The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 743 The Secret of Tianxin City (Happy New Year's Eve to all book friends)

On the eighth day of the seventh month in the seventh year of Guangde, Lin Zhenyu set out from Wuchang, went upstream along the Han River, and after three days of sailing, he led his people to Xiangyang.

Xiangyang was only a hundred miles away from Yunyang. Lin Zhenyu ordered everyone to rest outside the city, while sending scouts to explore the way and inform the Fourth Corps.

Xiangyang is located in the Han River basin, a tributary of the Yangtze River. It is surrounded by water on three sides and a mountain on one side. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is a hub connecting the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, and is known as the "crossroads of seven provinces."

Not only does Xiangyang have strong city defenses, but it also has the largest number of garrison troops among all the prefectures and counties in Hubei.

After Emperor Guangde came to power, he suppressed military personnel in all aspects. One of the important measures was to dismantle fortresses and castles across the country and reduce maintenance costs. Xiangyang, as a barrier in the central region, naturally received special attention from Emperor Guangde.

The number of garrisons around Xiangyang dropped sharply from more than 20,000 to less than 5,000. Several arrow towers and fortresses outside the city were also demolished, and the governor of Huguang even demanded the demolition of the main city wall.

At the beginning, Emperor Guangde believed that when the country was at peace, having too many soldiers was not a good thing. As the number of troops decreased, the extra fortresses would have no one to guard them, so those that should be demolished should be demolished as soon as possible.

~~~~
Xiangyang garrison commander Guo Liqing hosted a banquet for Lin Zhenyu and his party at the garrison office.

Guo Liqing is a little old man in his fifties, short and drowsy. Rather than being a garrison commander, he looks more like a fortune teller. When he speaks, he likes to pinch his index finger and his lips tremble up and down, as if he is about to tell some earth-shattering secret.

Lin Zhenyu heard that the garrison officer in front of him was an old man from the era of the retired emperor, and had been guarding Xiangyang for ten years.

Ever since the Qi army defeated Zuo Liangyu, he has been guarding Xiangyang. Lin Zhenyu was shocked and couldn't help but wonder what kind of power could turn a brave general from the era of the retired emperor into a veteran in the officialdom.

"Officer Lin came from Nanjing and was entrusted with an important task by Emperor Guangde. He must have some knowledge of the news in the capital..."

Upon hearing that Lin Zhenyu was ordered by the emperor to escort the imperial prisoner to Yunyang and pass through Xiangyang, Guo Liqing immediately asked the young battalion officer about his life.

"Captain Lin is young, only in his early twenties, yet he's already been appointed commander of a battalion, in charge of three to four thousand men. He's much more promising than me, a garrison commander of Xiangyang who's in his fifties."

"You are too kind, Guo Shoubei. We are all working for the court, but I hope to have a clear conscience."

After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Lin Zhenyu was not used to the food in Xiangyang and was sweating profusely while eating. Guard Guo picked up some food for the young battalion officer while asking him some questions.

"I heard that Lord Kang (Kang Guangxu) is about to be promoted to Minister of Rites? The current Minister of Rites, Chen Zizhuang, has returned home to observe mourning... I've been in Xiangyang for a long time and don't know what's going on in the capital."

"Chen Zizhuang was not in mourning; he was exiled by the emperor. He opposed the new policies."

A man as uneducated as Kang Guangxu actually wanted to be the Minister of Rites of the Great Qi Dynasty.

"Everything remains the same in the capital. Your Majesty is busy implementing new policies and clearing out the remaining rebels. The troops stationed in Ryukyu and Korea have been withdrawn. The imperial examination will proceed as scheduled..."

Guo Liqing is most interested in disarmament because it is directly related to his life and property.

"After the ten major corps have been disbanded, will there be more disbanding? How long can I continue to serve as the garrison commander of Xiangyang? Nephew Lin, your father and I have a life-and-death relationship. You can't hide it!"

Lin Zhenyu said helplessly: "I don't know, I have only been in Nanjing for two months, and before that I was stationed in Ryukyu."

Guo Liqing was not willing to believe it. When he saw Lin Zhenyu, he was like grabbing a life-saving straw and refused to give in:
"How could General Lin not know? The entire Great Qi knows that Emperor Guangde wants to reduce the army. Except for those few trusted generals, the rest of the troops are in danger."

"Officer Lin, you came from Nanzhili. Didn't you encounter any bandits along the way?"

Lin Zhenyu subconsciously glanced at Cui Qi beside him. Guard Guo pretended to be mysterious and said:

"Captain Lin, do you know who those bandits are? They're retired soldiers... The world of Da Qi is about to change."

Lin Zhenyu could understand Guo Shoubei's feelings and his fear of being laid off at any time.

Emperor Guangde even dared to behead Pu Gang, so what else would Liu Kan not dare to do?
In order to comfort this frightened bird, Lin Zhenyu had to tell him that His Majesty was still busy implementing the new policy, and that any officials involved with the eldest princess, regardless of their status, would be arrested, imprisoned, and interrogated.

The Suoyi Guards were busy arresting people every day.

"The imperial court is preoccupied with the rebellion of the chieftains in the southwest and has no capacity to care for Xiangyang. So, Guard General Guo, rest assured and don't worry."

