My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 969 The Defeat of Tumu Fort (Part )
Zhang Fu stared and didn't sleep all night. After all, there were troops of Oara all around, and they could come in at any time. However, Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen didn't have any countermeasures at all, and they refused to listen to other people's opinions. This made Zhang Fu feel like his head might move at any time.

It was dawn and Zhang Fu, who couldn't sleep, simply put on his clothes and went out to walk around the earthen fort.

The Tumu Fort is a rectangular military fortress, one mile long from north to south and two miles from east to west. Such a small place cannot accommodate hundreds of thousands of troops, so except for the core army, most of the troops are stationed outside the Tumu Fort.

Zhang Fu was walking on the streets of Tumubao and saw that both sides of the street were full of soldiers. After all, living in the fort was definitely better than setting up tents outside. Especially now that the weather was hot, it was easy to just lie down in the open space in the fort. You can sleep there, and there is a well in the fort, making it easier to get drinking water.

But even the soldiers in the fort all had chapped lips, and some even suffered from heatstroke. They were lying under the eaves talking nonsense. If someone gave him some water at this time, the symptoms of heatstroke could be alleviated. The biggest shortage in the army now is drinking water.

Seeing the lack of drinking water for the soldiers, Zhang Fu was also anxious, and finally he went to the well in the fort to check.

There are four wells in Tumu Fort. Each well is surrounded by soldiers collecting water. However, because too much water is taken, the wells have dried up. It takes a long time for some water to seep out of the wells.

Some soldiers jumped into the well and waited for a long time to get half a bucket full of muddy water. However, even this water was quickly robbed, and there were even fights and riots over the water.

Even the soldiers in the earthen fortress were short of water, let alone the soldiers outside the city. As far as Zhang Fu knew, the soldiers outside the city had been without drinking water for a day and a night. The soldiers in some battalions even lay directly in their tents without listening to their superiors. After all, they are almost dying of thirst. Who cares whether you are the emperor or not?
Seeing the chaos in the fort, Zhang Fu couldn't help but sigh, and then turned around and returned to his residence. At this time, his followers had prepared breakfast. Because he was too nervous about drinking water, even a veteran like Zhang Fu could only get breakfast. There was only a pot of water, so the attendants could only soak the dry food in hot water until soft, otherwise Zhang Fu would not be able to bite it.

Although Zhang Fu had no appetite, he still forced himself to eat his breakfast and distributed the remaining water to the people around him.

But at this moment, someone outside suddenly heard shouting: "People from Wala are here to negotiate peace!"

"what?"

When Zhang Fu heard the shouts from the people outside, instead of feeling any joy, he was shocked and even smelled a hint of conspiracy.

Because the Oara people now have an absolute advantage, as long as they surround them for two more days and the Ming army lacks drinking water, they will at least collapse without a fight. In this case, the Oara people have no reason to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty.

"No, there must be a conspiracy in this!"

Zhang Fu stood up as he spoke and walked towards Zhu Qizhen's palace.

News of the peace talks between the Oara faction has spread among the army. The soldiers Zhang Fu saw along the way all showed happy expressions. Apparently they had long been tired of this meaningless war, and every one of them Everyone wants to go back early.

When Zhang Fu came to the palace gate, he saw Kuang Ye, Cao Ding and other ministers waiting here. Some looked happy, while others looked sad like Zhang Fu.

"The Duke also suddenly sent people to negotiate peace for no reason. Is there any fraud in this?"

When Kuang Ye saw Zhang Fu, he immediately stepped forward and asked worriedly.

"There must be a fraud. We only need to surround it for two more days before our army will collapse without a fight. Now that he has taken the initiative to negotiate peace, there are only two possibilities. First, there is an internal problem in Oara, and second, our army Reinforcements have arrived!"

Zhang Fu replied without thinking, his old face flushed with anxiety. "Reinforcements are definitely not possible. Your Majesty's personal expedition has already mobilized all the troops in the capital area. Beijing is struggling to defend itself, so it is impossible to send troops to assist us. As for internal problems in Oara, the possibility is very small. After all, Ye Xian's prestige has long surpassed that of Tuo Tuo Bu Hua, and no one on the grassland can threaten his position!"

Kuang Ye shook his head and analyzed after hearing this.

"Yes, so these two may not exist at all, and the only explanation is that they are also engaged in some conspiracy!"

Zhang Fu said with great certainty that if he was just suspicious at first, then after a calm analysis, he can confirm that the peace negotiation must be Ye Xian's conspiracy.

"Ye Xian is so cunning. He has an absolute advantage but still plays tricks. No wonder he can become the overlord on the grassland!"

Kuang Ye was very emotional at first, and then suddenly shouted.

"No, your Majesty and the prince must not be fooled by Ye Xian!"

"That's what I'm most worried about!"

Zhang Fu also smiled bitterly at this time and said, based on his understanding of Zhu Qizhen, the opponent stepped on the worst point in almost every step, so Zhang Fu was very suspicious that Zhu Qizhen might have fallen into Ye Xian's plan. .

In the palace, an envoy from Wala saw Zhu Qizhen and saluted: "Your Majesty, the Grand Master has an order. As long as the Ming Dynasty is willing to hand over 200,000 dan of food, we are willing to retreat!"

"Are you really willing to withdraw?"

Zhu Qizhen didn't care about food at all. When he heard that the other party was willing to withdraw his troops, he was overjoyed. He regretted it extremely now. If he had known that the imperial commander's personal expedition was not fun, he should not have come out in the first place.

"Of course, in order to show our sincerity in Wala, we are willing to withdraw the troops from Tumubao to Guichuan so that you can get water!"

Envoy Wala immediately raised his head and said, he was also sizing up the legendary Ming Emperor as he spoke. When he saw the joyful expression on his face, the envoy couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

"Okay! Great! As long as you are willing to retreat, I can promise to give you food, but you must ensure that I can return to the capital safely!"

Zhu Qizhen clapped his hands excitedly and made an immediate decision. Ever since he was surrounded by the Oara people, he had been frightened and felt that his safety could not be guaranteed. Now that the Oara people finally decided to negotiate peace, he finally felt a little bit safer. .

"Your Majesty is such a straightforward person. If that's the case, I will go back and report to the Grand Tutor. Our troops that have blocked the water source will be withdrawn immediately. We will discuss the specific details of the peace talks then. Goodbye!"

After the envoy finished speaking, he turned around and left, and Zhu Qizhen also asked people to see him off.

After the Wala people left, Zhu Qizhen excitedly ordered Wang Zhen beside him: "Mr. Wang, immediately inform the entire army about this matter, so that everyone in the army knows that the Wala people are afraid of my majesty. Don’t dare to start a war with us, we can return to the capital immediately!”

(End of this chapter)