The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Of course, he doesn't doubt Yang Zhen's loyalty and courage in history.

He simply felt that Yang Zhenming's actions in history, knowing there were tigers in the mountains but still venturing into them, were completely like someone who knew death was imminent but was willing to face it and even found it sweet.

He can't do that.

Perhaps the one in history, after experiencing countless bloody battles and intrigues, already knew the outcome on the day he was ordered to set off, and already felt the desolation of seeing the edifice about to collapse but being powerless to stop it.

However, Yang Zhen doesn't want to die yet, or rather, he doesn't want to die like this, he doesn't want to knowingly die.

Whether it was by chance, by divine arrangement, or by some unknown supernatural force, since he has come to this parallel universe, he must play a role in changing history in this parallel universe.

Nowadays, he can't and won't succeed in feigning illness and hiding like a coma, unless he stays in a coma forever.

So all that's left is to accept fate and try to survive.

So after failing to meet with Zu Dashou and the Liaodong governor yesterday, he returned to his camp outside the East Gate. Using his position as the deputy general of Ningyuan, he had his subordinates Li Lu and Zhang Degui, under the guise of his deputy general status, beg and plead to borrow more than a dozen kinds of individual firearms of various sizes from the Ningyuan Armory and the wagon camp.

Historically, Yang Zhen came from a family of garrison commanders, whose ancestors had held the hereditary position of commander of the Guangning Houtun Garrison for over two hundred years.

Born into a chaotic era, he joined the army at a young age. He had a family with a long history of learning and was a veteran of many battles, so he was known for his skill in riding and archery.

However, Yang Zhen now clearly understands that in this critical situation, no matter how strong his personal archery skills are, he cannot defeat the overwhelming cavalry and arrow rain of the Manchu Eight Banners.

The only chance for him to survive right now is to make good and full use of the firearms and equipment available in Ningyuan City.

Therefore, starting from that morning, Yang Zhen sent his men with his own flag to the military administration office in Ningyuan General's Mansion to make a notification as a form of reporting. Then, he began to test various firearms and muskets in the small training ground at the East Gate.

Yang Zhen tried out all sorts of firearms, including muskets, sniper rifles, bird guns, trebuchets, the Five Thunder Divine Machine, the Divine Fire Flying Crow, the Nine-Headed Bird, the Three-Eyed Gun, the Swift Thunder Gun, and the Four-Eyed Iron Spear.

There were also some weapons that could not be tested directly in the small training grounds within the city, such as the small breech-loading cannon, the ten-thousand-person weapon, and the repeating cannon.

There were also various types of ignition and throwing firearms from the late Ming Dynasty, such as relatively primitive landmines, including stone mines, ceramic mines, cast iron mines, and dragon king cannons.

These firearms were either extremely troublesome to load, posed a great danger to the user, or were too noisy and could easily cause adverse effects in Ningyuan City and damage the small training ground. Therefore, Yang Zhen did not dare to try them out.

However, based on the ones he had already tried, apart from the relatively common matchlock gun, the arquebus, which had much room for improvement, Yang Zhen still hadn't found anything that could be easily modified to turn the tide for him, even after three hours from dawn to noon.

The so-called four-eyed iron spear, which he had once pinned some hope on, was also a great disappointment after this battle.

The power of the four-eyed iron spear is slightly stronger than that of the three-eyed gun. However, although the "four-eyed iron spear" is called a spear, it is not fundamentally different from the three-eyed gun. It is just a bit longer and larger, with an extra barrel. After the gunpowder and bullets are used up, it can be used as a long weapon.

On the first day of the third month, at noon, Yang Zhen, full of hope, finished firing the four-eyed iron spear. Somewhat disheartened, his face filled with disappointment, he put down the spear, sighed, and said to Zhang Degui, who had been accompanying him:

"Brother Zhang! Our Ningyuan City has never been captured by the Tartars before. Could it be that all the firearms we've accumulated over the past decade are of this quality?!"

Upon hearing Yang Zhen's words, the burly middle-aged man named Zhang Degui immediately bowed and said solemnly, without mentioning the firearms, "Sir, please don't address me like that! I would never dare to accept being called Brother!"

"Back when I was in Guangning City, I swore to follow the old commander to the death, and it has been seventeen years now! Now the old commander is gone, Guangning City is gone, and Yizhou City is gone, but you are still here, sir!"

"As long as you are here, our Houtun Guard will have a leader, the court will not be able to remove our Houtun Guard, and our Houtun Guard will still exist! As long as the Houtun Guard still exists, the rules of hierarchy among us must never be broken!"

"If the rules are broken, if the commander doesn't act like a commander, and the centurions don't act like centurions, then is this still our Houtun Guard?"

Upon hearing this tongue-twisting, repetitive speech, Yang Zhen was speechless for a moment, scratching his head in frustration.

