Crossing the Yangtze River.

Arrived at Xiaguan Wharf, stepped on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and entered Nanjing City from Fengyi Gate. Qin Beiyang was amazed that the walls of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties were tall and strong, and they were better than Beijing. At this time, the princes entrenched in Nanjing were Feng Guozhang, one of the Beiyang giants.

There was not much to bring with them, and they did not dare to stay in the city. Out of the Taiping Gate, on one side of Xuanwu Lake, on the other side of the Purple Mountain, on the mountain trail. I walked hungry for a long time, and climbed over a high wall, but it was Shinto and Weng Zhong. Under the moonlight, passing through several majestic gates and stele pavilions, it is dilapidated, but it is imposing. Straight to a towering city tower, through the city gate cave, the stone wall is engraved with a line of big characters - "the tomb of the Ming Taizu of this mountain".

Ming Xiaoling!

Qin Beiyang gasped, he had been to the Ming Tombs in Changping, but none of them could compare to the mausoleum in front of him, and sure enough, he was the most domineering of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and at his feet was Zhu Yuanzhang's underground palace. He decided to spend the night in the Ming Building, which was better than sleeping in the Purple Mountain.

Qi Yuanshan was a little scared: "Will Ming Taizu's ghost come to us at night to settle accounts?" ”

"What are you afraid of him doing? We won't rob his tomb! Believe it or not, I've seen the ghost of Emperor Yongzheng! ”

The two teenagers spent a night in the city of Ming Xiaoling. The next day, Qin Beiyang didn't say what he dreamed about at night, and Qi Yuanshan didn't say anything, the secret of heaven must not be revealed, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

Climbing to the top of the Purple Mountain, seeing the emerald green of the mountain, Qi Yuanshan was panting: "Beiyang, where should I go next?" ”

Qin Beiyang looked to the east, the rising sun was rising, illuminating the endless wilderness, the waterways and ditches were vertical and horizontal, the cooking smoke was curling, and the waves were sparkling......

In the scorching sun, in the south of the Yangtze River, two teenagers, shy in their pockets, all relied on two legs and headed east. Along the way, the scenery of the mountains and rivers is beautiful, the paddy fields reflect the white clouds, the rice lotus is fragrant everywhere, and the children ride the buffalo and blow the shepherd flute. After Zhenjiang, Danyang, Changzhou, Wuxi and other fish and rice towns, the canal is densely covered with small boats, Taihu Lake is like a forest, and traders gather, which is like the six provinces of Beiyang in a panic. In the year of Gengzi, the north was ruined, but the south of the Yangtze River was not disturbed because of the mutual protection of the southeast. The two of them stayed overnight, nostalgic for the past, and did not pay attention, and they had arrived at Tiger Hill outside Suzhou.

Looking at the Tiger Hill Tower of the Five Dynasties, Qin Beiyang climbed the "Thousand People Stone" with great interest, but found that the famous sword pond had dried up.

The "Sword Pond" is a deep pool in the rocks, surrounded by cliff carvings from all over the world. Recently, there has been no rain for many days, and the sword pond has seen the bottom, and many fish are fluttering and waiting to die, and the neighbors from all over the country have come to watch.

"Legend has it that under the sword pond is the tomb of King Wu Lu of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period."

Someone in front of him was talking, with a Cantonese accent, who seemed to be twenty-seven or eighteen years old.

"Brother Chen, I heard that there are many swords in the pool—why don't you have any?"

The other man, younger, with an authentic Tianjin accent. These two people are dressed very decently, unlike Qin Beiyang and Qi Yuanshan like wandering refugees.

That "Brother Chen" also said: "Qin Shi Huang, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, and Sun Quan, the emperor of Eastern Wu, have all dug here, but they have found nothing. ”

"I see the sword buried under these stones." Qin Beiyang boldly interjected, deliberately using Tianjin dialect, "If you look carefully, the two walls of the sword pool are cut and smooth, and the bottom of the pool is also extremely flat, which is obviously the result of artificial axe chisel." Tiger Hill is originally a small mountain, and I think feng shui is also a dragon vein, and the center of this sword pond is where the golden well of the dragon's lair is located. King Wu Lu cut stones through the mountains, built tombs underground, and filled them with water as pools, just to avoid tomb robbery in later generations. ”

"Who are you?" The Cantonese people asked in surprise.

"I'm a stonemason, specializing in building tombs for people, so I know some simple doorways, and I'll forgive me."

The younger offspring asked him, "Huh! Are you also from Tianjin? There is fate, how about we climb down to explore? ”

Inspecting the ancient tombs is exactly what Qin Beiyang is most interested in. He also pulled up Qi Yuan Mountain, and the four of them jumped down from the sword pool together, and suddenly felt a chill, after all, it was the deep pool dragon's lair more than two thousand years ago.

