The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

March sixteenth.

Zhu Yi and his party arrived in Xuanfu.

Because at this time, there were only four days left until March 20th, the day Tang Yin had prophesied the war would take place. Jiang Bin and Zhang Yong had already led their troops to Zhangjiakou Fort, leaving only Xu Tai in Xuanfu to wait for Tang Yin and Zhu Yi.

After the two sides met, they didn't even stop briefly, and didn't even enter Xuanfu Town. They set off directly north towards Zhangjiakou Fort.

"His Majesty greatly admires Mr. Tang's abilities and has sent me here in the hope that you will provide him with much assistance." Xu Tai was quite polite to scholars like Tang Yin.

Tang Yin also expressed his respect for Xu Tai: "General Xu has made outstanding military achievements. How could I, a mere scholar, dare to accept your compliment?"

Xu Tai said, "I hope we can cooperate sincerely."

Xu Tai was clearly eager to gain military merit.

He was ordered to suppress the Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprising. The emperor had specially reserved a good position for him so that he could obtain a title. However, he failed to live up to expectations and suffered a defeat when besieging the rebel army in Shandong. He missed the best opportunity to be ennobled and his reputation in the army plummeted.

If he himself was so capable, Jiang Bin wouldn't have had a chance later on, since he was favored much earlier than Jiang Bin.

……

……

The group was on its way north.

Tang Yin deliberately rode alongside Zhu Yi, pointing to Xu Tai at the front of the group, and asked, "What will become of this man?"

"What are you asking?" Zhu Yi asked with a smile.

Tang Yin asked, "This person has absolutely no reputation in history? Is there any record of him in history?"

"Why not? He was favored during the Zhengde era and died in exile during the Jiajing era, does that count?" Zhu Yi said with a smile.

"Tsk tsk, such a bad ending, huh?"

Tang Yin still felt somewhat emotional.

At least in his view, Xu Tai respected him, a man without even an official position, and it seemed he shouldn't have ended up dying.

Tang Yin suddenly asked again, "He didn't die in the same batch as Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, right?"

Zhu Yi laughed and said, "He killed those two."

"What?" Tang Yin was even more surprised. "Aren't the three of them... in cahoots?"

Zhu Yi shrugged.

It means that history just happened this way, and I couldn't change that.

Xu Tai was the top military scholar in the seventeenth year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty. His family had been military households for generations. His father, Xu Ning, had also served as a military officer on the frontier many times during the Chenghua reign and had achieved great military exploits.

Xu Tai himself was awarded the title of "Earl of Anbian" for the great victory at Yingzhou in the twelfth year of Zhengde.

During the purge initiated by Yang Tinghe at the end of the Zhengde reign, he sided with Yang Tinghe and eliminated Qian Ning and Jiang Bin.

However, after Zhu Houcong ascended the throne, Xu Tai was directly purged. Although he was not beheaded, he was exiled and eventually died in exile. It can be said that the more glorious his first half of life was, the more desolate his second half was.

"Hey Tang, don't you pride yourself on having integrity? Why do you start asking me about someone's future when you meet them? Don't you doubt me and not want to cooperate with me?" Zhu Yi said jokingly.

Tang Yin blushed with embarrassment and said, "It's always good to ask. If you don't want to talk about it later, that's fine too!"

Now that there's a know-it-all who can predict the future and know everything about the world, I can't help but want to use this power to understand everything about the future.

The allure of this ability to foresee the future was so strong that even the usually reserved Tang Yin found it hard to resist.

……

……

We arrived at Zhangjiakoubao on the afternoon of March 18th.

No one came out to greet us.

After the group entered the city, at sunset, Xu Tai came over and called Tang Yin and Zhu Yi to go to Jiang Bin's camp for a pre-battle mobilization meeting.

"Take your things with you, and remember what I told you," Zhu Yi instructed Tang Yin.

When the group arrived at Jiang Bin's camp, besides the two leaders of the two groups, Jiang Bin and Zhang Yong, only Zhang Yong's younger brother, Earl Yongshou, Zhang De, remained.

Based on his merits in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign, Zhang Yong's three younger brothers were enfeoffed as Earl of Tai'an, Earl of Anding, and Earl of Yongshou. Among them, Zhang De was the most favored by the emperor and was granted the surname Zhu. Zhang Yong also took his younger brother with him on this expedition.

Jiang Bin had a long, narrow face, but was very tall and strong. He slammed his thick arms on the table and looked at Tang Yin, saying, "You're Tang Bohu?"

Tang Yin was overwhelmed by the other party's imposing manner and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Zhu Yi gave him a push from behind, roughly meaning to remind him not to be stage-frightened.

Tang Yin replied, "That is indeed me."

Xu Tai then introduced the two sides. When it came to Zhu Yi's side, even though he was just a prince's son, Zhang Yong had to bow to Zhu Yi.

A proper member of the imperial clan would be respected wherever he went; whether others took Zhu Yi seriously was another matter entirely.

"I have brought two gifts with me. They were originally intended as tribute to His Majesty, but they may come in handy on the battlefield, so I have brought them out first," Tang Yin said, following Zhu Yi's instructions.

Jiang Bin asked, "What is it?"

Tang Yin then beckoned, and Min Twenty-Four, a trusted confidant of the Prince of Ning's mansion and a former bandit, entered carrying two items.

"The first item is a telescope, which allows you to see distant objects clearly," Tang Yin explained. "The second item is a flintlock pistol that can be ignited directly without a fuse."

