Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1173 Zuixian Tower

"My old friend bids farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower and goes to Yangzhou in the fireworks of March. The lone sail disappears into the blue sky, and only the Yangtze River is visible across the horizon!"

This is "Farewell to Meng Haoran at the Yellow Crane Tower" by Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty. This poem is catchy and has been passed down for hundreds of years. At this moment, Zhu Minlan is humming this poem, and under his feet is an official ship heading towards Nanjing, also known as Jinling.

As the crown prince, Zhu Minlan was visiting Jiangnan for the first time. After leaving the capital and heading south, he was extremely surprised by everything he saw. Unlike the north, the south was not only more prosperous, but also had a completely different landscape from the north, which Zhu Minlan, who grew up in the north, had never seen before.

Zhu Minlan is now wearing a military uniform, with a silver star on his shoulder shining in the sun. This is his military rank as the commander of Dingyuan School. He has a goose-feather knife across his waist and a musket on the other side. With his tall figure and straight back, he looks like a young and promising officer.

Zhu Minlan did not leave Beijing under the banner of the crown prince, but went south as a military attaché of the Zongli Yamen. After Zhu Shenzhu asked him to go to the Zongli Yamen to assist Zhang Xijun in charge of the trade ports, Zhu Minlan was temporarily transferred from the General Council to the Zongli Yamen and held the position of a military attaché.

The Zongli Yamen was fully responsible for all matters related to trading ports, as well as the establishment of a customs office. To ensure the smooth implementation of this task, the emperor gave Zhang Xijun considerable power. In addition, he assigned a guard troop to the Zongli Yamen as a standard bearer. Although this army had only a thousand people, its rank was not low. Its commander was an old man under Zhu Shenzhui, Wang Tieshu from Wangjia Village. Wang Tieshu now has the rank of General Zhenguo and has barely squeezed into the ranks of generals. Although he is not as good at fighting as Wang Jinwu and others, he is steady in his work and loyal to the emperor. Moreover, he and Zhang Xijun are old acquaintances, so it is most appropriate for him to be the commander.

“Your Highness…” Just as Zhu Minlan was looking at the Yangtze River in front of him, reciting this poem involuntarily and sighing at the scenery before him, a voice sounded behind him.

Looking back, he saw a cavalry captain who was about the same age as him. He was very familiar with this man. He was Wang Xin, the son of Commander Wang Tieshu and also his adjutant.

After glaring at Wang Xin, Wang Xin instantly realized that he had said the wrong thing, and quickly changed his words: "Sir, we will soon arrive at the Nanjing dock, do you want to go into the cabin and rest for a while?"

Zhu Minlan shook his head slightly: "No need, we will get off the ship directly in Nanjing."

"Disembark in Nanjing? Originally, it wasn't..." Wang Xin asked subconsciously. According to the plan, they should continue along the Yangtze River all the way south and take a boat directly to Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture to disembark. Why did this gentleman suddenly change his mind? Disembark directly in Nanjing?
"Yes! Let's go from Nanjing." Zhu Minlan said.

Wang Xin hesitated and did not dare to refute. He was the only one in their group who knew Zhu Minlan's identity, and the others did not know that this young officer was actually the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, they were sent to Shanghai to inspect the establishment of the trading port and the customs. Before departure, they had explained that everything on the road would be subject to Zhu Minlan's orders. Since Zhu Minlan suddenly decided to change the itinerary, Wang Xin had no way to stop him.

After answering, Wang Xin hurried to prepare. Half an hour later, their ship docked at Nanjing Wharf. Zhu Minlan took Wang Xin and other subordinates off the ship. The clerks at the dock saw more than a dozen officers and soldiers getting off the ship. Although they were a little surprised, they still went forward to check the pass and identity documents according to the rules. These things are necessary for going out. With the stability of the Ming Dynasty and the restoration of local prosperity in recent years, the review has become much stricter than before. Moreover, Nanjing is not an ordinary place, it is one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the other party is wearing a military uniform, the local officials dare not be careless.

After checking the pass and identity certificate, the clerk quickly let them go. Zhu Minlan and his group did not bring too much luggage, they basically set out with light luggage, and this time they were going to Jiangnan instead of going to the border to fight, they were all within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so as soldiers, there was no need to be too cumbersome.

After reaching the dock, Nanjing city is not far ahead.

Looking up at the tall city wall, Zhu Minlan was filled with emotion. This was the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Although the capital of the Ming Dynasty was moved from Nanjing to Beijing after the Yongle reign, Nanjing, as one of the two capitals, was still the capital of the Ming Dynasty and the most prosperous and affluent city in the south of the Yangtze River.

"Let's go! Let's go into the city!" Zhu Minlan called to Wang Xin and others, and they walked slowly towards the city gate. Soon they entered the city. When they arrived in the city, Wang Xin came forward and asked in a low voice whether they should notify the government office in Nanjing to settle down, or go directly to the residence of Duke Wei.

The current Duke of Wei is Xu Wenjue. The old Duke Xu Hongji died of illness two years ago. Xu Wenjue officially inherited the title of Duke of Wei and became the garrison commander of Nanjing. Although Xu Wenjue is not very capable, he is very loyal to the court. Moreover, the Duke of Wei's Mansion stood firmly on the side of the emperor in the last Jiangnan case. In addition, the Duke of Wei is one of the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty, so his status and position are naturally different.

