Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 151 The Great Ming War God is About to Be Born
Huang Ze had no idea what Lu Xiang-sheng was thinking.

Even if he knew, he would only sincerely despise and laugh at the other person as a fool.

From Huang Ze's perspective.

There is nothing in this world that can be compared to the glory and wealth that lasts for thousands of generations.

However, these were ultimately just thoughts deep in their own hearts.

Huang Ze might not try to hide it.

But Lu Xiang-sheng would not reveal a thing.

After subduing Lu Xiang-sheng.

Huang Ze did not delay any longer and immediately ordered Lu Xiang Sheng to take his group of followers and go to Shuntian Prefecture with him.

Until they set off on their journey to Shuntian Prefecture.

Lu Xiang-sheng was suddenly shocked to realize just how powerful these aristocratic families and powerful clans were within the Ming Dynasty.

you could put it that way.

Lu Xiang-sheng's values ​​were once again severely impacted.

Because accompanying him from Daming Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture was a well-organized elite cavalry unit.

These men rode powerful warhorses and wore elaborate armor.

All of this indicates that supporting them would require an immeasurable amount of money.

Even he, the prefect of Daming Prefecture, never imagined that such a team could be assembled within Daming Prefecture.

Moreover, this happened in such a short period of time.

It seems that all the rumors about aristocratic families, such as how they could spend millions of taels of silver to build a garden, were just the tip of the iceberg.

Looking at the continuous cavalry formation ahead, Lu Xiang-sheng, mounted on his horse, couldn't help but gasp.

Huang Ze, who was inside the carriage, seemed to have noticed Lu Xiang-sheng's inner turmoil. He opened the window and stared at him with a smile, saying:

"Young man, keep climbing slowly, there are many things you can't imagine."

After offering these words of encouragement, Huang Ze closed the window again and rested with his eyes closed.

The reason why aristocratic families have been able to pass on their heritage from generation to generation is not only due to various factors, but also because of the most powerful weapon – soldiers.

After hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng felt increasingly uneasy.

He just looked around at the surroundings.

Apart from myself.

Clearly, no other general showed as much surprise as he did at this massive cavalry force.

This also suggests that the rest of these people were direct descendants of powerful families, and they already knew the inside story.

Thus.

With only a few hundred men he brought from Daming Prefecture, he couldn't possibly have any impact on the situation.

After all, there are only a few people among these individuals who can be considered as trusted confidants.

Others will absolutely not obey your orders when the tide is turned.

The only thing I can do right now is to pass on firsthand intelligence about the aristocratic families to the emperor.

Seeing the people discussing the matter on both sides of the road, Lu Xiang-sheng quietly gave a wink to his confidant beside him.

The confidant nodded in understanding and prepared to find an opportunity to leave secretly.

soon.

The mighty cavalry force then left Daming Prefecture, leaving behind only the local people looking at each other in bewilderment and whispering among themselves.

"What are all these people doing? Are we going to have another war?"

"You don't know?! This is because the emperor in the south has issued an edict to attack the emperor in the north."

"A campaign against them? I've heard that the emperor in the north is quite the shrew! Does Prince Fu even deserve that title?"

"What I'm worried about now is that so many people have gone from Daming Prefecture alone. If we add people from other prefectures, can the Emperor hold out?! I don't want the Ming Dynasty to change emperors!"

"Alas, this is what they mean by good people not living long, while evil people live for a thousand years."

"Keep your voice down! Are you looking to die?!"

"."

That night.

Inside the Qianqing Palace in Beijing.

Zhu Youjian was gathered in front of a map with Zhang Weixian and other military generals, discussing the war.

Although no incidents occurred in Hebei or other places during this period.

However, given Zhu Youjian's keen sense of the battle situation, he could naturally see that the other side was accumulating strength in preparation for something big.

He thought of Lu Xiang-sheng, who had surrendered to him, but he did not place much hope in him.

