Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 281 The Imperial Envoy is Coming
"Who are you?" Five cavalrymen surrounded the messenger. The sergeant came forward to question him, gesturing for the crossbowmen to draw the strings. If he didn't answer, answered incorrectly, or simply turned his horse and fled, he would be shot dead by the crossbows.

The messenger knew the rules and didn't move. He let go of the reins and raised his hands to show goodwill. "I'm Sun Chuanting, the Shenyang Inspector General. I'm a messenger sent by Sun Chuanting. I have an important matter to report to the governor!"

"Do you have a token?" Sergeant Wu's expression eased slightly.

"Yes! I have the badge of Master Sun as a token of your loyalty." The messenger nodded heavily and said, "It's hanging on my waist."

"Throw it over here." Sergeant Wu hooked his hand.

"Okay." The messenger took off his badge and threw it to the sergeant.

The sergeant caught it steadily, examining it from front to back. After confirming his position, he tossed the badge back and said to the crossbowman, "Release it."

The crossbowman nodded silently, moved his right hand away from the quiver, then hooked the bowstring with his index and middle fingers, and slowly released it to its original position.

"Can I go now?" asked the Courier.

"No." The sergeant shook his head and said, "You have to come with us. Stay in the Duntai barracks tonight. Don't even think about going into the city."

"I have an urgent matter!" said the courier.

"There's nothing we can do. The higher-ups have ordered martial law. Once the city gates are closed, no one can get in. Even if we die, we have to die outside." There was no dissatisfaction on the sergeant's face.

"What should I do? I'm already in Liaoyang. I can't wait until tomorrow when the door opens to deliver it, right?" the courier asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, people can't get in, but messages can." The sergeant rode forward and approached the messenger. "You're not carrying a verbal message, are you? If so, go to the barracks and write it down first." The sergeant leaned forward, patted the messenger's shoulder, and motioned for him to keep pace.

"A letter." The courier understood and followed.

"That's perfect. It saves us some time." The sergeant nodded slightly. He then signaled the cavalry closest to him to return to the camp and go up to the watchtower to signal the city gate. "Give me the letter. When I hear back from the city walls, I'll go over and deliver it for you."

"Thank you for your help." The courier took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to the sergeant.

The sergeant took the letter, put it in his arms, and asked softly, "Brother, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet." The messenger patted his saddlebags. "I brought some food and water."

"Don't eat that. We're cooking meat in camp." The military governor's headquarters provided high-quality meals to the scouts stationed at the outposts outside the city, second only to the special treatment provided to the Seljuq trainees by imperial decree. Even the standard-bearing battalion of the military governor's wing didn't receive such good treatment.

"Thank you very much." The messenger bowed and thanked him.

"Why are you so polite?"

Soon, the signal from the north gate tower allowing approach and the sound of the drawbridge being lowered were transmitted to the Dunjun outpost.

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Liaoyang, the heart of the Liaodong Military Commandery, was the political, economic, and cultural center of the Ming Dynasty in the Liaodong region. However, for a long time, Liaoyang was not the military center of the Liaodong region.

Before the rise of the Jiannu, the highest military commander in the Liaodong region, the Liaodong General, was generally stationed in Guangning for a long time to guard against the Mongolian tribes in the west.

After Xiong Tingbi entered Liao during the crisis and handed over military power to Yang Hao in Haizhou, the military logistics center of Liaodong was officially moved to Liaoyang. As for the military command center of Liaodong, it naturally followed Xiong Jinglüe wherever he went.

Xiong Tingbi had relocated his headquarters to Liaoyang, merging his command and logistics centers. Yuan Yingtai, the Liaodong Governor, had also stepped down, moving from being Liaoyang's top civil servant to Xiong Tingbi's deputy. The city's largest government office, originally designated the Liaodong Commandery, was also renamed, changing its name from the Liaodong Governor's Office to the General Headquarters.

In the meeting hall of the Jinglüe Headquarters, Xiong Tingbi, the absolute military and political commander of Liaodong, and Yuan Yingtai, the Liaodong Governor who was actually in charge of logistics, were sitting quietly in the main and secondary seats, waiting for the current Liaodong General Li Huaixin and Liaodong Inspector Yang Lian to come over.

Xiong Tingbi's sight also revealed Chen Ce, Sichuan's General-in-Chief of the Liaodong Aid Army; Tong Zhongkui, Sichuan's Deputy General-in-Chief of the Liaodong Aid Army; Qi Jin, the former Deputy General-in-Chief of the Southern Zhili Jiangnan Region; and other foreign military commanders. As for the other generals and officers in Liaoyang City, such as Ma Xianglin, the Sichuan Shiqu Xuanwei Commissioner; and Zhang Mingshi, the former Lieutenant General of the Yunnan Xulu Region, they were not summoned by Xiong Tingbi.

