Ming Dynasty: I, Zhu Yunwen, started by resurrecting my grandmother.

After listening to Wang Yuemin's words, Zhu Yunwen was full of praise, thinking to himself that there was a reason why the Yuan Dynasty was able to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty and unify the country.

Their army's strength is indeed not to be underestimated.

The next morning, Wang Yuemin led his 5000 soldiers away, leaving all the weapons, armor, and horses to Zhu Yunwen and his men.

Zhu Yunwen was deeply moved.

He escorted her for thirty miles, repeatedly urging Wang Yuemin to be extremely careful on the road.

With tears in her eyes, Wang Yuemin presented Zhu Yunwen with a set of gold-threaded soft armor: "This set of soft armor was originally intended by my father for Wang Baobao, but I thought it was nice, so I stole it."

Human nature is treacherous; many will scheme against you. Wear this close to your body to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances.

Zhu Yunwen could not refuse, so he had no choice but to put it on, and it fit him perfectly.

Zhu Yuntong watched Wang Yuemin's departing figure, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

He felt that this woman was too good to him, and that he owed her too much.

With warhorses, armor, and weapons, Zhu Yunwen's army's combat effectiveness reached a new level.

He truly possessed a cavalry force of ten thousand men.

Chang Yuchun once said that if he were given 1 cavalrymen, he could dominate the world.

Chang Sheng was even more excited.

He trained them day and night.

Soon after, his brother Chang Sen also arrived. Chang Sen was tall and burly, with the strength of a thousand pounds.

Zhu Yuntong was very pleased. In this way, Zhu Yuntong had both soldiers and generals under his command, and his strength was far greater than before.

morning.

True.

After Li Jinglong and Xu Huizu arrived in Zhengding, they completed the handover procedures with Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying.

From this moment on, Li Jinglong was the commander-in-chief of Zhen Ding City, and Xu Huizu was the deputy commander. The two of them were responsible for guarding Zhen Ding City and commanded an army of 100,000.

Li Jinglong looked radiant, his face glowing, even his nose seemed to be shining.

He felt like a little lion that had just woken up, full of energy.

Looking at Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying, they were like wilted eggplants, listless and dispirited.

Geng Bingwen handed over the sword and seal of Zhen Ding City to Li Jinglong: "General Li, from now on, Zhen Ding is in your hands."

The Yan army is very cunning; you must be careful.

Li Jinglong, arrogant and smirking, said, "I think you two are scared of the Yan army. You don't need to worry about this. You two can go back and hold your grandchildren."

Upon hearing this, Guo Ying cursed inwardly, "Li Jinglong, you bastard, let's see how long you can be so arrogant."

Because he had also heard that Li Jinglong had complained about them to the Emperor.

If it weren't for Li Jinglong's tattling, both he and Geng Bingwen would have received rewards from the imperial court.

However, to their surprise, Li Jinglong's letter not only erased their achievements but also stripped them of their official positions.

This made them grit their teeth in hatred.

Geng Bingwen repeatedly explained to Li Jinglong: "This is the household registration of the people of Zhending. This time, the Hutuo River overflowed, causing disaster to the people. Many farmlands and houses were flooded."

After we leave, you must find a way to compensate the people for their losses, appease them, and prevent them from becoming unrest.

"If those common people join the pirates, that would be a real problem."

"Understood." Li Jinglong listened patiently; what he cared about was, once they arrived in Zhen Ding...

He didn't care how much gold and silver he could amass, or whether the people were ordinary citizens or not.

He thought to himself that those unruly people and commoners could only be suppressed by force. Anyone who dared to disobey or cause trouble would have their entire family wiped out.

Xu Huizu still held Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying in high esteem.

He walked up to them and bowed, saying, "Generals, you have worked hard."

Geng Bingwen knew that Xu Huizu was a loyal minister and also had great military talent, having won many battles.

Back when Old Zhu was alive, he held Xu Huizu in high regard.

Geng Bingwen nodded slightly, pulled Xu Huizu aside, and whispered, "Yun Gong, I feel much more at ease with you guarding Zhen Ding."

Yun Gong was Xu Huizu's original name. He changed his name to avoid using the same character as Zhu Yunwen's name.

