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

Chapter 627 Overall situation
Although he was sure that Hei Yunlong would stand on his side, Zhu Shenzhui still didn't dare to take the risk. After all, this confidence was not 100%, even if it was 80%, there were still 20% unknown.

Once there is a change on Heiyunlong's side, Zhu Shencui's plan cannot be implemented, especially since the Ming army occupied Juyongguan and used the natural barrier of Juyongguan for defense. Even if Zhu Shencui's army is very powerful, it will not be easy to break through Juyongguan and capture this place in a short time.

If Zhu Shenzhui stopped at Juyongguan and could not break through and advance eastward quickly, he would be in trouble. Once the war started, the Ming court would react quickly even if it was slow. Moreover, Juyongguan was located in the north of Shanxi, close to Xuanda, which was an important town in the nine frontiers. The Ming frontier troops were not weak in combat effectiveness. Once they were entangled by the frontier troops, Emperor Chongzhen would mobilize other troops to reinforce the capital, and the battle would turn into a mess.

By that time, it would not be so easy for Zhu Shenzhui to quickly march into the capital. Facing the millions of troops coming from all directions of the Ming Dynasty, the number of troops in Zhu Shenzhui's hands was not large. In this way, Zhu Shenzhui would be in danger and would not be able to control the subsequent changes in the situation.

To be on the safe side, Zhu Shenzhu preferred to go through Yuxia Pass to leave Shanxi. Although going east through Yuxia Pass would first lead to northern Henan, and then turning back north to enter northern Zhili, the journey was relatively long. This journey was several hundred miles, but compared to going to northern Shanxi first and then going through Juyong Pass, there were fewer uncertainties.

After entering Henan through Yuxia Pass is Zhangde Prefecture. Gao Yingxiang occupied this place for some time after defeating Zuo Liangyu. Later, Gao Yingxiang also took this route when he marched north to Zhili. However, Gao Yingxiang did not advance far into Zhili before he ran into Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army.

Lu Xiangsheng led his army to fight against Gao Yingxiang. The powerful combat effectiveness of the Tianxiong Army made Gao Yingxiang almost doubt his life. Gao Yingxiang, who suffered a great loss, had no choice but to give up his plan to go north to the capital and turned east to Shandong. However, he was hit head-on by Xu Xiancheng as soon as he entered Shandong. After losing both battles, Gao Yingxiang could only flee south, intending to turn around and attack Nanjing. Finally, he was defeated again by Xu Xiancheng and Lu Xiangsheng north of the Yangtze River, so he turned west and continued to flee.

After Gao Yingxiang's banditry, the area around Zhangde Prefecture suffered great damage. Although the banditry has passed and the people who fled have gradually returned to their hometowns, the destroyed areas are in a mess and cannot be restored in just a few years.

Moreover, Zuo Liangyu also suffered heavy losses in the defeat in Zhangde Prefecture. Although he reorganized his troops and replenished his manpower, his combat effectiveness was undoubtedly weakened. In addition, because Gao Yingxiang was roaming around, the Ming army of various divisions was chasing and intercepting him. Now, except for Xu Xiancheng's army still stationed in Shandong, Zuo Liangyu's troops, Lu Xiangsheng's troops, Cao Wenzhao's troops, and He Renlong's troops were all under the command of Governor Chen Qiyu to fight against Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits.

In Sichuan, Qin Liangyu's White Rod Army was on high alert, waiting for Gao Yingxiang to sneak in. In Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou worked together in perfect harmony. On the one hand, they continued to encircle and suppress the bandits in Shaanxi, and on the other hand, they also closely monitored the situation in Sichuan, Huguang and other places, and were ready to cooperate with Chen Qiuyu in battle at any time.

Judging from these circumstances, the main military forces of the Ming Dynasty are currently concentrated in southern Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, and Shaanxi. On the contrary, there are not many Ming troops in northern Zhili.

