Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 79 The Truth About Tumu Fortress

Remember Xuanfu and Datong; their locations are puzzling according to official historical records!

Zhu Qizhen, who was on patrol, soon discovered something was wrong in Xuanfu. Yang Hong, the general of Xuanfu, had risen from a centurion to the rank of general and commander-in-chief, and was stationed in Xuanfu, thanks to the recommendation of Wang Ji, the Minister of War.

He should have been one of Zhu Qizhen's men—however, unfortunately, his rise to power came from the recommendation of civil officials, and Yang Hong's involvement in border smuggling gave civil officials leverage over him. Furthermore, his marriage alliance with Yu Qian meant he was part of the civil official faction, and Zhu Qizhen still believed Yang Hong was one of his own, thus remaining unguarded.

That's right, Yang Hong is Yu Qian's son-in-law!

The north had already set a trap for Zhu Qizhen. On the way, Zhu Qizhen discovered the conspiracy and immediately began to return.

but……

The assassination plot against him has been set up! That's why Zhu Qizhen inexplicably returned.

In the "Chronicle of Ming History," there is a sentence that reads, "The soldiers who escaped fell into valleys and suffered hunger for days..." It clearly states that they had been starving for many days and had to traverse mountains and valleys...

Why couldn't Zhu Qizhen's army move? — Because they were starving! Despite having 900 million shi of grain stored in Tongzhou, Zhu Qizhen's army suddenly ran out of food!
At this time, who did Zhu Qizhen order to be in charge of supervising the supply of grain?

It's Yu Qian!

This forced Zhu Qizhen's army to harvest grain along the way... The emperor went on campaign without providing any food...

On August 15th, Zhu Qizhen's exhausted army encountered a Ming army coming from the south at dawn.

The army stormed into the camp, hacking and slashing at anyone they saw...

Blood! Blood everywhere!

The massacre didn't begin from Yang Hong's men in the front, but from the flank! From the border troops who were supposed to be reinforcements, who were supposed to be protecting the emperor!

The cold, familiar spearhead pierced the chest of his own comrade!

"Why? General Shi! We are brothers from the Beijing Garrison!" A centurion stared wide-eyed at the familiar banner bearing the character "Shi," but a spear had already pierced his throat.

"General! You've all gone mad!"

"Treason! You are committing treason!"

[Screams of shock, betrayal, and despair echoed across the desolate Tumu Fortress. But they were quickly drowned out by the thunderous roar of Yang Hong's men charging forward.]

Yang Hong and his men had already made a devilish pact with Esen. They not only revealed the true strength and weaknesses of the Ming army to Yang Hong's men, but also, at the most crucial moment, personally breached the Beijing garrison's defenses, handing the butcher's knife to Yang Hong's men!

This was a meticulously planned trap, a conspiracy involving both insiders and outsiders!

[The prey are the hundreds of thousands of the most elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's capital garrison, and the Ming Emperor, Zhu Qizhen!]

boom!
Zhu Di suddenly stood up, his fingers leaving five marks on the armrest of the dragon throne!
The rage in his eyes seemed capable of setting the entire Fengtian Hall ablaze! The murderous aura honed amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood could no longer be suppressed, transforming into a tangible pressure that made the three Zhu brothers gasp for breath!
"You...you beast!!"

Zhu Di's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of metal rubbing together, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from the deepest hell.

My soldiers are killing my soldiers!
My general is slaughtering my grandson!
At this moment, Zhu Di felt no longer any anger towards Zhu Qizhen for his incompetence, only overwhelming hatred and endless sorrow.

He seemed to see those hundreds of thousands of loyal soldiers who, in their final moments, died not at the hands of foreign invaders, but from the betrayal of their own people. How desperate they must have felt! How wronged they must have been!

"Father..." Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled. He had fought on the battlefield for half his life and had seen countless deaths, but the scene before him made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his whole body was cold.

This is not war, this is sacrifice!

It was the lives of hundreds of thousands of fine young men of the Ming Dynasty that were sacrificed to the greed of those parasites!

"How...how dare they go to such extremes?" Zhu Gaochi's face was ashen, his lips trembling. He couldn't understand how Yang Hong and his men, who were also generals of the Ming Dynasty, ate the Ming Dynasty's salary, and had Han blood flowing in their veins, could do such beastly things!

"In order to completely control military power."

Zhu Gaoshuo, who had been silent all along, spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

"The Three Great Camps of the capital are the foundation of our Ming army. They are the emperor's personal guards and are loyal only to the emperor. As long as the Three Great Camps exist, these border generals will always remain border generals and will always have to be mindful of the whims of the capital."

"But once the three major camps are completely annihilated here and the emperor is captured, the military power of the northern border will naturally fall into their hands. At that time, they will be the pillars of the Ming Dynasty, holding the emperor hostage to command the princes, no, they can even depose and install emperors!"

