I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 318 It’s snowing!
Xu Wei looked around at everyone and said slowly and solemnly, "Until now, the Crown Prince has not given us a single word. What does that mean? He doesn't want to cause us any trouble and lets us deal with it. Whether we win or lose, he will bear the consequences for us."

Marshal Qi Jiguang's headquarters and Xu Wei's military staff kept in touch with the Beijing Supervisory Office through carrier pigeons and Saker Falcons, and urgent reports were sent back to the capital by carrier pigeons ten days in advance.

From here to the capital, the 800-li express journey only takes four or five days. If there were any urgent imperial edicts from the Western Garden and the Supervisory Office, they would have arrived long ago.

Qi Jiguang's face turned from black to red, and he stood up excitedly, "The lord is worried and the minister is humiliated, the lord is humiliated and the minister dies!
His Highness trusts us so much, we will not embarrass the Crown Prince even if it means risking our lives. No matter how dangerous the Beizhu King’s tent is, we must take this chance of victory!”

Yes, only by taking the risk of driving the enemy north to the Ulus River, annihilating the Tumen Khanate and winning an unprecedented victory could Xiyuan have something to say when Liaodong was looted, and avoid being attacked by those jackal-like clean civil servants.

After Xu Wei's explanation, everyone understood this truth.

Qi Jiguang said: "I will lead the team myself, with 20,000 elite cavalrymen, each with three horses, plenty of food, fodder, clothing, and other supplies, and high-wheeled carriages for easy movement.

There are not enough horses and supplies, so we will gather troops from nearby cities such as Chifeng, Xinghua, Fengning, Chengde, and Tongliao, and set out in three days. "

"No!" Xu Wei and Li Chengliang answered in unison.

Qi Jiguang frowned.

Xu Wei glanced at Li Chengliang and spoke first: "General Qi, you are the commander-in-chief of the entire army, you cannot leave easily. There are still remnants of the Northern Tartars roaming around in the Liaohe Hetao area, and you need to gather troops to encircle and suppress them.

As for Liaodong, you need to be on high alert and be ready to respond at any time."

Li Chengliang immediately said: "I will lead the troops! I come to the Liaohe River and Hetao several times a year, and I know it better than you. I will lead the troops to the Wuluxu River."

Xu Wei agreed and said, "General Li will lead the army to drive Chahar north, and I will go with him. General Qi, we still need you to take charge of the situation here!"

Qi Jiguang was silent for a while, then made a prompt decision and said, "Okay! Let's do it!
General Li, Lieutenant General Xu, you must reorganize the troops immediately. Inspector Ye, you will be responsible for mobilizing the horses and supplies.

"Follow the order!"

Three days later, a cavalry of 20,000 men marched northward in a mighty force. Hundreds and thousands of flags fluttered in the north wind like a forest or a sea. Among them, a large flag with the word "Ming" on it was at the front, like a big axe, chopping towards the north!
Shenyang City in Liaodong.

Tan Lun stood behind the wall of the North Gate Tower, looking into the distance, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Fifteen days. It's already been fifteen days."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief, General Zhou has held out in Kaiyuan City for fifteen days." The staff member beside him echoed.

"Fifteen days is not easy."

"Xiantai, look at the weather, it's getting colder day by day. I believe it will snow in ten days or so. It's time for Tumen Khan to withdraw his troops."

Tan Lun nodded, "But these ten days will be the most dangerous. The Chahar tribe cannot capture Kaiyuan and cannot enter Liaodong. If we don't deal with them, God will.

It was freezing cold, and they were isolated to the east of the Black Mountains. They lacked food and clothing, and I don’t know how many people would die. Tumen Khan put the Chahar people to death and forced them to fight a desperate battle.

The staff showed panic on their faces and looked to the north, "Tumen Khan is crazy!"

"We advanced step by step, surrounded the Chahar tribe on three sides, and gradually forced them into a desperate situation. Or maybe something big happened inside them, making him realize that he would not survive unless he went crazy."

"Report!"

A military officer came forward and reported: "The Wei governor of Liaodong has arrived."

"Why is Wei Guan here? What happened in Liaoyang?"

Wei Xuezeng, the governor of Liaodong, was stationed in Liaoyang City. He hurried over at this time, which surprised Tan Lun.
Wei Xuezeng was wearing an official uniform and a cloak. He walked up to the attendant, took off the cloak, handed it to the attendant, and saluted:
"Xiantai!"

"Wei Guan hurried here, maybe it's something important."

"We have military matters to discuss."

"Quick, go sit in the tower."

"it is good."

After the two men sat down, Tan Lun's staff asked his entourage to prepare hot tea and sat down in the first seat.

"Wei Guan, what military affairs?"

"A way to defeat the enemy!"

Wei Xuezeng's words made Tan Lun stunned. He asked hesitantly, "Wei Guan, how to defeat Tumen Khan?"

