Book 30 - Chapter 9 – Eternal Imperial Capital (1/2)
Chapter 9 – Eternal Imperial Capital
A nation of a thousand li of mountains and rivers, i how grand the Capital is, hoould people understand that the Son of Heaven was being revered? Historical relics gathered together, the i’an was located at the ‘eight-hundred-li Qin River’, which was known as the Guanzhong Plain, on the south bank of Wei River Zhou, Qin, Han, Western Jin, Former Zhao, For, all established their capital here
To the south was the Zhongnan Mountains, the e of mountains, precipitous, harsh and difficult to surpass, became the natural barrier on the south side, with its layers-of-reen-cliffs-reaching-up-to-the-heavens-in-the-distance randeur
To the north were the Yao Mountain, Huanglong Mountain, Cuo’e Mountain, Liang Mountain, and the others, for-continuously, Beishan’s [or northernopposite to Qinling’s in the distance
The city of Chang’an resided ily in this wide expanse of fertile plain deli, Wei, Feng, Jue, Hao, Chan, Ba, and Lao, various rivers, just like sparkling and translucent, flickering tassels of fluttering-in-the-wind string of beads of pearl, winding around it, for’an’ These rivers were like strea’an with abundant water supply, and thus alsowith vitality
The saying ‘Qin Zhong Zigu Diwang Zhou’ [monarch prefecture within the Qin since ancient tieous circuy and econo’an obtained the favor of[the first e in order the chaotic situation of various hege States period, by creating a centralized state power, the unification of the nation By the ti Qian [(-114 BC), Han dynasty explorer of 2nd century BC] went to the Western Regions twice; he opened up the Silk Road between Chang’an and the Western Regions, proe between the East and the West, and thus Chang’an was upgraded even more to a city of an international level, as the link connecting Chinese and foreign civilization
The feel of its situation, only the Eastern Capital Luoyangof the Sui Dynasty, they established new capital called Daxing The Tang Dynasty continued to use Daxing as the capital and changed its na Zhi Jiu An’ [long-terovern it, tothe Sui and the Tang, the city of Chang’an consisted of Waiguocheng [outer city wall], Gongcheng [lit palace city] and Huangcheng [lit echeng were located at the central, northern part of the capital city In the Waiguocheng, each square on the left, right, and south, three sides surrounded and protected the Gongcheng and Huangcheng
Right in the middle was Zhuque Dajie [Ver Wan Nian [lit ten thousand years] and Chang An [lit perpetual peace], two counties
Gongcheng and Huangcheng were the House of Tang’s i was the place where co; each one had its own distinct layout
Hundreds and thousands of houses appeared like in the gaetables Chang’an outer city wall altogether had eleven north-south big streets and fourteen east-west big streets, crisscrossing the outer city wall and dividing it up into a hundred and ten squares A streets and east-west direction big streets connecting the city gates, for’an, of which the widest was Ver’s Heavenly Street; its width reached forty zhang As for the other streets, although they are not as wide as the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, their scale could be easily inferred
In Chang’an, in addition to the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, the most famous were the Du Hui [lit city/ mankind] Market, located at the southeast and southwest corners of the Huangcheng; each market occupied two city blocks There were four streets inside the ement, so that the entire market was divided into nine sections, each section had its four sides facing the street, shops of all kinds of businesses were setup facing the street Within each section there were still seways
These two ’an city There were restaurants and eateries; , so they beca’an city
Xu Ziling, following Bu Ting and Tian Santang, safely entered the city via the Ming De [lit illustrious virtue] Gate As he stepped into the Ver city exuded the intie Treasure out of such place has now beco along this ’an’s north and south parts, how could his heart not sigh with eerous and difficult paths he had to go through before finally ca in his heart was really difficult to describe
To prevent stagnant water, all the utters on both sides, as wide as a small stream At the junction of the sewers at the es, which beca’an
Locust trees were planted on both sides of the main streets; but since it intertime, the dense branches and leaves were already replaced with snow and icicles, which made the people felt the majestic of the depth of the winter even ’an’s prosperous and grand ates filled the streets, pedestrians were as crowded as school of fish, the liveliness was not inferior to Luoyang in any aspects
Xing Chang Long’s ’an was located in the Metropolis Market at the southeast corner of Ie warehouses were setup separately in the Outer City, at the He Ping [peaceful] Lane on the southwest corner, and the Dun Hua [kindhearted flower] Lane on the southeast corner
After ordering Chen Liang to be in charge of transporting the salt into their warehouses, Bu Ting took Tian Santang and Xu Ziling to go to their hly
On both sides of the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, whether it was a store or a house, all were large buildings with courtyard of nanimous style and structure; the courtyards were in layers, all had atriu the lanes and alleys had white walls with roof tile on top Single-story buildings lined up in continuous row along the street Most of the residences’ gates were tastefully decorated wooden door with roof tile on it, with high walls and deep courtyards, located at the alleys and roads that were deep and long, serene, auspicious and peaceful; it was vastly different fro with noise and excitement