The sword pond is wide in the south and narrow in the north, and there is a curved stone bridge above the head in the narrow place, which is also the most famous scenery here. They reached the narrowest point and saw a cave, into which the four of them bent over. There are also tunnels inside, which are flat and smooth from top to bottom, left and right, and must have been dug by hand. In the end, it became more spacious and could accommodate just four people standing side by side. There are four huge stone slabs in front of it, which are soaked in water all year round, revealing vertical and horizontal stone tendons.

The Cantonese patted Qin Beiyang on the shoulder and said, "Little brother, you are not wrong at all, this is the tomb door of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is completely consistent with the shape recorded in the ancient books. ”

"He Lu assassinated Wu Wangyi with a sword hidden in the belly of the fish and seized the throne, worshiped Wu Zixu as the prime minister, named Sun Wuzi as the general, defeated Chu in five battles and five victories, conquered Yingdu, and achieved the hegemony of the Spring and Autumn Period."

Qin Beiyang has a lot of treasures about "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Chuan" and "Sun Tzu's Art of War", and these turbulent thousand-year-old events have accompanied him through a long year of being confined in the mausoleum.

Qi Yuanshan couldn't help but admire: "Beiyang, if we dig up this door......"

"Haha, you're thinking too much! I've observed the situation on this mountain, and there is the Tiger Hill Tower above us. This tower has been around for more than a thousand years, and it is crooked. If you dig here, it will definitely affect the foundation of Tiger Hill Tower. "Cantonese people have a few catties of ink in their stomachs," I don't think that the treasure in an emperor's mausoleum is more important than the ancient pagoda of a famous Buddhist temple. If I had to choose one or the other, I would choose the latter! Today, I am fortunate to visit the bottom of the sword pond and visit the front of the tomb of King Wu, which is enough! ”

Qin Beiyang nodded frequently, clenched his fists and asked, "In Xia Qin Beiyang, may I ask the two high surnames?" ”

"Xiangshan, Guangdong, Chen Gongzhe."

"Zhili Jinghai, Huo Dongge."

Qi Yuanshan also said in the same way: "Zhili Zhengding, Qi Yuanshan." ”

Chen Gongzhe asked: "You are in the dust, where are you going on this trip?" ”

"This ......" Qin Beiyang came all the way, and he didn't know where he was going, so he sold it, "Dare to ask the two of you to go?" ”

"Shanghai."

"Yes, we are from the chaotic north, and we are just going to Shanghai to meet the market and open foreign meat."

Qin Beiyang said that, and Qi Yuanshan also echoed it.

Chen Gongzhe smiled: "Why don't you go all the way?" Can I enjoy the light at my feet? ”

Two more partners, of course, would be happy. The four of them climbed out of the sword pond, left Tiger Hill, entered the city through the Changmen, and went to Guanqian Street to eat the noodles of the Canglang Pavilion. At dusk, I went out of Loumen and got on a wooden boat, with a silver horn per person. Chen Gongzhe generously paid four silver corners, and invited everyone to eat rice balls for dinner.

More than a dozen passengers, men, women and children, nested in cramped cabins, mostly farmers who had gone to Shanghai to work. The wooden boat gradually sailed into the Wusong River. Qin Beiyang casually recited the sentence of Xin Qiji's "Water Dragon Yin": "Hugh said that the perch is good, the west wind is exhausted, and the season eagle has not returned?" ”

Chen Gongzhe was surprised: "Little Brother Qin, do you still know this allusion?" Zhang Han of the Jin Dynasty, the word Ji Ying, and the people of Wudi, when they saw the autumn wind rising, they thought of the mushroom soup and sea bass in their hometown. Both of these are the specialties of Wusongjiang in ancient times. ”

"Oops, I'm, don't take it seriously."

"You're new to the city, aren't you? Shanghai is full of dragons and snakes, if you need help, just come to us. ”

After that, Chen Gongzhe handed out a famous post, which was written "Jingwu Sports Association".

"It's martial arts again, it's sports again, and the two of you are practicing the family?"

Chen Gongzhe and Huo Dongge smiled but did not speak.

The night is deep, the bright moon reflects the water surface, and the sea bass is ancient. A woman in the cabin breastfeeds her baby. Qin Beiyang climbed to the bow of the boat, curled up for a night, and rested his head on the waves of the Wusong River, enjoying the cool of the summer night.

The night sailing boat, rocking and shaking, it shook to the grandmother's bridge.

When I opened my eyes at dawn, I was faced with a wooden bridge flying across the Sanguantang Bridge in Caojiadu, and black smoke from the factory chimney rose behind it. The boatman put away the sail mast and shook the oars and shouted in Suzhou dialect -

"It's Shanghai!"