Lu Xiang-sheng's loyalty has not yet been verified, and he has little say within the Shijia Group, being merely an insignificant figure.

The real plans of Zhu Youjian and the others.

We'll use Xiao Hongzi's cavalry unit as bait to draw away some of the enemy's firepower.

Then, taking advantage of the situation, they captured an important city in the Hebei region.

of course.

Conquering cities is merely a means; winning hearts and minds is the true goal.

Zhu Youjian was very clear about the current situation.

I can't guarantee the situation in the Jiangnan region.

However, in Hebei, especially in areas close to the capital, the people's hearts are definitely still with the capital.

The capital city had been continuously implementing various benevolent policies, and these efforts were not in vain.

If I can seize a prefecture in Hebei with lightning speed, then I don't even need to worry about whether the whole of Hebei will respond to my call.

The Shijia Group must be in a panic.

But if you panic, you're more likely to reveal your weaknesses.

Then I can formulate tactics based on the actual situation.

Just then, a eunuch rushed into the palace to report:

"Your Majesty! We have just received a message from the scouts."

"There are approximately ten thousand cavalrymen in Hebei Province converging on Shuntian Prefecture. Judging from their posture, they seem to be preparing to besiege Lord Hong!"

Zhu Youjian nodded as he listened to the report.

Seeing this, Zhang Weixian pondered for a moment and came up with a solution:
"Your Majesty, I believe we can take this opportunity to ambush the reinforcing cavalry and use this to hold back the powerful families, forcing them to send more reinforcements."

"In this way, when the soldiers in Shuntian Prefecture are transferred out, Your Majesty can take the opportunity to lead your men to capture the city of Shuntian Prefecture."

"I am willing to lead five thousand cavalrymen from the capital garrison to ambush them, and we will surely give those treacherous officials a good beating!"

Hearing Zhang Weixian's words, Zhu Youjian gently shook his head.

The city of Shuntian Prefecture was not what he truly wanted to conquer.

Zhang Weixian's strategy of besieging the enemy's stronghold and then luring them away from their base has some merit.

However, in practice, it may not necessarily have any significant effect.

Because the information we have at present may not be accurate.

Whether the cavalry sent by the aristocratic family was actually there to annihilate Xiao Hongzi remains uncertain.

Moreover, even if they do come, our side will suffer casualties in a direct confrontation.

Whether the other side will continue to provide support from within Shuntian Prefecture is also unknown.

The powerful families could mobilize the entire nation to fight him to the death; losing a few thousand people was nothing to them.

However, the capital city cannot afford such losses.

Therefore, he had to capture a prefecture city with the lowest possible casualties.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Youjian gave the order:
"Issue my decree that Xiao Hongzi be prepared to retreat at any time within Shuntian Prefecture, and that there is no need to fight the approaching troops head-on."

"Yes!"

Zhang Weixian was somewhat puzzled by Zhu Youjian's words.

If we don't confront them head-on, wouldn't that boost the morale of the powerful families and even directly threaten the capital?

Although he had doubts, Zhang Weixian did not ask them aloud.

Because he knew that His Majesty must have had his own reasons for making such an arrangement.

as predicted.

Having just finished instructing Xiao Hongzi, Zhu Youjian pointed to Yongping Prefecture on the Hebei map and said to Zhang Weixian:

"Zhang Weixian, lead 10,000 men towards Tianjin Prefecture. You only need to capture a few poorly defended cities along the way."

Zhang Weixian took a deep breath: "Your Majesty, are you planning to send me to launch a feigned attack on Tianjin to draw enemy fire, and then you will lead your troops to attack?"

Tianjin is one of the important cities in Hebei Province, and it can be considered a place that the enemy must defend.

It is foreseeable that if I really lead my men to fight in the direction of Tianjin...

Regardless of whether the other side intends to trap him or prevent him from getting close to Tianjin, they will send troops to support him.