"Yun Gong, I know you are a loyal minister of the court, brave in battle, and resourceful."

Although the Emperor has appointed Li Jinglong as the commander-in-chief of Zhending and you as his deputy, in order to defend Zhending, we still need you as our leader.

"General, there's no need to worry. Li Jinglong is quite knowledgeable about military strategy and is skilled in it."

Geng Bingwen shook his head: "Some people compare him to Zhao Kuo from the Warring States period, but I would compare him to two other people."

"Oh, I wonder who the old general is referring to?"

"Li Jinglong is all show and no substance, just like Yuan Shao and Liu Biao in the Three Kingdoms period—typical pretty fools," Geng Bingwen said bluntly.

"The old general is probably being too pessimistic. His father, Li Wenzhong, was a very brave and accomplished general. People often say that like father, like son. Even if he is a little weak, he shouldn't be too bad." Xu Huizu was still covering for Li Jinglong.

Geng Bingwen gave a slight, cold laugh: "Let's hope so. Then let's wait and see!"

That day, Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying packed up.

Guo Ying was already in poor health, and this upset her made her condition even worse.

Xu Huizu gave each of them a horse-drawn carriage and took them for twenty li.

Xu Huizu watched their departing figures, filled with emotion. The officialdom was like a battlefield, and the ups and downs of official life were just like that. He wondered what his own fate would be, perhaps even worse than theirs.

As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and Li Jinglong, after arriving in Zhengding, seized great power.

At this point, he was equivalent to a high-ranking official in charge of a region, or an emperor in a foreign land.

Zhu Yunwen was far away in the capital and couldn't control him.

He does whatever he wants.

He issued several orders in succession:

First, he ordered his mansion to be renovated and the wooden desk to be removed and replaced with a bronze one, believing that this would demonstrate his authority.

Second, stop digging the moat. The moat is already deep enough. What's the point of digging that thing?

Are we destined to only passively take hits? Can't we take the initiative and strike?

The third order halted further construction of the city walls, arguing that it would waste immense manpower, resources, and finances.

The city walls of Zhen Ding City were already quite high;

Fourth, he divided his 100,000 troops into two waves, leading 90,000 troops to garrison inside Zhengding City, while Xu Huizu led 10,000 troops to garrison outside the city.

Because he didn't like Xu Huizu getting in his way;

Fifth, he ordered his men to select beautiful women throughout the city of Zhen Ding.

He had plenty of sycophants among his men, and they searched for attractive women in every corner of Zhen Ding City, whether they were young girls or newlyweds.

Within a few days, the general's mansion had more than ten beautiful women.

This made Li Jinglong extremely happy.

Sixth, Li Jinglong ordered that the soldiers not need to train, saying that they had worked hard during this period and should be allowed to relax.

He didn't take any precautions. He said that Li Guang used troops in the past in this way, so why be so cautious and scare yourself?

He then came up with a novel idea, imitating Cao Cao of old, and wrote a letter to Zhu Di.

Beiping.

The Prince of Yan's Mansion.

Zhu Di summoned his generals for a meeting.

The generals, having suffered a defeat at Zhengding, were listless, their heads drooping like deflated balloons.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Di burst into laughter.

The generals looked at him and wondered what was wrong with the Prince of Yan. Had he gone mad?

Zhang Yu couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, we suffered a crushing defeat, why are you laughing?"

Zhu Di gradually stopped laughing: "I laughed at Geng Bingwen's lack of strategy and Zhu Yunwen's lack of wisdom. If it were me who used the military strategy back then, this time, at Zhengding, when they breached the Hutuo River and flooded us, we should have pursued them while we were ahead!"

That would be like catching fish, they could catch them one by one, and we would be wiped out.

However, they allowed our main force to retreat safely. Does this mean that Zhu Yunwen and Geng Bingwen had no problems with their military operations?

Therefore, I laugh.

Zhang Yu grinned upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, we have suffered over ten thousand casualties and more than ten thousand prisoners of war. This loss is already severe enough."

"We have never suffered such a crushing defeat since we began our military campaign."

Zhu Di was filled with self-reproach: "This time, the defeat at Zhen Ding is not the fault of you all, but my own carelessness."

