Ming Dynasty: I, Zhu Yunwen, started by resurrecting my grandmother.

Zhu Yunwen, his hand resting on the dragon throne, asked, "My dear minister, what is it that you wish to report?"

"Zhu Gaochi volunteered to send troops to reinforce Zhu Yunwen in his fight against the pirates led by Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang," Qi Tai said.

"Oh, is that so?" Zhu Yunwen was quite surprised.

"Zhu Gaochi has heard that Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang are causing trouble in the east, threatening the safety of the capital. Therefore, he requests that troops be sent to reinforce them. He humbly requests Your Majesty's permission!"

Zhu Yunwen did not immediately express his opinion on this matter, but instead looked at his civil and military officials: "My dear ministers, tell me, can I agree to this?"

Huang Zicheng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe there must be something fishy about this matter, and Your Majesty cannot agree to it."

Why is that?

Huang Zi cleared his throat and continued, "Although Zhu Di has gone mad, Zhu Gaochi has not."

Not long ago, the Emperor issued an edict to reduce the fiefdom of the Prince of Zhou, and this matter must have already reached Beiping.

Zhu Gaochi should have been furious upon learning of this; how could he possibly be happy?

After all, the King of Zhou was his uncle.

However, at this time, he wanted to send reinforcements to Zhu Yunwen, claiming it was to drive away pirates for the court. I suspect his true intentions were not what they seemed.

Li Jinglong stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this humble general has something to report."

Li Jinglong was the son of Li Wenzhong. He was tall and strong, with a smooth and shiny appearance. As for his loyalty...

Zhu Yunwen trusted him greatly, but his military capabilities and combat skills still needed further evaluation.

Zhu Yunwen looked at him: "Minister Li, what do you have to say?"

Li Jinglong said arrogantly: "Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang have been causing trouble along the coast and have always been a major concern for our dynasty."

When the late emperor was alive, he offered a reward of 50 taels of silver for the capture of Chen Zuyi, but he could not catch him, which caused the late emperor a great headache.

Now Chen Zuyi and his gang are even more rampant, having plundered more than 50 cities. They have committed heinous crimes, including murder, arson, and massacres. This is a golden opportunity for Zhu Yunwen and Chang Yuchun to attack the pirates.

However, the imperial army was too small, and with defenses needed in various places, the forces were scattered, making it difficult to quickly gather so many troops.

Since Zhu Gaochi has this intention, I believe Your Majesty should grant his request and let them fight the pirates.

This has two advantages for the imperial court.

Zhu Yunwen listened and felt that Li Jinglong's words made some sense: "Then tell me, what are the two benefits?"

"Firstly, if Zhu Gaochi supports Zhu Yunwen and his men and wins the battle to eliminate Chen Zuyi, it will be a good thing for our court to get rid of a major threat."

Secondly, if Chen Zuyi did defeat Zhu Yunwen and his forces, then the losses would have been to the troops in Beiping.

This is not necessarily a bad thing for the imperial court in terms of reducing the power of regional princes.

Therefore, regardless of victory or defeat, it is a good thing for the imperial court.

In other words, victory or defeat is a good thing for the imperial court.

Therefore, I believe we can grant Zhu Gaochi's request.

Veteran general Geng Bingwen stepped forward: "Your Majesty, this humble general disagrees with Li Jinglong's viewpoint."

Geng Bingwen was highly respected and experienced in the court.

Zhu Yunwen also held him in high esteem.

Geng Bingwen was one of the few generals that Zhu Yunwen left to Zhu Yuanzhang, and his words carried considerable weight in the court.

"Does the old general have any comments?"

"The imperial court wanted to reduce the fiefdom of the Prince of Yan, and sent Zhang Bing as the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Beiping, and Xie Gui and Zhang Xin as the Military Commanders of Beiping."

How intelligent was Zhu Gaochi?

He naturally understood His Majesty's intention: to restrain and supervise him.

Following this, Commander Song Zhong, Xu Kai, and Geng Huan reorganized the guards of the Prince of Yan's residence, weakening the military strength in Beiping.

Moreover, the Northern Yuan army was elusive, appearing and disappearing without a trace, often arriving at the gates of Beiping overnight.

Therefore, in the opinion of this veteran official, Zhu Gaochi should have requested reinforcements from the court to strengthen Beiping's resistance against the Northern Yuan.

However, he claimed he was going south to support Zhu Yunwen, which was clearly a blatant lie.

This is probably not his true intention.

If Your Majesty insists on granting his request, this old minister advises Your Majesty to strengthen defenses along the route, especially at the Yanjin ferry crossing on the Yellow River and Jinan, in case of any unforeseen events.

