Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 600 The Dragon's Intimidation

Before dawn, the bright sun had already risen above the tiled roof of the hollow watchtower, hanging warmly in the sky.

The enemy attacked without resistance, and there was no smoke for miles around. There were no enemy soldiers in sight, but along the Great Wall that stretched from the Yalu River to the mountains, there were border soldiers with guns and flags standing guard every five or ten steps.

Cannons of various calibers were pushed into the recesses of the crenellations, their dark muzzles pointing directly at the narrow passage between the mountains and rivers. At this moment, the Great Wall of the Far East resembled a giant black-gray dragon coiled on Tiger Mountain, silently yet fiercely displaying its dragon might to the surrounding area.

On the city gate tower, Tong Qiaonian, a seventh-rank military officer, was leaning on the railing and gazing into the distance. Behind him were Zhang Beiyu, also a seventh-rank officer, and a group of his entourage.

"They're here!" Zhang Beiyu took half a step forward, leaning on the railing with one hand and pointing with the other to the "Avoidance" and "Silence" signs that appeared side by side at the end of his line of sight. That was the vanguard of the ceremonial procession.

Following the lead was a blue flag with red characters reading "Reorganizing Military Preparations in Shandong Provincial Administration Commission," a xiezhi flag symbolizing justice and supervision, and a bai ze flag symbolizing auspiciousness and military expertise. Behind the civil officials' entourage were a red flag with black characters reading "Guerrilla General," and a tiger and leopard flag for fourth-rank military officers.

Following the banners of the civil and military officials were infantrymen beating gongs and a troop of cavalry providing advance protection. Behind the cavalry were Yuan Keli, Gao Bangzuo, and Mao Wenlong, standing side by side. Lu Wenzhao and other members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were also present, but this time, they remained in a circle around the perimeter, serving as guards alongside the rearguard cavalry.

"Line up!" Tong Qiaonian shouted, and immediately two flag officers ran to the left and right corners of the city gate tower and waved their flags at the soldiers below.

"Line up!" At the city gate, the two captains leading the troops did not look up at the flags. After hearing Tong Qiaonian's shout, they immediately led their fully equipped soldiers into action. The soldiers split into two lines, running and forming ranks on both sides of the road, and soon they formed two human walls that reached the Ai River at the city gate.

As the cold glint of spear tips spread along the path, the two guards, Tong and Zhang, led their entourage down the city wall via the ramparts. Before their toes touched the ground, a dozen grooms led over a dozen energetic horses over. Tong Qiaonian casually took the lead horse and, with a light flip, mounted it. His movements were so agile that they seemed completely unbelievable for someone wearing an over forty-pound coat.

"Giddy up!" Tong Qiao gave the reins a light shake and spurred the horse slightly, and it immediately began to trot. At this moment, the last few attendants hadn't even mounted their horses yet.

Tong Qiaonian ignored them and didn't even greet them. After a brief period of chaos, the small cavalry unit automatically formed a neat formation and headed towards the approaching honor guard.

The two groups of people were traveling towards each other, and in the blink of an eye, they met less than a mile from the city gate.

The two guards, Tong and Zhang, stopped their horses about twenty paces from the avoidance sign. They dismounted, gave their horses a command to halt, and then walked towards the stopped column.

"This humble general is Tong Qiaonian." Tong Qiaonian quickly ran to the horses of Yuan Keli, Gao Bangzuo, and Mao Wenlong, and knelt down after adjusting his armor. "Greetings, Councilor Yuan; greetings, Councilor Gao; greetings, Guerrilla Commander Mao!"

"This humble general, Zhang Shiwei, pays his respects to Councilor Yuan, Councilor Gao, and Guerrilla Commander Mao!" Zhang Beiyu also knelt down.

"Please rise and speak, both of you," Yuan Keli said, holding the reins and looking down at the two men.

"Thank you, Councilor Yuan!" Tong Qiaonian and Zhang Shiwei bowed again and rose.

"Have they arrived? Those North Koreans?" Yuan Keli asked.

“They’ve arrived,” Tong Qiaonian replied, cupping his hands in greeting. “They were already waiting at the North Korean outpost on the other side of the Yalu River at 4:45 AM.”

"Okay." Yuan Keli nodded with a smile. "Then let's send someone to pick them up."

"No need to go pick them up, they'll come on their own," Mao Wenlong, who was riding alongside Yuan Keli but slightly behind by half a horse length, said with a slight tilt of his body.

Yuan Keli was taken aback. "How did they know to close the door?" Before he could finish his sentence, Yuan Keli cut himself off. "Was it to set off firecrackers or light cigarettes?"

