Chapter 48: Newcomer

  Nanjing is located northwest of Shaoxing, not far, but not close either, about 700-800 miles away. At the speed of a lone traveler like Qin Ke, it would take around four or five days to arrive.

  All along the way without a word, the crowd passed through Hangzhou, Huzhou, and after five days finally arrived outside Jubao Gate in Nanjing.

  On the ancient and weathered city wall, the seal character "Ying Tian" is deeply engraved. The city wall is over 60 meters high and is built entirely with giant bricks and stones. The total length of the city wall is about 70 miles. It took 30 years from the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Hongwu period to complete its construction. The reason why it took so much manpower and material resources to build this ancient capital was that Emperor Hongwu adopted the suggestion of Confucian scholar Zhu Sheng during his conquest of the world, "Building high walls, accumulating grain, and slowly claiming the throne". This city is still the largest in the world today.

  To the south, the Qinhuai River serves as a natural moat, with the Zhongshan Mountain to the east and the Houhu Lake to the north. The Xuanwu Gate extends northwestward, stretching the Nanjing city area all the way to the Yangtze River. It can be seen that Emperor Hongwu had great ambitions when he built the capital of the Ming Dynasty, making it as strong as gold and jade, impregnable in both attack and defense.

  Qin Kan stood under the city wall of Nanjing, looking up at the two characters "Ying Tian" covered with moss on the gate, which seemed to be vicissitudes. He slowly breathed out a mouthful of turbid air in his chest, and his mind was clear.

  Six Dynasties ancient capital, Jinling land of scenic beauty, purple air comes from the east, emperor king's capital to govern the world.

  Will this be a new fantasy for his life? In the prosperous era of the great Ming dynasty, where will a traverser take the road, climb which peak, in order to not disappoint this new life?

  Qin Kan wore a bewildered expression, like a small boat on a stormy sea, and in a daze, accompanied by Yang Tian Shou and others, walked into Nanjing City.

  In this year, the 17th year of the Hongzhi era in April, a nineteen-year-old young man was pushed onto the stage of the Great Ming by fate.

  Jin Yiwei Bai Hu took office, the first thing was not to bully men and women in the countryside, this can be said later, the first thing to do is to report to Qian Hu.

  The superior of a hundred households is naturally a thousand households, and military officers are also officials. As an official, one must follow the rules of the officialdom.

  Qin Kan was arranged to enter the Nanjing East City Thousand Households Office.

  The so-called "Dongcheng" refers to the eastern part of Nanjing City, including several streets within the Imperial City. These streets are not simple because almost all the residents here are royal relatives, high-ranking officials and nobles. Even a small marquis would be looked down upon by the gatekeepers of other families when passing through these streets.

  Dongcheng Qianhu Su is located on Xichang'an Street, adjacent to the Nanjing Tongzheng Temple on the right, the Qi Shou Wei Temple and the Qin Tian Jian Temple on the left, and the Wujun Dudu Fu and the Six Ministries of Nanjing in the back.

  Before entering the Qianhu household, Yang Tian Shou raised his eyebrows and smiled very charmingly as he told Qin Kan that on the west side of Xi Chang'an Street, turning into Datong Street, was the Jiao Fang Si (Bureau of Instruction), where all the government officials' wives who had fallen into prostitution were kept. Among them were several women who were as beautiful as flowers and jade, former noble ladies who now served as mistresses to high-ranking officials...

  Qin Kan pursed his lips, he had no interest in the licentious men and women, what he was worried about now was that unseen superior, Commander Qian. If this person was not easy to get along with, or intentionally made things difficult for him, then where would he go?

  The humble and dilapidated residence of the Commander of the Imperial Guards stood on the east side of the main street, with moss growing all over the walls surrounding the entrance, and the red paint on the gate having faded many years ago. It was so unassuming that no one would have ever thought that this small, rundown mansion was actually the residence of the renowned Commander of the Imperial Guards.

  It seems that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is still very obedient, and they do not dare to violate the rules of being an official. After more than a hundred years of struggle, the Embroidered Uniform Guard also fears the mouths of the speaking officials and historians.

  Two strong men stood at the gate, Yang Tian Shou handed over his nameplate and led Qin Kan in.

