Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 101

Chapter 101 Datong City
Three days later, Lu Zhen’s convoy finally arrived outside Datong City.

Ten miles away from Datong, Lu Zhen could already see the tall, dignified and simple city standing on the vast plains, like a loyal guard guarding the north of the Central Plains. It was speechless but firm!

This was a city worthy of respect, not only because Daming needed it to defend against attacks from the Mongols in the north, but also because hundreds of years later, when it realized that it no longer needed to defend this land with its somewhat worn-out body, it calmly turned around and used the coal it had stored for tens of thousands of years to feed more of its Chinese sons and daughters.

Unfortunately, hundreds of years later, people were unable to understand this city. This land’s affectionate gift to them was only unscrupulous excavation and destruction. In the end, this city, which was enough to make countless Chinese proud, became dilapidated and declined. It was just that he didn’t know if this selfless and devoted city would turn around again at that time, giving the local people even more pleasant surprises.

Lu Zhen sighed endlessly as he walked along the wide and straight official road to the city. No wonder Datong City had been guarding this land for hundreds of years. It was regarded as a thorn in the side by people. They wished that an earthquake had completely shattered it. No wonder it could become the number one existence in the Nine Great Border Town of the Ming Dynasty. To the people of this era, the height of this city could already be considered a heavenly chasm.

The city wall that was more than seventy feet tall stood there majestically. This was more than twice as tall as the city wall of Broad Spirit City. Moreover, this wall was not an ordinary 90-degree angle to the ground, but an 80-degree outward leaning existence. In this way, when the enemy used ordinary ladders to attack the city, it would probably be extremely difficult to even set up a ladder.

Of course, what attracted Lu Zhen’s attention the most was the scars left on the rammed earth wall. Those were the scars left on the city by the years and the strong enemies of the north over the centuries, and they were also the most glorious military achievements of the city. That was the fact that it resisted foreign enemies and protected the Central Plains!

It wasn’t until he arrived at Datong City that Lu Zhen realized that he really wanted to merge into this era of the Great Ming. The road ahead was definitely not easy, but he had to persevere, not for anything else. Just to show his respect for this silent city, he had to go forward without hesitation.

As Lu Zhen’s heart surged, the speed of the carriage did not slow down much. Very quickly, their group had already pierced through the wide and deep hole in the city gate.

Unlike the city gates shown in some crude movies and TV dramas in later generations, the city gates of this Great Harmony were more than 70 feet deep, which meant that the city walls were also this thick. The carriage actually walked for a long time from the moment it entered to the moment it passed, and then they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the city.

As an important military town in the north of the Great Ming Empire, the guards and defenses here were naturally extremely strict. Everyone who entered and left the city would be checked for directions, and then ordinary people would have to be searched before they could be allowed to enter the city. Only a scholar or official who can produce proof of merit can be exempted from being subjected to a body search.

After Lin Lie took out Lu Zhen’s official credentials and handed them to the people on the side, a strange look flashed through the eyes of the soldiers. The leader took a deep look at Lu Zhen who opened the curtain and saw him. After confirming his appearance, he cupped his fists in respect.

Of course, the other party did not show respect to Lu Zhen because he was the official of the Imperial Court, but because Lu Zhen’s name had already spread in many cities in the north. Everyone knew that there was such a brave and fearless young county magistrate who resolutely led his men to defend the city after the general was seriously injured, and he even won in the end. The people admired such a hero, but the ones who admired him even more were the soldiers.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen only smiled and even nodded at the soldier. This made the soldier feel even more honored. For a moment, even his back was straighter than before.

But at this moment, our county magistrate Lu’s thoughts are somewhat off the stage. Looking at the tight inspection and defense here, he was glad that he was lucky again. If he hadn’t replaced County Magistrate Lu, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to sneak into the Central Plains. He might even have been captured by the Border Army as a spy, or even killed with a single knife.

Successfully crawling out of the city gates did not mean that they had already entered Datong City. In fact, they were still outside Datong City, because this was only a barricade city!

The so-called Weng City was a defensive system built around the city. There were no houses here, only some defensive weapons and weapons. Once there was an enemy attack outside the city, after the outer wall was broken through by the enemy, the defenders would be able to build a second line of defense on the inner wall. Moreover, because of the existence of the barricade city, ordinary battles could prevent the civilians from suffering any damage.

