Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 24 Coming to Nanjing, Traveling to the Qinhuai River at Night
Since Jiashen's national calamity, Wang Yan escaped from the capital. He followed Liu Lishun's advice and returned to the south quickly, intending to reorganize the old rivers and mountains.

Wang Yan also firmly believes that as long as he reaches the south that is still under the control of Daming, everything will be better.

In the process of fleeing south, although he experienced many twists and turns, experienced the defeat of Qingzhou, and was hunted down by the Qing army all the way, but whenever he felt desperate, he would remember that as long as he fled to the south, everything would be fine, so Wang Yan fought thousands of miles, broke through the siege of the Qing army, and came to the land under the control of Ming Dynasty.

Wang Yan thought that he would really become a talent to assist the country as the teacher praised him. Wang Yan thought that he could really show his strengths. More importantly, he thought that he could drive the Manchus out of the country together with the southern princes. Outside the customs, restore the old rivers and mountains.

Now he thought he was in the south, but the development of things disappointed him greatly. Shi Kefa didn't accept his advice several times, and the princes in the south didn't intend to recover the rivers and mountains, which was completely different from what he had in mind.

Zhao Yingyuan is an unreliable warlord, and the Shi Ge Department can't count on him, and he himself is weak. How can we change the situation in this way?
After sending Shi Kefa away, Wang Yan returned to Xuzhou in a daze.

Because Gao Yuanzhao failed to worship Shi Kefa as his adoptive father, he was humiliated instead, and the Xuzhou generals didn't take a good look at him, the instigator.

The Loyalty Camp couldn't stay in Xuzhou, so they moved their troops outside the city and set up camp by the river.Fortunately, Mrs. Xing was reasonable and knew that Wang Yan was also kind, so she didn't make things difficult, and neither food nor military pay was deducted, allowing Wang Yan to take time to settle down.

Not long after, the rewards for the Battle of Suizhou were also handed down. Wang Yan was promoted to the fifth-rank Sizhou garrison and led General Dewu. The Loyalty Battalion was also transferred from Xuzhou to Sizhou.

Before leaving, Wang Yan went to visit Li Chengdong again, hoping to remind him to guard against the Qing soldiers going south, but Li Chengdong was indifferent, so Wang Yan had no choice but to give up.

After the army entered Sizhou, Wang Yan incorporated Li Taizhen, a thousand households who had been guarding Sizhou, and the loyalty camp expanded from 1000 to [-] people.

Many opportunities to fight against the Qing army were easily given up, and many Cambodian words were rejected, which made Wang Yan very eager to master a powerful force, so he was very fancy about the Zhongyi Camp.

After arriving in Sizhou, he cheered up again, while training soldiers and horses, while waiting for the imperial court's instructions, but the time had already entered mid-February, but there was no military order, and he couldn't help feeling a little anxious.

At this time, the Qing army had completely controlled Shaanxi, and Li Zicheng was chased all the way to the Dengzhou area in southwest Henan, while the Qing soldiers of the Duoduo tribe had already entered Henan.

The Qing soldiers could go south at any time, but since Shi Ge's troops returned to Yangzhou, there was no military order. There was no instruction at all on how to deal with the Qing soldiers and how the generals should cooperate.

As time passed, Wang Yan became more and more anxious. He couldn't stay in Sizhou with peace of mind, so he entrusted Wang Wei and Li Taizhen to take care of the general affairs, while he took Liu Shun, Qian Yifeng and others to Nanjing, wanting to see Zuo Maodi, saying clearly The urgency of the situation.

Wang Yan and others traveled south quickly and crossed the river to Nanjing in a few days.

Unlike the decline of people's livelihood in the north of the Yangtze River, the land in the south of the Yangtze River has never suffered from military disasters, so there are completely two scenes.

When Wang Yan entered the city, it was almost dark, but the city was bustling with people.

If it wasn't for Wang Yan and others who came from the north and saw this scene, they would have thought that another prosperous age had arrived.

Since the Chongzhen Dynasty, peasant uprisings have continued in the northern regions, coupled with the continuous entry of slaves, the economy and people's livelihood have long been dilapidated, while the south has not been war-torn, and it is still a scene of prosperity.

Wang Yan was born in a big family in the south, and he traveled around with his elder brothers, and has seen such a prosperous scene, but it was the first time for Liu Shun and Qian Yifeng to see such a prosperous scene, and they were immediately excited.

It was getting dark, and Wang Yan didn't know where Zuo Maodi's mansion was located, so he asked Liu Shun to find an inn to stay first, and then took the two of them around the city to learn about the customs and customs of Nanjing.

When he was tired from walking, Wang Yan chose a nice restaurant to reward these two brothers who followed him through life and death.

It is pitiful to say that since they followed Wang Yan, they have been traveling all the way, and finally got such a stable residence in Sizhou, but they were pulled out by Wang Yan before they had time to enjoy it.

In the past six months, the two of them have done less than Xi's, not to mention big fish and meat. This time they came to Nanjing, and naturally they have to make up for it.

The three of them found a restaurant called Shanhailou, and when they entered, they saw that it was almost full of diners, each of them was carrying plates of wine and vegetables, and walking among the diners, the fragrance spread, making people's appetite greatly increased.

When Wang Yan came to Nanjing this time, he didn't bring much money with him. Apart from the military salary, he had almost no other source of income. If it wasn't for the Battle of Suizhou, he was rewarded by Uncle Xingping's mansion for his meritorious service in beheading Xu Dingguo. I'm afraid that during this trip to Nanjing, even their presence in the store has become a big problem.

