I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Shao Zongyuan walked and cried the whole way.

When they arrived in Baoding Prefecture, they were already in tears.

"Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty, grant me justice..."

"That woman is unreasonable! Jiang Chen was beaten with a military rod in public, and she even took off her pants!"

"This is utterly disgraceful! Absolutely disgraceful!"

Zhu Youjian was speechless for a moment. He had been full of confidence when he set off, but that was not what he said.

Scholars have this problem: they think they are full of talent and eloquent. Now they have seen what it means to be a scholar who can't reason with a soldier. Have they become honest?

The front lines are not the imperial court; not everyone there will listen to reason.

Especially in chaotic times, survival depends on strength, troops, and provisions, not on quick wit.

Seeing the bloodstains on the other person's body, he didn't know what to say.

Regardless of how you look at it, this can be considered a work-related injury...

"It's good that you're back, Your Excellency. Someone, help you back to rest!"

With someone helping him, Shao Zongyuan took only two steps before struggling to turn back.

With a face full of resentment, he said, "I propose that we summon General Liu Zeqing of Shandong and General Zuo Liangyu of Huguang to quell the rebels!"

"Alright, go treat your injuries first. We can talk after you've recovered."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand, signaling him to leave first.

If we send troops, we'll just fight head-on. Do we need your advice?

I thought they were really capable, but I never expected them to be so unreliable!

It seems that only I, the emperor, can take action personally!

Shao Zongyuan left with a limp, and Zhu Youjian immediately summoned He Fu and Miao Gang to discuss countermeasures.

The two men were somewhat wary of Li Yan and his wife, and also suggested that troops be deployed.

Zhu Youjian secretly made a decision: he could mobilize troops, but the question was where to mobilize them from.

Wu Sangui's troops were guarding Shanhaiguan, and could not be easily mobilized unless the capital was in dire need of an emergency.

Qualcomm has gone to Juyong Pass to confront Li Zicheng head-on.

The remaining troops belong to Zuo Liangyu, Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo.

According to the map, Gao Jie is in Zezhou, Liu Zeqing is in Jinan, and Liu Liangzuo is in Zhengyang. These three are relatively close to each other, while Zuo Liangyu and Huang Degong are too far away, making it very inconvenient to move troops.

"Minister He!"

He Fu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your subject is here!"

"You take the pen and write a letter to Li Yan urging him to surrender, using a tactful tone."

"As you command!"

Zhu Youjian turned his head: "Li Ruolian!"

"Your subject is here!"

Li Ruolian quickly stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

"Does the Warriors Battalion have sufficient firearms and ammunition?"

"Your Majesty, the ammunition has been almost completely exhausted at Juyong Pass. Wanggongchang is working hard to produce more, but it has not yet been delivered."

"Juyong Pass also needs a large number of firearms; this situation can't continue..."

Zhu Youjian pondered for a while, then said, "Send an imperial edict back to the capital. The supply of firearms and ammunition at the front is tight. Order the Ministry of War to dispatch a group of craftsmen to Juyong Pass and Baoding Prefecture to produce them right there at the front!"

"yes!"

"Issue another imperial edict to Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, ordering each to lead 30,000 elite troops to set off immediately and coordinate with the Baoding army to launch a pincer attack on Zhengding. I'm going to give Li Yan a piece of my mind!"

"yes!"

Zhu Youjian looked at the map again and asked, "Miao Gang, besides the granaries you burned down, does the rebel army have any other places to store grain?"

Miao Gang hurriedly replied, "I have already sent men to investigate, and the rebel army has no other provisions. Before Liu Fangliang left, he sent many people out to requisition grain, but in reality, it was looting. They robbed the wealthy households in Zhengding Prefecture and neighboring counties, and they didn't even spare the common people!"

"If that's the case, what will Hong Niangzi's soldiers eat?"

Miao Gang said, "They must have gone out to loot, just like Liu Fangliang!"

Zhu Youjian smiled faintly and said, "I have heard that Lady Hong is strict in disciplining her troops and never robs the people. Is that true?"

Miao Gang nodded and said, "That's a saying, but we don't know if it's true or not."

Li Ruolian added, "Based on intelligence gathered from various locations, this claim should be quite credible."

Zhu Youjian nodded and then asked, "Since we won't rob the poor, we can only target the rich. However, Liu Fangliang has already robbed the rich households around Zhengding Prefecture once, so there probably isn't much left. Who do you think Hong Niangzi will rob?"

Miao Gang said, "If there aren't any nearby, then we'll have to go somewhere further away."

"Red Maiden commands tens of thousands of men, no small number. Ordinary wealthy households would find it difficult to satisfy them, let alone the nearby princes and nobles..."

Zhu Youjian slowly traced the map with his finger, then stopped at the border between Hebei and Henan.

Everyone looked up and saw the three large characters "Zhangde Prefecture" prominently displayed above!

Miao Gang immediately realized what was happening and said, "It seems the most likely place they're going is the Prince Zhao's residence!"

Since Li Zicheng's uprising, almost the entire Central Plains had fallen. Prince Fu Zhu Changxun of Luoyang, Prince Chong Zhu Youxiong of Runing, and Prince Zhou Zhu Gongxiao of Kaifeng were successively killed by the rebel army. Prince Lu Zhu Changfang of Weihui escaped, but his palace was ransacked and his family property was looted by the rebel army.

The closest place to Zhengding right now is the Zhao Prince's Mansion in Zhangde!

