Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 686 Speculation
Lead-like clouds obscured the white moon, and a light rain enveloped the entire Jiangnan region. Black hooves trampled a white camellia by the roadside, and with each powerful movement of its legs, splashes of mud and water were kicked up.

Eight hundred iron cavalrymen galloped along the official road under the starry night, while the long river on the banks kept receding.

The rider leading the way was a Ferghana horse with snow-white mane. Its head was covered with fine scales, and its back was adorned with a phoenix-winged helmet with a high plume. Its black dragon-headed beast-swallowing arm guards held a silver halberd that was 1.8 meters long. The horse neighed and galloped, and the halberd's blade shattered even the clear clouds and water.

The general in the center of the army carries a large banner with the character "Chen" fluttering in the wind.

"Xu~"

The lead rider pulled on the reins, signaling his jade unicorn to slow down. Then, frowning, he asked his lieutenant who had caught up with him, "What's wrong?"

"General, it's getting late. The brothers have been traveling for a day and a night, and they are exhausted and hungry. Haining is not far ahead. Do you think we should rest for the night and return to Jinling tomorrow?"

"Then let's go to Hainingwei and stay the night!"

Chen Jing glanced back at the eight hundred Tiger Warriors, whose atmosphere was as heavy as iron. After a moment's thought, he nodded, waved his hand, and led the army towards Haining Guard.

Haining Guard was one of the sixteen guards in Zhejiang Province, and it governed the local thousand-household garrison in Haining. The officials in charge of it throughout the ages had close ties with the Chen family.

"General, the brothers know the way to Hainingwei well. Let me lead the way. You haven't been home for a long time. Would you like to go back to the ancestral hall to pay your respects?"

Ancestral hall.

Hearing the deputy general's suggestion, a dark glint flashed in Chen Jing's eyes. Considering the arrangements for this trip, he finally shook his head: "This time, slaying the snake and obtaining the treasure is of paramount importance to both Yun Cong and me. The schedule is too tight now. Let's wait until things settle down before returning to the ancestral temple."

"Understood. This subordinate will go to Haining Guard immediately to arrange for the Tiger Guard to stay overnight."

As the deputy general was speaking, he suddenly noticed a slight change in Chen Jing's expression. Not far away, the Qiantang River was boiling, gurgling as if something was about to jump out of it.

shuh~
Chen Jing casually swung his halberd, the slashing light as bright as autumn water and curved like a crescent moon. With a single strike, he shattered the surging waves and calmed the commotion in the river.

After a short while, blood gushed forth, corpses floated, and countless black lights emanated. Before they could flee in all directions, Chen Jing stretched out his large hand, and the murderous aura materialized. He gathered them from left to right, stacked them up, and pressed them into a black ball the size of a bullet. He then tilted his head back and swallowed it.

Witnessing such a bizarre scene, the deputy general was unsurprised, only remarking, "Having been away for half a year, there are more and more drowning bastards in the water. I wonder if those old buddies from Haining Guard are still around."

"Alright, get on with your business. The brothers are still hungry."

Having swallowed the remnants of the evil spirit, Chen Jing glanced at his deputy general as if nothing had happened, and then his jade unicorn snorted and started moving again.
-
"Sir, this is the Jinggu Zhai of my Chen family. Its collection of books is as rich as that of Tianyi and Jigu, and many of the Daoist scriptures are unique copies. Please be careful with the candlelight when you study them, and be careful not to drop them!"

After the banquet, Qin Wen, who had a pleasant conversation with the Chen family, asked to borrow their family library. Chen Guangye, who had already suspected that this Master Miaoxuan was extraordinary and wanted to make his acquaintance, readily agreed and immediately asked Chen Yuncong to lead the way to the Chen family's library in the outer city. "Thank you, Yuncong. It's getting late, so please get some rest."

After watching Chen Yun leave Jinggu Zhai, Qin Wen strolled slowly down the aisle lined with numerous nanmu bookshelves, occasionally pulling out a thread-bound book with yellowed pages and picking up a scroll of bamboo slips with faded ink.
After a long while, Qin Wen, having found what he wanted, lit a candle, sat down at the long table, and began to carefully peruse the genealogy and records that documented the long history of the Chen family.

"The Gao family originated from the descendants of Duke Tai of Qi. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, many generations have migrated north."

Through these historical records, Qin Wen gradually figured out the origins of the Chen family of Haining and the reasons why they were able to rise to prominence in the Southern Ming Dynasty.

The Chen family of Haining is now a prominent family in Haining, Zhejiang, but their ancestral home is Bohai, and they are descendants of Gao Qiong, the Grand Commandant of the Song Dynasty.

This Grand Commandant Gao Qiong of the Song Dynasty had ancestors who lived in the Yan region for generations. In his youth, he was fierce and unruly, possessing considerable strength, which led him to become a bandit. After being captured, he was to be beheaded at the Meridian Gate. At that time, a torrential summer rain was falling, and the guards were slightly lax. He broke the lock and escaped, carving out a path to his survival.

"He was entrusted with the command of the army, and built an altar to assume the authority of a general. He was entrusted with the responsibility of defending the frontier. He was able to wield his spear with courage and display his might. He possessed the methods of Sun Tzu and Wu Qi in leading troops, and the strategies of Bo Xilai in controlling the enemy. His upright spirit soared to the sky, and his loyalty shone like the sun. He considered himself a hero and upheld loyalty and filial piety as his principles. He was destined for greatness, and would become the leader of ten thousand men."

As Qin Wen carefully studied Gao Qiong's rise to power, he tried to find something between the lines. He had witnessed Chen Yuncong's methods during the day. As an expert who was also familiar with the military aura, he could assert that the fleeting black shadow was not some kind of evil aura that Chen Yuncong had made up to deceive him.

This Chen family definitely has a secret.

However, after reading through Gao Qiong's life story, including his merits and demerits and the later evaluations, word by word, Qin Wen pondered and pondered, but could not find anything illogical or strange. The only odd thing was that although Gao Qiong had made many military achievements, he was an illiterate man who could not read. In the Song Dynasty, he even had the reputation of being "knowledgeable in military and political affairs".

Putting aside his doubts for the time being, Qin Wen followed the clues and focused his attention on Gao Qiong's many descendants. Like most noble families who made their fortunes through military achievements, there were few outstanding talents among Gao's descendants. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Gao Liang, the head of the Gao family, even had to marry into Bohai and have his son change his surname to Chen in order to barely maintain his former dignity.

For this reason, the descendants of the Gao family became distinct from the Chen families of Yingchuan and Bohai. A few years after Gao Liang took over the Chen family, he made the decision to relocate the entire clan to Haining in the south.

Judging from the later development of the Chen family, this move was undoubtedly a very correct decision. Perhaps it was because the feng shui of the ancestral graves was changed. As time went by, the Chen family, who were salt merchants at the time, accumulated a lot of wealth by virtue of their family learning. By the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Chen family of Haining had become very successful in the imperial examinations. Almost none of their descendants were mediocre. They made achievements in all walks of life, including scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants. Compared with the descendants of the previously declining Gao family, they were worlds apart.

"It feels like this group of good-for-nothings suddenly turned into elites, as if..."

Looking at the two family histories on the table, which contained vastly different accounts, Qin Wen rested his chin on his hand and suddenly had a whimsical thought: "...it's as if they've been possessed by something."

Considering the fruit's bizarre worldview, Qin Wen felt that this guess might not be impossible.

"It seems that during the period when Gao Liang married into the Bohai family at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and moved the Chen family to Haining, something significant must have happened to the Chen family."

(End of this chapter)