Nanjing, abbreviated as "Ning", was called Jinling and Jiankang in ancient times. Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, made his fortune here, so he also established his capital here. However, after Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing had already lost its political status as the capital.

However, Nanjing is still the political, economic and cultural center of the entire South China. It is surrounded by the prosperous Taihu River Basin, and most of the country's economic output is concentrated in this narrow area. Although the north was destroyed in the ten-year turmoil in the late Ming Dynasty, there was a natural defense of the Yangtze River around Nanjing. In addition, the Yangtze River naval masters were not vegetarians, so they ensured the stability and prosperity of Nanjing and its surrounding areas.

Because Ma Cheng made a mistake, Ma Shiying stayed at home to assist his mother Gu's move, so he arrived at Jiangpu Ferry on the fourth day of the fifth month.

At this time, the Yangtze River was not as wide as later generations. The Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty was very abundant, and it was more than twenty miles wide in the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River. Standing at Pukou and looking opposite, you only saw the water and sky line, which was very spectacular.

When Ma Cheng saw the rolling Yangtze River rushing eastward by his eyes, his heart was surging and excited. He stood on the bank of the Yangtze River and sang the famous theme song in the TV series Romance of the Three Kingdoms in later generations.

"The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, and the waves wash away the heroes.

Right and wrong, success and failure turn into nothing.

The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red for several times.

The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter are on the river bank, and are used to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze.

A pot of turbid wine meets happily.

How many things happen in ancient and modern times are all laughing at.”

As soon as Ma Cheng finished singing, he heard a voice beside him praise: "Sir, this song Linjiangxian is very suitable for this scene. When Yang Sheng'an wrote this poem, he probably didn't expect that he could be sung so magnificently by the adults!"

Ma Cheng turned around and looked at the person who was talking. It turned out that he saved the scholar Wang Xian in Huai'an.

Wang Xian wore a gray long gown today, without a hat on his head and tied a turban. His left sleeve was empty and he swung with the wind. He held a white paper fan in his right hand and was swaying. With the gust of the river wind, Wang Xian's movements were really as elegant as Zhuge Villageman in the novel.

Ma Cheng heard Wang Xian say this and asked, "It turns out to be Wang Xiucai. I wonder who Yang Sheng'an is? Isn't this poem the beginning of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

When Wang Xian heard Ma Cheng say this, he remembered that the general was not studying, so he naturally didn't know who Yang Sheng'an was.

"Sir, Yang Sheng'an is Yang Shen, the author of this poem Linjiangxian and a great writer during the Jiajing period! This poem Linjiangxian was created by him when he was exiled in Yunnan!"

Ma Cheng knew who Yang Shen was, and he only knew Zhang Juzheng during the Jiajing period.

Ma Cheng scratched his head and said, "It turned out to be written by Yang Shen, I thought it was written by Luo Guanzhong!"

"There is no such poem in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but what I said is very good. This poem is completely suitable before the Romance of the Three Kingdoms!"

In the Ming Dynasty, this poem Linjiangxian had no much to do with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Twenty years later, in the third year of Kangxi, literary critics Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang and his son added, deleted, modified and commented on the original works of the popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The chapters were adapted into 120 chapters, changed more than 50 poems, wrote tens of thousands of words, changed the plots to dozens of places, changed the title of the book to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and added the opening lyrics at the beginning of the volume. Only then did Linjiangxian know with the spread of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Ma Cheng didn't expect that he would change history in just one word, but Ma Cheng didn't take it seriously. I came to this era to change history.

"Wang Xiucai, what do you want to do after passing the river later? Your arms are almost done. Are you not going to join relatives and friends?" Wang Xian has been following Ma Cheng in the past few days, responsible for Ma Cheng's daily copywriting of his small army, so Ma Cheng still doesn't want to let Wang Xian leave.

Wang Xian sighed when he heard Ma Cheng say this: "Hey, General, my family is dead, and I am still a disabled person. Can I still take me there? So I want to follow General, please take me in!"

In fact, Wang Xian is not without relatives and friends, but his family is all dead at the hands of Zhang Guozhu. He still wants to stay with Ma Cheng and wants to find a chance to take revenge.

Ma Cheng didn't know what Wang Xian was thinking. He was very happy to hear that Wang Xian would not leave. Wang Xian worked very well. He had been sorting out all the affairs of the generals in the past ten days, and he was no longer in a chaotic manner like Gu Changwei at that time.

"Okay! Since Wang Xiucai is willing to stay, I am very welcome, so let's do it! I lack an experience under my subordinates. How about asking Wang Xiucai to serve as a member?" The experience is a bit similar to that of a secretary or office director in later generations. The rank depends on the department it is located in. For example, in the Ming Dynasty Censorate, the experience of the General Administration Commission is the seventh rank, the experience of the General Administration Commission is the sixth rank, the experience of the General Administration Commission is the seventh rank, the experience of the General Administration Commission is the seventh rank, and the experience of each government is the eighth rank.

Ma Cheng is now just a general, and his biggest civil servant is this experience. His official position is only the ninth rank. However, Wang Xian is a scholar and is still a disabled person who lacks one hand. In the Ming Dynasty, which emphasizes appearance, the road to imperial examinations was basically cut off, so Ma Cheng gave him this official position very suitable for Wang Xian.

