Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 32 Clothes
Last night, when Zhu Cilang asked the coolie Wu. The guards of the Eastern Palace to patrol the camping site, they only mentioned the mountain outside the city.

If Xiang Renshengxu had said this in other places, he would have to think about which mountain the prince was talking about, but they were in Yingtian, so the "mountain outside the city" could only be Zhongshan.

Zhongshan Mountain is located to the east of Taiping Gate in Yingtian and to the north of Chaoyang Gate. It is also known as Purple Mountain because purple clouds often linger on the top of the mountain.

Legend has it that after Zhu Yuanzhang built the Yingtian City, he took the princes to climb Zhongshan Mountain to observe the situation of the capital.

They found that the palace was too close to Zhongshan Mountain. If large-caliber artillery was placed on the mountain, the shells would easily hit the palace. In addition, there were some important commanding heights left outside the city, so Zhu Yuanzhang spent a huge amount of money to build an outer city with a total length of about 120 miles.

It is impossible to verify whether the legend is true or not, but Zhongshan is truly the lifeline of Yingtian.

Once the city was lost, not to mention whether the artillery technology of that era could fire shells into the city, the fact that the defenders' movements would be seen by the enemy would be fatal.

This was also the main reason why no one raised any objection when Zhu Cilang wanted to defend the outer city with such a small force.

As it was getting dark, a camp finally appeared in the eyes of Zhu Cilang and his companions.

He looked into the distance while it was still light.

When he realized that except for the west being blocked by the mountains, he could actually see the entire outer city of Yingtian, he praised: "This is a good location."

"I dare not take credit for this. This position was recommended by Duke Wei."

"It's also a credit that you thought of looking for Duke Wei."

When Zhu Cilang instructed Xiang Rensheng to set up camp last night, he simply wanted to do so to appease the garrison troops who had been transferred out of the barracks. As for where to set up camp, he did not have any special requirements.

But when he discovered the advantages of this place, he had to admit that none of these noble families that had been passed down for hundreds of years were given for nothing.

It didn't take long before Zhu Cilang and others arrived in front of the camp.

Although it was already dark at this time, through the camp gate one could still see dozens of large boxes placed on the open ground, with several unordered rows of troops standing next to the boxes.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang did not find it strange. He just greeted the "soldiers" guarding outside the camp and walked straight in.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

When Zhu Cilang and his group entered the camp, their figures naturally caught everyone's attention.

"You won't have to perform formalities when you see me in the future." Zhu Cilang shouted to the soldiers kneeling on the ground, and then checked the boxes one by one.

After meeting Foreman Wang this morning, the old man asked his apprentice to place "iron rods" of different lengths and styles in front of Zhu Cilang, obviously wanting him to make the final decision.

Following the suggestion of Foreman Wang, he selected an "iron stick" weighing seven or eight kilograms for the militiamen, and after discussing with Xiang Rensheng, he selected an "iron stick" as long as an adult's arm and as thick as a child's wrist for his own guards. Finally, he had people equip the guards with one thousand cotton armors and one thousand paper armors before leaving the barracks to patrol the city.

Now the armor and weapons have been delivered to the camp as scheduled, but when he picked them up and examined them carefully, he asked Rensheng hesitantly, "Can this pair of armors be eaten and ate?"

Although he had seen these armors, he thought that the so-called cotton armor was just thicker cotton clothes, and the paper armor was just some paper shells. But now he realized how wrong he was.

The paper armor was indeed made entirely of cardboard, but this cardboard was processed using some unknown process. Not only was it extremely flexible, it was also much heavier than ordinary paper.

This was even more true for the cotton armor. The originally fluffy and soft cotton had now become a block, and there seemed to be many iron pieces scattered in different densities according to the vital parts of the human body. As a result, the weight of the two pieces of armor far exceeded Zhu Cilang's expectations. Coupled with the "iron stick" weighing more than ten pounds, he had to worry about the guards' ability to bear the weight.

"We can afford it, we can afford it," Xiang Rensheng responded several times, then he picked up two iron rods piled up next to the box and said, "Even if we count the iron rods sent by Foreman Wang, they only weigh about 40 to 50 kilograms, which is nothing for people like us who are used to hard labor."

"Brother Xiang, fighting on the battlefield is not like carrying cargo. It would be bad if you run out of energy in the middle of a battle."

Xiang Rensheng said it easily, but Zhu Cilang was obviously still a little worried.

But this is not surprising. In that era, most heavy physical labor had been replaced by machines. In his concept, being able to carry two buckets of water up the stairs was already a hero. As for carrying the same weight and fighting on the battlefield, it was even more unimaginable.

"Your Highness, you underestimate us. We have to carry two or three sacks of 180 kilograms at a time," Xiang Rensheng said, putting two iron rods in one hand and dancing them lightly for a few times before continuing, "If there are a lot of goods, it is normal to work for most of the day."

Then he threw the iron rod on the ground, took out a piece of cotton armor from the box, and then said, "Your Highness, please watch me put on the armor and show off for a while."

Zhu Cilang had no objection, after all, cognition was cognition, but in his heart he hoped more than anyone else that what Xiang Rensheng said was true.

Half an incense stick later, Xiang Rensheng put on the whole set of cotton armor, and the person who had been waiting on the side helped him put on a set of paper armor.

In this way, Xiang Rensheng suddenly changed from an honest coolie into a majestic warrior. It is true that clothes make the man.

Zhu Cilang, who had been paying attention to the whole process, found that except for some difficulty in joint movement due to the thickness of the armor, its weight actually did not cause any effect on him.

Then Xiang Rensheng picked up the iron rod from the ground, walked a few steps into the open space, and started moving suddenly.

"Buzz~~~!"

Waves of sounds of breaking through the air rang out one after another.

“Bang~~~!”

The sound of footsteps on the ground continued to echo.

At this time, the already strong Xiang Rensheng had already turned into a human tank with the help of armor and weapons. Even though his actions were just simple slashing and blocking, the power he brought still made Zhu Cilang open his mouth in shock.

As a modern person, Zhu Cilang has seen professional martial arts performances and exciting ring fights, but how can those things that seem a bit petty due to the restrictions of rules compare to the shock brought about by this kind of grand opening and closing.

Now Zhu Cilang had long forgotten all about endurance and stamina. Apart from wanting to turn all his guards into human tanks, he had no other thoughts in his mind.

After about a cup of tea, Xiang Rensheng finally stopped.

But at this moment, he didn't even take a few breaths, and it was obvious that he was not exhausted.

"Your Highness, it's cold on the mountain. You might as well go back to your tent first. I'll test how long I can hold out and then report back to you."

"No need. Do you think it would be okay to add a coat of mail?"

(End of this chapter)