to enter the city, it feels like a traffic jam. Because of the routine inspection by the naval officers and soldiers, the progress is very slow. Fortunately, there is a dock nearby, so we can get off the ship and enter the city by land. We've had enough of taking boats for these few days, so it's just right to change to horse-drawn carriages. The boss of Nanjing Lianfeng had already anticipated that they would get off here, so he brought a horse-drawn carriage and has been waiting here for a long time.

  Liu Ziguang and his party disembarked from the boat and boarded a carriage, entering the city through the Water West Gate. The steamships remained queued up waiting.

  The two young ladies were sitting in a carriage, Liu Ziguo was riding a horse, and the more valuable items and personal luggage were also placed on several carriages behind them. The welcoming team and Liu Ziguo's entourage, the two young ladies' maids and attendants, a large group of people and horses entered through the Water West Gate.

  The real name of Shuiximen is Sanshanmen, which has three inner cities, four city walls, one after another, and a complex city wall. The gate of the city also has a gate tower, forming two towers in front and behind. Each city gate is equipped with wooden double gates and a thousand-pound gate that can be opened and closed. When the enemy attacks, even if they break through the city gate and enter the city, as long as the thousand-pound gate is lowered, the enemy will become a turtle in a jar, and people on the city wall can slaughter them at will.

  Liu Ziguang was once again stunned by the imposing atmosphere of the city wall, which seemed as solid as gold and unshakeable. His eyes were not enough to take in the intricate design of the city gate. The guards at the gate were soldiers under the command of the General of the Nine Gates Patrol and the Five Battalions Infantry. They wore iron helmets, carried waist knives, and only wore their uniforms without armor. They stood lazily, occasionally checking passersby, but it was all just a show, a mere formality. The flow of people in and out of the Water West Gate was extremely large, although not as big as the Aggregation Gate to the south, but every day there were still countless vegetables, fruits, and other goods being transported into the city.

  The people of Lianfeng led the way in front, and naturally the road was smooth. The fleet moved forward along the road by the Qinhuai River, and the wine houses and tea houses on both sides of the road were filled with people, leisurely drinking tea, chatting, and listening to books. On the upper floor of the Qinglou brothel, beautiful women smiled and beckoned passersby. On the street, vendors and travelers came and went, riding horses, sitting in sedan chairs, carrying poles, walking on foot, rubbing shoulders and following closely. A scene of a big city.

  This is the ancient capital, Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty. Liu Ziguang suppressed his excitement and muttered to himself. Such a big city must have tens of millions of people. Everything before him was more real than any historical movie, if only he could record it all with a camera.

  Walking along San Shan Street, the Qinhuai River can be seen again in the distance. This is the authentic Ten Miles of Qinhuai River scenery. The river is not wide, but the water is clear and sparkling. On both banks, there are green buildings standing tall, painted boats floating on the water, colorful lanterns shining brightly, golden powder towers, and scales overlapping each other.

  Prosperity! Besides prosperity, it's still prosperity. The sound of silk and bamboo music drifts from the painted boats, mingling with the hawkers' cries along the street, the shouts of people and the neighing of horses blending together to form a unique symphony.

  Further ahead are the Confucius Temple and Jiangnan Examination Hall, which is the most yearned for place by scholars all over the world, a stepping stone to fame and fortune. In "The Scholars" by Liu Xiang, there was an old student named Zhou Jin who went mad after seeing the examination hall, showing how important this place is in the minds of scholars. Although it's still early days before the autumn examinations, many students, including those from other provinces, live nearby with their families' silver, either waiting for the exams or socializing with officials and scholars through literary gatherings.

  Where there are people, there is business. The prosperity of the Husband's Temple area has reached its peak, with numerous shops and tea houses, wine shops and brothels that cannot be counted. Each one is decorated beautifully, with a large number of attendants standing at the door to attract customers. It can truly be said that this is "the area of smoke and moon in six dynasties, where gold dust gathers".

  Seeing the local tyrant leading them towards Fuzi Temple, Liu Ziguang was delighted and thought to himself that it's still good that the people below know how to curry favor with their leaders. They must be staying at a luxurious inn by the Qinhuai River tonight, where they'll have plenty of food and fun.

  But who knows, the guide suddenly turned a corner and led everyone into a quiet road. The roadside was surrounded by walls, which seemed to be a very large mansion. Before long, they stopped in front of a grand gate.

