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

Chapter 172 The emperor personally leads the army to inspect the nine borders!
Yang Tong climbed up the city wall and could no longer see the Eastern Depot guards and the Censors.

Liu Jin commanded the East Factory guards and took the censors out of the pass and ran all the way west.

"Now that we have the money, the Dongchang guards and the Supervisory Censor have run away, and no one dares to check the accounts of Xuanfu anymore."

"Although we didn't kill all the Dongchang guards and the Supervisory Censors, the fact that they fled to the border is still acceptable."

"These people have no supplies and will soon starve to death on the grassland."

It was unclear whether Yang Tong was speaking to Yang Kui standing next to him or to himself.

"How are the other things going?"

"Have the other three border towns received the letter?"

After hearing this, Yang Kui bowed and replied: "I think everyone has received the letter."

"After learning about your majesty's actions this time, the generals of other border towns should have felt threatened."

"General, this plan gives them a way out. I'm sure they will obey it."

"As for Datong General Liu Ning, he should no longer be able to oppose us."

Yang Tong nodded and walked down the city wall: "You have to clean up the mess in the city yourself."

"Yes, Sir General."

Yang Kui stood behind him and bowed respectfully to receive the order.

……

Datong Mansion.

A team of Ming troops from Xuanfu entered Datong Prefecture and immediately asked to meet with Datong General Liu Ning.

This Ming army consisted of only thirty or forty people.

Logically speaking, it was already night time, so they should not be allowed to enter Datong Prefecture, let alone meet the Datong General.

But they have something that others cannot refuse.

Soon, the Xuanfu Army led by them entered Liu Ning's military tent.

The leader bowed and handed over something.

"I am honored to meet General Liu, the General Officer of Xuanfu, Mr. Yang Tong. I would like to invite General Liu to come out of the city to discuss important matters."

In the military tent, when Liu Ning saw the leader handing over the royal flag, his face changed.

In the Ming Dynasty, seeing the king's flag was like seeing His Majesty the Emperor, who had the power to temporarily mobilize the army and also the power of life and death.

This kind of royal flag was only issued during war. When Xu Chang and Wang Yue went to war, Zhu Youtang also gave them one pair each.

During the Chongzhen period, Yuan Chonghuan was able to kill Mao Wenlong by using the royal flag.

Otherwise, how could Yuan Chonghuan, a second-rank official, have the qualifications to kill Mao Wenlong, a first-rank provincial governor? !
Guo Pan was horrified: "General Liu, it's the king's command flag!"

"General Yang has something important to discuss with you. Let's go to the appointment!"

Liu Ning was shocked and doubtful, and frowned deeply.

He felt a little strange. Why would Yang Tong, the general of Xuanfu, invite him out of the city to discuss matters at night?
But the king's order was here, and Liu Ning had no choice.

So Liu Ning ordered Guo Pan to mobilize a thousand personal soldiers to accompany him out of the city to meet Yang Tong.

Guo Pan accepted the order and quickly gathered a thousand personal soldiers. He then went out of the city with Liu Ning to meet Yang Tong.

But after this trip, Liu Ning never came back.

……

The next day.

While it was still dawn, four military letters were urgently sent to the capital from eight hundred miles away!

News came from Datong, Xuanfu, Liaodong and Suzhou at the same time.

Walakoubian!

In the Hongde Hall, Zhu Youtang took the military report sent by Xu Pu and Liu Daxia.

After reading the contents of the military newspaper, Zhu Youtang was so angry that his hands were shaking.

Zhu Youtang knew clearly what the situation was with the Oirat.

How could a small tribe that was almost driven to Central Asia by the Golden Family on the grassland have the strength to attack the four major border towns?

Moreover, the leader of the Oirat tribe, Borokhan, had just communicated with him in a letter. In the letter, Borokhan wished that the Oirat tribe would become loyal dogs of the Ming Dynasty. How could he possibly come to invade the border?
Moreover, the last time Zhu Youtang was investigating the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, Annan invaded.

When they checked the food and wages of the border towns, they were immediately harassed by enemy troops. The towns had no choice but to fortify their defenses and burn down the granaries.

This time, Zhu Youtang asked Liu Jin to take people to Xuanfu to distribute reward silver and check the number of soldiers in the border towns.

Soon, the Wala invaded all sides and the border towns were plunged into war.

This kind of news is obviously fake!

Using this information to fool Zhu Youtang proves that these border generals did not take the emperor Zhu Youtang seriously at all.

The fact that the border generals have become so bold and presumptuous shows that the internal situation is rotten and the entire border town is completely out of the control of the court!

Zhu Youtang, never allow this to happen.

Zhu Youtang slammed the four military reports on the dragon table, thinking deeply and remaining silent.

Xu Pu and Liu Daxia looked at each other and spoke in tacit understanding.

"Your Majesty, there is a war going on in the border town. Why don't we reward the border troops together after the war is over?"

Liu Daxia spoke cautiously. They already knew the real cause of this "border raid" and also knew Zhu Youtang's real intention of rewarding the border troops.

Therefore, Liu Daxia went straight to the crux of the matter as soon as he opened his mouth. As long as Zhu Youtang agreed not to reward the border troops, the Wala army would naturally retreat.

Xu Pu advised: "Your Majesty, the war is the most important thing now. In the south, we are about to go to war with Annan, the expeditionary force in the northwest has not returned yet, and in the north, there are the Wala invaders..."

