Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 52 The Last Assets of the Ming Dynasty
If he were in the capital, why would Zhu Youjian need to use people like Li Guozhen, Zhang Shize and Wu Xiang!

He quickly stood up and wanted to answer it, but Wang Chengen got there first.

Receive the secret letter from Ni Yuanlu.

After checking and confirming that there was only paper inside and no mechanical poison powder or other things, he bowed and presented it to Zhu Youjian.

The latter took the secret letter, tore off the sealing wax, and shook out the letter paper.

"Your Majesty, Huang Degong, bows his head. I am shocked to hear that bandits have invaded the palace. I wish I could have wings to protect you!"

"Today I have gathered twenty-eight thousand men, fully equipped with armor, three thousand cavalry, and infantry all wearing iron armor.

"There are eighty tiger-crouching cannons and four thousand formation-breaking muskets.

"Though I am a crude warrior, I am willing to lead my army of fierce warriors northwards at night to behead the rebels and present their heads to the palace!"

"However, without an imperial decree, I dare not act without authorization. I beg Your Majesty to grant me the right to serve my country with all my heart!"

After reading it, Zhu Youjian suddenly didn't know what to say.

What era is this?
It was the end of the Ming Dynasty!

Not to mention a general like Huang Degong who had tens of thousands of soldiers and was far away from the court, even the nearby garrisons seemed to be sitting on the fence and watching.

He turned a blind eye to the order issued by Chongzhen to defend the king before he traveled through time, or he was slow to act.

Generals like Huang Degong were not only good at fighting, but also did not want money or food. They only wanted to take their subordinates north to defend the emperor, and were worried that mobilizing troops without an order would arouse the emperor's suspicion.

Compared with Huang Degong, all the officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty deserve to be beheaded!

Let Wang Chengen show the secret letter to Ni Yuanlu.

Then he prepared to let Wang Chengen draft an edict, summoning Huang Degong to lead the troops to defend the king.

Although Ni Yuanlu was also very happy, the long-standing suspicion between civil and military officials still made him make some small suggestions.

"Your Majesty, would you like to send a general to accompany us, and have the Marquis of Jingnan lead his personal troops to the capital as soon as possible?"

"I'm afraid that Wang Yun's invitation to Dong Zhuo will happen again..."

Zhu Youjian was just about to say that if Huang Degong couldn't be trusted, who else could he trust?

But then he thought again, it would be okay to let Huang Degong go first, because what he lacked most now was a general who could fight.

Otherwise, relying on Wu Xiang alone would be of no use.

The words came to his lips, but eventually turned into a question.

"How far is Huang Degong's army from the capital? How many days will it take if the army advances at full speed?"

"This... The Marquis of Jingnan is stationed in Luzhou, which is over 2,000 miles away from the capital. Even if tens of thousands of troops marched day and night, it would probably take forty days to reach the capital."

Ni Yuanlu had no knowledge of military affairs before, and was forced to learn about it only after becoming the prime minister.

Only an approximate date can be given.

But these forty days were enough for Zhu Youjian to abandon Huang Degong's army and only want his own.

The reason why Chongzhen did not send Huang Degong's troops to rescue the king was because it was too far away, and by the time he arrived, the opportunity would have been lost.

"If Huang Degong comes alone, how many days will it take?" Zhu Youjian asked again.

"A courier traveling two thousand miles in a hurry, changing horses but not the crew, would take three days and four nights. In the capital, there are fast horses, and they can change horses and crews for a thousand miles a day and a night..."

Ni Yuanlu calculated for a long time and finally gave a rough time.

If we send fast horses and light cavalry to Luzhou now, it will take five days and five nights for the message to arrive, even if Huang Degong changes horses but not men day and night.

Five days later, the Guanning Army arrived.

Not later than the decisive battle.

Zhu Youjian immediately made the decision, "Wang Banban drafted an imperial decree, allowing Huang Degong's troops to march north to defend the emperor. However, the capital is in danger, so I order Jingnan Bo to select his own deputy general to lead the troops north. Jingnan Bo himself will work day and night to rush to the capital!"

