nucmednet Chapter 594 Entering the City
Chapter 594 Entering the City
As long as the other party is willing to open the door, it doesn't matter what they check. Lin San took out the waist token of the Qionghai Town Thousand General that he had specially brought with him, and ordered his men to take out several wooden boxes containing heads, put them in the basket hanging down from the city wall and take them up with him.
Lin Shoubei first checked the waist tag, and the other party was indeed the commander of Qionghai Town. Then he opened the box himself, and inside was indeed the head of a Tartar.
During the late Ming Dynasty, the practice of killing innocent people to claim credit was rampant. In order to receive rewards, some people even learned a skill: disguising the heads of ordinary Han Chinese as Tartar heads. However, the righteous were always one step ahead of the wicked. To verify these disguised heads, many soldiers developed keen eyesight, able to distinguish between genuine and fake Tartars by observing features such as the scalp, teeth, and cheekbones.
After inspecting the boxes, Lin Shoubei was astonished to find that they contained genuine Tartars. According to the rules of the late Ming Dynasty, a Tartar head could be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver, and three heads could secure a position as a battalion commander. It seemed the Guangdong commander hadn't lied; they were indeed quite skilled in warfare.
He glanced enviously at the severed heads a few times, then ordered, "Open the city gates and let them in."
After a few minor setbacks, Lin San finally entered the capital.
The garrison commander Lin, who was stationed at the city gate, approached Lin San and whispered in his ear after Lin San entered: "Commander Lin, so many Tartar heads will definitely alarm the Emperor if we present them. If you don't follow the rules and go straight to the Grand Secretary, you'll be putting the cart before the horse, and both you and the Grand Secretary will be in trouble..."
Although Lin and his two companions were rough around the edges, they were actually quite shrewd. After a moment's thought, they understood the key point. No emperor would want his subordinates to be indiscriminately fighting while he remained completely in the dark, especially when it came to something as prestigious as presenting a severed head. It would certainly be a way to enhance the emperor's image. If they were to bring a severed head to the Grand Secretary, the emperor would definitely be furious.
He gratefully said to Commander Lin, "Thank you for reminding me, brother! I'm just a rough man, and I don't think things through." After thinking for a moment, he felt around on his person and took out a gold leaf—he had taken it from the Tartar when he was dealing with the Tartar's corpse. He had kept two of them at the time only because he thought they were exquisitely crafted and very beautiful. He didn't know which noble family the Tartar had stolen them from. He handed them to Commander Lin.
"Brother, since we're going to do a good deed to the end, why don't you give me some pointers on how to do it?"
Lin Shoubei's eyes lit up as he glanced at the gleaming gold leaf, then quickly took it and put it away, saying, "That's easy. Take your men and the head directly to the Ministry of War and tell the truth. At the same time, send someone to the Grand Secretary's residence to inform him of this matter as soon as possible. That way, whether the cabinet discusses it or reports it directly to the Emperor, there will be room for maneuver. If you don't know the way, I'll send two men, one to take you to the Ministry of War and the other to take your men to the Grand Secretary's residence."
"Alright, let's do it that way. Thank you, brother." After thanking him, Lin San led his men through Chongwen Gate. Under the guidance of the men sent by Commander Lin, they split into two groups, heading towards the Ministry of War and the Grand Secretary's residence, respectively.
After seeing the Tartar heads with their own eyes, the soldiers on the city wall dared not utter any more sarcastic remarks. They simply stood on the wall, watching enviously as cart after cart loaded with heads passed by. These heads were worth a fortune!
Lin San ordered Huang Gan, a deputy captain of his guard, to take the head to the Ministry of War, while he himself, led by men sent by Lin, the garrison commander of the Beijing Garrison, went straight to the residence of Grand Secretary Wen Tiren.
He arrived at the wrong time; Wen Tiren was still at the Wenyuan Pavilion at this hour. Wen Tiren was extremely diligent in clocking in and out, leaving early and returning late. The closer he was to the emperor, the better he could grasp the emperor's mindset and movements.
Lin San inquired about Wen Tiren's whereabouts at the gatehouse and learned that the Grand Secretary usually didn't return to his residence until the hour of You (5-7 PM). Lin San was very disappointed. The General had ordered him to return to Tianjin within three days with the Ministry of War's transfer order. More than a day had already been wasted on the journey, and waiting for Wen Tiren would take another half a day. Two days would pass in the blink of an eye. How could he possibly arrive within three days?
He was so anxious that he paced back and forth, and couldn't help but ask the gatekeeper, "Could you go into the palace and pass a message to the Grand Secretary, asking him to come back sooner?"
The gatekeeper stared at him as if he were a fool and sneered, "Master is busy with countless affairs of state in the cabinet. How could he possibly come back just because of your word? If you're in a hurry, go to the palace and find him yourself!"
As the saying goes, "Even a seventh-rank official is treated like a lowly official before the prime minister's gate," implying that the Grand Secretary's status was similar to that of the prime minister, and even the gatekeeper in his residence was quite arrogant. As he spoke, he sized up the towering man, inwardly thinking: "What a waste of his size! He doesn't understand any manners. Not only does he refuse to give a gate fee, but he also tells the Grand Secretary to go back to his residence. Who does he think he is?" He didn't even bother to ask who Lin San was. In the capital, civil and military officials were as numerous as dogs, and visitors to the Grand Secretary's residence were endless. Governors and generals were also common, but a military officer of this rank was practically unheard of.
Lin San was like a tiger descending the mountain on the battlefield, invincible, but when it came to welcoming and seeing off guests, he felt constrained. Seeing that the gatekeeper was unwilling to deliver a message to the palace, and that he could not enter the palace without being summoned, he could only wait foolishly, wasting time. He was anxious and angry, pacing back and forth in the gatehouse.
A quick-witted soldier quietly reminded him, "Captain, shouldn't we offer some bribes to get the doorman to do things?"
Lin San suddenly realized. The Han people say, "Money makes the world go round." He gave that Commander Huang a gold leaf at the Chongwen Gate, and the man became exceptionally hospitable, even offering to send someone as a guide. Although this man was not of high rank, he was the key figure in determining whether he could meet the Grand Secretary, so he should give him a little something in return.
He asked the soldiers around him, "Do you have any silver on you?"
Several soldiers took out a few loose silver ingots from their bodies, totaling about ten taels, and handed them to him.
Lin San walked up to the doorman, forced a smile, handed over the silver, and said, "I left in a hurry and didn't bring much silver with me. Please help me out. I really have something very important to discuss with the Grand Secretary."
The doorman weighed the handful of silver in his hand; it was about ten taels, quite a lot. A smile immediately spread across his face. He carefully put the silver away and asked, "Which battalion commander are you from, sir? What is your rank? What business do you have with the Chief Minister?"
"I am Lin, the commander of Qionghai Town. I have come to see the Grand Secretary to ask him to persuade the Emperor to mobilize troops from Tianjin..."
"Qionghai Town?" The doorman was stunned, then stood up. "But Qionghai Town in Guangdong? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Lin San was speechless. You didn't ask anything just now; your eyes were looking up at the sky.
The gatekeeper was somewhat flustered. The master had repeatedly instructed him that if anyone from Qionghai Town in Guangdong came looking for him, he must inform them immediately, even if he was on duty in the palace. Anyone who delayed would be beaten and thrown out.