Emperor Ming: Your Majesty, you have caused me so much suffering.

Esen's judgment was correct; the Ming Dynasty was indeed poorly defended, and his army arrived at Zijing Pass in just one day.

There were no significant obstacles along the way. Some people, who were not well-informed, saw the dragon flag and thought it was the emperor passing by. They showed their loyalty and, as was the custom in the past, many people offered fruits along the way to express their gratitude. This was quite a spectacle for Esen!

Unfortunately, these people walked right into a trap and were captured by Esen, put under the guard of his soldiers, and taken as spoils of war to be transported back to the north.

One of the purposes of the Oirat invasion was to abduct people, and they readily accepted these opportunities that came to them.

The people, who had finally come to their senses, never imagined that their well-intentioned welcome of the emperor because of the dragon flag would turn them into prisoners. At this moment, they no longer cared about the emperor being their father and began to curse Zhu Qizhen.

Zhu Qizhen's face turned ashen as he pleaded with Esen to release the innocent civilians. Esen gave him a perfunctory reply, saying that he was worried the civilians might rebel, so he had them under control for the time being, and that he would issue a pardon after Zhu Qizhen was reinstated.

Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to accept it, knowing that Esen was just being perfunctory.

Although Zijing Pass has not been repaired much in recent years, it is still one of the three inner passes of the Ming Dynasty. The pass in front of Esen was obviously not easy to conquer.

The Oirat forces marched south in haste, and some siege equipment and cannons had not yet arrived.

At this point, attempting to tackle the problem would result in incalculable losses.

Boluo, unable to wait any longer, spoke up: "Grand Tutor, may we order an attack on the city?"

"No, let the Ming Emperor persuade Guan Yu first!" Esen directly rejected Boluo's suggestion and decided to release Zhu Qizhen, the ultimate weapon. Although this weapon might not be effective, it could at least annoy the Ming army and even shake the morale of the Ming army.

Bayan Temur had a very close relationship with Zhu Qizhen and respected him greatly, so he volunteered, saying, "I will go and persuade His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

When Bayan Temur arrived, Zhu Qizhen frowned slightly and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor wishes to request that you persuade the general guarding the pass to open the gates and accept surrender!"

Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said, "These garrison commanders are all following my imperial brother's orders, so I'm afraid it's unnecessary. Besides, didn't the Grand Tutor promise me that I would intervene when we reach the capital?"

A hint of helplessness flashed in Bayan Temur's eyes as he said, "Your Majesty, you must also cherish your people. If our army launches a strong attack, countless people will die. The Baiyangkou incident is still fresh in our minds. There are still loyal subjects in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Qizhen was immediately convinced. Anyway, practice makes perfect, and he had done it several times before, so he didn't feel any pressure.

After Esen saw that Zhu Qizhen had agreed, he sent someone to summon Guan.

The main generals guarding Zijing Pass were Han Qing, Cao Tai, Sun Xiang, and Liu Shen.

Han Qing and Sun Xiang were the pro-war faction, Cao Tai had a grudge against Zhu Qizhen, and Liu Shen was still loyal to Zhu Qizhen.

When Cao Tai and the others heard that Esen had sent someone to summon Guan, the four of them, despite their different stances, all thought of the same thing and prepared to make a bold decision.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to meet Zhu Qizhen, Cao Tai regained the Emperor Emeritus. Although he hated Zhu Qizhen for trying to kill him, he felt that with the merit of welcoming back the Emperor Emeritus, what crime could he not be forgiven for?

Cao Tai and his entourage immediately made a demand: not to enter the Oirat camp, lest they be captured. The Ming envoys were still in the Oirat camp, and Esen's reputation was as bad as Zhu Qizhen's, so loans could not be approved.

Secondly, when the two sides meet at the pass, neither side's escorts may carry weapons.

Furthermore, Zhu Qizhen should write the decree to open the gates on yellow paper. This way, verbal orders would not be enough, and there would be concrete evidence to prevent the individuals from being punished later.

Upon hearing Cao Tai and the others' request, Esen immediately agreed!

"Grand Tutor, this may be a trap!"

"It's alright!"

In his previous attempts to gain access to the capital, Zhu Qizhen had met with many officials of the Ming Dynasty without causing any trouble, which greatly reduced Esen's vigilance.

With the army in front of him, he didn't believe the Ming garrison could pull any tricks. Besides, the Ming emperor in his hands was a cowardly and weak man who valued his life above all else. How could he possibly take any risks?

It must be said that Esen's understanding of Zhu Qizhen was far superior to that of the Ming Dynasty's officials, who were completely unaware of their retired emperor's bottom line.

At dusk, after several rounds of negotiations, Commander Liu Shen and Cao Tai, as agreed, went out of the city with only one personal guard as a messenger to meet Zhu Qizhen.

Esen kept his promise and sent Boluo Tongmao Nahai Pingzhang with a personal guard to accompany Zhu Qizhen. Zhu Qizhen, accompanied by Yuan Bin, whose legs were not yet fully recovered, and the translator Ha Ming, came to meet him at the pass.

Upon contact, Liu Shen and Cao Tai did not act unusually. They bowed respectfully, first weeping as a sign of respect, and then lamented the suffering of the retired emperor. After weeping for a while, they accepted the yellow paper from Zhu Qizhen, unfolded it, and saw that it was indeed an imperial edict to open the gates.

Cao Tai handed the yellow paper to the guard and said, "Go and convey the Emperor's decree, ordering Commander Han to open the city gates."

