The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

The sky gradually darkened.

After Zhu Yi and Tang Yin settled into their temporary lodgings, at Zhu Yi's insistence, the two left their tents and went to check on the situation in various parts of the city.

On one side, cavalrymen were reorganizing, even bringing out long-stored firearms to equip them, seemingly preparing for an expedition.

Meanwhile, on the other side, many laborers and ordinary soldiers were repairing and reinforcing the city wall north of Zhangjiakou Fort.

Tang Yin frowned and said, "How did the city wall get so dilapidated? Why didn't you repair it regularly, and now you're only trying to fix it at the last minute?"

Zhu Yi said, "Ever since Batumonke unified the grasslands, he has raided south every year. Zhangjiakou Fort was the first to be hit in Xuanfu Town. Do you think the number of times it has been attacked has decreased in the past two years? The local government wants to build fortresses, but where will the laborers and funds come from? It's good if they can come up with something at the last minute."

"Is it really as bad as you say?" Tang Yin seemed very worried.

"Have you noticed anything wrong?" Zhu Yi suddenly asked.

Tang Yin honestly shook his head.

Zhu Yi said, "It's obvious that the two people who actually command the troops and supervise the army have major disagreements on the issue of offense and defense, but they are just pretending to be harmonious in front of us."

"How did you figure that out?" Tang Yin looked over in surprise.

It's as if it's saying, "Did you ask Zhang Yong and Jiang Bin?"

Even if you ask, will they tell you honestly?

Zhu Yi pointed to his head and said, "I'm using this to see. Right now, Jiang Bin and Xu Tai have come under imperial orders. They need military merit, so given the advance warning, they definitely want to launch an attack. For them, no merit is a failure."

Tang Yin thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's true. Without merit, whether they receive a title or not is secondary; it would be difficult to explain to His Majesty after they return. His Majesty hopes they can achieve a great victory."

Zhu Yi said, "For Zhang Yong, he doesn't need this battle to prove himself at all. What he wants is to avoid mistakes; to avoid faults is enough. How can the two of them work together to win this battle when their battle philosophies are so different?"

"what?"

Tang Yin thought about it carefully, then suddenly felt somewhat discouraged and said, "You're so young, how can you see through all this at a glance? Wait, what does this have to do with us?"

Zhu Yi said, "Just wait. This dispute will soon fall on your head."

"Why?" Tang Yin asked, puzzled.

Zhu Yi sneered, "One is the commander, the other the supervisor; neither of them can convince the other, and neither has the prestige of Qian Ning to make the final decision. In the end, didn't they just push you out to take the blame?"

Tang Yin said, "Am I, a mere commoner, qualified to make decisions on such important strategic matters?"

……

……

Tang Yin believed that if it didn't concern him, he could simply stay out of it.

Xu Tai then came over to find him and Zhu Yi, and invited them back to the central army camp.

"Isn't the decision to be made by Eunuch Zhang and General Jiang?" Tang Yin was somewhat wary this time, after all, Zhu Yi had already given him a heads-up.

Xu Tai said, "There are matters concerning the Tatar invasion the day after tomorrow, which you must personally explain."

Tang Yin was helpless.

He thought to himself that the kid had predicted everything.

It's true that he's from 500 years in the future; I can't compare to him in that respect.

Why do I feel like I'm not as good as him, a mere child, at reading people and doing things?

The group then headed towards the central military camp.

Tang Yin seized an opportunity to ask in a low voice, "Which side are you on?"

"Of course, it's Jiang Bin and Xu Tai's side," Zhu Yi said.

"Didn't you say that we just need to scare the Tatars away? Why do we still need to go on this risk with Jiang Bin?" Tang Yin asked, somewhat puzzled.

Zhu Yi glanced at Xu Tai, who was walking ahead, before explaining, "We're newcomers, and if we want to establish ourselves in the capital, we need military merit. On this point, our interests align with Jiang Bin and Xu Tai! Why do you insist on siding with Zhang Yong and becoming a useless figurehead?"

Tang Yin was speechless for a moment, then realized that Zhu Yi was even more radical than him.

"If we openly side with Jiang Bin, will Zhang Yong let us off the hook?" Tang Yin asked.

Zhu Yi said, "As I said before, let's bring the battle into the city, so that neither side can find fault with it!"

……

……

Inside the central army camp.

The atmosphere was somewhat strange. Zhang Yong and Jiang Bin, who had been chatting happily before, now stood on opposite sides, not saying a word.

"Mr. Tang, you've come at the right time. Tell me, when will the Tatars arrive the day after tomorrow? From Zhangjiakou Fort northwards, there are three directions: Yutailing, Niuxinshan, and Maoerzhuang. Which direction will they come from?" Jiang Bin asked aggressively from the outset.