From this perspective, they do have some advantages in this regard.

They only need to keep an eye on the capital, while the powerful families have many other things to consider.

However, that wasn't what Zhang Weixian cared about.

Rather, the risk of doing so was simply too great. Of course, this risk did not concern him personally, but His Majesty.

There were only a little over 30,000 troops in the capital.

Five thousand were already sent out a few days ago.

He took another 10,000 with him.

Then His Majesty will have less than 20,000 troops available at his disposal.

The risk of attacking a city with only 20,000 men is far too great.

If His Majesty were to encounter even the slightest mishap during this process, the entire Ming Dynasty would be unable to bear the consequences.

Therefore, upon thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but offer their advice.

Zhang Weixian even stated that he could complete the mission with just three thousand soldiers.

Although this would drastically increase the danger to him personally, he still understood the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils.

Despite the advice, Zhu Youjian remained unmoved.

He could understand everyone's concerns.

But he was only going to attack a prefecture city.

If he can't even do this, then he shouldn't even dream of reviving the Han dynasty.

Although the number of troops they bring is not large, they can make up for the gap through various means.

In any case, compared to this era, he was able to use all kinds of tactics in war, whether open or covert, with a level of skill that was beyond his time.

Moreover, if Zhang Weixian only takes three thousand men to carry out the mission, it probably won't be enough to attract the military strength of the powerful families.

Things may become more complicated then.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian decided to suppress everyone's advice.

however.

Just as Zhu Youjian was about to tell everyone to stop, a general in charge of intelligence suddenly ran in.

"Your Majesty! Lu Xiang-sheng has sent someone here, saying he has important intelligence to report to you!"

The crowd looked at each other, some still not knowing who Lu Xiang-sheng was.

Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes slightly and ordered that the person be brought into the palace immediately.

soon.

Lu Xiang-sheng's trusted confidants then entered the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youjian didn't waste any unnecessary words with him and directly asked him to describe the situation in Hebei.

After listening to the other party's account, a solemn expression flashed across the faces of everyone in the palace.

The information provided by this person was far more detailed than that reported by the scouts sent out from the capital.

The details were clearly explained, including whether the aristocratic army was well-equipped, the composition of its generals, the route of its deployment, and its objectives.

I originally thought that the aristocratic families would only send more than 10,000 people, but I didn’t expect that the other side would conservatively estimate that they had brought out 15,000 elite troops.

In that case, even if Xiao Hongzi's side had made preparations for retreat in advance, it would mean that...

However, even with such a large force surrounding them, some casualties were still inevitable.

The fact that the Shijia Group could achieve this in just a few days was clearly somewhat beyond everyone's expectations.

Unlike the concerns of others.

Zhu Youjian, however, heard an opportunity in this person's report.

That means Lu Xiang-sheng is a useful person, and a very useful one at that.

Based solely on Lu Xiang-sheng's defection a few days prior, Zhu Youjian could not have made a definitive judgment on the matter.

However, considering this person's risking his life to deliver intelligence today, as well as the memorials he previously submitted to the capital...

That confirms that this person is wholeheartedly devoted to the country.

After all, when he first ascended the throne, Lu Xiang-sheng had already shown some of his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.

In this case.

I can make full use of this inside man to achieve a surprising and effective result when facing the powerful families.

However, there is a somewhat awkward situation at the moment.

Lu Xiang-sheng currently has virtually no say or status within the Shijia Group.

He's just a minor commander; his main role right now is to relay intelligence.

Relying solely on Lu Xiang-sheng to relay intelligence would be a wasteful expenditure for both the Ming Dynasty and Lu himself.

Because if this happens repeatedly, the other side will inevitably discover that he is the traitor.

Therefore, if we want Lu Xiang-sheng to have a real impact, we need to find a way to promote him.

Only by allowing him to access the true core management team can he achieve the greatest effect, and even subdue the enemy without a fight.

Think of this.

