Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

Beijing, the Forbidden City.

In November, the capital city was already chilled by a biting wind, but no matter how cold the wind was, it couldn't compare to the deathly silence inside the Wenhua Hall.

Inside the hall, fine silver charcoal burned, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. However, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, sitting on the dragon throne, felt a chill run through his body, a coldness that seemed to seep from the very marrow of his bones. His face was ashen, his eyes sunken, and the once sharp, youthful eyes were now nothing but a bottomless gray.

Below the steps, the civil officials, led by Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru, hung their heads, silent and trembling. No one dared to look up at the young emperor's face, for they had brought news that could crush a person to death.

"...bandits in Shaanxi have captured several counties, and the governor is at a loss. He requests the court to quickly allocate funds to support the army..."

"...Henan is suffering from a severe drought, with the land parched and barren for miles around. Starving people are gathering in droves, and there is a fear of great chaos..."

"...Huang Taiji's main force has already bypassed Mongolia and is plundering the capital region..."

One piece of bad news after another, like dull knives, slowly and deliberately cut into Zhu Youjian's heart. He had only been on the throne for two years, and after eliminating Wei Zhongxian, he thought he could finally unleash his talents and restore order to the country. But what he inherited was a dilapidated house, leaking air from every side and riddled with holes.

The national treasury was empty, the borders were in disarray, natural disasters and man-made calamities plagued the land, and bandits rose up everywhere. He worked tirelessly day and night, constantly worrying, but all he received was more bad news. He felt like a drowning man surrounded by icy, bone-chilling water, and no matter how hard he struggled, he could not see a glimmer of light on the shore.

In the midst of this suffocating atmosphere, a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Report—!"

A sharp sound pierced the deathly silence.

A courier, rather than running in, practically tumbled in. His uniform was soaked through with sweat and mud, obscuring its original color, and he looked as if he had just been pulled from the water, his face bearing a strange expression of extreme exhaustion mixed with extreme excitement.

He held a bamboo tube, sealed tightly with sealing wax, high in his hand and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Liaodong, urgent dispatch from Ningyuan, Commander Yuan!"

Liaodong?

Zhu Youjian's heart, which had long been numb, suddenly twitched.

His greatest worry was Liaodong! Huang Taiji's detour through Mongolia to attack the capital caused an uproar. Yuan Chonghuan led 9,000 Guan Ning cavalry back to reinforce the capital, barely managing to repel the enemy. But in Liaodong's rear, Guangning City, besieged by Amin's heavy forces, had long since lost all contact with the outside world.

As everyone expected, Guangning was probably already...

Upon seeing this, the eunuch Wang Chengen, who was in charge of writing, quickly ran down the steps, took the bamboo tube from the postman, and presented it to the emperor.

Zhu Youjian's hands trembled slightly. He didn't know if the report contained the devastating news of Guangning's fall and the general's martyrdom, or if Yuan Chonghuan had just won another ineffective repelling battle. He dared not hold any more hope.

He used his fingernail to pry open the sealing wax and poured out the report inside.

It was Yuan Chonghuan's familiar, powerful handwriting.

Zhu Youjian's gaze swept past the opening greetings and landed directly on the main text.

When the words "Great Victory at Guangning" came into view, he was stunned at first, thinking he was seeing things. He blinked his dry eyes and looked at it again.

That's right, it was a "great victory"!

His breathing suddenly quickened. His gaze continued downwards.

"...Ten days ago, Chu Ze, the garrison commander of Guangning, set up an ambush west of the city, luring the enemy into a trap. In one night, he burned down more than two thousand elite white-armored soldiers under the command of Amin, the second prince of the Later Jin dynasty!"

"...After the battle, the golden-armored general Turge was killed, and the enemy chieftain Amin, seeing the fire, coughed up blood and fled north in panic. The siege of Guangning has been lifted..."

boom!

Zhu Youjian's mind went blank for a moment.

Fire... white-armored... more than two thousand?

Amin...vomiting blood?

The siege of Guangning... is over?!

His hand holding the report began to tremble violently; that thin sheet of paper felt heavier than Mount Tai. He read it over and over, word by word, afraid that he had missed something, and also afraid that it was a lie fabricated by Yuan Chonghuan to comfort him.

But the powerful and resonant tone of the words, the overwhelming joy and pride, cannot be faked!

it is true!

All of this is real!

"good!!!"

A roar of ecstatic rage, suppressed to the extreme, burst forth from the young emperor's chest!

He lost his composure.

He suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, releasing all the pent-up resentment, frustration, and despair he had accumulated over the past few days into a roar that resounded throughout the palace! He even forgot the etiquette between emperor and subject, took a few steps down from the dragon platform, grabbed the dumbfounded Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru by the shoulder, and almost poked the report in his face!