Wang Xian heard Ma Cheng say this and bowed to thank him: "I am very grateful to the general for his love. Please rest assured. I will definitely do my job well!"

Wang Xian is now considered a civil servant under Ma Cheng, although he is just a scholar.

At this time, a family came to report that everything had been loaded on the boat. The old lady asked the second master to board the boat and prepare to cross the river.

Ma Cheng nodded and took Wang Xian onto the official ship. This time the move was moved by the entire Ma family, and there were three official ships installed in total. Fortunately, Ma Shiying is in the limelight now, otherwise it would be impossible for a boat to cross the river today.

Ships in the Ming Dynasty all rely on wind energy, so naturally they could not cross the river directly like those ships in later generations. They had to use the wind to go up the river first, and they turned up the river and went down the river when they arrived upstream.

Ma Cheng stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the scenery. At this time, a Ming army warship happened to pass by. Although the inland warships in the Ming Dynasty were not as large as ocean-going cargo ships, they were also larger than official ships.

Ma Cheng saw that the warship was full of fully armed soldiers. These soldiers were much stronger than the guards in Fengyang, at least they were not as gray-haired old men or as yellow-mouthed boys with high guns.

When Ma Cheng saw the soldiers on the warship nodded and praised: "I didn't expect that the navy officers and soldiers were much stronger than those guards!"

Wang Xian’s family is right by the canal, not far from the Yangtze River, so he is very familiar with these navy masters.

"Sir, these are not the navy in Nanjing, but the subordinates of the Fujian General!"

Fujian General Ma Cheng asked curiously: "Is it Zheng Zhilong?"

"Yes, it's Nan'anbo Zheng Zhilong!"

It turns out that they are all pirates, no wonder they are so elite. These guys are the number one navy in East Asia, and are better than the Dutch of the same period.

Seeing the elite navy and the vast natural danger of the Yangtze River, Ma Cheng was very curious about how the Qing Dynasty crossed the Yangtze River without bloodshed a year later. You should know that the Qing Dynasty was all cavalry and there were no naval troops at all. Could it be that traitors appeared in the official army again?

It was very puzzled to think of Ma Cheng. It is logical that pirates like Zheng Zhilong are not simple in combat. How could they not beat those outsiders of the Qing Dynasty at home? Ma Cheng became more and more confused the more he thought about it. However, Ma Cheng had this kind of personality. If he didn't understand, he wouldn't think about it. Anyway, why would he have to do with brain cells?

After two hours, the ship finally approached the wharf on the south bank of the Yangtze River. There were three wharfs on the south bank of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. Ma Cheng and his team were on the official boat, so they naturally had to approach the Waijinchuanmen Wharf.

Outer Jinchuan Gate belongs to the official wharf, so there is relatively fewer people. As soon as Ma Cheng got ashore, he saw Ma Gui, the official Ma Mansion, coming.

Ma Gui stepped forward and bowed and said, "Second Young Master, you are finally here! The cart is ready, and the master has been waiting at home for a long time!"

Of course, Ma Cheng didn't need to follow him when loading the car. He got on the boat and greeted the female family at home, then got on the sedan chair, and the group left the dock and entered the city.

Nanjing has two walls inside and outside, and the outer wall has a circumference of 180 miles. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to use the outer wall as the first line of defense, but if the investment was too high, he had no choice but to build soil and add bricks to some weak defense areas such as the city gate.

After more than 200 years of peace in the Ming Dynasty, most of the outer city walls have collapsed. Now only some of the city gates are still there, but they have lost their useful value.

The outer Jinchuan Gate mainly enters Nanjing City through Jinchuan Gate and Zhongfu Gate. However, the caravans entering the city here are too large, so Ma Gui and his group have to bypass half of Nanjing and walk to the Sanshan Gate in Xicheng.

After getting off the boat and after half an hour of bumpy ride, I finally arrived at Sanshan Gate in the west. Here I entered the most prosperous southern city in Nanjing. At the same time, outside Sanshan Gate is the beautiful Lake Biwa, so the people who enter the city from here are rich households and officials.

As a cabinet master, Ma Shiying naturally had to take a special passage when his family entered the city. Ma Cheng rode a tall horse and entered Nanjing from the wide Sanshan Gate. The noise of the city came to his ears as soon as possible.

There is Youshi Street in Sanshanmen. Walking further forward, there is a more prosperous Confucius Temple. It is the center of Nanjing, with shops, restaurants and tea shops. Among the shops, there are a wide range of fish, sea cucumbers from Nanyang, swords and lacquerware from Japan, wood fruits from Annan, sugar from Fujian and Guangdong, Shu brocade from Sichuan, medicinal materials from Yunnan and Guizhou, and other things.

In addition to these, there were also tourists, including Folang Ji people in strange costumes, Japanese people with half of their hair, and short and dark natives in the South. Of course, the most were literati wearing big red and green silk gowns. These guys went in and out of the brothels in Confucius Temple in groups, pretending to give advice on the country, talking about current affairs, cheering loudly when they were excited, and cursing repeatedly when they were angry, making them like cabinet masters.
Chapter completed!