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

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The water clock ticked away at midnight, and the night was deep.

The daytime hustle and bustle of Guangning City was completely submerged in the cold night wind.

Occasionally, the dull sound of a night watchman's clapper could be heard on the empty street.

The sound struck the hard concrete pavement, echoing with a lonely, hollow sound.

The main room of the inn was filled with a bone-chilling cold.

The charcoal brazier in the corner had exhausted its last bit of life.

Several pieces of charred charcoal had cracks on their surfaces, through which a few points of scarlet embers shone.

A gust of wind squeezed in through the crack in the door.

The dark flame flickered twice and then went out.

The firelight completely faded into a deathly gray.

Lu Jian sat upright behind the rosewood table.

His back was ramrod straight, and his body was stiff.

His calloused hands gripped a purple-tipped brush tightly.

The knuckles turned pale from excessive force.

A thick stack of papers lay haphazardly on the table, covered with tiny, densely written characters.

Every stroke and line exudes an overwhelming sense of fear and heaviness.

The thick black ink on the paper outlined a series of glaring words.

Indestructible cement, blast furnace spewing forth raging flames.

Piles of potatoes, and a divine fire that clings to the bone and never goes out.

And then there are the tens of thousands of lunatics outside the city who keep yelling about running dungeons, getting loot, and respawning after dying.

They have no idea what death is.

A gust of night wind forcefully flung open the window.

The night wind swirled a few crumpled pieces of paper from the corner of the table, sending them spinning on the blue brick floor.

Lu Jian loosened his grip on the purple brush, letting it roll to the side.

He raised his hands, his rough fingertips pressing hard against his throbbing brow.

He tried to push those absurd and terrifying images out of his mind.

He felt tired.

This feeling of exhaustion pinned him firmly to the armchair.

He spent half his life struggling in the imperial prison of the Northern Garrison Command.

His hands were stained with blood, and he believed he had seen through all the conspiracies and schemes in the world.

Wei Zhongxian's powerful eunuch faction and the Donglin Party, which considered themselves to be pure and upright, were at the height of their power.

The Tartars beyond the Great Wall, the chieftains of the southwest.

No matter how ruthless or cunning these people are, they are still just mortals.

They were all within the realm of common sense, and within the shackles of the Ming Dynasty's laws and imperial power.

As long as you are human, you will have greed, anger, and ignorance.

They could have their bones cleaved by the Embroidered Spring Blade of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and their truths burned out by the branding irons of the Imperial Prison.

But the Guangning City that Chu Ze created completely shattered the common sense of the world.

This city transcends the Three Realms and is outside the Five Elements.

Lu Jian let out a cold laugh.

An unpleasant smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes and stared intently at the secret reports on the table.

This secret report will soon be sent to the Emperor via the fastest courier service.

The high-ranking officials in the imperial court were constantly on guard against those who held military power and were self-important.

The rebellion of the vassal kings was a source of constant worry for successive emperors.

Compared to what Chu Ze has nurtured on this frozen land of Liaodong, those are all insignificant and petty things.

Lu Jian suddenly stood up.

The armchair behind him scraped across the floor tiles with a harsh, screeching sound.

A gust of wind swept through, causing the candlelight on the table to flicker wildly.

This stretched his shadow on the wall.

"Chu Ze, you're not defending the city at all."

Lu Jian gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.

"You're creating a monster!"

He walked to the window and pushed it open.

The icy night wind, carrying ice shards, lashed at my face.

The city of Guangning in the distance was still brightly lit.

The black smoke billowing from the blast furnace obscured the stars and moon.

The clanging sound of hammering metal traveled through the wind and into his ears.

"We cleared the wasteland and cultivated the land ourselves, forged our own weapons and set up our own furnaces."

Lu Jian stared intently at the flames, his eyes bloodshot.

"It can even make the entire city's soldiers and civilians risk their lives and serve you wholeheartedly!"

He turned around and strode back to the desk.

He grabbed the densely written document filled with tiny characters, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"The logistics and supply of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years, and the hierarchical scheduling by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works."

