[Chapter 2, Asking for Red Tickets, Collection]

Early in the morning, Han Gang and his entourage settled the account and set off to leave Bajiao Town. Han Gang didn't know that the poems he wrote on the wall of the West Taiyi Palace had already set off a wave, and even if he knew the Dao, he wouldn't take it to heart.

Kaifeng Mansion is in front of you, the prosperity of the world, the famous ministers and virtuous ministers who shine through the ages, and the romantic talents who leave their names in history, at this time, are all in that glorious giant city.

There should still be a long distance from Tokyo City, but except for Lu Ming, the other three people can't tell whether this is inside the city or outside the city, the bustling street market, the rows of houses, no matter how you look at it, it is the scenery that only the thoroughfare of the big city can have. Liu Zhongwu and Li Xiaoliu looked back from time to time, and they were all wondering if they had inadvertently passed through the walls of Tokyo City.

However, the outer city wall of Kaifeng is still far ahead, and a three-zhang thick city wall cannot divide the prosperous scenery of Tokyo City at all.

In the distance, they saw Qionglin Garden, surrounded by a wall, and they couldn't see the scenery inside, only the trees within the wall peeked out.

For the scholars in the world who want to get a list of scholars and are willing, Qionglin Yuan is a holy place. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a Qujiang banquet, which was specially designed to entertain the scholars of high school. Now there is a Qionglin banquet, which is located in the Qionglin Garden. In March of the year of the big competition, the Jinshi list is released, and the new Jinshi will wear hairpins and wear red, cross the horse and parade the streets, from the Xuande Gate all the way to the Qionglin Garden in the west of the city. On that day, tens of thousands of people in Tokyo would gather on the roadside to watch and admire. This is the highest honor for the scholars who have just become famous in one fell swoop in the cold window of ten years.

Han Gang looked at Lu Ming out of the corner of his eye. He was next to Qionglin Garden, but he was smiling and laughing, and he seemed to have really let go of the knot in his heart for thirty years. Once he had an epiphany, his temperament changed so freely, which made Han Gang admire it.

In the north of Qionglin Garden, a lake across the road is the equally famous Jinming Pond. Unlike the heavily guarded Qionglin Garden, the square lake with a circumference of nine miles and thirty paces is not enclosed by a wall. Although there are still sergeants patrolling, in the spring, Jinming Pond, which is located in the west of Kaifeng City and is also known as West Lake, will be very open to ordinary people.

"Every year from the first day of March to the eighth day of April, Jinmingchi will be open to all people to visit." Lu Ming habitually introduced roadside attractions to Han Gang. "To the arrival of the Son of Heaven, the armies of Jinming Chi competed for the bid, the east of the pool set up a colorful shed, the shed sergeant tens of thousands, it is said that such a beautiful scene, not under the first fifteenth day of the Yuan Lantern Festival."

"Supposedly?" Liu Zhongwu asked strangely.

Han Gang coughed, and Lu Ming explained disapprehantly, "By the middle of March, I will go back to my hometown early in the morning." ”

Liu Zhongwu was slightly embarrassed, but Lu Ming didn't seem to be concerned. Han Gang looked at Jin Mingchi from afar, as if the cough just now was not from him.

Han Gang had been to Kaifeng several times in his previous life, and he had visited Jinmingchi and Qionglin Garden under reconstruction, but the cement essence of the building did not have the charm of the house at this time, and it was not special at all in the tourist attractions composed of countless antique buildings.

Although Han Gang couldn't get too close to this Jinming Pond in front of him, he could still see the surface of the lake covered with ice. A small hall on the island in the middle of the lake, facing the water and watching the wind, independent of the ice.

The dragon boat in the pond, which was only for the use of the Son of Heaven, was parked on the shore in an empty field that looked like a ship. I heard Lu Ming say that it was called Da Ao. Through the shelter of the trees around the pool, you can see that many people are coming in and out of the boat, and it is estimated that the necessary renovation will be carried out for the arrival of the Son of Heaven in a month's time.

From the other side of Jinming Pond, a jade belt winds out, merges into the city, and enters the city from Xishuiguan. From this point of view, Jinming Pond is actually also used to regulate the water level of the moat. The square Jinming Pond was built in the later Zhou Xiande period and was the site for water warfare drills. Nowadays, although the original intention of rehearsing water battles is no longer there, it is still a grand festival to compete for the bid in Jinmingchi after spring every year.

As we got closer to the city gate, there were more and more pedestrians around—but there were still ten days before the provincial exam began, but on the road, it was rare for scholars to wander around, and they basically stayed in their residences and carried out the most difficult review sprints. For example, the group of people who drank and enjoyed the plum blossoms in the West Taiyi Palace yesterday was actually a very rare exception - shuttling through the crowd, as if they were trekking in a swamp, and always be careful not to knock down pedestrians. They walked for nearly an hour on the five-mile road in front of the city gate. When Han Gang and the others finally arrived at the city gate, they were already sweating.

Han Gang stood by the moat, looking around. The wide city was thirty paces wide, and because it was winter, the ice on the river was much lower than the riverbank, and there was a row of willow trees by the river, bare. But just looking at the thousands of branches that still exist on the trunk, you can imagine that everything grows in spring, and the style of green willows is like brocade.

The blue-black walls on the other side of the moat twist and turn like waves, and you can't see the end at a glance. The 50-mile-long Tokyo Castle Wall protects the world's largest castle. The five-zhang high wall is far more than the other cities that Han Gang has seen all the way from Qinzhou.

This is Kyoshi.

