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

Chapter 507 Refusing to Leave
In fact, Zhu Shenzhu was also very surprised to see Xu Xiancheng coming to the army, because he did not expect that the court would actually send Xu Xiancheng.

Zhu Shenzhui knew about Xu Xiancheng's situation. His informant Zhang Xijun was in the capital. Now Xu Xiancheng was a Langzhong of the Ministry of Works and also served as an imperial censor. Logically, the Ministry of War should have been responsible for entertaining the troops. Why would they send Xu Xiancheng, an official from the Ministry of Works?
"This is not a place to talk, follow me." Zhu Shenzhui said to Xu Xiancheng in a low voice. Although he was surrounded by his own people, he was outside after all. If he was seen by Feng Yunsheng's people, he might get into trouble. He immediately gave Xu Xiancheng a look, and Xu Xiancheng nodded slightly, and followed Zhu Shenzhui directly. After a while, they came to a camp. This camp was not the central army, but it was not far from the central army. Zhu Shenzhui's people were stationed around the camp.

"Brother-in-law, why are you here?" After entering the tent, Xu Xiancheng couldn't wait to ask again. He was extremely surprised that Zhu Shenzui actually appeared in the Xuan Army camp, especially since the Xuan Army camp was attacked by the Jian Nu yesterday, with heavy casualties. Now the Jian Nu was eyeing them covetously thirty miles away. This was a dangerous place!

What's more, how could others not know Xu Xiancheng? His brother-in-law was a member of the imperial clan! He was even more puzzled that a member of the imperial clan did not stay at home but secretly came to the capital and even entered the military camp.

"Let's talk about my business later. Let me ask you, why did you come here to entertain the troops? Aren't you still working in the Ministry of Industry?" Zhu Shenzhui asked back.

Xu Xiancheng sighed and told Zhu Shenzhu that he should not have come, but he suddenly received an order that someone recommended Xu Xiancheng to come. Although Xu Xiancheng was a doctor in the Ministry of Works, not a doctor in the Ministry of War, the court had always been optimistic about Xu Xiancheng. If Yuan Chonghuan had not written to Emperor Chongzhen to postpone the establishment of the Liaodong and Shandong governors, Xu Xiancheng might have already gone to the local area to serve as a governor.

In addition, Xu Xiancheng's work in the Ministry of Industry often requires him to deal with the Ministry of War, and his ability is recognized by the Ministry of War. In addition, he is also an imperial censor, and is also known as the founder of the Fushe Society of the Xiaodonglin Party. He is one of the civil servants. How can the bigwigs in the court let the eunuchs make the decision this time? Moreover, the war has been going on for more than a month. Yesterday's defeat shocked everyone in the capital. In order to find out the current situation of the army outside the city, Wang Chengen and several bigwigs in the court thought about it and decided to let Xu Xiancheng come.

After listening to Xu Xiancheng's explanation, Zhu Shenzui finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was not afraid that Xu Xiancheng would be in danger if he stayed in the army after visiting the troops, but he was worried that Xu Xiancheng had been transferred from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of War.

Among the six ministries, the status of the Ministry of War is much higher than that of the Ministry of Works, but it is not a good thing to be transferred from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of War at this time. The war is still going on, the Jiannu have not retreated, and the Minister of War has been replaced, let alone others?

Zhu Shenzhu knew the character of Emperor Chongzhen very well. This emperor had few other abilities, but he was very good at passing the buck. Once something happened, the first thing he did was to pass the buck to someone else. With Xu Xiancheng's official position, if he went to the Ministry of War, he would be the person in charge of specific affairs. If the war went badly later, Emperor Chongzhen would start to pass the buck and look for a scapegoat, and Xu Xiancheng might be in trouble.

"By the way, brother-in-law, why are you here?" After finishing his own affairs, Xu Xiancheng asked this question again.

Zhu Shenzhui had no intention of hiding anything from his brother-in-law. Moreover, now that he had seen him in the army, it would be inappropriate to continue hiding it from him.

Immediately, Zhu Shenzui told him how he came into the army and how he secretly hid beside Hei Yunlong. He then told him how Huang Taiji led his troops to attack the camp yesterday, and Man Gui and others were killed in the battle. He and his men held a corner of the camp until they repelled the invading Eight Banners soldiers and finally the enemy retreated. He was lucky enough to survive.

Most of these words were true, except for some cover-ups regarding his new army and cavalry. He just said that he had some people with him, all of whom were warriors recruited from trading companies and grasslands, and that he was able to protect himself with their efforts.

After hearing what Zhu Shencui said, Xu Xiancheng was terrified and could not help but blame him, not caring that the other party was his brother-in-law. He said that Zhu Shencui should not take such a risk, and that it was a good thing that nothing happened. If something happened to him, it would be fine for him, but what about his sister and nephews?
Besides, didn't Zhu Shenzhui know his own identity? He was a member of the Ming imperial clan, and according to seniority, he was the grandfather of the current emperor. According to the rules of the Ming imperial clan, members of the imperial clan could not leave their fiefdoms without permission. Zhu Shenzhui had violated this rule by secretly leaving Pingyang under a false name in order to do business. If it had happened in the past, he would have been stripped of his title and imprisoned.

Although the court is not as strict as it was in the past, it is no small matter if the emperor knows about this. Zhu Shenzhu is too bold. Isn't he afraid of disaster if the news leaks out?
Facing Xu Xiancheng's rebuke, Zhu Shenzui had a good attitude. He apologized to Xu Xiancheng on the spot, saying that he came here in a fit of rage without thinking much. Yesterday was indeed dangerous, but fortunately God blessed him to be safe and sound. He would never do such a risky thing again.