"None of them," Mao Wenlong said with an awkward smile. "Just hang up a flag."

"Hang up a flag?" Yuan Keli asked. "Can they see it?"

“Yes, they can.” Mao Wenlong stretched out his hand and pointed to a beacon tower atop Tiger Mountain. “That beacon tower stands opposite the Korean riverbank city tower across the river. As long as a red flag is hung on it, they will come over on their own.” As if to make amends for Yuan Keli, Mao Wenlong immediately added after explaining, “I only heard about these things from the local garrison after I arrived in Zhenjiang.”

"Then let's hang it up." Yuan Keli didn't think much of it, just silently noted it down. Yuan Keli had a habit of writing travelogues, so this was obviously another good source of material.

"Yes." Mao Wenlong turned his head and gave Tong Qiaonian a look.

Tong Qiaonian nodded silently, and then gave a hand gesture to the flag officer who was still mounted on his horse.

The flag officer understood and immediately took down the command flag he carried with him and waved it a few times towards another flag officer on the city gate tower.

The order was relayed along the Great Wall and quickly reached the beacon tower atop the mountain. Upon receiving the order, the beacon tower immediately hung a large flag indicating permission to enter on the empty flagpole.

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On the opposite bank of the Yalu River, on a watchtower built almost exactly like the Ming army's, a North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements, lost in thought, yawned listlessly. That's what happens when you don't eat enough salt; you're listless, and your state early in the morning is almost the same as late at night.

"Hey." Another North Korean soldier, also on duty on the watchtower, called out from the side.

The North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements stared blankly, completely oblivious to his comrade's calls.

"Ah, Shiba." The second North Korean soldier pried a small piece of dry rammed earth off the wall and threw it at the North Korean soldier who was leaning against the crenellation in a daze. His aim was poor, and the rammed earth only hit the crenellation next to his comrade. But it was enough to get the other's attention.

"What are you doing?" The North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements turned around. In the sunlight, the trail of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth was clearly visible.

"Are you blind? They're raising the flag over there!" The North Korean soldier throwing clods of dirt pointed to the red flag fluttering on the opposite hilltop. "You little bastard, you're even looking at the river!"

"Hmm? Tch." The North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements first turned his head to look at the beacon tower on the opposite mountain, then turned back and pointed to the entrance closer to his comrades. "Since you saw it, why didn't you just go down and tell those officials? Why did you make me come all this way?"

"Hey!" the North Korean soldier who was throwing clods of dirt yelled. "You lazy bum!"

"Yeah, I'm lazy. If you're so diligent, go down there. See if those officials give you anything." A North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements muttered under his breath, "Damn it, we're both guarding this position, but those on the other side of the river eat meat every day, while we're just eating grass. Those corrupt officials have been here for days and haven't given us a single reward. Damn it, we're lucky if we even shout a peep."

“Then shout it out.” The North Korean soldier who had been throwing clods of dirt didn’t move. He showed neither the intention to step down and give the order, nor the urge to shout. “Why aren’t you shouting?” The North Korean soldier leaning against the crenellation rolled his eyes at his comrade, also unwilling to do the work. However, after a brief hesitation, he felt he should at least give an explanation to avoid being dragged down and flogged. So, he leaned over the crenellation, stuck his head out, and shouted down to the crowd: “The flag is being raised! The red flag is rising on the mountain opposite!”

"I saw it." After a while, a faint reply came from behind the city wall.

"Huff!" The North Korean soldier shrank back to his seat, panting heavily, as if that shout had exhausted all his strength. "Damn it. They saw it, we don't need to say anything. Good thing we didn't go down," he complained to his companion.

"Hehe." The North Korean soldier who had thrown the clod of dirt earlier chuckled, revealing a row of yellow and rotten teeth.

"What are you laughing at!" The North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements was suddenly provoked, feeling that his comrade was declaring victory and mocking him. He reached back to pry at the rammed earth on the wall, but he could only scrape off a clump of mud from the spot he touched.

"I wasn't laughing at you." The North Korean soldier who had thrown the clod of dirt earlier waved away the dirt coming his way.

"Then what the hell are you laughing at, you little brat?"

"I'm laughing because they're finally leaving." The North Korean soldier who was throwing clods of dirt turned around and looked behind him, just in time to see the members of the delegation gathering in a nearby open space. "Once those stingy officials are gone, won't we be able to go down and find a shady spot to lie down instead of pretending to sunbathe on this high platform?"

