readx; Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao followed the direction pointed by Weng Yu, and saw that about three miles away from the south bank of the Yangtze River, there was a low hill, and above the hill was the remains of a city wall made of huge stones. Although the pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info is magnificent, it has long been dilapidated because of the wind and rain for many years, and is overgrown with green trees and grass. If you don't look closely, you'll think it's just an ordinary hill.

"Is this the stone city built by Sun Quan, the lord of Wu?" Cao Bianjiao was surprised, "I have read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which says that Sun Quan set the capital to build a business, and built a stone city by the river as a barrier to the capital, the terrain is dangerous and extremely strong. Now it seems that this city is not near the river at all, so it will not play a defensive role. ”

Weng Yu was originally a scholar and knowledgeable, and immediately explained to everyone: "General Cao doesn't know, this hill is called Qingliang Mountain, and when Sun Quan built the city more than a thousand years ago, it was indeed near the river. However, things changed, the river gradually moved westward, and Stone Town was far away from the river bank, lost its defensive role, and was later abandoned. Tang people Du Mu has a poem: The mountains surround the old country, and the tide hits the empty city and is lonely. In the old days and months in the east of Huaishui, it was over the female wall in the middle of the night. It can be seen that at least then, Stone Town was already empty. ”

"Oh, I see." Cao Bianjiao sighed, "It's a pity, it's a pity! ”

Weng Yu also sighed and said, "Don't stop this empty city. The name 'Stone Town' is often used to refer to Nanjing. When Zhuge Liang came to Dongwu to discuss Sun Liu's joint plan to resist Cao, he passed through here and said, "The land of Moling, Zhongfu Longpan, Shicheng Tiger Saw, is really the emperor's house." Later, Sun Quan really built the capital here, named Jianye. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen all took this as the capital, and renamed Jiankang and Jinling, and the prosperous scene was no less than that of Chang'an in later generations. It is a pity that the Southern Dynasties did not want to forge ahead, they were drunk all day long, and they believed in Buddhism, so they consumed the pain of losing the country and the spirit of the Northern Expedition. "Four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasty, how many buildings are in the smoke and rain", I don't want Du Mu to sigh back then, but today I see it again! ”

Cao Wenzhao heard what Weng Yu said, so he wanted to lead him to talk deeply, and deliberately shook his head and smiled: "Now Nanjing is the capital of the imperial court, with a full set of court classes and heavy troops stationed. Weng Shoubei is a little serious..."

Weng Yu smiled bitterly, and just wanted to speak, but Huang Degong slapped him on the arm, and said with a long sigh: "Weng Xiucai, you and I are soft-spoken, what's the use of saying so much?" Just guard this section of the river and don't delay General Cao's work! ”

Weng Yu was really silent, and Cao Wenzhao was even more suspicious. After a short time, the ship docked on the south bank, and the Guanning iron cavalry changed to war horses again and slowly marched towards Nanjing. In fact, the outer Guo is already very close to the river bank, the momentum is magnificent, and the two sides can not see the beginning and the end at all, and the scale is no less than the newly built outer city of Beijing. Weng Yu introduced: "This outer Guo is the outermost barrier of Nanjing, the circumference is not less than 100 miles, there are a total of 18 city gates, let's enter the city from the nearest outer Jinchuan gate." ”

Someone had already sent the news to the city, so Guan Ningtie's entry into the city was very smooth. After passing through the outer Jinchuan Gate, the army entered the gourd-shaped capital from the Jinchuan Gate in the north. The walls of the capital are more majestic and strong than the outer Guo, and they are taller than the inner city of the capital division. Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but admire: "It's so impregnable, the rebels want to break through Nanjing, it's pure wishful thinking!" ”

Huang Degong pursed his lips and sneered: "There is only an empty shell left." ”

Not long after, everyone came to the Bei'an Gate of the Imperial City, and only then did officials from the Nanjing Military Department come to greet them and arrange accommodation for the Guanning Iron Cavalry. Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao were led into the imperial city, but Huang Degong and Weng Yu were blocked out because their official qualities were too low.

