Di Ming

Chapter 17 Young Master
Li Rubai? Isn't that Li Chengliang's second son and Li Rusong's younger brother?
Upon hearing this name, Zhu Yin immediately searched his mind for Li Rubai.

Well, some say he was a tiger father but a dog son, inferior to his father and brothers. Others say he was suppressed by the imperial court and had no opportunity to make a name for himself.

Li Rubai should still be a lieutenant general, serving in his father's army, and has not yet left Liaodong Town.

His expedition outside the Liaodong border wall was merely a routine matter, intended to intimidate the Jurchen tribes and demonstrate the military might of Liaodong.

At this moment, Zhu Yin saw clearly that there were not more than two thousand cavalrymen, but only a little over a thousand.

Because each person rides two horses, it looks like there are more than two thousand riders.

A large contingent of Ming cavalry galloped in like an iron torrent, making the earth rumble.

Li Jiajun, the Iron Cavalry of Liaodong!

Historical records indicate that the Ming army in Liaodong was best equipped, and this is indeed true.

These Ming cavalrymen did not wear the Mandarin Duck Armor, but rather the gourd-shaped helmets with a tall tassel on top, like a lightning rod.

Moreover, most of them wore blue armor (heavy dark armor), and a small number of them even wore bright armor.

Even the warhorses wore half-armor, with a pair of pheasant tails stuck in their heads, and iron masks, throat armor, and breastplates.

At first glance, it looks remarkably similar to the armor of the Eight Banners cavalry.

Indeed, the armor of the Eight Banners soldiers in later generations was a copy of the armor of the Ming army.

At this time, the Jurchen cavalry were still a motley crew of soldiers wearing leather armor and fur coats, with very few even wearing light cotton armor, let alone well-made blue armor lined with iron plates.

Upon seeing the large contingent of Liaodong cavalry, both Meh and Niman were filled with fear.

The two had been practicing riding and archery since they were five and participating in hunting since they were ten, which had long since honed their courage. But they had never even dreamed of seeing such a massive cavalry force.

Zhu Yin never expected that, almost a month after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, the first time he would meet his fellow clansmen was with a large contingent of Ming cavalry.

At present, the largest and most powerful cavalry force in the entire Ming Dynasty is Li Chengliang's Liaodong Iron Cavalry.

During the Yongle reign, the Liaodong Garrison had a force of 95,000 soldiers and 77,000 warhorses.

Even in the early years of the Wanli reign, there were still 84,000 soldiers and 42,000 warhorses.

Liaodong Town was not the military town with the largest number of soldiers, but it had the most warhorses and cavalry.

Based on the Liaodong garrison's configuration of one person with two horses, there are at least 20,000 cavalrymen!
In addition, there were 60,000 infantrymen.

This force would be considered a strategically important military group in any dynasty.

As for the combat strength of the Liaodong cavalry, that's another matter.

As Zhu Yin pondered, the large contingent of Ming troops stopped near the palisade, and Li Rubai's command flag was already clearly visible.

Beneath the banner, on a large red horse, sat a general with a round face and a lion's nose, dressed in magnificent armor, surrounded by a group of personal guards in bright armor.

The more than 1,000 cavalrymen suddenly stopped, but did not lose their formation.

But the cacophony of shouts and neighing horses indicated that it was not a disciplined army.

Several Ming army captains spurred their horses and charged through the fence, shouting:
"What happened? Where is everyone?!"

They spotted Zhu Yin and the other two and immediately moved forward.

Zhu Yin took the initiative to say, "The people here have been captured by other tribes, and it's now an empty village."

One of the captains exclaimed, "You're Han Chinese? You're a slave captured by the Jurchens? Hmm?"

That "hmm" was delivered with an exceptionally stern tone.

Zhu Yin said, "I was not a kidnapped slave. I was accidentally sold to the border by human traffickers. I killed the traffickers and am preparing to return to the Central Plains."

During this period, human traffickers sold people across the sea to the regions beyond the Great Wall at high prices. Even wealthy young men became victims.

The captain shouted, "You all come here and report to the general!"

The abduction of a Jurchen tribe from another tribe by a fence was certainly no small matter.

Since General is an inspector, he should naturally ask about this matter clearly.

Rather than reporting it ourselves, it would be better to bring these three men before the general and have them explain.

Zhu Yin, his mind racing, calmed himself and, holding Ning Qingchen, led her to the imposing Ming army formation, a forest of swords and spears.

The captain stepped forward, bowed to the general, and said:
"Reporting to my men! This fence is empty!"

