Late Ming Dynasty: From the Defeated Soldiers at Daling River to Ascending the Throne

October 12th, Shen time (3-5 PM).

Below the western city wall of Shanhaiguan.

Chen Feng and his group stopped outside the city gate and looked up at the majestic pass before them.

The city wall stretches for dozens of miles from north to south, with varying heights and layers upon layers.

The northernmost city is Beiyi City, built against the mountain, like a crouching beast lying on the mountainside.

The main part of the city is in the middle, with the West Luo City and East Luo City guarding the two sides.

Further south, Nanyi City, Weihai City, and Ninghai City are lined up in succession, stretching all the way to the sea.

The gray-blue city walls appeared particularly heavy under the gloomy sky, with crenellations as fine as saw teeth, and watchtowers with arrow slits standing menacingly. Patrolling soldiers could be vaguely seen on the city walls.

The First Pass Under Heaven.

Some images flashed through Chen Feng's mind: more than three hundred years later, this place would become a tourist attraction, with tourists taking photos under the stone plaque of "The First Pass Under Heaven", strolling on the city wall, and eating ice cream under the city tower.

And now, it is the last line of defense protecting the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

"Good heavens..." Hao Dadao straightened up on his horse, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Wouldn't someone who fell off this city wall be covered in bruises?"

Meng Changgeng tucked his hands into his sleeves and glanced at him sideways when he heard this, "With your thick skin, you'll only get a few scrapes at most if you fall."

"Bullshit!" Hao Dadao glared. "I've fallen off the Yizhou city wall before! I almost lost my breath from the fall. If I fell from here, I'd definitely be covered in bruises."

Meng Changgeng's cheek muscles twitched slightly. "You're really something."

Sun Ergou and Aji, two teenagers, were completely dumbfounded.

Sun Ergou stood with his mouth agape, his neck tilted back at a ninety-degree angle, his eyes trying to climb up the city wall, but he couldn't reach the top after a long time.

Aji was no better off. He was a Mongolian boy from the grasslands who had never been to a city. He was already quite surprised when he saw Yongning Prefecture. When he arrived at Shanhaiguan, he was so shocked that he was speechless.

"Master Pu," Sun Ergou tugged at Old Pu's sleeve, "Do you think the Tartars could climb up this wall?"

Old Pu stared at the dense crenellations on the city wall, tapping his pipe against the edge of the cart: "If the Tartars want to cross Shanhaiguan, I'm afraid they'll have to spend all their lives to climb up."

Looking at the imposing pass, Chen Feng suddenly had a thought: If it weren't for Wu Sangui, how much effort would it have taken for the Later Jin to invade?

At that time, Wu Sangui was only twenty years old and had just begun to make a name for himself in western Liaoning. No one could have imagined that this young man would be able to influence the fate of the Ming Dynasty more than a decade later.

"Boss," Zhao Sheng leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "What did you say happened to Wu Sangui?"

Chen Feng snapped out of his daze, not expecting that his unconscious mutterings had been overheard by the other man.

"It's nothing," Chen Feng said, gazing at the city gate. "I just thought of someone."

Zhao Sheng frowned. "That kid's only in his early twenties. Does the boss know him?"

"I don't recognize him..." Chen Feng shook his head, paused, and added, "I've only heard of him."

Just as Zhao Sheng was about to ask another question, a group of people suddenly emerged from the city gate of Xiluo City.

Wearing a blue and white mandarin duck battle jacket and an embroidered spring knife at his waist, he was none other than a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The leader of the Imperial Guards was in his thirties, with fair skin and a clean-shaven chin, and looked like a captain.

The centurion's gaze swept over the group, finally settling on Chen Feng. "Is this Chen Feng?"

Chen Feng felt a chill run down his spine. He thought it would be Song Wei or Wu Xiang's men coming to find him, but he didn't expect that the first to arrive would be the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But how did the Embroidered Uniform Guard know that he was going to Shanhaiguan today, and why did they block him at the city gate?

Chen Feng was unsure of the proper etiquette. Kneeling on both knees seemed too subservient, while not bowing felt disrespectful to the emperor's personal guard.

Although it's unknown whether the Embroidered Uniform Guard actually possessed the "Book of Impermanence" depicted in a later film, it was best not to offend them during the Ming Dynasty.

He composed himself and gave a respectful fist and palm salute: "I am Chen Feng. May I ask how I should address you, sir?"

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not answer. He looked him up and down, and then looked at the five men dressed as night scouts behind him: Zhao Sheng, Meng Changgeng, Hao Dadao, Sun Ergou, Aji, and Lao Putou.

Twelve people, escorted by a Manchu, and three carts carrying armor and weapons—all of this matched the intelligence.

The captain's lips twitched, and he barked, "Chen Feng, come with me to the centurion's office! The centurion has something to ask you!"

Before Chen Feng could answer, the other Imperial Guards had already surrounded him.

Even if Zhao Sheng was bold and Hao Dadao was reckless, they would not dare to act rashly in front of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The others reacted similarly, repeatedly backing away.

........................

Inside the fortress, in a secluded three-courtyard compound, lies the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) Hundred-Household Office of Shanhaiguan.

Originally, there was no Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) Hundred-Household Office in Shanhaiguan. After the supervising eunuch Gao Qiqian took office, in order to facilitate the transmission of secret orders and the detection of spies within and outside the pass, he ordered the accompanying Hundred-Household Office to be temporarily established.

Meanwhile, Li Ruolian, a centurion accompanying the army, was confronting the supervising eunuch Gao Qiqian in the centurion's quarters.

Li Ruolian, courtesy name Chengfu, sobriquet Fangshan.

