In the second half of the year, Zheng Chenggong made great progress in the southern Fujian battlefield, but there was still an undercurrent surging in Guangdong.

After leaving Furong Villa, Chen Kai and his entourage traveled together with Guizhuang, and did not say goodbye until they arrived in Suzhou. During this period, Guizhuang intended to follow Chen Kai south, but Chen Kai hoped that he could continue to lurk here, for the sake of understanding.

The army collected intelligence and waited for the day when the dawn illuminated the earth.

In Suzhou, Chen Kai did not make any stop. By mid-August, he had already appeared outside Hangzhou. This time, he decided to go into the city. Perhaps, he would stay in the city for a few days.

Youdao means that there is heaven above, and there are Suzhou and Hangzhou below. The two cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou are known to be beautiful together. Unlike Suzhou, which has an economic status as a magical city in later generations, Hangzhou was once an ancient capital. As the capital city of Zhejiang Province,

It is also a place where merchants gather and the handicraft industry is extremely developed. In the Ming Dynasty, Hangzhou was a huge city with a population of one million, and its influence was extraordinary.

"The late market in Beicheng is like a forest, and it has been spread throughout China to this day.

The green ramie is shaken by the wind and the moon shadow is shaken, and the crimson gauze cage is illuminated by the fire.

We drink with our companions behind the building, and we go out drunk on the lake."

As the terminus of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Hangzhou has its own unique charm of canal culture. Beiguan Night Market is one of the ten scenic spots in Qiantang. According to the "West Lake Chronicles", the grand occasion of Beiguan Night Market is "a place where water and land converge, and merchants

Clouds gather. Every time the sun sets on the mountain, the boats and sails are unloaded and the general merchandise is put on the market. Therefore, the market is not at noon but often until midnight, and it is outside the gate of the city. There are no Jinwu prohibitions. The bonfires and candles are as bright as daylight.

Many people who have returned from the West Lake gather here, and it is bustling with people, just like the Lantern Festival Lantern Market."

This is outside the Wulin Gate, where the canal approaches Hangzhou City. The boat Chen Kai and his party took has reached its destination here. They got off the boat, but it was daytime. The waiter at the tea shop said,

Recently, the Qing army in Hangzhou has been dispatched in large numbers, enforcing curfews, and the control inside and outside the city is extremely strict. Foreigners like Chen Kai and others cannot see the scenery of Beiguan Night Market for the time being, but during the day, there are also scenes of red flowers all over the streets.

, enough to make this trip worthwhile.

What he saw along the way were mostly dilapidated scenes like Guangxin Mansion, Nanchang, Jiujiang, and Changzhou, and prosperous scenes like Hangzhou, but it made Chen Kai feel like he was in a different time and space. These years in Guangdong and Fujian

, Chen Kai has indeed never seen such a place that has been almost untouched by war.

Speaking of which, Hangzhou was not massacred, but thanks to the "Lu Fozi" who was highly praised by the sages of Donglin. After the fall of Nanjing, he was promoted to be the prisoner of the country in Hangzhou, but he chose to open the city to the Qing army.

Surrender. However, even if His Royal Highness Prince Lu was so "aware of current affairs", he could not escape the Qing court's butcher knife. He just found a random reason and went with Emperor Hongguang and a group of captured Ming court clan members.

His head was chopped off. In this way, what happened to "Lu Fozi" in Hangzhou can probably be regarded as "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

"Amitabha, that poor monk will take the first step."

"Master Lao Daozong."

This time when he came to Hangzhou, Chen Kai had related plans. After entering the city, Daozong had already gone to check out the points, while Kuang Lu was still looking for one of his "old friends". With the help of the energy of local snakes, this time

Unfortunately, Chen Kai did not intend to be too low-key. He planned to fish out someone from this huge city that had been occupied for many years, and fished out someone who was still controlled by the Qing court.

Daozong and Kuang Lu had already set off one after another. The former was fine. He just followed Chen Kai's arrangement to find a temple to hang out, and acted according to the plan while waiting for follow-up instructions. On the other hand, Kuang Lu, not long after leaving the area controlled by the Ming Army in Jiangxi,

My mood became more and more depressed. I looked at the eastern outskirts of Nanchang at Poyang Lake, went to Changshu to explore the city and returned, and chatted with Guizhuang on the way south to Suzhou. Until I arrived in Hangzhou, I was still so depressed.

Due to the war in Zhoushan, the Qing army launched a large-scale attack, and the inspections in Hangzhou City were bound to be particularly strict. Chen Kai did not intend to be too concentrated, so he simply asked Daozong and Kuang Lu to enter the city from Wulin Gate and Genshan Gate respectively. After a while,

He then took the remaining people and entered the city through Wulin Gate disguised as merchants and clerks.

Daozong and Kuang Lu, a monk and a Confucian scholar, entered the city gate without much effort. Judging from the news sent back, the interrogation was indeed very strict. However, one of the two men did not need a weapon, and the other did not know how to use it.

Weapons, the Qing army guarding the gate did not feel too embarrassed and let them in.

"Our guys are going to hide outside the city first."

"Don't worry if you join the army. Once you are exposed, you will be using your bare hands. We should fight our way out to join the army."

"If you are really exposed, you can't escape."