When the heavy rain began, I should have moved camp immediately.

However, I did not heed your advice, which led to this defeat.

"I deserve to be punished!" Zhu Di said, drawing his sword from his waist.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" The generals were startled and asked hurriedly.

"This article has committed a crime and should be beheaded. However, there is a saying in the Spring and Autumn Annals: 'The law does not apply to the honorable.' I will cut off my hair in lieu of beheading."

Zhu Di then used his sword to cut off a lock of hair.

The generals were relieved to see this.

Zhu Di said to Zhu Gaosui, "Hang my hair on the city wall as a warning to others!"

"promise!"

Zhu Gaosui carefully took Zhu Di's lock of hair and hung it on the city wall of Beiping.

The soldiers were all horrified upon seeing this, and their military bearing immediately became disciplined.

Zhu Di then confessed: "Ah, you were truly prescient."

Although you are in Beiping, you have already considered the possible situation in Zhengding.

You wrote a letter to me, urging me to move my camp, but it was too late.

It's too late for me to move the camp now.

I never expected that Zhu Yunwen would be so cunning.

They blocked the water of the Hutuo River beforehand.

Then, a torrential downpour began, the water level rose, and suddenly the dike breached. There was no way we could escape it even if we wanted to.

Yao Guangxiao advised, "Your Majesty, victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, and failure is not terrible."

As long as we learn from our failures and make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes next time, that's fine.

"Sidao, you are absolutely right. An arrogant army is bound to be defeated. This is indeed true."

Back then, after we captured Kaiping, Linqing, and the Shanhaiguan area, I became a little overconfident, thinking I could take Zhengding in one fell swoop.

Just then, a soldier walked in from outside and bowed: "Your Majesty, your letter!"

"Oh, let me see it!"

The soldier handed the letter to Zhu Di, then turned and left.

When Zhu Di opened it, he found that it was written to him by Li Jinglong.

The letter meant that Zhu Di, I now command hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of generals. You must surrender now, or I will spare your life. Otherwise, we will hunt you down in Beiping!

When Zhu Di saw this, he was so angry that his face turned red and his veins bulged on his forehead.

He slammed his hand on the table: "You brat, you've gone too far!"

Everyone was surprised to see Zhu Di so angry and wondered what had happened.

Yao Guangxiao asked, "Your Majesty, who wrote this letter?"

"Take a look at this first!" Zhu Di passed the letter around for everyone to read.

After reading it, Yao Guangxiao laughed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a good thing! Why are you still angry?"

Zhu Di was somewhat bewildered: "Si Dao, what do you mean by that? How can this be a good thing?"

Yao Guangxiao fiddled with a string of Buddhist beads in his hand and analyzed, "Although Geng Bingwen is old, he is indeed a general who is good at defense. That's why we have been besieging Zhengding for so many days but have not been able to take it down."

Li Jiujiang is a mere child, all he does is talk big and he has no idea how to wage war.

Zhu Yunwen sent him to guard Zhen Ding; wasn't that Heaven sending Zhen Ding to Your Majesty?

Upon hearing Yao Guangxiao's words, Zhu Di's anger turned to joy: "Sidao, according to what you say, it won't be difficult for us to take Zhending."

Yao Guangxiao smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, if nothing unexpected happens, within a month, this humble monk can allow Your Majesty to sit high on the city wall of Zhen Ding."

Yao Guangxiao never makes boastful remarks.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's mood immediately improved: "If that is indeed the case, everyone present will be rewarded, and I will not be stingy with my gifts."

It should be said that Zhu Di did a good job in this regard, with clear rewards and punishments, rewarding those who deserved it and punishing those who deserved it.

He is not like Xiang Yu.

Han Xin once said that Xiang Yu was reluctant to reward his generals and soldiers, saying that he would hold the carved seal in his hand until the corners were worn smooth, but he still couldn't bear to give it away.

Zhu Di, however, was different.

Zhu Di was exceptionally generous to his soldiers. As long as they won a battle, he would spend lavishly, giving them money and women as they wished.

At this moment, Zhu Gaochi stepped forward and reminded him, "Father, strategist..."