Now the Ming army in Northern Zhili only has ordinary garrison troops, plus the troops of Changping General You Shiwei, Baoding General Cao Minglei and Governor Yang Wenyue. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also appointed Shi Kefa as the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, the Superintendent of Military Affairs and the Governor of all places south of Northern Zhili. Judging from these situations, there are not many Ming troops near the capital. Most of the troops are scattered on the outskirts of Northern Zhili. On the contrary, the area close to the capital is blank.

This kind of defense is mainly for external use. After all, neither the bandits nor the Jiannu in Liaodong are in Northern Zhili. As long as their route to Northern Zhili is blocked, the capital will naturally be fine. Even if the defense line is broken, the Ming Dynasty can quickly mobilize the outer army to intercept. In addition, the border army of Xuanda and the Guanning Army of Shanhaiguan are also close at hand, so it is very convenient to mobilize troops to defend. The court does not worry about any accidents at all.

But the problem was that the court did not expect Zhu Shencui to suddenly launch an attack in Shanxi and head north directly from Yuxia Pass. It only took one day to get from Yuxia Pass to Zhangde Prefecture. After taking Zhangde Prefecture and turning north, they could reach Handan in less than two days.

From Handan, head north and pass Julu, Shulu, Anping, Boye, Baoding, Zhuozhou, and Liangxiang to reach the capital.

Although the journey was not short and was all in the heart of the capital, Zhu Shenzhui did not intend to fight all the way there. Don't forget that his new army and Luzhou Guards could dress up as official troops, march quickly under the banner of mobilizing troops, and take advantage of the local unpreparedness to quickly advance and directly attack the capital.

The benefits of doing this are obvious. If everything goes well, the troops can be at the gates of the capital before the capital can react. By then, as long as we can find a way to take down the nine gates of the capital and attack the capital, no matter how many troops there are in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, it will be useless. However, such a plan is also very risky. Fighting a war is not like playing a game, and it is not as simple as moving troops around on the map.

Zhu Shenzui was also a veteran who had fought many battles. He never underestimated his opponents in any battle. Moreover, fighting in the Ming Dynasty was completely different from fighting on the grassland.

The grassland is in full view. Wars mostly rely on mobility, and cavalry is the decisive factor in determining victory or defeat. In the Ming Dynasty, the terrain is complex, the population is large, and the cities are countless. There is a pavilion (town) every few dozen miles, a county every hundred miles, and a prefecture (state) every few hundred miles. In addition to the local guards, it is not easy to gallop across the Ming Dynasty.

Even when Huang Taiji led his elite troops to the capital, didn't he return empty-handed? Although the Eight Banners had no rivals in plundering the local areas, they were still unable to capture the capital. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen ordered the whole country to defend the king, and the Ming troops from all over the country gathered towards the capital. Even if the Eight Banners were good at fighting, they could not resist so many troops, and finally had no choice but to withdraw from the Great Wall and return to Liaodong.

If he followed the normal fighting method, Zhu Shenzhui would have to march north steadily, but time would be a big problem. Even if he hid his identity at the beginning and took a few cities before the locals could react, the Ming officials were not fools. It would not take long for his army to be discovered, and fierce resistance and troops from all over the country would follow.

If it reached that point, it would be difficult for Zhu Shenzhui to easily attack the capital. The further he advanced, the greater the resistance would be, which would give Emperor Chongzhen more time to react. Considering this factor, Zhu Shenzhui decided to take a risk. He wanted to advance quickly and adopt a lightning-fast breakthrough tactic. He would not fight with the Ming army for the gains and losses of one place, but would use cavalry as the main force to attack the capital directly. As long as he could capture the capital, he would be done.

The risk of doing so was huge, and Zhu Shenzhu was certainly aware of it. If his advance was unfavorable, or if he was blocked by the Ming army in front and could not break through, and his retreat was cut off, then his troops would become rootless duckweed, with no way forward or retreat. What would a lone army do even if it was strong? By then, relying on the large number of people, the hundreds of thousands of Ming troops would be able to trap him to death, and Zhu Shenzhu would only risk his life to break through or fight to the death.