  The further in he walked, the more Qin Kan felt as if he had entered a historical relic that had been weathered for thousands of years. Everywhere was a scene of desolation and decay, not to the point of "broken walls and crumbling foundations", but enough to be described as "a bleak sight".

  Qin Kan furrowed his brow: "Brother Yang, has our Thousand Households been robbed by bandits?"

  Yang Tian Shou sighed and said: "It wasn't like this before, but a few days ago, Qian Hu had some trouble..."

  "What's wrong?"

  Yang Tian Shou looked around cautiously and lowered his voice, saying: "After Wei Guo Gong's Xu Xiao Gongzi returned from Shaoxing, his temper became even more arrogant. A few days ago, one of our Jin Yiwei guards offended Young Master Gongzi, so he brought his servants to smash up the Qian Hu Suo, then left with a smug expression..."

  Yang Tian Shou looked at Qin Kan with a complex expression, it was clear that he roughly knew about the relationship between Xiao Gongzi and Qin Kan in Shaoxing.

  Perhaps it was also a resentment of Qin Kan's that he didn't keep this scourge in Shaoxing from the very beginning...

  Qin Kan's eyes widened in shock: "………"

  I didn't expect Xupeng Jiu to be so rampant in Nanjing, it seems that this is his true nature as a noble, the incident of smashing Tong's house in Shaoxing was just a gentle breeze for him.

  "How come you don't fight back? Jin Yiwei, apart from being the emperor's personal bodyguards today, who else are we afraid of?" Qin Kan was puzzled.

  Yang Tian Shou exclaimed: "What a joke! The Imperial Guards fear many people, and these nobles are absolutely not to be trifled with. Especially the Duke of Wei, who has been deeply trusted by the emperors of the Ming dynasty for generations, allowing the Xu family to control the military power and guard Nanjing for generations. How dare the Imperial Guards provoke him? Even if the case is brought before the Emperor himself, the Emperor will inevitably favor the Xu family."

  Qin Kan broke out in a cold sweat, the brutal and ferocious Jin Yiwei didn't dare to provoke the Xu family. Thinking that he had severely beaten Xu Pengju before, he suddenly felt a wave of fear, what a serious crime was this?

  I mustn't do such an impulsive thing again in the future!

  "Which bastard in our Jin Yi Wei has offended Young Master?"

  Yang Tian Shou shook his head: "I heard it was a hundred households, leading his brothers to rush into a Qinglou to collect protection fees, coincidentally the young master was inside drinking flower wine, disturbing the young master's elegant mood. That guy was also a newcomer, didn't recognize the young master, retorted a few sentences, and as a result the young master became furious, led people to beat him up badly, not to mention also smashing the thousand households office into pieces..."

  Qin Kan wiped his sweat: "Is he also new here?"

  Yang Tian Shou gazed at him with a profound meaning: "Right, this hundred households took office for only three days and was dismissed by the Imperial Guard, taken back home to recover from his injuries... You are taking over as the new hundred households."

  Qin Kan suddenly understood everything, assigning Nanjing might be the intention of the commander, but arranging him under the East City Thousand Households, it's probably just the plan of the Jin Yiwei underlings in Nanjing, is this to use him to alleviate the anger on the young master's mind?

  "Yang brother, I... and Xiao Gongzi are not familiar with each other either." Qin Kan said with a bitter face.

  Yang Tian Shou shook his head and said, "Brother Qin, your words are not straightforward. From now on, we're all brothers in the Wei household. Let's not beat around the bush. You and Young Master Gong had a rather unusual relationship when you were in Shaoxing. The Wei Manor still needs to rely on you to turn things around."

  Qin Kan said extremely sincerely: "Brother Yang, you have to believe me, I really don't have any relationship with him. To be honest with you, I just beat up the young master in Shaoxing once, and that's all. Apart from that, I'm not familiar with him at all..."

  Yang Tian Shou's eyes widened in horror, his entire face slowly turning green: "…………"

  P.S. I found a map of Nanjing from the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty, and it took me over an hour to study it thoroughly. I can guarantee that the description of Nanjing on it is absolutely accurate.