Although Li Jinglong is ambitious but lacks talent, he is not so terrible. However, there are a few people we need to pay attention to:

Firstly, Xu Huizu is the deputy general of Zhen Ding. He is tall, handsome, skilled in martial arts, has outstanding strategy, and is very brave. With him there, it will probably not be easy to take Zhen Ding City.

Secondly, Zhu Yunwen and Chang Yuchun were stationed in Suzhou. According to reports from scouts,

Zhu Yunwen secretly recruited new soldiers, and his army has now expanded to over ten thousand men.

Moreover, this time, Minmin Timur of the Northern Yuan gifted Zhu Yunwen all the equipment and horses of his 5000 cavalrymen.

They already have ten thousand cavalry, which is no joke.

It possesses extremely high mobility and combat capabilities.

Moreover, with the full support of Chang Yuchun and his son Chang Sheng, they are unstoppable!

They only need one day and one night to travel from Suzhou to Zhengding;

Thirdly, there was Tie Xuan in Jinan. It is said that this time Tie Xuan secretly led troops to support Zhengding, which greatly angered Zhu Yunwen. He removed Tie Xuan from his position as Jinan Councilor and demoted him to the position of Grain Commissioner.

That being said, his relationship with veteran Sheng Yong was too close.

Although he was just a grain official, he still had the final say in military matters.

Jinan is not too far from Zhending.

If Zhu Yunwen and Tie Xuan send troops to reinforce Zhending again, this battle will be difficult for us.

Zhu Di looked troubled upon hearing this, as he felt that Zhu Gaochi's words were not without merit.

He looked at Yao Guangxiao again: "Sidao, what do you think we should do about this?"

Yao Guangxiao nodded slightly: "It seems that the young master has matured quite a bit and considers issues very comprehensively. What you said is true."

However, we are not without options; we can do it this way.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di was overjoyed: "You are truly my Zhang Liang! Heaven has bestowed you upon me!"

"Your Majesty, you flatter me," Yao Guangxiao said, but shook his head. "There is one thing I did not expect: the Northern Yuan has not yet agreed to form an alliance with us."

Chaghan Temur and his son Wang Baobao intend to form an alliance with us, but Wang Yuemin is obstructing it, preventing the agreement from being reached. Moreover, last time, Wang Yuemin personally led 5000 cavalry to support Zhengding.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's face fell with worry. He thought to himself that if he led a large army to attack Zhengding, Beiping would be left undefended.

If troops are dispatched at this time, Beiping will be in great danger.

If Beiping were to fall into the hands of the Northern Yuan, that would be a real problem.

Just then, Zhu Su walked in from outside.

He was travel-worn and covered in sweat, but his face was beaming with joy: "Fourth Brother, I'm back."

Zhu Gaochi poured a bowl of tea and handed it to Zhu Su.

He took the teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

Zhu Di then asked, "How did your trip to Jingzhou go?"

"Fourth Brother, Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, is also extremely dissatisfied with the court's reduction of the power of the princes."

He is willing to unite with us to fight against the imperial court. This is a letter he wrote to you.” Zhu Su said, taking a letter from his pocket and handing it to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di opened and read the letter. The gist of it was that Zhu Yunwen had listened to the words of the villains Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, and had acted without reason, disregarding familial ties, and vigorously weakened the power of the princes. This was truly unacceptable. If the Prince of Yan wanted to purge the court of corrupt officials, I was willing to fully support him.

When Zhu Di saw this, he thought it was incredibly good news.

Zhu Bai was the twelfth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he controlled Jingzhou, making him a powerful figure.

Zhu Bai always looked up to Zhu Di as a role model, and the two brothers had a very close relationship.

Jingzhou is the heart of the country, and it is extremely wealthy.

Back in the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei fought tooth and nail for control of Jingzhou.

At the beginning, Liu Biao, as the governor of Jingzhou, controlled Jingzhou and possessed a navy of hundreds of thousands.

Later, Liu Biao died and passed Jingzhou to his second son, Liu Cong.

Cao Cao led his army south, and Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao, thus Jingzhou came under Cao Cao's control.

After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei used Zhuge Liang's strategy to seize Jingzhou.