"In this city of Guangning, it's all become worthless!"

Lu Jian slammed the secret report onto the table.

"The constraints imposed by the imperial court? The control over funds and provisions?"

"You're a complete joke to Chu Ze!"

The temperature inside the room dropped to freezing.

Lu Jian's breath condensed into white mist in the air.

"Just give you time."

He leaned over, his hands resting on the edge of the table, staring intently at the location of Guangning City on the map.

His voice revealed a deep sense of despair and fear.

"That ugly blast furnace will spew out refined steel day and night!"

"Those potatoes dug out of the mud will ensure that not a single person starves to death in the entire Liaodong region!"

He straightened up, his chest heaving violently, a terrifying murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

"When that day comes, there will be 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Guangning City, all clad in armor and armed with weapons."

"They worship and acknowledge them in their hearts."

Lu Jian slammed his fist on the table.

The remaining ink in the inkstone splashed out, staining his sleeves black.

"Is it the emperor, high and mighty in the Forbidden City, or you, General Chu, who saved countless people from suffering!"

Lu Jian's rough index finger was bent.

The joints struck the hard tabletop with a series of dull, thumping sounds.

Each sound struck the empire's most sensitive nerves.

"You're not killing Tartars."

Lu Jian tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and his voice became extremely hoarse.

"You're digging up the ancestral graves of the Ming Dynasty!"

"They are severing the very foundation of the Ming Dynasty!"

Lu Jian's breath condensed into white mist in the cold air.

He stared intently out the window, a murderous intent churning in his eyes.

This murderous intent was instantly shattered by a bone-chilling sense of powerlessness.

kill?

What can we use to kill?

Lu Jian stared at the deep night outside the window.

With just the dozen or so elite guards from the Northern Garrison Command that he brought?

Let alone going to confront those tens of thousands of fearless heavenly soldiers outside the city who can resurrect on the spot.

Just that reckless brute, Wang Erniu, reeking of alcohol and wildly slashing with his knife.

He could chop those dozen or so people into mincemeat.

Deploying troops to encircle and suppress them?

A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Lu Jian's mouth.

This is an utterly absurd joke.

The thunderous hoofbeats of tens of thousands of Later Jin cavalry still echoed on the frozen soil of Liaodong.

Amin's two thousand invincible elite warriors in white armor had just been reduced to charred powder by the flames and thunder of Xicang.

Today, the northern defense line, riddled with holes, is held firmly in place only by the isolated island of Guangning City.

Dong Chuze was essentially smashing the last barrier of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong.

The Ming Dynasty cannot afford this price.

The young Emperor Chongzhen, sitting on the dragon throne in the Forbidden City, was even less able to bear the burden.

Lu Jian knew the current emperor very well.

The emperor, who was suffering from sleepless nights due to internal and external troubles, longed for a resounding victory.

Since ascending the throne, the national treasury has been empty.

The court was rife with factional infighting among its officials.

The battle reports sent from Liaodong were increasingly filled with a sense of despair and death.

It was in this desperate situation that Chu Ze suddenly appeared.

He carried with him the earth-shattering victory of beheading two thousand white-armored soldiers.

He carried with him those miraculous feats that overturned yin and yang and reversed life and death, forcefully breaking the lifeless stalemate of the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor desperately needed this great victory to reassure the people.

Even if it poses a threat.

That emperor would also not hesitate to hold it tightly in his hand.

A gust of wind, carrying ice shards, blew open the window.

The candlelight on the table was violently shaken by the wind.

Lu Jian took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the trembling in his chest.

He stretched out his large, calloused hand, which had killed countless people.

He grabbed the purple-tipped brush from the table and plunged it hard into the inkstone, dipping it in thick black ink.

The pen tip trembled slightly as it hovered in mid-air.

Lu Jian's wrist remained stiff in mid-air, unable to fall.

A drop of thick ink gathered and grew larger along the brush tip.

It slammed heavily onto the pristine white Xuan paper with a loud thud.

The ink instantly spread into a glaring black stain.

This pierced Lu Jian's bloodshot eyes.

