Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 52: Rebuilding the Ming Dynasty, starting from Huailai
Badaling City Gate has long since returned to its former tranquility.
Kuang Ye stood on the city wall every day, looking to the north, and stood there for the entire day.
Apart from being busy with his current tasks, Luo Tong would spend the rest of his time standing on the street with Kuang Ye.
The howling north wind blew in my face , making my face hurt.
"Minister Kuang, it's getting dark, let's go back!"
"Um!"
Kuang Ye nodded but did not move.
Luo Tong sighed secretly and said, "Minister Kuang, let's stop here today."
"Um!"
Kuang Ye nodded again, still without moving.
"Minister Kuang..."
"Help me up, my legs are numb!"
Luo Tong was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward to support Kuang Ye, and was about to walk down from the city wall when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves.
Kuang Ye seemed to sense something. He turned around suddenly and saw a dozen fast horses galloping from the west.
When he saw that it came from the west, the hope in his eyes dimmed again.
On this road, the memorials might be sent from Datong or Xuanfu.
Kuang Ye looked towards the north again, and the empty grassland was in sight, without even a ghost in sight.
He sighed and continued walking down the city wall.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and in an instant they arrived at the city gate. The guards on the city wall shouted, "Who is coming?"
As the horse neighed, a voice was heard.
"I am Li Zhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng. I am here to go to Juyongguan Pass by order. Open the gate immediately!"
Suddenly, Kuang Ye was stunned.
Then he ran back to the city wall like a madman, staring at the knight on the horse.
"Xiangcheng Bo, is that you?"
Li Zhen raised his head and asked in surprise: "Minister Kuang, why are you here?"
Kuang Ye looked at Li Zhen in disbelief, his eyes filled with tears of excitement.
"Xiangcheng Bo, aren't you with the emperor? Is the emperor okay?"
Li Zhen replied: "Don't worry, the emperor is in Huailai City!"
"God bless you, God bless you!"
Kuang Ye's legs went limp and he knelt on the ground and burst into tears.
Luo Tong didn't bother to comfort Kuang Ye, and hurriedly ordered the city gate to be opened to welcome Li Zhen and his party into the barracks.
Kuang Ye cried all the way from the city wall to the barracks, which made Li Zhen feel uneasy. He wondered what was wrong with this old man and what happened at home.
Luo Tong asked: "Mr. Xiangcheng, why didn't the emperor return to Beijing directly, but stayed in Huailai?"
"That's exactly what I came here for!"
At that moment, Li Zhen told the story about the Huailai City guards who killed innocent people and took credit for their crimes.
After hearing this, Luo Tong gnashed his teeth in anger and said, "These damned bastards should be chopped to pieces!"
"The emperor took this matter very seriously and ordered these people to be beheaded on the spot. However, Huailai City is already empty, so the emperor ordered us to come and find Lord Luo to transport some supplies to Huailai as soon as possible to help the people in the city."
Luo Tong nodded and said, "There is no time to lose. I will make arrangements overnight and we will set off early tomorrow morning!"
"Wait a moment!"
Li Zhen stopped him and asked, "Where are the people that the emperor rescued when he went out of the city now?"
Luo Tong replied: "Since the Oirat withdrew their troops, most of those people have been sent back to their hometowns. Currently, there are more than a thousand people left homeless. They are temporarily staying in Juyongguan, doing odd jobs on weekdays and helping to transport some supplies."
Li Zhen nodded and said, "Bring all these people with you tomorrow and tell them that the emperor will personally distribute houses and land to them so that everyone can live a good life!"
After finishing the business, Kuang Ye came up again and asked, "Mr. Xiangcheng, where has the emperor been these days? Tell me quickly!"
"That's a long story!"
Speaking of the trip to the desert, Li Zhen's face was full of pride, and he began to talk about it...
The next morning, Li Zhen, Kuang Ye, Luo Tong and their party, accompanied by more than a thousand civilians and a large amount of food and supplies, set out from Badaling and headed all the way to Huailai City.
Since they were transporting supplies, the team moved relatively slowly and did not arrive until dark.
At this time, Huailai City had been taken over by the Three Thousand Camp. Ha Ming was guarding the city gate and welcomed Li Zhen and others in.
"Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
"Your Majesty, long live the emperor!"
Kuang Ye and Luo Tong bowed their heads. These days, they looked towards the north from the Badaling city wall every day, just waiting for news.
At this moment, seeing that the emperor was safe and sound, she could no longer suppress her excitement and fell to the ground sobbing.
"My two lords, I am not dead, why are you crying?"
