Guangzhou, a pearl on the land of Lingnan.

Lingnan is the latest piece of land developed by the Central Plains Dynasty.

During the Xia and Shang periods, the Han people, or the Chinese people, developed the area from Guanzhong to Luoyang, Henan Province to the extreme.

By the time of the Zhou Dynasty, the Chinese had taken the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River as their roots.

It was not until the Qin and Han dynasties that the land of Lingnan was incorporated into the Middle Earth.

However, the Qin and Han dynasties still did not carry out large-scale reclamation of Lingnan, but regarded Lingnan as a place of exile for prisoners for a long time.

Lingnan really stepped onto the political stage of the Central Plains Dynasty more than 600 years ago during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

At that time, the Feng family flourished in Lingnan, and the family occupied dozens of states in Lingnan.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Lingnan was sheltered by the Feng family and never fell into the troubled times.

Someone proposed to Feng An, the head of the Feng family at that time, to divide China into two according to the natural danger of the Five Mountains, follow the old story of Zhao Tuo, the martial emperor of Nanyue, and establish himself as the king.

However, on the grounds that his grandmother, Madame Xian, could not be violated, Feng Ang voluntarily accepted the land and annexed it, so that the Tang Dynasty, which was weak at that time, could bring millions of square kilometers of land in Lingnan under its rule without a single soldier.

Mrs. Xian is also a person, the mother of the Lingnan Hundred Tribes, the Seven Emperors of the Three Dynasties, even if the Central Plains is in turmoil, she is still loyal to the country and firmly maintains the unity of the country.

In the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zheng commented on Mrs. Xian in the Book of Sui: "The husband calls the virtue of a woman, all of them are based on suppleness, and Si Nai cites the mean, and those who have not reached the extreme." As for the far-sighted vision, the chastity of the heart, the ambition is untakable, only where the righteousness is, and the history of the picture is examined, there is no world! ”

In the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo wrote a poem to evaluate her: "Feng Xian is an ancient martyr, and Weng Yuan is a country in Yuzi." After the Emperor Liang Wu, he opened the Sui Dynasty. The third world is more dangerous and easy, and there is no phosphorus in one heart. The brocade umbrella is in chaos, and the rhino ditch is suspicious. ”

Later Premier Zhou commented on her as "the first Chinese heroine." ”

The folk even built a temple statue for her, and worshiped her as "Our Lady of Lingnan", "Our Lady of Tiannan", "Lady of Baptasia", "Protector of the South China Sea", "Lady Qingfu", "Lady Yimei", "Liang Shapo", "Dan'er Po", "God of Love"......

In the past dynasties, the Xian Tai Temple built for the worship of Mrs. Xian from Liaodong to Qiongzhou, from Guangdong to Guangxi, and even the Southeast Asian Peninsula, there are no less than 2,000 civil and official temples.

It is precisely because of the existence of Mrs. Xian that Lingnan did not break away from the Central Plains at the end of the Sui Dynasty and became a country outside the Han Dynasty.

It is precisely because of the existence of Mrs. Xian that the Central Plains Dynasty really attaches importance to the land of Lingnan.

In the Song and Ming dynasties, Lingnan was already the bridgehead of the Central Plains Dynasty to communicate with the world.

And Guangzhou is the most shining pearl on the bridgehead.

Chen Kan stood on the bow of the treasure ship, quietly looking at the big city on the east side of the Pearl River estuary, and couldn't tell what it was like in his heart.

Guangzhou is a big city, and it has been since ancient times.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, Guangzhou was already a super city with a population of more than 200,000, and by the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou's population had exceeded the 500,000 mark.

In this era, 500,000 people are already the total population of many countries, and the entire Ming Dynasty, only a few cities such as Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Chengdu, Quanzhou, and Mingzhou can compete with Guangzhou.

Merchants from all over the world gather here.

And the envoys of all the countries south of the sea will also choose to land from Guangzhou, and then take the land route to the Central Plains mainland.

Chen Kan thought that he would be very happy to return to Daming and return to Daming's city.

But in fact, it's hard for him to describe his mood right now.

It was only because those memories that were so distant that he had begun to blur began to become clear again as the fleet approached the docks.

Yes, those memories that were already about to be forgotten are clear again.

Chen Kan is a native of Jiangnan, there is no doubt about it.

But he had lived in Guangzhou for a long, long, long time.

Although the city of Guangzhou is not the same as that of the Ming Dynasty at all, the familiar name, the familiar coast, and the familiar Pearl River Delta seem to make the two time and space gradually overlap.

The fleet gradually came to shore, and Chen Kan's mood became more and more complicated.

As early as three days ago, Chen Kan had sent an envoy to inform Huang Duan, the prefect of Guangzhou, that the fleet was going to dock in Guangzhou.

Therefore, at this time, the Guangzhou wharf has been emptied by the Guangzhou government officials, and until Chen Kan's fleet leaves, this wharf will no longer allow any civilian ships to dock.

Fortunately, the most important thing in Guangzhou is the wharf, so Chen Kan's requisition of the Guangzhou wharf did not arouse public resentment.

The treasure ship gradually docked, Huang Duan, the prefect of Guangzhou, had already waited on the edge of the dock with a cadre of subordinate officials, and Chen Kan only brought Song Qing and a few other high-ranking generals and Ala's envoys to get off the ship.

Unlike Linnan County in Qiongzhou, Guangzhou had its own garrison, and Chen Kan's army could only stay on the ship.

Even if you want to get off the boat and relax, only a few people will take turns to disembark, otherwise it will be regarded as a provocation by the local garrison.

When Chen Kan met the Shandong Sailors, he asked them to be stationed at least three miles away from him, and it was because of this reason.

