Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 366 When the spring thunder rises again, it will be the time of the Awakening of Insects.

The emperor's voice, though somewhat scattered by the wind, was like a pebble thrown into a still, deep pool, instantly creating invisible ripples.

All eyes were on Qin Liangyu.

The commander of the White-Clad Soldiers was like a proud pine tree standing tall in the wind and snow, its roots deeply embedded in the cruel and real soil of war.

Qin Liangyu slowly turned around, extending her weathered hand, not pointing to the turbulent Bohai Sea, but to the west, to the vast and boundless land shrouded in dark clouds.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my boldness, but I would like to play a game of blindfold chess with you."

Her voice was calm and serene, “The chessboard is the entire northern border of the Ming Dynasty. The chess pieces are the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens, and the one who holds the chess pieces is His Majesty, and also… Huang Taiji.”

Zhu Youjian's pupils contracted slightly.

"What does Your Majesty think Huang Taiji fears most at this moment?" Qin Liangyu asked.

"It is thanks to my Guan Ning Iron Cavalry and the unparalleled achievements of Commander-in-Chief Sun," Zuo Liangyu couldn't contain himself and answered first.

Qin Liangyu shook her head, her gaze still fixed on the emperor.

"No. While fortified cities and cannons are a major concern, they are not an immediate threat. What the slave chieftain truly fears is being trapped and beaten."

"To the east lies the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line forged by Grand Secretary Sun. This is a meat grinder, a bloody millstone. Using the limited troops of the Jurchen Eight Banners to attack our well-supplied and fortified city is tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock, which is exactly what Grand Secretary Sun wants. This road is a dead end."

"To the south lies General Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town, and the treacherous Korea. This is like a dagger hanging at his waist, keeping him awake at night and constantly tying down his forces. This road is attacked from both sides."

"To the west lies Ligdan Khan of the Chahar tribe! He is nominally the supreme ruler of the Mongols, commanding tens of thousands of archers. Furthermore, he has a secret alliance with General Man Gui, the governor-general of Xuanfu and Datong of our Great Ming Dynasty. This is a sword hanging over the head of the Jurchen chieftain! Once our army advances from east to west alongside Ligdan Khan, the Jurchen stronghold of Shengjing will be in imminent danger! This road is a path to national annihilation!"

The three threats formed an impenetrable cage.

Qin Liangyu's words were like those of a highly skilled painter, who, with just a few strokes, vividly depicted the seemingly powerful but actually precarious strategic situation of the Jurchens.

"Your Majesty, Huang Taiji is trapped in this cage, and his country is suffering from a severe drought, causing unrest among the people. If he does not seek a way out, he will only be waiting for his demise. Therefore, in my opinion, the report by Grand Secretary Sun about a nationwide attack is not a sign of his strength, but rather a sign of his outward strength but inner weakness, a desperate attempt to take a gamble!"

"However, there are three strategies for fighting: superior, middle, and inferior."

Qin Liangyu's voice suddenly became strong and powerful.

"To attack Liaodong is to exploit one's own weaknesses against the enemy's strengths, which is a poor strategy! It plays right into Grand Secretary Sun's plan of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out."

"Conquering Korea may relieve the immediate itch and bring some money and grain, but it will not eliminate the internal threat. On the contrary, during the campaign, we may be attacked from both the east and west by our Great Ming and Ligdan Khan. This is a middle-ground strategy!"

Her inner light burst forth!
"The only way for them to break the deadlock and survive is to attack the Mongols from the west and defeat Ligdan Khan!"

"Famong?!"

Zhu Youjian's mind raced. Sun Chengzong's report was irrefutable; the Jurchen army was clearly gathering eastward at the Liao River, their banners obscuring the sun, their advance pointing directly at Guangning.
"It is precisely to attack the Mongols!" Qin Liangyu said decisively. "Your Majesty, this move will bring four benefits to Huang Taiji!"

"Firstly, it can break the alliance between the Ming and the Mongols! Once Ligdan Khan is defeated and killed, our Great Ming will be like a man with one arm cut off, and will no longer be able to threaten its heartland from the west. Huang Taiji can then be freed from the predicament of fighting on three fronts and concentrate on dealing with our Liaodong front."

"Secondly, we can turn a threat from our own side into a powerful ally! Ligdan Khan is a major threat to him, but once we conquer him, the hundreds of thousands of Chahar tribesmen and their elite Mongol cavalry will all be at his disposal! As one side weakens while the other strengthens, the Jurchens' military strength will be enhanced! At that time, the entire southern Mongolia will transform from a blade threatening our Great Ming into the Jurchens' strategic depth and source of manpower!"

Upon hearing this, the generals on the command platform were already showing expressions of horror.

They were all military leaders and knew what the addition of tens of thousands of elite Mongol cavalry meant to the Jurchens.

However, what Qin Liangyu said next truly sent a chill down everyone's spine, including Zhu Youjian.

Her voice was very low.

"Does Your Majesty know the legend of the Imperial Seal of the former Yuan Dynasty?"

Zhu Youjian's heart skipped a beat!
The national jade seal!

That was a symbol of the legitimacy of imperial power!
"I have heard that when Emperor Shun of Yuan was captured in the north, he took this seal with him to the Mongolian steppe. For more than a hundred years thereafter, this jade seal, symbolizing the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty, remained in the hands of the Mongol Khans. If the Jurchens say that it is in the Khan's tent of Ligdan Khan, then..."

