Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 102 Silence and Duty

now.

Except for those Shenwei Battalion guards, who were slightly better off.

Upon hearing the phrase "I have come in person," the others felt as if they were in a dream, and some even nearly fell off their horses.

Does His Majesty mean he intends to lead the charge?

among these people.

Except for Zhang Xianzhong, who was not so terrified because he had personally witnessed His Majesty's prowess.

Although the others were deeply moved by these words, they immediately and urgently offered their advice after regaining their composure.

"Your Majesty! You must not!"

"His Majesty."

It's no wonder these people are anxious.

Whether the Ordos tribe lives or dies is a minor matter.

Swords and blades have no eyes.

If His Majesty were to be injured in the midst of battle, the nation would be in grave danger!

Where can they find another emperor like this?!
Faced with the advice of the crowd, Zhu Youjian simply waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to say more.

Ever since.

Everyone fell into silence.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong followed behind, watching the Emperor's back, their emotions beyond words.

His Majesty's personal inspection of the border was already unexpected.

But now His Majesty actually wants to personally lead the army and even personally charge into the enemy camp.
What else is there to say?!
kill!

The two could already imagine how high the morale of the Ming army would be tonight.

On horseback.

Zhang Yi, who had only been there for a day, fell silent as he watched the emperor's retreating figure.

Honestly.

He considered himself an opportunist, and he would gravitate towards whichever side could help him achieve his life's ideals.

But just as Zhang Yi saw the Ming Dynasty emperor preparing to personally lead the expedition, and that it was not just a show.

Zhang Yi's resolve wavered completely at that moment.

The emperor has countless reasons not to personally lead any military campaigns.

The battlefield is not the kind of strategic planning and decisive victory that can be achieved from afar, as depicted in novels and storybooks.

Instead, a single slash would cause the person to be torn apart by blood and flesh.

Given the emperor's knowledge, it was impossible for him not to know these things.

But he still chose to go.
Good birds choose trees to roost in.

A good minister chooses his lord and remains loyal to him.

Zhang Yi wanted to find himself a master whose will was unyielding and unshakeable!

Zhang Yi, who was always opportunistic and opportunistic, could no longer suppress his emotions:
"Your Majesty! Though I am powerless to even kill a chicken, I am willing to fight alongside you on the battlefield!"

At this moment, Song Xianze shouted loudly, "This humble servant is also willing to fight alongside Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youjian simply said, "Return to the military town first. I have other tasks for you two."

Song Xianze and Zhang Yi exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

With an emperor like that, forget about any job.

Even if it means facing mountains of knives and seas of fire, we will not hesitate!
They rushed all the way.

The outline of the Yansui military town finally came into view.

Unlike the whirlwinds and thunderstorms on the grasslands, the military town of Yansui has not seen a single drop of rain for a very long time.

Upon seeing His Majesty return to the pass.

The city guards quickly opened the city gates.

Upon seeing this, Sun Chuanting hurriedly came forward to greet him.

He didn't even have time to drink a sip of water all day.

Finally, out of those twenty or thirty thousand people, nearly a thousand were identified as usable.

Although these so-called capable people are just the tallest among the short.

But ultimately, it will still have some use.

He immediately knelt down and reported, "Your Majesty, I have completed the task you assigned and have selected nearly a thousand suitable candidates!"

Zhu Youjian nodded, then instructed Xiao Hongzi: "Take stock of two thousand men, and they will accompany me out of the pass to launch a surprise attack on the Ordos tribe."

Xiao Hongzi's expression hardened, as if he had been prepared for this all along.

"This servant obeys the decree!"

When His Majesty personally leads an expedition, his entourage must be the elite of the elite.

There's no need to elaborate on armor and weapons.

Even the warhorses were configured with three horses per person, in order to maintain the cavalry's impact after a long-distance raid.

Upon hearing His Majesty's words about preparing to personally lead the expedition, Sun Chuanting clenched his fist tightly.

Having followed His Majesty's footsteps all the way to this day, we are finally approaching the final step.

If we can severely damage the Ordos tribe, the nomadic tribes of the grasslands will certainly not dare to invade again in the short term.

Then we can rely on the prestige and resources His Majesty left in Shaanxi.

Then it won't be long.

The difference between Shaanxi and the grasslands lies in the balance of power between offense and defense!

Sun Chuanting spoke in a steady voice: "Your Majesty, what are your plans for these thousand-plus people? Your humble servant will go through fire and water with them without hesitation!"

