Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 222 Zhu Di and Xu Da, the two old men
"Report, beacon fire warning in the North, the highest level of beacon fire."

When Zhu Di heard this, he immediately stopped asking Zhang Yifan if he had any good ideas. He immediately stood up with a look of excitement on his face.

The beacon signal can be used to classify the alarm level according to the number of beacons set off.The highest level of beacon fire naturally means that there are the most enemies.

However, the beacon communication can only transmit so much information. No matter how much information there is, it will be impossible to distinguish.

As soon as Zhang Yifan saw Zhu Di's excitement, he knew that he had hit his mark.

Sure enough, after Zhu Di confirmed the news, he stopped eating hot pot at all. As he strode out, he said to Zhang Yifan: "Come over after you finish eating. I'll go find my father-in-law first!"

Zhang Yifan couldn't help but shake his head and looked at Princess Yan who was speechless. Well, it wasn't his turn to line up the troops anyway, so the lamb couldn't be wasted!

As for Zhu Di, he hurried out and as soon as he arrived at the military meeting hall, he met the general who came over after hearing the news.

Zhu Di immediately said to Xu Da happily: "Father-in-law, you brought the Tatars here, right?"

After finishing speaking, he felt that the way of saying this seemed a bit wrong, so he quickly added: "Father-in-law's weak strategy worked. The highest-level beacon communication must be a big fish!"

At this point, he looked at the heavy snow in the sky and couldn't help but cursed: "God is really short-sighted. It's snowing so heavily at this time, and Yifan's signal tower will not be used!"

After hearing this, Xu Da smiled and comforted: "The heavy snow means it won't last long. It just so happens that we need time to prepare our army for war."

When Zhu Di heard this, his anger turned into joy, and he looked like he was rolling up his sleeves and preparing for a big fight. He heard him say: "It's great to be here. Maybe I can give my father the best New Year gift! "

........................

To the north of Peiping, a pass of the Great Wall is Qingshui Mingyue Pass, which was called Lengkou during the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.At this time, the construction of this pass had not been completed. Under the heavy snow, a steady stream of Mongolian cavalry troops squeezed into the pass from outside the fortress.

Every Mongolian Tatar has a look of expectation on his face, counting on getting a vote by entering the customs this time.

On a broken section of the city wall, a group of Mongolians were standing and watching.Looking at the guards gathered behind them, you can tell that these leaders should be the leaders of this Mongolian cavalry. They all looked up at the beacon burning on the top of the mountain in the distance.

I saw a Mongolian dressed as a general and said to the oldest one: "Don't worry, Mr. Pingzhang, the beacon message is nothing. Minggou can only know that a large group of people have entered the customs, but he doesn't know more specific information. No Do you know what our military strength is and where the front is pointing?"

This Pingzhang's name was Brother Bili. When he heard Yuan Jiang Duo'er's words, he turned to look at Jiutong, the Privy Deputy next to him.When Jiutong saw it, he also smiled and said: "We have also had this happen before, with a false shot and a beacon message like a dog, but it turned out that all the trouble was in vain. As long as we move fast enough, the dog can only eat one of our noses." Ash!"

Brother Bili heard this, turned his head to look at the cavalry outside the pass who were still waiting to enter, and said, "The enemy in front of you is Xu Da, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. Don't be careless. After entering the pass, according to the plan, disperse and attack the city." , a quick victory."

Hearing this, Duo'er Buhua hurriedly spoke: "The news that Tan Ma found out is that some kind of King Yan from the Ming Dynasty is already leading the army here. He is Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son of the Nanmanzi. He is only 20 years old. You see, if If it is Xu Da, will Qingshui Mingyue Pass be easily breached by us? Then Xu Da must have been seized of power!"

As he spoke, he added: "Ming Gou himself is also fighting. Then Zhu Yuanzhang wishes that all his sons could fight. Now that he is only in his twenties, he is sent to Dadu to take the lead. It is obvious that he wants to steal the credit."

He was originally a Taiwei of the Meng Yuan Dynasty, but was captured by the Ming Dynasty and surrendered.But later, he still defected back.Compared with ordinary Tartars, they have a better understanding of domestic conditions.

Likewise, after he learned that the Ming Dynasty had changed its commander in Dadu, he tried his best to encourage people to enter the pass and plunder.

Of course, this is not entirely due to the change of commanders, but also because the grasslands are barren and the winter is difficult, so they must enter the customs and plunder.

In the original history, they did not enter the customs until the first month of the 14th year of Hongwu to plunder.But on this plane, it was two months earlier, and the number of troops was larger than in history, almost all out.

