In the early morning, the air was filled with fog. The majestic, howling fog passed over the mountains, crossed the sea and spread to the horizon, like a very frivolous boy. The rising sun on the horizon was like a frightened girl, wrapped and teased by the fog. Her pretty face was flushed and hidden under the horizon. She shyly and angrily waved her jade hand in the morning light, which penetrated the spreading fog and slapped the frivolous boy in the fog with a loud slap.
Yingtian is in the morning fog.
The huge city of Yingtian straddles the natural barrier of the Yangtze River in the north, is backed by the Longpan Mountain of Zhongshan in the east, is backed by the Huju Mountain of Shitou in the west, and overlooks the south of the Yangtze River in the south.
The city wall is more than 100 meters high, like a mountain. Yingtian is divided into the inner city and the outer city. Behind each gate of the inner city is an urn, and each gate has a pound gate. Even if the enemy is lucky enough to break into the first gate, they will be blocked by the pound gate of the urn, and become a turtle in the urn. The outer city was built due to the terrain of the mountain, with 18 gates, and a circumference of nearly 100 miles, with no end in sight.
Such a huge creature is like a wild beast that can stand tall and proud, step on mountains and swallow the sea!
Anyone who sees this majestic city will be filled with admiration and awe. This city really cannot compete with it!
If you look down from above, you will find that there are several small beasts guarding this wild giant beast. These small beasts are guarding the small towns around the giant city of Yingtian. Among them, the small town guarded in the southwest is called: Jiangning Town.
After the first rays of morning light came out, the wild beast of Yingtian opened its huge mouth as if alive, swallowing and spitting out groups of people and carriages and horses. The sounds of hawking, chatting, and the neighing of horses and donkeys were endless, and the whole city of Yingtian was full of vitality.
"Sharpening knives, scissors, kitchen knives, I have been a professional knife sharpener for fifty years, and everyone who has used it says it's good..."
"I sell tofu pudding. Hot tofu pudding. There are cooked tofu pudding, sweet tofu pudding, and spicy tofu pudding."
"Blast Qin Hui, blow Qin Hui..."
"Pot stickers, pot stickers, pork pot stickers, you are in for a treat. My second uncle's ox accidentally ran into a wall on its way home from plowing yesterday, so we had no choice but to report it to the government and have it slaughtered. Today, we have unlimited supply of beef pot stickers..."
The small towns surrounding the huge city of Yingtian also came alive, the city gates were opened, and the sounds and smells of life could be heard from inside the city.
Although there were occasional news about Japanese pirates, especially the pirates from Shangyu who had been causing trouble in Wuhu in the southwest, it had little impact on Jiangning Town. People continued to live their lives and the city was still prosperous.
Why?!
In addition to the fact that Jiangning is backed by Yingtian City and is the gateway to Yingtian and is protected by Yingtian, the military camp outside the city next to the city wall is also the basis for the people of Jiangning to live and work in peace and contentment and for the city to remain prosperous and bustling.
This military camp next to the Jiangning city wall has more than a thousand soldiers, led by Jiangning Commander Zhu Xiang and Jiang Sheng. Commander Zhu Xiang is from a military family. His ancestors once fought under Emperor Hongwu and had military exploits. Zhu Xiang himself is also famous. He once led his army to wipe out a group of water bandits and killed two bandits himself. Commander Jiang Sheng was a military candidate, skilled in archery and horse riding, and had a good gunmanship, which was praised by the world.
The close military control and the powerful commander are the basis for Jiangning to live and work in peace and contentment.
In the early morning, after Jiangning Town opened the city gates, groups of people and horse-drawn carriages came in and out in an endless stream.
Amid the flow of people, a team led by a wealthy businessman walked out of the city towards the city gate. The leader looked like a nouveau riche, wearing brand new silk brocade clothes, a sable coat, a jade pendant around his waist, six gold rings and two jade rings on his hands. More than thirty servants followed behind the wealthy businessman, pushing and pulling eight carts loaded with vegetables, fruits, wine and meat. Two of the carts were pulling jars of wine, and a few of the top jars were open, emitting a strong aroma of wine. Behind the last carriage, there were more than twenty servants carrying loads in their hands, which were bulging with food.
"Haha, you have worked hard, it is thanks to you guarding the gate day and night that we can live a peaceful life. This small token of your appreciation is not enough to show your respect."
The rich businessman was very outgoing. He walked towards the gate guards with a smile and stuffed a silver coin of five taels into the hands of the leading officer. Then he waved to the servants behind him and ordered loudly, "Erzhuzi, Sandaozi, you two come here and give the wine and food to the military master. Wang Er, Liu Qiang, you two bring two jars of good wine. It's freezing cold. Warm the gatekeeper up."
"Hi..." Erzhuzi said hi and came out with a food box. As soon as he opened his mouth, he was bumped by a servant beside him. The servant glared at him without leaving any trace. Erzhuzi immediately realized that he had made a mistake and quickly corrected himself, "Yes, yes, I'm here."
The guards at the city gate were all paying attention to the silver in their hands, while the soldiers at the gate were all paying attention to the food boxes and wine jars. Erzhuzi's slip of the tongue did not attract their attention at all.
"Ahem, this is so bad."
The officer at the city gate couldn't help swallowing, clenched the silver tightly in his hand, and made a false refusal.
"Sir, this is just a small token of our appreciation. We can make a lot of money and live a good life in the back because you are protecting us from the wind and rain in the front. This is just a small token of our appreciation. Please do not decline. It is freezing cold and you still have to stick to your posts. It is really hard work. Drinking a glass of wine can warm you up a little. In fact, we will go to the barracks in the front to reward the soldiers as well."
The rich businessman laughed and insisted on giving the silver, wine and food to the captain at the city gate and others as a token of his gratitude.
"Haha, in that case, then we'd better obey your command. Thank you for your kindness, sir." The lieutenant at the city gate took back his hand that was tightly holding the silver. He didn't really mean to refuse. These five taels of silver were his military pay for almost half a year, and the fragrant food and wine made him and his soldiers drool. How could they bear to push it away
"Thank you for your kindness, sir." The soldiers guarding the gate could not wait to take the wine and food, and they were all smiling like flowers.
"Haha, General, we want to go to the military camp ahead to reward the soldiers. Thank you for protecting us. But we are not familiar with the military camp, and it will probably take a lot of effort to enter the military camp to reward the soldiers. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, General, can you send someone to go with us and help call the camp gate, so that we don't waste time at the camp gate. The food and wine will be unpalatable if they get cold, and the taste will be reduced by at least half."
The wealthy businessman laughed and said to the gatekeeper, requesting him to send someone to accompany them to reward the soldiers.
"Haha, it's just a small matter, just a small matter." The guard replied casually, turned his head and looked at a guard soldier, waved to him, "Zhang Suo, isn't your brother-in-law guarding the camp gate? You can accompany the others. Don't worry, I'll leave you a portion of the wine and food, you won't be left out."
"Okay." The gatekeeper Zhang Suo responded happily.
I have just received money and food and drinks from them, so it's nothing to do a small thing like opening the door for them.