In Chaozhou in March, spring was warm and flowers were blooming. Early in the morning, Liu Yizhou, an aide to the Fujian Governor's Yamen, left the post house and went straight to the Magistrate's Yamen to ask for an audience with Huang Menglin.

The matter was nothing more than a reply from the Guangdong Governor's Yamen. Unfortunately, after a whole night's work, the reply still had not arrived. Regarding this, Liu Yizhou seemed a little anxious, but he tried his best not to be so anxious.

This contradiction is all seen in Huang Menglin's eyes. In his opinion, it is probably due to the chaos in Fujian and the problem of military food reserves. If this is really the case, Tong Guonai probably will not send just such an aide, let alone

They will just place their hopes on their "relatives" in Guangdong. Such places as Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Southern Gansu will probably send people there, especially Jiangxi and Zhejiang. The grain output of these two provinces is not low. But now

With the war in turmoil, it is hard to say whether the provincial officials would be willing to get Tong Guonai on board for the sake of the Eight Banners.

In addition, in Huang Menglin's opinion, there is probably an element of Liu Yizhou competing for favor with other staff in front of Tong Guonai. However, he did not bother to point it out and simply sent someone to accompany Liu Yizhou to visit the Chaozhou scenery.

Just killing time, that's all. As for whether to form a good relationship in private, I'm not in a hurry.

“It’s better to add icing on the cake than to provide help in times of need.”

Chaozhou has always been a gathering place for humanities since the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is full of scenic spots and is known to be divided into eight inner and outer sceneries. Among them, the eight inner sceneries are all located among the streets and alleys of the ancient city, while the eight outer sceneries are mostly along Hanjiang River.

Liu Yizhou did not receive a reply from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, so he had no choice but to go sightseeing with the government officials.

The first stop for Liu Yizhou and his party was the most famous Xiangzi Bridge in Chaozhou. This bridge is located outside Guangji Gate and is also called Guangji Bridge. According to the guide, this bridge was built by a great writer of the Tang Dynasty who worked in Chaozhou.

Han Yu's nephew, Han Xiangzi, one of the Eight Immortals, and the other Eight Immortals fought with Monk Guangji to rise above the Han River. It was precisely because of the fighting between the two families that the Guangji Bridge was closed from both sides of the Han River to the center of the Han River.

In the end, they failed to close successfully, so they had to use a boat to carry a suspension bridge to connect.

This is a relatively mythical statement. In fact, the Xiangzi Bridge was built in the 7th year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was originally built with 86 boats and pontoon bridges. Later, it was repeatedly built in successive dynasties until the 9th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, which lasted 300 years.

In fifty-nine years, the grand pattern of "eighteen shuttle ships and twenty-four continents" was finally achieved.

"Mr. Liu, please look, this is Xiangzi Bridge."

The Guangji Gate in front of the Guangji Bridge is originally the most spectacular gate among the seven gates in Chaozhou City. It is placed on a tall platform and has a three-story double eaves resting on the top of the mountain. It is five bays wide and has a bucket-type beam structure.

The city tower faces the Han River and directly faces the Xiangzi Bridge. There is an old couplet on the upper floor: "Ten thousand peaks stand at each door, and water meets the sky." It is just like the scene of "watching the tide in the east tower", which is majestic. But it is not as wide as this.

Jiqiao came, but it was dwarfed by comparison.

Following the direction pointed by the guide, Liu Yizhou looked in front of the city gate tower of Guangji Gate. Outside Guangji Gate, a wind and rain bridge connected by bridge piers, with pavilions and pavilions built on each pier, stretched all the way to the river.

Because the water flow is very fast, we use pontoon bridges built by boats. After passing this point, the water flow slows down, and wind and rain bridges are directly connected to the other side of the river.

Guangji Bridge integrates beam bridge, pontoon bridge and arch bridge. It is an isolated example of ancient Chinese bridges. With its unique style of "Eighteen shuttles and twenty-four continents", it is also known as the four major bridges in China along with Zhaozhou Bridge, Luoyang Bridge and Marco Polo Bridge.

The ancient bridge was hailed as “the earliest opening and closing bridge in the world” by the famous bridge expert Mao Yisheng.