Sun Quan sent Zhou Yu to reason with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei said, "I am only borrowing Jingzhou temporarily. Once I have a place to stay, I will return Jingzhou to Eastern Wu."

Lu Zijing did not want to ruin the important alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, so he persuaded Zhou Yu to agree to lend Jingzhou to Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei entered Shu from the west, he left Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou. In order to seize Jingzhou, Sun Quan sent Lu Su to demand it back many times, but he failed to do so.

After Liu Bei conquered Western Shu and occupied Hanzhong, his strength greatly increased.

Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan, attacked Cao Cao, flooded the seven armies, killed Pang De, and his power shook the Central Plains. Cao Cao was so frightened that he almost moved the capital.

Sun Quan was furious that Liu Bei, having already seized Western Shu and Hanzhong, still refused to return Jingzhou. He adopted Lü Meng's plan, appointing Lu Xun as Grand Commander, and sent him across the river in disguise.

Ultimately, they seized Jingzhou and eliminated the threat to the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Throughout history, one can imagine how important Jingzhou was. There's even a saying that whoever occupies Jingzhou will have the capital to contend for the world.

Today, Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, is young and ambitious, a man of both literary and military talent, and has a very good relationship with Zhu Di.

Thanks to Zhu Su's efforts, the Prince of Xiang finally agreed to join forces with Zhu Di to fight against the imperial court.

How could Zhu Di not be happy?

Yao Guangxiao said, "Your Majesty, this matter is good, but you must keep it a secret. If the news leaks out..."

If the imperial court suddenly takes action against the Prince of Xiang, our distant resources will be insufficient to address our immediate needs.

Even if we wanted to go to the rescue, it would probably be too late.

Zhu Di thought Yao Guangxiao's words made sense, so he immediately wrote a letter and sent it to the Prince of Xiang, instructing him to secretly accumulate strength and wait for the right opportunity.

night.

Suzhou military camp.

Zhu Yunwen was pacing back and forth inside the tent, deep in thought.

Recently, he also heard about some of the measures Li Jinglong took after arriving in Zhengding.

He kept shaking his head and sighing, thinking that Li Jinglong had completely disrupted Geng Bingwen's original defense plan. The moat was not repaired, the city wall was not built, soldiers were not trained, and defenses were not set up, but instead, a large-scale construction project was undertaken to build a commander's mansion.

I also heard that he brought in artificial mountains, corals, and other materials from various places to build houses for those beautiful women to live in.

Zhu Yuntong wondered what Li Jinglong was up to.

It seems he considers Zhen Ding his home and plans to stay there permanently.

After Zhu Di suffered a defeat, would he let it go?

If you don't prepare your troops and be on high alert, danger could strike at any moment.

Zhu Yunwen thought for a moment, then shook his head, thinking to himself, why should I worry about that?

As long as you can manage your own affairs well, that's enough.

Just then, Chang Sheng walked in from outside, looking flustered.

Zhu Yunwen looked at him and asked, "Second Uncle, is there something you need?"

"Yunwen, something terrible has happened! Scouts have reported that a large number of pirates have been spotted in the southeast. This time, they've come out in full force, and they've even brought large ships equipped with powerful cannons!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen felt a chill run down his spine.

He thought to himself that Chen Zuyi and his son Chen Shiliang were truly despicable; a group of pirates who had actually become powerful.

Where has their advance force reached?

"We have arrived in Yangzhou!"

"What?"

Zhu Yunwen felt a bit of a dilemma, because Yangzhou was too close to the capital. What would happen if the capital were to fall?

He quickly summoned Chang Yuchun, Zhao Ling'er, and Chang Sen to discuss the matter.

Zhao Ling'er rested her chin on her hand: "Logically speaking, this shouldn't have happened. A while ago, when we went to support Zhen Ding, pirates attacked us."

As soon as we returned to defend, Chen Zuyi withdrew his troops.

At this point, our forces had reached tens of thousands. Even if Chen Zuyi came to attack us, he would have to think twice. How dare he come again?

If I'm not mistaken, this must be Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao secretly sabotaging us.

Their real intention is to distract us.

Zhu Di is determined to concentrate his forces to attack Zhengding. He fears we will have to go to Zhengding to reinforce it, so he sent pirates to harass our rear.