Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 497 Passing on the Throne! Old Zhu's Ambition and Shattered Ideals!
The muskets of the Ming Dynasty were not ordinary weapons; they were divine weapons!
No wonder the Ming Dynasty delegation, consisting of only two hundred people, dared to be so aggressive.

As he pondered, Chen Cheng's voice rang out again, lower than before, but more steady and powerful:

"Inside the main hall, everything within the range of the gun barrels was within the lethal range of the Ming Dynasty's muskets."

"With just one command from me, I can kill you, Great Khan, instantly, with absolutely no chance of escape."

This statement was made so casually, as if it were just stating an extremely ordinary matter.

Inside the main hall, two hundred muskets were simultaneously pointed at one person. No matter how brave and unparalleled that person was, at this moment, they were all like fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

Even with three heads and six arms, one cannot withstand a dense barrage of gunfire.

Even if you can scale walls and rooftops, you can't escape those deadly bullets.

The Blackfire finally felt the breath of death, a cold, bone-chilling fear.

The dark, gaping muzzle of the gun seemed like the gaping maw of hell, ready to devour his life at any moment.

He no longer doubted whether these people dared to kill him, because they had proven that they not only dared to kill, but could kill at any time.

"You...you...what exactly do you want?" He tried to remain calm, attempting to suppress the trembling in his voice, but his words still betrayed obvious panic. He not only stammered, but his tone even cracked slightly.

He was a high-ranking Khan, but he was not a man who was not afraid of death.

When Hei'erhuo was fighting for the Khanate in his early years, he had the experience of fleeing and hiding from the enemy. Those days of constant fear made him even more afraid of death.

Chen Cheng looked at him, but his tone remained calm and composed:
"The Great Khan is getting old and should take a good rest."

“Your eldest son, Shamichagan, is exceptionally talented and virtuous. As a direct descendant of the Khan, his succession to the Khanate is truly in accordance with the will of Heaven.”

"Great Khan, why don't you pass the throne to him today?"

……

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The desert wind howls like an angry beast, sweeping up yellow sand that dances across the sky.

Despite the harsh environment, Lao Zhu and his group made relatively smooth progress.

Although the sandstorms were dense, they were not yet severe enough to swallow up men, horses, or camels.

Those dust devils, which are powerful enough to destroy all life, are famous, but in reality, they are extremely rare.

Perhaps it will only happen once every few years, or even once every ten years, that we might meet again.

Otherwise, how could this land of endless yellow sands possibly support human survival and reproduction?

Because the operation was carried out in batches, the teams could only maintain contact by leaving marks along the way.

This is a common tactic among martial arts sects, and Old Zhu is very familiar with it.

He participated in uprisings in his early years, and the army he belonged to was a branch of the White Lotus sect.

At that time, he was both a rebel general and a member of the White Lotus Sect.

Although after ascending the throne, he designated the White Lotus Sect as a heretical sect and suppressed it with overwhelming force, that is another matter.

At least, Old Zhu, who had experience wandering the martial arts world and had been fed by many families, was still very familiar with the secret codes and communication techniques of the martial arts world.

He also generously shared these experiences with his soldiers, enabling them to communicate and coordinate their operations in secret within this vast wilderness.

In recent years, there has been no war in this area, trade routes have been unobstructed, and merchants have come and gone in an endless stream.

Countless caravans had long since mastered the route to Beshbali.

The Ming army was naturally prepared for this, and was already very familiar with the terrain and landforms along the way.

Although the journey was arduous, involving sleeping outdoors and enduring hardships, it was relatively uneventful.

Finally, they arrived at an oasis.

This place is only about 100 li away from Beshbali.

This oasis is not vast, but it is home to a little over a thousand people, forming a medium-sized settlement.

Because crops grow according to their own seasonal patterns, villagers usually store several months' worth of food before the new harvest season arrives.

However, having food reserves does not mean you will have no worries about eating.

Most households only had enough grain stored up to barely sustain their basic needs.

The next harvest will still take a long time to ripen.

The Ming army gathered here, and could use the "stored grain" in the hands of these people as a supplement to temporarily relieve the urgent crisis.

Whether these people will later suffer from hunger due to food shortages is not a problem.

As long as we can successfully conquer Beshibali, we can compensate them later, so it doesn't matter.

The vanguard of the Ming army had already firmly grasped control of this area.

Now, with muskets in hand, even a small squad of only fifty men is enough to easily suppress a village of over a thousand people.

