Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 336 Cao Wenzhao: I haven't read much, but I know the two words "loyalty" and "righteousness"!
On the 9th, Yuan Keli and his party arrived at Youtun, which had been the front line where Cao Cao and Cao Pi had been stationed for a long time and where they had clashed and fought against the Jurchens.

During the Tianqi era, Sun Chengzong established his Dache Camp here, leading more than 10,000 elite troops and hundreds of thousands of refugees from Liaodong to settle and cultivate land, implementing his "building fortifications and advancing eastward" strategy.

At that time, Yuan Keli was appointed as the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, responsible for the defense of the Shandong Peninsula and the Bohai Sea. He devoted himself to building the Dengzhou-Laizhou navy, assembling a naval and land force of more than 50,000 men and 4,000 warships, and together with Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang navy, launched a large-scale harassment campaign against the Jurchens from the sea.

Furthermore, at that time, the Chahar Mongols and the Joseon Kingdom were allies of the Ming Dynasty. They cooperated with the Ming army to jointly attack the Jurchens, achieving strategic isolation of the Jurchens and imposing a embargo on supplies. This forced Nurhaci to massacre "people without grain" to save food, and thus broke with the Han people.

In the fourth and fifth years of the Tianqi reign, the Ming Dynasty came closest to defeating the Jurchens and recovering Liaodong. However, just when the situation seemed to be going very well, Sun Chengzong and Yuan Keli were impeached and removed from office; Mao Wenlong was cut off from supplies, and famine struck Dongjiang Town, with many soldiers and civilians starving to death. He had no choice but to go to Korea to borrow land for farming, but then the tragedy of the Tieshan Massacre occurred.

Even more coincidentally, in May of that year, the Tianqi Emperor, on a whim, personally rowed a small boat in the Western Garden. While in the water, a sudden gust of wind arose, capsizing the boat, and he and two eunuchs fell into the water. Fortunately, the eunuch Tan Jing quickly jumped in and rescued him, while the two eunuchs drowned, leaving no way to verify the incident. From then on, the emperor fell ill and died two years later, after drinking rice porridge.

Are there really so many coincidences in history? Why did Zhu Youxiao fall into the water not earlier or later, but precisely when the Jurchens were about to collapse? In order to stabilize the situation and avoid causing panic and implicating innocent people, Zhu Youjian did not launch an investigation into his brother's drowning and subsequent death. Even if he had investigated, he would most likely not have found out anything.

Logically, Wei Zhongxian had no motive to assassinate the emperor. When Zhu Youjian questioned him about the matter, he said that after the late emperor fell into the water, no one else was implicated; on the contrary, he and Madam Ke were greatly rewarded. Madam Ke was sent out of the palace by Zhu Youjian, who felt uneasy keeping her around. Wei Zhongxian admitted to his relationship with Madam Ke, but denied the rumors of an illicit affair between the late emperor and Madam Ke.

Furthermore, the gossipy old eunuch who wrote the daily records for Zhu Youjian was named Liu Ruoyu. He was a very talented eunuch, and Zhu Youjian felt that with his abilities, he would have no problem passing the imperial examination. Liu Ruoyu secretly told Zhu Youjian that Wei Zhongxian originally had a lover, but in order to curry favor with Madam Ke, he did not hesitate to break off his original lover.

The internal investigation couldn't find anything conclusive, as if it really was an accident, or that the Heavenly Mandate Khan truly had a divine mandate, and that anyone who could stop him would be punished by heaven. It was as bizarre as it could possibly be.

Zhu Youjian distrusted the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and even less so the group of thugs under Wei Zhongxian. As for the civil officials, they were even less trusting. If Zhu Youjian dared to let them investigate, they would dare to expand the scope and carry it out 200% to suppress dissidents.

The strongholds of Youtun, Dalinghebao, Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan are all about 20 to 30 miles apart, forming a line along the coast and supporting each other.

Yuan Keli stored tens of thousands of shi of grain at Juehua Island, Ningyuan City, and other strongholds connected to Guangning Youtunwei. This served two purposes: firstly, to provide rations for the reinforcements, and secondly, to prevent the grain from being destroyed by the enemy or burned in collusion between internal and external forces if stored in a concentrated manner. Juehua Island and Youtunwei each stored 300,000 shi of grain.

