Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

Seeing Zhu Qizhen's anxious expression, Batel said urgently, "Your Majesty, the path is really dangerous! An avalanche could kill people!"

Zhu Qizhen looked at him and asked, "Do you Oirat people often travel this road?"

Batel said, "Let's go, but only in the summer. The snow hasn't melted yet, it's easy to run into trouble."

Zhu Qizhen then asked, "Did anything happen when you left in the summer?"

Batel paused, then said, "Summer... Summer rarely has any problems."

Zhu Qizhen looked at Yue Qian: "Minister Yue, what do you think?"

Yue Qian lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I will obey."

Zhu Qizhen nodded and looked back at the mountain road.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Qizhen said decisively, "Take the back road."

Batel's expression changed drastically: "The Emperor Emeritus!"

Zhu Qizhen stared at him: "General Batel, there's no need to say anything more. We'll be fine if we're careful."

Batel opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

He glanced at Zhu Qizhen, then at Yue Qian, and finally lowered his head: "Yes... take the back path."

The group turned due south and headed into the mountains.

Yue Qian rode his horse alongside the carriage, a slight sense of relief washing over him.

This was the path Zhu Qizhen chose himself; he couldn't blame anyone else.

A day later, the team arrived at a narrow valley.

On both sides are towering mountain peaks, their summits covered with snow.

At the bottom of the canyon is a dry riverbed, about ten feet wide, winding into the distance.

Batel rode over and whispered, "Your Majesty, Minister Yue."

Once inside, you must not speak loudly, set off firecrackers, or startle the horses.

You must pass through quickly, but you cannot run.

Zhu Qizhen leaned out of the carriage and looked at the high mountains on both sides, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.

But this was quickly overshadowed by longing: "Okay, let's go."

Batel turned around and gave orders to the Oirat cavalry behind him in Mongolian.

The cavalrymen nodded in agreement, their expressions becoming tense.

Li Yan and his guards surrounded the carriage, everyone holding their breath.

Battier waved his hand: "Go in!"

The group slowly entered the canyon.

The soft clatter of horses' hooves on the gravel was exceptionally clear in the silent canyon.

The mountain peaks on both sides soared into the clouds, and the snow on their summits shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight.

As Zhu Qizhen sat in the carriage, gazing at the accumulated snow through the curtain, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in his heart.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Yue Qian looked up at the snow and silently calculated the distance in his mind.

According to the map, this canyon is about twenty miles long.

At the current speed, it would take more than an hour to get through.

The procession traveled for half an hour, and everything remained calm.

Batel's expression relaxed slightly.

Zhu Qizhen felt a bit bored sitting in the carriage.

He then lifted the car curtain and peeked out to breathe in the fresh air.

Just then, the line in front stopped.

A moment later, Batel returned and reported: "Your Majesty, there is a narrow section ahead that can only accommodate one carriage at a time."

Zhu Qizhen frowned and asked, "Then what should we do?"

Batel said, "We can go back and take a detour. It's farther, but safer."

Zhu Qizhen remained silent for a moment, then looked at Yue Qian.

Yue Qian bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be a pity to turn back now that we've come this far. As long as we are careful, we should be fine."

Zhu Qizhen looked at the accumulated snow again, gritted his teeth, and said, "Keep going, but be careful."

Helpless, Batel had no choice but to order the team to continue advancing.

The team entered the narrowest section of the canyon.

The mountain walls on both sides are almost vertical, and when you look up you can only see a sliver of sky.

The snow on the mountaintop was right above our heads, as if it might fall at any moment.

Even the horses seemed to sense the danger and slowed their pace.

Yue Qian's heart began to race; he knew his chance had come.

The carriage moved slowly forward, arriving at the narrowest point of the canyon.

Yue Qian suddenly spurred the horse's belly.

The horse beneath him, in pain, suddenly lunged forward.

It crashed into the rump of a horse belonging to an Oirat cavalryman in front of it.

Caught off guard, the cavalryman was knocked off his horse and let out a scream.

Screams echoed through the canyon, then reverberated through the valley.

Batel's expression changed drastically, and he whispered, "Shut up! All of you, shut up!"

But it was too late.

A dull, loud bang came from overhead.

Everyone looked up.

The snow on the left-hand mountain peak began to loosen.

Large swaths of snow slid down.

It rolls faster and faster, and it rolls more and more.

It quickly formed a white torrent.

It poured down into the canyon in a massive, overwhelming manner.

Batel screamed, "Avalanche! Run!"

The ranks were thrown into chaos.

The horses neighed in alarm, and everyone fled frantically forward.

Yue Qian lay on the horse's back, frantically whipping it.

His heart was pounding, and he could hear a deafening roar in his ears.

He knew he had succeeded.

But he could also die here.

The avalanche was incredibly fast.

In the blink of an eye, the white torrent had reached the bottom of the valley.

They swallowed up the last few dozen Oirat cavalrymen, men and horses.

Yue Qian charged forward with all his might.

He could feel the tremendous impact coming from behind him.

You can even feel the chill of the ice and snow approaching your back.

Just then, a huge rock appeared in front of them.

Yue Qian pulled hard on the reins, spurring his horse toward the side of the rock, where it pressed tightly against the rock.

boom!

The torrent of the avalanche roared past him.

Countless blocks of ice and snow crashed onto the rocks with a deafening roar.

Yue Qian closed his eyes and clung tightly to the horse's neck.

After an unknown amount of time, the roaring sound gradually faded away.

