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

morning.

Suzhou military camp.

Zhu Yunwen, Zhao Ling'er, Chang Yuchun, and Chang Sheng gathered in the tent to discuss matters.

Su Yunwen briefed them on the latest intelligence she had obtained.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ling'er clapped her hands in delight: "Great! The court has lost Kaiping, Linqing, and Shanhaiguan. Isn't this a good thing?"

Zhu Yunwen frowned: "Ling'er, how can it be a good thing that the court has lost troops and land?"

Zhao Ling'er smiled and said, "From the perspective of the imperial court, this matter is a bad thing."

Because the imperial court suffered heavy losses in troops and generals, and lost land and cities, it was extremely disadvantageous for the imperial court.

But for us, this is a good thing.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, the current situation is that the northern desert region is controlled by the Northern Yuan."

To the south of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was Beiping.

Zhu Di further expanded his sphere of influence by occupying the areas of Kaiping, Linqing, and Shanhaiguan.

In other words, Zhu Di posed a greater threat to the imperial court.

What should the imperial court do?

Should Zhu Yunwen divide his troops and send generals to defend key locations to resist Zhu Di?

However, besides those utterly pedantic individuals, such as Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and Fang Xiaoru, who could be called the "Three Fools of the Early Ming Dynasty," who else was in the court?

There are few generals who are skilled in battle.

Geng Bingwen is getting old, and Guo Ying's health is poor.

Moreover, Geng Bingwen was a renowned general skilled in defense.

In other words, he is good at defense but not at offense.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen sent him to Zhengding to defend the area and implement a scorched-earth policy.

Who else is a general?

Xu Huizu, Tie Xuan, and Sheng Yong were three decent generals, but Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan were stationed in Jinan.

Xu Huizu was not trusted by the emperor because of his kinship with Zhu Di.

Besides this, there was also the imperial son-in-law, Mei Yin.

Mei Yin was not bad either; he was highly regarded by Zhu Yuanzhang back then.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang passed away, he entrusted him with an army of 400,000.

Unfortunately, Mei Yin and Zhu Yunwen disagreed on political views.

He did not advocate for such a hasty reduction of the power of the princes. If the reduction of the power of the princes had not been done so hastily, how could Zhu Di have rebelled?

Then there's Li Jinglong.

He's a pretty good-for-nothing; all he seems to do is brag.

In this situation, shouldn't the imperial court take us seriously?

"The imperial court has always both wanted to use us and was wary of us." Zhao Ling'er gave a detailed analysis of the situation both inside and outside the court.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Zhao Ling'er's beautiful eyes looked at Zhu Yunwen: "In the end,

Zhu Yunwen is worried that you will seize his throne in the future.

However, given the current situation, he can't do without us.

Chang Yuchun stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Ling'er, you're quick-witted."

Zhao Ling'er smiled.

She stood up, put her hands behind her back, and paced back and forth in the tent like a strategist.

She continued, "If I'm not mistaken, the imperial court will also bestow additional official titles upon you."

"To bestow an official title? Is that even possible?"

Zhao Ling'er nodded: "I think it's entirely possible. Last time, when Qi Tai came..."

We only showed him our thousand old, weak, and disabled soldiers.

In other words, we are not considered a fighting force by the imperial court.

Therefore, the imperial court sent us an additional two thousand cavalry.

However, with such a small force, dealing with pirates is already a stretch; if we were to use it to deal with Zhu Di, we would be utterly outmatched.

At this point, the imperial court dared not offend us even more.

Zhu Di alone is enough to give Zhu Yunwen trouble; would he dare to cause us any more trouble?

Therefore, he could only adopt a policy of appeasement, coax us into going to war.

My maternal grandfather was a great general who once led a million soldiers to fight against the Yuan army.

Now, the imperial court has only given 500 men. Is that reasonable?

He clearly doesn't trust us and is wary of us.

But now the situation has changed. There are no generals to use in the court. If Zhu Yunwen doesn't use us, who else can he use?

After thinking about it, everyone agreed that Zhao Ling'er's analysis made sense and that this was indeed the case.

Chang Sheng picked up his teacup, drank it all in one gulp, then wiped his mouth: "You guys say that Song Zhong, Xu Kai, and Geng Huan actually lost the Kaiping, Linqing, and Shanhaiguan areas?"

The three sides combined had nearly 100,000 troops, so how could they be so easily defeated?

Even 100,000 pigs would be enough for them to slaughter, how could they fail so quickly? What a bunch of good-for-nothings!

Zhao Ling'er then analyzed: "The reason for this defeat is firstly because Yao Guangxiao's strategy is exceptional;

Secondly, Song Zhong bears primary responsibility.

He was greedy for merit, and as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had no idea how to lead troops into battle.

Can the army and the Embroidered Uniform Guard be compared?