However, when he looked at Zhang Degui's dark, scarred, and weathered face, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Now he knows that the person who knelt beside his kang (a heated brick bed) and wailed several times while he was in a coma, rambling on about the past, was Zhang Degui, who was over forty years old and came from Houtunwei in Guangning.

Yang Zhen at the moment has no idea when his predecessor inherited the position of commander of the Guangning Houtun Guard.

However, in Ningyuan City, his official flag clearly read "Yang, Commander of Guangning Rear Garrison of Liaodong Commandery, and Deputy General of Ningyuan".

This indicates that the previous commander of Guangning Houtunwei, who was also his father and the previous head of the eldest branch of the Yang family of Guangning Houtunwei, was no longer alive.

Since the Tianqi era, there have been so many wars in Liaodong that Yang Zhen has no way of knowing which year his father died or in which war.

However, he was very certain that the group of old soldiers, personal guards and retainers who came from the Guangning Houtunwei were the foundation for his continued survival in this chaotic world.

These men now number less than two hundred, and they are of varying ages, some are old, some are young, some are wounded, and some are disabled. However, they are all valiant soldiers who have survived countless battles.

Yang Zhen was in a hurry to inspect all the individual firearms stored in Ningyuan City, and had neither the time nor the mood to dwell on the old stories of Guangning Houtunwei.

Besides, I'm not familiar with those old stories, and it would be bad if they saw through my disguise.

Seeing that Zhang Degui was fussing over these details of hierarchy, he quickly changed the subject, saying, "Where's Li Lu? Where did he go? Why haven't we seen him all this time? Do you have any other suitable firearms?"

"My lord! Li Lu went to Commander Zu's residence to borrow firearms from Zu Keyong! I heard that when Commander Zu was stationed in Ningyuan a few years ago, he obtained a batch of Lu Mi guns made during the Wanli era from the old armory of the Ningyuan chariot camp! Nobody has ever seen them, but I heard they are now under Commander Zu's command, managed by Zu Keyong, the commander of the Central Army under Commander Zu!"

Zhang Degui answered Yang Zhen's question again, and then said in a low voice, "Zu Keyong—General Zu, is a nephew of Marshal Zu, and currently serves as a military advisor under Marshal Zu. He is highly trusted by Marshal Zu!"

Zu Keyong is a member of the Ningyuan Ancestral Family, but belongs to a minor branch or distant lineage within the Ningyuan Ancestral Family.

In the spring of the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign, in the third month, during the rescue of the Battle of Songshan, Commander Zu sent him to Jinzhou to deliver a message, so he went with Yang Zhen.

However, Yang Zhen was wounded and captured, and eventually died in the battle. As for Zu Keyong, after being captured, there was no news of him since, and he disappeared from history.

When Yang Zhen read that period of history in later years, he had doubts that Zu Keyong was 99.99% sure he surrendered after being captured.

After all, at that time, many of Zu Dashou's brothers, nephews and nieces had already surrendered to the Manchus and taken up official positions in the Manchus. Therefore, it was entirely possible that Zu Keyong chose to surrender after being captured.

As for Zukeyong, after his surrender, he disappeared without a trace. The reason for this is probably that he was not entirely devoid of conscience. Although he surrendered after being captured, he did not choose to serve the Manchu Qing dynasty.

Upon hearing Zhang Degui's words, Yang Zhen learned that Li Lu had gone to Zu Keyong to borrow the legendary Lu Mi gun, and his hope was rekindled.

However, he was still uneasy, and frowning, he said to Zhang Degui, "I have no relation to Zu Keyong. If Li Lu uses my name to go to Zu Keyong, Zu Keyong may not see him, and even if he does, he may not be able to borrow him!"

Zhang Degui looked at Yang Zhen with suspicion and said, "Has the Commander forgotten? That kid Li Lu saved Zu Keyong's life!"

"Oh?! -- Oh dear! Look, I completely forgot about this! I injured my head in the fall from the horse, and now I can't quite remember many things from before!"

Hearing Zhang Degui's words, Yang Zhen immediately felt relieved. He rubbed his head and smiled wryly, using this as a way to cover up his embarrassment: "That's good! That's good! Having more friends means having more options—"

As Yang Zhenzheng was speaking, he heard the sound of hooves coming from afar. He turned around and soon saw a strong young man in full armor dismount at the entrance of the small training ground. He threw the reins to the soldiers on duty at the entrance, took a gun-like object from his horse, held it with both hands, and walked over quickly and excitedly.

"My lord! Li Lu is back! Looks like he managed to borrow it!"

No sooner had Zhang Degui finished speaking than Yang Zhen heard Li Lu, a dozen paces away, shout, "Commander! Try this Lumi musket again! This one will surely please you!"