Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 301: Harassment Continues, Traitor Faces Dilemma (Part 1)

It was the dead of winter, and it got dark exceptionally early.

Before dusk, the sky had already darkened, and the streets and alleys of the capital were lit up with lights, twinkling like a sky full of stars.

Lu Wenwei sat in the huge carriage, looking at the bustling street scene of the capital, seemingly frozen in place.

He wasn't stunned by the bustling street scene; he was deep in thought.

Why is His Majesty in such a hurry to summon him to the palace for an audience?
The secret guards have been formed, but they haven't taken on any missions yet. He doesn't even know how His Majesty intends to use them.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage finally stopped outside Xi'an Gate.

He hurriedly entered and went to the main hall of the Jade Palace. He cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Wenwei, how is the training of the secret guards going? Can you spare a few hundred or a thousand men to gather intelligence?"

That's naturally not a problem.

Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the secret guards are the most elite of the elite, handpicked from countless battles. Sending them to thoroughly investigate traitors might require some training, but sending them to gather intelligence is their forte."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Are there any members of the Shanxi Garrison among the secret guards?"

Of course there is.

Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Originally, during the Wanli era, the border troops and garrisons in Liaodong suffered heavy losses, so many border troops and garrisons were requisitioned from other border towns."

Meanwhile, the garrisons of Jizhou and Xuanfu in the capital region also needed to be guarded. Therefore, the border troops and garrisons that were added at that time were almost all drawn from Shanxi. For example, Cao Wenzhao and his nephew Cao Bianjiao were originally from Datong Garrison, and many of the secret guards were also originally from Datong Garrison and Pianguan Garrison.

That's good.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then pointed to the map on the table and explained in detail: "Nowadays, Gao Yingxiang has blocked all the passages along the Zhongtiao Mountains, Wangwu Mountains and Taihang Mountains in southern Shanxi. Yun Teng's scouts can't get through at all."

At this moment, the main task of Yun Teng's army is to harass Shanxi. If he cannot find out the situation there, he will probably suffer a great loss if he rashly leads his army to charge over.

Therefore, we need to send our elite secret guards to infiltrate from the east of Shanxi, that is, from the direction of Beizhili, to help him investigate.

Oh, so it turns out that Gao Yingxiang blocked the south side of Shanxi.

Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Now the railway in the capital region has been laid to Xuanfu Town and Baoding Prefecture. You can have the elite guards take turns riding horse-drawn railcars over there."

This time, you must not only thoroughly investigate the situation in the areas occupied by the rebel Gao Yingxiang, but also have your elite secret guards establish secret outposts in Datong, Taiyuan, and Pingyang prefectures to facilitate future investigations by the secret guards.

Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

With the horse-drawn railcars, things were much more convenient. Traveling four or five hundred miles a day in the freezing cold was no problem. The elite guards quickly infiltrated Datong Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture, Liaozhou, and Qinzhou.

A few days later, the news came back.

Lu Wenwei was personally overseeing things in Baoding Prefecture. After receiving the news, he rushed to the capital.

Early that morning, around dawn, he boarded a horse-drawn carriage. Around 9:00 AM, Zhu Jue had just finished processing the memorials and arrived at the main hall of the Yu Xi Palace.

After exchanging greetings with the emperor, he solemnly said, "Your Majesty, my secret guards have already discovered that Gao Yingxiang is casting cannons to reinforce the city's defenses. It seems that there are cannon-casting workshops in cities such as Zezhou, Yangcheng, Yuanqu, Gaoping, Qinshui, and Lingchuan in southern Shanxi, and there are more or less cannons on the city walls."

Is the traitor Gao Yingxiang casting cannons?
The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou have no shame whatsoever!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but show a hint of anger.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou are truly shameless. These guys have been rich for almost a century, yet they haven't helped to forge even a single cannon in this important border town of Shanxi.

Now they're actually helping the rebel Gao Yingxiang forge cannons!

If we let these guys frantically forge cannons for several months, what would happen?

Pan Yunteng's Hanzhong army was not equipped with muskets or cannons. Attacking a city equipped with cannons with only cold weapons would definitely result in heavy casualties.

Even though the cannons forged with the help of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou were extremely crude and had a very short range, the mere sight of them firing loose shells could still inflict massive damage on the infantry attacking the city. He couldn't let Pan Yunteng's men go to their deaths, especially since such sacrifices would be largely pointless.

