The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 651 Seven-Level Pagoda
Nanjing was the capital of the early Ming Dynasty, and Yangzhou was the gateway to Nanjing.

After Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing remained the burial site of the Ming Dynasty's ancestors.

A Ming Dynasty scholar once said: "When the country established its capital in Nanjing (before the Jingnan Rebellion), Yangzhou was its vital point."

Yangzhou is located more than 200 miles northeast of Nanjing. According to the plan formulated by Lin Yu and others, they took a boat from Longsheng Pass, sailed east for a distance, arrived at Guazhou, and then went north from Guazhou and walked 30 miles to reach Yangzhou.

Guazhou is located at the intersection of the North-South Grand Canal and the East-West Yangtze River's cross-shaped golden waterway.

As a key hub for grain transport and salt transportation, Guazhou was bustling with ships and merchants and travelers, and its prosperity was no less than that of Suzhou and Taicang.

Outside the city, there are the Grand View Tower, Jianghuai Shenggai Tower, Tide Viewing Pavilion, River Wind and Mountain Moon Pavilion, and Qujiang Pavilion...

The Ming court set up the Tongzhi Office, Gongfensi Office, and Guanhe Tongpan Office in Guazhou.

In the first year of Guangde, the Qi army pacified the south of the Yangtze River.

Like most towns in the south of the Yangtze River, Guazhou's administrative structure did not change in the early days of the Great Qi Dynasty and it fully inherited the Ming system.

"The Tongzhi and Tongpan of Guazhou are most likely connected to the Luo Cult. Don't go to the government office, or you'll end up like those three raincoat guards."

Everyone looked solemn.

A month ago, the Suoyi Guard sent by Liu Zhaosun to Yangzhou to assist Liu Kan died on the way back to Nanjing.

To be precise, he died at Guazhou Wharf.

In the downtown area of Guazhou, in broad daylight, three intelligence officers, along with several civil officials, were hacked to death in the street by Luojiao followers.

The Guazhou Incident became the fuse that made the retired emperor determined to "fight a rabbit with a tiger" and suppress the Yangzhou rebellion with all his strength.

When the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Qi Dynasty and the Qi Dynasty rose, Guazhou was not affected at all.

The commercial population in the city was saved and there was almost no loss.

On the contrary, after Emperor Guangde issued the decree banning foot binding and announced the abolition of grain transport, riots broke out in Guazhou, which was like a war. The grain transport soldiers attacked the Hu people and colluded with the Luo sect to burn, kill and loot, which was even more terrible than a war.

The sand ship stopped at the riverside five or six miles away from Guazhou.

The captain Han Chao jumped out of the cabin and told the three people that the section of the river ahead was blocked.

"Hurry up and get off the boat! If those Luo Cult members see you, they'll surround you with a dozen boats and you won't be able to leave."

Han Chao was originally a servant of Emperor Yang Hao, the father-in-law of the emperor. After Yang Hao died for his country in the capital, Han Chao lost interest in being an official and went back to his old business, driving a sand boat on the canal to work at the dock.

Lin Yu and others were riding on his sand boat.

"You idiot! How dare you, Luo Jiao, rob right under the nose of the imperial court? If you catch Luo Wenjian, you'll have to skin her alive!"

Li Zicheng cursed.

It is not an easy task to catch Luo Wenjian, the head of the Luo Sect.

"The tiger will come ashore after dark, so it will be easier to see during the day."

After Lin Yu finished speaking, he packed his bag and was the first to jump off the sampan.

Indeed, the tiger appeared in the streets of Guazhou during the day and was too conspicuous.

Jiang Liuer squatted down beside Songxia and whispered a few words in Menghu's ear.

