Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 168 The army sets out to Annan County!

"No gift."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Gao Shun stood up, revealing a determined face.

Liu Jin stood aside, silent.

Zhu Youtang asked, "Gao Shun, how many soldiers are left in the three camps in the capital and the Xianzhen Camp?"

Gao Shun bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, there are still 70,000 soldiers in the Xianzhen Camp."

"The Three Thousand Camp still has 30,000 soldiers, the Five Army Camp still has 60,000 soldiers, and the Divine Machine Camp still has 20,000 soldiers."

The war for the county of Annan is a very important one, and the number of people must not be reduced.

Moreover, Xu Chang has already received a letter that the 100,000-strong Northwest Expeditionary Force has already set out and is returning to the capital.

In a month at most, we will be able to return to the capital.

Zhu Youtang immediately ordered: "Wang Yue, I order you to wear the seal of the General of Conquering the Barbarians, command the 20,000 Xianzhen Camp and the 100,000 three camps in the capital, and march in half a month to Annan!"

This order was equivalent to taking away most of the defensive forces around the capital, leaving only 50,000 troops in the Xianzhen Camp to guard the capital.

But fortunately, the gap was only half a month.

Half a month later, the 100,000-strong army led by Xu Chang will return to the capital and take over the defense of the capital again.

Wang Yue's expression became solemn, and he immediately bowed his head and accepted the order: "Your humble servant Wang Yue, I will obey the imperial order!"

"I will never return until Annan is defeated."

"Liu Jin."

"The slave is here."

Hearing Zhu Youtang's call, Liu Jin took two quick steps and stood closer to Zhu Youtang.

"Starting immediately, mobilize 2,000 Dongchang soldiers."

Zhu Youtang ordered: "One thousand Dongchang guards supervise the military rations drawn from Shuzhou, Nanzhili, and Ganzhou."

"Another thousand eunuchs will serve as military supervisors and will follow the army to conquer Annan in half a month!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Jin nodded in acceptance of the order.

After arranging everything, Zhu Youtang took out the ancient documents of Annan and handed them to Wang Yue.

"This is the latest map of Annan. There will be no mistakes if we march according to this map."

"Wang Yue, take it."

Wang Yue widened his eyes in shock, unable to believe that Zhu Youtang actually had such a good thing.

You know, seven years ago they asked Liu Daxia for the old documents of Annan, but Liu Daxia hid them and refused to give them. But now they got the latest map of Annan from Zhu Youtang.

Before the war, getting a detailed map of the combat area was a great advantage.

Wang Yue couldn't wait to take the new map of Annan and started to look through it. He found that the topography and landforms on it were vivid and clearly visible.

And the route is clearly marked.

Wang Yue never thought that there would be such a wonderful start.

This reduced the difficulty of his successful recovery of Annan by at least three levels!

Wang Yue was so excited that his heartbeat quickened, and he was beaming with joy: "Since I have this map, it will be as easy as taking something out of a bag to make Annan a prefecture!"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Gao Shun, take Wang Yue to the Xishan military camp to familiarize yourself with military affairs."

"Wang Zhi and Liu Jin, you should also leave."

"It's your Majesty, I'm sorry, please leave!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave!"

After Liu Jin left Hongde Hall, he immediately returned to Dongchang, summoned Zhang Yong and Ma Yongcheng, and assigned them tasks.

"Zhang Yong, you must immediately gather a thousand eunuchs to serve as military supervisors, and follow the three major camps in the capital to attack Annan in half a month!"

Zhang Yong was shocked when he heard this: "Military Supervisor?! I'm going to the battlefield?!"

Seeing Zhang Yong's surprise, Liu Jin couldn't help but frowned: "Why, are you unhappy?"

Zhang Yong waved his hands quickly: "No, no, no! I am happy! I am so happy!"

"Hahaha! I never thought that I would actually be able to go to the battlefield. I'm so excited! So thrilled!"

In history, Zhang Yong was also a eunuch who fought on the battlefield and made military achievements.

He once commanded the Three Thousand Camp and the Shenji Camp, led 30,000 Beijing troops to suppress Zhu Zongqiang's rebellion, and led troops to resist bandits in the northern border towns.

Although his military achievements cannot be compared with Wang Zhi's, they are still rare among eunuchs.

So when Zhang Yong heard that there was an opportunity to go to the battlefield, he immediately became excited and felt like he couldn't wait.

Liu Jin curled his lips and looked at Ma Yongcheng again: "Ma Yongcheng, you will also lead a thousand troops to supervise the transportation of grain and grass in Shuzhou, Ganzhou and Nanzhili."

"If there is a problem with the food and fodder, and His Majesty blames you, no one will be able to save you."

Ma Yongcheng looked serious and quickly responded: "Yes, Sir!"

"Go."

Liu Jin waved his hand, and Zhang Yong and Ma Yongcheng immediately went forward to gather people.

Afterwards, Zhang Yong brought a thousand Dongchang soldiers and entered the Xishan military camp in advance.

Ma Yongcheng took a thousand Dongchang men and went straight out of the capital to Shuzhou, Ganzhou and Nanzhili.

On the other side, after Gao Shun and Wang Yue left the palace, they immediately went to the Xishan military camp.

When he was leaving the capital, he was taking with him members of the Wang and Zhang families of Puzhou.

There were also Wu Yong, the magistrate of Puzhou, Hou Wei, the captain of the Puzhou Thousand Households Office, and Qinglong and Baihu, the assistant officers of the Embroidered Guard of Gong Ang, the magistrate of Pingyang Prefecture, who passed by each other.

Qinglong and Baihu escorted everyone to the Northern Pacification Office, put them in the Jinyiwei prison, and then reported the matter to Jinyiwei commander Mou Bin.