For Zhu Youjian

Having Sun Chuanting select a portion of soldiers from the military town was definitely not a baseless act.

These thousand or so men cannot be directly used on the front lines.

However, they are more than capable of handling some post-war matters.

Any unexpected event on the battlefield could affect the overall situation.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian had even considered the possibility that after defeating the Ordos tribe, Erlinchen would escape and then lead a small group of people to follow and harass the troops.

But if things really come to that point...

These reinforcements will then be of great use.

Addressing Sun Chuanting, Zhu Youjian spoke calmly:

"One hour after I leave the pass, you will lead these people toward the Ordos region to prepare to receive the prisoners."

captive!

Upon hearing those two words, Sun Chuanting's eyebrows shot up sharply.

For Sun Chuanting...

These two words now carry a significance far greater than ever before.

Because capturing prisoners is crucial to the great rejuvenation of Shaanxi after the war.

He recalled the details of the centralized handling that His Majesty had given him, as well as some words he didn't quite understand, such as soap.

Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel extremely excited.

He immediately and loudly accepted the order, saying, "Your humble servant obeys!"

Zhu Youjian nodded and continued to give detailed instructions: "Remember, you just need to steadily advance towards the Ordos tribe and wait to be greeted. There is no need to be reckless."

"Wei Chen understands!"

Sun Chuanting still doesn't know the exact situation of the Ordos tribe.

He had no idea how His Majesty could wipe out the tribe overnight and then bring tens of thousands of people back.

But in just one month, Sun Chuanting had indeed witnessed too many miracles while following His Majesty.

Therefore, at this moment, Sun Chuanting even felt that this was not a particularly difficult matter for His Majesty.

He should just lead his men to the area outside the Great Wall and wait patiently to receive the prisoners.

But this time.

When Song Xianze heard that His Majesty was going to bring back some prisoners, he became quite anxious.

I thought that His Majesty personally leading the attack on the Ordos tribe was already shocking enough.

I never imagined that His Majesty would already be considering the issue of prisoners!
Who were they captured?!
Are Erlinchen's soldiers or tribal people? If they are soldiers, Erlinchen's men have always been unruly.

If they were really escorted back to the interior from such a distance...

Who knows how many unexpected events will occur along the way?

But if they were to capture civilians, the population of the Ordos region would exceed 50,000!
How are we going to bring so many people back?!

Even if someone were to meet them, it's impossible!
Song Xianze, after all, had no experience in this area.

Therefore, considering these matters, Song Xianze directly offered his advice:

"Your Majesty, the Ordos tribe has a population of fifty thousand! How can Your Majesty's forces safely escort such a large number of people back to the military town?"

If you let 50,000 pigs roam on the grassland, you really couldn't catch them all in three days and three nights.

But 50,000 people would be much easier to handle.

Zhu Youjian waved his hand: "There is no need to worry about this matter."

Song Xianze continued his advice: "What if Erlinchen, after his defeat, leads his troops to flee to the residential areas and leads the herdsmen in a counterattack?"

Zhu Youjian shook his head directly this time: "Once Erlinchen is defeated and enters the residential area, the Ordos tribe will be in complete turmoil."

What is called turmoil is the disruption of the camp.

Under the bombing.

There will be no more joint efforts to advance or retreat, only mutual slaughter and escape, just to fight for a chance of survival.

Upon hearing His Majesty's words, Song Xianze was taken aback at first, then responded loudly:
"I will do my utmost to assist Lord Sun in sharing Your Majesty's burdens!"

After giving these instructions...

Zhu Youjian then turned to face Zhang Yi:
"If Erlinchen really manages to escape to the Chahar tribe, how much money would you need to successfully sow discord and get the Chahar tribe to get rid of Erlinchen?"

"And that's not all. Afterwards, we must make the Chahar tribe sign a non-aggression pact with the Ming Dynasty."

A non-aggression pact?!
Everyone present was excited upon hearing this somewhat novel term.

They certainly knew what this treaty represented.

Treaties are signed only to be torn up later.

But usually it's the barbarians who break the agreement first, and as soon as one side signs, the other side waits to invade again.

Then they would demand an even greater reward.

But now.

Under His Majesty's great achievements, the entire Shaanxi province has undergone tremendous changes.

and so.

You fucking barbarians, you sons of bitches, just you wait!
After Shaanxi recovers.

I'll show you what it truly means to be a "barbarian"!

After a pause, Zhang Yi stepped forward from the crowd and answered loudly:
"Your Majesty, Ligdan Khan is insatiable. If we offer him great rewards, he will certainly not commit the same offense again in the short term."