Youtun is still 400 li away from Liaoyang, and the logistical supply transport along the way will face enormous pressure. In the subsequent siege of Liaoyang and a protracted battle, it will be inappropriate to transport grain from western Liaoning. Instead, supplies should be obtained from southern Liaoning, but the situation is still not optimistic.

For security reasons, grain from southern Liaoning was mainly stockpiled in Jinzhou and Lushunkou at the southern tip. However, for convenient resupply, smaller grain transfer stations were also set up in other places, the closest to the north being on Lianyungang Island. Lianyungang Island is located in Gaizhou, quite a distance from Haizhou, the front line in southern Liaoning. In short, abandoning territory may seem convenient in the short term, but recovering Liaodong is an extremely difficult task! It took Zhuge Liang a full sixteen years to conquer Liaodong, and he even suffered defeats along the way!
Zhu Youjian ordered them to recapture Liaodong regardless of losses or the cost of supplies. The two regions of Liaoxi and Liaonan had a combined grain reserve of over three million shi (a unit of dry measure), which was more than enough to support this major battle. However, having grain and getting it to the front lines were two different things.

Youtun was still mobilizing troops and building up its strength. Yuan Keli summoned the generals of various towns and passes to Youtun for a pre-battle meeting. Cao Wenzhao had not seen his old superior, Sun Chengzong, for almost ten years; Sun Chengzong had been far away in the northwest during the defense of Beijing and had not returned.

Now, the two, who were somewhat estranged, met again in Youtun, a place both familiar and unfamiliar. Despite having a thousand words in their hearts, they were unable to speak for a moment, leaving only endless sighs.

It was Sun Chengzong who broke the awkward silence between the two, saying with a touch of pride, "I saw your extraordinary potential back then, and now it seems I was right!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Wenzhao felt a little ashamed. He didn't want to talk about how he had climbed up the ranks; he wasn't morally fastidious, but being a relative of the emperor didn't sound so honorable. He said sullenly, "Lord Sun, I heard you and His Majesty had a bad falling out. Why did you do this?!"

“It is true that I was wrong.” Sun Chengzong was silent for a moment, then said softly. After speaking, he looked at Cao Wenzhao with a strange look, which made Cao Wenzhao feel a little scared. “His Majesty has ordered the mobilization of troops, and you just accept it without hesitation. Do you still have any regard for the court or the Ministry of War?! If His Majesty wants to launch a major case in the future, will you also help His Majesty slaughter the officials of the court?!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere between the two suddenly became heavy. Cao Wenzhao felt a toothache; his old superior was being too petty. He shook his head and said, "His Majesty would not do such a thing."

"Emperor Taizu was lenient with people in his early years, and he was generous in rewarding his civil and military officials. But you must know that emperors grow old. How do you know that he won't harm you nobles and relatives of the emperor at that time?!" Sun Chengzong said in an almost chanting manner.

Cao Wenzhao's eyes sharpened instantly, and he said, word by word, "Lord Sun, I am not well-educated, but I know the words 'loyalty and righteousness'! If His Majesty really wants me to kill people, then those scoundrels bullied His Majesty first, so don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
"Lord Sun, I respect you, so I'll speak frankly: His Majesty has already shown you considerable favor by allowing you to return to your post, yet you dare to sow discord between me and His Majesty?! Out of consideration for our past friendship, let's pretend this matter never happened. Don't utter any more nonsensical words to me in the future. Farewell!"

Cao Wenzhao tossed his cloak aside and turned to leave. The clatter of his fine iron armor seemed to accuse him of his current anger. Sun Chengzong stood on the high platform, his withered hands resting on the railing. He sighed softly, gazing absently at the monks below who were laboriously hauling coal. No one knew what he was thinking.

Crack! The overseer's whip struck the back of a slightly slower-moving monk without mercy, making him wince in pain. These monks had been forced into labor for months, and without shaving tools, their bald heads couldn't be maintained. Now their hair had grown to an inch long—were they not exactly shaved heads?
"What are you looking at? Crying?! Don't cry! Crying is considered slacking off! His Majesty said that you monks are practicing asceticism, you have to endure a lot of hardship, only by enduring a lot of hardship can you achieve enlightenment! I'm not bullying you, I'm helping you!" The overseer said, unable to hold back his laughter.

(End of this chapter)