There is some truth in this. Yesterday's battle was indeed unexpected. Zhu Shenzhui did not expect that Huang Taiji would be so decisive in sending his main force to attack the camp. He also did not expect that Man Gui would be defeated so quickly, and even die on the spot.

Although he had anticipated the risks and made some preparations in advance, Zhu Shenzhui was still very nervous when the Xuan army camp was in chaos. Although he was calm and composed at the time and killed many Jiannu with his subordinates, Zhu Shenzhui was actually sweating from the beginning to the end.

If he brought all the new troops and the elite cavalry in Mongolia, he would not be afraid of Huang Taiji. Although Huang Taiji's Eight Banners soldiers and the Mongolian cavalry that followed were elite, they began to split up and plunder the local areas after entering the capital, and with the troops stationed in Zunhua, Huang Taiji did not have many Eight Banners elite soldiers that he could directly mobilize.

This time, Huang Taiji claimed to have 100,000 troops to attack the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, the Eight Banners plus Mongolian cavalry only had more than 60,000 people in total. There were about 5,000 people stationed in Zunhua, plus several teams that were divided out, and the remaining main force that Huang Taiji temporarily mobilized was only more than 10,000 people. These people had no problem fighting the Ming army, but if they really fought against Zhu Shenzhui's elite new army and cavalry, Zhu Shenzhui would not be afraid of them at all. Once a real fight broke out, it would be hard to predict who would win and who would lose. Moreover, after yesterday's battle, Zhu Shenzhui probably also figured out the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers, including the white armor.

Zhu Shenzui admitted that the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners elite was indeed strong, but his cavalry was not weak either. The two sides should be about the same with equal numbers. However, Zhu Shenzui's cavalry had begun to be equipped with firearms, and relying on the advantage of firearms, they were able to take the initiative on the battlefield and were better.

As for the new army, it goes without saying that as long as they are prepared in advance and have the assistance of cavalry, their combat effectiveness is basically equal to that of the Zhejiang troops in the Battle of Hunhe. With more sophisticated equipment and firearms, their combat effectiveness is even approaching that of the original Qi Army.

But even so, the troops around him were still too few. With only 500 new troops plus Wang Jinwu's 300 cavalry, they were not afraid of dealing with 1,000 or 2,000 Eight Banners. But once the enemy came in full force, it would be difficult for Zhu Shencui to stop them. Even if he could barely fight, he would definitely suffer heavy casualties in this battle.

As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Zhu Shenzui was indeed reckless this time, but since he had done it, he did not regret it, especially after personally experiencing the battle yesterday, Zhu Shenzui gained far more than he had imagined.

Now Hei Yunlong has become the supreme commander of the Xuanda Army. Emperor Chongzhen not only promoted him from a lieutenant general to a general-in-chief, but also gave him the title of right general and granted him the imperial sword to command all the armies. For this reason alone, Zhu Shenzhui did not regret making this trip.

If he hadn't come, Hei Yunlong would have either died on the spot or been abducted in the battle yesterday, and even Hei Mingzhong's ending would not have been much better. In addition, without him turning the tide and gathering the defeated troops, the Xuan army would not be in the current situation at all, and its casualties would have been much heavier, and even the last 8,000 people would not have survived, and the entire army might have been wiped out.

Now not only are Hei Yunlong and his son safe and sound, they are also in control of the Xuan army and have left some precious seeds to the Xuan army. This is enough.

After yesterday's battle, Hei Yunlong and his son's attitude towards Zhu Shenzhui completely changed. From then on, it is not an exaggeration to say that Hei Yunlong and his son only follow Zhu Shenzhui's lead. The Xuanda Army is one of the most elite frontier armies of the Ming Dynasty. Its base is in Shanxi and Zhili, second only to the Guanning Army.

With the sincere surrender of Hei Yunlong and his son, it is the best outcome for Zhu Shenzui. Even if it involves great risks, it is all worth it.

Of course, Xu Xiancheng certainly didn't know what Zhu Shenzhu was thinking. He was just very dissatisfied with Zhu Shenzhu for coming to the army without authorization and taking such a big risk. However, after seeing Zhu Shenzhu humbly accepting the criticism and repeatedly promising not to do it again, Xu Xiancheng's anger gradually subsided.

"It's not advisable to stay here for long. Brother-in-law should leave early."

"It's not appropriate to leave now."

"Why? Are you still planning to stay in the army, brother-in-law? Even if you don't consider your own safety, you have to consider your sister and nephews at home, right?" Xu Xiancheng couldn't help but ask anxiously.

Seeing Xu Xiancheng was a little anxious, Zhu Shenzhui smiled bitterly and shook his head to explain: "The capital is not safe right now. The Jiannu come and go like the wind, looting everywhere. It is safer for me to stay in the army now than to leave. Once I leave the army, not to mention whether such a move will attract attention, the Jiannu scouts will also be alert. If they send troops to hunt me down, I will be ambushed before I can go a hundred miles, let alone return to Shanxi. At that time, not only will I not be able to return, but I may even die on the way."

"I have thought about this carefully. Now is not the right time to leave. It is better to stay in the army and wait for the situation to make a decision later. If the troops from all over the country arrive, our army is strong. The Jiannu will see that it is impossible and will definitely withdraw. It will not be too late to leave after the danger in the capital is resolved."

(End of this chapter)