"Mr. Liu, please take a look at these two side pavilions. They are called Lanxiu in the north and Hanqing in the south. The former is based on the sentence "Su Mang of Xilanzhou" in "Li Sao", and the latter is based on the "He Jing Zhongchun Day"

The sentence in "Things" means walking in the suburbs with a stick, and the spring water by the sand is half clear..."

After exiting Guangji Gate, go straight forward and you will see the first bridge pavilion on the bridge. The bridge pavilion runs from west to east. The three characters of Guangji Bridge are written on the front of the plaque, and the two characters of Wonders are written on the back. Liu Yizhou is guiding

Under the leadership of the leader, we walked across the Guangji Bridge. Wherever we saw the buildings, pavilions and pavilions were well-proportioned with different shapes, but the proportions were the repetition of one or several ratios in the whole, making the buildings on the bridge appear to be complex but not chaotic.

, well-proportioned, in addition to being slightly dilapidated probably due to the chaos of war, it has somewhat lost the reputation of "one mile long bridge and one mile city". The word "wonder" is well deserved.

"Before I came here, I heard someone say that if you can't reach the bridge when the tide hits, it's a waste of time. It really deserves its reputation."

The guide gave the introduction dutifully, with the air of a later generation tour guide. Liu Yizhou chatted with him for a few words, but he also knew that this man was originally a native of Chaozhou and was very proud of Guangji Bridge. Those literate quotes were all from his past.

What the storyteller heard from his mouth, he secretly wrote down, and now he uses it, and it seems to be quite good.

After passing the first eight bridge piers, and moving forward, there is already a pontoon bridge. These pontoon bridges are composed of eighteen boats connected in series with three 4,000-kilogram iron cables. Liu Yizhou walked on the bridge and looked at the people under the bridge.

The river was rolling, but I didn't feel any shaking. After crossing the pontoon bridge, in front of me were bridges connected by thirteen piers, all the way to the rolling Bijia Mountain on the other side.

"The Xiangjiang River is far away at dawn in spring, and eighteen shuttle boats are locked on the painted bridge. The rocks and snow are flying on the beams, and the roar of the sea is booming. The peach waves are rising in the Yazhou Island, and the crocodile smoke is deep in the wicker branches. There is a rainbow in the area in March, and the floating trees are

It almost reaches the sky." Reciting the poem, Liu Yizhou looked back, praising it in his heart, and until the end, he finally concluded with the sentence "It's so beautiful", nothing more.

"Mr. Liu's poem is very good. Even a villain like me who doesn't understand poetry can still hear its benefits. Mr. Liu is really a wise man."

The praise contained in the poem can be understood without any literary talent. The guide was originally proud of this, but when he heard Liu Yizhou's praise, he was even more happy. Unexpectedly, as soon as this compliment came out, Liu Yizhou

But his expression changed, and then he said quietly: "This poem was not written by me, but by Mr. Zheng, the governor of the Yamen."

After that, he stopped looking at the scenery, turned around and walked back in the direction of Fucheng. The guide was stunned for a moment and chased after him until he sent Liu Yizhou away, who returned to the post house without looking back.

Return to the government office to report to Huang Menglin.

"This poem is very well written."

When the guide arrived at the post house, he specifically asked Liu Yizhou for the poem he recited on the bridge. He brought it back to the government office and handed it directly to Huang Menglin's case. The latter also expressed his surprise after exclamation.

A look of sudden realization.

"If it doesn't go as I expected, then I'll wait for you for a few more days."

That day, Liu Yizhou went back to the post house and never came out again. The next day, he visited the government office early in the morning again, but the reply was still undelivered. Huang Menglin still sent the same guide from yesterday to continue accompanying him.

Liu Yizhou went to visit the sights of Chaozhou. Just looking at his expression, it was obvious that he was still thinking about the reply from the Guangdong Governor's Yamen. Before leaving, he specifically told Huang Menglin that he would go to Kaiyuan Temple today to visit. If there was any news, he would look for him at the post office.

If you don't see him, you will definitely be there.