The North Korean soldier leaning against the battlements was taken aback at first, but quickly smiled. "This is indeed a good thing."

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The traditional dividing line between the Ming Dynasty and Korea was less the Yalu River that separated the two banks and more the small island in the middle of the river that divided the Yalu River to the north and touched the Ai River to the south. The pontoon bridges that spanned the left and right sides of the island led from the vassal state of Korea to the suzerain state of the Ming Dynasty.

boom!
The delegation had just crossed the river and hadn't even had time to regroup when the black dragon lying on Tiger Mountain roared without warning.

The men were startled, but the horses remained calm. Many of the envoys and their servants, who were visiting the capital for the first time, were caught off guard by the cannon fire and were immediately thrown into chaos, thinking that the Tartars were attacking.

"Don't panic, don't panic! This is a salute to welcome us!" Wu Yunqian, the 62-year-old envoy for the Holy Day, was a man of the world. He rode a tall horse with a red ribbon tied to its head and called out loudly to the panicked members of the delegation.

boom! boom! boom.
The cannons fired from left and right, their sound waves spreading outwards. Not only did people's hearts ripple, but even the surface of the river was slightly disturbed by these waves of sound.

"Halt!" Wu Yunqian, on horseback, stopped a panicked government slave who was trying to run back. "Where are you going!"

"I, sir," the government slave said, carrying a load on one shoulder and gesturing wildly with the other. "Cannons, Tartars," he stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence.

"Don't move! This is a salute!" Wu Yunqian shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was drowned out by the ensuing cannon fire.

In fact, Wu Yunqian himself was somewhat puzzled. He was certain that these were salutes, because so far only cannon fire and smoke had been coming out of the muzzles. However, Wu Yunqian couldn't understand why cannons were being fired from the city wall.

The last time he came to court with the delegation, only three cannon shots were fired on the border wall. Although the Winter Solstice envoy is not as important as the Holy Day envoy, it shouldn't be this grand. Looking at the chaotic scene before him, and recalling the rumors, Wu Yunqian even had a vague feeling that this was a demonstration.

About fifteen minutes later, this round of "cannon salutes," stretching for miles, finally ended. Although the delegation of fewer than forty people had recovered from their shock and completed their formation before the sound of the cannons echoed, the sight of the dark muzzles of the cannons, which had retreated only briefly before being pushed back in, still sent shivers down their spines.

"Let's go!" Wu Yunqian steadied himself, shouted, and waved the reins.

The Mapi people were calm and immediately sprang into action upon receiving the order. On the contrary, the members of the delegation, especially the officials and slaves carrying tribute and luggage, stood there for a while before mechanically following the people in front of them along the main road toward the gate.

They still had nearly two miles to go.

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Yuan Keli's expression was somewhat strange. He had indeed hinted to Mao Wenlong to make the scene grander and more imposing, but he hadn't expected Mao Wenlong to arrange such a bombardment, whether grand or intimidating, he couldn't tell.

"Mao the Guerrilla." As the sound of artillery fire faded into the distance, Yuan Keli called out softly.

"What are your orders, Councilor Yuan?" Mao Wenlong grinned, a smug look on his face.

Yuan Keli waved his hand, brushing away the gunpowder smoke that had reached his nose. "How much gunpowder did we use this time?"

Mao Wenlong paused, then thought carefully. "It should weigh at least one or two hundred jin. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"This..." Yuan Keli hesitated for a moment, then decided to drop the matter: "There's nothing wrong with it." Mao Wenlong's actions were indeed not considered improper, because the imperial court had not established any rules regarding salutes. Moreover, this amount of gunpowder was not much for Zhenjiang.

A quarter of an hour later, the smoke of battle was dispelled by the river breeze. Tong Beiyu's voice came from the city gate tower: "The Koreans are coming, they're still half a mile away!" After shouting this, Tong Beiyu stood still, quietly waiting for instructions from half a mile away behind the gate.

The voice reached Mao Wenlong's ears, but he did not respond immediately. Instead, he glanced sideways at Yuan Keli's expression.

Yuan Keli remained expressionless, quietly gazing at the tightly closed city gate at the end of the road.

After a while, Yuan Keli suddenly spoke up: "Open the door."

"Open the door," Mao Wenlong called out to the flag officer beside him, as if speaking through a megaphone.

The flag officer understood and immediately signaled to open the gate.

Upon receiving the instruction, Tong Beiyu shouted downstairs again, "Open the door!"

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers waiting by the winch immediately sprang into action.

(End of this chapter)