The common people gathered on the western shore of the Liao River grew more and more numerous.
The Later Jin soldiers cursed as they urged the civilians to cross the river.
I held my arquebus, hitting whatever I pointed at, one shot, one kill.
The western shore of the Liao River was noisy, the sound of a single gun seemed thin.
The Later Jin soldiers didn’t take me seriously at all. Most of them were busy driving the civilians across the river. Me, alone with a gun, was like a stone thrown into the sea, only able to stir up a small splash.
I spurred my horse towards the person wearing a high-domed helmet, who was surrounded by a group of cavalry.
Like peeling an onion, my arquebus first targeted the outermost ring of cavalry.
These Later Jin cavalrymen were not lambs to the slaughter, they raised their sabers and spears and pounced on me.
As soon as one row of cavalry fell, another row filled in behind.
These Later Jin cavalrymen seemed to be bewitched, each unafraid of death, exceptionally brave.
I also noticed a group of cavalry trying to circle around behind me to outflank me.
I remained calm and unhurried, dealing with them methodically, hitting whatever I pointed at, one shot, one kill.
I got closer and closer to the group of cavalry: two hundred meters, one hundred and fifty meters, one hundred meters.
It seemed like I was struggling, but actually, it was a feint. My real target was the person wearing the high-domed helmet.
When I was only about eighty meters away from the person wearing the high-domed helmet, I saw that the front of his helmet had a brim and a drooping forehead guard, with ear protectors attached to both sides.
Looking closer, his armor was integrated from the upper and lower body, and the armor was a cloth-covered armor structure.
“Bang!”
Taking advantage of the moment when that person turned his head to look elsewhere, I suddenly fired a shot at his face. The person fell from his horse to the ground, and the Later Jin cavalry was thrown into chaos.
After a while, almost all the cavalrymen gathered around the person who had been shot and fell to the ground.
In the group, a sturdy cavalryman picked up the person who had been shot and fell to the ground and put him on his horse, then carried him and galloped towards the eastern shore of the Liao River.
The rearguard cavalry retreated towards the eastern shore of the Liao River, shouting loudly.
The Later Jin soldiers responsible for escorting the civilians across the river, as if they had received some news, no longer cared about escorting the people and retreated to the western shore of the Liao River.
Those people standing on the bank of the Liao River looked at me from afar and slowly walked towards me.
Someone in the crowd said something loudly, and these people all knelt on the ground, kowtowing to thank me.
Looking at this scene, I was filled with emotion and couldn’t help but shed tears.
In today’s live broadcast, I gained more than ten million followers and more than ten million messages.
Everyone said that I had promoted the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty, vented anger for the Han people, and protected hundreds of thousands of civilians from being slaughtered.
Some people said that the person wearing the high-domed helmet was Nurhaci, and some people said that the person was a general under Nurhaci.
Back in the Royal Palace, Zhu Youxiao wanted to bestow upon me the title of “Duke Who Pacifies the Nation.” All the civil and military officials of the Imperial Court said that the Emperor was wise, but one person advised Zhu Youxiao to think twice about rewarding merit.
“Your Majesty, this person is only good at using firearms. If he is given the title of Duke Who Pacifies the Nation, I am afraid that he will not live up to his name, and it would not be good if people talk about it,” said Li Jinzhong, the Supervising Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Yesterday, after Zhu Youxiao heard that I had defeated the Later Jin’s army and had prevented the people of the Ming Dynasty from being slaughtered, he was overjoyed.
Li Jinzhong then advised Zhu Youxiao to grant amnesty to the world. Zhu Youxiao felt that Li Jinzhong’s words made sense, and immediately issued an edict to grant amnesty to the world.
Zhu Youxiao, on a whim, bestowed upon Li Jinzhong the name “Zhongxian” and allowed him to change back to his original surname, Wei.