Only by passing through a dozen zhang wide corridor and a city gate could they truly enter Datong City. Moreover, there were still soldiers guarding the city gates in front of them, conducting another round of interrogation on each and every one of the civilians. In addition, there was another use for this city gate, and that was to collect taxes. According to the number of people entering and leaving the city, as long as they weren’t scholars or officials, they would have to pay for entering and leaving the city gate. This was the same as the highway toll booths in later generations.

With these two city gates and the buffer of Weng Cheng, it was no exaggeration to say that the Dao of Datong City was as solid as gold. Therefore, in some movies and TV dramas of later generations, it was too ridiculous for someone to be able to charge out of the city on horseback, and a group of defenders could not even catch up with them. As long as there is any movement inside, the outer garrison will have enough time to set up such things as rejecting horses. Adding on the sharp crossbows, no matter how skilled you are in martial arts, no matter how good your riding skills are, you will never be able to charge out of such a city.

After passing through the city wall that was more than 50 feet tall, but was completely wrapped in city bricks, Lu Zhen and the others finally entered the interior of this important border town. What entered his eyes was a wide and straight grand dao. There were no imaginary shops standing on the side of the road. Only similarly straight poplar trees were stationed there like sentries.

As a famous city in the Northern Region, Datong was not very lively. There were only a few dozen pedestrians walking along the road. Moreover, most of these people lowered their heads and looked like they were in a hurry. They almost didn’t look around.

It was also very easy to explain this point. As Daming Border Town, apart from resisting foreign enemies, it was more important to prevent spies from getting involved. After all, it was impossible for the enemy army to invade from time to time, but their spies could come here to spy on them at any time.

Therefore, there were always soldiers and horses patrolling the city every day. Once they discovered any suspicious people, they would first take them back and interrogate them. And they suspected that the standard of a person was the appearance of the other person when he was walking. If there was a guy who always looked left and right, then he was obviously a suspect. For the sake of the safety of the city, it was better to take him down first.

Thus, the people in this city became accustomed to walking with their heads lowered, just like how they could pick up money bags dropped by others. Therefore, the commerce of this borderland city was not very ideal. Even the discussion field was set up in the lower prefectures and counties.

Along the street, after arriving at the middle of the city, the situation finally improved. The faces of the people also showed signs of relaxation, and their footsteps slowed down. Because there were already some shops here, and there were quite a few stalls along the street. Occasionally, there were even a few masked fellows selling their furs and horses, looking very well-behaved.

After all, the Han people were a powerful and inclusive people. Although they had always been on guard against the Mongols in the north, for these honest businessmen, even Datong City had their own shelter. Of course, it was unknown how many military scouts were staring at them.

Generally speaking, the government offices of a city were all located in the center of the city. Firstly, it was for the convenience of everyone, and secondly, it was for the sake of fairness. However, because Datong City was constantly being harassed by people from the north, those yamens were all placed near the south. Only a few military command posts were placed to the north, so that they could react in time if they were attacked again.

The current Datong City was headed by two officials, one from the civil and one from the military, who were in charge of all military and political affairs in the city.

Wen was Shen Tianxing, the prefecture magistrate of Datong, while the martial one was naturally Hu Sui, the general soldier of Datong.

As for the Governor of Datong who had captured both the military and the government, he didn’t have any at this moment. Only when a great war broke out would the Imperial Court appoint a high-ranking official with the temporary title of Governor to preside over the overall situation-yes, the Governor was not a fixed official post, it was just an alternative to the imperial commissioner, and once the matter was done, he would have to return the power to the Imperial Court. It was only after a series of changes that the temporary official position finally became permanent. However, the structure of the local officials became too complicated.

When a dynasty was first established, the structure of its officials was always very clear. However, the more they went on, the more serious the problem of overlapping powers became. By the end of the Great Ming Dynasty, there were even governors and even supervisors who could take charge of military and political affairs in several provinces. As a result, the original government envoys and governors became useless decorations.

Therefore, the current Datong Prefecture and Commander-in-Chief were very happy. After all, they still had real power in their hands. Especially for the magistrate, the day when he was in charge of all government affairs and had the final say would soon come to an end.

Thinking about all this, Lu Zhen finally stood in front of the somewhat old and imposing magistrate’s yamen and said, “The rule that this official does not cultivate his government has a long history.” After complaining in his heart, he took his official credentials and fame and walked over …