A little over half a quarter of an hour later, Li Huaixin and Yang Lian arrived at the General's Headquarters, escorted by a small number of cavalry. Despite intensified searches and multiple rounds of inspections, there were still hidden or potential spies within Liaoyang City. To prevent potential assassinations, all high-ranking officials were required to carry troops for protection when leaving the city.

Before the two men dismounted, Zu Dashou, the guerrilla general in charge of protecting Yang Lian, noticed a cavalryman galloping from the other side of the road. He gripped his spear, turned his horse forward, and shouted, "Stop!"

The cavalryman was so frightened by the shout that he quickly pulled the reins, causing the horse to stop and almost fall over.

To distinguish the various armies gathered in Liaoyang, Governor Yuan Yingtai issued cuffs of different colors and patterns to the troops stationed within the city walls. Zu Dashou spotted the cuffs tied to the cavalrymen's arms and immediately recognized them as soldiers guarding the city gates. His expression softened slightly, but he refused to allow the soldiers to approach any further. "Take another route. Don't go through the government office."

"General, I'm here to deliver a letter." The city guard took out the letter from his arms, which he had pulled up to the city wall in a basket not long ago.

"For the government office?" Zu Dashou asked.

"It's from the government office." The city guard squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and tried to push it forward. But the horse, irritated by his sudden pull, only whined twice and didn't move.

"Haha." Zu Dashou smiled knowingly and rode over. Approaching the city guard, he first leaned over and gently patted the horse's head. Then, he fished out a bean cake from his saddle bag and handed it to the guard. Finally, he took the letter. "Feed it to it. It's an apology."

"Okay." The city guard also smiled.

Zu Dashou gently tugged on the reins, and the horse understood, turning back obediently to Yang Lian's side. "Yang Youchen. A letter from outside the city."

"Thank you." Yang Lian took it with a smile and stepped on the stirrup to dismount. "Marshal Li, let's go in."

"Okay." Li Huaixin licked his lips. He didn't move immediately, but waited until Yang Lian reached him, half a body length ahead of him, before following closely. The two of them made their way to the meeting hall. First, they exchanged greetings with the officials present according to customary rank, and then took their seats according to the agreed-upon seating arrangements. The Ming Dynasty controlled the military with civil officials, and as the third-ranking civil official in Liaoyang City, Yang Lian naturally sat to Xiong Tingbi's right.

Although all the military officers were foreign generals, independent of each other, and of similar or even equal rank, Li Huaixin replaced Li Ruzhen as the Liaodong General after arriving in Liao. He was considered the chief military officer, and therefore sat in the first seat beside Yuan Yingtai.

"I've called everyone here today to discuss an important matter." Xiong Tingbi began. Everyone's gazes were fixed on him. "Tomorrow, the eunuchs sent by the Emperor will arrive in Liaoyang."

"Are you sure it's tomorrow?" Yang Lian turned sideways and asked.

"Yes. Tomorrow," Xiong Tingbi said. "Before closing the gate, the Anshan Post reported that the imperial envoy and his escort were stationed there tonight." Anshan Post was located sixty miles south of Liaoyang City. It was established in the 20th year of the Hongwu reign and renovated in the 6th year of the Wanli reign. If the imperial envoy set out early in the morning, they would arrive in Liaoyang by noon that day.

In reality, Xiong Tingbi had been waiting for quite some time. He had originally relocated his headquarters to Zhenjiang to conduct preliminary research and preparations for a major undertaking. However, upon receiving an urgent dispatch from the capital, which announced that the emperor had dispatched several high-ranking eunuchs, escorted by a large group of East Depot agents, north to Liaoyang to reward the troops, Xiong Tingbi changed his schedule and rushed all the way back to Liaoyang to organize the escort and reception.

Yang Lian's situation was similar. His original plan was to oversee spring plowing in the Liao and Shen regions. Upon hearing that the emperor's special envoy was arriving, Yang Lian immediately lost control. He assumed that no matter what the emperor assigned the eunuchs, they would likely cause trouble for local officials upon their arrival. If not, the local authorities would have to burn incense and fulfill their vows.

Everyone present had their own thoughts and expressions. Xiong Tingbi's eyes swept across their faces before he continued, "Tomorrow at noon, please gather at the west gate with your military officers of the fourth rank and above to welcome the imperial envoy."

"Yes." All the generals responded in unison.

"General Li." Xiong Tingbi looked at Li Huaixin.

"Here!" The moment Li Huaixin's eyes met Xiong Tingbi's, his heart suddenly tightened.

