Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

Inside the private room, the fresh scent of pine mingled with the smoky aroma of roasted meat, filling the air.

The table was laden with food and the wine was strong liquor.

But the atmosphere in this warm and cozy room was three times colder than the freezing cold outside.

Lu Jian and the dozen or so imperial guards behind him sat upright like pine trees, none of them touching their chopsticks. They were the emperor's swords, swords that, before being drawn, always retained their coldest sharpness.

Chu Ze personally poured Lu Jian a full cup, raised it and said with a smile, "Lord Lu, you have come from the capital and must be tired. Guangning City is a remote and impoverished place with no good food. Only the wild game we hunted outside the city has some flavor. I hope you will not find it offensive."

Lu Jian picked up his wine cup, but his gaze didn't fall on the wine. Instead, it sharply swept across Chu Ze's face, and his voice was flat: "General Chu, you are too kind. I came from Shanhaiguan, and all I saw along the way was exposed bones in the wilderness, and not a single rooster crowed for a thousand miles. I never expected that Guangning City would be such a bustling scene. It has truly broadened my horizons."

He deliberately emphasized the phrase "in full swing," and the meaning behind his words was self-evident.

Chu Ze seemed oblivious to the scrutiny, smiling calmly as he downed his wine in one gulp: "Lord Lu, you flatter me. Guangning's current state is entirely due to His Majesty's boundless grace, the soldiers' valiant efforts, and... some unspeakable coincidences. Otherwise, this city would have long been reduced to dust, and I, Chu Ze, would be a victim of the Jurchens' blades. How could I possibly be here to entertain you, sir?"

He used the phrase "coincidence" in a meaningful way, as both an explanation and a hook he was throwing out.

"Oh?" Lu Jian brought the wine cup to his lips but didn't drink. Instead, he rubbed the warm cup with his fingertips. "I'm curious, what kind of fortuitous event could have turned a besieged, isolated city under the iron hooves of the Jurchens into something miraculous? General, would you be so kind as to enlighten me?"

These words were already pushing and tearing away the veneer of politeness.

Chu Ze, however, didn't take the bait. Instead, he enthusiastically picked up the serving chopsticks and placed a sizzling piece of roasted venison on Lu Jian's plate: "My lord, you must be tired from your journey. Try this first. This venison was just hunted this morning by the 'Heavenly Soldiers' from the Western Mountains. Their method is unique; they don't use bows and arrows, but rather a kind of firearm that spews iron sand, capable of killing with a single blow from a hundred paces away. My lord, try it and see how it compares to the skills of the imperial chefs in the capital?"

He casually steered the conversation away, but then inadvertently threw out the two pieces of information that Lu Jian couldn't ignore: "heavenly soldiers" and "unique firearms," ​​firmly grasping the initiative in the conversation.

After several rounds of drinks, the atmosphere seemed to have eased somewhat under the influence of alcohol and food, but in reality, undercurrents were surging, and every polite remark concealed a sharp edge. Lu Jian made several probing attempts, but Chu Ze skillfully deflected them with seemingly casual methods.

He finally realized that trying to extract a flaw from this young man through words was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Lu Jian finally put down his celadon wine cup, the bottom of which struck the table with a crisp, light sound. In the quiet, almost imperceptible private room, the sound seemed particularly jarring.

He raised his head and looked directly at Chu Ze, who sat calmly in the main seat.

"General Chu, there is something I do not understand."

"Speak." Chu Ze poured him a glass of wine, his movements unhurried and deliberate.

"With 'heavenly soldiers' assisting us, why not report such an auspicious omen to the court sooner?" Lu Jian's voice was not loud, but every word was like a knife, piercing straight to the heart. "If every garrison in the land had heavenly soldiers, what fear would there be of the Jurchens not being destroyed? General, what is the reason for keeping this a secret?"

This is an extremely pointed question!

It was like an invisible sword, peeling away all the supernatural appearances and pointing directly at Chu Ze's possible ambition to amass power and seize control of Liaodong!

Upon hearing this, the temperature in the room suddenly dropped several degrees. Wang Erniu's large hand, gripping the wine glass, bulged with veins, and a flash of anger flickered in his copper-bell-like eyes.

Chu Ze, however, did not care at all. He did not even answer immediately. Instead, he picked up his wine glass, took a light sniff of the wine, and then let out a long sigh.

"Lord Lu is unaware of this."

He put down his wine glass, a mixture of helplessness and emotion on his face. "The heavenly army did not descend out of thin air. It was only after Guangning had been besieged for more than a month, and the soldiers and civilians in the city had been almost wiped out. When the city was about to fall and everyone was dead, I, along with three thousand remaining soldiers and more than ten thousand civilians, prayed to heaven and earth with our blood and flesh, which is how this strange phenomenon came about."