  At the entrance of the house, there is a majestic stone lion, and on the crimson gate, countless copper nails are innumerable. On the pillars on both sides, a couplet is engraved.

  The upper line is:

  The great river flows eastward, and the waves have washed away the heroes of a thousand years. I ask, outside the building, where are the green mountains? Outside the mountains, where is the white cloud? Where is the Tang Palace and the Han Que?

  The couplet is:

  A small courtyard in spring brings forth a beautiful scene, where by the pool green trees and red raindrops meet. In this place, there are days of Shun and skies of Yao.

  Someone brought in the invitation card, and everyone got off their horses and cars. Liu Ziguang pretended to identify the complex characters for a long time, then read out the couplet lightly, shook his head and nodded, saying it was good, and wanted to take a look at the horizontal inscription. Not seeing the horizontal inscription, he saw a huge plaque on the door with four big words "Wei Guo Gong Fu".

  It turned out to be the residence of a high-ranking official, what are you doing here? Liu Ziguang was puzzled, and a small girl like a pink ball had already run out from inside. She wore a white tight-fitting outfit and ran with great energy, looking like a martial artist's daughter. Behind her, a group of maidservants were following closely, quickly moving their feet to keep up with the little girl.

  The little girl ran out of the side door and held hands with the Peng sisters who had already gotten off the carriage: "Two sisters, why did you just arrive? I've been thinking about it for several times, hurry up and enter the mansion, your guest room has been prepared long ago.

  The main gate of the Wang Mansion was not to be opened casually, so Peng Qian'er and Liu Ziguang, along with a few personal maids and several porters carrying gifts, entered through a side door, while the rest of the people and horses waited at the entrance.

  Liu Ziguang's identity was that of the deputy commander of the iron factory and financial minister, but in the national duke's mansion, he was so insignificant that he couldn't even be mentioned, and could only follow behind like an ordinary house servant, listening to the non-stop chatter of the little fatty's small mouth as she introduced the latest news from the capital city to her two sisters.

  "The White General of the Broken Lianhua Horse has arrived in the capital, do you sisters know? That's a matter of great interest to our city. Just the other day, I even invited a storyteller to come to our mansion to tell me this story. How about we go together tomorrow to see the White General?" said the little girl Fangtuan to the Peng family sisters.

  The Peng sisters looked at each other in surprise, and Liu Ziguang was also a bit stunned. He didn't expect that his reputation had spread so far. Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, he heard Peng Jingrong say: "Xiyuan, how did you get the news so quickly? The little general who broke the linked horses just arrived in Nanjing and you already knew about it."

  Miss Xu Xiuyuan of the National Duke's Mansion pouted and said, "Of course, General Bai is the person I admire most. After his victory in Liguojun, he was promoted to be a co-administrator of the Embroidered Uniform Guard by the imperial court and arrived at the Town Calming Command's yamen just yesterday. Let's go find him there tomorrow, I still want to have a martial arts competition with him."

  It turned out that he was an impersonator, and everyone looked at each other in silence, only with a bitter smile. Peng Jingrong asked while walking: "What's the name of the white-robed young general you mentioned?"

  "Hai Zhou Huang Zhen Huang Tian Ba, have you heard of him? Recently, everyone in the tea house has been talking about his book." Xu Xi Yuan said.

  "I thought it was someone else, but it's actually him. Xi Yuanyuan, I'll tell you all about this Huang Tianba thing later." Peng Jingwei interrupted. It's this old acquaintance, no enemies don't gather together, from Xuzhou Prefecture to the capital city. This kid not only doesn't give up, but is even more arrogant now, this time we must defeat him!

  A few people strolled along the corridor in the garden, admiring the scenery. This is a typical Jiangnan garden, with a covered corridor that allows for leisurely strolls even on rainy days. The artificial hills and trees are surrounded by lush greenery, with waterfalls cascading down; the pool's surface glimmers with ripples, and red fish swim about. The artificial hill is composed of sheer cliffs, steep precipices, valleys, caves, waterfalls, grottos, and stepping stones, all constructed from hundreds of thousands of tons of Taihu stone. From the front, it appears as if it were naturally formed. Although the southern artificial hill is less than three zhang high, its ingenious design creates an impression of towering mountains, deep valleys, and endless water sources.

  Xu Xiwen turned around and casually saw Liu Ziguang, asking: "Sister, what does this person do? I don't think I've seen him before?"

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