Xiong Tingbi frowned slightly, then smiled and said, "Please lead a battalion of the central army and go out of the city ten miles to meet us." Xiong Tingbi rarely used the word "please" to Li Huaixin.

Although Xiong Tingbi had caused Li Huaixin to become somewhat nervous, making him nervous almost at the mere sight of him, he remained sharp. He knew full well that no matter what the eunuchs' pretexts were, if anyone ventured out of the city to greet him, they would be impeached by the imperial censors. Apart from anything else, the charge of flattery was inevitable. Li Huaixin didn't want to risk the censors' attention, but he couldn't openly oppose Xiong Tingbi's request.

Li Huaixin was stunned for a while under Xiong Tingbi's gaze, and finally an idea came to him, and he actually asked: "I go alone?" Li Huaixin's idea was to drag others into the water. It was better for two or more people to share the pressure together than to be scolded alone.

"Who else do you want to go with you?" Xiong Tingbi still smiled.

"." Li Huaixin wanted to directly click on Xiong Tingbi's general. Unfortunately, he couldn't.

At this time, Yang Lian questioned, "Is it necessary to please them like this?"

"We are not welcoming a eunuch, but an imperial envoy sent by the emperor." Xiong Tingbi added a clear emphasis on "qin".

"We didn't say we wouldn't welcome the imperial envoy. We could have just met him outside the moat. It's unacceptable for a deputy commander, the Liaodong general commander, a second-rank official, to go ten miles outside the city to greet him." Yang Lian never questioned Xiong Tingbi or Yuan Yingtai on military or political matters. But this matter involved court etiquette, and he couldn't remain silent.

Li Huaixin really wanted to jump up and cheer for the wisdom of Yang Daxun, but unfortunately he couldn't, so he could only hold it together.

"What's so unreasonable about this? It's very reasonable." Xiong Tingbi was a little short of breath.

"Of course that doesn't make sense!" Yang Lian chuckled, staring at Xiong Tingbi and saying, "When General Li Chengliang and the eunuch Gao Huai colluded to disrupt Liaodong, who was the provincial governor?"

Xiong Tingbi was so exhausted by Yang Lian's attack that he held his breath for a long time before saying, "This is a different time."

"Okay then." Yang Lian nodded and said, "You go on your own." Yang Lian said deliberately, "If someone impeaches you, I will speak up for you. Just say that you had to maintain good relations with the eunuchs for the sake of the greater good of Liaodong."

"." Everyone was stunned. Even Li Huaixin, whose lips couldn't stop rising, silently put away the joy on his face.

Xiong Tingbi's face turned blue, then purple. No one in Liaodong had ever dared to speak to him like that since the Liao Dynasty. But he couldn't fight back, because Yang Lian had only exposed what he was thinking.

Xiong Tingbi slammed the table with such force that his calloused palms felt numb and painful. Just when everyone thought Xiong Jinglie was about to lose his temper again, he simply squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Okay!" Xiong Tingbi took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "As expected of Yang Youchen, Yang Zhongcheng, who dares to speak directly to the emperor!"

"General Li." Xiong Tingbi looked away, turned around, and looked at Li Huaixin again.

"I am here!" Li Huaixin stood up and clasped his fists.

"Tomorrow you will stand by my side and welcome the imperial envoy with everyone outside the moat." Xiong Tingbi's face was still very red, but his tone had adjusted.

"I obey your command." Li Huaixin clasped his fists and accepted the order.

"Okay, everyone go ahead. There's nothing else to do today." Xiong Tingbi waved his hand tiredly.

"I'll take my leave." Most of the generals remained silent, simply watching a wonderful spectacle. Upon hearing Xiong Tingbi's words, they all took their leave, fearing that if they stayed any longer they would become part of the spectacle.

Li Huaixin, on the other hand, lingered a little longer. Once the last general left the meeting hall, he suddenly remembered that Yang, the inspector, had a letter from outside the city. He quickly departed with all formalities. "Xiong Jinglue, Governor Yuan, and Yang, I bid you farewell."

"Goodbye." At this time, Xiong Tingbi and Yang Lian met eyes again, and only the good guy Yuan Yingtai paid attention to Li Huaixin.

"Central Minister Yang, why aren't you leaving yet?" Xiong Tingbi said sarcastically. "You've made my face swollen. I won't be able to convince anyone anymore." As he spoke, he actually reached out and patted his sturdy face.

"Xiong Zuotang is good at accepting advice. I admire him." Yang Lian stood up and bowed. "If anyone disobeys the commander-in-chief's orders, I, Yang, will be the first to disagree."

"Go away, go away!" Xiong Tingbi waved his hands repeatedly. "I don't want to see you now."

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer." Yang Lian shook his head regretfully. "Here's a letter from outside the city."

(End of this chapter)