Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 247 We Have Grasped the Truth [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"what?"

Before Anda could speak, a tribal chief immediately looked doubtful and asked a question.

Yes!

Upon hearing this shout, the tribal chief's first reaction was confusion, not fear.

If a border garrison of the Ming Dynasty received a report of Tatar cavalry marching south, its reaction would definitely not be like this; it would probably immediately enter a state of stress.

"Hundreds of carriages... How many Ming soldiers are estimated to be there?"

Anda was only interrupted briefly, then asked the messenger who had just rushed in without changing his expression.

In his mind, the number of carriages already limited the number of Ming soldiers. Even if there were several hundred carriages, they could only seat a few thousand people at most. How much of an impact could they have?
The only thing that puzzled him was why it was a horse-drawn carriage.
Even if the Ming army were to launch a surprise attack, shouldn't it have been the swifter cavalry that came? Why did the Ming army arrive in carriages?

Moreover, the Tatars were about to start a coal trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming emperor was obviously very interested in this trade. He even specially sent a duke to supervise the matter. How could he rashly start a war with the Tatars?
Weren't the Ming emperors afraid that this would completely destroy the coal trade?
"According to the reports from our scouts, there are only about four or five hundred carriages, and the number of Ming soldiers they carry should not exceed two thousand!"

The messenger knelt on one knee and truthfully relayed all the information he knew.

"..."

Anda and the other leaders in the royal court looked at each other in bewilderment.

No more than two thousand men, and not even the cavalry that could barely put up any resistance against the Tatars on the vast grasslands, came in horse-drawn carriages... and were they sent away?

How can you be sure these people are Ming soldiers?

I couldn't help but ask another question.

The subtext is, could these be members of the White Lotus sect who defected to the Ming Dynasty, or a border general who led his followers to surrender to the Tatars?
Anda felt that only in this way could the arrival of this inexplicable force be reasonably explained. Otherwise, could they be here to attack the royal court? Or were they just old men hanging themselves?
"This... I cannot be sure."

The messenger was taken aback upon hearing this, and even his voice lost some of its confidence.

No one at the scene could be certain that this was a force that had come to attack the Tatar royal court; they simply found the force inexplicable.

"Send the order to send five hundred cavalry to intercept them head-on, find out their identities and purpose, and then report back to me before deciding whether to let them pass!"

After a moment's hesitation, Anda finally made his decision.

The leaders didn't see anything wrong with the decision, and they weren't even interested in discussing it.

With such a small force, even if they were Ming soldiers, Anda's tribal cavalry alone would be enough to easily deal with them, regardless of whether they were Ming soldiers who came to launch a surprise attack on the royal court. There was no need for them to urgently summon their tribes to unite and fight back.

"As ordered!"

The messenger immediately agreed and was about to leave the royal court to deliver the order.

But then another shout came from outside, and another messenger who had just returned rushed into the tent:

"Report——!"

"The scouts have just returned with news that the force heading straight for the royal court is led by a man who calls himself Yan Maoqing."

"Our scouts ordered him to halt and await the Khan's command, but he not only disobeyed but also fired his muskets to drive them away and continued to lead his troops toward the royal court."

"He also sent a spies to the Khan, claiming that he was in charge of the coal trade and that tomorrow was the deadline set in the Khan's message arrow. He could either succeed or fail, and demanded that the Khan make a sincere offer as soon as possible!"

"what?!"

Upon hearing this news, the Tatar leader no longer merely showed doubt; his face revealed shock, and his voice was filled with unspeakable rage.

"???!!!"

Anda and the other Tatar leaders stared wide-eyed, hardly believing their ears.

Most of them still remembered who Yan Maoqing was.

After all, Yan Maoqing's last visit to Fengzhou Beach had left a deep impression on them.

That was the first Ming Dynasty envoy to arrive at the royal court with an extremely arrogant attitude, openly demanding bribes from Anda. How could they forget such a unique and extraordinary person?

Last time, he also used the threat of "it can either succeed or fail" to extort 400,000 taels of silver from Anda, and also made Anda release more than 100,000 Ming soldiers and civilians, kill more than 10 deserters, and even send a hostage to the Ming Dynasty.

And this time, he actually plans to do it all over again with the same routine?
What is this called?
This is called "two ways to eat one fish," is this even allowed? Isn't it a bit shameless?

You should know that after Yan Maoqing left, Anda and a group of Tatar leaders discussed this young man.

He even asserted that allowing such corrupt officials to stir up trouble in the Ming Dynasty would be a disaster, and that the Ming Dynasty's governance must have deteriorated to the extreme and was probably on its deathbed.

However, they never expected this.

This scoundrel was not content with just harming the Ming Dynasty; he even targeted the Tatars, going so far as to eat them two ways and suck their marrow from their bones!

Have you not heard the saying, "Greed knows no bounds, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant; worldly troubles befall like a mantis swatting a cicada"?
After a brief silence caused by shock.

"This person is asking for death!!!"

