It was February 11, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
The weather was sunny, cloudless, and the scorching sun was shining brightly on the earth. The cold wind of early spring blew on people, and it was not as cold as in the past.
Before noon, many officers and generals gathered outside the Nanguan of Xuanfu Town, their bright red robes and bright armor reflecting each other in the sunlight.
The man in the middle is wearing a red robe, a white-collar worker, with an inch of floor length, sleeves that are longer than the hands and return to the elbows. He wears a beam crown on his head, cloud-head shoes on his feet, and the golden pheasant patch of a second-grade civil servant is clearly embroidered on his chest.
This man is none other than Zhang Fuzhen, who has the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War and the governor of Xuanda. Next to him is Jiang Yuxu, who has the title of censor of Lingyou Qiandu and the governor of Xuanfu with the fourth-grade Yunyanbuzi embroidered on his chest.
The two of them were surrounded by Zhu Mintai, the governor of Xuanda, and other civil officials. Naturally, everyone respected Governor Zhang Fuzhen, and they were like stars holding the moon, surrounding him according to their rank.
The military generals respected the deputy commander-in-chief Lin Dengyou and Guo Yingxian. However, it seemed that Lin Dengyou had more people around him, while the newly promoted deputy commander-in-chief Guo Yingxian only had few people around him.
There is only the veteran general Liu Guangwu, and the rest are the generals He Zhenxiong, Chen Zheng, Wei Zhice, Jin Yong and others from the Yongyi Army system, as well as the four guerrillas Guo An, Yu Jin, Tian Mingyu, Tang Xiancheng, and Xia Shuncheng and Qin Dazhong. He is the governor of Yingzhen.
In fact, Liu Shizun, the eldest son of General Liu Guangwu, is now the deputy general of the Xuanwu Battalion of the Yongyi Army, and his younger son Liu Shijie has been studying in Kaiping Health School before, and now he has also transferred to Chicheng Engineering School to continue studying classics and history.
In addition, Liu Guangwu's wife had recently adopted Zhang Cheng's concubine Liu sisters as adopted daughters in Dushibao. The two generations of the Liu family have countless relationships with Zhang Cheng, and they have become Yongning Bo's family. With the powerful help of the department, he was also greatly marginalized among the officials and generals in the town.
All the officials and generals in Xuanfu Town have complicated feelings towards Zhang Cheng. Many of them have watched Zhang Cheng rise from a small Qianzong to what he is today, and their hearts are full of jealousy.
They didn't think about why Zhang Cheng succeeded. They just stared at Zhang Cheng's strong soldiers and the gold and silver in his treasury. They wished they could push Zhang Cheng to the ground, tear him apart and destroy them, so that they could devour the gold and silver in his treasury.
However, their little thoughts seemed so weak in the face of the powerful force of the Yongyi Army, and they could only hide it in their hearts and curse in private.
Sure enough, the guerrilla general Wen Hui whispered to Li Jianming next to him with a vicious look on his face: "Zhang Cheng, that little brat, is so arrogant now that he asked me to wait for him to come out of the city to greet me, and he still has to wait for so long."
Li Jianming also sneered and said: "Humph, one level of official rank can crush someone to death, not to mention that he is still a top-notch earl. I don't see all the governors and officials waiting out of the city. What can we do?"
The expression on Wen Hui's face became even colder when he heard this. Li Jianming on the side did not forget to ridicule him: "Brother Wen, I'm afraid it will be difficult to avenge your murder."
"Kudeng...knock-deng-deng..."
After hearing these words, Wen Hui's face became more ferocious, and his mouth was filled with black teeth that clenched loudly.
Governor Zhang Fuzhen was chatting softly with Governor Jiang Yuxu. He seemed to have noticed something strange here, but he just turned his head and glanced at it, not paying much attention to it.
Suddenly, a plume of smoke and dust rolled towards us in the distance, followed by the rapid sound of horse hooves hitting the ground, "thump thump... thump thump thump", and then several knights appeared in the billowing smoke.
They rushed to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Guo Yingxian, turned over and dismounted, and reported hurriedly: "Deputy Commander Guo, the general's carriage is less than five miles away from here."
After hearing the news, Guo Yingxian immediately went to Governor Zhang Fuzhen and reported to him the news that Yongningbo's carriage was about to arrive.
Zhang Fuzhen just smiled after hearing the news, and walked out from under the umbrella cover with Governor Jiang Yuxu. He stood outside the south gate of the town and looked towards the official road in the distance.
Soon, the imperial flags of the Yongyi Army and the Weiyuan Camp could be seen in the distance, gradually revealed in the billowing smoke, and under the flags, a well-organized cavalry marched slowly.
The cavalrymen of the Yongyi Military Standard Battalion, White Tiger Battalion, and Tengshe Battalion who were originally lined up outside Nanguan also stood up straight with serious faces. In order to save horsepower, they stood side by side with their horses until the military order came. Only then will he mount his war horse.