"Let Ye Bushu pass the message and ask Li Ruolian to arrange the handover between the Jinyiwei and the Southern Pacification Division's Tiqi. Make sure that Jingnan Marquis has all the necessary supplies for his journey north!" Wang Chengen quickly wrote the imperial edict and went out to coordinate with Li Ruolian and the Ministry of War.

Ni Yuanlu finished his task and wanted to resign to do other things, but was stopped by Zhu Youjian.

"How many troops are still available in the Ming Dynasty?"

Huang Degong's example served as a reminder to Zhu Youjian.

His entry system rewards are secondary, the focus is on the entry blessings.

A Yongwei Battalion composed of scattered and defeated soldiers, with three purple attributes, managed to kill four thousand soldiers from the old camp of the Chuang Army.

Seeing that the confiscation of property and the collection of silver are entering a period of explosive growth, when so many entries are drawn out, we can't add them all to the Yongwei Battalion.

There are so many Ming troops in the world. As long as they are equipped with purple attributes, they will immediately become elite troops that can rival the old camp soldiers!
Anyway, it was impossible for him to wipe out the rebel army in one go. At most, he could only repel Li Zicheng.

When these royal reinforcements arrive, we can use the entries to take back the military power and concentrate on fighting the Jurchens!
Looking at Zhu Youjian's expectant face, Ni Yuanlu felt a little embarrassed. "I have been in the Ministry of Rites for a long time, so I really don't know the affairs of the Ministry of War..."

Zhu Youjian was silent for a moment, then he instructed the eunuch beside him, "Send the Minister of War, Wang Jiayan."

This is the disadvantage of using culture to control military power.

Although the military is a continuation of politics, you cannot only engage in politics without engaging in the military.

We don’t even know how many troops can come, so what’s the point of fighting this war?

soon.

Under the expectant gazes of Zhu Youjian and Ni Yuanlu, Wang Jiayan hurried over, panting heavily as he was about to salute, "Your Highness..."

"Stop being so polite. I want to ask you, how many soldiers and horses are available in this world?" Zhu Youjian urged.

Just when they were waiting for Wang Jiayan, Li Ruolian sent someone to report that by four quarters past the hour of Mao, a thousand officials had come to the Meridian Gate to donate more than four million taels of silver, as well as a number of precious treasures, calligraphy and paintings.

He is now in a hurry to draw the lottery.

Although Wang Jiayan was stunned by the question, he still answered truthfully.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty still has over a million troops from various directions."

"One million!?" Zhu Youjian and Ni Yuanlu were shocked at the same time.

In their hearts, both of them felt that it was good enough for the Ming Dynasty to have a weak force of 300,000 at this time, and a million was indeed a bit scary.

However, Wang Jiayan's subsequent words made the two realize how much water there was in the one million.

"According to the Ministry of War's accounts, there are still 50,000 combat troops in the Nanjing Jingying camp, 200,000 in the Liaodong Guanning army, 350,000 under Zuo Liangyu in Hubei, 35,000 under Huang Degong in Luzhou, 40,000 under Liu Zeqing in Henan, 50,000 under Gao Jie, 50,000 under Liu Liangzuo in Lianghuai, 70,000 under Zheng Zhilong in Fujian, and approximately 300,000 troops stationed in various locations."

"The account books show approximately 1,145,000."

"The actual number of people in various departments is about 400,000..."

The number of 400,000 was just Wang Jiayan's estimate. Perhaps no one could tell exactly how many people were in this million-strong army, and how many of them were elite troops who could go to the battlefield.

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but sigh. This was the last fortune of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Except for Huang Degong, who was a loyal minister, all the others were either military leaders or traitors.

Each of them is too shrewd and treats military warfare as a business to make profits for themselves. If Li Zicheng does not retreat, don't expect this group of people to get within fifty miles of the capital.

But if he doesn't remove these military leaders and reorganize the army, he will not be able to control it at all.

If you can't control it, you can't bless the entry.

Fortunately, I came up with a plan to reorganize the Ministry of War. Now the positions in the Ministry of War are worthless and are even a hot potato.

But after Li Zicheng was defeated, the imperial power and authority were re-established.

Those six are still heavenly officials!
Don’t watch the trend from so far away, come to the capital. Whoever gets it first will be an official in the six ministries, and may even be promoted to the title of Grand Secretary of the Dongge and be among the cabinet elders.

(End of this chapter)