In the capital of the Great Ming, morning drills were underway.
A brand new army was training under the command of Sun Chuanting.
This army had only recently been formed. After Sun Chuanting was appointed Minister of War and granted the imperial sword of authority, he immediately began building his own force.
He deliberately avoided recruiting the pampered young men of the capital. Instead, he turned his attention to the poor.
Thus this army was assembled from the sons of ordinary villagers.
The process was not easy.
In the territories under the protection of Dao Xuan Tianzun, years of films, theater, and political education had already changed people's thinking. The old saying "a good man does not become a soldier, good iron is not used for nails" had long been discarded.
But near the capital, the old mindset was still deeply rooted.
Most families living in the capital had a little money. None of them wanted their sons to become soldiers.
So Sun Chuanting shifted his recruitment efforts to the countryside outside the capital.
Those villages were poor. They frequently suffered whenever the Qing army crossed the border during raids. Their lives were harsh and uncertain.
These families were far more willing to send their sons to join the army.
Of course, there was one condition.
The pay had to be good.
Fortunately, Sun Chuanting was a man of considerable personal wealth. When the court refused to provide proper military salaries, he paid them himself.
He simply treated the army as if he were raising a personal retinue.
In truth, the Ming court tacitly allowed officials to maintain private household troops.
As long as you did not raise too many men and did not secretly stockpile large amounts of armor, no one would interfere.
Sun Chuanting was currently supervising the drills when suddenly a large procession appeared outside the camp gates.
At the front of the group flew a banner bearing the character Gao.
The visitor had arrived.
It was the Grand Eunuch Gao Qiqian.
Gao Qiqian was one of the eunuchs most favored by the Chongzhen Emperor, Zhu Youjian.
The emperor firmly believed that Gao Qiqian possessed remarkable military insight. Whenever a major campaign began, Gao Qiqian was frequently dispatched as a supervising eunuch.
Historically speaking, however, the man possessed little real ability. He feared battle and lacked courage. His reputation in the history books was far from flattering.
Gao Qiqian's entourage reached the camp entrance and immediately began walking straight inside.
As a supervising eunuch, Gao Qiqian oversaw military commanders across the empire. Generals feared him, and he had grown accustomed to entering any military camp without permission.
Announcing himself at the gate?
He had never needed to do such a thing.
But this particular camp was different.
The soldiers guarding the entrance were Guyuan frontier troops.
Although they were currently wearing the uniforms of Sun Chuanting's household soldiers, the discipline they followed came from Gao Family Village and ultimately from Dao Xuan Tianzun.
The two guards stepped forward and blocked the path.
"Military camp. Unauthorized entry is forbidden."
One of Gao Qiqian's attendants burst into laughter.
"Open your eyes and look carefully. Do you know whose sedan chair that is?"
The two guards glanced over briefly.
"Gao?" one said.
"Gao Qiqian?"
"Impudent!" the attendant shouted angrily. "How dare you say the name of Lord Gao directly! Anyone below a provincial inspector must salute him with full military courtesy. And you two dare to speak his name like that?"
One of the guards shrugged.
"If we don't say the full name, how are we supposed to confirm his identity?"
"There are many officials in the court. What if there's another eunuch named Gao? If we just shout 'Lord Gao' and it turns out to be the wrong person, that would be a problem."
He nodded seriously.
"It's proper procedure to confirm the full name."
The attendant nearly choked with rage.
"Impudent!"
The other guard calmly asked again.
"So it really is Gao Qiqian?"
The attendant snapped back angrily.
"Yes! Now get out of the way!"
The guards nodded.
"Understood. Supervising Eunuch Gao Qiqian is requesting entry."
"However," one added calmly, "you do not have an appointment. Therefore we cannot allow you inside."
"Please wait here while we report to the commander. If the commander grants permission, you may enter."
That was the final straw.
Gao Qiqian's attendants exploded with anger.
"When have we ever waited outside a military gate for permission?"
One of the guards replied calmly.
"Rules are rules."
"If officials can enter military camps whenever they want just because of their rank, the entire system would collapse."
He gestured around the camp.
"This is a military camp, not a sightseeing attraction."
"So any high official can just walk in and take a tour?"
One of Gao Qiqian's attendants could no longer endure the humiliation.
He stepped forward and swung a heavy slap at the guard's face.
This man had long been accustomed to bullying others.
But today he had chosen the wrong target.
The guard tilted his head slightly and easily avoided the slap. In the same motion he returned a slap of his own.
Smack!
The eunuch spun in place twice like a top.
The fake beard glued to his face flew off, revealing his pale, beardless chin.
A young eunuch.
"You dare hit me!" he screamed.
Inside the sedan chair, Gao Qiqian's anger finally ignited.
Refusing to give face to his subordinates was the same as refusing to give face to him.
This new Minister of War was clearly too arrogant.
If he did not establish authority now, how would he supervise the army in the future?
Gao Qiqian's voice emerged coldly from the sedan.
"Seize those two insolent soldiers."
Around the sedan chair stood numerous imperial bodyguards. At the command they immediately rushed forward.
The two guards did not hesitate.
They pulled out bamboo whistles and blew them.
A shrill piercing sound shot into the sky.
They were calling for reinforcements.
Even before the echoes faded, one of the imperial guards had already thrown a punch.
The frontier soldier sidestepped easily and struck back with a punch to the man's ribs.
The guard doubled over like a shrimp.
Several more attackers rushed in from the side.
The two frontier soldiers fought while retreating.
Behind them stood the camp gate.
Just inside the gate was a small guard room where five more soldiers had been resting. They immediately rushed out to assist.
Eight frontier soldiers now defended the entrance.
They faced several dozen imperial bodyguards.
The battle became lively.
Punches flew in both directions.
Although they were outnumbered, the soldiers from Gao Family Village possessed extraordinary physical strength and years of coordinated training.
They held the line.
The gate remained firmly sealed.
No matter how hard Gao Qiqian's men tried, they could not force their way inside.
Time passed.
The whistle had done its job.
A large group of soldiers suddenly rushed out from inside the camp.
At their head marched a man whose appearance alone could frighten small children.
His face looked ferocious enough to deserve the phrase "vicious and savage."
It was Chen Qianhu.
He did not ask who was right or wrong.
His men were fighting.
That was all he needed to know.
They could sort out the details later.
Chen Qianhu raised a fist the size of a bowl and smashed it toward an imperial bodyguard.
The bodyguard sneered inwardly.
As if I'm afraid of you.
Then he looked up.
A terrifying face suddenly loomed in front of him. The expression was so savage it looked like the man might peel his skin off alive.
The bodyguard shuddered in fright.
That tiny moment of hesitation ruined his chance to dodge.
Chen Qianhu's fist landed.
Boom!
The bodyguard's face exploded with blood.
More frontier soldiers poured out of the camp.
The balance of numbers instantly reversed.
Moments ago the Guyuan soldiers had been fighting while outnumbered.
Now they were the ones with superior numbers.
The imperial guards collapsed quickly.
Cries of pain filled the air.
Within moments, the ground outside the camp gate was littered with groaning imperial bodyguards.