Chapter 105: The Moonlit Night of the Twenty-Four Bridges (Part I)

Now that he has seen the situation clearly, Tang Chengyi has no intention of continuing to stay here, after all, schoolwork and family affairs are not young and old, and he proposed to Wu Yujun that he should send a letter back to Jinzhou early tomorrow morning to explain the situation to Mrs. Sun, and as for the two of them, they will leave for return after resting here for a day.

"Oh, Ah Cheng, what are you anxious about! After all, the city has not yet expressed its position, has it? It's not easy for us to come here with a long mountain and a long water, so it's not too late to get the right letter and leave."

Hearing this, Tang Cheng stopped his steps and looked at Wu Yujun quietly.

"Okay, I'll be honest! It's not easy for me to come out here, Ah Cheng, you should accompany me, so you can stay for a few days before leaving", Tang Cheng knew that Wu Yujun was reluctant to let Yangzhou go prosperous, but he had said that he had already said this, could he still drag him to go, and after sighing in his heart, Tang Cheng nodded helplessly.

In the next few days, Wu Yujun seemed to be like hungry and waterlogged into the hook fence and did not come out, Tang Cheng had no errands but could not go, in this case, he simply let go of his arms, and hired a leaf boat to go along the canal after coming out every morning to see the beautiful scenery of Yangzhou.

Looking at the prosperity of Yangzhou in front of him, and then thinking about Jinzhou, which is also the state city, when Tang Cheng occasionally looked at the Yangzhou Mansion on Shugang, he would inexplicably have a thought in his heart: With insight beyond the times, if I am given a fulcrum like a county and a state, can I build a remote state and county into a prosperous state in front of me?

Every man will have a desire for merit in his heart, a desire to become a hero and be admired and admired, and a passion to change the world, but for the vast majority of people, the constraints and pressure of reality make them consciously hide this desire in the deepest part of their hearts, because they are too deep to be aware of it.

Tang Cheng was no exception, but the difficult life situation after crossing over made him consciously hide this desire. If it weren't for the fact that this time he was far away from the environment he usually found in, if it wasn't for the stimulation of the prosperity of Yangzhou in front of him, I was afraid that this desire and passion would not be "revealed".

The oars are light, the river is leisurely, and Tang Cheng, who was leaning on the flat boat, unconsciously followed this sudden thought, and the more he thought about it, if I was allowed to govern one county and one state, those experiences in the future life could be used. What kind of change will be brought about if these unusable consciousnesses and insights are used to transcend the times? What will others say about my governance...... In the sound of oars and the shadow of the water, stimulated by Shili Yangzhou, and in another broader environment far away from Jinzhou, the seeds of life values and ideals that transcended family in Tang Cheng's heart quietly began to break through and sprout......

Of course, these thoughts are still far, far away for Tang Cheng now, just like a daydream. He put the thought back into his heart.

Now he still has to live a solid life step by step like before.

Four days later, in the evening, just as Tang Cheng was about to urge Wu Yujun to return to his hometown on the road tomorrow, Wu Yujun, who was a little flustered, brought a special invitation, "The new city envoy has officially arrived after the delivery, and the sea merchants of Huainan Province and Jiangnan East Province will jointly set up a banquet to receive the wind for the new city envoy." The time is set for tomorrow night, this is an invitation that I have worked hard to get, Ah Cheng you tomorrow."

Tang Cheng took this elegantly made invitation and opened it, and the first thing he saw was the long list of names in the lower right corner. I lost interest at the moment, "Are you still concerned about this?" ”。

"It's not that I want to care, it's that there are too many tung oil merchants in the hook column, and the news is mixed, and I can't listen to it or not", Wu Yujun sat down opposite Tang Cheng, "Ah Cheng, you don't know yet, these two days have been very lively." I heard that Lin Ming said cruel words, so don't look at it, four days have passed, and no one dares to go to Zhou Lirong's side because of the tung oil merchants from our southern eastern province, and then Zhou Lirong's foundation has been taken out."

Tang Cheng was a little interested in this, "Oh, where did he come from?" ”。

"It's a big deal, this week Li Rong is the cousin of Cheng Zhou in the imperial history", Wu Yujun's words shocked Tang Cheng's heart. I guessed it right the other day. No wonder Zhou Lirong has such a big tone, the backstage is really hard. The Imperial City Imperial History Observatory is dedicated to the impeachment of hundreds of officials, and its responsibilities are somewhat similar to those of the Central Organization Department of later generations, and the Imperial History Zhongcheng is the second person in the Imperial History Observatory after the Imperial History Doctor, which is indeed not small, "No wonder Zhou Lirong is so stylish!" ”。

"Compared with the person behind his cousin, Zhou Yong is nothing", Wu Yujun coughed twice with interest, and then continued: "I heard my brother-in-law say that in the imperial history, Cheng Zhou Yong, together with the Xia Gong Shangshu Zong Chu Ke and other four people, was collectively called the 'Five Dogs' under Wu Sansi's sect, Wu Sansi, that is the real number one person in the court today."