Upon hearing this, Tang Yin quickly glanced at Zhu Yi, as if waiting for Zhu Yi to give his opinion.

But Zhu Yi remained calm and composed, seemingly unwilling to pay him any attention.

Tang Yin had no choice but to follow the established procedure, and said with obvious regret, "I don't know!"

"How could you not know?" Jiang Bin said, somewhat angrily.

Zhang Yongze seemed quite pleased and laughed, "Mr. Tang was able to deduce that the Tatars would attack the day after tomorrow, which is already quite remarkable. We have sent out so many scouts who do not collect information at night, but so far none of them have brought back accurate news. What makes you think that Mr. Tang can deduce the exact time and direction so clearly?"

The best option is to remain around Zhangjiakou Fort, raise flags widely, and let the Tatars feel that we are on guard, thus forcing them to retreat.

Jiang Bin said angrily, "His Majesty sent us here just to be used as a decoy? If we retreat in the face of the enemy, won't we be ridiculed by our colleagues in the army?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but glance at Xu Tai.

It seems that Xu Tai is the typical person who is always ridiculed.

Xu Tai himself felt very innocent.

He was thinking, "Back when we were fighting the bandits, I was also at the forefront of the charge. But I was outnumbered and the enemy broke through our lines, so I suffered a defeat and they blamed me for everything! That's not fair!"

Jiang Bin glared at Tang Yin again and said, "Mr. Tang, saying you don't know the details is irresponsible! Aren't you supposed to be able to predict the future? Can't you perform a ritual on the spot?"

Tang Yin felt immense pressure, but he could only grit his teeth and say, as Zhu Yi had taught him, "I only saw what Heaven wanted me to see in my dream, and that's what I will see in my dream."

Jiang Bin demanded sharply, "Then what did you see?"

"I saw..." Tang Yin pointed towards the entrance, "...the Tatars stormed into the pass, there was fire everywhere, and blood everywhere. The fighting was extremely fierce; people fell from their horses, and others were hit by arrows!"

Zhang Yong exclaimed in shock, "The Tatars will invade? That...that..."

Hearing this, he became nervous.

Because according to his previous plan of simply holding on, it was tantamount to sitting and waiting for death.

Jiang Bin instantly hardened his stance, raising his voice eight octaves as he said, "What did I tell you? If we only defend, the Tatars will definitely take advantage of us. Retreating will not only invite ridicule but also bring the shame of defeat!"

"Governor Jiang, you can't say that," Zhang Yong said. "Since this Mr. Tang says he saw all this, can't it be because you led your troops out to attack and didn't retreat in time, leading to the fall of the earthen fortress?"

Jiang Bin then looked at Tang Yin, this time less forceful than before, and simply asked, "Where was this general at that time?"

Tang Yin thought to himself, "How am I supposed to know where you are?"

According to Zhu Yi's previous description, this battle was completely unexpected by the emperor, so you and Zhang Yong should not have been here at all!

What Zhu Yi told me to say was all nonsense.

Zhang Yong then asked, "Mr. Tang, can the future events you foresee be changed by human effort?"

"I don't know!" Tang Yin said. "There has been no actual confirmation yet."

Zhang Yongdao asked, "In your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

Tang Yin was also taken aback when asked this question.

He didn't think he was qualified to offer advice here, but as the words Zhu Yi taught him took effect, these people realized there might be big trouble and immediately tried to pin the blame on him.

Tang Yin thought to himself, "This kid is much more cunning than I imagined!"

If he didn't scare these people by saying that Zhangjiakou Fort would fall, why would they care to listen to his opinion?

Tang Yin said in a deep voice, "Letting things take their natural course is the best approach."

Jiang Bin rolled his eyes, almost drawing his sword and holding it to Tang Yin's neck, but he restrained himself in the end, angrily saying, "It's the same as saying nothing at all!"

"Mr. Tang, could you please explain in more detail?" Xu Tai asked anxiously from the side.

Xu Tai wasn't afraid of failing to achieve merit, but rather afraid of being defeated at Zhangjiakou Fortress.

Tang Yin said, "Instead of fighting against fate, we should go with the flow and not let the Tatars know that we have amassed a large army here. We can set up an ambush inside the earthen fortress and catch the Tatars off guard!"

This fulfilled my dream, demonstrated a balanced approach to offense and defense, and resulted in fierce battles regardless of victory or defeat, never betraying His Majesty's trust!

Jiang Ning appeared very excited and said, "This plan is excellent! Even if we lose, we won't be ridiculed by the world!"