Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 495 At a loss what to do
Seeing Li You coming, Zhu Shenzhui nodded.

After paying his respects, Li You directly reported the arrangements to his subordinates. Because this time they came to the capital temporarily, Zhu Shenzhui did not have many people available, only Wang Jinwu and Li You, the master and his apprentice. As for the others, they were either in the grassland or in Shanxi, and there was no time to transfer them over.

Wang Jinwu commanded the cavalry, Li You commanded the new army, Zhu Shenzhui was not worried about their abilities, as they had been trained over the years. However, the war was imminent, and some things needed to be explained. He came here just to take a look at the situation, and had no intention of fighting to the death with the Jiannu. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's subordinates were not Ming troops, and Zhu Shenzhui was not stupid. How could he let the elite soldiers he had trained with great difficulty work for Chongzhen?

"Has everything been arranged down there?"

"Sixth Master, everything has been arranged according to your instructions." Li You replied respectfully.

"Well, I'm still confident in your ability to do things. By the way, where is your master? Why didn't I see him coming? Could this kid be unable to hold back again?"

Li You showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, and said quickly: "My master is in the camp. You told us not to let him run around, and sent someone to watch him, so I didn't come."

"Haha, do you feel a little uncomfortable having a disciple like you look after your master?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

Li You laughed awkwardly, shook his head and said, "You are doing this for his own good. You know my master's temper. Don't worry. I have already advised him after you dealt with him last time. He also understood your thoughts and will definitely not do it again."

"Well, that's good. You tell him that fighting is not about brute force. When I first came here, I made three rules with him, and he agreed to them. It's okay for the last time, but if he does it again, don't blame me for forcing him to stay in Luzhou to nurse his children!"

“Yes… yes…” Li You nodded quickly, trying not to laugh while speaking. He couldn't help laughing when he thought about how Wang Jinwu was scolded by Zhu Shenzhui yesterday and almost driven back to Shanxi, and how Wang Jinwu apologized and said a lot of nice things, and swore and vowed to finally get Zhu Shenzhui to let him off the hook.

It was Wang Jinwu's own fault. Although he was young, he was more murderous than anyone else. Especially when he followed Zhu Shenzhui to smuggle salt a few years ago, he fought with Li Hu before they even said a few words when they crossed Yangtou Mountain for the first time. The two of them almost ended up in a fight.

After that, this kid was never idle every time salt was smuggled. If Zhu Shenzhu hadn't kept a close eye on him, who knows how much trouble he would have caused.

After arriving at the grassland, Wang Jinwu was like a wild horse, and no longer had any worries about the Ming Dynasty. When the tribe of Ashe Temur rebelled, Wang Jinwu led his men to kill them all. Except for the time when he got married, he participated in all the subsequent wars.

Although this guy is young, he has a strong talent for leading troops, especially as a natural cavalry general. He is not only brave in battle, but also extremely agile. He has a keen sense of the battlefield and attacks decisively and viciously. No one knows where he learned this skill. Maybe it is an innate ability. This is also the reason why Zhu Shenzui gave the cavalry to him for command.

It has been more than a month since Wang Jinwu came to the capital. During this time, Wang Jinwu watched the Ming army and the Eight Banners of Jiannu fighting many times, but he was not involved in every battle. This made Wang Jinwu, who was eager to try, very depressed. Seeing that he was not allowed to fight in several battles, how could Wang Jinwu sit still? He killed a lot of Mongols, but he had never killed Jiannu. In his eyes, the Eight Banners were strong, but it was just that. If he really compared himself with the 300 cavalrymen under his command, he was still stronger. Wang Jinwu was eager to show off and fight the Eight Banners soldiers himself, but Zhu Shenzhu ignored him and forced him not to fight.

Once or twice, Wang Jinwu really couldn't bear it anymore. A few days ago, the Ming army and the Eight Banners had another small-scale battle. The number of people dispatched by both sides was not large, and there were only a few hundred people on both sides. Not long after the battle started, Wang Jinwu, who couldn't hold back, rushed out with dozens of people. When Zhu Shenzhui found him, this guy had already rushed to the front like a gust of wind.

Wang Jinwu was indeed brave and had a great talent for commanding cavalry. Although he brought few people with him, there were only 28 cavalrymen including himself, but his sudden attack directly broke the balance of the battle. The Eight Banners soldiers who were fighting with the Ming army did not take it seriously at first and sent out dozens of cavalrymen to intercept them. But on the first day of the battle, Wang Jinwu first used a three-barreled gun to fight the enemy, and then took a bow and shot directly. The 27 cavalrymen he led were well-equipped and skilled in riding and shooting, not inferior to the Eight Banners cavalry, and even better.

The leading young general of the Eight Banners side had no idea that these twenty-eight cavalrymen were so ferocious. He was caught off guard for a moment by Wang Jinwu, and in the blink of an eye he lost more than ten people on his side. Seeing that the morale of the Ming army was boosted and they were counterattacking with all their might, the Eight Banners side retreated hastily, keeping a distance and shooting at the Ming army. Wang Jinwu showed no weakness and countered the cavalry with archers. The two sides fought back and forth, and both suffered losses.

After fighting for a while, the Eight Banners withdrew when they saw that they could not defeat the Ming army. When Wang Jinwu of the Ming army was about to pursue them, he heard the sound of a horn from the army behind him and had no choice but to withdraw.