Zhu Shenzhui had considered this, but he finally made this decision. The reason why he took the risk was that he had absolute confidence in the combat effectiveness of his troops. His more than 2,000 Mongolian elite cavalry plus 6,500 elite new troops were simply not something that ordinary Ming troops could stop. As long as they did not attack the city and marched directly and quickly, even if there were Huang Taiji's Eight Banners in front of them, Zhu Shenzhui was confident that he could break through directly.

Apart from this reason, Hei Yunlong, Xu Xiancheng and others are also Zhu Shenzhui's trump cards. When the time comes, Zhu Shenzhui will send people to urge the two parts to launch the uprising at the same time. As long as the uprising breaks out in Xuanfu and Shandong, Zhu Shenzhui's pressure will suddenly be reduced, and he will be more confident.

Even if Hei Yunlong and Xu Xiancheng did not move, it would not matter. As long as they waited and watched the situation develop, Zhu Shenzhui still had enough confidence. As for whether the two of them would stand on the side of Emperor Chongzhen and lead troops to fight against him? Zhu Shenzhui had thought about this, but the possibility was very small. Based on his understanding of Hei Yunlong and Xu Xiancheng, neither of them was a die-hard supporter of Emperor Chongzhen, and it was unlikely that they would directly fight against him for Emperor Chongzhen.

Not to mention that Zhu Shenzhui had saved Hei Yunlong's life and had something on Hei Yunlong, Hei Yunlong would never act rashly after learning that Zhu Shenzhui had started an uprising. Even if he did not send troops to help, he would at least watch from the other side. And Xu Xiancheng was even more so, he was Xu Jingqiu's younger brother and Zhu Shenzhui's brother-in-law. Even if Xu Xiancheng "killed his relatives for the greater good" and led the Shandong army to reinforce Zhili and fight against Zhu Shenzhui, would Emperor Chongzhen really trust Xu Xiancheng after Zhu Shenzhui was defeated? This was simply impossible with Emperor Chongzhen's character, and Xu Xiancheng was not stupid, how could he do such a thing?
In addition, the most important point is Zhu Shenzhu's identity. If Zhu Shenzhu was a bandit like Gao Yingxiang or a foreigner like Huang Taiji, the Ming Dynasty would certainly resist strongly. However, Zhu Shenzhu was a member of the royal family. The significance of raising an army as a member of the royal family was completely different. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been two rebellions by royal family members, one of which was Zhu Di's Jingnan Campaign.

Zhu Di raised an army in Peking on the pretext of quelling the rebellion, marched southward and eventually captured Nanjing. Emperor Jianwen set fire to the imperial palace and eventually disappeared. The Ming Dynasty came into the hands of the lineage of Prince of Yan. Afterwards, Zhu Di moved the capital from Nanjing to Peking, thus laying the foundation for the two capitals system of the Ming Dynasty.

Another rebellion by the royal family was the Ning Wang Rebellion during the Zhengde period. Ning Wang had long coveted the throne and intended to rebel and invade the capital to replace the emperor. Ning Wang planned for many years and spent millions of dollars to achieve this goal, but in the end, Ning Wang, who had great ambitions but little talent, was defeated by Wang Yangming as soon as he rebelled, and ended up dying and his country was destroyed.

There were two rebellions by the royal family, one successful and one failed. Although the latter was due to the problem of great ambition but lack of talent, and also due to his indecisiveness after sending troops, the key to Prince Ning's defeat was that the Ming Dynasty was in a peaceful period at that time, with no internal or external troubles at all. Emperor Zhengde appeared to be cynical on the surface, but was actually a man of great talent and strategy. In addition, the old man Prince Ning was unlucky and ran into Wang Yangming, the most powerful man in the entire Ming Dynasty, which led to his end.

(End of this chapter)