If the Hanzhong army cannot even break through the defense line in southern Shanxi, then his grand plan of feinting to the east while attacking the west will be impossible to implement.

This is a minor matter. If Gao Yingxiang gains more and more cannons, then it will be a big problem. Even if he sends the capital garrison to encircle and suppress them, the casualties will be heavy.

No, we have to find a way to prevent Gao Yingxiang from forging cannons.

He thought about it carefully, then asked, "Are the city gates of these cities all open?"

I didn't go there to see it myself.

Lu Wenwei pondered, "The city gates of these cities should not be closed. If they are closed and we cannot get in, then my personal guards will also be unable to get in."

That means it's not turned off.

It's the dead of winter, and there are no trees in the city. Even if it's just for cutting firewood for cooking and heating, the city gates can't be closed.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly, then said solemnly, "We need to find a way to help Yun Teng shut down these cannon-casting workshops."

The reason why Yun Teng's scouts couldn't go and investigate at this moment was because Gao Yingxiang had set up checkpoints on all the roads leading to Shanxi in the south.

First, order your elite guards to investigate the troop deployment at these checkpoints, find a few with relatively small numbers of troops, and then send more elite guards to launch a surprise attack from the rear, annihilate the checkpoint garrison, and block the news.

"I will have the elite troops of the Yunteng organization wait near the checkpoint. Once you break through the checkpoint, lead the Yunteng elite troops into the city, wipe out the artisans who forge cannons, and burn down all their workshops."

This seems a bit troublesome, doesn't it?
Upon hearing this, Lu Wenwei cautiously said, "Your Majesty, communication is already difficult in this icy and snowy place. It will be very troublesome for us to coordinate with General Pan's men. If I may be so bold as to suggest, could we send our elite secret guards to kill the artisans who make cannons and burn down their cannon-making workshops?"
This shouldn't be difficult. After all, the rebels guarding the city can't possibly be stationed around the cannon-casting workshops every day. It shouldn't be a problem for elite guards to sneak in, kill the artisans, and burn down the workshops.

You haven't considered things thoroughly enough.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "I know that the secret guards can also sneak over and kill the artisans who make cannons, and burn down their cannon-making workshops."

The problem is, if we only send the bodyguards to do it, what will people think?

People will definitely suspect that someone is secretly plotting against them, which will expose the secret guards. Once Gao Yingxiang reports it, the three major clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou will definitely be alerted.

This would be like alerting the enemy; we can't let them know that a large number of our secret guards have infiltrated.

The reason I ordered you to organize men to select checkpoints and eliminate all the rebels guarding them is for this very reason. Only by eliminating all the rebels guarding the checkpoints will people mistakenly believe that it was only the Hanzhong army that did it. Do you understand?

Oh, if only the secret guards make a move, it will alert the enemy.

Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Communication in this freezing weather is really difficult, and it's quite challenging for the secret guards to coordinate seamlessly with the Hanzhong army.

The key issue is that they are separated by the rebel Gao Yingxiang's defense line, and to communicate, they would have to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles.

Zhu Jue carefully examined the map and then decisively said, "I will order Yun Teng to send troops to occupy the passes in the passage between Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain, north of Jiyuan. Then your elite secret guards can go directly to deliver messages to them."

There still seems to be a problem.

Lu Wenwei carefully examined the map and then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, if General Pan sends troops to occupy the pass between the Taihang Mountains and the Wangwu Mountains, then Zezhou and Yangcheng on the north side of this pass will definitely close their city gates. At that time, we will not be able to lead General Pan's troops in to sneak in."

This is actually nothing.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "It's alright. The city gates of Zezhou and Yangcheng are closed. You can go and harass other cities first. Once the other cities are in full swing, they will think that we are using a feint attack."

In this weather, the city gates can't be closed for too long. Once one or two of the other cities are attacked, the city gates of Zezhou and Yangcheng should be opened.

Even if they don't open the gates of Zezhou and Yangcheng, it doesn't matter much. Yun Teng can send his army to occupy the surrounding cities, then surround Zezhou and Yangcheng. No matter how many cannons are inside, they can't withstand a siege.

Oh, that's how it is.

Upon hearing this, Lu Wenwei nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

(End of this chapter)