When Wang Jinwu returned to the army, he saw Zhu Shencui, who was looking smug, and knew something was wrong. He got off his horse and put away his smile. He trotted to Zhu Shencui and bowed his head to explain something, but Zhu Shencui ignored him and turned away with a cold snort. Wang Jinwu knew he had made a mistake and followed Zhu Shencui back to the camp dejectedly. After returning to the camp, Zhu Shencui scolded Wang Jinwu without any hesitation after the outsiders were gone. He also wanted to deprive him of his right to command the cavalry and even drive him back to Luzhouwei. Wang Jinwu knew something was wrong, so he begged for mercy and knelt in front of Zhu Shencui to admit his mistake, not daring to say a word.

In the end, it was Li You and others who persuaded Zhu Shenzhui, and Zhu Shenzhui let go of this daring boy. This boy wanted to get a quick fix, and he actually went to the battle without authorization, and he didn't take what he said before to heart. If Wang Jinwu wasn't his cousin, Zhu Shenzhui would have beaten him with 80 military sticks just for this reason, and it would have been a good deal for him to beat his buttocks.

He and his new army and cavalry were hiding in Hei Yunlong's army. No one knew this except Hei Yunlong and his son. Even their identities were unknown to outsiders. This time, Zhu Shenzui had no intention of having a fierce battle with the Eight Banners. He came to take a look. If there was a chance to take advantage, it would be fine. However, in such a small-scale formal battle, Wang Jinwu led elite cavalry to fight. If the Eight Banners noticed something, or attracted the attention of Man Gui and others, it would be troublesome.

Fortunately, this time no major disaster occurred. Although there was a small victory, the scale of the battle was small and Wang Jinwu did not bring many people with him. In the end, this battle was not noticed by the high-ranking officials of the Eight Banners and the Ming army. Moreover, Hei Yunlong also covered up the matter, saying that Wang Jinwu and others were his family cavalry and he ordered them to support the friendly forces. The matter was thus hushed up.

However, the incident was over, and Wang Jinwu's behavior must be punished, otherwise this kid will do it again. So Zhu Shenzhu directly had him detained in the cavalry camp and asked Li You to send people to guard him. No one was allowed to release him without his order. This was why Li You couldn't help laughing when he heard Zhu Shenzhu's question about Wang Jinwu.

After explaining things to Li You, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and asked him to leave. After Li You left, Zhu Shenzhui closed his eyes and began to think intently.

The situation in the capital is not a big problem now. As time goes by, various armies will arrive in the capital one after another soon. Even if these armies do not come, the capital will not fall.

Although Huang Taiji was running rampant near the capital, and the Eight Banners seemed unstoppable, in fact, Huang Taiji was probably panicking. This was the first time that Jiannu had fought into the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, and they had come to the capital. Huang Taiji must have been very proud and complacent to have fought so easily.

However, Huang Taiji was not an ordinary person. From his current deployment of troops, it can be seen that Huang Taiji never thought of breaking through the capital. Not to mention that the walls of the capital were high and thick, and there were so many soldiers and civilians and firearms for defense, it was simply a foolish dream to want to capture the capital with only cavalry.

Moreover, with the arrival of various armies, Huang Taiji's range of activities in the capital area will become smaller and smaller, and the local resistance will become stronger and stronger. No matter how powerful the Eight Banners are, they only have a few tens of thousands of people. Once they are besieged by the Ming army from all sides, Huang Taiji will not be able to defeat four hands even if he has great ability.

Huang Taiji was very clear about this, otherwise he would not have sent out a small army to burn, kill and loot in the capital area, and constantly transferred the looted materials and population to Zunhua. Because Huang Taiji knew very well that he would definitely go back, and this time he got in was just a fluke. What he could do now was to scare the Ming army in this way and drag the main force of the Ming army in the direction of the capital, and his small army could plunder as much as it could in the Ming Dynasty. These looted materials and population were the foundation for the Jiannu to gain a foothold and develop in Liaodong in the future, which was also the real purpose of his trip.

Zhu Shenzhu felt emotional in his heart that if Emperor Chongzhen could listen to Sun Chengzong's advice and decisively adopt Sun Chengzong's method, then not only would the situation in the capital be resolved, but even Huang Taiji would suffer an unforgettable loss in the Ming Dynasty.

Perhaps after blocking Huang Taiji's retreat, it is possible to destroy the Jiannu in one fell swoop. If this can be achieved, the Liaodong war will no longer be a problem and the recovery of Liaodong is just around the corner. After the Liaodong war is settled, the Ming Dynasty will be free from external troubles and can concentrate on solving internal problems. The Ming Dynasty may be able to recover gradually.

What a pity, the emperor sitting on the throne was not Tianqi, but Chongzhen, who was stubborn and suspicious. Chongzhen thought he was smart, but he made several wrong decisions since Huang Taiji led his troops into the Great Wall.

If putting Yuan Chonghuan in prison was a mistake, then this decision was a bigger mistake.

It was not that Yuan Chonghuan could not be arrested or imprisoned, but that he should not be dealt with at this time. It was easy to move Yuan Chonghuan, but the problem was that a series of reactions after Yuan Chonghuan was arrested were revealed, including the return of the Guanning Army.

This time, he did not listen to Sun Chengzong's advice and even sent Sun Chengzong to Tongzhou, which was a huge mistake. As soon as Sun Chengzong left, Man Gui once again took over the command. Although Man Gui was loyal to the Ming Dynasty and a fierce general, he was only a general, but not a commander. Now that Man Gui was the commander, he could not command other Ming troops and could not withstand the pressure from above. What would happen next was really worrying.

(End of this chapter)