Even if Tang Chengdi's historical knowledge is sparse, Wu Sansi always knows that this product was originally Wu Zetiandi's nephew, who was crowned king as early as the Zetian Dynasty, and then Zhang Khan and others were re-Zhou for Tang Ying Li Xian to ascend the throne for the second time to succeed the emperor, and Wu Sansi was unscathed. After that, after fornicating with Wei, he married Princess Anle as his daughter-in-law, and even squeezed Zhang Cambodia and other five people out of the court.

"Zhou Yu is okay, if this shop business is really good for Wu Sansi, then what is Lin Ming fighting for, although Lin Baiyu is not a small official, it is too far from Wu Sansi."

"That's such a reason", Wu Yujun deliberately turned around and looked at the tightly closed door, and then whispered: "Lin Observation Envoy also has a hard relationship, once I heard my brother-in-law vaguely mention it, it seems that he has a lot of relationship with the current East Palace."

Even the prince came out, Tang Chengzhen didn't have the heart to listen to it anymore, anyway, he couldn't 'intervene' in this matter, so he didn't think about it anymore, but Wu Yujun on the side was still talking with interest, "Lin Ming is also ruthless, just in the past few days, he has turned out all the bad things that Zhou Lirong used to make a living in the economy, and it is known everywhere, in fact, how many people rely on their relatives to make a living in office?" Isn't he Lin Ming the same? However, this frightened many tung oil merchants, and now, the two are completely torn faces."

When Tang Cheng heard the words "tearing his face", he inexplicably remembered Zhao Laohu's words that day when he tore his face, "The water of this shop's business is getting deeper and deeper, and Yangzhou really can't wait, Brother Wu." We really have to go."

"Yes", although Wu Yujun is a little embarrassed, but after all, he is not a fool, so he can naturally see the current situation clearly, "Ah Cheng, after you go to this banquet tomorrow, we will leave early the day after tomorrow", as for why he didn't go, he didn't need to explain at all. Tang Cheng naturally knew that before leaving, he would have another night of last madness, "You take it easy, be careful of your body!" ”。

The next morning, Tang Cheng got up late, didn't go out again, read a book and passed the time, until noon, after eating, freshened up again and changed clothes, and then went out.

Tonight's banquet was held in the garden of the Persian merchant Hudurah, but this garden was not in the city of Yangzhou. Tang Cheng hadn't been to that place, so he left early.

At this time, the prosperity of Yangzhou has long exceeded the limit of the city gate, and the large and small shops and shops have extended to the suburbs, especially along the canal, Tang Chengyuan wanted to hire a car at the city gate. When I arrived at the West Water Gate, I noticed that the people in front of me were still lively, and after waiting for a while, I didn't see the car, and Tang Chengsuo was too lazy to wait, so he walked towards the suburbs.

The Golden State is getting smaller and smaller by comparison. Tang Cheng watched idly from both sides, regretting that his family couldn't come together, otherwise it would be a beautiful thing to bring his parents, Li Yingjun, and Lancao to visit this lively scene.

After walking through this prosperous period in the suburbs, Tang Cheng finally saw the Kang Yuan described in the invitation from a distance.

This garden is really not small, looking at the roofs of the houses that stretch out one after another, I am afraid that there are not less than thirty acres, because there are not many people who come early in the day. After Tang Cheng took out the invitation, his own slave led him in.

It's also funny, compared to Tang Cheng himself, the clothes worn by the slaves in Kang Yuan Park today are better than him, if it weren't for Tang Cheng having an invitation card in hand, coupled with his natural demeanor, just because he came on foot and the bamboo shirt on his body, I was afraid that those slaves would turn him away.

Tang Cheng ignored the strange gazes of the servants and followed into the garden. It's the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Yangzhou is also a good time for flowers and greenery. After Tang Cheng sat in the arranged seat and drank two cups of tea and rested his feet, he got up and wandered around the garden.

Obviously, this garden is the owner spent a lot of effort to renovate, which can be seen from the neatly trimmed grass and rocks, but limited by the limitations of the times, after all, the Tang Dynasty is still only the stage of the rise of garden art, so the garden in front of Tang Cheng is a little disappointed, compared with the famous garden that he saw in Suzhou in later generations, although Kang Yuan is more atmospheric, but obviously lost in the exquisite IELTS, can not see the beauty of the Jiangnan landscape.

This scene in front of him made Tang Cheng suddenly have a strange thought, "When I have the money to manage a garden, I don't know if the Tang people will buy it after moving the set of the famous garden in the future?" ”。

Thinking all the way to the garden, when Tang Cheng turned the entire garden more than half of his childhood, the sky was almost dusk, and he could faintly hear the bustle at the entrance of Kang Yuan.