"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words, Your Majesty!"
Kuang Ye said with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty is the true dragon emperor, he should be blessed with great fortune and be able to turn danger into safety!"
"Alright, get up!" Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "Li Zhen, go get two chairs for the two ministers!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at the two old men and asked in confusion, "Kuang Qingjia, why haven't you gone home yet?"
Kuang Ye suddenly became excited again and said, "Your Majesty, you left with the three thousand troops at that time, what should I do? Later, the Wala withdrew their troops, and the Duke of Ying led the army back to the capital first. I have been waiting for Your Majesty to come back at Badaling!"
After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Shangshu Kuang was such a righteous person.
I had been thinking of letting Yu Qian take over your position right after this battle, but now it seems I need to think carefully.
"I'm sorry to have worried you. To be honest, I was too impulsive and thoughtless at the beginning. I apologize to you here!"
"Your Majesty, please don't say that!" Kuang Ye shook his head and said, "To risk one's life for just a few thousand people is such a righteous act. Even Emperor Hong Xiren would not be able to do it!"
Zhu Qizhen thought to himself: If you want to praise me, just praise me, don’t step on my grandfather!
"Mr. Kuang, let's take our time with this matter later. I came to Mr. Luo today to discuss something important with you."
Luo Tong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please give your orders!"
Zhu Qizhen's face gradually darkened, and he said, "I guess Li Zhen has told you about what happened in Huailai City?"
Luo Tong nodded and said, "I have heard about this. Such behavior is worse than that of beasts!"
"Commander Kang Neng, Deputy Commander Fan Cheng, and more than 500 soldiers were all executed on the spot!"
Luo Tong's heart trembled, and he said, "It should be so!"
"But what should the people in the city do? I walked around the city recently and saw abandoned houses everywhere, and only one out of ten people are left."
"Your Majesty, I have been ordered to deliver the food and supplies from Juyongguan Pass to help with the urgent need. Also, most of the people that Your Majesty personally rescued have returned home. There are still 1,500 people left, and I have brought them all here."
"Very good!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "These people can just replace the people who have left the city. Huailai City suffered too heavy a blow in this battle. It will take a long time to regain its vitality."
Kuang Ye said: "Your Majesty is right. I think the most urgent thing is for the court to allocate some money and food to help the people, and then reorganize Huailai Guard. The location of Huailai City is crucial, and the court must pay attention to it."
Zhu Qizhen thought so too, but he had further plans.
When renovating and upgrading an old house, all you need to do is just make some repairs.
But if the room is too badly damaged, it would be futile to repair it, and then it would have to be torn down and rebuilt.
If it is a reconstruction, there will be a lot of room for creativity. If I want to build it round, then I will build it round. If I want to build it square, then I will build it square.
The Ming Dynasty will have to be torn down and rebuilt sooner or later, so why not start with Huailai City!
"Lord Luo, I am going to hand over Huailai City to you. What do you think?"
Luo Tong was totally unprepared, but he nodded without hesitation and said, "I obey your order!"
"I don't just want you to be responsible for the defense of Huailai City," Zhu Qizhen continued, "Your family must take on all the responsibilities of military, politics, civil affairs, justice, and education. How do you think?"
"This..." Luo Tong hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I will do my best!"
Zhu Qizhen was very satisfied and said, "Then it's settled. From now on, you will be appointed as the military officer of the Ministry of War and the commander of Huailai Guard, in charge of all the affairs of Huailai City! At the same time, you will be dismissed from the post of garrison commander of Juyong Pass. The Ministry of War will find another suitable candidate for this position and report to me for approval."
"I obey your order!"
"I obey your order!"
Although Luo Tong was a military officer, he was not a meritorious official. Instead, he was a formal imperial examination candidate and became a Jinshi in the tenth year of Yongle.
The difference between literati and uncouth men is that literati can lead troops, but uncouth men cannot manage civil affairs.
"Regarding the reconstruction of Huailai City, I have a preliminary plan. First, we will check the houses and measure the land. The ownerless houses and land will be temporarily managed by the court, and then they will be distributed to the newly relocated people. As for the construction of health and medical facilities, I have written it down on paper. You can read it for yourselves!"
Luo Tong took the paper with some doubt and found it was filled with dense writings about how to build roads, how to drain water, the division of residential and commercial areas, hospitals and schools, and industrial parks...
"Your Majesty, you..."
"Why, what's the problem?"
"No, no!" Luo Tong hurriedly explained, "No problem, it's just too detailed, I can't remember it at the moment, I need to take it back and read it slowly."
