Chang Yu and several people walked into the city. The city gate was already crowded with people watching the excitement. Chen Suole scolded the onlookers to make way. Li Muchian whispered several times in Chang Yu's ear. The little eunuch nodded slightly to the onlookers beside him.
A woman asked: "Aunt, which way to Prince De's Mansion?"
Instead of going to the General Military Mansion, he wanted to visit King De first.
"You are going to Prince De's Mansion. There is a detour. It's across the lake." The woman was quite enthusiastic: "There is a street across the lake called Houzaimen Street. The north gate of the Prince's Mansion, Guangzhimen, is there.
On the street... although the palace is large, it was unfortunately destroyed by the Tatars a few years ago and there is not much to see..."
Across the lake? Chang Yu was startled, then walked out of the crowd and suddenly saw an open water surface. His heart was shocked, holy shit, the legendary crape myrtle is on the Daming Lake.
When the lake scenery was at its most beautiful in summer, Chang Yu quickly approached the lakeside and felt the cool breeze blowing over him, feeling extremely comfortable. He couldn't help but spread his hands and shouted very artificially: "Your Majesty, do you still remember Xia Yuhe on the shore of Daming Lake?"
Everyone behind him looked confused. Your Majesty? Xia Yuhe?
Cough, cough, cough, Chang Yu coughed slightly in embarrassment and looked around. The lake was not small and it would have taken a lot of time to walk around it. Fortunately, there was a boat on the lake to carry passengers, so he waved to him.
The boatman was an old man, his skin was tanned by years of exposure to wind and rain, and his age was hard to tell. When he saw Chang Yu and his party, he invited a young helper to row the boat with him, but he also murmured in his heart that there are monks and Taoists in this business.
Who are the people carrying weapons?
But he still greeted him warmly, pointing out the scenery in the flooded lake: "There is a small island in the middle of the lake, that is the Pavilion in the middle of the lake, on the northwest shore is Tiegong Temple, on the southwest shore is Jiaxuan Temple...
That’s the Daming Lake Stone…that’s the Lixia Pavilion…the Autumn Willow Garden.”
The boatman came with all his treasures one by one. Chang Yu listened with great interest, and Li Muchian couldn't help but said: "Boatman, do you know what the original name of Daming Lake is?"
The old man chuckled and said, "I know it. Sir, look at the lotus leaves all over the lake... It used to be called Lianxin Lake, and everyone in Jinan knows it."
Li Muxian nodded slightly: "But at first Daming Lake was called Lishuipi." The old man shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I have never heard of this."
"How early is the so-called earliest?" Chang Yu asked curiously.
"The name Li Shuipei comes from the "Shui Jing Zhu" written by Li Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Lianzi Lake began in the Tang Dynasty. As for the name of Daming Lake, it comes from Yuan Haowen's Jinan Travel Notes during the Song and Jin Dynasties." Li Muchian stroked his beard and smiled softly.
.
"Damn it, you old boy knows a lot!" Wuzhong was startled, and everyone was amazed by Li Muxian's extensive knowledge. Even the monk Haihong, who had been sitting upright and caring, couldn't help but look at it.
He glanced at it.
Li Muxian stroked his beard and said proudly: "I have been traveling around the world for ten years and have read hundreds of scholars. Although I cannot fully understand astronomy and geography, I am not far away."
Chang Yu sighed and shook his head slightly. The reason why this guy is easily criticized is that he loves to show off too much and is not low-key at all.
As expected, Wu Zhong rolled his eyes and said, "Then do you know how many hairs I have on my head and how many moles I have on my butt?" Li Muxian was almost so angry that he spurted blood, but everyone laughed so hard that he almost overturned his boat.
This was not a special trip for boating on the lake. The boatman rowed quickly, and everyone was enjoying the scenery and laughing before they came to the other side in a short while. The old man rowing the boat raised his hand and pointed to the cornices in the shade of trees in the distance: "That is Prince De's Mansion..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh: "The damn Tatars have lost their conscience. Not only did they destroy the city, they also almost burned down the palace with fire..."
