On May 25, after a long journey of more than 20 days, Yang Zhen and his party finally arrived at the destination of their trip, Datong City, and in the distance, they could already see the quaint and desolate city wall. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Datong, a city famous for its coal industry in later generations, was concerned by countless people during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty 500 years ago, and even in a sense, its importance was much higher than the role of later generations in the country.

Because this is one of the most critical fortresses on the border of the Ming Dynasty to resist the invasion of the Mongol iron cavalry, it is the head of the nine major towns of the Ming Dynasty, the head of the four major towns of Jiliao Xuan, and the gateway of the Ming Dynasty. In order to resist the invasion of a strong enemy, the Ming Dynasty set up a heavy garrison here from the beginning of the founding of the country, and in the middle of the year, there were thirteen guards, hundreds of fortresses, and more than 100,000 troops were stationed all year round.

You must know that in the Ming Dynasty five hundred years ago, the number of ordinary people in the city could reach 100,000, and this is only the number of soldiers stationed in Datong City, so the people gathered are several times the number of soldiers. Therefore, there is a saying that today's Datong is the most prosperous city in the world except for Beijing, Suzhou and other big cities.

However, even though the scale of the city is not small, Datong's border guarding function has not been slightly reduced. This can only be seen from the towering city walls, which are six or seven feet high, slightly sloping outward, and covered with all kinds of guns, stones, arrows, etc., which have left deep marks. And what you must know is that the city wall that Yang Zhen and they see now is still the wall on the south side of Datong City, and the damage to the city wall on the north side is only several times that of this.

But even though it has experienced countless tests of life and death, and has been surrounded and attacked countless times by tens of thousands of Mongolian elite soldiers, Datong still stands on the northern border of the Ming Dynasty and has never been broken by foreign enemies. Even after the Orthodox Tumubao Rebellion, which was regarded as a great shame by the Ming court, the city still defended the Han family behind it and resisted the onslaught and stratagem of the Walla soldiers.

It's just that after experiencing so many ups and downs, now Datong City is like a weather-beaten and injured old general, and it has reached the moment of dying old age, and all kinds of injuries and illnesses have been breaking out in his seemingly strong body.

Looking at this city that had guarded the border of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, even Yang Zhen's expression became solemn, and Zhong Yu on the other side stepped down from the carriage and decided to walk into Datong City on foot.

"My lord, why are you doing this?" Yang Zhen looked at the tall city wall in the distance, and looked at Lord Qincha who was striding forward with some puzzlement.

"Although I am not a member of the Datong clan, I have heard many heroic deeds that have happened inside and outside Datong City since I was a child. At that time, I longed for it to one day, hoping to protect this city like those great heroes. Although it is no longer possible for me to fulfill my childhood wishes, my respect for this city will not change. Today, I'm going to walk into the city as a sign of awe! Zhong Yu spoke, but his pace did not slow down at all.

When Yang Zhen heard this, he didn't feel a feeling in his heart. Indeed, if you really talk about it, the city in front of you and those who guard it are the real heroes of this era. Even if it is now hidden in the dirt and dirt, and the imperial court needs to send itself to clean it up, the fault is not Datong City, but the people who defend the city. Thinking of this, Yang Zhen also turned over and dismounted, followed behind Zhong Yu, and strode towards Datong City.

Since the two Lords of the First and Equal Princes had opened their legs and walked towards Datong City, the other soldiers and military attachés naturally did not want to continue to sit on their horses, so they also got off their horses, followed behind the two Lords, and walked slowly towards the city gate.

After walking for a while, Zhong Yu glanced back at Yang Zhen behind him: "And I expected that someone in Datong City would definitely come out to greet him, let's walk over to give them a little face." ”

It turns out that there is still this layer of consideration, this may be regarded as an instinctive choice experienced in officialdom, right? Yang Zhen couldn't help but pout when he heard this, maybe this Zhong Yushi in front of him was a very qualified bureaucrat.

Zhong Yu's behavior is very in line with the rules of officialdom, and it is also very temperamental to some soldiers, but there is one thing he misjudged, that is, the location of Datong City where he got off the car and walked.

I thought it was just a matter of one or two miles, and it was just a walk. But there is a good saying, Wangshan runs a dead horse, although the appearance of the southern city wall of Datong can be clearly seen at the place of getting off, but there is still a distance of seven or eight miles to really walk.

Lord Zhong was born in a wealthy family, and he has never suffered any crimes, even this time he was ordered to come to Shanxi, which was also an extremely luxurious carriage. For him, it may not be a problem to walk two or three miles, but seventy or eighty miles is not something he can bear. Moreover, he was still wearing heavy official boots on his feet, three new official robes inside and out, and an official hat on his head--when he entered the city, he would inevitably have some entertainment and confrontation with the local officials, and he naturally had to dress neatly to show the prestige of the imperial court--plus the weather was now close to June, and Lord Zhong was already sweating and panting after walking three or five miles.

