Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The 5,000-strong army of the three guards of Jingxing Pass attacked Heimu Cliff and indeed encountered fierce resistance.

The battle report claimed that the government troops fought the rebels for a day, and more than a hundred government troops were killed.

But what was their description of the thief?

The bandits on Blackwood Cliff were equipped with the same gear as the government troops, all of which came from the garrison's armory!

For rebels, having equipment from the garrison's armory was indeed a sign of being well-equipped.

But what about the weapons that a force established by time travelers should have?

Why didn't flintlock muskets or rifled guns appear?

Why aren't the cannons here?

The government troops have surrounded Blackwood Cliff and begun their attack on the mountain stronghold!

Without suitable terrain, artillery might not be able to operate effectively, and that's one thing.

But when defending a strategically important mountain city from a high vantage point, muskets are a deadly weapon!

Not to mention flintlock muskets, even the Portuguese matchlock muskets that the Portuguese had brought to the Ming Dynasty at this time could play a very important role in siege warfare!

However, during the first day of the battle, the bandits on Blackwood Cliff didn't even have matchlock guns!

What reason does this person have to abandon the advanced firearms and insist on equipping his men with the same equipment as the Ming army?

For a transmigrator who is secretly accumulating power and attempting to rebel and seize the world, the lives of his subordinates are of utmost importance.

If someone clearly has advanced firearms but deliberately keeps them unused, instead sending their men to risk their lives in close combat with the Ming army, that would be exceptionally stupid and utterly unconventional!

If this person were truly that stupid, they wouldn't have been able to develop such a foundation in this ancient world.

Blackwood Cliff must have been operating for at least ten years to have reached this scale!

Could it be that after all this time, the mysterious time traveler still hasn't developed these weapons?!

What has this person been doing all these years?!

Lu Chen picked up the teacup, gulped it down in a few mouthfuls, and casually put it aside.

The palace maids attending to the emperor quickly took away the empty cup and replaced it with another cup that was at the perfect temperature.

Something's definitely wrong!

I must have made a mistake somewhere!

Lu Chen picked up the memorial again and carefully examined it.

The government troops attacked the mountain for a day. Although more than a hundred people died in battle, they also killed and wounded some bandits and even captured some alive.

He extracted information from the prisoners that he did not know before.

This Black Cliff Mountain stronghold is actually the headquarters of the Maitreya Sect, a branch of the White Lotus Sect.

The bandits on the mountain were also cult members of the Maitreya sect.

The relationship between Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, and the Black Cliff Mountain stronghold was also uncovered during the investigation.

This Zhang Yin is actually the leader of the Maitreya Sect, and all 5,600 banner soldiers of the Taiyuan Left Guard have joined the sect!

The equipment of the cult bandits on Blackwood Cliff was obtained by Taiyuan Left Guard through various means over the years.

This is quite different from my previous judgment.

Before this, I had always thought that the mysterious time traveler in the Black Cliff stronghold was in cooperation with Zhang Yin, and that Taiyuan Left Guard was infiltrated by this person.

However, the prisoners' confessions overturned this conclusion.

Black Cliff is the headquarters of the Maitreya Sect, and Zhang Yin himself is the leader of the Maitreya Sect!

In other words, the two are not in a cooperative relationship; Zhang Yin is the owner of Blackwood Cliff!

Could Zhang Yin be that time traveler?

As the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, a third-rank military officer in the imperial court, this person, if truly a time traveler, would have a pretty good start.

The commanders of the garrison in the Ming Dynasty had great power in their respective defense areas. With a full complement of 5,600 banner soldiers and their families, the number of people under their jurisdiction was quite large.

Shanxi frequently faced Mongol invasions, unlike the inland garrisons in the south, so the vacancies wouldn't be as absurd as a garrison having only a few hundred banner soldiers left.

There should be at least two or three thousand banner soldiers, and with their families, the total number should be at least ten thousand.

If Zhang Yin is indeed the time traveler himself, with so many people under his command, he should be quite confident.

They could simply set up a plot of land within the garrison and quietly cultivate the land, slowly building up their technology. Why bother with the White Lotus Cult?

This person could easily create some highly profitable products from later generations, just like I did in Linqing, and quickly amass wealth.

As a third-rank military officer, Zhang Yin was capable of protecting his business!

Moreover, this is necessary. If one wants to rebel and vie for the world, how can one not try to amass wealth?

If you really create a rare and highly profitable product, there are only two ways to sell it if you want to monetize it.

If it were to be sold directly in China, how could the capital, a place teeming with high-ranking officials and nobles with astonishing spending power, possibly let it pass by?

I often traveled incognito in the capital and visited many shops selling rare and precious items.

Crystal glassware made by Linqing Liuli Workshop, and tin amalgam glass mirrors and high-end bone china produced by Shiyan Yingwangfu Workshop.

Lu Chen had seen all three of these things he had created himself.

But apart from that, no other luxury items that should not exist in this era were found.

If you, like yourself back then, want to sell overseas, then Zhoushan Shuangyu Port, now the largest free trade port in East Asia, is the place you can't avoid.

Every few months, Chen Yunniang would have Qin Fang bring her a letter of greeting, along with rare items brought to Shuangyu Port by merchants from various countries.

I have never seen anything in it that does not belong to this era.

No, that's too unreasonable!

The only explanation is that Zhang Yin is not the transmigrator himself, but a native of this world and the leader of the Maitreya Cult!

The main altar of the Maitreya sect located in Pingding Prefecture is indeed called "Black Cliff"!

Not only is the village called "Black Cliff," but the riverbank next to it is also called "Gorilla Beach."

One name could be considered a coincidence, but two are almost impossible.

Moreover, Tang Zhe followed Prince Rock to Blackwood Cliff, and he did indeed retrieve "Ice"!

Only time travelers can do these things!

Therefore, the mysterious time traveler was not the leader of the Maitreya Sect, but a high-ranking member of the Maitreya Sect!

This person had the authority to name the main altar and the riverbank at the foot of the mountain, and even carved his name on a boulder in a rather elaborate manner.

Moreover, this person was also involved in the plan to send Duan Chao to the capital to make "red lead" elixirs using "ice" and several potent aphrodisiacs, in order to bewitch the emperor into neglecting state affairs and retreating into seclusion to cultivate Taoism.

It seems that this time traveler must hold a high position in the Maitreya Sect's headquarters.

However, this person is not the master of the Maitreya sect. The real power of the Maitreya sect has always been in the hands of the sect leader, Zhang Yin!

That's it!

Lu Chen casually tossed the memorial onto the table and chuckled softly.

Several questions that had been puzzling me for a long time have finally been answered today.

Lu Chen had always wondered why the assassins who tried to kill him at the Marquis of Wuding's residence that day were not assassins armed with modern weapons, but rather six masters of internal martial arts.

I originally thought it was because the transmigrator from Blackwood Cliff was a person with a passion for martial arts, and wanted to create a "Sun Moon Cult" in this world, so he gathered a lot of internal energy masters in the martial arts world.

But in reality, it was originally a cult similar to the "Sun Moon Cult".

The Maitreya Sect was able to grow to a size of tens of thousands in this ancient world with many masters of internal energy, so there must have been quite a few masters of internal energy within the sect!

The one who sent the assassins was not a time traveler at all, but Zhang Yin, the leader of the Maitreya Cult!