"Tum! Tum! Tum!..."
As the cavalry of the Yongyi Army in front got closer and closer, the artillery vehicles of the Tengshe Battalion arrayed outside Nanguan fired twelve trumpet blasts in accordance with the order.
The cavalry commanders of each battalion also shouted loudly at the same time: "Everyone mount their horses, line up with guns, and accept the review of the general!"
When the soldiers of Weiyuan Camp in the distance were still three hundred steps away from welcoming the crowd, they stopped and moved to both sides of the official road. The entire army of thousands of people stopped on the official road like a big dragon.
Apart from the officers' orders, there was no noise during the whole process. It can be seen that the military orders were strict and no one dared to whisper to each other. It was indeed not comparable to the group of soldiers in the town.
As the middle of the official road was moved out of the way, two long sedan carriages slowly appeared in front of everyone's eyes. They saw that the outsides of these two vehicles were wrapped in thick felt cloth, and there were two ventilation holes on the left and right sides. Small window.
Lieutenant Commander Zhang Chengfang led twenty knights in golden armor and escorted the first carriage to the crowd. He was the first to dismount and personally opened the felt curtain in front of the carriage. He saw the Yongyi Army Weiyuan Camp joining the army. Wang Yuanjing, accompanied by the scribe Liu Chengzu, took the lead in exiting the felt curtain.
Then he seemed to say a few more words to the car, and saw the figure of Zhang Cheng, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town and Yongning Bo, also appeared in front of everyone. He poked his head out of the car and looked at Zhang Fuzhen first. After taking a look, he nodded and walked down the wooden stairs as if he was very satisfied.
After Zhang Cheng got off the car, he did not move forward immediately. Instead, he waited for Bian Yongqing, the eunuch of the supervisory army. After a while, Bian Yongqing got off the car behind him and walked away, accompanied by four young eunuchs. Arriving at Zhang Cheng's side.
"Uncle, the governor's important officials are waiting outside Nanguan. We can't keep them there for a long time."
Zhang Cheng replied with a smile: "Master Bian is here, let alone wait for a little while, what can I do if I wait for another hour?"
Bian Yongqing raised the corners of his mouth and said with a smile on his face: "The governors are all important ministers of the border, so we should not be too negligent."
Zhang Cheng also smiled and walked towards the south gate of Zhencheng. Bian Yongqing followed closely, and Zhang Chengfang led twenty golden armored warriors to guard them on foot.
When they were still some distance away, Governor Zhang Fuzhen said hello loudly: "Oh, Zhongchen, you have come to the city. I have been waiting so hard for you."
There was a very surprised look on Zhang Cheng's face. He quickly rushed forward and held Zhang Fuzhen's hand tightly, saying to him: "How could I, Zhang Cheng, be so virtuous and capable that I actually want the labor superintendent to come from Yanghe to town?"
Zhang Fuzhen first greeted Bian Yongqing, the supervisor, and then replied to him: "Zhongchen is not aware of anything. My term as Governor Xuanda has expired, and I have received a document from the court asking me to return to the capital as soon as possible. I have another appointment."
Zhang Cheng couldn't help but be dumbfounded when he heard this. He had recently rushed to the town to take over the post of commander-in-chief, and most of his thoughts were on the arrangement of the North Road and the East Road. He actually ignored the replacement of Governor Xuanda.
At that moment, he blurted out and asked: "I don't know which master will take over the position of Governor Zhang."
Zhang Fuzhen did not answer his question, but said indifferently: "Zhongchen, you are tired from coming from afar, please go to the city and settle down soon."
Seeing him like this, Zhang Cheng knew that he either had something unspeakable or something else to hide. He didn't ask any more questions at the moment. He and Jiang Yuxu, the minister beside him, also met with him and entered the city together.
Here Jiang Yuxu was about to introduce the various officials in the town to him, when he saw deputy commander-in-chief Guo Yingxian of Xuanzhen and generals Liu Guangwu, He Zhenxiong, Wei Zhice, Chen Zheng and others quickly rushing towards them.
They were all wearing armor. Although it was inconvenient for them to salute, they all knelt down on one knee and said: "The last general Guo Yingxian pays homage to the general and welcomes the general into the city."
"The last general Liu Guangwu pays homage to the general and respectfully welcomes..."
"The last general Wei Zhice pays his respects..."
Zhang Cheng smiled and waved to them and said: "Brothers, please excuse me. Everyone, please get up."
After the generals stood up, the governor Jiang Yuxu introduced Zhang Cheng: "Uncle Yongning, this is Mr. Zhu, the grain supervisor assigned by the Ministry of Husbandry in Xuanfu."
After Zhang Cheng and Zhu Mintai met, Jiang Yuxu introduced a few more people to him, and everyone followed the cavalry brigade into the city.
…………
When Xuanfu Town was first built, it was used as a military center, but after the mid-Ming Dynasty, it quickly evolved into a commercial and trade center in the northwest of the capital.
