Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 160: Welcome back the true emperor and punish the nine clans of the false emperor

Datong City.

The guards on the tower could finally take off their heavy winter coats. They were new soldiers who arrived last year. It was the first time for them to see such heavy snow and feel the cold of the frontier.

"The long winter is finally over."

"Come on, everyone. The veterans said Yesen will be here in the next few days."

"We are waiting for him to come. After the battle begins, we must not embarrass ourselves in front of the old soldiers. We are the strongest recruits personally inspected by His Majesty."

"Hey, look, what is that?"

The recruits looked up outside the city and saw a huge wave coming from afar. Someone shouted, "Yesen! They are coming! They are coming!"

Then the earth began to shake.

Yesen's army was like a black torrent, surging from the end of the horizon, raising dust and covering the sky, as if it was going to swallow up the whole world. The horses were silent, but they made a deafening roar while galloping, the sound was like thunder and a landslide, which made people feel terrified.

The grassland cavalrymen on their war horses, holding spears, with colorful battle patterns painted on their faces, looked ferocious and bloodthirsty. They shouted loudly, like wolves seeing their prey. Their arrogance seemed to have already regarded Datong City as a treasure in their pockets.

As the army approached, a strong smell of blood filled the air. The defenders looked at this surging force and couldn't help but feel fear in their hearts. After all, they were a new army, and it was their first time facing such a large enemy force, so they still felt unprecedented pressure.

Guo Deng and Wang Yue ran up to the tower and looked at the Wala army that had already arrived at the city. Guo Deng narrowed his eyes and said after a glance: "This is not Yesen's main force, it is led by Bayan."

Wang Yue's eyes were filled with nervousness and excitement: "Why don't they attack yet?"

Guo Deng's eyes were sharp, and he waved his hand and said, "Yesen has always been cautious. This time it should be a tentative attack. Pull up all your new troops and let the little guys fight in real combat."

Wang Yue gave the order immediately.

……

Downstairs.

Boyan sat high on his horse and looked towards the tower. He saw his old rival Guo Deng. He pondered for a moment, then turned to a burly general on the left and said, "Chi Lao Wen, that's Guo Deng. If you take him down, you will be the best general in Mobei. This first battle is up to your Chijin tribe!"

The majestic Chi Lao Wen sat on his horse, like a small mountain. He suddenly drew out his scimitar and roared: "Warriors of Chi Jin, Chang Sheng Tian is behind you, follow me and be the first to charge into the Ming Dynasty!"

Boyan smiled and immediately gave the order: "Chilaowen's 10,000-man army will lead the attack. Zhebie and Wanghan will lead their respective 10,000-man army to the left and right wings. Warriors of the grassland, Changshengtian will bear witness to your glory."

The war drums sounded, and the army attacked, rushing towards the city of Datong.

Some of the new soldiers on the tower were shaking, finally facing the battlefield. Even before the battle began, they felt the suffocating fear. Wang Yue rode his horse through the horse path and shouted, "It's time to prove ourselves. Don't let those old soldiers underestimate us. We are the strongest new army!"

After his voice fell, the new army calmed down a little. The battlefield did not allow them to think too much, because the enemy had already rushed over. Wang Yue's voice fell again: "Shoot!"

Tens of thousands of arrows were fired at the enemy troops, and they fell down instantly. The next moment, before the new soldiers could breathe a sigh of relief, thousands of arrows were shot at them. Some of the new soldiers had no time to dodge and were shot through the throat.

The smell of blood filled the air, stimulating these new recruits who were on the battlefield for the first time, and they calmed down instead. Countless training sessions in their daily lives had already made them accustomed to the reaction, and as long as they stayed calm, they would not make stupid mistakes like those who had just died.

"Shenjiying, open fire!" Wang Yue's order came down again.

The Shenji Camp on the city wall had been ready, waiting for the enemy to come into range. In an instant, the artillery opened fire, and thousands of guns were fired at the same time, falling on the enemy's charging formation.

boom! boom! boom!
The battle array exploded, and people and horses fell to the ground.

"Hahaha, the new muskets and artillery of the Shenji Camp are much more powerful than before." Guo Deng laughed.

The archers and the Shenji Battalion fired fiercely at the attacking enemy troops, and the screams seemed to burst through the sky.

After an hour of fierce fighting, Wang Yue came to Guo Deng, looking excited: "They are retreating!"

Guo Deng nodded. "They were probably stunned by the explosion. It was originally a tentative attack. Bayan's main force did not move. The ones who came to die must be some tribe they dragged into the water along the way."

Wang Yue frowned: "Yesian didn't show up, could he have gone somewhere else?"