Thinking that he only had more than 40 taels of silver in his hand, Wang Yan didn't go to the private room on the second floor, and directly sat down at the empty table by the window under the leadership of Xiao Si.

Immediately, they ordered two salted ducks, one stewed soy sauce, a few side dishes, and a few baskets of steamed buns, and they placed a table full in front of the three of them.

In the past, when Liu Shun and Qian Yifeng had dinner, they would only draw one word, "full!"

That is what fills the stomach, what can withstand hunger, what to eat, never ask for what is delicious, what is delicious.

Now facing a table of delicacies, it would really bring tears to his face, Wang Yan saw that they were eating unrestrainedly, attracting the eyes of those who came to the table, his heart was sad and funny at the same time. "It's fine for Liu Shun to be ugly, but Zi Yun is a scholar, how can he learn from him?"

Hearing Wang Yan teased him that he looked ugly, Liu Shun didn't refute. He grabbed a fat, oily duck leg with one hand and stuffed a bun into his mouth with the other, just giggling while eating.

"My lord doesn't know something. With my talent and learning, I'm already the ultimate scholar. If I can exchange mere fame and fame for delicious food every day, I'd rather be like Liu Shun and be a rascal." Qian Yifeng didn't stop moving his hands, He doesn't care about his own image at all, but he is quite proud of it.

Qian Yifeng used to talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality, and he talked about the way of saints in the army all day long. The annoying Liu Shun and others couldn't stand it, so they beat him up together. Unexpectedly, he changed his original intention after that. Looking more and more like a rascal.

Liu Shun heard this, but said unhappily: "You eat yours, I eat mine, how can you take me with you, and take the opportunity to call me a rascal!" Wang Yan was worried about too many things and was always depressed. Now seeing the two of them eating and arguing, I can't help but feel better.

After the three of them wiped out a table of delicacies, Wang Yan planned to go back to the inn to rest, but it was Liu Shun who seemed to be a little bit unsatisfied.

After leaving the restaurant, the three of them came to the street. It was already dark, but there were no fewer pedestrians. The street was full of traffic, and the lights on both sides were brightly lit.
"Master, are you coming back now?" Liu Shun obviously had never seen such a night scene, and when he saw Wang Yan leading them to the inn, he said with some reluctance.

"Look at your prospects, if you get to the Qinhuai River, you'll be fine, I'm afraid you won't even be able to move your feet!" Qian Yifeng said shamelessly. "My lord, don't pay attention to this earthen hat."

"Speak as if you can walk!" Liu Shun said not to be outdone, "Have you ever been to the Qinhuai River? I'm afraid you don't even know what the banks of the Qinhuai River look like!"

"What do you know? I'm a scholar. There are records in all the books in this world. A scholar can know the world's affairs without leaving home!" Qian Yifeng ignored Liu Shun's ridicule, but said complacently: "You heard Have you ever been to Qinhuai Bayan? Do you know Chen Yuanyuan?"

After hearing Qian Yifeng's words, Liu Shun couldn't help being stunned, and immediately became interested. "Oh, you really know! Tell me quickly."

"Okay, stop making trouble!" Seeing that the two of them were getting more and more outrageous, Wang Yan quickly said, "Don't listen to Ziyun's nonsense, Bayan has long had a master, and she is often a concubine! Don't say that they are already married. If you are not by the Qinhuai River, even if you are still here, you will not be seen if you do not have ten thousand taels of silver and world-shaking talents."

Wang Yan also often hears about the name of Eight Beauty, and the stories of gifted scholars and beautiful ladies are always popular among people.

After hearing what Wang Yan said, Liu Shun couldn't help feeling regretful.

Seeing that the time was still early, and seeing the pity of the two, Wang Yan decided to take them for a walk along the Qinhuai River, so as to avoid the itching of the two.

Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, created the prosperity of the Qinhuai River.

Shili Qinhuai is the bustling place of Nanjing. Across the river is the Jiangnan Gongyuan, the general examination venue for the Southern Region Examination. A flower boat.

Wang Yan led Liu Shun and Qian Yifeng to the west of the city, and arrived at the bank of the Qinhuai River not long after.

Compared with the city, Wang Yan couldn't help being amazed by the prosperity of the Qinhuai River, as each lantern almost illuminated both sides of the river.

On the flower boats moored in the river, the sound of silk and bamboo is imperceptible to the ears, and the beautiful and melodious singing makes people mesmerized.

Scholars and literati on board, reciting poems and having fun, unrestrained, looking like a prosperous age, if Wang Yan and others hadn't come from Jiangbei and looked at the prosperous scene, they would never have believed that the world has been corrupted, and the moment of life and death has come.

The princes of the south are in such a place of luxury and gold. Since ancient times, the gentle township has been a tomb of heroes. They don't care about riding southwards or wearing clothes.

Seeing this situation, Wang Yan couldn't help feeling sad.

Liu Shun and Qian Yifeng felt Wang Yan's depression, and they were not messing around at the moment, but followed Wang Yan silently, walking step by step by the river.

Before they knew it, the three of them came under a building, and a beautiful and melodious singing sound came from it.

"The green grass and blue flowers are in full bloom, and the colorful butterflies linger for a long time. Through the ages, it has been eulogized for life and love, and Shanbo is in love with Zhu Yingtai forever. The classmates have been studying together for three years, and they have never guessed each other side by side. Eighteen friends are eager to see each other, and who knows how to say goodbye On the terrace..."

(End of this chapter)