Tang Cheng saw that the time was almost up, so he was about to go back to the seat, and when he turned around, he suddenly saw a figure flash not far from his side, although it was only a glimpse, but this shadow made Tang Cheng can't help but think of Ling Yi on that moonlit night.

"It must be a dazzle, Ling Yi is a daughter, how could she come to such a banquet", Tang Cheng shook his head and turned back.

There were many people at the banquet this night, but the process was really lackluster, the invitation that Tang Cheng got was the most ordinary, and it was arranged far away from the banquet center with his seat, not to mention meeting the head of the maritime merchants, even the song and dance could not be seen clearly.

The boring one is this, and the other is that the new Yangzhou City Envoy is too short in time, and now Yangzhou is staring at how the City Envoy should make a statement, and the guests who came here tonight are even more so, but this new Yangzhou City Envoy has obviously disappointed everyone.

Tang Cheng heard the news from before that the time for the new city envoy to "show" his face had not even arrived at the time of the three pillars of incense, and that was it, and what was even worse was that in addition to the greetings on the face, the important information was not "dewed" at all, and it seemed that for tonight's banquet, the new city envoy was just a scene.

This fact is really a big blow to the guests, doesn't this city envoy know the thoughts of Yangzhou people? Isn't it just a statement, how difficult can it be? For a while, the guests didn't have the heart to eat, drink, sing and dance, and they got together to talk about it.

Tang Cheng had already given up this business in his heart. In addition, the banquet in front of him had become like this again, and he didn't have the heart to stay any longer, so after greeting the left and right, he got up and walked out of the garden, preparing to rest and recuperate early after going back, so as to prepare for the long journey back tomorrow.

Coming out of the Kang Yuan Garden where the lanterns were everywhere, the night breeze in early autumn was already a little cool, and Tang Cheng walked forward after straightening his clothes.

After coming out of Kang Yuen, I walked most of the way, and I saw that Xishuikou was faintly in sight not far ahead. Hearing a rumbling sound behind him, Tang Cheng avoided the side of the official road, and saw an extremely richly decorated Xuan car, behind which in addition to the long entourage that followed, there were also six sergeants wearing light leather armor to accompany the guards.

As soon as he saw this battle, he knew that it was the carriage of the government, and he didn't know if it was an illusion, Tang Chengcheng felt that when the chariot passed by him, there seemed to be a faint sound of surprise when he opened the curtains. But before he could hear clearly, and not at all, the subtle sound was muffled by the rumbling of horses' hooves.

After the caravan passed, Tang Cheng continued to walk towards Xishuikou under the moonlight of early autumn, although the sky was already dark. But Xishuikou is not much less lively than during the day, and it seems that there is no quiet here until the bell and drum that closes the city gate are ringing.

It's really not a short time to walk on the ground today, just when Tang Cheng was looking for the donkey's feet to drive the car. Someone patted him on the shoulder and said in surprise: "Tang Cheng, why are you here?" ”。

Tang Cheng turned around, and saw Ling Yi with his eyebrows crooked, meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign country, this is really something to be happy about, "It's you!" ”。

Seeing Tang Cheng's surprise, Ling Yi smiled and said, "You haven't answered me yet, why are you here?" ”。

"Just got back from Connaissance". When Tang Cheng spoke, he saw a donkey foot not far away from the guest, and even beckoned to the driver to come over.

"Kang Yuen? I heard that the people who can go there tonight are rich businessmen and tycoons, could it be Tang Cheng, you are also doing economic business in addition to the Ming Jing scholars? Be careful, if this is found out, you will no longer be eligible to participate in the imperial examination."

"You saw that rich merchant who wanted to hire a donkey's foot to drive away? I just want to be in Kang Yuan", Tang Cheng said here and remembered the afternoon, "By the way, I saw a back when I walked around the garden in the afternoon. I thought it was you! ”。 After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh out loud first.

"Really?". Ling Yi turned his head sideways and replied, then waved his hand and sent away the donkey's feet that approached, "It's better to meet by chance, the moon is good tonight, how about accompanying me to visit the night view of Yangzhou?" ”。

That night's night trip with Ling Yi was also an unforgettable experience for Tang Cheng, he had never met before, and there was no reason for him, he actually had such a tacit understanding. Thinking that he would leave to return to his hometown tomorrow, after this departure, it would be difficult to see Ling Yi again for the rest of his life, and Tang Cheng actually had a faint sentimentality in his heart.

"Good!".

In the bustling and lively Xishuikou, people came and went, Tang Cheng and Ling Yi walked side by side towards the city, followed by the apricot clothed mane.

