On the eighth day of July in the seventh year of Guangde, Lin Zhenyu set out from Wuchang and went up the Shuo River of the Han River. After three days of boating, he led his troops to Xiangyang.
Xiangyang was only a hundred miles away from Yunyang. Lin Zhenyu ordered everyone to rest outside the city and sent sentries to explore the way first and inform the Fourth Corps.
[In view of the general environment,
Xiangyang is located in the Hanjiang 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 but difficult to attack. It is also a hub connecting the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, and is known as the "thorough of seven provinces."
Xiangyang not only has strong city defenses, but also has the largest number of garrison troops among all the prefectures and counties in Hubei.
After Emperor Guangde came to power, he suppressed warriors in all aspects. One of the most important measures was to dismantle fortresses and fortresses across the country and reduce maintenance expenses. Xiangyang, as the central barrier, naturally received Emperor Guangde's attention.
The number of troops garrisoned around Xiangyang dropped sharply from more than 20,000 to less than 5,000. Several arrow tower fortresses outside the city were also demolished. The governor of Huguang even demanded that the main city wall be demolished.
At the beginning, Emperor Guangde believed that if the country was peaceful, having too many military men was not a good thing. The number of troops was reduced, and the extra fortresses were unguarded, so those that should be demolished should be demolished as soon as possible.
~~~~
Xiangyang garrison officer Guo Liqing hosted a banquet for Lin Zhenyu and his party at the garrison yamen.
Guo Liqing is an old man in his fifties, short and groggy. He is more like a fortune teller than a guard, because every time he speaks, he always twists his index finger and his lips tremble up and down, like To reveal some earth-shattering secret.
Lin Zhenyu heard that the garrison officer in front of him was an old man from the time of the Supreme Emperor. He had been guarding Xiangyang for ten years. He had been guarding Xiangyang since the Qi army defeated Zuo Liangyu. Lin Zhenyu was shocked and couldn't help but feel sorry for this man. The defense officer took a high look.
"Lin Yingguan came from Nanjing and was entrusted with important tasks by Emperor Guangde. He must have some knowledge of the news in the capital."
Hearing that Lin Zhenyu was ordered by the emperor to escort the imperial prisoners to Yunyang, passing through Xiangyang, Guo Liqing did not dare to neglect, and his enthusiasm for the battalion officer of the Fourth Corps was incredible.
This is probably the reason why Guo Shoubei has not been cleared by the new emperor.
"Officer Lin is young, only in his early twenties. He can serve as a battalion officer in charge of three to four thousand people. He is much more promising than me, a Xiangyang garrison in my fifties."
"Guo Shoubei's false praise is because he is doing things for the imperial court, but I hope he has a clear conscience."
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Lin Zhenyu was not used to Xiangyang food and was sweating profusely while eating, but Guo Shoubei continued to pick up food for the young battalion officer and kept talking to him.
"I heard that Mr. Kang (Kang Guangxu) is about to be promoted to Minister of Rites? Mr. Chen Zizhuang, the current Minister of Rites, is going home to Dingyou... I have been in Xiangyang for a long time and I don't know about the affairs of the capital."
Lin Zhenyu didn't know where to start.
Unexpectedly, a person as ignorant as Kang Guangxu would become the Minister of Rites of Daqi.
"Everything in the capital remains as before. His Majesty is busy implementing the New Deal and cleaning up the remnants of the rebels. The soldiers stationed in Ryukyu, Korea and other places have been withdrawn, and the military examinations are going on as scheduled..."
Guo Liqing is most interested in disarmament because it is directly related to his wealth and life.
….
"After cutting off the ten major corps, will we continue to cut down the troops? How long can I continue to guard Xiangyang? Brother Lin, give me a hand!"
Lin Zhenyu said helplessly: "The general really doesn't know about this. In fact, I have only been in Nanjing for two months, and I have been stationed in Ryukyu before."
Guo Liqing, however, seemed to be grasping at a life-saving straw and said reluctantly: "How could General Lin not know? The entire Qi Dynasty knows that Emperor Guangde is going to further reduce the army. Except for his few trusted generals, the rest of the troops are in danger."
After saying that, the old man narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice: "Guan Lin, you came from South Zhili. Didn't you encounter any bandits along the way?"