He's still playing the hero.

Moreover, he was arrogant and disdainful of everyone.

I heard that Geng Huan suggested to him that he make contact with Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying beforehand, and then launch an attack on Beiping.

He actually rejected this sound advice.

He was worried that Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying would steal their credit.

Chang Sheng sighed, "How can the court not fail when it employs such generals?"

At this moment, a soldier ran in from outside and reported: "Wang Yue, the chief eunuch of the imperial court, has arrived and says he wants to read out the imperial edict."

Zhao Ling'er laughed and said, "How about that? Speak of the devil, and he appears."

Everyone quickly came out of the tent and knelt to receive the imperial edict.

Wang Yue took out the imperial edict from his bosom and read it aloud: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Zhu Yuntong has rendered meritorious service in suppressing the pirates, and is hereby promoted to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition, and Chang Yuchun is appointed as the General Who Conquers the East. Drink this."

"Your Majesty, we thank you for your great kindness."

After Zhu Yunwen accepted the imperial edict with both hands, he stood up and said, "Eunuch Wang, you must be tired from your journey."

Wang Yue laughed and said, "Congratulations to the King of Wu and the King of Kaiping, you've been promoted again."

Zhu Yunwen gave a wry smile: "There's probably no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

I feel I haven't done anything special, so why is the Emperor bestowing honors upon us?

Wang Yue laughed and said, "You're a smart man, do you really need to spell things out so clearly?"

The problem is quite simple. The Emperor has appointed you as the Commander-in-Chief of Pingbei, clearly intending for you to lead the army north to attack Zhu Di.

He appointed the Prince of Kaiping as General Who Conquers the East, meaning he was sent to deal with the pirates.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuntong understood. He thought to himself that Zhu Yunwen had thought things through quite thoroughly. He would go and fight against Zhu Di, while Chang Yuchun would deal with the pirates. In that case, the court would have nothing to do.

"May I ask, Eunuch Wang, has the imperial court said it would increase our troop strength?"

Otherwise, what's the use of having only the name?

Wang shook his head: "I haven't heard of that. Didn't we add 2000 cavalry to your force a while ago?"

Zhu Yunwen laughed and said, "We originally had 1000 old, weak, and disabled soldiers, plus these 2000 cavalry, making a total of about 3000 men. Chen Zuyi's pirates number in the tens of thousands, and Zhu Di has hundreds of thousands of troops. How can we possibly be their match?"

Wang Yue smiled and asked, "King of Wu, how many troops do you have?"

You know the truth in your heart.

Although it was a bit less, the Chang father and son were both invincible generals.

It is said that it is easy to find a thousand soldiers, but difficult to find a good general.

With them, father and son, helping you, what are you afraid of?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen thought to himself that this eunuch Wang was no ordinary person. As expected of the emperor's favorite, he couldn't tolerate any nonsense.

At this moment, Zhao Ling'er took out a gold ingot and stuffed it into Wang Yue's hand: "Eunuch Wang, you've worked hard. Take this and buy some tea."

"Miss Zhao, how can I accept this? I've spent quite a bit of your money over time."

"Eunuch Wang, it must have been very difficult for you to come all the way from the capital in this sweltering heat. Please accept this."

Wang Yue accepted the gold ingot and praised, "Miss Zhao, you are truly generous!"

"In the future, I hope Eunuch Wang will speak well of me to the Emperor," Zhao Ling'er said with a smile.

"Of course. Your father, General Zhao Sili, and I have a good relationship. Even if we don't care about the monk, we'll still help you out. If anything happens, I'll cover for you if I can."

"I am extremely grateful!"

Zhao Ling'er understood a simple truth: one should not underestimate a eunuch.

He can talk to Zhu Yunwen anytime, anywhere; he has immense influence.

Overall, however, this Wang Yue is still quite good.

"Eunuch Wang, please stay for dinner!"

Wang Yue declined, saying, "The emperor is waiting for me to return and report."

You have many things to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Wang Yue bid farewell to everyone and returned to the capital.

Zhao Ling'er said to everyone, "How about it? I guessed right, didn't I?"

You two have both been promoted.

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand: "What's the use of a promotion if we're not given troops?"

"You're wrong about that. Although the court didn't give you troops, it did give you authority. You can't expect a commander to lead two or three thousand men, can you?"

In other words, we can recruit soldiers again.

I think even if the imperial court finds out, they won't do anything to us.

Everyone agreed that Zhao Ling'er's analysis made sense.

So Zhao Ling'er then took charge of recruiting soldiers.

She recruited another 3000 new soldiers, bringing her total strength to 10,000, including the previous 7,000.

Zhu Yunwen was overjoyed because Chang Yuchun had once said that with 10,000 cavalrymen, they could conquer the world. What they lacked now were horses, weapons, and armor.