He gasped sharply and his fingers clenched tightly.

He grabbed the scrap of paper, crumpled it into a ball, and slammed it into the charcoal brazier at his feet.

With a whoosh, the flames shot up and engulfed the paper ball.

The firelight illuminated Lu Jian's cold, pale face.

The struggle, despair, and determination in his eyes were illuminated.

He pulled out another sheet of imperial yellow paper.

He used both hands to spread and press it firmly on the table.

With a downward stroke of the wrist, the pen tip lands heavily on the paper, penetrating deep into the paper.

Your subject, Lu Jian, Vice Commander of the Northern Garrison, respectfully inquires of Your Majesty's well-being.

The handwriting is strong, upright, and powerful, penetrating the paper.

He neither embellished the story nor concealed any facts.

He wrote down everything he had seen and heard in Guangning City over the past few days.

The gray and hard cement city wall.

A blast furnace that spews out molten iron day and night.

Potatoes can yield thousands of kilograms per mu.

There was also the divine fire oil in Xicang that triggered heavenly lightning and reduced two thousand white-armored soldiers to ashes.

Each of these events was enough to cause a huge uproar in the imperial court.

Lu Jian wrote very slowly, carefully choosing each word.

He meticulously recorded the immortality of the heavenly soldiers and their strange words and actions.

But he didn't use words like "demonic magic" or "evil arts".

He used Chu Ze's rhetoric.

"Divine soldiers descended from the heavens, born to meet a calamity."

"This is because His Majesty's blessings are as vast as the heavens and his virtue has moved the heavens, which is why such auspicious omens have descended upon the world and brought blessings to Liaodong."

As Lu Jian wrote this, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

He wrote whatever the emperor liked to read.

Since Chu Ze wants to attribute all the credit and miracles to destiny and imperial power.

So he went along with it and flattered the emperor, making sure the emperor was completely flattered.

He then shifted his focus to evaluating Chu Ze.

"Chu Ze, the garrison commander of Guangning, was exceptionally loyal and brave, and possessed extraordinary talent and strategy."

"He was entrusted with a critical mission and turned the tide with his efforts. He is truly an invaluable pillar of our Ming Dynasty."

These eight characters are as heavy as Mount Tai.

Lu Jian praised Chu Ze to the skies.

This was to reassure the emperor and to stabilize the current situation in Liaodong.

As long as Chu Ze continues to fight the Tartars, he will remain a loyal minister and general of the Ming Dynasty.

However, memorials to the emperor should not only contain flattering words.

As the Emperor's sword, he must point out the hidden killing intent.

As the Emperor's sword, he must point out the hidden killing intent.

Lu Jian put down his pen and looked out the window at the deep night.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper came from afar; it was the third watch.

He dipped his brush in ink again and added a paragraph at the end of the memorial.

"However, the heavenly soldiers are no ordinary beings; their power originates from heaven, and their nature is unpredictable."

"Chu Ze could draw him in, but he could not control him."

"This power is a sharp blade bestowed upon our Great Ming by Heaven."

"However, the double edges of a blade can be used both outwards and inwards."

"How to wield this sharp blade depends entirely on the Holy Heart's sole judgment."

After finishing the last stroke, Lu Jian let out a long breath.

These few sentences are the most incisive and scathing critique of the entire memorial.

He perfectly passed the ball to the one inside the Forbidden City.

The heavenly soldiers are ridiculously powerful, but they are uncontrollable.

Chu Ze is merely a guide; he cannot control natural disasters.

This knife is so sharp that it can kill Jurchens but also cut the hand holding it.

Your Majesty, would you dare to hold my hand?

Lu Jian knew that when Emperor Chongzhen saw this memorial, his heart would be filled with turmoil.

Anticipation, ecstasy, fear, and dread.

These emotions would intertwine and torment the suspicious king.

But this was no longer something he, a mere deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, should be concerned with.

He fulfilled his duties.

The truth was laid out on the emperor's desk, and the rest was left to the emperor to decide.

Lu Jian took out the sealing wax he kept close to his body and softened it over the candle flame.