This was something that would have been unimaginable in the past.

Don't underestimate the more than a thousand people in this village. Although most of them are farmers, Beshibali has been a place with a fierce and brave local culture since ancient times, and it has a system of universal conscription.

All adult males were well-trained and were all veterans who had fought on the battlefield.

Many of them also made great contributions in battle; they were decisive in killing and as fierce as wolves.

Among these thousand or so men, at least two or three hundred were skilled fighters in their prime, fully armed at home, and being in their own territory only fueled their determination to fight to the death.

They are by no means deserters; on the contrary, they are fearless and fight to the death.

Even children and women, when necessary, will take up arms and assist in the fight; they are by no means simply weaklings.

In the past, even if we sent 500 fully armed regular soldiers to face such a fierce small tribe, we might not have been able to conquer it in one fell swoop. Instead, we would most likely have been caught in a bitter battle and suffered heavy casualties.

However, with the advent of firearms, everything was completely rewritten.

The bravery and fighting spirit that these tribes once took pride in became pale, powerless, and meaningless under the firearms of the Ming army.

Several strong men who tried to escape were also shot dead by muskets during the Ming army's pursuit, without even a chance to struggle.

By the time Old Zhu led his main force to the village, it had already returned to calm, a deathly silence tinged with a sense of impending doom, and everything was running smoothly under the strict control of military discipline.

In the following days, one group after another of Ming soldiers disguised as merchants arrived.

Quietly, an army of several thousand soldiers, after marching in batches for thousands of miles, completed its assembly without a sound.

After carefully counting the number of people, Sha Qiyang reported that only three people failed to arrive successfully during the operation.

Upon hearing this, Old Zhu was astonished and could hardly believe his ears.

He suspected that Sha Qiyang was lying, so he personally led people to count again, and the result was exactly the same as the previous report.

This result greatly shocked Lao Zhu.

As a seasoned veteran who had commanded troops for many years, he knew all too well what this meant.

Long marches are arduous, and the harsh winds and sandstorms make it extremely difficult to avoid soldiers falling behind. Even with high morale and strict discipline, some soldiers will still become physically exhausted, collapsing to the ground and unable to continue.

But the army could not stop and wait; it had to keep moving forward.

And so, in this process, people will inevitably fall behind.

Even if a death order is issued, and those who slack off are beheaded, it will be of no use.

Many generals knew that in a long-range raid, if 800 out of a thousand men arrived on time, it would be considered a complete success.

Now, this new army marched thousands of miles in such harsh conditions and almost all of them finally reunited. This is not just a matter of combat effectiveness, but a miracle of will, organization and discipline!
Although their marching speed was much slower than that of a regular army because they were disguised as merchants, as long as they were in good health, there was basically no chance of them falling behind.

However, this dispersed and secretive marching in disguise placed extremely high demands on the organization and discipline of the army.

If it were the old garrison troops of the past, problems would have arisen one after another.

The soldiers included exiled criminals, convicts serving in the army, and even destitute people who had joined the army out of crime or helplessness.

If such an army were to be released from tight control, some would inevitably take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Moreover, before setting off, all the soldiers knew that upon arriving at Beshbaliq, they would face an extremely brutal and fierce battle.

Even soldiers who have no ill intentions may waver after a long journey through wind and sand, enduring hardships and knowing that the battlefield ahead is a place where life and death are uncertain.

But this new army of several thousand men was like a Great Wall forged from iron, and it withstood this extremely severe test.

They did not move forward by being driven, but by their own initiative.

It is not about being controlled by fear, but driven by belief.

They traversed the desert with unwavering steps, showing no signs of disintegration.

At this moment, Old Zhu recalled the old farmer's words once again.

The soldiers of the new army fight for "glory".

Despite their generous treatment, they did not become corrupt due to their comfort; on the contrary, their fighting spirit was even stronger and their discipline was even stricter, far surpassing that of the old army.

Even without relying on weapons like firearms and cannons, their spirit, their uniform steps, their unwavering gaze, and their condensed military soul and fighting spirit far surpassed those of the garrison soldiers of the past.

Now, Old Zhu is finally completely convinced!
After the entire army arrived, they reorganized and rested in the oasis for a day, while sending out scouts to quickly investigate the specific situation in Beshbaliq.

Most of the hundreds of elite troops accompanying the Ming Dynasty delegation have already begun their operations and must have made some noise.

However, they were far too few in number. Even with their elite troops, they could not make a significant impact; at best, they could only create ripples.