Yue Qian slowly opened his eyes, looked up at his surroundings, and froze.

The canyon has completely changed.

The once wide valley floor was half-filled with snow, and there were scattered ice and snow blocks everywhere.

The bodies of men and horses lay scattered haphazardly in the snow.

Some have been completely buried.

Some even had a hand or a foot sticking out.

In the distance, Batel crawled out of the snowdrift, staggered a few steps, and then fell to the ground.

Further away, Li Yan and several guards were digging people out of the snowdrift, shouting as they dug.

Yue Qian's gaze fell on the carriage.

The carriage is gone.

All that remained was a pile of snow, and the fragments of a carriage could be vaguely seen beneath it.

Yue Qian slowly dismounted, his legs were weak and he could barely stand.

He looked around, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.

Those Oirat cavalrymen, those Ming guards, they shouldn't have died.

But they all died because of him.

Yue Qian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and ran towards Li Yan.

Li Yan saw him and rushed over: "Minister Yue! Are you alright?"

Yue Qian shook his head and said, "I'm fine. Where is the Emperor Emeritus?"

Li Yan's face darkened, and he pointed to the pile of snow: "The carriage is buried. We're digging, but..."

Yue Qian quickly ran to the snow and squatted down, frantically digging at the snow with his hands.

After digging for a long time, they finally dug up the carriage.

The carriage was completely deformed, the carriage body was crushed, and the shafts were broken.

The carriage curtain was torn, revealing the scene inside.

Zhu Qizhen was curled up in the corner of the carriage, his body cold and already lifeless.

Yue Qian suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily: "Your subject Yue Qian failed in his duty to protect the Emperor Emeritus, causing him to suffer misfortune. I deserve to die!"

Li Yan and several guards also knelt down and kowtowed.

Batel staggered over from a distance and froze when he saw this scene.

He stared blankly at the wrecked carriage, then at Zhu Qizhen's corpse inside, and suddenly let out a beast-like roar: "No!"

He rushed to the carriage and frantically shook Zhu Qizhen's body.

A moment later, Batel suddenly raised his head and stared fiercely at Yue Qian: "It was you! You killed him!"

You deliberately startled the horse!

I saw it!

You deliberately startled the horse, causing an avalanche!

Yue Qian's expression changed: "Bater, you're slandering me! My horse being startled was an accident!"

Batel scrambled to his feet, drawing his knife: "You Han Chinese, you've had no good intentions from the start! I'll kill you!"

He swung his knife at Yue Qian.

Li Yan had been keeping a close eye on Batel, and upon seeing this, he suddenly stood up, drew his sword, and blocked the attack.

clang!

The two swords clashed, sparks flying.

Li Yan roared, "Battle! You dare to lay a hand on me?"

Batel, as if possessed, swung his knife wildly, shouting, "He killed your Emperor Emeritus!"

The surviving Oirat cavalrymen around them also got up and drew their swords to surround them.

More than a hundred Oirat people went missing in the avalanche just now.

Another group of more than twenty people were isolated behind the valley.

At this time, only about thirty people were capable of fighting.

The guards behind Li Yan also drew their swords and stood in front of Yue Qian to protect him.

The Ming Dynasty's guards also suffered heavy casualties.

More than thirty people died and more than a dozen were injured in the avalanche.

However, nearly fifty people from the Ming Dynasty were still standing.

The atmosphere at the scene became tense and confrontational.

Yue Qian looked at Batel and said in a deep voice, "General Batel, the avalanche is a natural disaster, not a man-made one."

If you insist on fighting, we'll both be severely injured, and neither of us will leave this canyon alive!

Batel gritted his teeth: "Without the Emperor Emeritus, without the trade, we'll die if we go back."

After saying that, he was about to rush forward when suddenly several screams came from behind him.

Batel looked back and saw several Oirat cavalrymen hit by arrows and falling backward to the ground.

It was one of Li Yan's guards who quietly took the bow off his back.

Batel's eyes were bloodshot: "You!"

Before he could react, Li Yan shouted sharply, "Attack! Leave no one alive!"

The guards charged toward the surviving Oirat cavalry.

Batel swung his knife and cut down a guard. He turned to run away, but Li Yan stabbed him in the back.

He collapsed to the ground, turning his head with difficulty to look at Yue Qian, his eyes filled with resentment and bitterness: "You...you..."

Yue Qian looked down at him without saying a word.

Batel's hand trembled as he raised it to point at Yue Qian, before finally falling limply to his side.

Soon the canyon became quiet again.

All the surviving Oirat people here died; not one escaped.

Only about twenty guards remained from the Ming Dynasty, and all of them were wounded and exhausted.

Li Yan walked up to Yue Qian and whispered, "Minister Yue, it's all taken care of."

Yue Qian nodded, then looked at the Ming Dynasty guards and suddenly bowed deeply:

"Brothers, I will report today's events to His Majesty upon our return to the capital."

The avalanche was a natural disaster, and the Oirat people wanted to kill us to silence us, so we were forced to fight back.

Got it?

The guards exchanged glances, then said in unison, "We've got it!"

Li Yan looked at Yue Qian, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal.

Before he set off, Zhu Qiyu instructed him to listen to Yue Qian in everything.

Li Yan looked at the remaining guards: "Collect the bodies of our fallen brothers and treat the wounded. We'll depart in half an hour!"

Then Li Yan walked to the pile of snow and personally carried out Zhu Qizhen's body.

Regardless, the person must be brought back.