Chapter 542 Remembering Yangzhou

Guangling County, Yangzhou.

When Chang'an and Luoyang were in decline due to a rebellion, there was a popular saying in the world called "Yang Yi Yi Er", which means the prosperous place in the world, headed by Yangzhou, Yizhou is rich in products, but

for second.

A few months ago, Li Xuan, the governor of Guang County, was appointed as the transshipment envoy of Henan Province. The new governor is still from the Tang Dynasty clan. He is the successor of Prince Zheng Li Xiyan, the 13th son of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty Li Yuan, after Prince Zheng Li Yuanyi.

Li Xiyan was over sixty years old at the time, and he became an official as a member of the clan, hoping to govern the place well and revive the Tang Dynasty.

But not long after he took office, he received a decree from the saint asking him to donate treasure.

There have been frequent wars in the past two years, and the people's taxes are already heavy. The saint did not abide by his promise of light corvee and low taxes when he ascended the throne, and always had to replenish his internal funds. Li Xiyan couldn't help but feel disgusted, and blamed the eunuch Dou Wenyang.

Before the donation was completed, in March, the imperial court issued a decree strictly prohibiting the people from celebrating the Shangyuan Festival in the old calendar, which made Li Xiyan even more difficult.

It should be noted that Yangzhou is the busiest place for night markets in the world. As early as the Tianbao period, Li Longji once asked his ministers where the Lantern Festival was held best. He thought that the answer would be Chang'an, but someone replied, "The lights and candles are gorgeous, and the hundreds of people celebrate the Lantern Festival best."

The display of the play, the ladies vying for beauties, the beauties and beauties, there is nothing better than Guangling in the world."

It was only when Li Xiyan arrived in Yangzhou that he learned that this city did not have a curfew. While the nearby places were stagnant and depressed due to the Anshi Rebellion, Yangzhou took the opportunity to become the only city in the Tang Dynasty that did not have a curfew.

In order to facilitate business, merchants broke the restrictions between streets and markets and opened the doors of shops along the street towards the long street. Vendors set up stalls on the street day and night.

Every night at night, tens of millions of lights in the streets are illuminated by the bright moon, and beautiful prostitutes on high-rise buildings flaunt their red sleeves.

Under such circumstances, how could Li Xiyan forbid people from setting off lanterns on the Lantern Festival in the old calendar?

Yong Wang Li Lin saved him from this trouble and used a rebellion to prevent the Chang'an Emperor from paying attention to Yangzhou anymore.

But Li Xiyan's troubles did not end there. On the one hand, he was worried about the peril of the country, and on the other hand, he was also afraid that Li Lin would come down the river to attack Yangzhou. He was so worried that he had trouble sleeping and eating all day long.

It was in this situation that he got a message.

"King Yong? Has he arrived in Yangzhou? He has sent troops to attack?!"

Li Xiyan almost jumped up and immediately ordered the city gate to be closed to resist the enemy.

But the gatekeeper who came to report the news quickly said: "No, no, King Yong came to Yangzhou alone to visit."

"Is it possible?"

Li Xiyan didn't believe it at all. In his eyes, Xue Bai held great power and coveted the big position. Such a tiger-like figure must now be planning to take advantage of the Yongwang chaos to seize power. Either go to Chang'an or return to Fanyang to support his troops.

With self-respect, it is impossible to come to Yangzhou.

"Where are the others?"

"Gone."

"What's going on? Tell me quickly."

"The villain heard someone calling Li Bai's name while guarding the city gate, so he looked over there and saw Li Bai talking to his friends. He introduced a young man next to him and called him King Yong."

As soon as Li Xiyan heard this, he knew it was a bluff. He shook his head and said, "You dare to come and make random reports without retreating."

He knew that someone had dared to impersonate him when the Supreme Emperor visited Shu. As a result, the trick of impersonating powerful people became popular. How could a city gatekeeper know Li Bai?

Soon, he put this matter behind him and continued to worry about state affairs. He was even more worried because he thought of King Yong.

The next day is the Lantern Festival in the lunar calendar.

News came that King Yong's rebels had gone north and met the king's troops who were suppressing the rebellion in Dengzhou. In this way, the war obviously would not spread to Yangzhou. Of course, the people of Yangzhou breathed a sigh of relief and caught up with the festival.

It's about celebrating.

It’s only evening, and from the Wansui Bridge in the south of the city to the Zuofang Bridge in the north of the city, the lights on Yangzhou’s main street are already bright and full of pedestrians. As night falls, more lanterns are lit.

When a full moon hangs in the sky, the beautiful scenery of Twenty-Four Bridge has been illuminated by moonlight and lights.

Li Xiyan was worried. Not only was he worried about a fire, but he was also worried about being reported to the court if something went wrong, so he personally led some government officials to inspect the city.