"They... or rather, they, in their early days, were chaotic and disorderly, knowing only how to kill. It was only through countless bloody battles and immense effort that I gradually figured out how to communicate with them and guide them to fight for my Great Ming."

Chu Ze's voice carried a hint of weariness, as if he were recounting a difficult story that was not meant for outsiders. "This matter is too shocking, and even now, I have not been able to fully understand its intricacies. Without concrete evidence of a victory like 'Burning the White Armor,' if we rashly report it to the court, it will probably only be regarded as madness and denounced as a cult to sway the masses. At that time, not only will it be fruitless, but it will also shake the morale of the army and ruin everything."

These words were perfectly watertight.

He used the concept of "unreplicability" to explain why only Guangning had heavenly soldiers, and the concepts of "extremely high communication costs" and "too incredible" to perfectly explain why he did not report it immediately.

This rhetoric cleverly transformed the suspicion of him hoarding military power into the image of a loyal general demonstrating caution and responsibility in the face of an unknown miracle.

Lu Jian couldn't find any point of rebuttal for a moment.

He stared silently at Chu Ze, trying to find even the slightest hint of guilt or weakness in that young face.

But he failed.

Chu Ze's expression was calm, even carrying a hint of "you don't understand my suffering."

Just as the atmosphere in the private room reached a delicate stalemate, Chu Ze seemed to suddenly remember something and patted his forehead.

"Look at my memory! I was so busy talking to Lord Lu that I neglected our distinguished guest." He called out to the door, "Someone, go and invite Commandant Wang and Mr. Li here. Tell them that a distinguished guest from the capital has arrived and ask them to come and keep us company."

A moment later, Wang Erniu's burly figure and Li Xunyi's slender figure walked into the private room one after the other.

Wang Erniu had already changed out of his armor, wearing only a tight-fitting short jacket that accentuated his muscular physique. He sat down with an imposing air, and the murderous aura emanating from him, as if he had crawled out of a pile of corpses, made the young imperial guards hold their breath.

Li Xunyi was still wearing the same faded scholar's robe. He first bowed respectfully to Lu Jian, and then carefully sat down at the last seat, his expression showing the restraint typical of a scholar.

Lu Jian's attention immediately shifted from Chu Ze to the two new "key witnesses".

One was a trusted and valiant general under Chu Ze, and the other was a highly respected gentry representative in the city. Their testimonies carried far more weight than Chu Ze's own defense.

Lu Jian raised his wine glass and toasted Wang Erniu from afar.

"Commander Wang, I ask you, you have been in the army for a long time and have seen much, have you ever personally witnessed those 'heavenly soldiers' who died in battle and came back to life?"

Upon hearing this, the murderous look on Wang Erniu's face was instantly replaced by a fanatical expression mixed with piety and awe. He suddenly picked up the bowl of strong liquor in front of him, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a hearty exhale.

"Your Honor!" His voice boomed so loudly that dust fell from the roof beams. "I, Wang Erniu, swear on my life I saw it with my own eyes! More than once!"

He seemed to be caught up in some unbearable yet incredibly exciting memory, and his large, round eyes even became bloodshot.

"On the day when the defense of the city was at its most brutal, one of my soldiers, Shi Dali, jumped off the city wall, which was three zhang high, carrying two Jurchen Tartars, in order to plug the breach. He was smashed to pieces! But less than half an hour later, this idiot appeared in front of me, lively and energetic, patting his chest and asking me, 'Was that a fierce one?'"

"Another time, a soldier's intestines were ripped out, all over the ground, but he was still laughing and clinging tightly to the leg of a white-armored soldier, so I chopped off that Tartar's head with one stroke! I watched him die with my own eyes, but the next day during drills, he was standing in the ranks, lively and energetic, and even asked me for wine!"

Wang Erniu slammed his wine bowl down on the table with a loud bang, and roared, "Sir! In my opinion, they're not even human! They're living bodhisattvas sent down by God to save us Liaodong soldiers! They're gods! Anyone who dares to say a bad word about them, I, Wang Erniu, will be the first to object!"

His words were vulgar and even somewhat incoherent.

But that heartfelt emotion, that shock and awe that only those who experienced it firsthand felt, struck the hearts of every Imperial Guard in the private room like a heavy hammer.

It doesn't seem fake!

Lu Jian's expression remained unchanged, and he turned his gaze to Li Xunyi on the other side.

"Mr. Li is a learned man, well-versed in the classics; surely he wouldn't be misled by such superstitious tales. In your opinion, is this matter truly true?"