Zhu Youjian looked at Miao Gang: "Set off immediately, lightly armed and with minimal cavalry, and ambush them on the road to Zhangde Prefecture, catching them completely off guard!"

Miao Gang became excited: "Your subject obeys the decree!"

Zhu Youjian seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Minister He, where are our provisions?"

He Fu said, "There are five hundred soldiers stationed in the main camp north of the city."

"Li Yan isn't Liu Fangliang; he might launch a night raid on our supplies too. Let's send more men over!"

"However, most of the troops were taken away by General Zhao, and the remaining troops stationed in the various camps are not sufficient..."

"Gather the garrison troops from those camps. The empty city ploy won't work on Li Yan; stop pretending!"

"As you command!"

Zhu Youjian raised his head and glanced at the crowd.

"This battle will be personally commanded by me. All military deployments must be reported to me. No one is allowed to act without authorization. Once the battle begins, everyone, regardless of rank, must obey orders. Otherwise, they will be punished according to military law. Do you all understand?"

The crowd replied in unison, "We obey your decree!"

Two hours later, a cavalry unit set off from the camp, bypassed Zhengding, and headed for Zhangde.

Following this cavalry force, Wang Dalong led thirty Imperial Guard captains out of the city.

"A few of you go to Zhengyang, a few of you go to Jinan, and the rest of you come with me to Zezhou. Change horses along the way, but don't change riders. Even if we die, deliver the imperial edict before you die!"

"yes!"

Everyone agreed in unison, and then they split into three groups and sped away.

Just as the Ming army was making various deployments, the scouts of the Red Maiden Army were rushing back to Zhengding.

Li Yan needed to verify his conjecture: whether the main force of the Ming army remained in Baoding or went to Juyong Pass!

According to the reliable information brought back by these scouts, the Ming army camp looked very lively, but after a detailed investigation, it was found that there were only soldiers stationed at the main gate of the camp.

Moreover, most of them were in logistics and odd jobs, such as raising horses, cooking, and transporting grain...

Upon hearing this, Hong Niangzi was overjoyed and said, "My husband was right after all; the main force of the Ming army is not in Baoding at all!"

Li Yan nodded and said, "The Ming army's move was brilliant. It's just a pity that His Majesty refused to heed my advice. Otherwise, if the army had abandoned Juyong Pass and focused all its efforts on attacking the southern front, they would already be at the gates of Beijing!"

Hong Niangzi said unhappily, "Is it that Li Zicheng doesn't trust you, or are those incompetent people interfering and trying to prevent you from making any contributions?"

"My lady, please be careful with your words. His Majesty has already ascended to the throne. You must not address him by his given name directly, otherwise it would be a great act of treason."

"I don't care if he's the emperor or not, he's not here!"

"That won't do either!"

Li Yan said solemnly, "As subjects, we cannot break the rules!"

Hong Niangzi pouted and said, "Alright, I'll do as you say! Now tell me, why doesn't our Emperor believe you?"

Li Yan said, "Actually, His Majesty has his reasons. Liu Zongmin, Liu Fangliang and others all rose to power with His Majesty and are founding heroes of our Great Shun Dynasty. As for me, I am a self-taught scholar and it is normal for me to be ostracized."

"I figured it out a long time ago; they're just jealous of your talent!"

"Let's not talk about that!"

Li Yan waved his hand and then asked, "My lady, how many soldiers do you have under your command?"

Hong Niangzi said, "More than 58,000, including 3,000 cavalry and the rest are all infantry."

Li Yan spread out the map and said, "When Liu Fangliang left, he left behind more than 20,000 men. Although they were not elite troops, they were still capable of fighting against the Ming army."

"In that case, we have 80,000 troops. If our tactics are correct, that's enough to take Baoding!"

"However, now there's a big problem: what about the provisions for 80,000 men?"

Hong Niangzi's eyebrows furrowed as she asked, "Didn't Liu Fangliang leave you any provisions before he left?"

Li Yan shook his head and said, "His grain supplies were burned by the Ming army. It's good enough if he can maintain his daily expenses. How could there be any left for us?"

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

Hong Niangzi was furious and said, "Li Zicheng ordered my troops to come to our aid, but tens of thousands of them have no food or supplies. Are we supposed to fight for him on empty stomachs?"

"My lady, watch your words!"

"Alright, alright, I understand, Your Majesty, is that enough?"

Li Yan then said, "With an army of 80,000, the daily consumption is considerable. The most urgent task is to replenish our supplies. Do you have any good ideas, my lady?"

"What other choice do we have but to rob it!"

After thinking for a moment, Hong Niangzi continued, "All the princes in Henan have been robbed. Are there any princely residences around Zhengding Prefecture?"

Li Yan took out a map, looked at it, and said, "The closest one is Zhangde, the Prince Zhao's residence!"

"Zhangde Prefecture?"

Hong Niangzi pursed her lips and said, "We seemed to have passed through this place on our way here. If we had known there was a Prince Zhao, we would have robbed him during the march!"

"It's not too late for you to go now, my lady!"

How far is it to Zhangde?

Li Yan gestured on the map and said, "It's about 500 li. A round trip will take no more than two days."

"Alright, I'll lead the team myself!"

"That won't be necessary!"

Li Yan waved his hand and said, "There's something even more important that requires my wife's personal attention!"

Hong Niangzi asked, "What is it?"

Li Yan said, "The Ming army burned Liu Fangliang's grain supplies back then, so why can't we burn theirs?"