Lin Zhenyu subconsciously glanced at Cui Qi next to him. Before he could speak, Guo Shoubei pretended to be mysterious and said:
"Does Officer Lin know who those thieves are? Most of them are retired soldiers... The world of Daqi is about to change."
Lin Zhenyu understands quite well
Guo Shoubei's mood understands his fear of being dismissed at any time.
After all, Emperor Guangde even dared to behead Pu Gang, what else could Liu Kan not dare to do?
In order to comfort the frightened bird, Lin Zhenyu had no choice but to tell the suspicious Guo Shoubei that His Majesty was still busy implementing the New Deal, and officials involved with the eldest princess, regardless of their seniority, would be arrested and imprisoned for interrogation. The coir guards are busy arresting people every day.
Lin Zhenyu comforted Guo Liqing and said: "At the moment, the imperial court is too busy with the rebellion of the southwestern chieftains and cannot take care of Xiangyang, so please rest assured Guo Shoubei and don't worry about it in vain."
~~~~~
On July 10, the sentry horse that went to Yunyang first came back, and two Ryukyu soldiers brought back information. Qin Jianxun, the commander of the Fourth Corps, had just fought a bloody battle with the chieftain rebels, and now he led his troops to rest in Yunyang City.
Lin Zhenyu bid farewell to Guo Shoubei, who was just in shock. After resting for two days, he left Xiangyang and continued towards Yunyang.
On July 13th, we arrived in Junzhou.
Passing by the ruins of Tianxin City, I saw ruins and broken walls, which were extremely desolate.
Everyone was walking under the towering broken wall, looking at the mottled walls and the precious stones randomly discarded on the ground, everything seemed like a world away.
"It's a pity. I don't know how much people's fat and money have been spent, but it is just abandoned like this. It's a pity."
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 is successfully completed according to the Emperor's plan, Tianxin City will become the greatest city in the world, able to accommodate millions of people.
Later, due to excessive pressure from the uncle and official corruption, the workers of Tianxin City rose up and swept across half of Huguang, and the construction of Tianxin City was postponed indefinitely.
"It doesn't matter if it's abandoned, it's not a place for people to live in."
Suddenly a hoarse voice came from the grass on the broken wall. The Ryukyu soldiers thought they had encountered thieves again. They all looked like they were facing a formidable enemy and were on guard with their weapons in hand.
Lin Zhenyu didn't panic, raised his head and said to the grass:
"Why do you say that?"
Under the gaze of everyone, the grass swayed, and an old soldier with white hair and beard walked out. The military uniform on his body was in tatters and was of the old style. The old soldier looked around and saw a large group of soldiers behind Lin Zhenyu. He cupped his hands and said with a smile:
"It turns out that the military master was passing by here, and I was rude just now. I was rude."
After saying that, he turned around to leave. Lin Zhenyu grabbed him and asked:
….
"You just said that Tianxin City is not a place where people live. What do you mean?"
The old soldier coughed dryly: "Seeing as this military master is only in his early twenties, he naturally doesn't know what happened in Tianxin City back then."
"Isn't it just that the workers gathered to rebel and the construction project was interrupted? Apart from that, what else is there?"
"Master Jun, do you really want to hear it?"
Lin Zhenyu smiled and said, "You might as well tell me."
The old soldier smiled and said: "Haha, this military commander is young and promising. He only led so many soldiers at the age of twenty. But you were still young at that time. Of course you didn't know the reason why Tianxin City suddenly stopped. establish,"
When the old soldier got to the key point, he stopped, took out a wine gourd, and drank two gulps of it.
"The reason for the sudden suspension of construction was not a rebellion or official corruption. It was all excuses given to outsiders. During the foundation construction, the excavation workers dug up dragon scales and died. The uncle in charge of the construction, Jin Dajiu, Jin My lord, please go to bed immediately, the Emperor ordered the work to stop."
"Did you dig up dragon scales? Someone died?"
When Lin Zhenyu heard this statement for the first time, he found it absurd and ridiculous.
"What dragon scales? Have you seen it? It must be a rumor. Do you believe what ghosts and gods say? Master, give you some money, drink this pot of wine, and go home quickly. Junzhou is not peaceful now... ···
The old soldier was drunk and pushed Lin Zhenyu away, scattering broken silver on the floor.
The old pawn didn't even look at it, and said with red eyes:
"This military master, how old are you this year? Don't you know that you can talk about ghosts and gods when you open your mouth, and the emperor can become an immortal?"
