The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Weining Sea.

The Ming Dynasty had 80,000 regular troops, and their camps stretched for six or seven miles. After they set up camp at night, there were bonfires everywhere, soldiers were patrolling, cavalry were galloping, and various flares fired from the air could be seen everywhere to ensure that the communication between the various troops was closer, so that if there was any deviation, the messages could be transmitted in time.

Zhu Youtang, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, was strolling on the shore of Weining Lake at this time. Not far away, his little daughter Zhu Xiurong was sitting on a stool with her hands on her head, looking at the sky, as if she was longing for the starry sky of the grassland.

There was a breeze blowing across the lake, and Zhu Youtang was looking at the water, lost in thought, until Xie Qian appeared behind him with heavy steps.

"Mr. Xie, you have a stroke, so you don't have to come out to see me." Zhu Youtang seemed very concerned. "Rest well these few days, and I'll have someone send you to Maoerzhuang to recuperate. You won't have to go out to fight in the next imperial campaign."

Xie Qian asked hurriedly, "Your Majesty, do you want to continue marching north with the troops you have now?"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "I have discussed with Bingkuan. He will lead the charge and I will cover his rear. One hundred thousand soldiers and horses are enough to protect him. Besides, the heavy firearms, including heavy artillery and long-range artillery, are all with me. If Bingkuan encounters trouble on the grassland, I will have to go there in person to help him."

"Your Majesty, think twice."

Xie Qian had not expected that the emperor, who looked weak and gentle, and seemed to be indifferent to the world and even a little autistic and introverted, had such a wild side.

Not only has he personally led the army to Weininghai, but he is also planning to march into the grassland with less than 100,000 soldiers and horses?
Zhu Youtang looked at the sky and said with emotion: "The starry sky of this grassland is indeed very beautiful. Back then, Emperor Taizong also led his troops to the grassland and looked at the same sky. Emperor Taizong probably could not have imagined that hundreds of years later, his descendants would follow in his footsteps and lead troops here as well."

Xie Qian said: "Your Majesty, you know how to be diligent and care for the people better than Emperor Taizong, so you should not take risks with this."

"No, Mr. Xie, you don't have to flatter me. I know that my talent is not as good as that of my ancestors. Everyone thinks that I am a king who maintains the status quo. I thought so before, until I met Bingkuan. If I am content with the status quo even with a genius like Bingkuan, then wouldn't I be too unmotivated?"

As Zhu Youtang was speaking, the sound of cavalry horses' hooves was heard. It was the Ming Dynasty's own cavalry patrolling at night, and the sound was mighty.

Zhu Youtang said with emotion: "Those are the soldiers trained by Xinjian Earl. They are all brave and good at fighting. How can they not win in a direct battle with the Tatars? In the past few years, the Tatars have not dared to fight our Ming army head-on. Everything is really different from before."

"Cough cough."

Xie Qian coughed twice.

Facing such a blindly confident emperor, he didn't know what to say.

"Someone, help Mr. Xie back to the tent to rest." Zhu Youtang said.

Xie Qian said: "Your Majesty, Weininghai's heavenly sacrifice will end tomorrow, so when will you prepare..."

"Then tomorrow." Zhu Youtang said, "This is also a ceremony to swear an oath to the heavens. After the ceremony, I will review the troops on the battlefield and personally lead them to the grassland. I really want to see the magnificence of the grassland and conquer every inch of land on the grassland. Bingkuan told me that it will get colder and colder as we go further north, to a place where it is dark for half a year and day for the other half. I hope my people can also see that magical scene."

……

……

As he spoke, Zhu Youtang continued walking by the lake.

Xie Qian, with the help of his followers, left the lakeshore.

At this moment, Zhu Xiurong seemed to have a premonition of something. She stood up and looked back in the direction of the camp, as if something had attracted her attention.

"Xiurong, is there something wrong?" Zhu Youtang looked at his daughter's strange behavior.

Zhu Xiurong said, "Father, I seem to hear some noises. There is a horn over there. Is it to ask you to go back?"

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, kid. Although this is grassland, and was once the frontier for grassland people to invade, it is now the territory of our Ming Dynasty. No Tatars have dared to set foot here for several years. No matter what happens, we will have our own soldiers to resist the foreign enemies."

As they were talking, a rider came quickly towards the lake not far away.

Because Zhu Youtang's central military tent was not by the lake, this was also to prevent any hidden risks under the lake.