Li Xiaoliu opened his mouth, surprised by the majesty of the Jingshi. And Liu Zhongwu's raised eyebrows, the exclamation in his heart could not be concealed. Lu Ming looked at Han Gang with a little pride, but Han Sanguan was more calm than Liu Zhongwu, and he was not surprised at all.

This time, it was Lu Ming's turn to be surprised, and when he saw Tokyo City for the first time, his eyeballs almost fell out. And he has entered Beijing all times, not without walking with the scholars who entered Beijing for the first time to take the exam, and they are all of the same virtue as him.

Although Chang'an and Luoyang are famous, they are far inferior in scale to Tokyo Kaifeng. Han Gang still came out of Qinzhou, although Qinzhou City is stronger than Pizhou, but it can't be compared with the capital. Han San is young, has it been that the Qi cultivation kung fu has reached the point where the seven emotions are unhindered?

Lu Ming was surprised by something, and Han Gang could see the reason. The local buns in the countryside enter the city, and Grandma Liu enters the Grand View Garden, which is generally laughable. Lu Ming didn't mean anything, he just wanted to see his surprise, but how could Han Gang let him get his wish?

Although the city of Tokyo in front of you is indeed majestic, it is still inferior to the Nanjing city wall in later generations, and it cannot be compared with the Great Wall rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty, so in terms of architecture, it is almost impossible to deter Hangang by relying on the scale of the Kaifeng city wall. If it is the wild interest of the small bridge and flowing water, or the beauty of the garden pavilion, it will make him full of praise. No way, it's not a problem with the city of Tokyo, it's a gap in the times.

However, the Tokyo Castle Wall in front of you is not the concrete castle wall that was demolished and rebuilt in later generations, and it is full of ancient meaning. Although it lacks the desolation and toughness of the northwest border village, it has the heaviness of the Central Plains and the grace of the Beijing Division. Although Han Gang was not amazed, his admiring gaze was also indispensable.

Just inside the moat, at the base of the wall, there was a ring of low walls five feet high—the wall that stood in front of the wall was called the wall of sheep and horses. In the narrow space between the sheep and horse wall and the city wall, flocks of sheep, horses, pigs and other livestock are crowded, which is the origin of the name of the sheep and horse wall. The owners of these livestock were all from a distance of one or two hundred miles from the prefecture and county near the capital, and they sold and delivered them under the city.

On weekdays, the sheep and horses wall is only used as a market for livestock to be sold. In wartime, the role of the sheep and horse wall is even greater. With the assistance of the sheep and horse wall, the city wall is no longer thin, but combined with the moat and the sheep and horse wall into a complete defense system. The soldiers in the city can go down behind the sheep and horse wall and form two three-dimensional strikes with the defenders on the city.

'It's just,' Han Gang's smile was a little cold, "no matter how well the Tokyo City Wall is repaired, it's useless, and the people in the city can't defend anyone." 'The willpower of the defenders is more important than the defense of the city. Zhang's patrol of Suiyang is proof of this, and decades later, a live drama will be staged inside and outside the city, which is a better negative teaching material.

Before stepping onto the castle gate, the wide stone bridge that crosses the Hao River leads to the main gate of Tokyo Castle, Shinzheng Gate, in front of you. On the top of the city gate, there are four big characters of Shuntian Gate - Xinzheng is only a common name, and Shuntian is the real name. The eaves and arches, the golden and brilliant triple city tower pressed against the door, there is no military building should be killed, but there is a lot more wealth and nobility. Even if the city is full of horn flags and guards, it still lacks the sense of majesty of the northwest walled city.

Han Gang glanced at the city tower a few times, then withdrew his gaze and sighed self-deprecatingly. After all, he is not from the background of studying architecture, if he is an architect like Liang Sicheng, and sees that the city gate of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty is not painted on the Qingming Shanghe map, but really appears in front of him, he will probably die of myocardial infarction excitedly.

As the flow of people arrived at the city gate, the inspection of the Jingshi city gate was much more relaxed than expected, Han Gang and his party got off the horse and led them through the city gate, and no one came to inquire. Han Gang took a look, and only business travelers with large bags or vehicles on their bodies would be stopped to pay taxes. Others, the city guards don't take a second look at it at all.

This is unimaginable in Qinzhou, unless it is an official like Han Gang who is familiar with his face, who can escape the search? I thought that Luoyang, Zhengzhou and other cities were not about defense because they were in the mainland, but the capital of the Great Song Dynasty and the center of gravity of a country were still so relaxed, which was really unexpected by Han Gang.

However, it is said that there are as many as 10,000 pigs, sheep and other livestock that are driven into Tokyo every day, and there are countless chickens and ducks. Tens of thousands of business officials or local residents come and go every day, and if they are checked one by one, thirty-six hours a day is not enough.

Passing through the two gates and the urn castle between the gates, the first thing that appeared in front of Han Gang was not Tokyo Castle, which made their hearts surge, nor the Imperial Road Heavenly Street, which led directly to Suzaku Gate, but a group of drummers who were blowing joy and beating small drums came to face them. In front of the propaganda class, there were several pairs of Zhu Yi officials holding chess cards. After the propaganda class, there was another team of soldiers and horses pressing the formation, followed by a manpower carrying the cage.

Looking at this formation, Han Gang and the surrounding crowd all avoided on both sides of the road, making way for this group of people.

"Which royal family wants to marry his daughter?" Before Han Gang could ask about it, someone next to him asked first.

"Didn't you see the gold belt on Zhu Pao's body? Say less about a county duke. ”

"The one who married should be the county lord?!"