Boluo and Maonahai Pingzhang were overjoyed to hear that Haming had translated, and they also sent their personal guards to inform Esen, and their vigilance was greatly reduced for a time.

The gates of Zijing Pass opened, and Han Qing suddenly appeared, leading his elite cavalry in a hasty charge to reclaim the Emperor Emeritus.

Seeing this, Cao Tai and Liu Shen worked in perfect unison, and with a move that resembled a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, they tackled Bo Luo and the other man to the ground.

Cao Tai shouted, "Your Majesty, run!"

Ha Ming stood there stunned, while Yuan Bin's spirits lifted. The opportunity had arrived; he had finally waited for this day!

In the past, he had tried to break through the gates several times, in Datong and Xuanfu, to join forces with the garrison generals to launch a surprise attack and reclaim the Ming Dynasty from Zhu Qizhen. Such a plan was entirely feasible, but he had to give up because Zhu Qizhen stopped him.

This scene had already flashed through his mind countless times. He subconsciously prepared to push Zhu Qizhen in front of him and protect him as he ran into the pass. Even if there were cold arrows from behind, he could still block them for Zhu Qizhen.

However, Yuan Bin's legs were not fully recovered, and he was a step too slow. He saw a scene that he could never have imagined in his life!

Zhu Qizhen fled, heading towards the Oirat camp!

Han Qing was shocked and reined in his horse. It was just one step away. If the Emperor Emeritus took a few more steps toward the interior of the pass, he could take advantage of the Oirat soldiers' lack of reaction, pull the Emperor Emeritus onto his horse, and with the suppression of artillery fire and arrow rain from the interior, and the fact that the area was already narrow and the Oirat cavalry could not maneuver properly, they would definitely not be able to catch up.

But what he saw made Han Qing's eyes widen in anger: the Emperor Emeritus had truly betrayed the country!

Esen was furious and hurriedly ordered his soldiers to rush forward to protect Zhu Qizhen. At this moment, he dared not order the arrows to be fired. Boluo and Maonahai Pingzhang were still fighting with the Ming general. If the arrows were fired, all four of them would die.

Cao Tai caught a glimpse of the Oirat soldiers swarming forward and knew he was doomed. He roared towards the city, "Fire!"

Sun Xiang then realized what was happening and hurriedly ordered the cannons to fire. The bombardment caused the Oirat army to retreat hastily. However, Cao Tai and Liu Shen were not so lucky and were hacked to death by the pursuing Oirat soldiers. There was hardly a piece of their flesh intact.

Cao Tai never dreamed that he would ultimately die at the hands of Zhu Qizhen.

Liu Shen never imagined that his loyalty would result in his execution.

Enraged, Esen reorganized his army and prepared to launch a full-scale attack.

However, he was not blinded by anger. In addition to Zhu Qizhen as his ultimate weapon, he also had a cunning strategist.

"Go and fetch Xining!"

happy Ning arrived quickly and, seeing Esen's unpleasant expression, couldn't help but smile obsequiously, "Grand Tutor, what are your orders?"

"Do you have a plan for capturing Zijing Pass?"

Speaking of this, happy Ning immediately became radiant, for he was extremely skilled at attacking the Ming Dynasty.

"Grand Tutor, Zijing Pass has not been repaired for many years, and it is impossible to build effective defensive fortifications in the short term (Note 1). There must be a breakthrough on both flanks, and there are many small paths on the mountains on both flanks, which are difficult for the defending troops to defend against. If we defend against them all, it is estimated that it will take tens of thousands of troops to achieve the desired effect."

Ethan understood immediately and asked, "You mean to launch a feint attack from the front, then find a breakthrough from the flank and launch a pincer attack?"

"Grand Tutor is wise, that's exactly right!" happy Ning nodded, then said mysteriously, "I know a small path that can help me break through the barrier."

Yesen laughed and glanced at Xi Ning, finding her face particularly striking at that moment, even more handsome than before.

"Send orders to the rear guard to transport the cannons overnight, and launch a general offensive first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Here you go!"

The following morning, the Oirat forces launched a particularly fierce frontal attack, forcing Sun Xiang and Han Qing to gather their troops and concentrate in the central area to defend against the Oirat offensive.

At this time, the notorious traitor happy Ning was leading a detachment of the Oirat forces, taking a small path from the south to bypass the enemy and directly attack the flank of Zijing Pass.

Because Zijing Pass was defended by only about 10,000 men, all their weapons, cannons, and falling rocks were placed in front of them. When they saw the Oirat troops descending from the sky, they were too late to deal with them, and the Oirat soldiers easily broke into the inner city.

Han Qing and Sun Xiang immediately decided to split their forces. Sun Xiang led his troops back to reinforce the city and engaged in street fighting with the Oirat soldiers who had broken in, while Han Qing continued to guard the main gate to resist the main Oirat force.

Upon hearing that the inner city had been breached, the already panicked Ming Dynasty defenders lost several tenths of their fighting strength. Sun Xiang fought desperately, but ultimately died tragically under the swords of the Oirat army.

Without Sun Xiang's support, Han Qing was attacked from both sides. On the city wall, he fought to the last man and died for his country.

This formidable pass could not hold out for more than two days before falling back into Esen's hands.

Esen climbed the city wall again and looked eastward. The capital was right in front of him. He was certain of one thing: the Ming Dynasty was a paper tiger and could not be defeated!

Looking at his generals, Esen was full of vigor and said, "The Great Yuan Dynasty will rise today!"

Dadu, the great Esen has arrived!