Time goes back to February of the ninth year of Tianqi one month ago.
Emperor Zhu Youxiao, who had just passed the first lunar month, immediately summoned his ministers to discuss military affairs.
At this time, Zhu Youxiao said to Xiong Tingbi and Yuan Keli: "The Tatar nobles will definitely react to our move to the north. Moreover, their cruelty has been recorded in detail in the history books. Although we have severely warned them, The governor and soldiers of the border town have stepped up their vigilance, but people's hearts are hard to control, and if they are not fully protected, something will go wrong somewhere."
"And in this regard, pure defense cannot completely stop them. We can only imitate the strategies of the Han and Tang Dynasties, as well as the strategies of the founder of the country, and take the initiative to attack, or even attack continuously, so that they will have no time to plunder, at least when they plunder our border towns. , I have to be afraid, and the best way is to be afraid of being copied from behind."
Zhu Youxiao then added: "According to the latest information provided by Jin Yiwei, Lin Dan Khan's army is now entrenched in the Dama Mountain area on the east side of the Xitumut Department. It is obvious that the invaders intend to plunder our Ming Dynasty. We cannot wait for them to come on their own initiative. To attack, he still used his previous decision-making and took the initiative to send out an army to attack him. Even if he returned without success, it would still disrupt Lin Danhan's position. However, the army sent out this time must be mobile elite soldiers assembled. These elite soldiers can only I am the commander-in-chief, so I still decide to personally conquer the Tatars. No one can replace me, so you don’t need to persuade me."
As Zhu Youxiao spoke, he asked Yuan Keli, Xiong Tingbi and others: "How are the preparations for dispatching troops and generals and hoarding grain and grass?"
Therefore, Yuan Keli said first: "Since your majesty said this, I naturally dare not persuade you anymore, but I dare to say one more thing. I ask your majesty not to come to the battle in person, and not to camp in the wild. You should stay in the city. If you need to queue up." In setting up troops and coordinating military affairs, I ask Your Majesty to follow the advice of those who are good at fighting. As for the preparation of food and grass, Your Majesty, please rest assured that Jizhou, Xuanfu, Datong, Juyongguan, Zijingguan and other places have stocked up enough food and grass for the army. , and Wang Zaijin has prepared a team of grain transport carriages and horses in advance, and has prepared mangers and water troughs at each official road station, and has the mangers and water troughs filled with beans and water at any time. When the time comes, His Majesty Zhenruo and the army will still show up. Even if there is a shortage of food, we can ensure that the food and grass will be transported as quickly as possible.”
Zhu Youxiao nodded after listening.
He had to admit that Yuan Keli and other courtiers were fully prepared not to stage another Tumu Fortress incident after his own expedition for his own sake.
"Ma Shilong and other cavalry have been transferred to Beijing, and the guards who have been dispatched to various places have also been transferred back to Beijing. There are currently nearly 100,000 troops and horses, including more than 30,000 cavalry, more than 50,000 infantry, and three Jinyi Guards cavalry. Thousand, Shenji Battalion has five thousand artillery troops, now we are just waiting for His Majesty to arrange for the retinue."
Xiong Tingbi replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao said: "You will accompany me and coordinate the military affairs for me."
Yuan Keli was relieved when he heard that Zhu Youxiao asked Xiong Tingbi to follow him.
Xiong Tingbi also replied decisively: "I obey the order!"
Then, Zhu Youxiao said: "Let Han Xu follow me and comfort the people along the way."
"According to the order!"
Han Xu replied.
"In addition, Tian Ergeng and Wang Cheng'en are accompanying them, as well as King Xin Zhu Youjian. Furthermore, the emperor's eldest son is ordered to supervise Jiangnan for me, and Bi Ziyan and Wang Sanshan will go south with them!"
Zhu Youxiao continued.
Bi Ziyan was surprised. Of course, he also knew what His Majesty the Emperor meant, and he immediately replied: "Yes!"
Then, Zhu Youxiao said: "Zhu Xieyuan, as Minister of War, Deputy Privy Envoy and Governor of Shuntian, is responsible for the affairs of the Privy Council and coordinates the national military affairs. Yuan Aiqing coordinates the national internal affairs as the chief assistant. Wei Zhongxian coordinates the affairs of the inner court. The affairs of the capital are handled by the three of you. We can handle things through consultation, small things can be decided first and then reported, big things can be sent to me urgently!"
"According to the order!"
Yuan Keli and Wei Zhongxian replied.
Han Xu couldn't help but thought for a moment: "I won't fall into the water again this time. Your Majesty still doesn't trust yourself. He would rather let Bi Ziyan go when accompanying the eldest son of the emperor to patrol the south of the Yangtze River than let him go. He even left himself behind. The capital is not worried, but I am already very honest!"
A few days after this court meeting.
