Please call me the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty

It turns out that Huang Taiji had another powerful opponent, namely Ligdan Khan of the Northern Yuan.

As the leader of the remnants of the Mongol forces, Ligdan Khan had been vying with Huang Taiji for control of the grasslands.

Wars frequently broke out between the two sides.

That very night, Li Ruolian and Gao Wencai requested that the three thousand cavalrymen they had brought change into the clothing of the Northern Yuan and go in pursuit of the Later Jin army.

Gao Wencai was Gao Di's nephew, and he was extremely loyal and brave.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment and said, "That might not be a good idea. We just signed an agreement; how can we go and hunt them down now?"

"Why not?" Gao Wencai persuaded. "Back then, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu also signed an agreement, but Zhang Liang and Chen Ping advised Liu Bang to take this opportunity to eliminate Xiang Yu. In the end, Liu Bang listened to their advice and adopted Han Xin's strategy of ambushing from all sides, defeated Xiang Yu, and forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide at Wujiang."

However, Ligdan Khan is both an enemy of the Later Jin and an enemy of us. By doing this, we can kill two birds with one stone, making them resent each other and attack each other.

Moreover, the Later Jin army frequently raided our borders, committing murder, arson, and all sorts of atrocities.

"We've just signed an agreement, so they're definitely unprepared. If we disguise ourselves in Northern Yuan attire and go after them, we're sure to achieve a great victory."

Just then, a soldier came in and reported, "Prince Xin, General Gao is hosting a banquet and invites you to attend."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly: "Since that's the case, I'm going to the banquet. You two handle it as you see fit. I'll pretend I know nothing. Be careful."

Li Ruolian and Gao Wencai exchanged a smile after hearing this.

As Gao Wencai had predicted, the Later Jin army was caught off guard. Because three thousand of them had no horses, their march was slow, and they were overtaken by Li Ruolian and Gao Wencai. They killed several hundred and captured a thousand, obtaining countless guns, utensils, gongs, drums, and tents.

After Gao Wencai finished recounting the events, Gao Di was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Prince Xin, you are truly a master strategist! Even if Bai Qi and Han Xin were resurrected, they could not compare to you!"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand: "General, you flatter me. However, you must know that Shanhaiguan is of paramount importance to our Great Ming Dynasty. You must do your utmost to defend this place."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I understand. I will swear to live and die with Shanhaiguan. As long as the pass is there, I will live; if the pass is lost, I will die!"

"But we have too few troops. Two thousand men, a thousand of whom are infantry. If they were all cavalry, it would be better."

"How about this, we've already received three thousand horses, right? Let's keep one thousand for your army."

"Oh, thank you so much, Prince Xin!" Gao Di kowtowed on the ground.

Zhu Youjian rose from his seat and helped him up with both hands: "General, there's no need to be so polite. I'll leave this place to you."

"Nothing to say, but Wei Zhongxian might still come looking for trouble for us."

"That scoundrel Wei Zhongxian, Uncle, if he comes looking for trouble again, I'll break his teeth!" Gao Wencai roared in fury. "If he's got the guts, let him go and fight the Later Jin army."

Upon hearing this, Gao was so frightened that he quickly stopped him: "Wei Zhongxian has spies everywhere in and out of the court. You must not say such things again. If they hear it, we will be in trouble."

"I'm not afraid of them at all!" Kao Wen-tsai said, striking the table with his fist.

Gao Di said earnestly to Zhu Youjian, "Prince Xin, the Emperor is not in good health, and he trusts Wei Zhongxian very much. This is the most dangerous time. You must be very careful after you go back."

Zhu Youjian nodded: "Your Majesty is being misled by Wei Zhongxian, and it's hard to tell the truth from the falsehood. This situation can't be changed overnight."

"You underestimate Wei Zhongxian. There's a reason why he's called the Nine Thousand Years Old. His original name was Li Jinzhong. He gradually gained power because of his close relationship with the emperor's wet nurse, Madam Ke. Now, he's become quite influential."

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he held absolute power in the court.

Upon hearing this, Gao Wencai couldn't help but say, "The Emperor is really absurd, actually bestowing Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke as a couple to be paired up. This is simply unprecedented!"

"How dare you! How can you speak ill of the Emperor behind his back?" Gao Di was so frightened that his face turned pale.

Gao Wencai stopped talking when he saw that his uncle was angry.

In fact, Zhu Youjian had also heard about this matter, and he was quite puzzled by the emperor's actions.

Looking back through history, you won't find anything like this.

However, this is not surprising, as Zhu Youxiao did not like reading and could not even understand memorials. Therefore, some people called him the "illiterate emperor" behind his back.

Gao Di sighed deeply: "Wei Zhongxian is even more treacherous than Zhao Gao."

Back then, Zhao Gao and Li Si forged an imperial edict, which enabled Hu Hai to smoothly ascend the throne. Later, Zhao Gao sent many beautiful women to Hu Hai's palace.

Hu Hai spent his days frolicking with women and neglected state affairs, which allowed Zhao Gao to seize power and even call a deer a horse.

Our emperor, however, only enjoys carpentry.

It is said that once, he had a eunuch take his newly made furniture to the market to sell, and it actually fetched a good price.

The emperor was overjoyed, and from then on, he no longer concerned himself with court affairs, focusing solely on his carpentry work.

Zhu Youjian was speechless upon hearing this.

Gao Di continued, "Every time Wei Zhongxian presented his report, he would do it when the emperor was engrossed in making furniture. When the emperor got annoyed, he would say, 'You decide what to do.'"

Now that's great, Wei Zhongxian can do whatever he wants.

Four years ago, Wei Zhongxian took control of the Eastern Depot, and for a time, foreign agents ran rampant.

Everyone, both inside and outside the court, felt insecure.

Yang Lian, together with other ministers, impeached Wei Zhongxian for twenty-four major crimes, but the emperor ignored them.

Wei Zhongxian harbored resentment.

Therefore, he used his power to attack and murder the Six Gentlemen of Donglin, and Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong and others died in prison one after another.

More than seventy ministers were implicated.

The imperial court has now become a one-man show run by Wei Zhongxian.

"In that case, Wei Zhongxian's power was indeed a bit too great."

"What's even more regrettable is that Madam Ke was even more vicious than Zhao Feiyan back then. Whenever she discovered that a concubine in the palace was pregnant, she would try to murder her, so that the emperor would have no offspring."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian thought to himself, "My brother is so foolish! His own child has been murdered, and he doesn't even know it."

"However, this is the Emperor's misfortune, but your great fortune, Prince Xin. The Emperor has no son, so he can only pass the throne to you." Gao Di looked intently at Zhu Youjian.

"I have already obtained the Ganoderma lucidum for my elder brother, and I believe he will recover soon."

"His Majesty is already terminally ill, how could he possibly recover? It's just that his illness is quite unjust, as it all started from falling into the water."