Upon hearing the question, Li Xunyi immediately stood up, his thin frame trembling slightly with excitement. He adjusted the old crystal glasses on his nose, his voice filled with barely suppressed elation.

"Your Excellency is wise! Confucius said, 'Do not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.' This is the teaching of the sages. I... I initially scoffed at such talk, just like you, thinking it was nonsense from General Chu to appease the people!"

The old scholar first cited classical texts to demonstrate his rational stance.

Then, his tone suddenly changed, and his emotions became intense!

"However! I saw it with my own eyes! I saw those heavenly soldiers, fearless and undaunted, facing death with laughter! I saw them rise from the dead, their voices and appearances unchanged!"

"I personally witnessed a female immortal surnamed Zhou mix sand, stones, and water to create a divine substance called 'cement.' Using this substance to repair the city wall, within ten days, a barrier stronger than steel was erected! Cuts and axe blows left only white marks!"

"I personally witnessed a goddess named Tian, ​​a skilled farmer, take out magical seeds called 'potato' and 'sweet potato' from her bosom. She said that these seeds are not picky about soil fertility, are drought-resistant and cold-resistant, and can yield thousands of kilograms per mu! They are now being tested in the south of the city, and soon they will be able to save the lives of all the people of Guangning!"

Li Xunyi became more and more agitated as he spoke, his white beard trembling, and he bowed deeply to Lu Jian.

"My lord! These miracles, each and every one of them, I have witnessed with my own eyes, and there is not a single falsehood! What else could these be but miracles? This is Heaven's blessing upon our Great Ming Dynasty, Heaven's blessing upon His Majesty, and Heaven's blessing upon the millions of people of China!"

A ruthless and cunning veteran general, and a learned Confucian scholar who strictly adheres to the teachings of the sages.

One represents the "martial" aspect of Guangning City, and the other represents the "civil" aspect.

At this moment, they unanimously became the most fervent believers in the "heavenly soldiers" theory.

Wang Erniu's words carried a bloody stench; every word seemed to have been just dug from a pile of corpses, scalding hot and rusty. His eyes gleamed with a battlefield-like red light as he spoke, and it wasn't an act.

Li Xunyi's words were even more impactful. He mixed the principles of Confucian classics with unheard-of things like cement and potatoes. That heartfelt excitement, that ecstatic joy of embracing a new "great way" after the lifelong adherence of an old scholar was completely overturned, was far more impactful than Wang Erniu's crude words.

One of the guards behind Lu Jian unconsciously swallowed, as if he wanted to say something, but was stopped by a look from his colleague next to him.

They were the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the most skilled at detecting lies in the world. They could smell the deception in the most subtle expressions and the most unintentional movements of prisoners.

But these two, one as coarse as an ox or a horse, the other as aloof as a crane, their unwavering fervor in their words was pure and without a trace of impurity.

That wasn't acted out.

That's the kind of radiance that comes from when a person's entire soul has been transformed.

Lu Jian's knuckles slowly tightened and then loosened under the table. He had interrogated more people than Wang Erniu had killed. What kind of lies hadn't he heard? What kind of stubbornness hadn't he pried open?

But today, all the skills he was so proud of are useless.

Because these two people weren't lying at all.

They're just crazy.

Or rather, they saw a "reality" that drove them mad.

He was silent.

Inside the private room, the only sound was the occasional soft popping of charcoal in the brazier.

After a long while, Lu Jian picked up the celadon wine cup filled with strong liquor in front of him again.

This time, he didn't hesitate at all, tilted his head back, and drank the strong liquor in his glass in one gulp.

The pungent liquor burned down his throat and into his stomach. The fiery sensation was like a red-hot knife, slicing through the chaotic thoughts in his mind, scalding away all his surprise and confusion, leaving only the coldness and clarity of a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He put down his wine glass, all expression vanishing from his face, replaced by a cold, stern look.

"What a blessing from Heaven for the Ming Dynasty!"

Lu Jian spoke slowly, his voice hoarse, yet carrying an undeniable determination.

"General Chu, words are useless. I only believe in the sword, in the blood, and in my own eyes."

He stood up, and the guards behind him also stood up in unison, their armor plates clanging together with a chilling sound.

"General Chu, we've already had our drinks and met the people."

"Now, take me to see your 'miracle'."

Lu Jian stood up, and the guards behind him also stood up in unison, their armor plates clanging together with a chilling sound.

"I want to see with my own eyes how you used these immortal 'divine weapons' to create that 'great victory' in the report."

"I also want to see the burial place of those two thousand elite Jin Dynasty soldiers in white armor!"