Zhu Minlan did not accept Wang Xin's suggestion. He disembarked from Nanjing on a whim, and no one except himself and Wang Xin knew their identities. Once they arrived at the Duke of Wei's mansion, his identity would be exposed. The news that the prince of the Ming Dynasty came to Nanjing would inevitably cause waves. Zhu Minlan did not want to cause unnecessary trouble because of his identity. Since he and his people came in secret, there was no need to meet with Nanjing officials including the Duke of Wei. Moreover, he did not plan to stay in Nanjing for a long time. He just wanted to take a walk here because it was his first time in Nanjing, and he would go to Xiaoling to pay homage, and then go to Songjiang Prefecture by land.

"Let's find an inn and settle down first." Zhu Minlan thought for a while and gave the order. Wang Xin responded and went to inquire about the location of the inn. After a while, they came to an inn. This inn was considered a good inn in Nanjing. They asked for a few rooms and settled down temporarily. Then Zhu Minlan asked everyone to change clothes. It was inconvenient to continue wearing military uniforms in the city, so it was better to change into plain clothes. In this way, after everyone changed their clothes, Zhu Minlan transformed from a young officer into the appearance of a rich family's son, and Wang Xin looked like a hanger-on of the rich family. As for the others, they were all burly and strong, just like the rich family's followers.

Playing with a folding fan that he found from nowhere, Zhu Minlan was quite satisfied with his outfit. He opened the folding fan and waved it, then smiled and called a few junior officers, saying, "Come on! Follow me out for a walk. I'll treat you to a delicious meal today."

"Thank you, Young Master! Hahaha!" Everyone laughed at the same time. For a moment, everyone looked at each other. We were all dressed like ordinary people, which was completely different from the military uniforms we wore before. It was quite interesting.

After leaving the inn and asking for directions, Zhu Minlan took Wang Xin and others directly to Zuixianlou.

This restaurant is very famous in Nanjing. The original location of the restaurant was called Sun Chu Restaurant, which was named after Sun Chu, the prefect of the Western Jin Dynasty. During the Hongwu period, Nanjing rebuilt the restaurant on its original site and merged it with 15 other famous towers to form the Sixteen Famous Towers, and renamed Taibai Restaurant. Because of this name, it was later called Zuixian Tower. If counted from the Western Jin Dynasty, it has a history of one thousand years.

Zuixianlou was burned down by fire a hundred years ago and was rebuilt again. The restaurant is in a great location, right at the tail of the dragon of the Ten-Li Qinhuai River. Because of its fame, the business is naturally very prosperous on weekdays. When Zhu Minlan and his party arrived at Zuixianlou, they originally planned to directly ask for a private room, but they didn't expect that Zuixianlou's business was too good and the private rooms had been sold out. The waiter apologized and said that all the private rooms in the restaurant had been booked. If the guests didn't mind, they could sit in the hall on the first floor to dine.

Zhu Minlan frowned slightly and was a little hesitant. It was not that he thought the hall was bad, but he was worried that there were too many people coming and going in the hall. Besides, there were quite a few of them in their group. If they sat in the hall, one table would not be able to accommodate them all, which was a bit inconvenient.

Wang Xin, who was standing by, understood what Zhu Minlan was doing immediately. He hurried forward and whispered a few words to the waiter. While they were talking, he slipped a handful of silver into the other person's hand without anyone noticing.

The waiter immediately understood what the other party meant. After thinking for a moment, he told Wang Xin that all their private rooms were indeed booked today, but there was still a room upstairs that the owner had specially reserved. He asked them to wait for a while while he reported to the shopkeeper to see if this room could be vacated. But he had to say in advance that he could not guarantee anything and could only try his best.

Hearing this, Wang Xin smiled and agreed immediately, and promised that money was not a problem, as long as there was a private room. The waiter nodded and hurried to find the shopkeeper. I don't know how he discussed it with the shopkeeper. After a while, he came back with a smile on his face and said that the shopkeeper agreed, and asked everyone to follow him upstairs.

Zhu Minlan and the others followed him upstairs and arrived at the private room. After entering, they saw that the area inside was not small, and there was a large round table that was enough to seat them.

Nodding with satisfaction, Zhu Minlan asked everyone to sit down and asked the waiter what delicious dishes and wines Zuixianlou had. The waiter introduced them with a smile. Zhu Minlan asked the waiter to pick some good ones and serve them. In addition, he wanted to serve a few of Nanjing's famous Jinling Roast Duck. It is impossible not to eat duck in Nanjing. There is a famous saying in later generations that no duck can leave Nanjing alive, and Nanjing's roast duck is even more famous. The so-called Beijing roast duck was originally passed down from Nanjing. Compared with the roast duck in the northern capital, Jinling roast duck is more authentic. Zhu Minlan has always wanted to try it, and today he finally has the chance.

After ordering the food and drinks, not long after the waiter left, one exquisite dish after another arrived.

Zhu Minlan and the others were not polite either. They were all soldiers. How could there be so many rules for soldiers to eat? Even Zhu Minlan had received strict military training when he was studying in the military academy. His eating habits were very rough. Except for paying attention to some etiquette when he was in the palace, he was almost no different from ordinary soldiers in the army.

Compared with the northern dishes, the dishes in Jiangnan are more delicate, especially the famous restaurants like Zuixianlou. Eating the dishes and drinking the fine wines of Zuixianlou is really a refreshing experience.

As they ate and talked, looking at the beautiful scenery of Qinhuai River outside the window, Zhu Minlan felt such scenery and atmosphere for the first time, and was really happy. Who would have thought that at this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the door, as if someone was scolding something, and faintly heard that it seemed that someone was making decisions without authorization, and how could the room be given up directly. These words made Zhu Minlan frown slightly, and he was about to tell Wang Xin beside him to go out and see what was going on, when suddenly there was a bang, and the tightly closed door of the private room was pushed open directly from the outside.

(End of this chapter)