~~~~~
On July 10, the scouts who had gone to Yunyang earlier came back, and two Ryukyu soldiers brought back intelligence that the commander of the Fourth Corps, Qin Jianxun, had just fought a bloody battle with the Tusi rebels and was now leading his troops to rest in Yunyang City.

Lin Zhenyu bid farewell to the frightened Guo Shoubei, and after resting for two days, he left Xiangyang and continued to march towards Yunyang.

On July 13th, we arrived in Junzhou.

Lin Zhenyu came to the ruins of Tianxin City specifically, but saw broken walls and overgrown weeds, which was extremely desolate.

Walking under the towering cliffs, looking at the mottled walls and the precious stones discarded on the ground, everything seems like a different world.

"What a shame! I don't know how much money the people spent on it, only to see it go to waste like this. What a shame."

Lin Zhenyu's face was gloomy. When he was a child, he heard his father tell the story of Tianxin City. Lin Yu told him that if it was successfully completed according to the plan of the Supreme Emperor, Tianxin City would become the greatest city in the world and could accommodate millions of people.

Later, because the emperor's uncle pressed the construction too hard and officials were corrupt, the workers in Tianxin City rose up in rebellion, sweeping across half of Huguang, and the construction of Tianxin City was postponed indefinitely.

"It's fine if it's abandoned. It's not a place for people to live in anyway."

Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from the grass on the broken wall. The Ryukyu soldiers thought they had encountered thieves again. They all acted as if they were facing a great enemy, holding weapons in their hands and on guard.

Lin Zhenyu was not in a hurry. He looked up at the bushes and said:
"Why do you say that?"

In full view of the crowd, the bushes shook, and an old soldier with white hair and beard walked out. His military uniform was badly torn and was of the old style.

The old soldier looked around and saw a large group of soldiers following Lin Zhenyu. He smiled and said,
"This place is far away from the town and has been abandoned for a long time. There are many wild beasts roaming here. It's extraordinary that you dare to come here."

Lin Zhenyu quickly said, "I'm just passing by."

"Just passing by. If there is nothing else, please leave quickly."

After the old soldier finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave. Lin Zhenyu grabbed him and asked:

"What did you mean when you said Tianxin City is not a place for people to live?"

The old soldier coughed dryly. "This officer is only in his early twenties, so naturally he doesn't know what happened in Tianxin City back then." "It was the officials who cut corners on the work, causing a collapse. The workers suffered heavy casualties, and the people gathered to rebel, forcing the construction of Tianxin City to be shut down. This is known to everyone in the world. What else is going on?"

"Master Jun, do you really want to hear it?"

Lin Zhenyu smiled and said, "Why not tell me about it?"

The old soldier chuckled: "Haha, this general is young and promising. He is only twenty years old and has so many soldiers. But you were still young at that time, so of course you didn't know why the construction of Tianxin City was suddenly stopped."

The old soldier stopped when he got to the key point, took out a wine gourd, and gulped down two mouthfuls.

"The reason for the sudden halt in construction wasn't a rebellion or official corruption. Those were all fabricated stories. During the foundation building process, workers dug up dragon scales and died. The emperor's uncle, Jin Dajiu, the one in charge of the construction, immediately blocked the news, and the retired emperor ordered construction to halt."

"Dragon scales dug up? Someone died?"

This was the first time Lin Zhenyu heard this statement and he found it absurd and ridiculous.

"What dragon scales? Have you ever seen them?"