After Zhu Youxiao first offered sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple, he officially set off with the 100,000 elites he had assembled.
As for the capital, there are still two towns of guards.
In addition, there are the two towns of the 60,000 young men who have been reorganized and trained after the reorganization of the original Beijing Camp, and the expanded Brave Guard Army.
These two towns have already gone to Liaodong for actual combat, and their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Guards.
Therefore, the troops left behind in the capital are still sufficient.
What's more, there are also armed forces such as Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and patrol battalions.
Not long after Zhu Youxiao left Juyongguan, he received information from Jinyiwei about Lin Danhan's tribe colluding with Xitumote's tribe.
"Your Majesty, according to reports from our informants in Xitumote, Lindan Batur has colluded with Lerun, intending to use the territory of the Xitumote tribe to rob the Xuanfu. According to Jin Yiwei's troops in the Chahar tribe, The eyeliner reported that in recent days, the Tatar tribes controlled by Lindan Batur have indeed continued to gather in this area. From the perspective of the ministers, Lindan Khan is likely to take the initiative to plunder our Xuan Mansion."
Tian Ergeng reports here.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao glanced at Xiong Tingbi: "Sure enough! This Lin Dan Batur is not willing to sit back and watch the expansion of Ming Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, with that said, Xuan Mansion is only afraid of danger. Lindan Batur's cavalry still has nearly 100,000 troops. I believe we will receive an urgent report from Xuan Mansion soon."
Xiong Tingbi said.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded and ordered: "Xiong Aiqing, order the entire army to shorten the rest time in Huailai and Baoan Prefecture and rush to Xuanfu as soon as possible! Send more sentries along the Xuanfu area to see if there are any Tatars Traces of the child.”
Xiong Tingbi replied: "I obey the order!"
As a result, Zhu Youxiao and his personal army accelerated their journey, and rushed to Xuanfu without staying at the palaces built before Huailai and Baoan Prefecture.
And as soon as he arrived in Baoan Prefecture, Zhu Youxiao received an urgent report from the Xuanfu.
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from the Xuan Mansion. Zhang Fengxiang, the Governor of the Xuan Dynasty, said that after Lin Dan Batur raised one hundred thousand troops and defeated the Xitumut tribe, he suddenly invaded the Xuan Mansion. Now he is here to ask for support from the imperial court."
Tian Ergeng reported to Colonel Zhu You here.
After hearing this, Han Xu said to the side: "What Zhang Fengxiang said is inconsistent with the Jinyiwei's intelligence. He is protecting the Tumote tribe. Perhaps his knowledge is wrong, but there is no doubt that there is an enemy situation in the Xuanfu area. Please ask me." Your Majesty will temporarily return to Baoan Prefecture for safety."
Zhu Youxiao said: "Xuanfu is an important town on nine frontiers. It always has supplies and food for one hundred thousand soldiers and horses, and tens of thousands of frontier troops. It will not be easily broken! It is better to stay in Xuanzhou than to stay in Baoan Prefecture. Mansion, what do Xiong Aiqing think?"
"Your Majesty is right. Nearly 100,000 elite troops are stationed in Baoan Prefecture. If they are besieged, drinking water and food will be a problem. It is better to go to Xuanfu!"
Xiong Tingbi replied.
When Zhu Youxiao heard that Xiong Tingbi, a knowledgeable soldier, also agreed with him, he made up his mind and said: "Go to Xuanfu!"
Shortly after passing through Baoan Prefecture and entering the Wandusi area which governs Xuanfu Town, Zhu Youxiao's army discovered that many soldiers and civilians were fleeing towards Baoan Prefecture.
At this time, many sentry detectives also came back one after another to report that Tatars were in and out of the Xuanfu area, looting castles and villages and massacring people along the way.
Here, Xiong Tingbi reported to Zhu Youxiao: "The Zhangjiakou Fort has been breached. It is said that guerrilla Xu Dingguo knelt down to welcome him, and now the Xuan Mansion has been surrounded. Your Majesty, we are afraid of bad luck here."
"Why was Xuanfu surrounded so quickly?"
Zhu Youxiao asked in surprise.
"According to the informant report from the Jinyi Guards in the city, Zhang Fengxiang, the governor of Xuanda, said in advance that he was going to inspect Datong. He must have learned in advance that the Tatar soldiers were invading the border, and he used this to escape from the battle, so the Tatar army suddenly invaded the border. At that time, the Xuanfu area was in a state of no one in charge."
Tian Ergeng, as the military attache in charge of the Imperial Guards, naturally had no need to cover up for Zhang Fengxiang, the civil servant. He immediately reported the news he had just learned and expressed his views.
Zhu Youxiao therefore asked Xiong Tingbi: "What does Xiong Aiqing think of this?"
