Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 321 The advantage is mine! Come to rescue the emperor!

While people in Nanjing were cheering for going out to sea, in Peking, Lan Yu also received an imperial edict appointing him as a general and ordering him to send troops to attack the three Jurchen tribes.

He immediately mobilized food and fodder, and conscripted civilian workers to build a cement road leading to the northeast in preparation for the attack on the three Jurchen tribes.

Before this, the road from Nanjing to Beijing had basically been completed.

Of course, there are still a few places that are blocked.

For example, there is no Yangtze River Bridge or Yellow River Bridge.

In these places, transportation is only possible by ship.

But this does not affect the smooth flow of traffic in most places.

The road from Jinling to Shanhaiguan has been under construction for a long time.

Now it's just a matter of speeding up the progress further.

Not long after, several brigades of new troops sent by the imperial court arrived in Peking one after another.

Looking at these well-equipped new troops equipped with advanced muskets and artillery, Lan Yu was delighted.

He has been coveting the new army for a long time.

As a battle-hardened general, Lan Yu determined that this was the future development direction as early as when he first saw the new muskets and artillery manufactured by Zhu Yunhuan and the Ming Manufacturing Bureau at the Ming Military Academy.

To this end, he worked very hard to study the tactics and strategies of the new army.

It’s a pity that Zhu Yunhuan never allowed him to command the new army in battle.

Now, I finally agreed.

And once given, it will be six brigades of new troops.

Together with the brigades led by Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu, as well as the two naval brigades under his command, the total number reached 30,000.

The combat effectiveness of the 30,000 new troops was far superior to that of the hundreds of thousands of old troops, which made Lan Yu ecstatic.

After a short rest, Lan Yu quickly made arrangements.

Eight brigades of the new army, of which the second brigade was commanded by Zhang Fu, joined forces with tens of thousands of cavalry from the grassland tribes and advanced eastward from the grassland.

These were the armies originally led by Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu respectively.

After pacifying the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they remained stationed on the grassland as a deterrent.

Now the imperial court has sent new troops to garrison the grassland.

As an elite new army that has experienced war, they will launch a campaign against the three Jurchen tribes.

Lan Yu and Zhang Fu led another six brigades of new troops and marched out from Shanhaiguan.

As the art of war says: Speed is the essence of war.

However, this time, according to Zhu Yunhuan's request, the army did not march fast, but very slowly.

Because there were still a large number of civilian workers and old soldiers behind them, they followed the new army to build cement roads and built granaries and ammunition depots next to the road.

The momentum was extremely huge.

Such a high-profile action certainly could not be hidden from the Jurchen tribe.

And this is exactly Zhu Yunhuan’s purpose.

This time we are going to use our upright army to carry out a sweeping operation against the Jurchen barbarians.

Those who dare not submit to the Ming Dynasty and all forces will be completely eradicated.

Zhu Neng led a brigade of new troops as the vanguard and walked in the front.

Early in the morning, just after daybreak, a sentry came to report that a Jurchen army had appeared ahead.

Zhu Neng quickly walked out of the tent and came to the temporary platform built outside when setting up camp. He saw a group of soldiers not far away, slowly walking towards the Ming army camp.

This army was mainly composed of infantry, but also had a small number of cavalry.

Zhu Neng had been in many battles, and he made a judgment immediately after just a quick look.

In this Jurchen army in front of us, many people were wearing thick, Jurchen-style armor.

This kind of armor is very expensive and ordinary armies simply cannot afford it.

From this we can see that those who came were the elite Jurchens.

Zhu Neng observed carefully and estimated that the Jurchen army in front of him had about 20,000 people.

The brigade of the Ming Dynasty's new army under his command consisted of about 3,000 people.

Not only did these Jurchens refuse to surrender, they even dared to attack the Ming Dynasty army?
"3,000 versus 20,000, the advantage is on my side!" Zhu Neng did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "The entire army will immediately enter combat status and prepare for battle."

The new army soldiers made preparations quickly and methodically.

This is a process that has been trained many times.

Compared with the new army that went to war against the Northern Yuan Dynasty a year ago, the muskets used by this new army were more advanced, with a longer effective range, higher accuracy, faster bullet loading and firing speeds, and even the failure rate of the guns was greatly reduced.

The same is true for artillery. The power of artillery shells has increased a lot compared to a year ago.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

Without giving the new army soldiers much time, the Jurchen barbarians started to attack them, shouting loudly.

Twenty thousand barbarians attacked like a tide.

There was a fierce look in the eyes of many of them, as if they were hungry wolves.

The living environment of the Jurchens was extremely harsh, their rule was even more cruel, and their social form was still a mixture of slave society and primitive tribes.

But it is precisely this kind of environment that has caused the surviving barbarians to develop extremely "ferocious" characters.

They are barbaric, brutal and fearless of death.

This is the charge before us.