Zhu Yunwen listened quietly. He knew that Geng Bingwen was quite old, had rich combat experience, and was naturally loyal to the court. It should be said that he had considered things quite thoroughly.

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen turned his gaze to Xu Huizu.

Xu Huizu remained silent throughout.

Zhu Yongwen knew Xu Huizu was mature and prudent, so he asked, "Minister Xu, what are your thoughts on this?"

Xu Huizu's feelings were also complicated, because Zhu Di's Princess Consort Xu Miaoyun was his sister.

In other words, his relationship with Zhu Di was very delicate.

The imperial court is currently making great efforts to reduce the power of regional princes, and at this critical moment, he must be careful with his words and actions.

Of course, Xu Huizu was wholeheartedly loyal to the imperial court.

Now that Zhu Yunwen had asked, Xu Huizu could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb.

So he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that General Geng is right."

The saying goes, "One should not have the heart to harm others, but one must have the heart to guard against others."

Although Zhu Gaochi is my nephew, you can know a person's face but not their heart.

Logically speaking, by reducing the Prince of Zhou's fiefdom, the imperial court was essentially cutting off one of Zhu Di's arms.

Zhu Gaochi should be furious, but his proposal to send reinforcements to Zhu Yunwen is somewhat suspicious.

If he was truly wholeheartedly supporting Zhu Yunwen and Chang Yuchun in their fight against the pirates,

I believe it is permissible, after all, Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang are a major threat to the imperial court.

If we could really wipe out the pirates, that would be the best outcome.

However, I heard that Chen Zuyi and his men are very powerful now. They have hundreds of large warships and countless smaller warships.

The ship was also equipped with firearms, and I heard there was even a two-headed serpent, a sea monster—that's unheard of!

Dealing with the Chen family father and son will be no easy task.

There's strength in numbers.

However, we still need to be wary of Zhu Gaochi.

If Zhu Gaochi takes this opportunity to march south and attack our cities, that would be bad.

Therefore, I suggest that the prefectures and counties along the route strengthen their defenses, and then Zhu Gaochi's army be sent into the Central Plains in batches.

For example, if he sends 10,000 troops and concentrates them in one place, it might pose a danger to the court. However, if these 10,000 troops enter the Central Plains in five or ten waves,

Then they won't be able to work together as one.

In addition, we can also look at the performance of his first few batches of troops to see if he really went to fight pirates or if he had other plans.

In this way, the emperor granted Zhu Gaochi's request, leaving Zhu Gaochi with no grounds for objection. Furthermore, this prevented Zhu Gaochi from attempting any underhanded tactics.

Zhu Yunwen slapped the document and exclaimed with great emotion, "This plan is brilliant!"

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen issued an edict granting Zhu Gaochi's request, but did not allow his troops to arrive all at once. Instead, they were to enter the Suzhou area in batches and then join forces with Chang Yuchun's troops.

Around noon.

The sun relentlessly scorched the earth, and cicadas chirped mournfully in the treetops.

Suzhou.

Zhu Yunwen's military camp.

Zhao Sili is training the newly recruited soldiers.

It must be said that Zhao Sili is indeed very skilled at training new recruits.

He put the newly recruited soldiers and two hundred retainers together for training, focusing on both offense and defense. In just a few days, he felt that the new recruits were almost as good as the other veterans.

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen and Zhao Ning'er were together.

As soon as they arrived at the drill ground, they heard shouts of battle.

"kill!"

Zhu Yunwen handed a kettle to Zhao Sili with both hands.

Zhao Sili took the kettle and drank it all in one gulp.

"Thank you for your hard work, Father-in-law."

Zhao Sili wiped the sweat from his forehead: "It's nothing. The more you train, the less blood you'll bleed on the battlefield."

"Father-in-law is absolutely right. How is the training of the new recruits going?"

Zhao Sili pointed at the cavalrymen: "They're making rapid progress!"

Upon hearing that they were going to fight pirates, they were all filled with fighting spirit and boundless rage.

Many of their relatives had died at the hands of pirates.

Zhao Ning'er looked at her father and said, "Father, while you are training the soldiers, you should also pay attention to rest and avoid heatstroke."

It's so hot.

"As your father knows, it's probably alright."

As they were talking, two soldiers collapsed to the ground from the heat.

However, the other soldiers remained in their neat ranks and did not try to pull them up.

Zhu Yunwen understood that the most important thing in the army was discipline; only with iron discipline could the army's combat effectiveness be guaranteed.

Zhao Ning'er and Zhu Yuntong quickly ran over and carried the two soldiers to the shade of a tree.