Xiong Tingbi also knew the rules and knew that there was no need to cover up anything for Zhang Fengxiang, a civil servant at this time, so he said: "Logically, as the governor of Xuanda, he should know better than the court that Lin Dan Batur's army can invade the Xitumote tribe at any time. , or even invaded Xuanfu, but should have stayed in Xuanfu in the recent period to stabilize the morale of the army and the people. What's more, what Jinyiwei's informant reported was wrong, but his sudden departure to Datong was indeed suspected of escaping from the battle. "
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "The top priority now is to resolve the siege of Xuanfu. We will discuss this matter later."
"yes!"
Next, Zhu Youxiao led the army and continued to Xuanfu.
And as he got closer to Xuanfu, he encountered more broken soldiers and refugees.
Zhu Youxiao even saw with his own eyes a few broken soldiers looting the fleeing border residents, forcing these refugees to flock towards Zhu Youxiao's officers and soldiers in large numbers.
Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao dismounted directly and walked forward.
Seeing this, Xiong Tingbi, Wang Chengen, Ma Shilong, Lu Xiangsheng and others followed closely.
When Zhu Youxiao saw the defeated soldier chasing the girl towards him, he directly took up his bow and arrow and shot at the man, and immediately shot the defeated soldier to the ground.
Then, Zhu Youxiao shot down several more looting civilians and retreated.
The other defeated soldiers saw this and fled.
Zhu Youxiao continued to walk to a defeated soldier who was lying on the ground screaming, pulled out his sword, pointed it at his throat and asked: "Where are you from? How did you get here and rob the people?"
The soldier quickly begged for mercy and said: "General, spare your life. We are soldiers from Jiajiaying. After the Tatars broke through Zhangjiakou Fort, they raided our Jiajiaying. Our commander died in the battle. How can we dare to fight?"
"Then you don't dare to rob the people!"
Zhu Youxiao directly stabbed the soldier to death, and then killed the deserter who had an arrow in his back and crawled outside on the spot.
Then, with blood on his face, Zhu Youxiao turned around and asked Xiong Tingbi: "Zhangjiakou Fort was lost, and the Jiajiaying mobile frontier army was defeated. In your opinion, what should we do?"
"The key now is to know whether the Xuanfu has been lost. Governor Xuan cannot count on it. Now it depends on whether Qin Bangping, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, can withstand the pressure."
Xiong Tingbi frowned in deep thought as he spoke, then suddenly raised his brows and said to Zhu Youxiao: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, now our army should temporarily stay in Jiming Mountain and send more sentries to explore." Xuanfu situation;
If Xuanfu falls, there are two strategies to respond:
First, His Majesty withdraws from the capital, and I leave him to defend the area around Jiming Mountain and the city of Baoan Prefecture. There is no need to leave too many troops and horses for him. Only the infantry is enough. The cavalry guards His Majesty and he quickly withdraws;
The second is to imitate what happened in Yingzhou at the Wumiao Temple. His Majesty and his ministers guarded Jiming Mountain to attract Tatars to attack, and commanded officers and troops from various places to come to help;
If Xuanfu is not lost, we should enter Xuanfu immediately. If the Tatars do not want to be attacked from both sides by me, they will definitely retreat! "
Han Xu therefore said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, if the Xuanfu falls, it is better to use Duke Xiong's first strategy. The cavalry will escort you back to the capital. Your safety is more important than anything else."
However, Zhu Youxiao said decisively at this time: "If the Xuanfu falls, we will adopt Xiong Aiqing's second strategy and imitate the old events of the Martial Temple. I will be the bait. When the time comes, Xiong Aiqing will take command for me and mobilize officers and soldiers everywhere. Whoever refuses to follow will, If you accuse him of being disloyal, we will settle the accounts later in the fall! Now we order every town to set up camp along Jiming Mountain and set up defenses. The specific arrangements will be made by Xiong Aiqing."
"Your Majesty," Han Xu said, still a little uneasy.
"There is no reason for the army to retreat without a fight. If this is the case, can it still be regarded as the elite of the empire? There is no need to say anything more. Anyone who says anything more will be charged with disturbing the morale of the army. No matter who it is, he will be executed without mercy!"
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand.
Han Xu had to shut up.
And Xiong Tingbi was ordered to make arrangements here.
Not long after, Ma Shilong came to the imperial preface in person and said: "Your Majesty, I sent sentries and cavalry to report that the Xuan Mansion has not been lost. The General Qin soldiers have hung the heads of the wealthy squires in the city at the city gate. There is a big letter: "Everyone in the city has been attacked." The loyal ones' blood-lettered flags are flying on the city wall, and they have now repelled several Tatar attacks."
Zhu Youxiao stood up immediately after hearing this: "What a Qin Bangping! Good kill!"
Only Han Xu was surprised.