Although there was a commotion all around, Tang Cheng faintly seemed to have returned to the moonlit night by the river, and he didn't want to say anything for a while, presumably Ling Yi also felt this way, because the two of them just walked silently, and no one spoke.

The longer they walked, the more they didn't speak, the atmosphere between the two became closer to the moonlit night by the river, and as Xishuikou moved away, the surroundings slowly quieted down.

Maybe it was Tang Cheng's subconscious behavior, but the route that the two of them walked was getting closer and closer to the inn where he lived, and when he saw that there was still a square area, Ling Yi said: "Let's go to the brick bridge of the Wu family."

"Good!".

"The scenery around the Wujia brick bridge is really good, but the name is too cheesy", Ling Yi led Tang Cheng to turn the direction, since he opened his mouth, he was no longer as silent as just now, and walked slowly while dressed in moonlight, and said with a light smile, "Compared to this, the alias of this bridge is more interesting."

"Oh?"

"Because the Wujia brick bridge is 24 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 24 columns, and 24 steps, it seems that everywhere corresponds to the twenty-four. Therefore, the alias of this bridge is called the Twenty-Four Bridge, which is the most popular place for literati to gather and the love of the "prostitute" family when they sing", Ling Yi's casual words shocked Tang Cheng's heart, this Twenty-four Bridge is too famous in the history of literature!

This bridge is famous, just for the name of the bridge to attract many literati and scholars in later generations to fight more than a thousand years of pen and ink lawsuits, some people say that the twenty-four bridges are actually a bridge, and some people research that the twenty-four bridges refer to the twenty-four bridges in Yangzhou in the Tang Dynasty, and more scholars after the Tang Dynasty were stunned to find out the bridge names of the twenty-four bridges in Yangzhou in the Tang Dynasty to confirm.

Originally, it was an unintentional night tour, but Tang Cheng didn't expect such a surprise, and his steps accelerated a little at the moment.

Walking through this section of the road, the eye is a single-hole arch bridge on the water of the lying waves, under the background of the moonlight and water, the stone bridge of the white marble railing is like a jade belt elegant, it does have a bit of beautiful scenery, and it is not as disappointing as the Kangyuan Park in the afternoon.

"The bridge is good, and the scenery is good", Tang Cheng watched from afar for a while, and whispered the number of steps under his feet as he climbed the stairs.

Ling Yi, who came up side by side, looked at Tang Cheng's rare childish action with interest.

After Tang Cheng confirmed the statement that the 24th Bridge was a bridge, he was inevitably a little excited, so this extremely rare "revealed" childlike innocence, and laughed after getting on the bridge: "Sure enough, it's the 24th Order!" ”。

When Ling Yi was about to speak, there was a sound of giggling and laughing from the other side of the bridge, it turned out that there were women dressed in purple and red on the other side of the bridge for a while, and there were no less than 20 women in a glance, this group of women was not only well-dressed, but even more rare was that almost all of them looked good, and their appearance with musical instruments in their hands was really eye-catching.

"There's a lot of excitement now", Ling Yi turned around and looked at Tang Cheng carefully, and said with a smile: "Eighty percent of people have to look for you, Tang Cheng, you have to be ready."

"What are you looking for me?".

"You don't know? Today is the end of July, and the end of each month is the holiday of the women of Yangzhou Goolan, and if the "prostitute" family does not want to see the bustard sister, it will not be hindered, so that every day the "prostitute" family will travel together", Ling Yi smiled and said: "When the 'prostitute' family travels, there is a custom of folding flowers and asking for poetry, if the poem can make the "prostitute" family tempted, it can achieve a night of joy. Tang Cheng, you are wearing a Confucian shirt, and you are in your youth, how can these "prostitutes" let you go? ”。

"And this custom?" , Although this kind of Tang Dynasty style sounds extremely moving, it may not be comfortable when it really falls on him, Tang Cheng knows his catties, improvised poems, and poems are even better...... He really doesn't have the ability to do this now, "let's go first."

"Let's go?" , Ling Yi glanced at Tang Cheng in surprise, as if he didn't expect him to be able to say such a thing, and only after a moment did he giggle: "Didn't you see that beauty has already come over?" It's too late to leave."

Tang Cheng turned around to look, but there was a "prostitute" family who walked over with a plain flower in the company of the women, and then took a closer look, this woman with a flower was actually the Guan Guan who met in the hook bar a few days ago.

Guan Guan walked forward, but her watery eyes fell on Tang Cheng, her meaning couldn't be more obvious, at this point, Tang Cheng really couldn't go if he wanted to.

The twenty-four bridges were not very long, but after a while, Guan Guan and the others had already arrived in front of Tang Cheng.

"On a moonlit night, I happened to meet my son on the side of the, which is really a blessing!" , Guan Guan smiled and saluted, as for the plain flower she was holding in her hand, it had already been handed to Tang Cheng.