"But verbal promises alone are probably not enough to keep him in line, so we should give him some gold and silver in the early stages."

"I estimate that we will need about 100,000 taels of silver, as well as some cloth, ironware and other items that are in short supply on the grasslands."

"Only in this way can we persuade Ligdan Khan to willingly sign a non-aggression pact with our Great Ming, thus buying our Great Ming valuable time for development."

Zhu Youjian nodded: "I will allocate you 200,000 taels of silver, and double the amount of all other supplies. Go and make preparations now."

Zhang Yi took a deep breath, knelt down, and shouted, "This humble servant will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

This is the last thing I've arranged.

Everyone immediately got to work.

After Zhu Youjian rested for a while, Xiao Hongzi also finished counting the troops going to war.

now.

Moon stars are rare.

Two thousand men stood solemnly waiting before the city gate of Yansui Military Town.

These two thousand men were composed of elite troops from the Divine Might Battalion, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Capital Garrison.

Although they do not yet have real battlefield experience.

But the journey from the capital to Shaanxi left behind tens of thousands of corpses.

How could they possibly take a mere foreign race seriously?!

Of these two thousand people, not one is not fanatical and fearless.

Because of this moment.

Zhu Youjian, clad in armor, stood at the front of the ranks, his gaze sweeping over each of them.

His Majesty personally arrived and charged into battle alongside them.

Even if the road ahead is a path to certain death, they will follow it without hesitation.

Not to mention.

Their opponents ahead were merely a few thousand unsuspecting nomadic soldiers from the grasslands.

What are these alien races anyway?!

Do they have an extra head compared to others, so they can't be killed with a single blow?
When they were being skinned alive in the capital, their cries for mercy were the most pitiful!
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Zhu Youjian's imposing figure, as if they were about to spit fire.

They wished they could rush out of the pass with His Majesty right now and skin those lowly bastards who dared to set foot on Ming territory alive!
And at this time.

Besides the two thousand soldiers who were about to set off, tens of thousands of soldiers in the Yansui military town were also keeping a close eye on Zhu Youjian.

No one expected that the emperor would choose to personally lead an expedition after his inspection tour outside the pass.

Regardless of the emperor's true motives for doing this, in the hearts of these tens of thousands of people, the emperor's reason for personally going to such a dangerous place was for their sake.

Because the Yansui military garrison was originally meant to be defended with their lives.
under these circumstances.

A burning passion surged within everyone's heart.

Everyone hates that they are not strong enough.

I cannot follow His Majesty to wipe out all those bandits on the grasslands!
now.

In the vast Yansui military town.

Apart from the clattering of the warhorse beneath Zhu Youjian, there was no other unusual movement.

Even the most restless warhorses on ordinary days became so obedient and docile at this moment.

A silent emotion spread through everyone's hearts, eventually transforming into an exhilarating fervor.

Everyone watched Zhu Youjian in silence.

There was no unease about peeking at the emperor's face, no boastful words before setting out on the campaign, and no superfluous emotions.
All that remained was silent observation.

In this silence, amidst the intense focus of everyone's attention, Zhu Youjian, standing at the very front of the procession, spoke.

He looked calmly at the soldiers who were about to follow him into battle:
"Tonight, I will fight alongside you all, to live and die together."

suddenly.

A bolt of lightning struck the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, briefly illuminating the soldiers' fervent faces.

As Zhu Youjian finished speaking...

The two thousand elite soldiers who had traveled from the capital to Shaanxi couldn't help but recall the prophecy at that moment.

Immediately, two thousand people shouted in unison: "May the Celestial Empire prosper and the barbarians be subdued!"

This statement spread rapidly within the military town.

First, two thousand people shouted in unison.

Then, in just a few breaths, it turned into tens of thousands of people shouting together.

Boom——

On the grassland, another thunderclap struck.

But it was drowned out by the deafening shouts from the military town.

At this time.

Zhu Youjian spurred his horse around, drew the Emperor's sword from his waist, and pointed it straight at the northern grasslands.

Within the military town, another unified shout erupted: "May the Celestial Empire prosper! May all barbarians be subjugated!!!"

Without further hesitation, Zhu Youjian spurred his horse and galloped across the city gate.

Two thousand men followed closely behind, orderly surging from the town gates into the grassland.

After all the troops had left, the remaining men exchanged glances and then turned to leave.

Within the Yansui military town.

They remained silent and each performed their duties.

(End of this chapter)