"Yes, Xiantai!" Wei Xuezeng replied, "Now Tumen Khan is leading 60,000 Chahars to attack Kaiyuan City, and Zhuangtu Taiji is leading 30,000 Jurchens to attack Fushun City. The situation is urgent day and night and the situation is precarious.

The students thought that if our army had a detachment that could leave Fushun, bypass the rear wing of the Jurchens, and attack them by surprise when they were unprepared, we could surely defeat them in one fell swoop.

Once the siege of Fushun is lifted, the predicament in Liaodong can be eased."

Tan Lun stroked his beard and agreed with his statement: "Although the 30,000 Jurchens under Fushun are all brave and good at fighting, they come from different tribes, have different orders, and are not determined. They have been stationed under Fushun for more than ten days, and their morale has long been shaken. We only need a small force to attack the flank and we will surely defeat them. Once the siege of Fushun is lifted, we can also ask Wei Jianping to lead his troops, join the small force, bypass Guangshun Pass, and cooperate with the defenders of Kaiyuan City to attack Tumen Khan and force him to retreat.

But where can we find this detachment now? "

"Xiantai, I am here today to see off this detachment."

Tan Lun stood up suddenly, and the attendant who was bringing him hot tea was unable to dodge. The tray in his hand flipped over, and the teacup fell to the ground with a bang, breaking into pieces. The tea on the ground spilled all over the floor, emitting white steam.

Tan Lun didn't even look at them, but reached out and grabbed Wei Xuezeng's hand: "Wei Guan, how many people are there?"

“Barely ten thousand!”

"That's enough! It's not something that was put together by young and strong civilians!"

"Absolutely not. They have all been on the battlefield. Many of them have seen blood and killed people."

"Where is the old soldier?"

"Just outside Shenyang."

"Wei Guan, where did you find it?"

Tan Lun became more and more anxious.

"Xiantai, please listen to what the student is saying slowly--
Yu Changde got up before dawn. The concubine lying next to him yawned, stretched out her white lotus-like arms from the silk quilt, and asked curiously, "Master, it's still dark. Are you going to the morning court again? Didn't you stop it a long time ago?"

Yu Changde snorted and said coldly: "Master, this time I am going to restore the morning court! How can we abandon the ancestral system so easily!"

"We have to get up in the middle of the night for the morning court. The master used to curse every time he got up. Why is he saying he wants to resume it today?"

Yu Changde angrily scolded: "What do you know, woman? Get up quickly and help the master wash and dress!"

"Yes." Seeing Yu Changde's rage, the concubine did not dare to say anything and responded quickly. She quickly put on her clothes, got out of bed, found a cloak for Yu Changde, put it on him first, then went to the outer room, woke up the maids and quickly prepared hot water.

After washing up, eating a bowl of millet porridge, combing her hair, trimming her beard, changing into official clothes, and putting on a black gauze hat, the concubine really thought that the court had resumed the early morning court sessions.

Yu Changde walked to the study. On the west wall facing east, there was a portrait of the great sage Confucius. In front of it was a niche with an incense burner.

He walked up to her, lit three incense sticks, twisted them in his palms, put his palms together, knelt down on the mat, and muttered something.

"May the most holy teacher bless me. May this student become famous all over the world and go down in history forever!"

After saying this, he kowtowed three times respectfully, then stood up and inserted the incense into the incense burner. He took a deep breath and took a memorial from the niche.

It was placed in front of the statue of the Great Sage for a whole night, as if it was imbued with the aura of the sage, making it immune to all poisons and all kinds of evils, and it would surely bless him to win the first battle and become famous.

Yu Changde hid the memorial in his arms and sat silently on the chair behind the desk.

There was only one lamp in the study. The light was dim, and the swaying yellow light flickered on his face, making his expression flicker.

Perseverance, hesitation, fear, and courage.
"Master, it's four o'clock in the morning." said the steward at the door.

"it is good!"

Yu Changde stood up, walked quickly out of the study, came to the front yard, and got into the sedan chair that had been prepared long ago.

The sedan chair quietly went out, turned a few corners, came to Chang'an Avenue, and stopped beside it.

Yu Changde got out of the sedan chair and looked up. The sky was getting white and dawn was about to begin. The entire capital was about to wake up. Voices could be heard from far and near. People collecting night-blooming jasmine were shouting along the alley.

From the city gates farther away came shouts: "The auspicious time has arrived! Prepare to open the city gates!"

There were more than a dozen sedan chairs parked nearby, and dozens of people were walking from a distance. They gathered around Yu Changde and nodded silently. Some of them kept stamping their feet and blowing white air on their hands.

“What a cold day!”

"It's cold, but my heart is hot!"

Glancing at the people who were talking in low voices, Yu Changde found that most of them had come, and a few probably deserted.

Leave him alone!

Yu Changde took the lead and walked in front, and the others hurriedly followed.

After walking a few steps, Yu Changde suddenly felt a chill on his face. He looked up and saw light snow falling from the sky like salt grains.

Snowing!
(End of this chapter)