Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 321 Arrival in Kyoto (Seeking monthly votes)

The capital of Liang!

This is Lin Chen's first time visiting Kyoto.

The city wall, built of bluish-gray basalt, stretches for dozens of miles. The bricks are covered with sword marks and charred marks, silently telling the story of the battles that have taken place here.

The watchtowers on the walls stood like bone spurs on the back of a giant beast, and the crossbows forged from cold iron gleamed coldly in the morning light, their bolts as thick as an adult man's arm.

The only difference from Lin Chen's expectations was that Kyoto did not have a moat.

"Senior Brother Lin, is there any difference between Kyoto and what you imagined?" Kong Qing asked with a smile, standing next to Lin Chen.

After returning to Lingxiao City from Yan State, the disciples of each martial arts academy went back to their respective academies. The disciples of Canglan Martial Arts Academy also returned to Canglan Martial Arts Academy under the leadership of Vice Dean Chen Shan.

However, Lin Chen was stopped by Hou Zhantian. An important figure in the capital wanted to see him and needed him to go to the capital. So Lin Chen went to the capital with the disciples of Qingyun Martial Academy and Kyoto Martial Academy.

"In terms of prosperity, it may not be as prosperous as Lingxiao City, but it has a more profound history."

Lin Chen answered truthfully. He felt that Lingxiao City was very prosperous. Whether it was the city gate or the tall buildings he could see in the distance, they were all extremely magnificent and grand. In comparison, apart from the majestic city gate, he had not seen any pavilion buildings that exceeded the city walls in Kyoto.

"Senior Brother Lin's judgment is very accurate. Because of its coastal location, Lingxiao City has gathered martial artists and merchants from nine countries. In terms of prosperity, it is the number one city in Daliang. The capital city, due to its location, cannot compare with Lingxiao City in this respect. However, Lingxiao City gradually became prosperous under the reign of Emperor Taizu. It is indeed somewhat inferior to the capital city in terms of heritage."

"Kyoto was the capital of six dynasties, and if you include our Great Liang, that makes seven dynasties."

"As for tall buildings... there are only two buildings in the entire city of Kyoto that exceed the city walls. One is a watchtower in the military camp in the city, and the other is the Ministry of Military Affairs."

As they walked, Kong Qing introduced the situation in Kyoto to Lin Chen: "Back then, Emperor Taizu demolished some of the grandiose buildings left over from the previous dynasty, which were built to highlight the majesty of the imperial family. Only these two were preserved. The role of the watchtowers goes without saying, and the Ministry of Military Affairs was higher than the city wall because Emperor Taizu wanted to emphasize its status."

"The Ministry of Military Affairs oversees all military affairs in the country and cultivates martial arts youths of the Great Liang. Its responsibilities are far more important than those of the royal family and the court, and are on par with defending the territory and expanding the borders."

Lin Chen nodded; he understood the Emperor Taizu's intentions.

A watchtower represents the safety of the Great Liang. This is to link the importance of the Ministry of Military Affairs with the Prime Minister of the State, to prevent unfilial descendants or anyone who wants to change national policies after his death.

However, as long as Kyoto only has these two buildings taller than the city walls, no one would dare to do such a thing, because it would be a great disgrace to the world.

The people of Kyoto see these two buildings every day, and through this constant exposure, the importance of the Ministry of Military Affairs has become deeply ingrained in their minds. People and martial artists from outside Kyoto who have the opportunity to come to Kyoto will naturally learn about these things from other Kyoto martial artists or people.

Emperor Taizu's method of making all the warriors and common people of the Great Liang Dynasty realize the importance of the Ministry of Military Affairs was truly ingenious.

By now, Lin Chen had grown to admire Emperor Taizu more and more; he was an emperor who surpassed any previous founding emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty.

"Emperor Taizu came from the Yan Dynasty and knew that compared to the Yan Dynasty, the Nine Kingdoms were just a small island, so he had no idea of ​​ruling the country as a family."

Considering the origins of Emperor Taizu, Lin Chen could understand why Emperor Taizu was different from other founding emperors. The founding emperors of other dynasties, including those of other countries, regarded the nine kingdoms as the whole world, and their vision was limited to the land of the nine kingdoms. Therefore, they thought about ruling the country as a family and focused on preserving the rule of their own family.