Jiang Bin frowned slightly and glanced at Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong's aura instantly hardened. He said, "This Military Advisor Tang, although you were appointed by His Majesty to assist in this battle, you are at most a commoner. How dare you casually manufacture firearms?"

Tang Yin said, "It was made by the Prince of Ning's residence."

"Huh?" Zhang Yong was also caught off guard.

Is Prince Ning secretly manufacturing firearms at home?

Did Tang Yin report Prince Ning? Did he accuse Prince Ning of plotting a rebellion?

Tang Yin calmed himself down slightly before continuing, "In my dream, I saw a scene of future warfare and discovered that the firearms used by later generations were no longer ignited with matchlocks. So I told Prince Ning about this, and Prince Ning said he would assist the Ming Dynasty in completing its border defenses. He specially made a few guns and asked me to take them with me on my way to the capital."

At this point, even Tang Yin himself felt a chill run down his spine, and he couldn't help but glance at Zhu Yi.

He was thinking, "What exactly are you up to, kid?"

Are you afraid others won't know your father is ambitious?

Zhang Yong, his face dark, asked, "What is the purpose of Prince Ning's actions?"

These words sounded like a question to Zhu Yi.

Zhu Yi said, "My father has always had a heart to serve his country. After learning that Mr. Tang had seen the future firearms, he specially made them as samples. Not daring to keep them to himself, he asked Mr. Tang to take them to the capital for His Majesty's inspection. However, due to a series of coincidences, we were summoned here on our way to the capital. We hope that these things can be of some help in this battle."

"This..." Zhang Yong didn't know what to ask for a moment.

If Prince Ning truly harbored rebellious intentions, then he could have simply seized Tang Yin for himself and kept quiet about it from the emperor.

Alternatively, we could hand over Tang Yin, but not the technology for the new firearms. As long as we don't publicize it, who would know?

The strange thing is that Prince Ning not only reported Tang Yin's matter to the emperor, but also manufactured firearms himself and presented them to the emperor...

From what angle can people attack him?

Jiang Bin said, "Let me take a look first!"

Then Min Niansi went over and handed over the binoculars.

Jiang Bin walked to the tent entrance and asked curiously, "How do I use it?"

Tang Yin said, "Just place this side in front of you."

Jiang Bin glanced at it and was instantly captivated.

Seeing Jiang Bin's focused expression, Zhang Yong asked curiously, "Governor Jiang, what's this?"

Are you just looking at it yourself? Won't you let me take a look?

"Incredible!" Although Jiang Bin and Zhang Yong had planned to give Tang Yin and Zhu Yi a hard time, he couldn't care less about anything else after seeing the good stuff.

Jiang Bin then handed the binoculars to Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong followed Jiang Bin's example, holding the object up to his eyes and looking into the distance, exclaiming in surprise, "How come those little people seem to jump right in front of us?"

Tang Yin quickly said, "In future battles between the two sides, those who command the fighting will carry this item."

Zhang Yong said with a pleasant expression, "Rare indeed! Such good stuff should be produced in greater quantities."

Tang Yin said, "Ten were made. Five are here with us, and the other five were sent to the capital as tribute to His Majesty."

"Thank you for your kindness." Zhang Yong instantly felt more favorably disposed towards Tang Yin and the Prince of Ning's Mansion.

If someone has good things and doesn't keep them to themselves, then there's not much to criticize.

Things related to military operations would better reflect Prince Ning's uprightness and integrity.

I've already made my move, so go ahead and accuse me of rebellion. I'm upright and have nothing to fear. I'll just send it directly to the emperor and see who dares to say anything then!

"That firearm..." Jiang Bin then turned his gaze to the flintlock musket.

Tang Yin said, "This thing is dangerous. Please find me a target so that I can... demonstrate it."

……

……

The display of the flintlock musket did not bring the same level of shock as the telescope display.

After all, firearms had already developed to a very high level by the mid-Ming Dynasty. Unless they could be improved to breech-loading guns, a change in firing method alone would not cause a significant qualitative change.

But Zhang Yong still praised it.

This made Tang Yin realize that although the team seemed to be commanded by Jiang Bin as the general commander, it was actually mainly Zhang Yong who was the behind-the-scenes commander.

After all, Zhang Yong had more practical experience in combat and had long enjoyed the emperor's trust in military matters.

After Tang Yin and Zhu Yi returned to their tents to rest.

Zhang Yong looked at Jiang Bin and asked, "Governor Jiang, what do you think?"

Jiang Bin was still fiddling with the binoculars in his hand when he frowned and said, "His Majesty's decision to send Tang Yin might actually have some merit. His Majesty's foresight is beyond our reach."

"That's what we think too," Zhang Yong said. "Such a capable person, if Qian Ning wins him over in the future, then we might not have a good life."

Zhang Yong used to look down on Qian Ning, but now it's clear that Qian Ning is better than him.

He now needs to win over Jiang Bin to counter Qian Ning.

This can also be considered a game of alliance between the weak and the strong.

Jiang Bin said, "But it seems that Prince Ning has a better relationship with Qian Ning. He never sent gifts to my residence before."

Zhang Yong chuckled and said, "Isn't there Prince Ning's son here? Wouldn't it be more direct to use his connections? All Qian Ning has done over the years is secure guards for Prince Ning's residence. Anything he can do, you can do too. Don't you want to trample him underfoot?"