After hearing his introduction, neither Brother Bieli nor Jiutong hesitated and stepped into the pass despite the heavy snow.

However, it was snowing heavily and it was inside the pass. Even if the invaders were cavalry, the movement would still be very slow.Who knows whether it is the real thing under the snow cover or something else.

However, the reason why the Mongolian Tatars took advantage of this bad weather was because this weather also affected the mobilization and reinforcement of the Ming army, giving them more time to plunder.

These three Mongol Tatar leaders also have experience in plundering.After entering the customs, Tan Ma was sent out from a distance.One person and two horses are the basics, and there are even one person and three horses, which can warn the army from a farther distance.

........................

Just as Xu Da expected, the heavy snowfall was fierce and heavy, but it stopped falling the next day.

Although it was still cloudy, the visibility was much better.

On the Beiping side, all armies have been mobilized urgently, and after a day of preparation, they are ready to move out.

At dawn the next day, Zhu Di, who got up early, found that the snow had stopped and rushed to the signal tower terminal on Meishan Mountain in Peking.

To his delight, when he arrived, the officers in charge were already decoding.

Before the translation was finished, Xu Da and others also arrived.Everyone is looking forward to the surprise that the signal tower will bring them.

When the soldier in charge of decoding just put down his brush, Zhu Di, who had been staring at it, immediately asked: "How?"

The soldier obviously knew King Yan's mood, and immediately offered it to him with both hands.

Zhu Di took it immediately, glanced at it with three eyes, and his face showed surprise. He said to Xu Da, who was also looking forward to it: "Father-in-law, big fish, here comes the big fish, haha, I'm afraid the Tatars don't know that we have already Know their every move!”

While speaking, he handed the note to Xu Da, and then said with emotion: "This signal tower Yifan is really useful!"

After Xu Da took a look at it, he was also very informed. He immediately looked at Zhu Di and said, "It's time to give an order to Duke Xin to dispatch the car camp to block the gap at Qingshui Mingyue Pass."

Duke Xin is Tang He, who is stationed in Ji Town, which is the closest military town to Qingshui Mingyue Pass.

Judging from the news coming from the signal tower, the Tatars who entered the customs avoided Ji Town and attacked Yongping Mansion.

In Xu Da's original formation, he had a set of plans, assuming that the Mongol Tartars entered the pass from Qingshuimingyue Pass.

At this time, after suggesting Tang He to block the door, he continued to make corresponding proposals in response to the movements of the Mongolian Tartars.As far as the true ability of leading troops to fight, Zhu Di is naturally inferior to his father-in-law.After one suggestion is spoken, he can only agree.

These are nothing, but at the end, when he heard his father-in-law say that his father-in-law led the army himself, and he was in Beiping, he immediately became unhappy, and immediately said: "As the commander-in-chief of the three armies alone, how can he hide in a safe place? Soldiers fighting on the front lines?"

In short, he disagreed and wanted to personally lead the troops to fight and let Xu Da sit in Peiping.

Xu Da and others persuaded him but refused to listen, so they had to send people to find the prince-in-law and let the prince-in-law come and persuade him.

It was not surprising at all that Zhang Yifan received the news.

This fourth child, in the original history, after he became the Yongle Emperor, personally led the troops to the grasslands. Now Zhu Yuanzhang is far away in Nanjing, and he is the biggest in Peiping. It would be strange if he doesn't want to go to the battle in person.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yifan hurried to Meishan, the hill where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself. However, he didn't see any crooked-neck tree along the way, so it probably hadn't been planted yet.

There is a military meeting hall in the house under the signal tower, and all the generals are already there.

When Zhang Yifan arrived, Xu Da and others stopped Zhu Di, and both parties felt a little blushing and thick-necked.

Zhu Di was a little unhappy when he saw Zhang Yifan arriving, and immediately asked: "Yifan, are you here to persuade me?"

If the person who challenged him hadn't been his father-in-law, a famous founding general in the military, he would have gone crazy long ago.

He knew that Zhang Yifan was timid, so he didn't ask him to come over. But now he came in a hurry. There was only one reason. It was probably his father-in-law and others who sent someone to call him.

The purpose is also very clear, it must be to persuade him.

But who knows, after Zhang Yifan heard this, he ignored his question, and just asked: "What's the situation between the enemy and us now? Has there been any news?"

There is a sand table in the lobby, which is a rough topographic map of the north of Peiping.