This also meant that the Weininghai Lake where he was was a little distance away from the central military camp... The person who came on horseback was Zhu Feng, the Anbian Marquis of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Feng was stopped by the Embroidered Uniform Guards at a distance. Yang Peng, the eunuch commander of the Eastern Depot, went over to ask what was going on. After Zhu Feng was helped off the horse by Yang Peng himself, Yang Peng trotted all the way towards Zhu Youtang. On the way, he fell because he was too anxious.

"Eunuch Yang, are you okay?" Zhu Feng quickly followed him. He didn't know why Yang Peng was running.

Perhaps he felt that Yang Peng was trying to steal the credit, but he didn't mind and directly helped Yang Peng up.

Yang Peng continued to run to Zhu Youtang, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty... Great victory!"

“Huh! Hehehe…”

Zhu Youtang first breathed a sigh of relief, as if everything was as he had expected.

Then he laughed happily again, and it felt like... I knew the result would be like this, and the result was really like this, everything was just as I expected... It was a refreshing feeling.

"Yang Peng, don't say anything, let Zhijie speak." Zhu Youtang said.

Yang Peng then realized that he was too rash in his attempt to grab the credit for announcing the good news. Even the emperor thought he had gone too far.

Zhu Xiurong came over and asked with a smile, "How big is the victory?"

At this time, Zhu Feng finally arrived at the lakeside and knelt on one knee to salute.

"Zhijie, is this news about Bingkuan?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Zhu Feng answered simply: "Yes."

"Tell me." Seeing that Zhu Feng was not in a hurry, Zhu Youtang felt that he and Zhu Feng had the same mentality and had anticipated everything.

Zhu Feng said: "Duke Cai sent someone to report that after several days of hard fighting, they have successfully rescued the troops of Tang Yin, the general commander of the three borders, and cooperated with him to kill 70,000 enemies within three days, captured and accepted more than 60,000 Tatars who surrendered, and captured the little Tatar prince Batu Mongke alive, and is escorting him south."

Even though Zhu Youtang was prepared for the news of victory, he realized that Zhang Zhou's achievements would definitely surpass those of the generals who had gone on the expedition before.

But when he heard this, his body still trembled involuntarily and he was a little unsteady on his feet.

At this moment, Yang Peng hurried forward to help support Zhu Youtang, fearing that Zhu Youtang would fall due to being too excited.

At this time, everyone in the army who knew about the victory, including Wang Shouren, Zhu Fu, and even Xie Qian who had just left, were rushing towards the lake.

After Zhu Youtang calmed down for a long time, he waved his hand and said, "I know, I know."

He didn't seem to be very happy, but he was already very excited. Zhu Xiurong next to him seemed a little unhappy and said, "If the emperor knew about this, he would definitely think that he has no chance."

When Zhu Feng heard this, he couldn't help but glance at the little princess.

He also didn't expect that the person who witnessed this victory with the emperor would be this half-grown girl, and the little princess's reaction after hearing about this was obviously different from that of ordinary people. She actually focused on the prince's reaction.

"Don't come over yet, let me take a walk by the Weining Sea. The wind is really nice today, and it's not cold. I want to stay here for a few more days."

……

……

After Zhu Youtang finished speaking, he waved his hand to signal Yang Peng and others not to disturb him, as he seemed to want to be alone.

Then all the guards were not allowed to get close to Zhu Youtang, and allowed him to walk to the lake. Zhu Youtang then walked for a while, sat down on the ground, and looked up at the sky, just like a child, feeling the peace and tranquility in front of him.

Many military generals and officials have gathered by the lake.

When these people saw the emperor sitting by the lake from afar, seemingly watching the scenery, they did not understand what was happening.

Wang Shouren walked over and first verified the authenticity of the victory report from Zhu Feng before saying to the people present: "This battle is basically over. What remains is to clean up the mess. The Mongolian tribes will no longer be able to threaten the Ming Dynasty. From now on, there will be no more trouble in the north."

The officers and generals present were very excited.

But everyone's eyes were still directed towards the emperor by the lake.

There is no other way... If I don't celebrate with the emperor, I always feel like something is missing, but the calmness before the emperor seems too unbelievable. Shouldn't the emperor stand with his subjects at this moment, enjoying the compliments and making himself even happier?
We have already prepared all kinds of compliments, but the person who is listening to our compliments is now sitting there in a daze.

This was very embarrassing for us too.

"Has the victory report been sent to the capital?" Wang Shouren asked again.

Zhu Feng said: "The victory report came from the north, and it went straight to Weininghai. I think Duke Cai knew that Your Majesty was here, so he passed the victory report here first. If it was passed to the capital, it should... take a few days to arrive."

