After lighting up the dragon, Ren Ning and the others happily picked up the dragon boat and walked to the east of the school grounds.
The lake leading to the Xinglan Grand Canal is not far away, not far east of the school grounds.
This lake is very large. In addition to being part of the landscape lake of the Zhenguogong Mansion, it also plays a role in training guards.
Although guarding the Yanzuo Fortress in the west does not require water warfare, more than 40 years ago, General Huo Zheng and Princess Yiguang led troops to conquer Nanfeng.
In order to bypass the heavily guarded Huchou Pass, they took a boat and headed south. As landlubbers in the vast sea, they suffered a lot.
After learning from the painful experience, from that time on all the descendants of Zhenguo Gongfu were trained in water warfare in case of emergencies.
And on this lake leading to the Xinglan Grand Canal, a complete dock and facilities for water training have been built.
There are many wealthy families in such a large Xingji City, and many of them have lakes in their houses. However, the only one with training facilities in the lake is Zhenguo Gongfu, which can be said to be the only one.
The dragon boat was launched into the water, and Ren Ning and the others boarded the cruise ship.
After everyone was seated and supported, Huo Qing gave an order, and the boatmen, who were big and small, untied the cables and slowly sailed the boat eastward.
After passing several overt and covert checkpoints, it took a long time for the cruise ship to exit the wall of the Zhenguo Palace.
"This is the imperial family." Li Hebai clicked his tongue at the side.
His family's Guerrilla General's House is also one of the most wealthy families in Guangxin County. However, after comparing them at this time, we can see the huge gap between the two.
"Yes." Ren Ning and Lei Er agreed with a smile.
Many people knew that Zhenguogong Mansion occupies a vast area, but most of them had only heard about it and had never seen it with their own eyes. The boat trip went all the way east until it entered the Xinglan Grand Canal, and everyone knew that the rumors were true.
The place where nobles competed in dragon boats was not far from the west pier of the city.
Yong'an Hutong or Xuanwu Street, where Ren Ning's family is located, is in the northeast of Xingji City.
Therefore, the cruise ship carrying everyone had to go around from the east to the south of the city, and then to the west of the city.
The cruise ship goes very fast, and there is a cool breeze on the deck.
Ren Ning and others couldn't sit still, so they ran to the deck in groups and talked and laughed while looking at the scenery on the river bank.
Not long after, the ship arrived at the southeast corner of Star City.
Looking up and looking along the Grand Canal to the southeast waterway, there is a man-made canyon more than a hundred feet away.
There are two tall and thick stainless steel gates standing in the canyon, blocking the river flowing from west to east as if one man is blocking the gate and no one can open it.
"These two doors..." Although Lei Er has seen this door before, he still wonders every time he sees it, "How high is it?"
Huo Qing smiled and said, "These two doors are actually not very high. They only reach the bottom of the canal and are about three feet above the water."
"Isn't this high?" The soldiers who came back from the south couldn't help but look sideways.
As an important pass in the southern part of the empire, Zhennan Pass is only over four feet high. To ensure safe navigation, the water depth of the canal must be at least three feet, plus another three feet above the water surface. In terms of the craftsmanship of this era, they are definitely two behemoths.
"Is it safe enough?" A soldier from Zhennanguan was curious.
"Absolutely safe." Huo Qing glanced at the man and nodded with a smile, "These two gates weigh one hundred tons and can withstand the violent impact of any large ship. They are equivalent to Zhennanguan on the canal."
Because the Xinglan Grand Canal is part of the moat, and it leads directly to the sea in the east. The enemy can go north along the Grand Canal and attack Xingji City directly.
When necessary, these two gates can be closed directly to temporarily cut off the canal, thus preventing enemies from attacking along the canal.
However, since the establishment of the Xinglan Grand Canal, these two gates have never been truly closed. Usually, they are only tried to be closed during maintenance in the middle of the year to see if they are damaged.
"How on earth was such a big steel door built?" Ren Ning was curious.
The crane engineering department he submitted some time ago has not yet been built, but the Grand Canal was repaired hundreds of years ago.
"How else can we build it?" Everyone spread their hands: "How can we build the Great Wall? This is how we will build it."
To put it bluntly, there is strength in numbers.
Ren Ning shook his head silently in his heart.
The Great Wall is very great. However, if all the dynasties and dynasties used their efforts to build the Great Wall to attack the enemies in the north, it is estimated that the Great Wall would not need to be built.
He retracted his gaze to the southeast and looked back at Xingji City beside him.
The bustling Chengdong Pier appears in front of you.
Last year, Ren Ning got off the boat when he returned to the Imperial Capital from Yankuo Fortress.
However, it was the Dragon Boat Festival at this time, and the area around the pier was even busier. Thousands of ships crowded the entire river. At a glance, both the people and the ships were far more numerous than last year.
But no matter how many boats or people there were, when they saw the cruise ship from Zhenguo Palace approaching from a distance, they all hurriedly made way for them.
The cruise ship successfully passed the busy east pier of the city and sailed towards the south gate.
Not long after walking, the broad moat began to smell of powdery fragrance.
From time to time, one or two magnificent painted boats will sail out from some rivers lined with green willows, floating leisurely on the wide and straight moat, accompanied by the smiles of girls and the sound of clanking silk and bamboo.
“That’s weird,” someone couldn’t help but mutter, “Don’t these boats usually come out only in the evening?
Everyone looked at the old driver with strange expressions.
He stood silently for a few minutes.
After a while, we finally saw the South City Gate, or the bridge.
A three-hole stone arch bridge spans the spacious river in front. Each hole is more than ten feet high, and any cargo ship or passenger ship can pass unimpeded below even if its sail is hoisted.
"Damn it!" Li Hebai couldn't help but uttered a curse word, "It turns out this bridge is so high!"
A few days ago, they marched the prisoners in triumph and passed the bridge across the moat. At that time, Li Hebai was only focused on the march of the team and did not notice the height of the bridge at all.
Now, looking from below, he was so frightened that he was sweating all over.
At this height, whether you stumble and fall from the bridge or jump directly, there is almost no need to save the person. Just hitting the water will be enough to shatter the person's body.
Someone next to me was also dumbfounded. After coming back to his senses, he laughed: "What's so strange? This is Star City."
The implication is that Yunchui is the most powerful country in the entire continent, and its imperial capital naturally has a majestic scene.
Huo Qing shook his head and came over to explain to them.
"The main reason is that the terrain in the south of the city is relatively high. When the canal was excavated here, the water level was already very low. In order to continue sailing, the surface had to be dug down. The result was the current appearance."
"That's fine," he smiled and pointed to the tall cliffs on both sides: "This moat has completely become a moat that supports the satellite city."
But it’s just south of the city.
Whether it is the east or west of the city, the terrain is relatively low-lying. The canal water in these places is almost as high as the ground of Star City. Therefore, Star City has a dock on each side, but there is no dock in the south of the city where most people come and go.
After passing the south of the city, we finally circled to the west of the city.
The river in front is covered in red and green, and it is full of joy.
The streets along the river are heavily guarded, with sentries posted every three steps and one sentry every five steps.
"Looking at this battle, Your Majesty should really be able to come out of the palace to celebrate with the people."