In fact, Li Jinzhong’s original name was Wei Jinzhong. After his father died, his mother remarried, and he took his stepfather’s surname, Li, and followed his stepfather’s surname, Li.
Li Jinzhong had always wanted to change back to the Wei surname. Some time ago, when he was chatting with Zhu Youxiao, he told him what he was thinking.
And so, yesterday in the Imperial Court, Zhu Youxiao fulfilled Li Jinzhong’s dream.
Of course, the name “Wei Zhongxian” would not be used until next month. This month, Li Jinzhong was still called Li Jinzhong.
Why did the name given this month have to wait until next month to be used?
The Imperial Court had its own rules, just like our current officials have a “publicity period” before they are promoted.
After listening to Li Jinzhong’s advice, Zhu Youxiao looked at Li Jinzhong and said, “How do you know that he can only use firearms? The General Who Conquers the Invaders defeated the Later Jin’s army, so he should be a person of both literary and military talent. If you don’t believe it, we will ask the General Who Conquers the Invaders to show us.”
Li Jinzhong’s provocative meaning was obvious. Whether or not I was given the title of “Duke Who Pacifies the Nation,” I didn’t care, but I didn’t accept it in my heart or in my words when he said that I could only play with firearms.
“I don’t know how Your Majesty wants me to show it?” I looked at Emperor Zhu Youxiao and said.
“Your Majesty, this old servant suggests that he compete with the three top Imperial guards in our palace to see if he is a person of both literary and military talent, or if he just relied on firearms to scare away the Later Jin soldiers by luck,” Li Jinzhong glanced at me and then looked at Zhu Youxiao and said.
“This suggestion is good. I and the civil and military officials also want to see the General Who Conquers the Invaders’ supreme martial arts. I wonder what the General Who Conquers the Invaders thinks?” Zhu Youxiao listened to Li Jinzhong’s slander, and he also began to think that I relied on firearms to scare away the Later Jin soldiers by luck.
“As a Han, it is my duty to drive out foreign invaders. If Your Majesty wants to give me the title of Duke Who Pacifies the Nation today, I also feel that I cannot bear it,” as soon as I finished saying this, I saw Li Jinzhong laughing slyly.
I then continued, “Since Eunuch Li just suggested that I compete with the three top Imperial guards in the palace, I also want to take the opportunity to see the unparalleled martial arts of our Imperial guards.”
“Okay, Palace Official (Zhu Youxiao’s name for Li Jinzhong), you arrange for the three top Imperial guards and the General Who Conquers the Invaders to compete in this Imperial Court. It should only be a friendly competition, and do not hurt anyone,” Zhu Youxiao said with a serious face.
Before long, a thin, tall person and two strong men holding weapons walked into the hall.
After the two strong men bent down and put down the weapons in their hands, the three immediately knelt down to pay homage to Emperor Zhu Youxiao.
Li Jinzhong quickly walked among the civil and military officials and asked them to retreat to both sides of the hall.
I carefully observed the weapons held by the two strong men: one was a saber, and the other was a dragon-blade spear.
This saber was about one meter long, with an oval-shaped guard, a narrow blade, a slightly curved body, blood grooves on both sides, a sharp tip, and no round ring at the end of the handle.
The saber was the most important short-handled weapon in the Ming Dynasty, mainly for chopping, but also for stabbing.
The dragon-blade spear was a large sword blade mounted on the shaft of a spear. The spearhead was arrow-shaped, able to cut and stab.
Although firearms were the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty’s army, spears were still the “first among bladed weapons.”
At that time, the spears equipped by the army mainly included four-corner spears, arrow-shaped spears, and dragon-blade spears. The dragon-blade spear could not only cut people, but also stab people. It was a very deadly long-handled spear.
Ming Dynasty officers wore swords as ornaments, but in battle, they mostly used spears and sabers, and rarely used swords for combat.
What weapon should I use?
Just as I was thinking, a eunuch walked in from outside the hall and handed me a white staff that he was holding.