The houses of the rich fa, but the shops’ construction was not without exhausting thoughts, knowledge and skill either The columns and roof beams were carved delicately, the beams and the square wooden pillars interspersed with interlocking wooden brackets protruding out of the eaves, the shapes and techniques were different fro, who has obtained Lu Miaozi’s handed-down teachings in architecture – saw this, his interest was overflowing; he enthusiastically absorbed everything
While he was enjoying the feast for his eyes, the Iht Following Bu Ting and Tian Santang, Xu Ziling urged his horse to turn into the Guang Ming [radiance] Avenue connecting the Chun Ming [spring bright] Gate on the city’s east side with the Jin Guang [golden light] Gate on the city’s west side Under the light of the inclining setting sun, they were galloping toward the Metropolis Market, which was also known as the East Market
Kou Zhong was invited into the cabin hall for the evening meal The attendees included the Sha Fa, and Sha Chengde, plus Sha Fu, Chen Lai
Mao shi+chang was only of mediuait was steady; he must be a martial art master with ‘hard’ skill as his expertise, and was the Chief Bodyguard of the Sha Fa had a bit of slick-and-sly Jianghu flavor, but his de; he had a bit of wit, and from time to time he revealed a was of course the Third Young Master Sha Chengde, Chen Laiman and Sha Fu, simply because they had different relationshi+p with hijiu was polite, but kept a bit of distance; he was neither war Master Sha Chenggong, with his second-generation-rich-fah he restrained his arrogant manner to some extent, unconsciously he still showed so
After theMaster introduced everybody around the banquet table; he said with a s’s medical expertise really astonished and convinced people Not concealing anything fro, after Jiafu fell ill before the New Year, we have invited fa, yet there was still no i only took two days, and Jiafu already looks like he sheds his es his bones; he is able to eat, walk, and talk as usual Xiansheng’s medical expertise is indeed extrede asked with deep concern, “What illness did Jiafu actually suffer? According to Mo Xiansheng’s opinion, how long will it take to be fully recovered?”
Kou Zhong secretly o, which was precisely the ti/ Dugu Clan’s side was in full swing; but looking at how the entire Sha Fauess that to some extent, the Sha Fau Clan Inwardly he started to form a hypothesis, so he calmly replied, “Laoyezi’s illness is not typhoid at all; it’s because of excessive anxiety to such an extent as to become an illness His heart melancholy, his qi is knotted; therefore, any medicine won’t be effective, hence the reason I did not prescribeneedles instead to improve the blood circulation and the flow of qi, and the result is divine Hey! Actually it is not any special skill, only I was able to prescribe the right cure for an illness by … hey! By using needles!”
Sub is just like your honorable uncle; alwaysself-control, and did not claim credit for hi Master Sha Chenggong asked, “This ti to open up a shop to treat other people’s illnesses, to spread your expertise?”
Kou Zhong mused inwardly that if he told hi’an, it would aluaranteed that he would be scared half-dead; thereupon he laughed and replied, “I still have notJiashu’s direction to roam everywhere to broadens’s deeply concentrated bearing, well-built and formidable physique, plus your saber never leaves your side, evidently you possess consu’s martial art skill is also your honorable uncle’s passed on teaching?”
Chen Lai’s consummate skill, we have already witnessed it personally That day Xiansheng made your move, in just two strokes that crafty villain Ma Xuran was captured alive If he was not a front ranking martial art e thing was that Sha Chengjiu, Sha Chenggong, and the others were completely oblivious of this , none was not e’s attitude toward Kou Zhong was greatly i, “That fellow surnamed Ma, what happened to him afterwards? Did you find out why he and that Xiao Zhu plotted against Jin Ge’er?”
The Third Young Master Sha Chengde apologetically responded, “After Xiansheng and your honorable uncle left that night, Ma Xuran struggled free off the rope and escaped; he even took Xiao Zhu together with him Therefore, even until noe are still unclear why they did what they did”
Displeased, Sha Chengjiu said, “Such a serious de replied, “Dage, please don’t blame me It was Die’s idea It see everybody”
Trying to sed the subject, “Mo Xiansheng is good in , you will certainly acco Mo Xiansheng’s ‘the horse arrives, the work succeeds’” And then he raised his cup
One after another everybody raised their cup to toast Kou Zhong, and thus the slightly unpleasant atjiu said, “When Xiansheng starts your , I am sure because of the countless people you will help, you will becoive proper testi’s behalf, you won’t need ’s influence and reputation will flourish even more, your virtue spread in all directions”
Kou Zhong groaned inwardly; if that was really the case, theijiu placed a heavy-looking, gorgeously-lined bag, which presuots and silver taels in front of Kou Zhong, and spoke cheerfully, “This is advance pay as a token of our gratitude for treating Jiafu’s illness; just a tiny bit of kindly feelings Xiansheng ’s pouch had already been used until it was nearly gone Upon seeing this, he took it, half declining and half loving it Immediately his mood improved considerably; he talked and joked more
At the same time he knew for sure that the Sha Family, from top to bottoreatly beneficial to his endeavor in treasure hunting in Guanzhong
The evening meal ended in this kind of harmonious at Master Sha Chenggong personally walked hi concubine who suffersthis kind of illness under perorously slapped his shoulder and said, “Leave thisLaoyezi’s illness, I will take care of Er Shaoye’s concubine”
Greatly delighted, Sha Chenggong left with thousand graces and ten thousand gratitude