For three days in a row, Liu Yizhou left in good spirits and came back disappointed. Of course, the beautiful scenery of Chaozhou was indeed impressive, but he was anxious in his heart, to the extent that any discerning person could easily see that he did not appreciate the scenery.

It became less and less important.

On the contrary, the pair of chief brothers who came with him sometimes wandered around the city. However, these Fujian naval forces did not make trouble or disturb the people. They seemed a bit unlike the Qing army, especially the

Chaozhou's local policemen.

In this regard, Che Renzhong was satisfied with the knowledge of the Fujian soldiers, but Huang Menglin had some other thoughts. At least in his opinion, these Fujian soldiers were probably better than the thieves under Che Renzhong.

For some, if an army can be replaced to guard this place, his official duties can be carried out better, and he will not be ordered by his superiors at every turn.

Of course, the Fujian Governor's Yamen currently has too much time to take care of itself. Even if he could convince Tong Yangjia and Li Chengdong, the Fujian side would still be unable to do so.

"By the way, it seems that Admiral Li has a group of Fujian soldiers under his command. I don't know what those guys are like."

The car was still the same as before, and Huang Menglin was thinking wildly. On the fourth night of the fleet's arrival in Chaozhou, Liu Yizhou got together with Bai Hansong, the eldest of the Bai brothers.

"The city is about two feet and five feet high, the base is about two feet and two feet wide, the city surface is about one foot and five feet, and it occupies a very large area. There are seven gates, with towers built on them, and an arc-shaped moon city outside.

With more than forty enemy towers, sixty or seventy dens, and thousands of battlements, this city is indeed a fortified city. And the bigger problem is that there are two thousand bandits stationed in the city alone.

It is tenable and it seems that it cannot be underestimated.”

"Quantity is not an issue. With three hundred elites against two thousand mobs, the chances of winning are still very high. As for the fortified city, there is no need to worry. The strongest fortress can often be breached from the inside. We have no intention of attacking by force this time.

?"

"Yes, Chen Canjun. In the past few days, my brother-in-law and I have walked around the city roughly. As long as we capture the three key points of Chaozhou Mansion, Chaozhou General Military Mansion and the Barracks, the city will be considered as captured."

"Well, that's enough."

Except for the officials and servants, the post house was guarded by their people. After making sure that there were no ears between the walls, the words could be spoken more directly. Liu Yizhou and Bai Hansong just exchanged words in low voices, and what they said was,

But it's all shocking.

"Chen Canjun, if nothing unexpected happens, Du Hui's four ships will arrive tomorrow."

"Then we will act according to the original plan. Tomorrow, we will send the car back to the west."

At this moment, Chen Kai, who calls himself Liu Yizhou, and Ke Chenshu, who is best known as Navy Commander Bai Hansong, have made preparations. In the past few days, Chen Kai has been responsible for attracting the attention of the military and political leaders in Chaozhou City, while the Ke family brothers have been secretly watching

The intelligence sent back by Chen Bao was used to ascertain the layout of the city and to make a complete plan.

Everything is ready, just waiting for the reinforcements to arrive tomorrow. At that time, Chen Kai will take Du Hui and others to visit Che Renzhong and Huang Menglin as Fujian Navy Chief Qian Liu Dahong. It would be better for both of them to be together, even if only Che Renzhong is the only one.

They, the Ming army, wouldn't have a big disadvantage in terms of numbers. What's more, they still had a mental calculation but no intention, just to kill the car and catch them off guard!

Chen Kai and Zheng Chenggong had been planning the plan to deceive the city for several months, and Chen Kai had to conduct numerous deductions before deciding on the strategy. Chen Kai, the Ke brothers and Du Hui were all new faces and would not attract attention. The Ke brothers and

Chen Kai had a close friendship with Du Hui, who performed well in the battle of Liu Shizhai, so he and Chen Kai, the only guy on Nan'ao Island who could speak the northern dialect, pretended to be from the Fujian governor's office and came to seize the city. Now everything is ready.

Thanks to the east wind, Du Hui's boat had not yet arrived early the next morning. Chen Kai, who was about to go to the government office to "report" as usual, ran into the guide who had been accompanying him on the sightseeing tour for the past two days.
Chapter completed!