"If Huang Taiji defeats Ligdan Khan and seizes this seal, he can rightfully inherit the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty and ascend the throne as emperor! At that time, he will no longer be a slave chieftain in a corner of Jianzhou, but a 'Great Khan of Heaven' who can command all the Mongol tribes in southern and even northern Mongolia! He will gain more than just military victory! The loyalty of the Mongol tribes to him will change from being driven by interests to being a legal necessity!"

Before the inspector's eyes, an incredibly vast strategic chessboard suddenly unfolded!

From the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River to the Mongolian grasslands, then to Xuanfu and Datong, and finally to the capital city beneath his feet... the entire vast land of the north is contained within it!
If Huang Taiji never intended to fight him to the death on this small chessboard from the very beginning...
The opponent is looking at the entire chessboard!

The master of chess is to strategize the overall situation, not to strategize individual pieces.

Skilled chess players never concern themselves with the gains or losses of a single city or territory; what they seek is the overall momentum of the game! Once the momentum is established, a single move can bring the entire board to life, or even turn the tide of the game!
The conquest of Ligdan Khan, the seizure of the imperial seal, and the command of the Mongols were all part of the earth-shattering power that Huang Taiji created!

"Finally..." Qin Liangyu's voice pulled Zhu Youjian back to reality from his sudden realization.

“Once Huang Taiji takes control of southern Mongolia, Your Majesty… will no longer need to fight to the death against my impregnable Guan-Ning-Jin defense line.”

Her hand drew a huge arc in the air!

"He can bypass Mongolia, and from Xifengkou and Da'ankou in Jizhou, from various passes in Xuanfu, and from any weak point in the Great Wall defense of our Ming Dynasty, he can break into the interior and advance his troops straight towards the capital! At that time, Grand Secretary Sun's million-strong army in Liaodong will be rendered useless! The entire northern defense system of our Ming Dynasty will be completely overturned!"

Xuanda Defense Line!

Zhu Youjian's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Thinking about it that way...
If the Jurchens were trapped in Liaodong, attacked from both sides and unable to advance, then once defeated, they would have no way out but to flee south into Korea.

That was a dead end.

But if he were to take over the entire southern Mongolia, the world would suddenly open up! He could advance, knock on the gates and directly threaten the capital; or he could retreat to the vast desert grasslands to recuperate.

He then had unlimited strategic room for maneuver.

The balance of power will be completely reversed!

Sun Chengzong's urgent report... Huang Taiji mobilized the entire nation's army to advance eastward...

That's it!

Qin Liangyu seemed to see through the emperor's thoughts, and she interjected, "Therefore, what Grand Secretary Sun saw as a nationwide attack is, in my opinion, more like a carefully planned feint on the eastern front!"

"Huang Taiji will surely send a large number of troops to set up camp outside Ningyuan City in Jinzhou, and beat drums every day to challenge the city, creating the illusion that he is about to launch a large-scale siege and will not return until the city is breached. This will firmly attract the attention of Grand Secretary Sun and all the people of the Ming Dynasty to Liaodong."

"They will also send out small groups of their most elite cavalry to harass our supply lines and scouts like hungry wolves, keeping our Liaodong soldiers busy and further confirming the judgment that the enemy's main force has arrived."

"On the southern front," Qin Liangyu added, "the Jurchen chieftain left Amin, one of the four great beile, to lead a portion of the troops to strengthen the defenses. This was to maintain a deterrent, and perhaps to ensure that Mao Zedong and North Korea would not dare to act rashly while his main force was on its westward expedition."

The analysis is layered and interconnected.

A sinister, grand, and logically rigorous plan was presented in its entirety by Qin Liangyu to Zhu Youjian and everyone else in the most calm and collected manner.

All the previous signs, Sun Chengzong's urgent report, and the natural and man-made disasters within the Jurchen territory now have a completely new and only reasonable explanation.

Hearing this analysis, Tian Ergeng raised his head with difficulty, his face slightly shocked. Subconsciously, he turned his gaze to the emperor, who stood with his hands behind his back.

He saw that the emperor had turned around at some point and was quietly looking at him.

His gaze was as deep as the sea.

"Tian Ergeng," Emperor Zhu began.

"Your subject is here." Tian Er quickly kowtowed.

Zhu Youjian shifted his gaze from him, as if piercing through the sky, and looked towards the direction of the Jurchens.

"How are you doing, Jingzhe?"

Tian Ergeng was taken aback, wondering why the emperor had suddenly asked this question. He could only answer truthfully: "Your Majesty, Jingzhe's situation is becoming increasingly difficult. This intelligence has already been sent out at great risk. I... am preparing to issue an order for him to investigate the true movements of the main force of the slave chieftain at all costs."

Zhu Youjian slowly shook his head.

He looked at Tian Ergeng again, this time with an unprecedented solemnity in his eyes.

"Issue my decree."

"Let him... lie low."

"Hibernation?" Tian Ergeng was taken aback, and for a moment he did not realize the deeper meaning of the word.

"Yes, lie low." Zhu Youjian's voice was unquestionable, yet carried a complex meaning. "Don't force him anymore. Since Huang Taiji has carried out this deceptive plan, the internal investigation must be extremely rigorous. Letting him forcibly spy at this moment is tantamount to pushing him to his death."

The emperor said slowly:
"His life is of greater use to me and to the Ming Dynasty. When the spring thunder rises again, that will be the time of the Awakening of Insects!"

(End of this chapter)