"Zhou Aiqing! Look! Look!" Zhu Youjian's voice trembled with excitement, and a sickly flush appeared on his face. "A great victory! A great victory at Guangning!!"

"This is the first! The first truly significant victory this year!!"

Zhou Yanru and the civil officials behind him were stunned by this sudden turn of events. They crowded forward, craning their necks to see the victory report that had caused their lord to lose his composure.

When the words "two thousand white-armored soldiers burned" clearly came into their view, after a brief moment of shock, the entire Wenhua Hall was filled with suppressed whispers full of doubt.

"Two thousand white-armored soldiers burned? This... how is this possible?"

"The Jurchen white-armored soldiers are all battle-hardened elites, swift as the wind; how could they easily fall into such a desperate situation?"

"Over two thousand... that number is probably an exaggeration. Could it be that the border general is exaggerating the results to claim credit?"

Zhou Yanru, as the head of all officials, frowned deeply. He took a half step back, freed himself from the emperor's hand, bowed deeply, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, this matter... is probably open to discussion."

Zhu Youjian's ecstatic expression cooled slightly as he stared at Zhou Yanru: "What makes you say such a thing, Grand Secretary? Could Governor Yuan's report be false?"

"Your subject dares not question Commander Yuan," Zhou Yanru said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "However, such a result is truly... astonishing. Since the Battle of Sarhu, when has our Great Ming ever achieved the feat of annihilating two thousand enemies in a single night? Especially against the Jurchen's most elite White Armor soldiers! They are not wooden stakes; how could they stand still and allow themselves to be burned? This matter does not conform to the principles of military strategy."

Another high-ranking official from the Ministry of War stepped forward and echoed, "The Grand Secretary is absolutely right. Guangning is an isolated city with only a few thousand soldiers and its supplies cut off. How could they possibly have set up such a formidable situation? The report mentions that the garrison commander, Chu Ze, is merely an unknown figure. It is likely that Yuan Chonghuan conspired with this man to shirk responsibility for failing to adequately defend the emperor, exaggerating his military achievements to deceive His Majesty!"

The phrase "deceiving the emperor" is used with extreme severity.

The temperature inside the main hall seemed to drop to freezing point instantly.

The fire that Zhu Youjian had just ignited was doused with cold water and sizzled. Looking at the serious-faced ministers before him, who were quoting classics and analyzing things with great clarity, an unnamed anger rose from the bottom of his heart.

They didn't believe we won.

They lost, but they cursed each other more fiercely than anyone else.

This is his court, these are his trusted ministers! A group of parasites who are always scheming, always questioning, and always using the worst possible malice to speculate about the soldiers fighting on the front lines!

His hands were clenching so tightly they were cracking.

Just as he was about to lash out, his gaze fell upon the more detailed battle report attached to Yuan Chonghuan's report, written by Chu Ze, the garrison commander of Guangning.

The handwriting in this battle report is different from Yuan Chonghuan's bold and vigorous style; it is sharp and angular, like iron hooks and silver lines.

The above content is also far more detailed than Yuan Chonghuan's report.

"...The enemy chieftain Amin is stubborn and reckless, brave but lacking in strategy. I predicted he would take a dangerous gamble. Therefore, I used a false report to lure him, and then launched a feigned attack on the north gate to distract him..."

"...In the granary area west of the city, 'oil,' 'coal powder,' and 'sulfur' were buried. When these three substances are mixed, they ignite fiercely when exposed to fire, cannot be extinguished by water, and will burn upon contact with the skin..."

"...repurposed pumps, filled with dust, and when ignited, the dust is sprayed out, exploding upon contact with the flames, with enough force to rip off buildings and shatter bricks..."

"...The enemy troops were trapped, first burned with raging fire, then blown up with dust. The alleyways were narrow, leaving no way to escape, and the operation was completed overnight..."

The battle report was calm and objective, filled with unfamiliar terms and tactical details. There were no impassioned speeches or sycophantic claims; it was like a craftsman calmly explaining that he had completed a sophisticated machine.

These starkly realistic details are far more convincing than any grand pronouncements!

Zhou Yanru and the others also saw the battle report. They looked at each other, and their doubts were gradually replaced by confusion and shock.

Oil? Coal dust? Sulfur? Aren't these all ordinary substances? How could they have such power?

Dust can explode? Unheard of!

This battle report is so realistic, every detail is intricately linked, it doesn't seem fictional. But precisely because it's so realistic, it seems even more...surreal.

Zhu Youjian's eyes, however, grew brighter and brighter.

