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

The debate in the Wenhua Hall was abruptly ended by a furious shout from Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian.

But as the clamor in the court subsided, the deathly silence within the Qianqing Palace grew even heavier.

Zhu Youjian dismissed all the palace servants, leaving only himself and Wang Chengen, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, in the vast palace. He did not sit on the dragon throne that symbolized the supreme ruler, but stood alone in front of the huge geomantic map, his finger unconsciously tracing the two small characters "Guangning" over and over again.

The charcoal in the heated room was burning brightly, but he couldn't feel any warmth at all.

The euphoria brought by the daytime news of victory, after being doused with buckets of "reasonable" cold water by the civil officials, has cooled down, settled, and transformed into a cold and sharp decision.

"Wang Chengen," Zhu Youjian said, his voice hoarse.

"This servant is here." Wang Chengen bowed deeply, not daring to even breathe, wishing he could shrink into the shadow on the ground.

"If we let those people in the Ministry of War discuss Chu Ze's merits, what kind of result could they possibly come up with?"

This question, devoid of warmth, was more biting than the cold wind outside the palace.

Wang Chengen lowered his head even further, cold sweat trickling down his temples. He carefully pondered the emperor's intentions, weighing every word.

"Your Majesty, according to ancestral rules, the merits of border generals must be verified by special personnel, compared repeatedly, and the heads must be confirmed... This back and forth will probably take three to five months to reach a conclusion."

"March to May?"

Zhu Youjian repeated it, without raising his voice, but it made Wang Chengen shudder.

He turned around abruptly, and a near-mad obsession appeared on his young but weary face.

"By the time they finish their discussion, it'll be too late! By the time they've dried the ink on their achievement books, my entire empire will be ruined by their mourning!"

He wasn't asking; he was roaring, questioning the entire decaying empire!

"Draft an imperial edict!"

Wang Chengen trembled as if pricked by a needle, and almost crawled to his knees, frantically unrolling the heavy, bright yellow imperial edict.

"I have disregarded the Ministry of War's review!"

Zhu Youjian's voice echoed in the empty hall, each word like a stone slamming into the cold floor tiles, carrying an undeniable resolve.

"Today, I will reward you! Immediately! I want the whole world to see who is fighting and bleeding for me, and who is wasting their breath in court!"

His gaze fell on the imperial edict, his eyes like two knives that had just been tempered.

"Therefore, promote Chu Ze, the garrison commander of Guangning, to..."

He paused, seemingly weighing the weight of the official position, and even more so savoring the long-lost thrill of absolute power.

"Fourth-rank official, Assistant Commander of Guangning Guard! Officially appointed!"

Practical instruction!

Zhu Youjian practically squeezed those two words out from between his teeth.

It's not an empty title, not a hollow promise, but real military power! It's the real power to command a guard of soldiers and make a move that brings the game to a close in Liaodong!

Wang Chengen's hand was trembling as he held the pen.

He knew that once this decree was issued, the spittle of the officials in the Wenhua Hall would flood the threshold of the Qianqing Palace by the next morning.

Accusations such as "violating ancestral rules," "border generals should not be rewarded without authorization," and "the emperor has been deceived by treacherous people"... a whole set of accusations had been prepared long ago.

But Zhu Youjian didn't care.

He could even picture the heartbroken look on those old foxes' faces, and a morbid sense of pleasure rose within him.

Let them make a scene, let them argue.

By the time your memorials pile up on my desk, my decree will have already been read aloud in the cold wind of Liaodong!

My sword can no longer wait for you whetstones to sharpen it; if you keep sharpening it, it will break!

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! Please reconsider!"

Wang Chengen's voice trembled like fallen leaves in the autumn wind. He was almost lying on the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold gold brick.

"To promote a military officer to a position of real power without departmental approval is unprecedented since the founding of our dynasty. I fear... I fear there will be widespread criticism from both the court and the public..."

"Criticism?"

Zhu Youjian laughed, a soft laugh that made Wang Chengen lower his head even further, as if the laugh were countless needles piercing his spine.

"Haven't I heard enough criticism yet?"

The young emperor descended the imperial steps one by one, each step feeling as if it were stepping on Wang Chengen's heartbeat.

"Bandits are rising up all over Shaanxi. They have submitted memorials to me criticizing me, saying that I am morally deficient and have offended Heaven!"

"The land of Henan is scorched for thousands of miles, and they kneel before the palace to criticize me, saying that I disrespect the gods and spirits and abuse the people's labor!"

"The Jurchens' swords are practically at my throat, and they're still arguing heatedly in the Hall of Supreme Harmony about whose entourage should lead the procession, their faces red and spittle flying!"