"It's just a rumor, old man. I'll give you some money. Drink this pot of wine and go home. Junzhou is not peaceful. On the way here, we encountered several gangs of thieves..."

The old soldier pushed Lin Zhenyu away, and the silver coins scattered all over the floor.

The old soldier didn't even look at it, and said with red eyes:
"How old are you this year? You start talking about ghosts and gods and spreading rumors. Don't you know that the emperor has become an immortal?"

Lin Zhenyu was speechless.

The old soldier spoke word for word, "I followed the retired emperor to fight in the 47th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty! The soldiers of Kaiyuan are as good as a nail, and they won't lie! It's like digging up dragon scales and angering the dragon... The roar of bulls echoed all around, and the entire foundation sank. The smoke and dust cleared, leaving only a big hole at the construction site. There must be..."

The old soldier thought for a while, then raised his hand and pointed at a medium-sized peak at the foot of Wudang Mountain, and said:

"It has to be as big as that mountain!"

Lin Zhenyu disapproved and asked, "And then?"

The old soldier jumped up suddenly.

"Then everyone on the scaffolding died. I had just changed shifts and went down. I was lucky enough not to fall in. A dragon came up from underground and flew over my head. Its eyes must have..."

The old soldier stopped again, looked around, and pointed at the wheels of a prison cart moving slowly on the post road in the distance.

"Its eyeballs were as big as wheel wheels, and glowed red like lanterns. A scale fell to the ground, bigger than the round plaque in the hands of a sword and shield soldier! All my brothers around me were killed. I didn't care to be afraid at the time. I picked up a spear and stabbed it into the dragon's belly. The dragon's belly was covered with scales, but it was completely unharmed! The dragon's tail curled up, a gust of fishy wind blew, and I fainted..."

Lin Zhenyu listened patiently to the old soldier's words and said with a pleasant face, "Old man, go home early. Drink less in the future, and don't drink fake wine."

After saying that, he pointed at the scattered silver coins on the ground and turned away.

After walking a dozen steps, I heard the old soldier's strange cry at the top of his lungs:

"If you don't believe me, look at my collection of dragon scales!"

Lin Zhenyu turned back impatiently and saw the old soldier squatting at the foot of the city wall, digging around. Lin Zhenyu was about to scold the old soldier when he saw a scale the size of a rattan shield in the old man's hand, with a cold luster radiating from the dark texture...

~~~~~
Three days later, we finally arrived in Yunyang.

Everyone stood outside the city, and Lao Pan asked with concern:

"Why doesn't Officer Lin go talk to the Princess? And that Old Pan, do you know that the Princess was wrongly accused?"

"know."

Along the way, Lin Zhenyu has always been ambiguous with the eldest princess and her followers, deliberately keeping a distance, for fear of causing misunderstandings in the court.

"Emperor Guangde exiled the eldest princess to Yunyang, taking Prime Minister Lu and others with him. I don't know why."

Lao Pan put down his pipe and said meaningfully, "Isn't that obvious? With the Princess as their signboard and Lu Xiangsheng as a civil official, all they need to 'clean up the imperial court' is a military commander."

Lin Zhenyu suddenly realized that Emperor Guangde was playing a big game.

"The imperial court is trying to induce the Fourth Corps to rebel?"

"Besides this, is there any other reason?"

In any case, the Fourth Corps is no match for the three major corps. It seems that Emperor Guangde is not at ease with Qin Jianxun.

"So, Officer Lin, you are just a pawn..."

Lin Zhenyu didn't bother to think too much. He looked up at Cheng'en Gate, the south gate of Yunyang, and was curious about what Qin Jianxun looked like now. After all, he hadn't seen him for more than ten years.

The south gate slowly opened.

Under the expectant gaze of Lin Zhenyu and others, the person who came out to greet them was not Qin Jianxun, but two unfamiliar faces.

The two officers rode across the pontoon bridge and came to a position only ten steps away from Lin Zhenyu.

The two men bowed to Lin Zhenyu and said arrogantly:
"Marshal Qin is busy with military affairs and has no time to come, so he specially ordered the two of us to
Ji Xiaobai, the training officer of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Corps,

"Yunyang official Shu Fujia,

Come and greet General Lin, please!"

Lin Zhenyu turned around and looked at Lao Pan with an unhappy look on his face: "He comes with bad intentions, what does Qin Jianxun want to do!"

Lao Pan reminded: "We are the newcomers."

(End of this chapter)