Soon, they entered the city.

Lin Chen then parted ways with Kong Qing and the others.

"Senior Brother Lin, you must come to Qingyun Martial Academy to find me, so that I can show you some hospitality."

"Okay." Watching Kong Qing return to the Kyoto Martial Academy, Zhang Ming from the Qingyun Martial Academy also bid farewell to Lin Chen. The senior brothers from both academies warmly invited Lin Chen to visit their respective academies.

After the Yan Kingdom ranking competition, Lin Chen has solidified his position as the number one on the Hidden Dragon Ranking and the Heavenly Ranking. These people will no longer regard Lin Chen as a rising star.

Moreover, in the battle at Jiefeng Valley, if Lin Chen hadn't started shooting arrows and killing many of Zheng's disciples, I'm afraid even more of them would have perished.

After bidding farewell to the disciples of the two academies, Lin Chen declined the offer of farewell from the vice deans of Qingyun Martial Academy and Kyoto Martial Academy, and decided to go to the Ministry of Martial Affairs on his own.

The Ministry of Military Affairs is located between the two martial arts academies, just one street apart. As the tallest building in the capital, he could find it without even asking for directions.

……

……

As Lin Chen strolled along, admiring the unique features of Kyoto's streets, he felt a rare sense of relaxation.

He didn't need to worry about his safety while traveling in Kyoto.

After a while, Lin Chen was attracted by the noisy sounds ahead. Not far down the street, a lot of people were gathered in front of a shop. Lin Chen walked over curiously and first glanced at the name of the shop.

Dai Family Pharmacy.

“My elder brother became like this because he took your family’s medicine. Your Dai family pharmacy must give an explanation for this.”

"Impossible. My Dai family's pharmacy has been operating in the capital for thirty years, and there has never been a problem with our pills."

A young man stood in front of the shop with an angry expression.

“Just because there were no problems before doesn’t mean there won’t be any now. Everyone knows that one of the main ingredients in your Dai family’s Sanhuo Pills is Half-Moon Lotus, and Half-Moon Lotus is only found in the Zhao Kingdom. Now that the Zhao Kingdom has cut off trade with our Great Liang, your Dai family’s Sanhuo Pills must not contain this main ingredient, which is why my elder brother had a problem.”

"Zhao only recently severed trade with my Great Liang. My family stockpiled a lot of Half-Moon Lotus last year, so we are not short of Half-Moon Lotus at all. Don't talk nonsense. If you don't believe me, I can take you to my Dai family warehouse to check. If you still don't believe me, my Dai family can take out the pills and hand them over to the yamen for inspection."

"You planned this all along. You refined a batch of good ones and then a batch of inferior ones. You wouldn't dare sell the inferior ones to martial artists with powerful backgrounds, but you sold the inferior ones to those who knew my brother wasn't from the capital."

Dai Yuze was furious when he heard this. His pharmacy never sold inferior medicines; this person was clearly trying to damage the reputation of his pharmacy.

On the second floor of the pharmacy, behind a window facing the street, a woman with a cold and aloof face stood. Soon after, a middle-aged man entered.

"Uncle Chen, how's the investigation going?"

“Young Miss, these two are indeed not from Kyoto. They bought a fire-dispelling pill at the pharmacy and then returned to the inn where they were staying. Not long after, the innkeeper heard a scream. According to the waiter, he rushed into the room and saw one of them lying on the bed foaming at the mouth, while the other was calling for help.”

"Did this person really take the Fire-Dispelling Pill?"

"This cannot be verified. The Fire-Dispersing Pill is meant to dispel fire poison in a martial artist's body. The man on the ground has bloodshot eyes, so he does indeed have fire poison in his body. Does Miss suspect that this person did not take it?"

Dai Yuxi sneered: "My Dai family's fire-dispelling pills have been sold in Kyoto for twenty years without any problems, and there has never been any case of selling inferior products as superior ones. Moreover, last month someone wanted to buy my Dai family's pharmacy, and this month there have been three similar incidents. What kind of coincidence is this?"

(End of this chapter)