Guo Deng patted him on the shoulder and said, "You guard the city, I will lead the troops to pursue!"

"What?" Wang Yue was shocked.

"At this moment, Boyan couldn't have imagined that we would take the initiative to fight our way out of the city." Guo Deng's eyes were filled with fighting spirit. "Didn't your majesty say that we should fight outside the country's borders? Then we must take the initiative to attack. Wang Yue, after I leave the city, you must close the city gates immediately. If I die in battle, you will be the commander of Datong."

Wang Yue immediately said: "Let me go out of the city and give chase!"

Guo Deng glared at him and said, "You promised me last time. What? A man's words don't count? Then what kind of famous general will you be in the future?"

Having said that, he strode down.

Soon, the heavy city gate fell down, and Guo Deng led 30,000 cavalrymen to charge out of the city. Bayan's army was retreating, but they did not expect the Ming army to catch up.

In a hurry, before they could even get into formation, the Ming army had already rushed over. Suddenly, the Wala army was in chaos and fled in panic, with the Ming army chasing them closely.

Wang Yue, who was standing on the tower of Datong City, felt something was wrong: "Hey, I was fooled by Guo Deng. We must win the pursuit, but such a great credit was taken away by him."

……

Capital city, Taibai Restaurant.

The border war had not affected this place. The restaurant was full of guests, drinking and chatting. Zhu Qizhen and Yu Qian were sitting at a table in the corner, drinking together.

"Humph, they say that merchant women don't know the sorrow of losing their country." Yu Qian took a sip of wine and said, "When the day of the country's destruction comes, I think these people will not know it either."

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "You are being hypocritical, aren't you? Aren't you drinking too?"

Yu Qian was speechless. He had not received the latest battle report yet, but he was always on edge about the battle ahead. Zhu Qizhen then invited him out for a drink to relax.

The restaurant was indeed lively, with the drinkers talking loudly.

"King Xiang burned himself to death, did you know? Before he died, he shouted, 'Kill the false emperor, kill the evil queen, and restore our Ming Dynasty.'"

"Hasn't this spread all over the world? I also heard that the emperor in Mobei is real!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, that was Yesen's evil plan!"

"But the King of Xiang burned himself to death, proving that Your Majesty was a fake. Alas, this matter is hard to say."

"I heard that the true emperor is coming back, and King Xiang is using his own life to pave the way for the true emperor."

As Zhu Qizhen listened, murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

He also heard from Shi Biao that there were many rumors about the so-called true emperor recently, so he came to drink and listen. Shi Biao originally wanted to arrest someone, but Zhu Qizhen stopped him. Since it was already spreading, he would take a look and follow the clues to find the person behind the rumor.

"Your Majesty, you don't need to care about these rumors." Yu Qian said, "The most important thing right now is to defeat Yesen." Zhu Qizhen picked up the wine glass: "I don't care."

He thought, what I care about is where these rumors come from. They suddenly appeared at this time, there must be someone behind the scenes manipulating them.

"Your Majesty, I still have military duties to attend to, so I will go back first. Your Majesty, you should also return to the palace." Yu Qian said.

"Okay, you go first, and I'll listen." Zhu Qizhen spread his hands.

Yu Qian bowed and hurried out of the restaurant.

……

In a house in the city.

The house was not big, but it was heavily guarded. From the gate to the yard, there were guards in black. A man wearing a wolf head mask came to the door, he took out a token and shook it, and the guard respectfully let him in.

It was a pure black token with one word written on it: Jun!

The man was wearing a wolf-head mask, so his face couldn't be seen clearly. After he entered the courtyard, he was led by a black-clad guard into the lobby and then the inner hall. The guard pressed a certain spot on the wall where a painting was hung, and the wall actually split apart, revealing a staircase leading downwards.

"Lord Wolf, please." The guard was very respectful.

The man walked down the stairs and entered a stone chamber. At this time, there were already six people sitting in the stone chamber, all wearing masks. Sitting in the main seat in the middle was a woman, dressed in black and wearing a mouse mask.

"Everyone, everyone is here." The woman said in a hoarse voice, "I know who you are, and you don't have to guess who I am. Anyway, I have the ability to gather you together, and you should know my strength."

The first man on the left wearing a dog-head mask asked coldly, "What do you want to do?"

The woman in the rat mask said coldly: "Welcome back the true emperor and kill the false emperor!"

As she finished speaking, the atmosphere became visibly tense, although everyone was wearing masks and their expressions could not be seen. The man with a deer mask, who was leading the group on the right, chuckled, "With you?"

"Yes, I am!" The woman with the rat mask said in a dignified and firm tone, "Didn't you all come here because you saw what I gave you? Isn't that thing enough to prove my strength?"

