Zhang Shun’s Spirit Captures Fang Tian’ding; Song Jiang Takes Ninghai Commandery by Stratagem

A poem says: With yellow axe in hand he marched south and crossed the Yangtze; His momentum was like wind and thunder as he crossed the Qiantang. Looking back, the river waves stirred by Wu Zixu surged high; Looking ahead, the road where Yan Ziling lived in seclusion stretched long. Song Jiang vowed to repay the state, like Zu Ti of old; Wu Yong devised stratagems that could match Zhang Liang. The great army marched out, won victory, and established merit; Their fair names would be handed down for ten thousand years, fragrant and long. The story tells that the Qiantang and West Lake region of Zhejiang was naturally beautiful, with clear hills and lovely waters. It was truly a place fit for an emperor to establish a capital, worthy of its name, and the most prosperous under Heaven. The ancients all said that Jiangsu and Zhejiang had been great metropolises since ancient times, and that Qiantang had always been flourishing. Leaving aside for now the bustling sights within the city, let us speak only of the scenery of West Lake: Ten thousand acres of lake water, blue......