Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 97

Chapter 97 Rise To Fame
After repelling the Mongols, there was still a lot of follow-up work waiting for the officials to deal with. For example, the government was naturally responsible for rebuilding the houses in the city that had been demolished to resist Dazi. For example, the government was also responsible for restraining the people who had died in the war. Fortunately, the soldiers paid out silver compensation, while the people who had been called upon to help the city but died in the war needed the government to appease their hearts.

Fortunately, Guang Ling City displayed a strong cohesive force this time and completely repelled the strong enemies. Therefore, no matter if it was the Datong Prefecture Government or the Shanxi Provincial Governor Department, they were willing to allocate a portion of the money. Otherwise, Guang Ling County Government’s small amount of treasury silver would not be able to solve such a problem.

Also, the repairs to the city walls and the burial of the murdered Mongols outside the city needed to be implemented slowly by the government. It also required a large amount of manpower and material resources to provide logistical support. In fact, this was also the reason why Da Ming had stopped speaking lightly about the use of troops over the years. This was because the monarchs and officials in the dynasty knew that the price they had to pay for a war was too heavy. Even if they took down the entire grassland, it would not be of any practical benefit to Da Ming. It was better to guard his own door.

Of course, all of this had nothing to do with Lu Zhen, because he was still injured, and he was also a meritorious minister. Everyone knew that he, County Magistrate Lu, led the soldiers and civilians of He City to block Dazi’s crazy attack, and even he himself was shot down by an arrow in the end. With such a great merit, who would bother him with such trivial aftermath?

All these matters were left to Hou Shen and the other two officials as well as the relevant officials sent from Datong and other places to deal with. All Lu Zhen had to do was rest in the county government and recover from his injuries as soon as possible.

Lu Zhen was actually a little uneasy about this arrangement, but after he tried to ask about the relevant matters and was politely declined, he did not look for trouble.

Of course, he would not naively think that these people were really sharing the labor for him. In fact, these officials were so willing to do things that did not belong to him, not only because of the orders from above, but also because they could obtain a lot of benefits from it. Perhaps one-third of the compensation money would go into the hands of the officials of these different yamens. Even Lu Zhen had an additional benefit of 300 taels for no reason.

Although Lu Zhen was somewhat dissatisfied with this, there was nothing he could do about it. This was the unspoken rule of the officialdom. With his current status, it was impossible for him to contend against this powerful force. Otherwise, he would only become the enemy of everyone. In the end, no one knew how he would die.

So he kept silent, pretending that he didn’t know anything. However, he didn’t dare to accept the silver. Thus, he found an opportunity for Lin Lie to give it to the soldiers guarding the city. Furthermore, he only said that this was a reward given by County Magistrate Lu himself.

In response, the soldiers in the Guang Ling Military Camp had a higher impression of him, and his reputation even surpassed that of the newly arrived general manager. In fact, as long as he spoke, these soldiers would be willing to leave Guang Ling with him …

However, what Lu Zhen did not know was that his name was no longer limited to a third of an acre of land in Guangling County. This victory had already spread his name throughout the nine sides of Great Ming. When generals from all over the country mentioned this rank seven county magistrate, they would also give him a thumbs up and say good job.

There was nothing he could do. The Great Bright Border was too calm right now. There was practically no conflict, let alone winning a battle. As a civil servant, Lu Zhen could withstand the crazy attacks of the Mongols with only a few hundred troops. This was a legendary and praiseworthy thing in itself. Moreover, there were many twists and turns among them, which made people even more interested in talking about it.

Even the generals who had some opinions about Lu Zhen and even stood on the sidelines in this battle were filled with admiration after learning of this. Although they didn’t say anything, they felt a little embarrassed in their hearts.

A martial artist’s thoughts were naturally much simpler than a scholar’s. They would hate someone for one thing, and they would change their respect for another.

Lu Zhen had ruined their fortunes before, which was disgruntling, but his courage and the actions he had taken to defend the city made them feel immense admiration. Martial generals always admired those who were capable, even if they were not of the same kind as him, they were still sincerely convinced.

Especially when they heard that Lu Zhen’s attitude towards Dazi was very tough and they felt that they should use troops on the grasslands, their impression of him became even better. For this reason, when some generals arranged a certain civil servant in front of their subordinates, they would often take Lu Zhen out as a comparison object and say, “Look at the county magistrate of Guangling County, Lu Zhen Lu. If it were him, he would definitely not do this …”

As a result, Lu Zhen’s reputation in the frontier army also increased rapidly. For a time, everyone knew that there was such a powerful official who was capable of both literature and martial arts. He even built an airship that could predict the enemy’s first opportunity.

Along with the victory of the Broad Spirit Battle, some insider information was quickly revealed. Among them, the airships had discovered the enemy’s tracks several hours ago, giving the defenders enough time to deal with it.

