The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 738 The Boundary of Power

One morning in June, Lin Zhenyu, who had just been promoted to battalion commander of the Second Battalion of the Fourth Corps of the Great Qi Dynasty, was about to leave the capital and head to Yunyang, a small border town in the western part of Hubei Province.

Yunyang was the first garrison he went to after becoming an officer of the main corps, and it might also be the last one.

At dawn, Lin Zhenyu was awakened by the crowing of roosters in the streets of Da Gongfang.

The former Ming Dynasty had a close connection with chickens. In the era of material scarcity and precariousness, the subjects of our dynasty also loved raising chickens.

"General, we have a long journey today, it's time to get up."

At the beginning of the morning hour, with the help of the Wu family girl, Lin Zhenyu put on the armor of the Fourth Corps engraved with a bear head pattern. This set of armor was sent by the Ministry of War earlier.

Today at Longsheng Pass, he will be seen off by a group of ministers, including Sun Shirui, the Minister of War; Kang Guangxu, the Vice Minister of Rites; and Deng Shouchang, the Minister of Justice. Princess Liu Yufei and former first husband Lu Xiangsheng will also depart from Longsheng Pass today and be exiled to Yunyang.

Although the weather was scorching hot, as a military general of the Great Qi, he had to dress formally on such occasions, and armor was indispensable.

Wu Zi brought a mirror, Lin Zhenyu took it, quickly glanced at the beautiful girl from the Wu family, and began to look at himself in the mirror.

The whale oil lamp gleamed brightly, emitting a pale yellow light that illuminated the surroundings. The general in the mirror was armed with weapons and looked heroic.

"Is my mother up yet?"

"Madam is making a fire and cooking."

Maiko added, "Madam said she wants to make breakfast for you herself and won't let us interfere."

"Oh," Lin Zhenyu hesitated to speak.

Maiko tied the black breastplate to her master's chest and back, and her graceful body swam like a snake.

"A carriage arrived outside the courtyard. It was your personal guard, speaking with a Ryukyu accent."

While the Wu family girl was speaking, Lin Zhenyu glanced to the side.

"I see."

The woman from the Wu family stroked the fish scale armor and tied the leather belt to her master with an ambiguous expression.

"Can it stop lead bullets?"

Lin Zhenyu grabbed the restless hands, looked sharply, gently pushed the Wu girl away, and tied the leather belt himself.

"Here, I'll do it."

Maiko was disappointed, her face flushed, and she turned away. A cold voice came from behind her:
"Armor, in the Great Qi, is merely a form of ornamentation. As protective gear, it is outdated and cannot withstand firearms. Just as the edict issued by the retired emperor states, it cannot protect the former ministers who are about to be executed. Moreover, some bullets will come from behind."

"Maizi, stay and take care of my mother. Yunyang, you don't have to go."

Lin Zhenyu picked up the long sword on the table, inserted the sword into the scabbard, habitually moved his iron arm, and gently walked out of the room.

"Tell my mother I'm leaving. I don't want to see her cry anymore..."

"General, please stay!"

Lin Zhenyu turned around and looked at the girl from the Wu family with strange eyes.

"Yunyang is the border of Great Qi, and also the border of power. It's much more peaceful there than Nanjing. I don't want to be buried with Emperor Guangde, nor do I want to stay in the Lin Mansion as a canary. If you don't take me to Yunyang, I will go to the Ministry of War and the Three Courts to expose your conspiracy, a new round of rebellion."

"Us? Rebellion?"

Lin Zhenyu clenched his sword tightly and looked at the Wu family girl with murderous eyes. Wu Zi stepped forward and said to the sword with neither arrogance nor servility:

"If you kill me, you won't be able to go to Yunyang."

"My family is all dead. Living alone is worse than death. Oda Nobunaga once said that the fifty years of life are like a dream and an illusion. If possible, I will go with you to Yunyang and do great things together..."

"Oda Nobunaga? Do something big?"

Lin Zhenyu stepped forward and covered Wu Zi's mouth.

"You're a madman!"

Maiko broke free.

"I'll pretend to be your personal guard and just say I'm a Ryukyu soldier, so no one will question me on the way."

Lin Zhenyu put the sword back on the table and glared at him:

"Do you still know Oda Nobunaga?"

The Wu family girl took out a large bag of luggage from the room.

"Before you leave, you should say goodbye to your wife. Father taught us that even if we risk our lives on the battlefield, we should first finish eating rice with our family on the tatami."

Lin Zhenyu sighed and replied in Japanese:

"It's hard to believe that a samurai who can eat rice in Osaka can raise a lunatic like you."

Wuzi laughed and said, "You can tolerate a mad emperor, so why can't you tolerate a woman like me?"

There was silence all around, and there was a rustling sound coming from the kitchen next door. It was made by Fujiwara Chiyoko. She was making her son's favorite Jinhua soup dumplings to say goodbye to him.

"Since you are willing to be headhunted by the chieftain, I will grant your wish and take you to Yunyang. However, on this trip, you must listen to me on the way. You must not talk nonsense or ask questions. Most importantly,"

Lin Zhenyu began to take off his armor with great effort. Wearing this outfit to eat with his mother would remind her of her dead husband.

"The most important thing is that I went to Yunyang to seek life, not to die. So I should stop talking about life and death. If God hears it, he will doubt my determination."

The Wu family girl knew that Lin Zhenyu and her mother both believed in Jesus, and people with faith usually have various fears.

Maiko nodded seriously: "Okay, I agree."

~~~~
This is the day Lin Zhenyu has been waiting for for many years, and it is the starting point of his killing career.

Compared with the minor skirmishes in the Ryukyu Sea, what we may face next is a sea of blood and corpses, and a battle that will decide the outcome.

He heard the sound of sedan chair bearers walking on the street outside. The people sitting in the sedan chair might be the new nobles of Da Qi. They were in high positions and had great power. They knew how to please the emperor and they lived a comfortable life in Nanjing.

Lin Zhenyu recalled the pale and boring days at the Imperial Military Academy, the countless bitter nights in Ryukyu, and the sleepless nights spent in the stuffy cabins of warships in the southern ocean.

After Emperor Guangde came to power, he acted recklessly. As the head of the family, Lin Zhenyu was worried every day. When he heard that the nobles and generals of the Great Qi were being purged one after another, he was very worried that one day the punishment would fall on the Lin family - even though the Lin family was far away in Ryukyu and had long lost power.

He thought of the punishment of counting the days as if they would never end.

"Maiko, everything will end and everything will begin. Help me take off my armor and accompany mother to eat soup dumplings. They are a delicacy in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas."

(End of this chapter)