Zhao Ning'er performed emergency treatment on them. Actually, the two soldiers didn't have any major problems; they just suffered from heatstroke due to the hot weather.

Zhu Yunwen looked at the thousand cavalrymen and two hundred guests before him, and raised his voice, saying, "Have you all worked hard?"

Knowing that Zhu Yunwen was about to give a speech, the soldiers stopped training, lined up neatly, and listened quietly.

Zhu Yunwen looked at everyone and said, "I know you've all worked hard, but today's hard work is to save your lives on the battlefield."

Those pirates have invaded our homes, violated our sisters, and killed our fathers and brothers. They are inhuman and cruel, therefore, we must drive them out!

"Get them out! Get them out!" The soldiers shouted in unison on the drill ground, their voices echoing through the sky.

"Soldiers, I can tell you clearly that the pirates are numerous, numbering in the tens of thousands, while all our forces combined are less than 3000. The disparity in strength is enormous."

Moreover, they have tall warships and cannons, and as you may have heard, they also have a monster, a two-headed snake.

The snake towered into the clouds, its mouth wide open, enough to swallow an elephant.

"It would be unbelievable if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Zhu Yunwen didn't hide anything and recounted the situation of the pirates to everyone.

At this moment, the soldiers on the drill ground were buzzing with discussion. They had never heard of a two-headed snake monster before.

Many soldiers said, "King Wu, we are not afraid. To defend our homeland, to protect our elders and fellow villagers, and to avenge our brothers and sisters, we are not afraid of anything."

Zhu Yunwen was also very excited after hearing what they said: "You are all great, but don't worry!"

We outwitted and outmaneuvered those pirates. I firmly believe that good will prevail over evil, and we will surely defeat them.

You must unite as one and not rely on or depend on anyone.

We have to rely on ourselves.

From this day forward, you 1,200 men will be my soldiers.

I will always be with you, sharing your joys and sorrows, your fortunes and your misfortunes!

"Victory is certain! Victory is certain!"

At this moment, the soldiers waved their weapons and shouted loudly, their morale soaring.

night.

Zhu Yunwen's large tent.

He invited Chang Yuchun and Zhao Sili to discuss military matters.

"Grandfather, father-in-law, I have discovered that Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang are very cunning. Since the last battle at Panlong Ridge, they have disappeared without a trace, as if they suddenly vanished from the face of the earth."

Finding their main fighting force won't be that easy.

Chang Yuchun stroked his beard and said, "Chen Zuyi was able to achieve this scale in Malacca back then, which shows that he had extraordinary abilities."

He is adept at dividing and concealing his strength.

Therefore, it has never been easy for our army to find their main combat force.

This is similar to how Emperor Wu of Han sent Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to search for and fight the main force of the Xiongnu in the desert.

Chen Zuyi and his men have large ships sailing on the sea; it's very difficult for us to track them down.

At this moment, a scout came to report: "Zhu Gaochi is about to lead troops to reinforce us."

Chang Yuchun, Zhao Sili, and Zhao Ning'er were all quite surprised when they heard this.

Zhao Ning'er put her hands on her hips: "That fat bastard Zhu Gaochi is rotten to the core. How could he send troops to support us?"

The sun really did rise in the west.

Chang Yuchun then asked, "How many troops did they send? Where is the vanguard?"

Zhu Yunwen said, "According to reliable sources, their advance force of 2000 men has reached the Yanjin ferry crossing on the Yellow River."

Chang Yuchun continued, "Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang have tens of thousands of pirates, so what's the point of sending only 2000 men?"

Zhao Ning'er frowned: "Even if you say wheat is black, I can't believe it."

Zhu Gaochi sent troops to support us; I suspect there's something fishy about it.

Zhu Yunwen sat up straight: "I also feel that this matter is somewhat unusual, but as of now, I can't see anything wrong with it."

Zhao Sili asked, "Then, who is the commander of their vanguard?"

Is it Zhu Gaoxu, or Zhu Gaosui?

"Zhu Gaosui".

"I've heard about it too."

Although Zhu Gaosui was very brave, he was still inferior to Zhu Gaoxu.

Besides, he's too young.

Where is Zhu Gaochi?

"It is not known at this time."

"No," Zhao Ning'er paced back and forth in the tent, "In my opinion, this matter is probably not that simple."

The imperial court has already reduced the Zhou king's fiefdom.

The Prince of Zhou was Zhu Gaochi's uncle. Reducing the Prince of Zhou's fiefdom was tantamount to cutting off Zhu Di's left and right arms.

It would be strange if he didn't hate the imperial court.

How could he possibly help the imperial court fight pirates?

I find it hard to believe that Zhu Gaochi would have such a high level of awareness.