Chapter 475 Spreading Rumors
Early on the second day, Lin Changning and Qi Rong led two squads of personal guards to head towards Shunde Prefecture.
The Shunde Prefecture of today must have been very strict in its inspections in the past. As for waging a war of public opinion, Lin Changning is quite familiar with it; he was the one who pinned those black marks on the emperor's head.
Commander Qian rode at the front on horseback, followed by two teams of disguised guards. Lin Changning and Qi Rong walked beside Commander Qian.
The group rode their horses rapidly toward Shunde City. As they approached, sure enough, a force of about 4,000 men was stationed outside the city, about 5 li away.
They must be reinforcements from the imperial court; judging by how well-organized the troops are, they seem to have just arrived.
"Wow, look at these four or five thousand men. Your Highness guessed correctly; the imperial court has indeed brought troops to our aid."
Commander Qian rode his horse and gazed at the rising smoke from the chimneys where the imperial reinforcements were stationed. Lin Changning also looked in that direction.
"Judging from how well the team is organized, it looks like they just arrived last night."
Qi Rong nodded: "Judging from that flag, it should have been transferred directly from the capital, but I don't know who is leading the troops."
Nowadays, the number of well-known military generals in the court can be counted on one's fingers. Most of the capable generals had joined the King of Chu when they were guarding the border together in their early years.
Those currently in Beijing are either too old or too young and lack experience.
The emperor valued civil officials more than military ones, and many generals spent their lives fighting on the frontier to defend against the Tartars. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for the emperor to mobilize troops from all over the country except for the directly subordinate Beijing Garrison.
Even the 200,000-strong army that attacked King Sheng this year was pieced together from various sources. Even if they wanted to get here, it would take them some time. Moreover, with supplies not yet arriving, it would be very difficult to take action even if they wanted to.
Commander Qian sat on his horse and pondered for a while: "If it were those good-for-nothings from the Beijing Garrison, these people wouldn't be a problem."
Lin Changning looked at Qi Rong with some doubt. How could the emperor's directly subordinate army be incompetent? Shouldn't they all be elite soldiers selected from among thousands?
Qi Rong glanced at Commander Qian while riding his horse. As the group continued on their way, Qi Rong, standing beside Lin Changning, said, "Little Six, are you curious? Why does Uncle Qian call those officials in the Beijing Garrison 'good-for-nothings'?"
Lin Changning hummed in agreement: "I am indeed a little curious. Shouldn't the emperor's subordinates all be elite soldiers and generals?"
Upon hearing Lin Changning's words, Commander Qian suddenly burst into laughter: "Little Six, you arrived late, so naturally you don't know what's going on in the capital. Logically speaking, the troops under the emperor's command should all be elite soldiers and generals. It's just a pity that our Emperor did something stupid when he ascended the throne."
Lin Changning looked at Commander Qian curiously, wanting to know what it was all about. Qi Rong let out a few muffled laughs: "There's nothing that can't be said. It's just that when our Emperor ascended the throne, in order to gain the support of the nobles of Yun, he promised that the sons of the nobles of Yun in the capital could enter the capital garrison."
At this point, Commander Qian chuckled and continued, "Those spoiled brats, let alone fighting, are lucky if they can even lift a knife. But those good-for-nothings, relying on their fathers' achievements, have all secured official positions with the emperor. They've never fought a war, and they don't even go to military drills on a regular basis."
After a moment of silence, Lin Changning shook his head: "Does the Emperor have no objections?"
Commander Qian snorted coldly: "So what if they have objections? The youngest of these young men's fathers is a Earl. Our Emperor has only been on the throne for three years and hasn't even settled into his position yet. Naturally, he won't offend this group of nobles. Even if he wants to deal with them, it will take time."
Qi Rong responded, "Yes, it's just a pity that our Emperor probably doesn't have much time left."
Lin Changning thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue twice.
After traveling for half a day, they finally arrived in Shunde. The city gates were indeed under martial law. Lin Changning and his group ran around the city for a long time but couldn't find a place to enter.
Lin Changning scratched his head helplessly: "If we want to get into the city, we can only climb over the city wall where there are fewer people. All the city gates are closed, so we can't get in at all."
Commander Qian nodded, "But it's not just us. Didn't you see those people outside the city? They can't get in either. If a fight really breaks out, all of them will probably be..."
"Second Brother, how are we getting into the city tonight? Are we going to use grappling hooks to climb in, or are we going in with the other people?"
When they came out this morning, the young master of the Xie family had already made fake identity passes for them, so there shouldn't be any problem for them to enter Shunde City.
At this point, we must mention the meticulousness of the Xie family members. When they decided to pledge allegiance to the King of Chu, they secretly noted down the seals of the travel permits from various places.
We worked through the night to deliver it to them.
Lin Changning touched the travel permit in his arms with some helplessness: "The city gates are all closed, so this travel permit is of no use."
Qi Rong was about to suggest climbing in at night if necessary when he saw two scouts running quickly from the direction of the city gate.
"Sir, the city gates are open, and they are currently checking the people outside the city. Shall we go over?"
Lin Changning looked at Commander Qian, who then rolled over and stood up, patting the dust off his backside.
"The gate is open? If it is, then come in with the people."
As he spoke, he prepared to lead his men into the city in a grand manner, but Lin Changning hurriedly pulled Qian, the commander, back: "Commander, don't rush. Let our men split into six teams and then enter the city gate."
They brought a total of 30 people, each with 10 guards. Taking over a city gate was definitely not enough, but they should have no problem sneaking in after disguising themselves.
However, if they all went in, they would be too conspicuous, so they had to disperse the people first before sneaking into the city.
After scattering the people, Lin Changning and Qi Rong accompanied the farmers who went into the mountains to chop firewood, each carrying two bundles of firewood as they entered the city gate.
Commander Qian disguised himself as a hunter, wearing two animal skins and carrying a bow and arrows, and swaggered into the city.
Others were selling vegetables and fish, all disguised as street vendors, and prepared to sneak into the city through different gates.
Lin Changning wiped his clean face with dust, wearing coarse linen clothes, carrying a bundle of firewood on his shoulder, and holding his identity certificate and travel permit in his arms, followed Qi Rong toward the city gate.
"Hey, you two, you two wood-carrying lads!"
Lin Changning followed behind Qi Rong, wiped his face, put down a large bundle of firewood, and looked at Qi Rong bowing and scraping as he addressed the soldiers guarding the city: "Hey, sir, what is it? These are my and my brother's travel permits, please take a look."
As he spoke, Lin Changning handed the forged travel permit and identity document to the soldier at the city gate. The travel permit and identity document were both aged, and the soldier took them and looked at them for a few moments without finding anything unusual.
They just felt that the two people were a little unusual. They touched their bodies and found no weapons. The firewood was normal, with nothing mixed in, just dry firewood from the mountains.
After scrutinizing the two men for a while, the soldier frowned and handed back their travel permits and identification documents.
"Let it go!"
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