After Mou Bin learned about it, he immediately went to the palace and reported the matter to Zhu Youtang.

After listening to Mou Bin's report, Zhu Youtang calmly ordered: "Transfer him to the three judicial departments for trial, and let them make a judgment according to the Imperial Edict." "Yes, Your Majesty."

Mou Bin took the order and soon handed over the people captured in Puzhou to the Sanfasi.

The three judicial departments tried the case in court and, under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, sentenced these people strictly in accordance with the records in the "Imperial Edict".

Wang Ze, the head of the Wang family, Zhang Ning, the head of the Zhang family, and Zhang Yi, the young head of the family, were sentenced to be torn into pieces by chariots, and their property was confiscated.

The property of the Shanxi merchants Wang and Zhang families was confiscated, they were demoted to military status, and exiled to border states to guard the frontier.

Hou Wei, the captain of the Puzhou Qianhu Division, was beheaded and thrown into the market.

Gong Ang, the prefect of Pingyang Prefecture, and Wu Yong, the magistrate of Puzhou County, were both sentenced to be skinned and stuffed with straw.

When Gong Ang and Wu Yong found out that they were going to be skinned alive, they completely collapsed and kept begging for mercy, just for a quick death.

Gong Ang even banged his head against the ground in an attempt to commit suicide.

Fortunately, the Jinyiwei stopped Gong Ang in time and prevented him from committing suicide, thus saving his life and preventing him from dying prematurely.

After the verdict was made by the three judicial departments, it was immediately transferred to the Ministry of Justice for execution.

Therefore, Fei Ju, a doctor in the Ministry of Justice, was dragged out to work overtime again.

Fei has become quite adept at handling these matters.

When the time comes, a sign will be thrown. Those who deserve to be torn into pieces, chopped in half, or skinned and stuffed with straw will be made into scarecrows and placed at the gate of the local yamen.

Han Baoniu, the executioner of the Ministry of Justice, heard that two officials were sentenced to be skinned and stuffed with straw. His eyes lit up and he became the happiest person in the entire execution ground.

When Han Baoniu began the execution, the people around the execution ground cheered excitedly.

When the two scarecrows, which looked like works of art, appeared, the people around them exclaimed in surprise.

Afterwards, the two scarecrows will be sent back to Jinzhou.

One was erected at the gate of the Pingyang Prefecture government office, and the other was erected at the gate of the Puzhou County government office to serve as a warning to future officials.

But only God knows how many officials can see through it.

……

In the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed.

During this period, officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War were extremely busy, working almost day and night.

Because this grain transfer involves requisitioning grain from other places, it is much more complicated.

The departure time was also delayed again and again.

The army, which was originally scheduled to set out in half a month, took until the twentieth day to complete the preparation of food and supplies.

Finally, the governors of Shuzhou, Ganzhou, and Nanzhili personally assembled 100,000 donkey carts and escorted 220,000 shi of grain and fodder to the Annan border.

As for the three major camps in the capital, they set out with only 30,000 shi of grain and fodder, marching along the Grand Canal. Along the way, they would receive a supply of 100,000 shi of grain and fodder in Luzhou.

At the same time, the Five Military Governors' Office was also very busy.

After all, when it comes to mobilizing troops, the participation of the Five Military Commanderies is still needed.

During this period, Zhu Youtang had consciously returned the power of commanding and training troops that had been taken away by the Ministry of War to the Five Military Commanders' Office.

Use the Five Military Commission to suppress the Ministry of War, whose power was growing.

No matter what, the 100,000-strong army led by Wang Yue finally set out.

February 12th, spring has already arrived.

As the days became increasingly warmer, an army of one hundred thousand men gathered outside the capital.

The 20,000 soldiers of the Xianzhen Camp were at the head of the entire army, with a solemn and awe-inspiring appearance.

The three camps of the capital city of 80,000 stood behind, awaiting military orders.

Zhang Yong led a thousand Dongchang eunuchs as military supervisors, mixed in with various teams and supervised the entire army.

Wang Yue wore the seal of the General of Conquering the Barbarians and sat in the central army, awaiting Zhu Youtang's orders.

Zhu Youtang led hundreds of civil and military officials to the top of the city wall to review the army.

When the civil officials from Jiangnan on the city wall saw that the Governor of the Southwest was actually Wang Yue, they all had expressions as if they had seen a ghost and were extremely shocked!

As the third quarter of the morning arrived, Liu Jin cautiously reminded, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived."

Zhu Youtang drew out the emperor's sword and swung it down.

"Drum roll, march!"

Following Zhu Youtang's order, heavy drumbeats were heard from the city wall.

After hearing the drumbeat, Wang Yue immediately ordered: "All troops, listen up! Move forward, target Annan!"

The flag-bearer next to Wang Yue stood the highest and immediately waved the king's flag in his hand, giving the order to the entire army to march.

Immediately, drums sounded from all directions. The Xianzhen Camp set out first, followed by the three major camps in the capital behind them.

The one hundred thousand strong army roared like a tsunami.

"I swear to pacify Nan, and I will not return until it is conquered!"

"County Annan, open up new frontiers!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"..."

Zhu Youtang stood on the city wall of the capital, feeling emotional as he watched the 100,000-strong army passing by him.

Although the Ming Dynasty looked bright and glorious on the outside, it was still not peaceful on the inside.

There were constant wars between the north and the south, and Zhu Youtang had only been on the throne for two years when he had already used military force twice.

Now that the army has set out and the preliminary preparations have been completed, it is time to start settling accounts.

Zhu Youtang has not forgotten the smuggling of arms by military officers in the northern border towns.

This matter must be investigated thoroughly!
Completely clear out the border towns in the north of the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)