Hearing Zhang Yifan ask this question, Zhu Di was a little surprised, so he immediately introduced the sand table to Zhang Yifan: how many people are there in the Tatars, where are they now, how many people are there in the imperial court, where are they, and what military orders have been issued. etc.

As far as the current situation is concerned, because of the existence of the signal tower, it is equivalent to opening a map for the Ming army.The battle in Guannai is the home field. Not only does it have a favorable location, but it also has more troops than the Tatar army. The troops are led by the famous founding generals of the country.

When Zhang Yifan saw it, he said: "The King of Yan is going to lead the army himself, which will surely inspire the whole army. The attack will be conquered and the battle will be successful. I support it!"

When Zhu Di heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. If it weren't for so many generals standing there, he, the coach, would still have some respect for himself and would have to rush over to hug Zhang Yifan.

However, Xu Da was greatly disappointed after hearing this. When he was about to say something, he saw Zhang Yifan was one step ahead of him and said to him: "Wei Guogong, please take a step to speak!"

Xu Da was a little surprised after hearing this, so he walked over to listen to what the consort said.

Zhang Yifan was not as tall as Xu Da, so he could only raise his neck, get close to Xu Da's ear, and whisper: "This battle is not risky. Your Majesty needs royal military honors!"

When Xu Da heard this, he was stunned for a moment, came back to his senses, looked at Zhang Yifan, and couldn't help showing admiration.

When it comes to political consciousness, Xu Da has absolutely no problem.Unlike other generals, he became arrogant or arrogant after the founding of the country. In short, he always respected Zhu Yuanzhang and behaved very humbly. This is also the case, and he has always been trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang.

The reason why he stopped Zhu Di from leading the troops in person was mainly because he felt that Zhu Di was still young and his previous experience in fighting pirates and Japanese pirates could not be used against the Mongolian Tatars, and he still needed time to adapt to the war in the north.

In addition, Zhu Di is his son-in-law, and he also cares about Zhu Di very much.For the battle in front of him, he felt that it was enough for him to direct it.Therefore, he did not want Zhu Di to go, and sitting in Peiping was enough.

However, Zhang Yifan just reminded him what Zhu Yuanzhang meant.Xu Da was not stupid, and immediately understood that this was indeed what Zhu Yuanzhang needed, and also understood the series of meanings behind it.

Therefore, after he glanced at Zhang Yifan, he turned to Zhu Di and said, "It's okay for His Highness to go on an expedition as the commander-in-chief, but do you have to perform his own duties?"

The meaning of this sentence is very clear, it is to ask Zhu Di not to fight and charge in person after leading troops out.

He was really afraid that Zhu Di would be passionate and just draw the knife and strike.

When Zhu Di heard that Xu Da had relented, he was overjoyed and said quickly: "Don't worry, father-in-law, you are just sitting in Peiping, so you know what you are doing. If you are worried, just ask Yifan to follow me!"

Zhang Yifan: "..."

Zhu Di is a young man, and you want to drag me to the wild in such a cold weather?
Before he could speak, Xu Da nodded and said, "Okay, if the prince is following you, then I'll be relieved!"

Zhang Yifan: "..."

The two of them, you and I, are doing it for you just by saying a word to me?Have you two asked me for my opinion?
Although Zhang Yifan was very unwilling to think so, it was obvious that no one present had any intention of asking him for his opinion.

After Zhu Di and Xu Da finished discussing, they began to discuss the specific details of the expedition, leaving Zhang Yifan there.

When the military discussion was over and all the generals went back to prepare for the expedition, Zhu Di walked up to Zhang Yifan with a smile and said excitedly, "Yifan, it's up to us. I'll give my father a big surprise at the end of the year!"

Zhang Yifan is a bit too lazy to pay attention to him. He is aggressive by nature. In his previous life, he was either a fighting cock, a bullfighting, or simply the kind of sheep that likes to headbutt people!
Zhu Yuanzhang sent him here without assigning him a position. In this way, he was actually an official who followed orders and lived for free.

The result is not bad, now he has to go out with the army!
Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, when the army from Peiping set off at noon, Zhang Yifan followed Zhu Di and braved the howling Siberian cold wind to step out of Peiping.

On the top of the city, Xu Da accompanied his daughter, and Princess Yan watched them go away.

On the Mongolian Tatar side, even before they arrived at Yongping, Ming troops from various places had already begun to move.The reaction speed was so fast that these Mongolian Tatars could never have dreamed of it.

Even because they sent out scouting horses and released them from a distance, they did not detect the movement of the Ming army and were very safe. However, they did not know that there were eyes staring at them just above the mountains.

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)