Zhu Youjian looked at everyone in the palace again: "What I just said doesn't need to be done."

"In the next two days, I will gather all the elite soldiers in the capital who went on the expedition with me. Once the enemy's rebel army enters the attack range, I will launch a surprise attack on the enemy together with Xiao Hongzi."

A surprise attack?!
The generals exchanged glances and quickly considered His Majesty's arrangements.

If our elite troops were to fight against more than 10,000 enemy soldiers...

In terms of numbers and morale, our side does indeed have the advantage.

However, it is unlikely that this advantage alone will be enough to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.

Although the enemy had not experienced war, their morale was not too low because of the pay.

However, with their elite troops who have accumulated considerable combat experience, they can still disrupt the enemy's formation and create some trouble.

After all, soldiers who have actually been on the battlefield and soldiers who have only done some training on a regular basis are two completely different concepts.

Thinking about these things, plus the inside man named Lu Xiang-sheng mentioned earlier.

Suddenly, a certain guess formed in the minds of the generals.

Zhang Weixian asked, "Your Majesty, are you planning to give Lu Xiang-sheng a chance to prove himself after breaking through the enemy camp, so that he can better serve as our inside man?"

Zhu Youjian nodded.

The group exchanged glances, and couldn't help but feel a little amused.

This reminded them of Li Jinglong, the war god of the Ming Dynasty.

His Majesty's arrangement seems to have a similar effect to that of the Duke of Li.

However, thinking of Li Jinglong at this time is obviously inappropriate.

Everyone quickly put the matter out of their minds and began to analyze its feasibility.

This is not difficult to carry out; it's much easier than the initial plan of using human lives to draw enemy fire.

All we need to do is launch a quick charge and run, which will throw the enemy into a state of panic.

Then, while the other party is in a flustered state...

Lu Xiang-sheng led his men in pursuit with extraordinary bravery, leaving his men in a sorry state.

This would certainly attract the attention of the elite families.

Regardless of whether he can be given an important position, his influence will certainly increase.

then.

After they withdrew their troops, they pretended to attack Tianjin.

If Lu Xiang-sheng were to offer a few suggestions that would benefit them, it would be even more effective in drawing enemy fire.

Doing so can indeed greatly reduce our own losses, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

After obtaining Zhu Youjian's approval.

The generals immediately set about carrying out the task, carefully arranging the arrangements.

After explaining all the matters to the trusted confidant sent by Lu Xiang-sheng and sending him out of the palace.

Zhang Weixian returned to the map of Hebei and asked Zhu Youjian for instructions:
"Your Majesty, after the matter is accomplished, which prefecture in Hebei do you intend to target? I will go and make preparations in advance."

Zhu Youjian glanced at the map and said calmly, "Baoding Prefecture."

Baoding Prefecture, adjacent to Shuntian Prefecture, is located in the western part of the entire Hebei Provincial Administration Commission.

It was also one of the important military strongholds for protecting the capital.

However, since it is still some distance from the capital, the military forces that the powerful families have deployed here are certainly not as many as those in Shuntian Prefecture.

In summary, Baoding Prefecture was much easier to conquer than Shuntian Prefecture.

If we can capture the capital of Baoding Prefecture, we can then use various means to win over all the counties of Baoding Prefecture to the capital.

In this way, the capital city could join forces with Baoding Prefecture to launch a pincer attack on Shuntian Prefecture.

you could put it that way.

Once Baoding Prefecture is captured, the difficulty of taking Shuntian Prefecture back to the capital in one fell swoop will be greatly reduced.

Once Shuntian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture are under our control, the capital will have a complete strategic buffer zone.

This is why Zhu Youjian chose to attack Baoding Prefecture.

What Zhu Youjian didn't know was...

Within the present-day Baoding Prefecture.

There was a former imperial tutor named Sun Chengzong who was secretly planning a great event that would benefit the country and its people.

(End of this chapter)