Red sealing wax dripped onto the seal of the memorial.

He pressed the seal of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Snapped.

The seal is complete.

This secret report will determine the future of Guangning City and even the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Someone come here."

Lu Jian spoke in a deep voice.

A member of the elite guard codenamed Tanuki pushed open the door and knelt on one knee.

"Boss."

"Let's go to the stables to pick the best, fastest horse."

Lu Jian carefully tucked the secret report away from his body.

"As soon as the city gates open tomorrow morning, we will immediately set off back to the capital."

The raccoon was stunned for a moment.

"Boss, are you leaving already?"

"Aren't you going to investigate?"

"Investigate my ass!"

Lu Jian swore, which was uncommon for him.

"If you keep investigating like this, I'm afraid you'll all go crazy right here!"

He stood up, walked to the basin, and washed his face with well water.

The cold water stimulated his nerves and made him more alert.

"This place is very strange; the longer we stay, the more unpredictable things will become."

Lu Jian pulled a cloth over and wiped his face dry.

"Get the brothers up and pack their things."

"We'll leave as soon as it's light, without delay."

The raccoon dared not ask any more questions and withdrew, accepting the order.

Lu Jian walked to the window and looked at the dark night sky outside.

The outline of Guangning City was faintly visible in the night.

All he wants now is to leave this place and return to the familiar capital.

Return to the Forbidden City, which, though decaying, is at least still within the bounds of common sense.

Let the entire court of officials deal with this headache.

A night breeze swept through, swirling up a few withered leaves.

Lu Jian closed the window and lay down on the couch fully clothed.

When I close my eyes, all I can see are those crazy, rambling heavenly soldiers.

And then there's Chu Ze's perpetually smiling face.

He turned over and forced himself to fall asleep.

There's still a long way to go tomorrow.

At the same time.

On the official road of the Liaoxi Corridor, 300 li away from Guangning City.

A post horse is galloping forward.

The sound of horses' hooves broke the deathly silence of the night.

The courier on horseback was covered in blood, with three red flags stuck in his back.

Urgent dispatch! (800 li express)

The courier's lips were cracked and his face was pale; he clung tightly to the horse's neck with sheer willpower.

The warhorse was foaming at the mouth and nose; it had reached its physical limit.

"Giddy up! Giddy up!"

The courier roared hoarsely as he frantically lashed the horse's rump with his blood-stained whip.

The lights of the post station could be faintly seen ahead.

That's the boundary marker of Ningyuanwei.

The warhorse let out a mournful cry and its front hooves suddenly buckled.

boom.

They and their horse crashed heavily onto the dirt road.

The courier rolled more than ten steps on the ground, and the sound of breaking bones could be clearly heard.

He struggled to lift his head, his face covered in mud and blood.

Hearing the commotion, the garrison soldiers in the post station rushed out with torches in hand.

"Who goes there!"

The courier used all his strength to pull a blood-soaked bamboo tube from his bosom and held it high.

"Urgent dispatch."

His voice was so faint it was almost inaudible, but the three red flags were dazzling in the firelight.

The garrison officer snatched the bamboo tube and saw the sealing wax mark on it.

The seal of the Ministry of War!

"Change horses quickly!"

"Send the fastest person to Guangning!"

The officer roared.

The courier gripped the officer's armor so tightly that his fingers turned white.

"The main force of the Jurchens."

He swallowed hard and roared with all his might.

"Huang Taiji personally led an army of 100,000 men from the Plain Yellow and Bordered Yellow Banners!"

"They're closing in on the capital!"

After shouting those words, the courier tilted his head and fell silent.

The officer's face instantly lost all color under the torchlight.

One hundred thousand troops!

Huang Taiji personally led the expedition!

This news was enough to bring the sky down over the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.

"What are you standing there for? Go and deliver the message!"

The officer kicked a terrified soldier standing nearby.

"Urgent dispatch!"

"Send this to General Chu in Guangning immediately!"

A brand-new, fast horse galloped out of the post station and headed towards Guangning.

The sound of horses' hooves broke the darkness once again.