Old Zhu's mind was already racing. He thought that to truly accomplish the important task of defeating Beshbaliq, he still had to rely on the new army he had brought.

Indeed, the new army was personally organized and trained by Zhu Yunwen.

However, this long-distance expedition, advancing from west to east into enemy territory, was planned and personally led by Zhu De.

He took charge, handling every detail personally, setting the strategy and controlling the pace himself.

The root of this turmoil, however, was the disaster caused by the two envoys sent by Zhu Yunwen.

Now, not only am I cleaning up his mess, but I am also about to fight a battle to completely pacify the troublesome region of Beshbali.

This time, he wanted to show Zhu Yunwen what a long-distance raid was and what it meant to be a master strategist.

Although Zhu Yunwen was indeed quite skilled in commanding his troops and won many battles, with almost no defeats in foreign campaigns, he was still young and had only fought a few battles.

How many battles has it experienced?
We are men who have fought our way up from horseback, galloping across battlefields for decades, fighting in the north and south, and crawling through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

He has never spent as much time on the battlefield as he has since birth!

Zhu Yuanzhang harbored a deep sense of pride: The true military genius of the Ming Dynasty still has to be us!

No matter how outstanding Zhu Yunwen was, he was still just a junior.

A grandfather is always a grandfather, and a grandson is always a grandson.

Although he felt somewhat gratified and proud of Zhu Yunwen's performance, he was still not entirely convinced that his own grandson was always one step ahead of him.

Even though Zhu Yunwen was a member of the Zhu family and his own grandson, the feeling of being "outdone" was still unpleasant.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang will personally lead the expedition to prove to Zhu Yunwen and to the world that he, Zhu Yuanzhang, can still lead troops into battle and write miracles for the Ming Dynasty on the battlefield!

Compared to the wars Zhu Yunwen had previously commanded, Old Zhu wanted to win a greater victory with a smaller cost, to prove to the world with irrefutable evidence that Old Zhu was a true military genius!

He ordered the entire army to assemble and personally inspected the troops.

Banners fluttered in the wind, and iron hooves thundered across the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu De delivered an inspiring speech to thousands of soldiers.

For the first time, he revealed his true identity to everyone.

Although his identity had been revealed to Sha Qiyang and several senior generals, it was still a shocking secret to ordinary soldiers.

Upon hearing that the commander who had led the army on this eastward expedition day and night was none other than the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers were immediately stunned, and then erupted in cheers, their morale instantly soaring to its peak.

This is the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Since his legendary story was serialized in the Da Ming Daily, almost everyone in the country knows about his "miracles" and respects him. In the army, he is regarded as a god of war.

His deeds were the subject of late-night talks in the barracks and the most passionate topic of conversation after drinking.

Now that such a legendary figure is personally leading the army into battle, how could they not be excited and ecstatic?
The Supreme Emperor is embarking on this expedition to a triumphant return that is destined for victory!

Seeing the soldiers' spirits high and their fighting spirit strong, Old Zhu was extremely satisfied.

This is a truly formidable team, disciplined and full of fighting spirit.

With such a formidable army by his side, Old Zhu's confidence was as solid as a mountain.

Victory in this battle is certain, without a doubt.

More importantly, he was finally going to be able to "hold his head high" in front of his grandson.

If we win this battle, what can those two old guys, Ji Yuan and Jiang Huan, say when we look back?
Can anyone say that our old Zhu was not as good at governing the country as Zhu Yunwen, nor as good at fighting battles?

Hmph, they should shut up now!
Upon thinking of this, Old Zhu's blood boiled with passion and boundless pride, and he immediately issued the order:

"All troops, advance on Beshbaliq!"

However, at that moment, a fast horse suddenly galloped in from outside the camp, raising a cloud of dust.

"Report!"

The soldier who brought the message dismounted, knelt on one knee, and his voice resounded throughout the camp:

"The Ming Dynasty delegation has taken control of Beshbaliq!"

"The Great Khan of Beshbaliq, Heir Khoja, has officially announced his abdication, and his eldest son, Shami Chagan, has succeeded him as Great Khan!"

"After Shami Chagan ascended to the throne, he issued an order stating that the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty was the true Son of Heaven, the ruler of the human world sent by the Lord!"

"He will lead all the people of Beshbali to submit to the Ming Dynasty!"

"From this day forward, Beshbali shall be incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and shall obey the Ming calendar and rule by the Mandate of Heaven!"

……

(End of this chapter)