Different from the East and West markets in Chang'an, or the South and North cities in Luoyang, Yangzhou city is divided into large and small markets, both of which are located in the center of the city, showing the prosperity of merchants.

Because there are many large and small rivers such as Zhuo River, Hangou River, and Guan River passing through the city, there are many awning boats and many bridges, giving it a Jiangnan water town style.

Li Xiyan had to cross a Kaiming Bridge to go to the big city. Before he reached the bridge, he saw that the front was blocked.

People gathered around the river or stood on the bridge, stretching their necks and looking desperately at a painting boat on the Guan River. Some people carried their children on their shoulders, and some climbed up the stone pillars beside the bridge.

The railings of high-rise buildings by the river were also lined with beautiful prostitutes and guests, either holding lanterns or waving scented handkerchiefs, cheering and cheering.

"Why are we crowding here? What if there's a stampede?" Li Xiyan frowned and ordered the government officials to disperse the crowd.

He didn't want to squeeze into the crowd and turned around to walk away.

At this moment, a poem came to his ears.

"The night bridge is lit up with stars, and the water and sails are close to the bullfighting."

Li Xiyan stopped and looked back, and saw that people were singing this poem, but in the dim light, he could not see who had written this poem.

He then grabbed a spectator and asked, "Who is composing a poem?"

"In the water...no, on the boat, Li Taibai and King Yong were writing poems on the awning boat!"

"That was Li Bai's poem just now?"

Li Xiyan was very surprised and thought that if the poem was written by Li Bai, it showed that he was really here.

It seems that a liar pretended to be King Yong and deceived Li Bai. No, Li Bai had exchanged poems with King Yong at Lantian Station in his early years. How could he not recognize this?

"No, it's King Yong's turn."

"Are you saying that the poem just now was written by King Yong?"

Li Xiyan then let go of his hand, pushed aside the crowd and walked forward.

"Give way, give way."

In such a lively night market, people did not care whether he was a clan member or a prefect, they would huddle together and not let him pass, and would clap and cheer him from time to time.

Finally, the sparkling water of the Guan River caught his eye, and he heard the clear conversation.

"If Saburo is like this, I will have to take out my old poems."

Li Xiyan squeezed forward, but the futou fell to the ground and could not be found in the chaos. There was a scholar next to him who scolded him for being vulgar and not knowing etiquette at all.

Fortunately, the awning boat also fell into his eyes.

A handsome figure stood on the bow of the boat, drinking wine with his head raised. Then he poured the wine from the pot into the river and said with a sigh: "Master Meng will be happy if he can see you."

Following this sentence, he recited loudly: "My old friend bids farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and the fireworks descend from Yangzhou in March."

Li Xiyan squinted his eyes and saw that this person was actually Li Bai.

He took another step forward, looked attentively, and saw another young man beside Li Bai. He had a straight figure, a majestic appearance, and an aura of grace.

What kind of person could compel Li Bai to compose new poems due to poetry exchanges with him, so he could only deal with old poems?

"Hahaha."

Li Bai recited a poem, waved his sleeves, and lost all the desolation of missing his old friend. He laughed and said: "You have to drink this glass of wine no matter what. I respect you on behalf of Master Meng."

"Li Taibai, don't be shy, I haven't lost to you in poetry."

Xue Bai didn't know how many drinks he had drank, and he was already a little drunk, but Li Bai still drank another drink.

After taking this drink, his body began to sway with the boat, and the bright moon in the water seemed to be swaying with him.

The poetry was also shaken out.

"But there are also poems?"

"besides."

"Okay, come on!"

For a time, the onlookers on the bridge cheered one after another, and the beauties upstairs danced their sleeves to add to the fun.

Xue Bai glanced inside the awning, then looked at the moon in the water, raised the empty cup, and chanted.

"Ms. Xiao's face is so thin that it's hard to shed tears, and her peach-leaf brows are prone to sadness."

"The world is divided into three parts on a bright moonlit night, and two parts are Yangzhou's scoundrels."

The originally noisy scene fell silent.

It is not difficult to make Yangzhou lively tonight, but what is difficult is the silence at this moment.

"good!"

After a moment of silence, there was thunderous cheers.

The breeze blew by, bringing with it a wisp of fragrance. The beautiful prostitutes on the tall buildings threw down their handkerchiefs and flew lightly in the air. Unfortunately, they failed to land in the awning boat, but one of them landed on Li Xiyan.

on the head.

Only then did he realize that the awning boat was still slowly flowing downstream, and he quickly chased it.

On the boat, Xue Bai was in high spirits and kept urging Li Bai to drink. Before Li Bai could put down his glass, he recited another poem.

"Ten miles long street with endless markets, watch the gods on Yueming Bridge."
To be continued...