He was a military scholar who passed the imperial examination in the first year of the Chongzhen reign and served as the commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, he angered the emperor by being implicated in the wrongful conviction of Yuan Chonghuan and was dismissed from his post and sent back to his hometown on charges of "misjudging a serious crime by a light sentence".

However, because Emperor Chongzhen valued his talent, he demoted him to the rank of centurion. During the crisis at Dalinghe, he was sent to Shanhaiguan to supervise the army along with Gao Qiqian.

At noon today, Gao Qiqian received a secret letter from Zhang Guoyuan. Gao Qiqian was overjoyed to have found Chen Feng and ordered his confidants to intercept Chen Feng and his party.

However, a trusted eunuch advised that Gao Qiqian's status was too different from Chen Feng's, and it was not appropriate for him to meet with Chen Feng personally.

Furthermore, Wang Yingchao's letter stated that Chen Feng was from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was the emperor's personal guard. If Gao Qiqian directly intervened because of Chen Feng's Embroidered Uniform Guard background, he would inevitably be accused of interfering with the emperor's personal guard.

If Li Ruolian were to report this matter to the emperor, whether the emperor would believe it or not was another matter. However, if it displeased the emperor, the matter would not go well.

Therefore, the trusted eunuch suggested that Gao Qiqian instruct Li Ruolian to come forward and make Chen Feng admit that Wang Yingchao had instructed him to carry out the secret mission.

Even if Li Ruolian were to submit a memorial to the emperor, Gao Qiqian would have an excuse to shirk responsibility.

Gao Qiqian agreed, but considering Li Ruolian's personality and the conflict with the eunuchs, he still hesitated.

However, none of the officers in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who were close to Gao Qiqian were among those who came to supervise the army this time, so the matter could only be handled by Li Ruolian.

So an hour ago, he found Li Ruolian and ordered Li Ruolian to mobilize all the Jinyiwei guards in Shanhaiguan to guard the city gates. Once Chen Feng appeared, he was to take control of Chen Feng and bring him to the Hundred Household Office.

Gao Qiqian initially said that Chen Feng was suspected of colluding with the enemy and that a thorough investigation was needed.

Li Ruolian was particularly sensitive to the words "colluding with the enemy." He was demoted because he wanted to exonerate a carpenter who was accused of "colluding with the enemy."

No matter how much Li Ruolian pressed for details, Gao Qiqian refused to budge, so he had no choice but to send out all his Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards).

Once only Li Ruolian and Gao Qiqian remained in the hall, Li Ruolian asked again, "Eunuch Gao, is this Chen Feng truly a spy for the Later Jin?"

Gao Qiqian felt uncomfortable under his gaze and gave a dry laugh: "Commander Li, when did I ever say that Chen Feng was a traitor?"

He paused, then softened his voice, "Our family is afraid that the news will leak out and someone else will beat us to it."

Li Ruolian didn't answer, staring at him for a long time before finally saying, "Eunuch Gao, what exactly happened?"

Gao Qiqian hesitated for a moment, took two steps closer, and lowered his voice to say that Chen Feng had made a great contribution, but the Shanhai Guard was preparing to take credit for him and had him detained by the Shanhai Guard.

However, such vague statements could not convince Li Ruolian. Under Li Ruolian's repeated questioning, Gao Qiqian had no choice but to reveal Chen Feng's achievements.

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Ruolian's expression out of the corner of his eye.

At first, Li Ruolian didn't take it seriously, but the more he listened, the more shocked he became. An unknown soldier had blown up the Later Jin's grain and fodder camp, killed three thousand enemies, and even killed a Jiala Ejen in battle.

This incredible achievement, if this person had some connections, could have been promoted from a lowly soldier to a third-rank military officer!

While shocked, Li Ruolian couldn't help but feel a little tempted.

Although the new emperor had taken serious action to crack down on the "eunuch faction" since his ascension to the throne, even though Wei Zhongxian had been dead for more than three years, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still could not completely shake off the influence of being the lackeys of the Eastern Depot.

The Eastern Depot still held the power to supervise the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and a large number of people in the Embroidered Uniform Guard had intricate connections with the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot.

When supervising the army, the main supervisors were eunuchs, and the emperor trusted the eunuchs' battle reports more.

When Li Ruolian served as the commander of the Northern Garrison, he was determined to free the Embroidered Uniform Guard from the control of the eunuchs, and this opportunity may be just around the corner.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guard could take credit for this, not only would they gain a fierce general, but their status in the emperor's heart would also rise, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to completely get rid of the Eastern Depot in the future.

Gao Qiqian continued, "Li Baihu, you should know that although Chen Feng is from your Jinyiwei background, he was indeed sent out by Eunuch Wang."

Seeing that Li Ruolian did not respond, he continued, "But for some reason, the Shanhaiwei detained Chen Feng. This time, I troubled you to go to great lengths to find him, because I wanted to take him directly to the capital to meet the emperor, and I didn't want others to take the credit."

After saying that, Gao Qiqian stared intently at Li Ruolian.

Gao Qiqian narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing that Li Ruolian still didn't respond, he knew that Li Ruolian had something on her mind.

He swayed slightly. "Commander Li, I know you're a favorite of His Majesty, but Eunuch Cao (Cao Huachun, the head eunuch of the Eastern Depot) and Eunuch Wang (Wang Chengen, the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial) are no less influential than you. If you're willing to cooperate this time, Commander Li, a few good words from them might put in your favor, and it's not impossible for you to be reinstated..."

Gao Qiqian was about to speak again when a voice from a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) came from outside the hall, "Reporting to the centurion, Chen Feng has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiqian gave Li Ruolian a deep look before retreating behind the screen inside the hall.

Li Ruolian turned to the outside of the hall and saw four Imperial Guards bringing in a young man.

The young man knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in greeting, and bowed his head: "This humble official, Chen Feng, greets Commander Baihu."