In front of the Shunjiang Tower in Yuyao, there is a steep arched three-hole stone bridge called Tongji Bridge, commonly known as Jiang Bridge. "The First Bridge". In order to save this river bridge, there is a beautiful story circulated among the people. During the Ming Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Xie Qian who was from Simen, Yuyao. He was an upright and upright official and loved the people like a son. The people of Yuyao respectfully called him Mr. Xie Ge. During the Jiajing period, he retired and returned to his hometown. At that time, there was a Minister of Punishment named Zhao Wenhua, who was from Cixi. He was a treacherous man and was accustomed to frame Zhongliang. He was jealous of Yuyao's "Eighteen Bachelors" and regarded Xie Qian as a thorn in his side. When the people of Yuyao saw Zhao Wenhua's boat crossing the river bridge, they would also taunt him: "Every official in Cixi has to get under the Yuyao people's bridge." Zhao Wenhua was very angry after hearing this, and he wanted to throw this away. A river bridge was demolished. Once, he reported to the emperor: "Yuyao has Long Mountain, Feng Mountain, Snake Mountain, and Turtle Mountain, which are known as the Four Spirits. There are also Jinsuo Bridge, Silver Suo Bridge, Zijin Bridge, Tonghu Lake, Yujing, Embroidered River Pond, and Yishan Cannon." , the scenery is very good, it is a place where talents are born.” The emperor smiled slightly and replied: “When Xie Qing was in court, Lian had heard that Lian wanted to visit Yuyao in person, but Xie Qing persuaded him to blame Yishan Pao. Ah!" Zhao Wenhua said immediately: "There is a conspiracy behind this persuasion. Long live my lord, the emperor's capital only has three floors: Liluo City, Wailuo City and Zijin City, while Yuyao has three floors: Jiangnan City, Jiangbei City and Huangshan City. There is a river bridge with a long rainbow lying on it and three cities standing on top of each other, forming a big "character". The feng shui is so good that Xie Qian has the intention to seek the emperor! If the emperor comes to Yuyao in person, will the truth be revealed? "Is this true? What do you think of Yiqing?" Zhao Wenhua replied quickly: "Demolishing the Jiang Bridge will break its feng shui." The emperor was right. Zhao Wenhua was overjoyed and came to Yuyao with the order to supervise the demolition of the Jiang Bridge. At this time, Mr. Xie Ge was in his hometown. He learned that the imperial edict to demolish the river bridge had been issued. He was anxious. In order to protect the river bridge, he came to the western suburbs of Yuyao to receive the temple. Together with the abbot of the temple, he consulted with the experienced boat boss and made a plan. Crossing the West 13th River to Sanjiangkou, a "tent to hide the sky" was set up on the five-mile-long Jiangxi, and the arrangements were made secretly. Zhao Wenhua sent people to Yuyao, secretly measured the width of the Jiangqiao bridge opening, and ordered the craftsmen to widen the rim of the palace ship to three points wider than the width of the bridge opening. In this way, if the ship reached the Jiangqiao, it would be blocked, and the imperial edict could be produced on the spot. , overseeing the burning of bridges.
One day, the official ship sailed southward on the Grand Canal. The apricot-yellow flag of "Imperial Doctor Zhao" was fluttering in the wind, and the golden gongs, skins and drums were so majestic along the way. The ship passed Hangzhou and arrived in Shaoxing within a few days. After passing Tongming Dam, it was about to approach Yuyao. Before dawn, Mr. Xie Ge took a speedboat ten miles out of the city to wait. As soon as Zhao Wenhua's official ship arrived, Mr. Xie Ge boarded the ship to pay a visit and went to the middle cabin to sit down among the guests and hosts. Xie Ge's old steward entertained the ship's boss from afar and replaced him with the local boss to continue sailing. At this time, gongs and drums were beating loudly on both sides of the Erjiang River, and firecrackers were blasting. The Yuyao county magistrate led his subordinates to the West Thirteenth Crossing to greet the imperial edict. Zhao Wenhua acted as if nothing had happened, while Gu Zi and Xie Ge were playing chess under the lamp. As soon as the official ship passed the West Thirteenth Crossing, it entered the "Tian Zhang", and Mr. Xie Ge knew it well. At this time, Zhao Wenhua was in high spirits of playing chess and drinking, and was fighting against Mount Tai, waiting for the official ship to collide with the bridge. Mr. Xie Ge raised his hindsight to hit Mr. Zhao's commander. Mr. Zhao stared closely and raised a piece with his right hand just as he was about to fight back. Suddenly, "No. 1 Scholar Red" poured out of the side of the wine glass and flowed into the chessboard. Mr. Xie Ge was secretly happy that the ship had successfully passed the Jiangqiao, but Zhao Wenhua was kept in the dark. Less than half a pack of cigarettes later, Zhao Wenhua was about to make a move when the cabin suddenly became clear. Now he was in a hurry and called the flag sign: "Where have we arrived?" The boss of the ship answered for the flag sign: "Sir, the ship has arrived at Sanjiangkou. !" Only then did Zhao Wenhua know that the ship had passed three miles away from Jiangqiao, and he hurriedly ordered: Hurry! Stop the boat and dock quickly! "The official ship approached Yuemiao Port. The Yuyao County magistrate and the officials and squires had already arrived here to wait. Zhao Wenhua walked onto the pier, took out the imperial edict and read out: "I have ordered to demolish the Yuyao River Bridge. After reading, he handed over to the county magistrate to accept the order. The magistrate knelt down and refused to accept the order. Zhao Wenhua sternly scolded him: "A small county magistrate refuses to accept the order. What crime should he be guilty of?" "The county magistrate responded according to Mr. Xie Ge's instructions: "Mr. Zhao, the imperial edict states 'Demolish the Jiangqiao by decree', but it does not say that the county is ordered to demolish the Jiangqiao according to the imperial edict! At this time, Xie Qian said from the side: "Master Zhao, when your boat arrived under the bridge, why didn't you read the imperial edict?" Wouldn't it be a sin to deceive the emperor if he reversed the imperial edict? " Zhao Wenhua was speechless. Mr. Xie Ge pretended to smooth things over again. The county magistrate accepted the order and refused to demolish the Jiangqiao. He asked Mr. Zhao to return to the court, so he had to pretend to the emperor that the Jiangqiao had been demolished.
It turned out that the "tent to hide the sky" was set up, making it difficult to distinguish night from day in the official ship, and the river bridge could not be seen clearly. When the ship arrived at the bridge hole, the boss of the ship tilted the hull slightly to the north, so that the official ship had just passed the bridge hole. In this way, the first bridge in eastern Zhejiang was preserved, and it still stands majestically on the Yao River, benefiting future generations.