Inside the town, there are many houses and densely populated areas. In the big market square in the southeast of the town, there are even more shops, including silk and satin shops, cloth shops, grocery stores, etc. from Jiangnan, Shanxi, Shandong, and the capital, stretching for four or five miles. long.
Xuanfu Town "does not have any prefectures or counties, but only sends generals and soldiers to guard it."
Therefore, the vast majority of the population in the town is registered military households. According to records during the Jiajing period, the Xuanfu town has more than 120,000 military households, more than 4,000 official households, and only more than 2,000 civilian households. , is truly a "military city" worthy of the name!
The streets in the city are also cross streets with the bell tower as the center and extending in all directions. However, the streets and alleys in the city are also crisscrossed. There are many streets and alleys named after the market, such as Mishi Street, Caishi Street, Yandian Street, Youdian Street, etc.
As well as various markets such as Luoma Market, Zhazi Market, and Fur Market, they also contributed a lot to the prosperity of commerce in Xuanfu Town.
However, during the Chongzhen period, the former densely populated commercial center has slowly declined. Not only has the population decreased, but the official buildings have also collapsed, and many houses in the city have also collapsed, turning them into garden and vegetable fields. .
Today, the prosperous commerce in the town is mainly supported by the officials, generals and their families in various yamen.
There isn't much else in Xuanfu Town except that there are many government offices and military offices. The various government offices plus the area of Prince Gu's Mansion already account for almost half of the town.
This has also been a major problem since Xuanfu Town was built. Officials and generals occupied a large amount of land, leaving very little public building space for the lower-level soldiers and civilians.
Of course, today's town is in decline, but its foundation is still there. It can be said that the old general families have taken root in Xuanfu for more than a hundred years, and each has accumulated some wealth. There are also gentry, scholars, and merchants among them.
Also living together in the town are officials such as the governor, the doctor of grain and road, and the magistrate of the law and punishment. Although their salaries are not very high, they are also respected by the local hereditary military households and generals. Some people can even work for them, and they can earn a lot of money in their work. Personal pockets, things that harm the public and enrich one's own interests.
In the secluded streets and alleys in the northwest and southwest corners of the town, there are no gaps. The military households and common people in the town can also confidently curse other roads in the town. Even the North Road is now extremely prosperous, but among them In my eyes, I still see it as a small place and a country bumpkin.
This is really a common problem, just like the people living in the capital, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, regard other parts of the country as small places and poor rural areas.
The pride at the root of the imperial city is overwhelming!
During the Hongwu period, Zhu Su, the 19th son of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, was granted the title of the first King of Valley and was ordered to command Shanggu County and "Xuanfu Town, one of the nine towns of the Great Wall".
While he was building Prince Gu's Mansion, he was also engaged in border garrison construction. He expanded the Xuande City of the Yuan Dynasty into a city wall with a circumference of 24 miles, and set up "one gate and seven gates" along the city.
This pass refers to the Nanguan Gate that is now in front of everyone. The gate area is one square mile, and the seven gates are three gates in the south of the city, namely Changping Gate, Xuande Gate, and Cheng'an Gate; there are two gates in the north of the city, respectively. They are Guangling Gate and Gaoyuan Gate; Ding'an Gate is in the east of the city; Daxin Gate is in the west.
Among them, Guangling Gate, Ding'an Gate, and Daxin Gate have Wengcheng and Yuecheng built outside them, and there are towers on the city gates. In addition to Changping Gate in the south, in addition to Wengcheng and Yuecheng, there is also another Guancheng.
Xuanfu Town City "The city is four feet and five feet thick and three feet and five feet high. Outside the four gates, each is surrounded by an urn city and a suspension bridge." There is also a moat dug around the outside of the town city.
In addition, there is a turret in each of the four corners of the city, and a high platform is built about a hundred meters away. There are hanging towers on the platform. There are a total of 20 defensive towers built within a few miles outside the town. There are two towers, both of which are guarded by soldiers day and night, echoing the soldiers guarding the city from afar.
In front of them, the Yongyi Army cavalry entered in formation. When the soldiers and civilians in the city who lined the streets to welcome them saw them coming, they all fled to the streets on both sides, and some even ducked into the shops.
After entering Guancheng, passing Yuecheng, and before entering Wengcheng, he had already seen the Changping Gate Tower named Geng Tower. Looking at the magnificent gate tower in front of him, Yong Ningbo's heart was also ups and downs.
When he first arrived in this fantasy world, he was in the town of Xuanfu. It can be said that this is his first hometown, even equivalent to his birthplace.
When King Qin returned in the eleventh year, he guarded the coffin of his uncle Zhang Yan as a guerrilla general. He also entered the town through Changping Gate. At that time, just like today, thousands of people lined the streets to greet him.
But today, it is a different scene. This time, he has returned to Xuanfu Town again as a master. Times have changed, the past has faded into the past, and a new journey is about to begin!
(End of chapter)
