Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Foul By Dazi
After entering May, the weather in the north became warmer and warmer. This caused the grass on the grassland to start to grow crazily, completely showing a moving picture of cattle and sheep being blown away by the wind.

All of this was naturally impossible to see in Broad Spirit City, but the atmosphere here was much warmer than a few months ago. After Lu Zhen made an example of him, neither the Han merchants nor the Mongols dared to cause any trouble in the dubious arena. This made the Guang Ling dubious arena famous, and countless tribes on the grasslands would not hesitate to bring their own skins, cattle, and sheep in exchange for the items they needed.

However, not everyone in Guangling County was unable to see the scenery on the grassland. At least Li Xian was the one who could see the grassland scenery from afar. The reason for that was because he was standing much taller than anyone else. He was standing in a bamboo basket that hung 70-80 feet above the city wall, and above his head was the huge cowhide airship.

Ever since Lu Zhen created this airship that could see dozens of miles away, the Guang Ling Military Camp immediately used it. At the same time, seven or eight people with courage, good eyesight and shrewd minds were selected to be stationed in the airship as long-ranged sentry. It was not until night when the airship was taken back that they were able to rest.

As a former scout soldier, Li Xian was also selected as one of them, and thus earned the title of Li Bold. Today, he and his two companions were standing in the basket and looking towards the three sides. From above, they had a good view of the nearby scenery for dozens of miles.

The scenery of the grasslands was indeed very beautiful, especially in late spring. The vigorous vitality of the grasslands made people want to praise them unconsciously. However, no matter how beautiful things were, they would be tired of looking at them for a long time. Especially when one could only look at them from a high altitude for a brief moment, this feeling became even more intense.

So at this moment, Li Xian and the others seemed to be a little absent-minded, and could not help but start chatting there.

“This airship is indeed amazing, but it’s quite inconvenient for us to stay on it all this time. The Tartars in the north have not dared to head south so easily for decades. It’s really boring for us to stay here and watch.”

‘”Who says it’s not? But this is General Liu’s order. Who dares to disobey? And it’s much more comfortable here than staying down there. At the very least, there’s no need to worry about anyone noticing us being lazy.”

“So this airship isn’t completely useless? At least it can make us lazy for a while, right?”

The few of them were joking and didn’t take their responsibilities too seriously. This was no wonder. Great Ming had been in peace for a long time since the Great Sect. Even if there were a few Tartars disturbing the border, they only dared to sneak attack some small villages. They had never heard of any decent county being harassed by the Tartars.

After all, Emperor Yongle’s heroic feat of sweeping across the desert was still in front of him. Whether it was the Ming army or the grassland tribes, they still held a prejudice. The Ming army was invincible. But is that true?

The few people were joking as they stared out of the room. Suddenly, Li Xian’s voice stopped. His gaze was fixed on the northeast, and he said in surprise, “Am I dreaming?”

“What’s the matter?” The other two asked in puzzlement. Then, they looked in the direction of his fingers, and their expressions immediately changed. It was because they saw a black dot rapidly galloping towards them. Although they could not see the details due to the height and distance, one thing was certain-a large number of cavalry were quickly heading towards Broad Spirit City.

Judging from the direction these fellows appeared in, they definitely couldn’t be Daming’s own army, so they could only be the Mongolian army in the north. Judging from the direction and speed of the Mongol army’s advance, they were heading for Broad Spirit City!

After many years of calm, the Mongols actually sent troops to attack the city on the border of the Great Ming Empire!

After arriving at this conclusion, the three of them were dumbfounded. Although the Ming army clashed with the Mongols on the border, this was the first time they had made such a blatant invasion.

Li Xian’s reaction was the fastest. After being stunned, he picked up a bamboo tube beside him and threw it downwards. The bamboo tube with the rope hanging on it fell down from the sky. It was only when it was four to five feet away from the ground that it was suddenly pulled by the rope, bounced up, and landed again.

This change immediately alerted the defenders at the city wall below. They looked up in astonishment, assuming that the brothers above had accidentally knocked the thing down. But before they could react, two more bamboo tubes descended with the sound of the wind.

At this moment, the expression of the defenders on the city wall finally changed completely-three barrels fell at once. This was the most urgent military situation.

“Hurry up, pull the airship down. Also, hurry up and report the emergency situation to the Chief!” The city marshal shouted in astonishment.

The airship was still a newborn thing. At this moment, the soldiers could not read. Before they had an effective way to transmit information, they could only use this simple and crude method to communicate.

A moment later, the huge black airship was pulled down by the crowd. The officer looked at the three with a serious expression, “What exactly happened?”

