The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 59 Drinking Water from the Yangtze River
In January of the third year of the Jianwen reign, Zhu Di struggled out of the painful defeat. He regrouped, convened a pre-war meeting, and prepared to march south again. In the years that followed, he recalled that day countless times, the moment that determined his fate!

Li Qi probably never imagined that his meeting with Daoyan and Zhu Gaochi, and the few words he spoke, would subtly alter the thinking of these two men. Thus, the ripples he stirred up reached Beiping and had a far-reaching impact.

……

In the Prince of Yan's mansion, Zhu Di looked around at his subordinates and recalled those who had died. Born into a noble family, he had always had a smooth life, but since he started the rebellion to quell the rebellion, he had hardly slept well and had no days without worry. He had narrowly escaped death countless times. It was an extremely difficult road. He walked and walked, but he could not see the end of the light. The future that was once within his grasp seemed to be getting more and more out of reach!
"After fighting for so long, I have won and lost, but in the end I can only retreat to Beiping. How can we break through Jinan? Please tell me."

Silence fell over the room. Jinan was the turning point of the Jingnan Campaign. After the Northern Army, which had been advancing triumphantly, failed in its attack on Jinan, it suffered defeat after defeat.

After so many years of war, the imperial army has realized that they don't even need to win, just not lose is enough. Fighting a country in one place is something even Zhuge Liang could only regret.

If they had a way to capture Jinan, they wouldn't be sitting here discussing strategies now; they would already be heading south to drink from the Yangtze River!

At this critical moment, Dao Yan stepped forward once again. Throughout history, emperors who have achieved great things have always had such a person by their side. He speaks very little, but he can always decide the strategic direction of the entire group at the most crucial moment!
He calmly looked at everyone and then said, "What is our goal?"

Is it like a dynastic change, where the entire world is overthrown, and then all the princes, nobles, civil officials, and military generals of the old dynasty are killed and replaced with our people?

Of course not!

The princes are His Highness's brothers, the imperial relatives and nobles are His Highness's friends and kinsmen, the military generals are His Highness's comrades-in-arms, and the civil officials are merely following orders. Our only goal is the Emperor!

Everyone knew that the Jingnan Rebellion was a pretext, and that they were actually rebelling, but saying it so openly still made everyone feel uneasy.

But the monk Yao Guangxiao didn't care. He had mastered the art of slaying dragons and was determined to create a new one!
He had no descendants and didn't care about wealth and status, so he was lawless. "From the very beginning, our mindset of conquering cities and seizing territories was wrong."

Eight hundred years ago, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, held up the heads of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Qi, Li Yuanji, and told Emperor Li Yuan and the entire world, "Now you only have one choice!"

And now, there is only one possibility of victory!
That is to march straight to Yingtian, kill the emperor, and show the world who truly rules the land!

There are more ways to open a door than just unlocking it; you can also smash it. In this vast world, there are more than just Shandong as a route to the south. In ancient times, people attacked cities because they were afraid of being cut off from their supply lines if they bypassed the heavily fortified cities. But how many cities in history were captured with lightning speed and thus secured victory?
If we can launch a surprise attack on Yingtian and then storm the city!

Zhu Di's eyes lit up. For most people, if Jinan couldn't be captured, how could the fortified Yingtian possibly be taken?
If the siege drags on and the supply lines are cut off, a pincer attack from both sides will result in certain death.

But for him, Ying Tian was the easiest target to overcome!
"This battle offers only one chance, a one-way trip. Either we die on the way, or we storm Yingtian and are crowned emperor. There is no other chance. Gather the army! Head south!"

Every great person possesses the courage to take a desperate gamble in dire circumstances, while those who shrink back at crucial moments only become stepping stones for true champions.

Sheng Yong, Tie Xuan, Ping An, and others quietly waited in Jinan for the Prince of Yan to march south again. With the shift in the overall situation, they were absolutely confident that Zhu Di would suffer another defeat here.

But they soon discovered to their horror that Prince Yan, Zhu Di, had bypassed Jinan and instead crossed the river to head straight for Xuzhou, the gateway to the Central Plains.

As the saying goes, Pengcheng has been one of the nine provinces since ancient times, a place where dragons and tigers have fought for thousands of years. Whether heading south or north, how many heroes have battled here throughout history!

Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that the Prince of Yan's sword is aimed at Xuzhou, but his true intention is to seize Yingtian!
Given its strategic location, Xuzhou was naturally a heavily fortified city, which should have been able to withstand the Yan army. But was the key to the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" really in military terms?
Xuzhou is the gateway to Yingtian. What if something unexpected happens?
What if the King of Yan bypasses Xuzhou and continues south?
Wouldn't His Majesty's safety be threatened?
Almost without hesitation, the imperial army, which had already made thorough preparations in Jinan, abandoned all its defensive weapons and rushed to Xuzhou to catch up with the Yan army.

Ultimately, the righteous are one foot high, but the evil are ten feet high!
Zhu Di brought the battlefield back to the open field battles he was most skilled in. After Lan Yu's death, he became the number one general in the land. Without the protection of the city walls and worried about the emperor's safety, Ping An, Sheng Yong and others were immediately met with a heavy blow.

Having learned from his past failures, Zhu Di truly understood his enemies and their weaknesses. On the vast, flat, and boundless Huaihai Plain, he led the most elite cavalry in the land to launch repeated attacks on the Southern Army.

Even though he had gained the strategic initiative, the situation on the battlefield was ever-changing, and he suffered a defeat. But fate ultimately smiled upon him!
The wondrous fate holds the power of life and death, fortune and misfortune in the hands of everyone. Chen Youliang could never have imagined that he would die from a stray arrow, Liu Bang could never have imagined that he would survive an arrow wound to the chest, and those ambitious emperors in history could never have imagined that they would die young.

Throughout history, heroes and great men have always trusted their own abilities, but when they look back on their past, they all exclaim, "This is the destiny that has brought me greatness!"

During the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di repeatedly turned defeat into victory by taking advantage of sudden strong winds. Now that he was at his wit's end, fate smiled upon him once again. Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei who defeated him, was recalled to the capital, while Sheng Yong and others failed by a coincidence.

Yangzhou, the last major city north of the Yangtze River, surrendered without a fight!

With all these coincidences, who can help but say that it was fate?

The deep darkness had suddenly passed, and the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Yingtian, lay beyond the Yangtze River—a heavenly city flowing with light and warmth.

He left there many years ago, thinking he would never return, but now he has returned with a massive army.

Countless flashes of blood and fire appeared before my eyes, and the faces of the dead and the living all wore expressions of relief.

(End of this chapter)