He pointed at Zhu Yin and others:

"They say someone kidnapped the people and livestock from the fence. This child, they say, is a Han Chinese who was sold out of the country."

Zhu Yin was alright. But being inexperienced and unsophisticated, he and Meh and Niman broke out in a cold sweat and trembled with fear when they arrived in front of the Ming army. The general, dressed in magnificent armor, sat high on his horse, his hawk-like eyes sweeping over Zhu Yin and his men before fixing on Zhu Yin.

This was just a routine matter, yet something like this has happened. If we simply ignore it as if nothing has occurred, our father will surely blame us.

The Jianzhou Jurchens, who had already become well-behaved, are now seeing some of them breaking the rules again?

"Are you Han Chinese?" the general asked Zhu Yin, looking down at him indifferently.

This indifference is purely the disregard of those in power for the lowly ants.

Zhu Yin nodded, met Li Rubai's eyes without fear, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly:
"That's right. I am a Han Chinese."

"The two generals are heroic and commanding, showing the qualities of a great general. They are truly like father, like son."

"Huh?" Li Rubai, who had been indifferent, couldn't help but be a little surprised.

How could a little child know that he was the Second General? Facing such a large army, he not only showed no fear but also spoke eloquently, referring to himself as "this humble one."

He observed Zhu Yin's complexion and became increasingly suspicious.

This child is definitely not from an ordinary family!
Such demeanor and courage undoubtedly belong to someone from a prominent family!

Li Rubai's expression softened, and his tone became much gentler, "Whose child are you? What's your name?"

Zhu Yin smiled enigmatically, “My surname is Zhu, and my given name is Zhu Yin. As for which family I belong to… it is really not appropriate to tell you at the moment, please forgive me, Second General.”

Upon hearing the surname Zhu, Li Rubai was startled, immediately dismounted, and smiled in a dramatic change of expression:
"Is the young master a member of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family?"

Mech and Niman exchanged a glance, and immediately felt relieved.

The fact that the Ming general suddenly became so polite to Ejen shows that Ejen was no ordinary person.

Zhu Yin smiled knowingly, his composure unwavering. His small frame stood ramrod straight, as if the army were nothing to him.

He acted as if he were the commander of this cavalry, and Li Rubai was merely his subordinate.

Even an idiot could tell he's someone important.

Not only are most of them members of the imperial clan, but they may also be close relatives of the imperial clan!

Li Rubai wondered to himself, "Whose son is this? The Prince of Heng? The Prince of Jin? Or the Prince of Lu?"

Although Li Rubai was Li Chengliang's son, he dared not offend the imperial clan.

If things go wrong, it could lead to a crime!
"Waaaaah!" Suddenly, a loud baby's cry came from Zhu Yin's arms, the cry filled with indescribable panic.

Zhu Yin's lips twitched. The noble aura he had tried so hard to maintain suddenly crumbled under the baby's crying.

It turned out that Ning Qingchen was so intimidated by the iron-blooded aura of the large group of ancient cavalry that he could no longer control his fear.

She cries too easily and can't control herself at all.

Zhu Yin coughed, patted Ning Qingchen to cover his embarrassment, and said with a forced smile:

"I am currently outside the Great Wall, and the situation is complicated. It is really inconvenient for me to reveal my identity."

"With the wisdom of the two generals, they should have guessed my identity."

He didn't mention that he was a member of the royal family, so he wouldn't leave any evidence against him. But anyone who heard that would have their imagination running wild, and it would be impossible not to fill in the blanks.

Anyway, you guessed wrong, it's none of my business.

Having said this, Zhu Yin gave the other party no chance to argue further, and smiled with an air of arrogance:

"Two years ago, although I was young, I met the Second General once in the capital. At that time, I heard that the Second General was a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"I never expected to see you again today. The two generals have already returned to Liaodong and made great contributions to our Ming Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Li Rubai had no further doubts.

Because most people have no idea that he served as a commander of the Imperial Guard in Beijing two years ago!
Based on this alone, even if Zhu Yin was not a member of the Ming Dynasty nobility, he was likely a grandson of Grand Secretary Zhu Geng.

In short, he is no ordinary person!
"So it seems that we are truly destined to meet." Li Rubai was no longer arrogant as before.

Unaware of Zhu Yin's identity, he simply lowered his stance and addressed him as "Young Master".

Being polite for now is definitely the best approach.

Seeing that he had intimidated the fierce but cowardly Li Rubai, Zhu Yin immediately came up with a plan to take advantage of him.

If the other party were Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, Zhu Yin wouldn't dare to use them like this.

But Li Rubai... can be used with complete confidence and boldness once!
(End of this chapter)