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Youtang stood up again.

He actually turned around and walked over here.

The ministers became energetic again and prepared to go over to congratulate him.

But the emperor just called Yang Peng over, gave him a few instructions, and then walked in another direction of the lake.

Yang Peng came over and said with a smile, "His Majesty said that he has heard the good news, and that tomorrow is the best time to offer sacrifices to the heavens. His Majesty said that he would inform our ancestors of the good news tomorrow, and also to comfort the spirit of Emperor Taizong in heaven."

"Your Majesty is benevolent and filial, and you deserve respect."

"My Lords, you do not need to wait here. Go back and rest. It will not be too late to congratulate His Majesty during the Heavenly Sacrifice tomorrow."

Yang Peng also seemed very relieved and said, "Your Majesty is very happy, but Your Majesty has never personally participated in this battle. Your Majesty said that after the sacrifice to heaven tomorrow, the plan to send troops will remain unchanged, but I would like to ask all the adults to join Your Majesty in the battle in person."

If the officials and generals present before still had concerns about the emperor leading the army in person.

By now, everyone knew that this was the best time to follow the emperor to reap the fruits of war and military exploits. Even Wang Shouren did not think there was anything strategically wrong with it.

The only inappropriate thing was that someone else should be sent instead of the emperor going in person.

But now the emperor is here, and he doesn't even go to clean up the aftermath of the battlefield. Isn't that too frustrating for the emperor?
Before the victory news came, I was fearless, but now that I have won the battle, I am still a coward? Or do you still want me to be a coward?

Any words of advice are meaningless at this moment.

"Marquis Anbian, young marquis, his majesty said that he wants you to go over there tonight." Yang Peng said to Zhu Feng finally.

Everyone present looked at Zhu Feng with strange expressions.

Many people are also wondering, what is the emperor’s mentality?
After winning the battle, he actually asked Zhu Feng to accompany him in the middle of the night? Could it be that the emperor felt that the external threat had been resolved and had opened his mind to many things?
"Your Majesty has summoned me, I wonder why?" Zhu Feng also felt that he was in danger.

Yang Peng smiled and said, "His Majesty said that we must have one person as the vanguard when we go out to fight tomorrow. He asked you to select 5,000 elite cavalrymen to go to the northwest of Guanshan as the vanguard to help Duke Cai's troops and prevent the Tatars from fleeing to the east. His Majesty is also going to issue an order to Ningxia and other places to let the troops march to the grassland. It's time to clean up our own backyard."

Xie Qian sighed and said, "Yes, this is our own backyard now."

At this point, Xie Qian seemed to understand that his generation's mission was over.

Wang Qiong came over and said, "Mr. Xie, you are still recovering from your illness, so you really shouldn't come here again. Bo'an, help Mr. Xie go back."

Wang Shouren was present and held the highest military position, but the emperor did not summon Wang Shouren. He only summoned Zhu Feng and entrusted him with an important task.

It seemed a bit like neglecting Wang Shouren.

Wang Qiong actually did this to give Wang Shouren a way out. You helped Xie Qian back to the tent to rest, which at least can be regarded as taking care of the elderly in our team. It not only gives you the opportunity to come into contact with the top civil officials of the traditional faction in the court, but also makes others think that you have other tasks.

We know that you were not summoned, but the people in the army did not know that. When they saw you helping Xie Qian back, others thought that the emperor sympathized with Xie Qian and gave you the opportunity to demonstrate your status and position.

……

……

"Xiu-young."

Zhu Youtang was walking by the lake, followed by his daughter, a few eunuchs not far away, and the omnipresent guards.

"Father, is there anything I can do for you?" Zhu Xiurong lowered his head and picked up a newly sprouted grass. It seemed that he couldn't see it clearly, so he raised a small lantern, as if he wanted to see the type of grass clearly.

Zhu Youtang looked at his daughter, smiled and said, "Your father is going to the depths of the grasslands in person, so you don't have to go, go back to Beijing first."

Zhu Xiurong said: "Even if you don't agree to let me go with you, let me stay here, or go to Maoerzhuang. The scenery of the grassland is very beautiful. I want to build a tent here in the future and live here. It is much better than living in the capital."

"what ever."

Zhu Youtang said, "With you by my side, I would not trade you for the stars in the sky. I have the same idea as you. After the war, I will stay on the grassland for a while... I want to witness the changes in the grassland with my own eyes. This will be the territory of the Ming Dynasty. From now on, I will not let any northern threats affect the stability of the Ming Dynasty's foundation." (End of this chapter)