The three of them also looked nervous. In the end, Li Xian said, “A large number of Dazi cavalry are rushing towards our Guang Ling County. It seems that they are coming for us.”

“What?” “Can you see how many people there are? Also, how far are they from here?” The expression on the dojo’s face changed again.

Li Xian paused for a moment and said, “Because the distance is too far, the number is not very clear, about one or two thousand people. As for the distance …” “It should be around fifty kilometers. They will arrive in less than two hours.”

When the military officer heard this, his brows furrowed and his heart jumped up. Two thousand Dazi, this number is really not small. Although Guang Ling has the city wall as a basis, can his family defend it?

Just as everyone in Chengtou was panicking, Liu Yi quickly brought people over after he learned the news. After that, the military attach é repeated Li Xian’s words, and Liu Yi’s expression also became very gloomy, “Li Xian.”

“The little one is here.” Li Xian hurriedly stepped forward and replied.

“Are you sure they’re coming for me, Guang Ling?”

“There shouldn’t be any mistakes. There are no other towns nearby that can be invaded by a thousand or two thousand Dazi. Furthermore, I’ve never heard of any tribe nearby that would normally use so many people to hunt. Besides, it’s not the hunting season yet.” Li Xian said seriously. As a qualified scout, judging the situation was a very important accomplishment.

“Alright.” Liu Yi nodded slightly, and his dark face was already filled with determination, “Take your men out of the city quickly on horseback and ask for reinforcements from the surrounding cities. You must bring reinforcements within three days, otherwise our Guang Ling will be in danger.”

“Yes!” Li Xian hurriedly agreed and ordered a few familiar scouts to hurry down the city.

After he left, Liu Yi quickly issued a series of orders, “Retreat all the civilians in the northern part of the city and take out all the defending weapons from the warehouse, especially the arrows and stones. Seal the city gates with mud and stones, and send people to bring them into the city …”

Every time he gave an order, someone would agree to leave quickly. Although everyone’s heart was a little weak, they did not show any signs of cowardice. At this moment, Great Ming was like the Japanese side, who had not suffered any losses in their battle with Dazi. Even if their troops were inferior to others, they did not have the heart to fear war.

In the end, Liu Yi gave an order, “Go, send a message to the county yamen to make them ready. If the war really starts, the stability of the county will still be maintained by them.”

Along with the soldiers quickly descending the city, Liu Yi’s orders were completely implemented. This seemingly ordinary and usually lazy barracks began to rumble like a sophisticated machine.

Soon after, the county government received this shocking news.

Even Lu Zhen was stunned when he learned that someone had invaded the county, “How is this possible?” Right now, it was not after the Civil Castle. Great Ming had always taken the initiative in the north. Moreover, the battle power of the Ming army had not weakened yet. Yet, there were actually people who dared to offend them? Aren’t they afraid of blowing their heads off here?

Regardless of whether he could accept the news or not, the military situation was urgent, and Lu Zhen, the county magistrate, had to go into the preparations before the war. Very quickly, the servants in the county government were all sent out. Some of them went to help the merchants in the hall, while others went to the city to appease the people. They immediately became a bunch of people.

This was indeed necessary, because when the barracks drove the people close to them out, the people in the city quickly knew that the situation was not good. For a time, people were panicking, and some even planned to escape from the city to avoid the war.

The people of the yamen who had carried out Lu Zhen’s intentions hurriedly went forward to persuade them, saying that leaving the city to protect them would only let them fall into Dazi’s hands. To put it bluntly, with the support of the prestige and reputation established by Lu Zhen, the people finally did not fall into chaos and returned to their homeland in peace of mind.

The situation in the city finally stabilized. But before Lu Zhen could breathe a sigh of relief, a message that left him speechless came from outside. “What did you say? Those merchants were moving very slowly because they wanted to bring goods into the city?” Lu Zhen glared at the subordinate in front of him angrily and asked.

The subordinate who was so scared by his gaze took a step back, “Exactly … Exactly. Especially those Meng people. They felt that they would not be harmed by their fellow clansmen, so it was very inappropriate.”

“You really are those who are willing to sacrifice their lives and wealth.” Lu Zhen grinned and sighed helplessly.

“Then my lord … what should we do at the north gate?” The north gate was the only passage for the merchants to enter the city, but it was also the main point of attack for the invading enemies.

Lu Zhen did not hesitate to say, “Since they have made this choice, we have nothing to say. Have Chief Liu close the door on them immediately. Guaranteeing Guang Ling’s safety is the first priority!”