Chang Yu and his party went ashore. There were trees on the lakeside. They looked up at the sky and saw the sun flickering in and out. They walked along the path for more than a hundred meters and turned into a street. When they were about to find someone to ask for directions, they were suddenly stunned.
The ruins more than ten meters away due east are overgrown with weeds, which is shocking at first glance. However, even with such dilapidation, one can still see the majesty of the past, even if it is just a section of the wall of the palace.
"Old man, this is..." After sighing, Chang Yu stretched out his hand to stop the passer-by from speaking. The old man looked at the broken wall with his hands behind his back and shook his head, "Yes, yes, it's Prince De's Mansion... What a damn dog."
Tartars... If you want to go to the palace to do business, go to the south gate, this area is deserted..."
The old man sighed and shook his head and walked away. Everyone looked at the ruins and sighed, thinking that Prince De's palace had never been so magnificent and grand in scale. Historical records record that the palace occupied one-third of Jinan City!
And now...it's a pile of ruins.
There are four gates in Prince De's Mansion: Tiren in the east, Zunyi in the west, Guangzhi in the north, and Duanli in the south, which is also the main gate of the palace. From north to south, there is still a long way to go.
The group of people walked along the ruins of the palace wall and looked inside. Everywhere they saw were scarred, all traces of the disasters caused by the Qing army in previous years.
"Master Fang, you claim to be erudite and knowledgeable about everything. Do you know the predecessor of Prince De's Mansion?" Chang Yu asked casually. Li Muxian blurted out without further thought: "It was the former site of Jinan Duke Zhang Rong's Mansion in the Yuan Dynasty."
Chang Yu extended his thumb and nodded slightly and asked, "Then do you know why Prince De's palace is missing a corner?"
Missing a corner? The others were startled, but Li Muchian smiled: "Yes, ordinary people pay attention to squareness and squareness when building a house, let alone a palace, but this Prince De's palace is really missing a corner..." Then he stroked his beard and said
Come, everyone listened with great interest and unknowingly walked around to the main entrance of the palace.
If you take a closer look, you will see that it is very different from what you saw at the north gate. The gate tower of the palace has been renovated, and there is a tall archway in front of the palace. The inscription on the forehead of the gate reads: "I accept the order from you and guard the state of Qi from generation to generation."
This is the aura of the royal palace. Chang Yu smiled slightly and turned to look at Li Muchian: "Do you know who the contemporary King De is?"
Li Muxian frowned slightly: "I heard that the original King of De, Zhu Youshu, was captured by the Tatars in the twelfth year of Chongzhen and his whereabouts are unknown... Has the imperial court appointed a new King of De?"
Chang Yu laughed: "I really thought you knew everything. You raised your hand and pointed at the gate of the palace. If you don't establish a new king, who will repair these ruins?"
The new virtuous king he spoke of was Zhu Youjue, the seventh and last virtuous king of the Ming Dynasty, who was established in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.
"Who are you waiting for? This is a forbidden area of the palace, go away!" Just as everyone was talking in low voices in front of the palace, several servants of the palace frowned and waved their hands impatiently to drive them away.
Chang Yu smiled slightly and made a gesture. Chen Wangting took a step forward and cupped his hands and said, "My lord is here to see the prince."
"Your Majesty?" The servant looked at Chen Wangting and saw that he had an extraordinary temperament. He then took a closer look at Chang Yu and his entourage and couldn't help but be confused. There were monks, Taoists, nobles, and a sinister look on their faces, and they all had guys with them.
, knowing that the visitor was an extraordinary person, he returned the courtesy and asked: "May I ask who your distinguished guest is?"
Chen Wangting leaned forward and whispered several times in his ear. The servant was startled: "Your distinguished guest, please wait a moment." He turned around and ran away.
"Admiral Dongchang? When did he come to Jinan and why did he come to my palace? Could it be that he was impersonated by someone else?" A young man who was having lunch in the palace raised his eyebrows: "Go and ask Sujing to come over. By the way, call more people."
After saying that, he stood up and walked straight to the main entrance of the palace.
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Normal updates will resume tomorrow. Thank you book friends for your support along the way. Thank you.