He didn't understand what a dust explosion was, but he could see the strategy of "luring the enemy into a trap" and the result of "achieving success overnight"!

Especially when he saw that last sentence, which was like the finishing touch, he finally found an outlet for the anger in his chest!

"...The enemy chieftain Amin, standing atop a high slope, gazed at the sea of ​​fire. Overwhelmed by shock and rage, he vomited blood on the spot and, supported by his personal guards, fled north in panic..."

Amin vomited blood!

Good! Good job throwing up!

In an instant, a vivid image flashed in Zhu Youjian's mind: the arrogant Beile of the Later Jin Dynasty, who regarded the Ming Dynasty as nothing, was furious and disheveled under the raging flames, spitting blood from his mouth!

How exhilarating! How cathartic!

The resentment and frustration that had been building up in my chest for days vanished in an instant!

"Hahahaha..." Zhu Youjiu couldn't help but laugh again, this time his laughter was full of unbridled joy.

Chu Ze.

This name, like a scorching hot steel needle, was imprinted so clearly in the mind of Zhu Youjian, the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, for the first time.

He suppressed his smile, forcibly pressing that ecstasy back into his chest, letting it settle into a deeper, more scrutinizing coldness.

He raised his eyes and glanced at the civil officials below the steps, who were whispering among themselves and whose faces all said, "There must be something fishy about this."

In the mouths of Zhou Yanru and his ilk, Chu Ze was a lucky opportunist who appeared out of nowhere, a pawn planted by Yuan Chonghuan in Liaodong. This battle report was nothing more than another act of factionalism, currying favor and consolidating power.

But in Zhu Youjian's eyes, the taste had completely changed.

He no longer needed to listen to these old ministers quoting classic texts to analyze "the principles of military strategy," nor did he need to listen to their analysis of what "the strategy of luring the enemy" meant.

The battle report in his hand, written by Chu Ze, was written very clearly.

Oil, coal dust, sulfur.

Pump, dust, explosion.

Not a single falsehood, not a single wasted word. Every word was like a nail, making Zhu Youjian's heart pound.

This is not military strategy at all; it is the study of things, mathematics, a discipline he completely does not understand, yet he can clearly feel the cold, precise, and deadly power within it...

This Chu Ze, in dire straits, was able to create such a miracle—a miracle that even novels of gods and demons wouldn't dare to write about—using such unheard-of methods.

This young man is mysterious, powerful, and most importantly, sharp!

Like a priceless sword long covered in dust, which he inadvertently unearthed from a pile of old papers. Those self-proclaimed pillars of the nation in the court were nothing but a bunch of rusty, blunt weapons—incapable of cutting anyone, only an obstacle. But this Chu Ze—he could draw blood!

This is the person he truly needs!

This is the sharp blade that can help him shatter the lifeless and corrupt court before him!

"Enough!" Zhu Youjian's laughter stopped, his face darkened, and he looked around at the ministers who were still whispering among themselves, his voice carrying an undeniable authority.

"I will judge for myself whether this battle is genuine or not!"

"Regardless of whether the victory was exaggerated, the city of Guangning was held and Amin's troops retreated—these are undeniable facts! This is a great victory! An unparalleled achievement!"

He flicked his sleeves, ascended the steps once more, and sat back on the cold dragon throne. But this time, his back was ramrod straight, and the light of an emperor rekindled in his eyes.

"Issue my decree!"

The entire hall fell silent instantly.

"General Chu Ze, the garrison commander of Guangning, was appointed to command in a time of crisis. During this perilous period for the nation, he resolutely defended the isolated city, cleverly repelling a powerful enemy. His meritorious service is invaluable to the country! The Ministry of War is hereby ordered to assess his achievements and bestow a generous reward upon him!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanru and the others' expressions immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

But before they could even voice their objections, Zhu Youjian's next words left them speechless.

"Furthermore..." Zhu Youjian's gaze swept across the faces of everyone in the prince, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. "I am quite curious about the 'divine weapon' mentioned in General Chu Ze's battle report. What kind of weapon could cause dust explosions and strike fear into the hearts of the Jurchens?"

He paused, and every word he uttered struck a chord in everyone's hearts.

"I have decided to send a capable person to Guangning. Firstly, to convey my imperial edict and demonstrate the Emperor's grace; secondly..."

His voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling murderous intent.

"...Go and see for yourself this Guangning City! Go see Chu Ze's troops, go see if that fire is real or not!"

A resolute glint flashed in his eyes, a desperate gamble when cornered and grasping at a straw!

"I need to know every single detail about Guangning!"

"If anyone has deceived the Emperor, I... will show no leniency!"