His voice suddenly rose, and the resentment that had been suppressed for too long finally tore through the facade of calm!

"Criticism! Criticism! What else can they do besides criticize?!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his foot and kicked the bronze charcoal basin with a three-legged golden crow carved on it away!

"Clang—!"

A deafeningly loud bang.

The charcoal brazier rolled on the smooth, mirror-like floor tiles, scattering countless glowing red-hot charcoal threads all over the ground. Scorching sparks flew in all directions, burning black holes in the edges of several memorials.

The temperature inside the hall seemed to rise instantly from the charcoal fire.

"A bunch of good-for-nothings who only know how to mourn their ancestors and dream of the classics!"

Zhu Youjian's chest heaved violently, his eyes were bloodshot, and he stared intently at the reports emitting blue smoke on the ground, as if he were looking at a group of dead people.

"Now, I need someone who can fight and win! Someone who can make the Jurchens shed rivers of blood, not my own people!"

He suddenly turned to Wang Chengen, his eyes like those of a cornered beast, ready to devour its prey.

"Even if he's a fraud, a serial killer, as long as his blade is used against the Jurchens, I'll accept it!"

He bent down, grabbed Wang Chengen by the collar, and pulled him up from the ground. They were almost face to face, and he squeezed out every word through his teeth.

"What I want is not a lackey who fills his memorials with 'loyalty to the emperor and love for the country' but can't even lift a sword!"

"It's a knife!"

"A swift blade that can cut a path to survival for me, for this lifeless Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Chengen was so terrified by the madness in his eyes that he was trembling like a leaf, unable to utter a single word, only able to make meaningless "ho ho" sounds.

Zhu Youjian released him, as if discarding a useless rag.

Wang Chengen collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

He saw that the young emperor had straightened his back again, and that madness had been replaced by a more terrifying coldness.

He knew that the Emperor was not going mad.

Your Majesty has made up your mind.

"Draft the decree."

The voice calmed down, but it was even more chilling than the roar before.

Wang Chengen dared not hesitate any longer. He crawled back to the imperial desk, his hands trembling, and unfurled the bright yellow imperial edict that was enough to stir up a huge wave in the court.

His pen tip was saturated with ink, suspended in mid-air, yet it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

He heard the emperor behind him speak in a low voice, almost like a dream.

"Is my blade truly sharp, or... just another death warrant?"

"I'll wait and see."

"Summon Lu Jian, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to an audience." Zhu Youjian's voice returned to its icy tone.

A moment later, a ghostly figure appeared silently outside the palace gate.

The man was in his thirties, dressed in the distinctive flying fish robe of the Imperial Guard, with an embroidered spring knife at his waist. His face was stern, his features sharply defined, devoid of any superfluous expression. Just his presence seemed to dim the surrounding light.

His name was Lu Jian, a vice commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he personally promoted him from a vicious dog, a blade that obeyed only the emperor's orders, and was the sharpest and most secretive weapon.

"Your subject, Lu Jian, pays his respects to Your Majesty." He knelt on one knee, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion.

"Get up." Zhu Youjian waved his hand, signaling Wang Chengen to step down.

When only the emperor and his minister remained in the main hall, Zhu Youjian picked up the newly written imperial edict from the imperial desk, walked down the steps, and personally handed it to Lu Jian.

"I need you to make a trip to Guangning."

Lu Jian received the imperial edict, which felt slightly heavy in his hand. He remained silent, not even lifting his eyelids, simply assuming the perfect posture of a subject listening to imperial instructions with his outstretched arms.

"On the surface, you are an angel conveying my decree, and you must be accompanied by a full entourage to demonstrate the Emperor's boundless grace. I want the whole world to see that I never hesitate to reward the soldiers who have rendered unparalleled service to the Ming Dynasty!"

At this point, Zhu Youjian abruptly changed the subject, leaning forward and getting closer to Lu Jian.

The young face appeared particularly distorted in the shadows of the lamplight, and his voice was so low it sounded like it was being squeezed out from a crack in the ground, carrying a cold, inhuman quality.

"Secretly, I want you... to see this clearly!"

Lu Jian's body remained motionless, but the sharkskin hilt of the Embroidered Spring Blade on his back was sticky from the sweat on his palms.

"I want you to see clearly what Guangning City truly looks like now! Are Chu Ze's soldiers battle-hardened elites or a rabble? In the fire west of the city, were two thousand pigs burned to death, or two thousand Jurchen soldiers in white armor?"

"I want you to bring me back the miracle of 'burning two thousand white-armored soldiers,' exactly as it happened, down to the last detail! I want to see it with my own eyes!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a short, ancient sword from his bosom, no more than a foot long, entirely black, without a scabbard, its blade gleaming with a chilling, menacing light.