The man wearing a wolf mask who came in last asked, "How do you know if the emperor is real or fake?"

The woman in the rat mask said in a deep voice: "Because the person who participated in impersonating the emperor told me so himself."

A woman sneered. It was the woman wearing a fox mask. She was the second woman here. She asked coldly, "This... Rat Lady, although you have the leverage over us, welcoming the emperor might get you killed. What good will it do for us to do it?"

"In the letter I wrote to you, I have already told you about the benefits that will come after this is accomplished. Didn't you read it?" The woman with the rat mask said in a cold voice.

The man wearing a snake mask standing next to the fox mask exclaimed, "Are the promises in the letter true?"

The man wearing the bull-head mask snorted, "The fact that she was able to bring us together speaks volumes about her ability."

Seven people in total.

The woman wearing a rat mask is the convener, and the other five men are a dog, a wolf, a deer, a cow, a snake, and a woman wearing a fox mask.

"You all have to listen to my orders and welcome back the true emperor, and everything I said in the letter will come true." The woman with the rat mask said, "If you don't listen, then you can't go back. However, since you came to the appointment, it means you agree with what I said in the letter."

The other six were silent for a while, and then the man in the dog mask spoke: "Okay, I will listen to you for now. Everything is for the sake of welcoming back the true emperor."

The other five people also agreed. The woman in the rat mask glanced over and said, "Our organization is called Junshan Society. You have made the right choice. There will be rich rewards in the future, beyond your imagination."

The man wearing the wolf mask asked, "You are the one who created all those legends about the True Son of Heaven, right?"

"Yes, let's lay the groundwork first." said the woman with the rat mask.

……

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qizhen was listening to Shi Biao's report. His face was gloomy. "You haven't found out yet? What do you Jinyiwei do for a living?"

Shi Biao knelt down and explained hurriedly: "The other party is extremely cunning. These rumors came from a group of street performers, and they heard them from other street performers. These people are all over the world, so it is difficult to trace the source."

Zhu Qizhen frowned.

Damn, I use navy, and the other side also uses navy?

"Send more people and hunt down the person behind this one by one." He said coldly.

"We are short of manpower. Ding Xiu has taken a large group of people to Xi'an." Shi Biao said helplessly, "They are planning an internal rebellion of the Seven Guards of Guanxi, and it has already had an effect."

Zhu Qizhen knew that if there was chaos in Guanxi, he could hold back the seven guards in Guanxi. The Jinyiwei were indeed short of manpower, but they had a lot to do.

Shi Biao bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, I will do my best to investigate and get to the bottom of this matter. Let's kill a group of them first to deter those people from spreading rumors."

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and Shi Biao retreated.

There was a war in the front, and the controversy over the true and false emperor in the back was getting bigger and bigger, which gave Zhu Qizhen a headache. Fortunately, the court had not yet been in chaos, and the ministers of various departments did not discuss the true and false emperor.

"Your Majesty, Dong Yuchang requests to see you." Cao Jixiang came in to report.

"Announce." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand.

After a while, Dong Yuchang came to the hall. After paying respects, Zhu Qizhen raised his hand to let him stand up and asked with a smile: "Dong Yuchang, are you used to working in the Ministry of Justice?"

"Fortunately, I followed your majesty's instructions and studied criminal law quietly." Dong Yuchang said.

Zhu Qizhen thought highly of Dong Yuchang and hoped that he would take over the position of Minister of Justice in the future. Dong Yuchang looked around and bowed: "Your Majesty, I have been interrogating prisoners in the prison of the Ministry of Justice recently. I have interrogated a person from the escort agency and found some information."

"What's going on?" Zhu Qizhen rubbed his eyebrows.

"They are from the Weiyuan Escort Agency. Their agency is very powerful and can be said to be the best in the world." Dong Yuchang said, "After they escorted the troops to the northwest, they brought back... the legend of the True Emperor."

Zhu Qizhen stood up suddenly.

Oh my god, could those legends come from this escort agency? Northwest? So they came from Guanxi?
"Go find Shi Biao at Jinyiwei right away and tell him what you know." Zhu Qizhen said, "and hand over the prisoner to Shi Biao as well."

"As you wish." Dong Yuchang nodded and left.

Zhu Qizhen sat back in his chair, pondered for a while, picked up the memorial and began to review it.

Not long after, Yu Qian came in with intelligence reports in his hands, overjoyed: "Your Majesty, victory news, victory news, a great victory in Datong! The Datong defenders not only defended the city, but also pursued the enemy, beheaded 20,000 people, and defeated the Wala."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, good news had arrived.

(End of this chapter)