"At that time, the entire Ming Dynasty will be their money bag, from which they can take whatever they want!"

Every word is heartbreaking!

Every word Zhu Gaoshuo uttered was like a knife, precisely dissecting the core and most vicious motives of this shocking conspiracy!
Zhu Di closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes was a deathly coldness.

He sat down again, his body taut like a fully drawn bow. He wanted to see it all; he wanted to etch the name of every participant into his very bones!

Above the sky, the bloody scenes continued.

The Ming army's formation collapsed instantly under the combined attack from both inside and outside.

Countless soldiers threw down their weapons, not to surrender, but to rush towards the illusory water source. They preferred to be killed rather than endure the torment of dying of thirst. People thronged and trampled over each other; the border guards' spears ruthlessly reaped lives.

[Duke Zhang Fu of Yingguo and Duke Zhu Yong of Chengguo, these veteran generals who had followed Emperor Taizong on five expeditions to the northern deserts, led their personal guards, desperately trying to close in on the central army. They roared, trying to fight their way out and protect the emperor as he broke through the encirclement.]

However, they faced an enemy ten times their size, who were well-rested and prepared, and... betrayal from their own people.

[Zhang Fu, riddled with dozens of arrows, still stood tall, his wide-open eyes fixed on Yang Hong's banner, until his last drop of blood was shed.]

Zhu Yong fought valiantly to his death; his body was trampled into a bloody pulp by horses' hooves.

More than fifty high-ranking civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, including three dukes and two ministers, were all killed in battle! The three major battalions of the Beijing Garrison, with over ten thousand elite troops, were completely annihilated!

[The dragon flag fell, and at the critical moment, Zhu Qizhen was protected by Yang Hong's men, who were as fierce as wolves and tigers.]

The Xuanfu commander dismounted, his armor still stained with the blood of Ming soldiers, yet a hint of "respect" on his face.

"Your Majesty, I am too late to save you; I deserve to die."

"Your Majesty, please temporarily set aside your strength and follow me to my camp to await the opportune moment!"

He addressed everyone as "Your Majesty" and "this humble general," yet he personally handed over his own emperor to the enemy as a pledge of allegiance!

[Zhu Qizhen, the young emperor, was ashen-faced after experiencing the most absurd and bloody day of his life. Looking at Yang Hong, and then at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces of the generals, he finally understood something.]

He didn't speak, but Yang Hong "invited" him onto the horse and took him to the grassland he should never have set foot on.

The sunset over Tumubao was as red as blood.

At this moment, the fate of the Ming Dynasty plunged into an abyss.

The image freezes on Zhu Qizhen's back as he is rescued and safely escorted away, a scene both desolate and humiliating.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, there was an absolute silence.

Click!

With a crisp sound, the jade cup in Zhu Di's hand was crushed into powder by him!
He slowly stood up and walked down the steps.

Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaosui didn't even dare to look up at their father's face. They could sense that beneath that calm exterior lay a thunderous rage capable of scorching the heavens and boiling the seas!
Zhu Di walked to the center of the main hall and, with a clang, drew the Emperor's sword that was hanging on the pillar of the hall!

The sword light shone like a deep pool, reflecting on his extremely cold face.

"I, Zhu Di, hereby swear an oath to Heaven!"

His voice was not loud, but it clearly resonated in every corner of the hall, carrying an iron will.

"From this day forward, all traitors who participate in framing my Great Ming Emperor, slaughtering my Great Ming soldiers, and betraying my Great Ming dynasty will be condemned!"

"Whether he is a scholar or a warrior, whether he is alive or dead!"

"I will uproot them completely and grind their bones to dust!"

"His nine generations of relatives, former subordinates, and associates, all of whom are implicated, shall be punished equally!"

"I will show the whole world the consequences of betraying my Great Ming and my Zhu family!"

"I will use their blood to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of loyal souls who died unjustly!"

"I will forever nail their names to the pillar of historical shame, so that they may be cursed for all eternity!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his sword sharply, the blade slicing through the air with a sharp whistling sound!

"Guards!" Zhu Di's voice was as cold as ice. "Issue my decree!"

"Move all the files from the Ministry of War and all the rosters of generals from the Five Military Commands to the Fengtian Hall for me!"

"I will personally interrogate my good ministers!"

Inside the Fengtian Hall, the air seemed to have frozen into ice.

The eunuchs and guards were trembling, but dared not hesitate for a moment, carrying the heavy scrolls of yellow books and imperial records into the hall like a flowing river.

In a short while, three small mountains were piled up below the imperial steps, covered with ink marks, names, and the network of empires personally conquered by Zhu Di.

Zhu Di didn't even glance at the panicked officials. He picked up his sword and walked straight to the mountain of documents.

"Xuanfu, Datong, Liaodong."

He uttered three place names in a completely flat voice.

(End of this chapter)