Lin Zhenyu was speechless.
The old pawn said word by word: "
The little old man is a veteran of Shenyang. He followed the Supreme Emperor in the 47th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. Every soldier in Lao Kaiyuan counts every one of them. He speaks with spit and nail, and he will not lie! They really dug up the dragon scales and angered the dragon... They dug up its back. The roar of the cows resounded all around, and the entire foundation sank. The smoke dispersed, and there was only one left at the Tianxin City construction site. There must be a big hole...”
The old soldier thought for a while, then suddenly pointed to a medium-sized peak at the foot of Wudang Mountain and gestured to Lin Zhenyu:
"See, it has to be as big as that mountain!"
Lin Zhenyu said disapprovingly: "Then what?"
The old pawn suddenly jumped up.
"Then everyone on the scaffolding died. I just changed my guard and went down. I was lucky and didn't fall in. The dragon came up from the ground and flew over my head. It had to have eyeballs..."
The old soldier stopped again, looked around, and pointed at the wheels of the prison car advancing slowly on the post road in the distance.
"Its eyes were as big as chariot wheels, and they were as red as lanterns. A scale fell on the ground, which was bigger than the round card in the hand of the sword and shield soldier! All the brothers around me were dead, and I didn't care at that time. Not being afraid, I picked up a spear and stabbed the dragon in the belly. The dragon’s belly was covered in scales, but it was unharmed! The dragon’s tail curled up, and a fishy wind blew up, and I passed out..."
Lin Zhenyu patiently listened to the old soldier's story and said kindly: "Old man, please go home early and drink less in the future, let alone fake wine."
After saying that, he pointed to the broken silver scattered on the ground, turned around and left.
After walking more than ten steps, I heard the hoarse scream of an old soldier from behind:
….
"Master Jun, if you don't believe me, look at my collection of dragon scales!"
Lin Zhenyu turned around impatiently. The old soldier was squatting under the base of the city wall and digging around. Lin Zhenyu was about to scold the old soldier when he saw a scale the size of a rattan sign was held in the old man's hand. The dark texture radiated a cold luster... ··
~~~~~
Three days later, we finally arrived in Yunyang.
Everyone stood outside the city, Lao Pan asked with concern:
"Why don't Lin Yingguan go and have a chat with the eldest princess? And that old man, do you know that the eldest princess was wrongly accused?"
"Know."
Along the way, Lin Zhenyu had always been aloof from the eldest princess and her party members, deliberately keeping a distance for fear of causing misunderstandings in the court.
"Emperor Guangde exiled the eldest princess to Yunyang, and took Lu Shoufu and others with him. I don't know why."
Lao Pan put down his pipe and said meaningfully: "Can't you tell? With the eldest princess as a signboard and Lu Xiangsheng as a civil servant, there is only one military commander away from the "Qingjun side". "
Lin Zhenyu suddenly realized that Emperor Guangde was playing a big game of chess.
"Is the imperial court trying to induce the Fourth Corps to rebel?"
"Other than that, is there any other reason?"
In any case, the fourth corps was no match for the three major corps. From this point of view, Emperor Guangde was not at ease with Qin Jianxun.
"So, Officer Lin, you are just a pawn..."
Lin Zhenyu didn't want to think so much and looked up at the En Gate of Yunyang South Gate. He was curious about what Qin Jianxun looked like now. After all, he hadn't seen him for more than ten years.
The south door slowly opened.
In the expectant eyes of Lin Zhenyu and others, it was not Qin Jianxun who came out to greet him, but two unfamiliar faces.
The two officers rode across the pontoon and arrived only ten steps away from Lin Zhenyu.
The two of them bowed their hands towards Lin Zhenyu and said arrogantly:
"Commander Qin is busy with military affairs and has no time to come here. He specially ordered the two of us to come.
Ji Xiaobai, training officer of the 1st Battalion of the Fourth Corps,"
"Yunyang official Shu Fujia,
Come to meet General Lin, please! "
Lin Zhenyu looked back at Lao Pan with a displeased look on his face: "The person who came here is not good, what does Qin Jianxun want to do!"
Lao Pan reminded: "We are the ones here."
Dream of Wuyue
, I will update it next time so that you can continue reading more conveniently. I look forward to continuing the exciting!