Originally, although Hu Sui strongly recommended it, apart from Datong and other cities in Shanxi, no one took this strange airship seriously. However, things were different now. The generals of several border towns had specially sent people to consult with Hu Sui about the airship. They even paid for craftsmen, or bought finished goods to return to. Hu Sui had earned a lot of money, but at the same time, he had also shown his face.

And all of this gave Lu Zhen a great reputation. When many soldiers saw the airship floating high up, they simply worshipped Lu Zhen as a divine being.

People have always dreamed of flying, but this can only appear in everyone’s dreams, it is difficult to achieve. But now, through Lu Zhen’s plan, he was actually able to send people to heaven. If it weren’t for the Divine Man, who else would dare to call him a Divine Man?

Hu Sui knew that the time had come. He hurriedly added another document to the shortcut, To put it bluntly, I hope that the Imperial Court can adopt this airship and promote it throughout the country. Anyway, what this airship needs is not too expensive, and the effect is good. More importantly, this is a great credit. Although General Hu is not the inventor of this item, he has a lot of credit for recommending it.

As a result, Lu Zhen unknowingly spread his name not only in the northern border, but also in the Imperial Court of Beijing. He was afraid that his name would soon be heard.

@ @ @ @

By the end of April and the beginning of May, the city of Beijing had gradually become somewhat hot, especially in some cramped and narrow courtyards, which made it even more stuffy and unbearable.

Normally speaking, as the center of the Great Ming Empire, the residence of the Son of Heaven was the most noble place. Naturally, it was impossible for the Imperial Palace to have a cramped courtyard. However, there were exceptions to everything. Apart from the palaces where the Son of Heaven and the concubines of the harem lived, there were actually many places in the Forbidden City that did not correspond to the noble status of this place.

For example, the residences of the eunuchs and palace maids, because their status was low, it was impossible for them to have many spacious dwellings. For example, the Cabinet and Superintendent Li, who were in charge of the central power of the Great Ming Empire, were also in a small and cramped environment. Especially in summer, if they didn’t put a few ice basins in them, it would be almost like bathing in saunas in later generations.

Although the weather was not as hot as summer, it was already a little hot. Although the doors and windows were open, because of the tall palaces surrounding him, he was still suffocated and very hot. This was the situation in the Ceremony Supervisor.

But even so, there were still countless eunuchs who yearned for this place and flocked to it. All he wanted was to sneak into the small courtyard. Because this small courtyard represented the supreme power hub of the Great Ming Dynasty, an existence that could contend against the Cabinet, some people called it the inner court.

As the head of the eunuch, the sealing eunuch was called the inner prime minister. Apart from the head eunuch, there were three to four eunuchs and several eunuchs in the hall. This structure looked very similar to the Cabinet.

Ever since the first emperor, Xuanzong, had set up the Ritual Supervisor, the organization that Emperor had specially taken out to fight against the officials of the outer court had become more and more powerful. This was because not only did the eunuchs here have the right to receive bonuses, they also had the East Factory, which the officials of the Outer Court did not have, as a powerful guarantee of their power.

According to the system, the chief eunuchs of the Eunuchs were also in charge of the East Factory. Regardless of whether it was the Great Ming Dynasty or the next few hundred years, Dongchang’s existence was well-known to all women and children.

However, there was one thing that many people weren’t too clear about, and that was, although the Dongchang Administrator was arrogant outside, as if he dared to do anything and kill anyone, when he really entered the palace, he could only obediently be a small eunuch when facing his superior, the Ritual Supervisor, and obediently bow to him. This was because the eunuch in charge of the imperial palace was the one with the greatest power. He could decide the lives of all the other eunuchs.

And now, Eunuch Wang Zhen was the eunuch in charge of the ceremony. His power was so great that he could contend against the officials of the Outer Court. He could even use the name of the Son of Heaven to steadily suppress half of them.

However, Eunuch Wang had some worries recently. After the Outer Court was caught off guard at the beginning, it gradually recovered its senses and began to fight against him. Although Wang Zhen had already used his own methods to deal with a few officials who dared to provoke him, he had not been able to curb this trend, which made him feel that it was a bit difficult to deal with.

At this time, Wang Zhen felt that he needed a great merit to shut up the ministers. He was more eager to do the same for Daming as his ancestor, Zheng He! However, it was clear that all of this was just an imagination. With the recent conservative actions of the Imperial Court, it was impossible for the Imperial Court to start a war lightly.

Just as he was looking listlessly at the memorial, Wang Zhen’s gaze suddenly froze. He landed on the document in his hand in a daze. A smile appeared on his face, and his hand trembled. There was even a drop of scarlet ink dripping onto another memorial …