Songxia raised his tiger head, pressed it against Jiang Liuer's chest, and let out a whimpering roar.

~~~~
The next step is to go ashore.

The three men jumped off the sampan. The sun was setting in the west, and a fire was burning on the Guazhou Wharf, illuminating the river surface in red.

Han Chao stood at the bow and shouted:

"It's the Luo Cult. They're robbing boat owners. The Fifth Corps is undermanned, and Yangzhou is in even greater chaos. The Luo Cult is setting fires and extorting people everywhere, telling the people this is divine punishment, the Mother of No Birth's punishment for abolishing the Grand Canal."

Li Zicheng laughed and said, "Old Mother Wusheng, damn it, she is so evil!"

On the bank of the Yangtze River, flames shot up into the sky, makeshift thatched huts were set on fire, and women, children, the elderly and the weak were running around like headless flies.

"These are the impoverished boat owners who can't pay the boat tax. The Luo Cult's guardians are here to collect the money."

Lin Yu looked at the sky full of stars and slowly peeled off the cloth strips on the mace.

A child stood alone by the river in a daze.

"Jiang Liu'er, are you married?"

Li Zicheng glanced at Jiang Liuer.

"If you haven't gotten married yet, go back. This is the final battle. Oh, and leave your tigress behind. She'll still be useful. Take Boss Han's boat back to Nanjing..."

Li Zicheng heard Wu Xiao talk about Jiang Liuer's life story. This child grew up eating food from many families and his life story was pitiful. No matter what, the Jiang family must leave a descendant.

"What? You want to marry your sister to me?"

After years of exile, Jiang Liuer's temperament has become calmer. He is not as talkative as before, and he is serious even when joking.

However, Li Zicheng, who had not been seen for many years, seemed to have become a different person, and was increasingly resembling Qiao Yiqi.

"My sister?"

Li Zicheng then remembered that he had a younger sister:
"She's even more powerful than that tigress..."

"That's fine. I've already married into the Sauron clan and married the clan leader's daughter."

Li Zicheng opened his mouth wide and couldn't speak for a long time.

I didn't expect that Jiang Liuer, who has thick eyebrows, big eyes and is as cold as ice, would also marry into the family.

Jiang Liuer's father-in-law was the old Sauron chief who said, "Young man, you have widened your path" after being rescued.

The old chief Solon was attracted by the young man's character and betrothed his daughter to him when Jiang Liuer was exiled to the North Sea (Lake Baikal) and at the lowest point in his life.

Jiang Liuer thus became the son-in-law of the largest family in Sakhalin Island.

Li Zicheng wanted to continue chatting with Jiang Liuer, but Lin Yu came up from behind and said:
"If you have anything to say, let's talk about it when we get back. Now we're going to assassinate Luo Wenjian."

Luo Wenxuan is the leader of the White Lotus Sect (also known as the Luo Sect) of the Avalokitesvara Mother. In this era, he can also be called the big cabinet.

Luo Dagui's proposition is:
"Save all living beings and bring them to the Pure Land of Peace and Tranquility. They will all return home and not enter hell." (The Precious Scroll of the Unseen and Unknown)
That’s right, the cabinet is a woman.

Believers call Luo Wenjian the Moonlight Goddess, also known as the Moon Star Lord, Moonlight Bodhisattva, etc.

According to intelligence from the Suoyi Guards, Luo Wenxuan was born into a family of salt merchants in Yangzhou. Before she was fifteen, like ordinary girls, she sewed neatly every day, was virtuous, and even had her feet bound.

If nothing unexpected happened, the daughter of the salt merchant would most likely marry a wealthy businessman or a minor official, have children, and spend the rest of her life there.

However, one day (around August of the first year of Wuding), Luo Wenxuan woke up and behaved differently from ordinary people.

According to believers, rare medicinal herbs such as Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng grew in front of and behind the Luo family's house overnight.

In the next few days, auspicious signs such as three-legged frogs, turtles, white deer, etc. appeared...

Luo Zhenren practiced a fast for 49 days, yet his complexion was still rosy and his body was as nimble as a rabbit.

The various supernatural phenomena surrounding Luo Wenjian quickly made the fifteen-year-old girl famous.

On the Ghost Festival in the second year of Taichu, Luo Wenjian announced to her followers that she had ascended to the sky overnight, reached the moon, and obtained the magical powers of the goddess Chang'e.

"I am looking up, above the moon
How many dreams are flying freely

Yesterday was forgotten, the wind dried up the sorrow."

This Moonlight Bodhisattva, who claimed to have reached the moon and met Chang'e, is no pushover.

As more and more Christians surrendered, Luo Wenjian became more and more powerful. Local forces and the grain transport troops had to look to her for favor.

Luo Wenxuan was like a bully of the Qinhuai River. He made a living by relying on the river. He colluded with forces such as the Caojun Dahang and other forces. He forced women into prostitution, forced purchases and sales, and bullied boat owners along the canal. His business grew like a snowball.

In this fight against the Great Qi, Luo Wenjian and her Luo Sect were the vanguards of the anti-Qi movement.

Jiang Liuer looked at the devastated Guazhou Wharf and fell into deep thought.

Li Zicheng said murderously:

"God damn Luo Sect, God damn Cao Army, they've brought such a disaster to Guazhou."

"Catch Luo Wenjian and kill this woman!"

Jiang Liuer walked towards the boatmen who were running around and picked up a crying child.

Li Zicheng chased after them and shouted, "Brother Jiang, there are so many people, how many can you save?"

Jiang Liuer said anxiously: "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Saving one life is saving one life."

"If we delay for too long, the Cao Gang's guards will surround us and it will be difficult to escape. Moreover, if the thieves know that we are coming, it will be difficult for them to assassinate that woman."

The fire was blazing.

Li Zicheng cursed and drew his bow, aiming at the Luojiao protector rushing towards him from a distance, and shouted to the several imperial guards behind him:

"What the hell! What's the big deal? I came to Yangzhou hungry to kill Luo Wenjian's wife, not to deal with the soldiers."

(End of this chapter)