Although it looks a bit chaotic and disorganized, the "ruthlessness" is evident throughout.

Zhu Neng was stunned.

He was very confused looking at the barbarians rushing forward shouting.

It was not because of the barbarians' "brutalism" and "fearlessness of death", but because they were stunned by their stupidity.

I have seen stupid people, but I have never seen such stupid people.

Are you rushing to commit suicide?

It makes sense that the Northern Yuan army initially launched an attack on the New Army.

After all, it was the new army’s first time on the battlefield, and the Northern Yuan army was unaware of their strength and still fought using the old methods, which was normal.

Therefore, in the end, they suffered a great loss and were defeated in the first battle.

But now, a year has passed since the new army defeated the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

The tribes of the Northern Yuan Dynasty had already submitted to the Ming Dynasty.

The Jurchen barbarians had frequent interactions with the Northern Yuan tribes.

The news about the new army must have reached the ears of the barbarians long ago.

No one expected that these barbarians would be so stupid as to launch a "death charge" against the new army.

Is it really that stupid?

In fact, Zhu Neng is extending his influence to others.

His ability to lead troops is superior to that of ordinary generals.

Moreover, he has been commanding the new army for the past year, and will continue to study tactics and strategies that are more suitable for the new army.

At the same time, he often imagined what methods he would use to deal with the new army if he were an enemy general.

On this basis, the new army also adjusted its corresponding tactics.

The spear and the shield complement each other.

But just because he thinks this way doesn't mean everyone else thinks this way.

In the eyes of the barbarian leaders, the news they received was that the new army of the Ming Dynasty had powerful weapons and its combat power was unparalleled in the world.

Therefore, in order to deal with the new army of the Ming Dynasty, it is necessary to gather a large number of troops and launch a charge with fearless courage.

This is the only way to have a chance of winning.

The reason why the Northern Yuan Dynasty was defeated was that they were frightened by the Ming Dynasty's new army and fled everywhere!

How could the Northern Yuan cavalry have been defeated if they did not have the determination and courage to not fear death?
That's right!

This is the information the Jurchen barbarians received and the judgment they made.

As for how powerful the new army's muskets and artillery were, and how terrifying their power was... of course they had heard about it.

But no matter how powerful the weapons are, they can only kill a few more people.

What's more, muskets and artillery can only attack at a distance.

As long as our side is willing to risk their lives and rush in front of them, the Ming Dynasty's new army will be doomed.

The barbarians had never seen muskets or artillery with their own eyes, and they refused to believe the reality that "times have changed."

This is human instinct.

Just like in history, Senggelinqin led the elite Eight Banners to attack the British and French forces at Baliqiao.

Although their courage is commendable, there is no doubt that without adopting effective tactics and methods, and relying solely on courage and flesh and blood to directly attack the muskets and artillery with abundant ammunition, the outcome of failure was already doomed.

You know, it was nearly 20 years since the First Opium War. And now, it has only been a year since the Ming New Army's battle against the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

One year is far from enough for the Jurchen barbarians to overturn the fixed cognition they have formed over the past few decades.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The Jurchen barbarians were extremely powerful, with fierce eyes and ferocious faces.

But the look in Zhu Neng's eyes when he looked at them was only contempt and pity.

"Fire!" he ordered.

This battle was too easy and not challenging enough, and he felt a little bored.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Guns fired.

The artillery fire made a huge explosion, which instantly drowned out the howling of the Jurchen barbarians.

Bullets rained down like raindrops.

The lives of the barbarians who charged forward were ruthlessly harvested by the god of death.

Gunfire hit the barbarians rushing in front, while artillery fire provided comprehensive coverage.

Utilizing the cannon's extremely long range, they not only struck the front of the barbarian tribe, but also attacked its rear at the same time.

In a flash, corpses were everywhere and blood flowed like a river.

The terrifying power of thermal weapons was fully demonstrated at this moment.

The barbarians who charged in dense formations were killed in large numbers by the high-speed shooting of thousands of muskets.

All their courage and fearlessness were lost when they foolishly charged the new army head-on, trying to use their old armor to defend against bullets and their flesh and blood to withstand bullets and cannons.

At the beginning, although a large number of barbarians fell, the remaining barbarians were like ferocious beasts with red eyes, still rushing forward desperately.

Adrenaline is fully stimulated.

It makes some people forget about death and pain, and they just rush forward desperately.

Extremely "brave"!
But, it's all in vain.

The generational gap between cold weapons and hot weapons, coupled with mistakes in tactical command, made their courage extremely ridiculous.

The most ferocious barbarian only rushed to a place about thirty meters away from the new army's position before falling down.

The rest are even further away.

The battle did not last long and was declared over.

In this battle, the main force of the Jianzhou Jurchens suffered heavy losses, and the new Ming army won a great victory.

……

At the same time, Zhu Neng led his army to fight against the barbarians.