"The Ming Dynasty is caught up in wars all over the country, and its national strength has been greatly depleted. I think we should..." Zhu Youtang stretched out his hand, interrupted the conversation between the two, and gave an order immediately.

"Go and inform all officials in the capital that I will convene a grand court meeting immediately!"

"All officials must attend and must not be absent without reason!"

When encountering major political events, it is not inappropriate for the emperor to convene a grand court meeting to discuss state affairs with other officials.

But after hearing this, Xu Pu and Liu Daxia always felt a vague sense of uneasiness in their hearts.

The main reason is that Zhu Youtang's usual performance does not seem like that of a wise ruler who can listen to the opinions of other officials?

But Zhu Youtang had already given the order, so they could only bow and accept the order and then leave.

After Xu Pu and Liu Daxia left Hongde Hall, Zhu Youtang summoned Wang Zhi and Mou Bin to ask them about the situation in the border towns.

Just as Zhu Youtang had guessed, the spies from the Western Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not discover any fighting in the border town.

After listening to the reports from the Western Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhu Youtang became more certain of his ideas.

He then changed into court robes and went to Fengtian Gate to hold court.

When Zhu Youtang arrived at Fengtian Gate, the Fengtian Gate Square was already filled with many officials.

There was also a steady stream of officials coming from the Jinshui Bridge. At a rough glance, there were at least thousands of them.

Grand court meetings were rarely held, usually only a few times a year, on New Year's Day, the emperor's birthday, and to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

But today, Zhu Youtang convened a grand court meeting very suddenly, which made all the civil and military officials in the city confused and puzzled.

I don’t know what Zhu Youtang is up to today.

Soon, officials at all levels stood in order of rank.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

All civil and military officials paid homage to Zhu Youtang as per custom.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne and said expressionlessly, "My dear ministers, please stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

When all the civil and military officials stood up, Zhu Youtang went straight to the point.

"Early this morning, the four towns of Xuanfu, Datong, Liaodong, and Suzhou all received military reports at the same time that the Wala invaded the border."

After hearing this news, the people standing at the bottom of the stairs suddenly understood why Zhu Youtang convened this grand court meeting.

It turns out that there has been another war in the border town. I guess the next thing for these officials to do is to discuss how to resolve the matter, right?

But when a group of officials were silently thinking about countermeasures in their hearts, Zhu Youtang had already given his own solution.

This plan shocked and terrified all the civil and military officials in the court!
"So, I decided to lead the army in person!"

"Tomorrow, I will personally lead the army to inspect the nine borders!"

When these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials in the court were so shocked that they could not believe their ears.

what? !

Zhu Youtang is going to lead the army in person? !
The sky is falling! ! !
The moment Zhu Youtang finished speaking, almost all the civil and military officials in the court knelt down to him!

"Your Majesty! You can't lead the army in person! A son of a wealthy family should not sit idle in the palace. Your Majesty is worth a million dollars, why would you risk your life?"

Xu Pu moved quickly and swiftly. In the blink of an eye, he knelt in front of Zhu Youtang and begged desperately.

Liu Daxia was not much behind, and his kowtow was even faster than Xu Pu.

"I beg your majesty to take back your order!!!"

"Weapons are dangerous tools! War is a dangerous thing!"

"Your Majesty can rule the world from behind, but you must never lead the army in person!"

Xu Pu and Liu Daxia are now scared to death. If Zhu Youtang really goes to the border town to patrol, the current situation in the border town will not be concealed.

Even if these people had ten heads, they would not be enough for Zhu Youtang to chop off!

They, the civil servants, must do their best to stop Zhu Youtang from leading the army in person and inspecting the nine frontiers!
With Xu Pu and Liu Daxia taking the lead, officials at all levels also spoke up to dissuade Zhu Youtang from leading the army in person.

"Your Majesty! War is dangerous and swords are merciless. You must not lead the army in person!"

"Your Majesty! Remember the past and learn from it. Our dynasty has learned from past mistakes. Please think twice!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice! Please take back your order!"

"..."

Zhu Youtang had a blank expression on his face, but his tone was extremely firm.

"My dear gentlemen, I have made up my mind. No need to persuade me any further!"

During this period of time, Zhu Youtang was already extremely certain that some of the generals stationed in the border towns had become extremely corrupt.

The entire border town was deceiving its superiors and subordinates, and the emperor, who was in the capital, had no way of understanding any specific situation about the border town.

These border towns were the last line of defense of the Ming Dynasty, especially Xuanfu, which was the gateway to the capital.

This is not the first or second time that dogs have been let into this place.

Last year, the little Tatar prince first entered the pass from Datong Prefecture, and then went to Xuanfu. When he attacked the capital from Xuanfu, it was only a distance of more than 200 miles.

Fortunately, the Tatar prince’s first target was not the capital, but to burn, kill, and loot along the way, trying to steal food and supplies for the winter.

The little Tatar prince also knew that the capital city was high up and had many soldiers, so it would be faster to rob the surrounding villages and towns for food.

How can I allow others to sleep peacefully on my bed?
Zhu Youtang would never allow the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty to enter the pass and sweep the area at any time.

He must personally go to the border town, regain the military power there, and only after he has taken control of the town can he feel at ease.

(End of this chapter)