Zhao Ling'er said, "Don't worry, we'll see the results soon after we start farming."

Once this batch of grain arrives, all those problems will be much easier to solve.

Everyone admired Zhao Ling'er greatly because with food and money, more than 90% of the problems could be solved.

On this day, Zhu Yunwen was inspecting troops at the military training ground.

It must be said that Chang Sheng is really capable. He rigorously trained the newly recruited soldiers, enabling them to reach the combat level of the veterans in a very short time, and even surpass them.

Zhu Yunwen never imagined that he would be a deposed prince, imprisoned, and facing execution several times.

It's unbelievable that he now has ten thousand men under his command.

He said to Chang Sheng, "Second Uncle, you've worked hard."

The weather has been extremely hot lately, and your training day and night is truly commendable.

Chang Sheng wiped the sweat from his forehead: "This is nothing! The more we sweat in peacetime, the less blood we will bleed on the battlefield."

Although it was tiring, it was much more enjoyable than the backstabbing and intrigue in the imperial court.

"I heard that my uncle, Changmao, was once known as an invincible general, almost never losing a battle. Is that true?"

Chang Sheng sighed: "Yes, but Chang Mao is a bit disappointing."

He and his father-in-law, Feng Sheng, had a bad relationship, and they exposed and denounced each other, which greatly angered Zhu.

Later, Zhu sent him to Longzhou.

However, Chang Mao was not content to stay after arriving in Longzhou.

He took Zhao Tiejian's daughter as a concubine.

Soon after, Zhao Tiejian died.

Zhao Tiejian had no sons, so his nephew Zhao Zongshou should have succeeded him in his official position.

However, Zhao Tiejian's wife wanted to give the official seal of the dragon boat to Chang Mao.

This led to another conflict between the two sides, which escalated to the point of reaching the imperial court. Emperor Zhu became even angrier and ordered Chang Mao to commit suicide.

Unfortunately, he was a general. He didn't die on the battlefield, but died such a pathetic and ignominious death.

Zhu Yunwen sighed upon hearing this, knowing that no one has ever been perfect.

Wu Qi was a skilled military commander, but he also made many mistakes.

He once killed his wife in an attempt to gain fame and fortune; his methods were extremely cruel.

However, it must be acknowledged that he was an invincible general. He helped the State of Wei conquer all directions, expand its territory, and make Wei the first hegemon in the world.

Later, he was framed by other ministers.

The King of Wei wanted to marry his princess to him, but he refused.

Hearing that the King of Wei intended to punish him, he fled to the State of Chu.

After Wu Qi arrived in the State of Chu, he quickly made Chu powerful again.

Ultimately, Wu Qi's relationship with the princes and ministers of Chu so so that he was shot to death by arrows by them at the King of Chu's funeral hall.

However, Wu Qi truly lived up to his reputation as a renowned general; even in death, he dragged many others down with him.

In desperation, he lay down on the corpse of the King of Chu.

Those people were so focused on killing Wu Qi that they forgot they also shot the corpse of the King of Wu.

This infuriated the new ruler of Chu, who, in a fit of rage, had all the archers executed.

Chang Mao and Wu Qi also had similarities; in terms of warfare, they were both top-notch military talents.

However, in terms of interpersonal relationships, he is not particular about details and is prone to offending people.

Zhu Yunwen thought to himself, if Chang Mao could be resurrected and help him,

Then, I would truly be invincible under heaven.

Zhu Yunwen received a message from Zhu Di via carrier pigeon. The message said that Zhu Di was leading an army of 200,000 to besiege Zhengding. The veteran generals Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying were about to be overwhelmed, and Zhu Yunwen was ordered to send troops to rescue them.

Upon learning of this news, Zhu Yunwen went to the market to gather everyone to discuss the matter.

Zhao Ling'er said, "We don't need to go to rescue them. When we went to fight the pirates, the imperial court gave us 1500 men."

Does that mean that when we fight pirates, only the pirates die, and no one on our side dies?

Later, although Qi Tai added another 2000 cavalrymen to our force, the total number of men was only about 3000.

Zhu Yunwen, however, ordered us to lead troops to rescue Zhen Ding.

Where did we get our men?

The remaining troops were all recruited by ourselves, what does that have to do with the imperial court?

Has the imperial court provided us with provisions and pay?

Did you provide us with horses and armor?

"Let's say that pirates are attacking, and we don't have enough troops; we need the imperial court to send reinforcements."

Chang Sheng also said, "That's right. According to the imperial court's regulations, we only have 3500 people at most."

Where can we send soldiers to help them?

"Doesn't Mei Yin have an army of 40? Let Mei Yin go and rescue Zhen Ding!"

"Yes, Mei Yin has more soldiers, let Mei Yin go."