It was only then that he felt a little regretful, and he had known that he would be closer before getting out of the car and walking. But by this time, he had no possibility of repentance, even if his body was soaked with sweat, even if his feet were numb and painful, and he might even get out of the blood blister, he could only grit his teeth and persevere, hoping to hurry to the city gate. Zhong Yushi definitely didn't know that there was a saying called no zuodie in later generations, but he is now interpreting this statement with his own actions.

Yang Zhen seemed very relaxed, and this distance was not enough for him to warm up. Although he was also wearing a solemn brocade clothes and flying fish suits, he had already reached the point of invading the south in the cold and summer for some years, and this heat was nothing at all.

However, he also saw that Zhong Yu's footsteps in front of him had become a little staggering, and he knew that this adult had misjudged the situation, and his body was a little unbearable. But he also knows the truth that there is no turning back when he opens the bow, so now he can't persuade Zhong Yu to stop this act of pretending to be X and self-harming, so he can only persevere to the end.

As for the soldiers in the back, they are much easier than Lord Zhong, after all, they are people who have received training, even if they have not really been on the battlefield, their physical fitness is still good, and it is not a problem to take this road at all. The only exception is Song Xueqiao, but under the coercion of so many people, he can only insist on it.

But no matter how long the road is, there is a time when it will be finished. In this way, this somewhat strange Qincha team approached Datong City little by little, and after walking for more than half an hour, they finally came to the city gate, and at this time, the civil and military officials of Datong who were waiting there were already a little impatient.

They had already received news that the Qincha team was approaching Datong City and should arrive by noon. Therefore, in line with the rule that we would rather wait for the Qincha, they were all lined up outside the south gate, waiting for the appearance of the Qincha team.

Unexpectedly, it was more than two hours to wait, and it was almost time to arrive, and I finally saw a large group of people coming over, which made many officials couldn't help but mumble, and their hearts were even more unhappy and uneasy.

"Do you think this is a dismount that Lord Qincha wants to give us, deliberately delaying and grinding us?"

"It's really possible, otherwise how could it take two hours to reach this distance? Presumably because the incident in Xin County annoyed Lord Qincha, he did this. ”

"If that's the case, this Lord Qincha has nothing to worry about, we have the means to deal with him."

For a while, all the officials whispered and said anything. Only a few of them, even if they were dissatisfied, they still had a solemn look on their faces, and they didn't see the slightest joy or anger.

When the Qincha team came closer, he could already see the appearance of the Qincha Lord who was wearing a big red official uniform and sweating, and here he met a person in the same red official uniform, and a peacock complement on his chest came to life under the sun, he is now the highest-ranking official in Datong City, the right of the Imperial Palace, and the governor of Datong Liu Yingji Liu.

Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty only set up governors in thirteen political envoys, commonly known as provinces, to oversee the military and political power of the province. But a border city like Datong is obviously an exception, even if it is only a government city, in order to better control the military and political affairs here, the imperial court has also set up a governor.

Liu Yingji has waited for so long, it is unrealistic to say that there is no anger. But when he saw Zhong Yu coming, his face was filled with a warm and humble smile, and when he took a few steps forward, he knelt down towards Zhong Yu, and praised him even more respectfully: "The right of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, and the governor of Datong Liu Yingji respectfully invite Sheng'an!" ”

"St. Gongan!" Although in terms of seniority, this Governor Liu is still above Zhong Yu, but in the face of his great gift, Zhong Yu is calm, and at the end he only arches his hand diagonally upward. Because what he represents at this moment is today, and it is a matter of course to be bowed down by his courtiers.

And after Liu Yingji's big gift, the officials behind him also stepped forward one after another, and also knelt in front of Zhong Yu, looking so impiety.

Yang Zhen behind him saw this scene, and his heart was unconsciously moved, this kind of majesty is not uncommon, especially when the people who bow down are all court officials who have always been high, this feeling is even better.

However, in addition to sighing, Yang Zhen did not forget his business, and at the same time that Zhong Yu spread his hand to the side, he had already picked up the holy decree woven from colorful brocade that had been collected by Zhong Yu and handed it to him.

At this time, the holy decree was not all bright yellow as seen in later film and television dramas, but was woven from one or more colored brocades.

Zhong Yu slowly unfolded the holy decree, as if even the fatigue of walking so many miles was gone, and after clearing his throat, he announced the decree to all the officials present in the loudest voice......