Guangling, in fact, has been renamed Yangzhou since the opening of the Sui Dynasty, but the people of the time still call it Guangling on not very formal occasions according to the title of the Han Dynasty.

In the historical process of the division of the north and the south in the past three hundred years before the opening of the Sui Dynasty, Guangling City had twice conquered each other in the north and south dynasties, and occupied a pivotal position in the process of realizing the unification of China.

The first time was shortly after the Yongjia Rebellion, the Western Jin Dynasty moved to the south of the Yangtze River, and the Great Sima Hengwen led the army to the Northern Expedition, and was defeated under the Guangling City on the north bank of the Great River;

The second time was on the eve of the famous Battle of Weishui, Xie An, Xie Xuan's uncle and nephew two towns of Guangling, with less to win more, defeated the former Qin Fujian's million-strong army, so that the Chinese orthodoxy could continue in Jiangzuo, and later there were four Han dynasties established by Song, Qi, Liang and Chen.

The reason why He Ruo, the governor of Wuzhou, chose to wait to greet Yang Guang at Lei Gongtang, which entered Guangling City by land, was actually because Gao Ying rushed to Guangling first, and the generalissimo's mansion selected for Yang Guang was located in the new city built by Xie An when he was guarding Guangling.

However, He Ruobi didn't expect that Yang Guang had already told Laihu'er to prepare a fast boat for him outside the Shanyang Pass, got off the big boat directly and got on the small boat, and entered the old city of Guangling along Shanyang.

When he heard that there were water thieves in Shanyang and almost scuttled the clipper that Yang Guang was riding, he hurriedly led people from Lei Gongtang to Shanyang to apologize to Yang Guang, and asked Yang Guang to follow him to the Shuai Mansion in Guangling New Town to meet Gao Ying.

Fortunately, He Ruobi ordered people to block the mouth of the Shanyang River in time, so that Lai Hu'er led his army to capture a water thief alive near the mouth of the Shanyang River, and rushed to report to Yang Guang non-stop.

Although Yang Guang was attacked by water thieves in the middle of the road, one was Xian Yuluo found that the boat was flooded in time, and the other was to protect the children and command well, and before several water thieves lurking under the water appeared to attack Yang Guang and others, they were chased into the water and fled in all directions led by Laihu'er, so his interest in visiting Guangling, the famous capital of Huaizuo, was not greatly affected.

Hearing Laihu'er's report, saying that he had captured a water thief alive, Yang Guang then instructed He Ruobi and Laihu'er and others to escort this person to the Shuaifu, interrogate and ask about his identity, origin, and who was assigned to assassinate him, and he still planned to enter the city from the south gate of Guangling City, first tour around the old city, and then rush to the Shuaifu to listen to the interrogation results of He Ruobi and Laihu'er, and meet with Gao Ying.

He Ruobi is in his forties, with a medium-strong figure, and always maintains a posture of holding his head high when talking to others, which makes people feel awe at first sight.

Although he and Yang Guang have been known to each other for a long time, it is the first time they have met today, but I didn't expect this dignified His Royal Highness the King of Jin to look like a hairy guy, but his speech and demeanor are quite a bit of a general's demeanor: completely ignoring his assassination in Shanyang, he is still interested in visiting Guangling City.

Because of the first meeting with Yang Guang and his restraint, He Ruobi did not whisk Yang Guang's interest, so he ordered someone to bring Yang Guang's mount "Iron Hoof Dragon", and sent a general under his command who was familiar with the situation in Guangling City to serve as a guide for Yang Guang and his party.

Yang Guang, accompanied and escorted by Zhang Heng, Duan Da and others, was led by a guide in front of the guide, and entered Guangling City through the south gate.

Riding through the city gate, as soon as he entered Guangling City, Yang Guang had a strong impression of this important town in Jiangbei in his heart: it is very different from Chang'an, Bingzhou, and even Luoyang, the eastern capital, and several other capitals that Yang Guang has visited, the scale of Guangling Dichi is not large, and the streets and alleys in the city are not very spacious, but the ground is paved with bluestone slabs, and the streets are full of green on both sides, and there are rows of green bricks and green tiles in the green branches, and the whole city is very clean and comfortable, which makes people feel refreshing and pleasant.

There is no hustle and bustle in Chang'an and Luoyang City in Guangling City, although it is an important military town in Jiangbei, but Yang Guang and his entourage strolled from the south gate to the east gate, but they could not see a sergeant dressed in military uniforms and holding weapons along the way, and only the people in the city in blue and white clothes walked back and forth from time to time in the streets and alleys.

"Lord Wang, the governor's office and other government offices are all in the sub-city on Shugang in the north, and the garrisons are concentrated in the new city twenty miles east of the city, so it is difficult to see the shadows of officers and soldiers in the old city." The guide was very clever, and without waiting for Yang Guang to ask, he took the initiative to explain to him.

According to the practice formed since the opening of the Sui Dynasty, the governor of the three places of Bingzhou, Yizhou, and Yangzhou was all filled by the prince. Yang Guang went south this time to serve as the commander of Chen, and was also appointed as the governor of Yangzhou. Before he became the governor of Yangzhou, all military and political affairs here were temporarily in charge of He Ruobi, the governor of Wuzhou, so he introduced to him that the Yangzhou governor's office was located in the north of the city, and he also consulted him on whether he wanted to go to the governor to have a look.

"Guangling City is not big, in my opinion, the old city is not as big as the new capital of Chang'an, but I don't know how many households there are in the city?" Yang Guang did not turn his horse's head to face north, and continued to walk eastward, asking the guide.

"As far as the last general knows, there are nearly 30,000 households in the old city alone, not including the troops stationed in the new city and the officials who work on errands in the sub-city." The guide replied truthfully.

"Are there so many inhabitants in the city? How could I not see that? Yang Guang looked around in surprise, pointed to the few pedestrians in the streets and alleys and asked the guide.

"This is the first time the prince has come back to Guangling." The guide replied with a smile, "Although the city of Guangling is small, most of the households in the city live in the two- and three-story buildings, and the number of people living in the buildings can not be seen from the street. ”

After the guide's explanation, Yang Guang and the others paid attention to the houses on both sides of the street, and found that as the guide said, there were almost no one-story houses in Guangling City, all of which were two- and three-story houses.

"I didn't expect that in the Sui Dynasty more than a thousand years ago, there would be a city like Guangling full of buildings, which is interesting." Yang Guang rode a horse and looked at the houses along the street, and said in surprise.

Out of the east gate of the old city of Guangling, walk 20 miles to the east, is the new city that Xie An originally built when he left the town of Guangling more than 100 years ago. This place is completely different from the old city, and you can see Sui soldiers with swords in line everywhere, like a huge barracks.

The Generalissimo's Mansion selected by Gao Ying for Yang Guang is located at the intersection of the cross streets of Guangling New Town, which is a mansion compound with five entrances and a large garden in the back.

"This was originally the residence of Zhang Jiling, the richest man in Guangling, and the locals called it Zhang Yuan." Gao Ying led a local civil and military officer to pick up Yang Guang outside the main gate of the Shuai Mansion, and while leading Yang Guang to the main hall of the Shuai Mansion, he introduced him to the origin of this Shuai Mansion, "In the second year of the emperor, not long after Chen Shubao succeeded to the throne, Zhang Jiling fled from Guangling to Jiankang because of his identity as a fine work for Nan Chen, and it was also requisitioned by the imperial court. It is only because this mansion is too grand and extravagant that no official in Guangling dares to live in this mansion, so it has been vacant until now. ”