The Great Ming's Brave Warrior Bai

Bai Lang's commendation has also been issued. Not only his, but this time the Qing soldiers broke through the pass and entered, but their advance was thwarted midway. Especially suffering a "great defeat" under the walls of Yanzhou, it was a rare great victory since the Eastern Barbarians began their incursions. Particularly, the series of disastrous defeats outside the pass this year, which buried the last of the Nine Garrisons' elite troops and resulted in the deaths of multiple commanding officers, and then the Ming army's crushing defeat by the rebel Li Chuang at Zhu Xian Town, leading to the fall of Kaifeng Prefecture, causing immense distress. To have a great victory against the Eastern Barbarians under such circumstances naturally brought immense joy to the imperial court, even Emperor Chongzhen himself ate a few more bowls of rice.

Thus, officials from the Ministry of War immediately arrived to verify the achievements, and the eunuch sent to proclaim the imperial decree, urged by the Emperor, rushed over impatiently. This great victory resulted in over a hundred enemy heads taken, and not a single man, woman, or child was plundered by the Eastern Barbarians. It can be said that the Qing soldiers suffered a significant loss this time. Consequently, everyone in Yanzhou Prefecture was promoted and rewarded. Getting rich was impossible – the imperial court was severely lacking funds, so they could only offer more rewards in terms of official positions.

Furthermore, since he had contributed to the strategy that led to such a great victory, Emperor Chongzhen, in his desperation, might intend to promote the main officials of Yanzhou Prefecture into the ranks of central government officials, to govern a region, suppress rebels, or defend against the Eastern Barbarians. Therefore, the civil officials, starting from the Prefect, truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry; dealing with the aftermath of such an exceptional promotion would be difficult. Bai Lang, however, paid no mind to their predicament. The eunuch before him appeared to hold considerable status, and he hurried forward to grasp Bai Lang's hand. "Ah, when this victory report was submitted, almost no one in the imperial court believed that our Great Ming had produced such a fierce warrior. I believed it, and even congratulated the Emperor on Heaven sending a mighty general to our Great Ming. Now, seeing the brave warrior Bai, he truly is like Marshal Guan reborn!"

Bai Lang was a bit taken aback by these words, only remembering that the eunuch's surname was Du, but he didn't hear his given name clearly, as his accent was quite heavy. Eunuch Du began to read the imperial decree, which indeed sounded incredibly stirring. It seemed the Emperor had the Grand Academicians responsible for drafting it revise it multiple times. In short, Bai Lang appeared to possess unparalleled loyalty and bravery, and he was granted the title of Yanzhou Battalion Commander, with his rank elevated to Garrison Commander.

Now, Bai Lang had directly transformed from a commoner into a hereditary Yanzhou Guard Battalion Commander. However, he still had no soldiers under him. Even though the imperial decree and the Ministry of War's records mentioned his battalion, there were no soldiers. The next document was a transfer order from the Ministry of War, ordering a Yanzhou Guard Battalion Commander and his elite troops to report to Governor-General Deng to suppress rebels. "Prefect Deng has been promoted? He's leaped to become Governor-General?" Bai Lang was also surprised, never expecting that the speed of promotion for beheading people could be so fast.

His twin maces had already been lost to the Qing soldiers, and it might be some time before he could retrieve them. Bai Lang sighed – Governor-General Deng intended for the Ministry of War to forge a pair of iron maces for him, but Bai Lang politely declined. "I'll use a saber for now. The way of wielding an iron mace is quite similar to using a saber anyway – but for ease of control, I'll have a greatsword forged instead." However, before that, Prefect Deng/Governor-General and his entourage had to go to the capital to have an audience with the Emperor, and Bai Lang naturally had to accompany them, as the Emperor had specifically requested to meet such an unparalleled fierce warrior.

In truth, most people didn't believe the victory report that claimed one man broke through enemy lines and slew dozens of enemy leaders. Bai Lang had read the victory report, and from an objective standpoint, he himself didn't believe it. However, this was the feat he had accomplished. Bai Lang was not an unusually large and strong man; he wasn't some general nine feet tall. In this era, while Bai Lang's height was quite remarkable, there weren't very few people of similar stature. He was just a little over 1.8 meters tall, and there were quite a few people like that in the Great Ming.

Bai Lang was also not burly, but he did have broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with a perfectly standard inverted triangle upper body. However, no matter how you looked at him, he didn't seem like a fierce warrior capable of wielding a sixty-four-jin Purple Gold Mace. Fierce warriors of this era usually had a paunch, while Bai Lang touched his stomach and felt the faint outline of six-pack abs – cultivating martial arts requires great strength, not necessarily the lowest body fat percentage. Shandong to the capital wasn't a long journey, especially if traveling by water, which was more effortless.

Looking at Beijing City, Bai Lang felt a sense of awe as he rode his horse. When he visited BJ in his later life, the city walls had long been dismantled. Now, he could see these magnificent walls. "It seems... just like that?" He didn't feel particularly moved, nor did he think it was a bad thing that the city walls were demolished in his later life. Architects in later life speak without consequence, suggesting retaining the city walls and building a new city within. If asked how they would solve the livelihood issues, where the money for building the city would come from, and how to procure so many materials? Architects don't concern themselves with that.

After entering the city, Bai Lang felt it was acceptable. Legends from his later life spoke of Beijing City being plagued by sandstorms during droughts, turning into mud after rain, and being filled with dung heaps. This seemed to be untrue now. "Even if there were, it's the Manchu Qing's doing!" Bai Lang muttered, though no one nearby could hear him clearly. The city had residences for officials who were to have an audience with the court. Prefect Deng, wanting to win Bai Lang over, specifically instructed that Bai Lang stay with him. This treatment was akin to that of a Governor-General.

Bai Lang was indifferent. He spent his days tempering his strength and cultivating his martial arts, so where he lived didn't really matter. He also had an official robe, a blue one with a bear embroidered on it; a fifth-rank official robe was like this. However, after settling in and before the audience, an official from the Ministry of War delivered a new official robe – a scarlet robe with a leopard as the insignia. "A fourth-rank official robe? I'm not a fifth-rank official?" Bai Lang was confused, but he didn't dwell on it. He was here to train through killing, and killing rebels or Tartars was all the same. Before the Jade Fish recovered, Bai Lang felt he could carve out a world of peace and prosperity.

Bai Lang also attended the court session, but his position was very peripheral. He could barely make out what the Emperor looked like. However, after the court session, he followed the newly minted Governor-General Deng to Lantai to meet Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen looked older than his actual age, his hair already showing streaks of white. His clothes couldn't be called luxurious – but they could be described as simple, not to the extreme of being patched. During the audience with the Emperor, the burly generals and young eunuchs didn't thoroughly search Bai Lang for weapons. If the rumors about such a fierce warrior were true, then killing someone even without a weapon would be effortless.

Only a few young eunuchs separated Bai Lang from the Emperor. However, Emperor Chongzhen personally told the eunuchs to step aside. "This is a loyal and brave soldier of our Great Ming; why the need for such caution!" After a conversation with Governor-General Deng, Emperor Chongzhen once again felt a surge of energy – this happened several times a year for the impatient Emperor. The Emperor's hope was rekindled, and next, he was to meet the fierce warrior proclaimed in the victory report. Upon seeing him, Bai Lang could discern a flicker of admiration in the Emperor's eyes.