Anda's chest suddenly swelled up like a bellows, and he let out a loud roar.
"Pass down the order: no one is to stop him. Let him and his men in. Today, I, the Khan, will give him the most sincere offer and ask him if his own life is sincere enough!" In any case, even if Yan Maoqing didn't come today, he would still be forced by the pressure from his various tribes to march south!
If the Ming Dynasty did not want to start another war, it would be best to form a treaty with him under duress when his army was at the gates and immediately start the coal trade.

However, if the coal trade were conducted in this way, then the Ming Dynasty would have to "offer honest prices" for the coal.

In this way, he could also give an explanation to the tribal leaders under his command, and it would be a logical thing to call a retreat.

However, if the Ming Dynasty does not submit, then the die is cast!

At that time, he will lead his army south to plunder Shanxi and threaten the capital region. If the Ming Dynasty cannot withstand the pressure, it will not only suffer from the plunder, but the coal trade will also have to continue. Otherwise, his invasions will become more frequent until the Ming Dynasty compromises!

and so.

No matter what he did to Yan Maoqing this time, even if he killed him and threw his head back to the Datong border, it would not affect the overall situation in the slightest.

……

Datong County Government Office.

"This audacious villain... Could it be that he really did what the secret letter said and deliberately sent Qing'er to the front lines, making this old man outlive his son?"

Yan Song paced back and forth in the county government office, his face filled with unprecedented anxiety.

He never expected that Yan Maoqing, after staying in Datong for less than two days, would suddenly lead the Heroes' Camp out of the pass under the cover of night and head straight for Anda's royal court in Fengzhou Beach.

He never expected that no matter how earnestly he tried to persuade him, Yan Shifan would almost turn against him and kneel down before him.

This rebellious son still acted like a possessed idiot, insisting on following his cheap uncle-in-law out of the pass no matter what.

He even ordered Yan Nian to forcibly detain this rebellious son in the county government office and not allow him to leave. This rebellious son even lied to Yan Nian that he had a stomachache, took the opportunity to knock him unconscious, tie him up, find a ladder, climb over the wall, and escape.

This unfilial son doesn't even consider that he dares to climb the wall with his size? What if he accidentally falls?
By the time he learned of this, Yan Shifan had already left the pass with the Heroes' Camp...

All crazy!
They're all obsessed!
They've all gone mad!
How did this world become so insane?

What exactly is Yan Maoqing?
Having finally passed the imperial examination, he has now been promoted to a third-rank official position at such a young age, and is also the chief tutor of the crown prince. His future prospects are limitless.

If it were anyone else, how could they not seize such a promising future, and how could they be willing to risk their lives to go beyond the Great Wall?

And is this just a matter of risking one's life?
Even if he were to miraculously survive, given how he so arrogantly provoked and obstructed the Emperor's long-cherished plan of establishing tributary relations, would the Emperor possibly forgive him?

He just doesn't understand!

Why do those two idiots, Shen Kun and Gao Gong, one a promising new top scholar and the other a promising junior official, not consider their own future and try to dissuade Yan Maoqing from his reckless behavior, but instead play with fire with him?
And Guo Xun and Zhou Shangwen too!

The child is ignorant, but are you two old folks ignorant too? Why didn't either of you say anything to stop him?

Am I the only one left in this world who still retains at least some semblance of clarity?

……

the other side.

"Uncle, are you nervous?"

Yan Shifan, who was riding in the same carriage as Yan Maoqing, looked pale and envious as he gazed at Yan Maoqing's heavily armored body armor and the self-propelled short gun hanging at his waist. He finally couldn't help but ask.

He didn't receive such treatment because his father didn't have armor, and he had run away without any preparation, only wearing a cotton armor that belonged to an ordinary soldier.

His palms were now damp and slippery with sweat, and his voice trembled slightly.

After all, this was a mere two thousand soldiers venturing deep into enemy territory... Even though he had already seen blood, and had served as the leader of the local guerrillas in Ying County, commanding a group of ruffians to storm the county government office.

But everyone knows that this time it's completely different from the previous minor skirmishes.

This is a real war, and the enemy is the Tatars, whom most Ming people cannot help but worry about just by hearing about it.

"nervous."

Yan Maoqing didn't pretend to be arrogant and nodded in agreement.

"But don't be afraid, because this time we are being supported by Zeng Xian and Ma Fang. With these two around, I am at least 50% confident."

Yan Shifan swallowed hard.

"Only half?"

He's starting to regret it now. Actually, "listening to Dad and not letting him get hurt" wasn't a bad idea, so why did he have to do it this way?

"The remaining half is in our hands; we have the truth."

Yan Maoqing patted the self-made short gun at his waist and said,
"More than a thousand years ago, Li Ling of the Han Dynasty, with only 5,000 infantrymen and powerful crossbows, was able to withstand the Xiongnu army of more than 100,000 people when he was isolated and without any support. He repelled them many times, killed more than 10,000 people, and was finally captured and surrendered only when he ran out of arrows."

“The Tatars are still using the same old methods as the Xiongnu, while we are in a much better position than Li Ling this time.”

(End of this chapter)