The style of the imperial city has changed, with a golden splendor and a solemn atmosphere, which is in stark contrast to the residential areas that are only separated by a wall, noisy and full of market atmosphere. The official offices at all levels of the imperial court left behind in Nanjing were all located in the imperial city, and the destination where Cao Wenzhao was led was the military department.

After entering the heavily guarded military headquarters, Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao were led to the main hall, and Chang Yinxu, the marquis of Huaiyuan, who was in charge of the defense of Nanjing, and Hu Yingtai, the secretary of the military department, had been waiting here for a long time. Chang Yinxu is a big fat man in his forties, it is quite difficult to stand up when he is stuck in the Taishi chair, and his attitude is also very arrogant, he only said two polite words to Cao Wenzhao, and he didn't even look at Cao Bianjiao.

Hu Yingtai was a lean old man, his hair and beard had turned gray, and a pair of small eyes like jujube kernels radiated a shrewd and deceitful light. The status of these two people is much higher than that of Cao Wenzhao, Cao Wenzhao was just about to pay a big salute, Hu Yingtai hurriedly stopped: "I heard that General Cao has a holy secret purpose, this official and the Hou Ye should take the order first." ”

Cao Wenzhao hurriedly took out the holy decree written by Zhu Youzhen himself from his arms and carefully handed it to Chang Yinxu. Chang Yinxu was no longer trusted, and he didn't dare to slack off in the face of the holy decree, so he had to kneel down with Hu Yingtai to pick it up, and after the mountain shouted long live, he stood up panting with the support of four or five attendants.

The two hurriedly unfolded the holy decree to watch, only to see that it was Zhu Youzhen's unsightly handwriting: "Fengtian carries the emperor's edict: Cao Wenzhao, the deputy chief military officer of Liaodong, led the Guanning iron cavalry to aid Nanjing." If the rebels attack Nanjing, they can temporarily control the armies of the Nanjing Guard Station and take charge of military affairs. "Behind is the vermilion Emperor Dabao.

After reading the holy decree, Chang Yinxu's face immediately darkened, looked at Hu Yingtai in disbelief, and muttered: "This... How is this possible?! Holy on... What does this mean? ”

Hu Yingtai was also stunned for a moment, and then fell into a long silence. However, unlike Chang Yinxu's panic, Hu Yingtai was expressionless, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry. Cao Wenzhao also knew that these two people were originally responsible for the defense of Nanjing. Their official status is much lower than theirs, and now that they have just arrived, they want to let the two of them hand over military command to themselves, and they must be reluctant to ask.

From the bottom of his heart, Cao Wenzhao had no interest in Nanjing's military power at all, and only wanted to do his best to fight the rebels in order to repay the emperor's kindness. But the emperor just gave him a secret decree to let him take over this burden, and Cao Wenzhao was duty-bound. It's just that he only has 1,000 Guanning iron cavalry, and he is not familiar with the place when he first arrives, and if the local officials do not cooperate, he will still be unable to move an inch.

After another cup of tea, Hu Yingtai suddenly smiled at Cao Wenzhao and said: "General Cao and Guanning Iron Cavalry are famous all over the world, and the Holy Lord can send General Cao to preside over the defense of Nanjing, which is a great grace to Nanjing's civil and military officials. ”

When Cao Wenzhao heard this, he just breathed a sigh of relief, but saw Chang Yinxu squeezing his eyes and shaking his head at Hu Yingtai, and he looked seven dissatisfied and eight angry. Hu Yingtai gave Chang Yinxu an imperceptible look, and Chang Yinxu quieted down. Although Cao Wenzhao has a bold temperament, he is not stupid, knowing that there must be hidden secrets, his heart can't help but hang again.

I only heard Hu Yingtai smile and said: "Since General Cao has been ordered to control the army, Hou Ye and this official immediately summoned the generals of the Nanjing Guards and the members of the household department and the military department, and asked General Cao to preside over the plan!" ”

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