Along the way, they held troops to protect themselves. Due to the small number of people, they were mostly regarded as escorts to guard the hospital, which was not very noticeable. However, when they arrived in Hangzhou this time, the interrogation was far more stringent than before along the way. Chen Kai did not intend to create any complications, so he simply

Only part of the whistle stick was left.

After waiting for more than an hour, Chen Kai and his entourage entered the city as promised. Outside Wulin Gate, a long queue of people waiting to enter the city had already formed. Chen Kai and his entourage lined up, and there was a team in front of them to pick up the bride, and it was so lively.

.

Chen Kai was not in a hurry, but those wedding receptions were different. The auspicious days and auspicious times were all calculated, and the groom's relatives were all waiting in the houses in the city. If this delay continued, it would really make people anxious.

"Look, I told you that I came out earlier and now I'm at the back of the line to pick up the bride. Just wait."

He vaguely heard someone talking in a low voice behind him, but Chen Kai didn't pay too much attention to it. He just lined up step by step. Just like this, he didn't know how long it took, but he finally arrived at the wedding team.

"Weeping in mourning, why are you bragging? Don't you think it's too noisy?!"

The guards of Wulin Gate stepped forward and yelled, and the matchmaker quickly called for the band to stop. Even the groom and the groom who were riding horses were begged by her to get off their horses, and then they came forward three steps at a time.

In front of the group of guards.

"You see, they are all local people. The groom is related to the pawnbroker of Qiantang County. The bride's uncle is also a civil servant. It is said that he is very likely to go to high school in the next subject... Look at our marriage ceremony.

It’s not easy for us to form a team, and the auspicious time is coming soon, so I ask you to be accommodating.”

Since two or three years ago, matchmakers no longer like to marry across the city gate. If a person in the city marries a person from the city, and a person from outside the city marries someone from outside the city, it would be more worry-free, if not for this time, the marriage has been agreed both inside and outside the city.

, the groom's family is related to the pawnbroker, so she can't refuse the matchmaker's job. Anyone who is willing to go through this hell will really die.

As she spoke, the matchmaker licked her face, walked up to the leading guard, shook her hand, and forced a silver coin into the guard's hand.

The matchmaker was careful, with a flattering smile on her face, and squeezed out a few more pleats. Unlike this, the guard took the silver, but weighed it openly. He still seemed a little dissatisfied, so he simply greeted a few

The guards came to the sedan together, pushed the matchmaker aside, and actually pulled open the curtain of the sedan. They laughed lewdly and commented on the bride's figure, even threatening to lift her hijab to see how she looked.

At this moment, everyone present near the sedan was stunned, especially the groom and the bride in the sedan. The newlyweds were even more stunned on the spot.

"Sir, please, this girl can't lift her hijab. If she didn't lift it in the bridal chamber, it was not done by her own man. If she really can't live as a human being, then she would have to risk someone's life..."

Speaking of which, the matchmaker was very experienced and quickly knelt down in front of the guard. Then, one head after another hit the ground, and traces of blood soon spread on the bluestone. However, that

The guard didn't care at all, and even took the scabbard to lift the bride's hijab, and kept saying, "If the little lady is beautiful, I don't mind getting her back."

"I'm just a kid in the flag camp".

As he said that, the scabbard had already reached the corner of the hijab. The bride was probably frightened. Fortunately, the matchmaker reacted quickly and quickly brought all the silver and jewelry she had on her to the guard. Seeing that the guard was very excited.

After stopping for a moment, but still not taking the scabbard back, the matchmaker quickly pulled the groom over and loudly expressed that he had money on him and took it all out to show his respect. Even her hands went to the groom without caring.

He dug into the money bag on the waiter's waist.

This was just a blink of an eye. As the bride in the sedan chair screamed, the wife was humiliated in public. Even though the groom showed anger, he was immediately blocked by the matchmaker.

"What, this guy doesn't like our bannermen?"

According to the Qing court system, the garrison of the Eight Banners in Hangzhou, the garrison generals, namely the current Pingnan General Gushan Ezhen and the future Angbang Zhangjing, has a status much higher than that of the governor. For example, the governor of Zhejiang, on the first and tenth day of every month,

Every five people must report their work to the garrison general. The city gates in Hangzhou are also guarded by flag soldiers.

Whether it is Hangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, or other cities that will be built one after another in the future, the Eight Banners garrison has always been extremely arrogant and domineering in the local area. Hangzhou began to dispatch Eight Banners troops to garrison in 1648 AD, that is, the fifth year of Shunzhi.

Since then, the harassment of local people by the Eight Banners garrison has begun. As it is today, it is just a small scene.

The flagman guard frowned. The scabbard had come out of the sedan, but looking at the posture, he was clearly about to draw the sword. Seeing this, the matchmaker quickly whispered to the groom and said, "A good man will not suffer the consequences in front of him."

"The reason is that he even forced the groom and the groom to kneel down and make a surrender gesture.

Soon, silver, jewelry, and copper coins were collected from the groom, the bride, the matchmaker, and the bride-to-be team, and finally the few banner guards were able to calm down. Then, the group of flag soldiers moved the bride-to-be team to the front.

After checking it up and down, I didn't find anything suspicious in the end, but I still pulled away the horse that the groom had just been riding, saying it was to refresh the groom's memory.

The team seeing off the bride didn't dare to brag about it. They passed the Wulin Gate with trepidation and disappeared at the end of the street as if they were running away. Chen Kai watched this "big show" with his mouth open, but it was their turn.
Chapter completed!