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

Chapter 84: The Plan to Destroy the Civil Service Group
Zhu Di looked at his three sons in front of him. Their expressions were firm and resolute, which brought him a little comfort.

"It's good that the three of you want to go! But this could be a life-or-death battle, so think it over. However, I will also go personally! You can choose to stay in the palace if you wish."

Zhu Di deliberately asked, to see which of the three wanted to charge into battle. Unexpectedly, they all wanted to go themselves, and they all showed nervous expressions.

"You're going in person? Father, you absolutely mustn't! If the plan is exposed, everyone will be in grave danger, and you still have to oversee the court!" Zhu Gaochi exclaimed in alarm and hurriedly said.

In fact, this matter is far from necessary.

The main problem was that Zhu Di was too angry and wanted to break off all relations!
"Yes! Father, let us go!"

"That's right, I'm willing to lead from the front!"

The other two brothers also volunteered.

Zhu Di shook his head.

"It is precisely because of the danger that I must go there myself. This matter shall be handled as is, and you shall not try to dissuade me further."

Upon hearing this, the three brothers, though they wanted to say something more, could only remain silent and accept Zhu Di's arrangement.

"Alright. The three of you will each lead a squad of 200 men and form an encirclement from three directions, one mile away from the trading location. Open up the southern path for them to escape. Once you see the Cloud Piercing Arrow in the sky, charge straight in."

"Li Qinghe, you take the elite guards and guard the south side of the transaction location. Keep watch three miles away and wait for them to lower their guard. Then follow me and attack directly to capture them."

Li Qinghe walked up to Zhu Di and bowed to receive the order.

"Your men must find out the location of Hu Guang's transaction with the enemy as soon as possible and plan the transaction time so that we can arrange an ambush. In addition, 30,000 Imperial Guards from the capital should be stationed in the mountains ten miles outside the city, set up camp, and not expose themselves to prevent the enemy from taking this opportunity to launch a large-scale attack."

Upon hearing this, Li Qinghe was stunned; he hadn't expected this at all.

The capital is in a state of chaos right now. If they were to launch a surprise attack and use their elite troops to take this opportunity to wreak havoc and enter the capital, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Next, Zhu Di said again: "The three of you, find a way to leak the news. Say that I led the Imperial Guards and my personal bodyguards to Nanpu Temple to burn incense and pray to the Buddha, asking for divine protection. Make a big fuss and make sure everyone knows about it."

Upon hearing this, the three brothers suddenly understood Zhu Di's intention and nodded repeatedly.

Zhu Di would certainly not be on the carriage heading to Nanpu Temple, and once this news spread, it would only fuel their desire to take a gamble.

Hu Guang's initiative to trade weapons was easily suspected to be a trap, but the group would certainly take the risk, wanting both the weapons and the opportunity to attack the capital.

This situation must be guarded against.

What Zhu Di wanted to do was to trick them.

Success or failure depends on this.

As evening approached, the pigeon flew back to the main camp and landed in Hu Guang's hands. The soldiers behind Hu Guang brought the pigeon in, and one of Li Qinghe's elite subordinates named Lin Huan extended his hand.

"Bring it!"

The soldier dared not disobey the emperor's guard, especially since Li Qinghe had personally sent him. Naturally, he obediently delivered the carrier pigeon to Lin Huan.

Lin Huan removed the paper strip from the pigeon's leg and returned the pigeon to the soldier.

"Wait here!"

Having said that, he left the enclosed tent.

in the palace.

Lin Huan approached Li Qinghe.

"Chief Guard Li."

Li Qinghe nodded, took the note, and slowly rolled it up.

"Lingshan Village, tomorrow at 11:45 AM."

The information was very brief, yet extremely important. It proved that the other party had taken the bait, but whether it was truly bait or a trap, Li Qinghe dared not judge.

He quickly relayed the news to Zhu Di. Zhu Di nodded.

"First, send scouts to investigate the terrain and situation around Lingshan Village to prevent them from lying in ambush. Inform us of the results as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Li Qinghe sent his men to investigate.

Meanwhile, in a camp on the frontier, a man in armor looked at the note in his hand and laughed heartily.

He looked at the crowd around him and said, "Look, look, these people are trying to outsmart us again, haha. This time, I'll make sure they die a complete death. The Ming Dynasty is in chaos; they can even come up with this kind of trick."

Beside me, a man who looked like a soldier seemed somewhat worried.

"What if it's true? What if Hu Guang thinks the Ming Dynasty's fate is sealed and actually sells those weapons to us, then we..."

"Wouldn't that be even better? The weapons are ours, but we can't give them the money."

"This time, let's trap them like turtles in a jar!"

"This is a great plan!"

"Hahaha……"

They were also planning their own course of action. Meanwhile, in the Daming Palace, spies returned after conducting their investigation and reported the results.

"What? Say that again!"

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, then filled with rage.

"Your Majesty, our scouts report that Lingshan Village is located deep in the mountains, surrounded by lush forests, making it an ideal place for an ambush. Even if tens of thousands of troops were ambushed there, they would not be visible from the outside."

"They must have something in mind for choosing this location for the transaction."

Li Qinghe bowed and analyzed.

Beside him, Zhu Gaochi and his two brothers frowned, indicating that the other party had become suspicious of Hu Guang's initiative to sell weapons.

"What are we going to do? We haven't even taken any action yet, and they've already figured out our intentions?"

"Is this plan still feasible?"

Zhu Gaochi was getting anxious.

"Don't panic."

Zhu Di nodded.

“Then we’ll play along. The weather has been hot these past few days, and it’s unbearably hot in the mountains. They agreed to meet at 11:45 a.m., which is a cool time. If there are any troops lying in ambush, they will definitely be exposed. However, it’s not so easy for us to lie in ambush.”

He spoke while thinking.

At this moment, Li Qinghe said, "Your Majesty, Shanling Village is backed by mountains and has three roads that are open. Our previous plan of surrounding three and leaving one open cannot be implemented. It would be better to have archers go up to the high ground to guard. Even if they surround us, no one can walk out alive under the rain of arrows."

Li Qinghe's words suddenly opened everyone's minds.

The reason the other party chose to hold the transaction in Shanling Village was because the terrain there prevented them from forming an encirclement, which shows that they were very cautious.

However, no one knows the terrain of Shanling Village better than the locals.

This deal is worth taking a gamble on.

"Third brother, you take charge of this matter. Arrange all the archers on the mountaintop, awaiting orders. The more the better. It's time for the Divine Arrow to show its power!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it right away!"

Zhu Di nodded and instructed again, "Prepare vehicles for transporting weapons. Just lay a row of them on the top layer, and put stones underneath to increase the weight!"

(End of this chapter)