Xiong Tingbi stood up at this time and said: "Your Majesty, in this case, we should order some cavalry to rush to Xuan Mansion immediately."
"Yes! Ma Aiqing, you are the vanguard and will lead your cavalry first to support the Xuan Mansion."
Zhu Youxiao then ordered.
"Take orders!"
Ma Shilong replied.
…
"Report! A large number of Ming army cavalry appeared on the official road in the direction of Baoan Prefecture!"
"Report! Our sentinels risked their lives to report that there was a lot of smoke in Jiming Mountain, Baoan Prefecture, as if there was an army."
…
Lin Danhan frowned because of the urgent reports one after another, and said to Nao Da Mao, Feng Quan, and the newly surrendered traitors Xu Dingguo and Zhang Yongfa: "It seems that reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty are coming, but I didn't expect them to come. So fast!"
Zhang Yongfa took the initiative to say at this time: "Qi Khan, as far as I know, there were rumors before this that the emperor wanted to personally conquer the Tatars in the Northern Expedition. Presumably this army is the army led by the Ming Emperor himself."
After hearing this, Lin Danhan punched the table hard: "Hmph! This is another plan to conquer my Dayuan, the damn Zhu Youxiao!"
"Great Khan, in this case, we must give up the attack on Xuan Mansion immediately, otherwise we will easily be attacked from both sides. Since Zhu Youxiao dares to attack personally, he must have many troops. There is no need for us to put ourselves in danger."
Feng Quan said at this time.
Lin Danhan nodded and said: "But it would be a pity to retreat like this. We have only captured one fort and defeated one battalion. I haven't killed many people yet. I don't know if I thought I was afraid of Zhu You." school!"
Zhang Yongfa stood up at this time and said: "Great Khan, I have a plan."
Lin Danhan quickly sat down on the Grand Master's chair and said, "Speak!"
"Slaves are the people of the Ming Dynasty. They can escape and gain the trust of the Ming Emperor and the officers and soldiers around him. As far as the Great Khan is waiting somewhere, they will send cavalry to raid when the time comes, and the general can set up an ambush here. Defeat the cavalry first, and then devise other plans to lure the enemy, and then they will be defeated one by one."
Zhang Yongfa knew that Lin Dan Khan had withdrawn, and people like him could not escape being punished by the court. In addition, he had some ambitions to participate in the struggle between countries, so he simply volunteered.
Lin Danhan's eyes lit up and he said: "Very good! This is the plan, but it needs to be kept secret. No one is allowed to tell it except the people in front of you today! Otherwise, if things don't work out, you will commit suicide to apologize!"
…
"Your name is Zhang Yongfa and you are a living being. Is what you say true?"
Zhu Youxiao asked Zhang Yongfa who suddenly came to him very seriously.
"Students don't dare to lie! Students risk their lives to retaliate."
Zhang Yongfa replied.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Xiong Tingbi: "What do Xiong Aiqing think?"
Xiong Tingbi replied: "Your Majesty! This person is probably a spy. How could anyone remember to report to the army because they found traces of the enemy? Why, are you sure that the army will attack the enemy?" , I request your Majesty to order a strict trial in person immediately!"
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "It's Xiong Aiqing after all!"
With that said, Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Yongfa: "Zhang Xiucai, you have met someone who cannot be fooled today!"
Zhang Yongfa was shocked when he saw this and glanced at Xiong Tingbi: "Your Majesty, everything the student said is true!"
"I would rather wrongly accuse you than I would dare to take such a risk!"
As Zhu Youxiao said this, he pulled out the sword himself, and then shouted: "Hold his hand!"
So, Jin Yiwei held his hand.
Zhu Youxiao used his sword as a knife, slashed it, and immediately cut off his hand: "Tell the truth!"
Zhang Yongfa screamed and said, "The students are wronged!"
Zhu Youxiao simply shouted: "The other hand!"
Zhang Yongfa trembled and said hurriedly: "I said, I said, the students were forced by the Tatars. They asked the students to tell His Majesty that they were stationed in Jiajiaying. If the students failed to do so, they would kill them. The whole family and students have no choice but to do so, woo woo!”
At this time, Tian Ergeng suddenly came closer: "Your Majesty, he didn't tell the truth. The Jinyiwei just received a secret report. When Zhangjiakou Fort was breached, the wealthy businessman Zhang Yongfa and his family had already surrendered to the enemy! They also conspired to kill Yue Daotai and Huang Baihu!"
Zhu Youxiao glared at Zhang Yongfa.
Zhang Yongfa was stunned for a moment, and then he kowtowed: "Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare your life!"
"Carry it into Xuanfu City and hang it up! Peel it off first, then chop its flesh. Since you don't have any shame, just peel it off!"
Zhu Youxiao shouted loudly.
Zhang Yongfa immediately shut his mouth after hearing this, not knowing what to say.
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