And the envoys who brought Allah with them were because their destination had arrived.

When he arrived in Guangzhou, the local government would naturally send someone to escort the envoys all the way to Beijing, so there was no need for Allah to go with Chen Kan.

At first, Chen Kan didn't want to stop in Guangzhou, mainly because he was afraid of being embarrassed to meet Yun Niang.

But he urgently needed to know the recent situation of Daming, and he had to come again.

Packing up his mood, Chen Kan quickly got off the deck.

"Hahaha, Master Hou drove to Guangzhou, my little Guangzhou city is shining."

After Huang Duan laughed for a while, he quickly led a group of subordinate officials to meet him quickly.

"Hahaha, Lord Huang, it's been a long time."

Chen Kan saw his old acquaintance, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

Huang Duan was the prefect of Guangzhou who was relocated to Fujian for four years in Yongle's water control, and he followed the path of Fang Xiaoru.

Huang Duan himself and Chen Kan are also old acquaintances.

This time, the Hengfeng under Chen Kan was able to smoothly pull away the grain from the Guangzhou Guancang, and Huang Duan's strong help was indispensable.

They are all old acquaintances, and they speak a lot more casually.

After the two groups of people greeted each other, Chen Kan introduced the Sumatran envoy to Huang Duan.

Although the Sumatran envoys were amazed by the sturdiness and vastness of the Ming city, they had already done a good job of psychological construction on the ship these days, and they also looked good when they saluted Huang Duan.

Huang Duan gave Alla a salute back, turned his head to look at an official in a scarlet robe, and said with a smile: "Lord Ning, please also ask Lord Ning to bring the envoys from Sumatra to the Yamen for a rest, and the official will return to the Yamen later to entertain the envoys." ”

The person named by Huang Duan frowned, but he didn't say anything, and went straight forward to salute Allah.

Allah glanced at Chen Kan with some hesitation, until Chen Kan nodded, and then saluted to the Lord Ning, and said, "There is Lord Lao Ning." ”

Seeing Lord Ning leave with the envoy group, Huang Duan smiled at Chen Kan and said: "Master Hou, this official has prepared a little wine in Baiyun Tower, Master Hou is coming from afar, why don't you taste my Lingnan flavor first and then do something else?" ”

Chen Kan bowed slightly: "There is Lord Lao Huang." ”

The group entered Guangzhou City, got into the carriage prepared by Huang Duan, and went straight to Baiyun Tower.

Baiyun Tower, as the name suggests, is located in Baiyun Mountain, facing Baiyun Temple from afar.

During the Tang Dynasty, Baiyun Mountain was a holy place for Buddhism, and in the Ming Dynasty, Baiyun Mountain became a holy place for Taoism, and Wudang Mountain in Hubei, Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi, and Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan were called the four famous mountains of Taoism.

Baiyun Mountain is also the only mountain in the city among the four famous mountains of Taoism, and the mountains in Guangzhou are not only Baiyun Mountain, Yuexiu Mountain is also in the middle of the city.

When they arrived at the foot of Baiyun Mountain, the group got off the carriage and began to walk.

Revisiting the old place, Chen Kan inevitably had a lot of emotion.

What allusions such as the white ape immortal on Baiyun Mountain came as soon as they opened their mouths, and Song Qing, Tan Cong, Dou Xing and other generals were dumbfounded when they heard it.

Isn't it the first time for Hou Ye to come to Guangzhou, why is he so familiar with Guangzhou?

Huang Duan couldn't help but wonder: "Master Hou has been to Guangzhou before?" ”

Chen Kan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that he seemed to be talking about revealing stuffing.

So, Chen Kan decisively showed an unfathomable smile.

Generally, when encountering unanswerable questions, pretending to be unfathomable is the most effective way.

Buddhists and Taoists are well versed in this.

As for you not being able to understand it, it means that you don't have enough understanding.

Masters do this way, Chen Kan thinks that he is also a master in Daming, and it is really reasonable to pretend to be unfathomable.

Sure enough, seeing Chen Kan smiling and silent, a group of people suddenly stopped talking and turned to a thoughtful expression.

From Chen Kan's smile, they analyzed many things, and they had reason to believe that there must be an unknown story between Chen Kan and Guangzhou.

Since it's an untold story, it's rude to continue asking.

Therefore, Huang Duan decisively changed the topic, and said with a mysterious smile: "Master Hou, this official also invited a special guest to the banquet today, and asked Master Hou not to be surprised." ”

Chen Kan was also very good, and immediately asked with a smile: "Special, how special?" ”

"Master Hou will find out later."

Huang Duan shook his head slightly, stepped up the stairs, stretched out his hand and said, "Master Hou, please!" ”

Chen Kan didn't ask much.

Huang Duan will break the rules of officialdom and invite outsiders to be guests, there are only two possibilities.

Either that guest or official position was above Chen Kan and Huang Duan, and Huang Duan had to be invited.

Either the guest is not a member of the officialdom, and it will not affect the welcome and send-off above the officialdom.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, although there are many people whose status is higher than Chen Kandu, there are absolutely no people in the Lingnan territory.

That can only be the second case, and the person who comes is not a person in the officialdom.

Combined with Huang Duan, he deliberately placed the banquet place in Baiyun Mountain, a place far away from the government and with strong religious implications.

The identity of the special guest is easy to guess.

Outsiders!

Even Chen Kan could guess who the surname of the person outside the party was.

During the Yongle period, on Baiyun Mountain, the only people outside the party who were worthy of the banquet of the prefect of a state were the Taoists who had stayed on Baiyun Mountain since the Hongwu period.