There was already an undercurrent in the court of Jinling City.

Several months after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the princes finally returned to the court.

Prince Zhou's Mansion.

This is the residence of King Zhu Su of Zhou in Jinling. Although it cannot be compared with the royal palace in Kaifeng, it is still hundreds or thousands of times better than ordinary houses.

The night is dark.

King Zhu Su of Zhou was reading a medical journal by lamplight at night.

I have to say that the journal "Science" sponsored by the Ming Academy of Sciences is indeed quite capable.

Its "Medicine" branch collects the medical experience of famous doctors of the time.

Each treatment case and each drug analysis fascinated Zhu Su, who had always loved doctors.

Compared with traditional medical books, the journal "Medicine" is obviously much more scientific and rigorous.

After all, even if a doctor has been practicing medicine for decades, he can still accumulate a lot of experience.

The medical books he compiled were often based only on his own accumulated medical experience.

The rest is summarized based on the medical books I have read.

As a result, it is inevitable that there are many errors in medicine.

The experience of practicing doctors is limited, and one person can often only find one or two errors in medical books.

After the discovery, there is no way to tell the world and correct the mistake.

Usually this doctor discovered something wrong, but the other doctors were completely unaware of it.

The same cannot be said for the journal Medicine.

Doctors from all over the country contributed articles, sharing their experiences and pointing out many errors in medicine.

This is still a profitable business for doctors.

Because publishing an article in the journal "Medicine" can gain you huge fame.

As his fame grew, more people came to him for medical treatment, and he could charge higher fees.

Because of this, there is a constant stream of doctors submitting articles to "share" their experiences.

The journal Medicine was founded not very long ago.

Kaifeng is too far from Jinling.

Therefore, although Zhu Su had seen the news that the Daming Academy of Sciences had founded the "Medicine" journal in the "Da Ming Daily", he had only read one or two medicine-related articles in the early "Science" journal.

It was the first time he had seen a specialized medical journal.

Once I saw it, I was fascinated and didn't even want to rest at night.

Just as he was watching in fascination, the old servant of the palace tiptoed and pushed open the door, bowed and said: "Your Highness, someone wants to see you."

Zhu Su couldn't help but frown slightly. Who is it at this late hour?
"Who is it?" Zhu Su's tone was slightly dissatisfied.

Servants nowadays are becoming more and more outrageous.

Didn't they even make the identity of the person who came clear when reporting?
If he hadn't shown some respect to the other party because he was an old servant who had served him for many years, he would have lost his temper by now.

The old servant did not answer, but stepped forward respectfully and handed over a token: "The man covered his face with a black cloth and was unwilling to reveal his identity. He only gave me this sign."

Zhu Su took it and looked at it. It turned out to be an extremely finely crafted copper token with two words written on it: "Ministry of Justice!"

There is another line of small words on the back.

Zhu Su only took a glance, his expression changed immediately, and he said hurriedly: "Hurry up and send him to see me."

The old servant retreated.

After a while, he was seen leading a man who was covered in black clothes and even his face was covered with a black cloth.

"Who are you?" Zhu Su asked in a deep voice.

The man in black looked around.

Although Zhu Su was somewhat suspicious, he still waved his hand and signaled the old servant who was following him to retreat.

The man in black turned around, closed the door, and then pulled off the black cloth on his face.

Immediately he bowed and said, "Nephew Zhu Gaoxu greets Uncle Fifth!"

"Xi'er, you are Xi'er?" Zhu Su was extremely surprised. He stood up and pulled Zhu Gaoxu, looking him up and down and said, "I haven't seen you in these few years. You have grown into an adult."

As a vassal king, he was away from home for a long time.

The last time I saw Zhu Gaoxu was five or six years ago.

From childhood to adolescence, the body grows very fast.

It can be said that every year is different.

After not seeing each other for five or six years, Zhu Gaoxu is very different from before.

If he hadn't taken the initiative to point it out, Zhu Su probably wouldn't have recognized it at all.

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "Uncle Wu is still the same."

Zhu Su laughed loudly, asked him to sit down, and asked, "Why did you come to visit me dressed like this late at night?"

As he spoke, he picked up the teacup beside him.

I was so absorbed in reading the medical book that I forgot to drink my tea.

Only when I was interrupted at this moment did I feel thirsty.

Zhu Gaoxu smiled faintly and said, "Uncle Wu, you are asking even though you already know the answer."

His eyes were like those of an eagle, staring straight into Zhu Su's eyes, and he said word by word, "My nephew came here late at night, naturally, to discuss with my fifth uncle how to rescue Grandpa Huang."

boom!
A soft sound!
The teacup in Zhu Su's hand fell to the ground.

In an instant it broke into pieces and water flowed all over the ground.

He ignored it and just stared at Zhu Gaoxu in front of him: "Are you saying that the emperor is still alive?"

……

(End of this chapter)