He slammed his sword down into Lu Jian's hand, which was holding the imperial edict.

Imperial sword!

"If there is even the slightest word of deception," Zhu Youjian's voice was utterly devoid of warmth, "I grant you the power to execute first and report later! No matter who it is, no matter what meritorious official they are!"

This sword is not a reward.

It was a guillotine hanging over Chu Ze's head.

Lu Jian took the heavy imperial sword and finally spoke, his voice as steady as a taut harp string: "Your subject obeys the decree."

His face remained expressionless, but in his heart, he had already drawn a bright red X on the name of General Chu Ze, whom he had never met but whose reputation had soared.

In his view, every word in the victory report was absurd.

Two thousand white-armored soldiers were burned?

Did they think those Tartars were just kindling waiting in line to be lit?

Having commanded the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for many years, he had witnessed far more despicable acts than recorded in historical texts. He could name eighteen different tricks used by border generals to falsely report military achievements and kill innocent people to claim credit.

Just last year, he personally handled a case. A general from Xuanfu claimed to have killed hundreds of enemy chieftains and seized tens of thousands of cattle and sheep. When his men rushed there to verify the information, all they found were dozens of headless corpses of refugees, frozen as hard as stones.

But that time, it was only "several hundred".

This achievement is so great, so incredibly great, so foolishly great.

Two thousand white-armored soldiers! What does that mean? That's a terrifying force capable of plundering a border town of the Ming Dynasty three times over! And they were burned to the ground overnight?

This audacity to lie is greater than the sky.

In his view, this was most likely a farce staged by Yuan Chonghuan, who was desperate due to the war in the capital region, and conspired with a local nobody who was ignorant of his own limitations to exaggerate his military achievements in order to protect himself.

However, this play was performed too much.

He has already made up his mind.

He would bring along the most skilled spy officers from the Northern Garrison Command who were adept at "smelling" lies, and he would use the most professional methods and the most rigorous scrutiny to examine every inch of Guangning's city walls.

He would dig up that patch of scorched earth, sifting it inch by inch, to see if what was buried underneath was human bones or cow bones.

He would interrogate every living person, distinguishing truth from lies from their breathing and the contraction of their pupils.

He was going to expose this potentially earth-shattering hoax, one that could go down in history.

This "General of Chu" was personally appointed by the emperor...

Lu Jian's lips curled into an almost imperceptible, cold smile.

You'd better pray that your story is flawless.

You'd better pray that your neck is harder than the credit for this good news.

Looking at Lu Jian's perpetually icy face, Zhu Youjian felt a slight relief from the pent-up frustration in his chest. He trusted Lu Jian, this loyal but ruthless dog, who would surely bring him the most truthful answer.

His gaze returned once more to the imperial edict promoting Chu Ze.

In addition to the rewards, the imperial edict also included a command that he added on the spot.

"Order Chu Ze, the Vice Commander of the Guangning Guard, to rely on Guangning City and not be bound by a defensive posture. He may act as he sees fit, launch proactive attacks, harass Huang Taiji's rear, cut off his supply lines, and force him to be unable to support himself from both ends, keeping him constantly on the move! This is to alleviate the pressure on the capital and the Liaoxi defense line!"

This order was both a risky move and a brilliant one.

In the eyes of Zhu Youjian and the court officials, this gave Chu Zetian great courage and honor, allowing him to use the troops of a single city to provoke the entire Later Jin.

But none of them knew what this order, which seemed to be pushing Chu Ze into a fire pit, meant for Chu Ze, who was far away in Guangning.

It's a shackle, but also a key!

A key powerful enough to unlock the last shackles on "Natural Calamity" and completely release the terrifying behemoth called "Player" from the small cage of Guangning!

……

Three days later.

On the official road leading from the capital to Shanhaiguan, dozens of fast horses galloped towards the outside of the pass, kicking up clouds of dust.

The person in the lead was Lu Jian, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He changed into ordinary merchant attire, followed by top-notch guards selected from the Imperial Guards. They abandoned the ceremonial procession for announcing the imperial decree and opted for top speed, heading straight for the center of the vortex filled with mystery and illustrious achievements.

The cold wind was like a knife, stinging my face.

Lu Jian lay on horseback, mentally rehearsing the impending battle over and over again.

He had already devised dozens of interrogation plans and dozens of methods for investigating the scene. He was confident that no matter how elaborate Chu Ze's lies were, they couldn't escape his eyes.

He believed he was going to expose a huge lie.

He never dreamed of this.

What he was about to witness was a reality far more absurd and terrifying than any lie, one that would completely overturn all his understanding of war, death, and order built up over thirty years of his life…

A true, dimensional reduction attack.