After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he pulled out the Xiuchun knife from his waist and raised it to the sky and shouted:
"The Ming Dynasty is mighty!"
The sergeants also raised their weapons and shouted:
"The Ming Dynasty is mighty!"
"Your Majesty is mighty!"
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
Then they began to kill pigs and sheep to sacrifice the sun and moon flags that represented the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youxiao personally kowtowed to the emperor and his ancestors. After the swearing-in ceremony was completed, Zhu Youxiao shouted an order:
"Go to war!"
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses began to leave the camp in an orderly manner according to the original march plan and headed north!
The first place the army wanted to reach was Miyun. Miyun was a key point in this northern expedition. It happened to be in the center of Xifengkou, Gubeikou, Xuanfu Town, and the capital.
Zhu Youxiao's idea was to leave the border with great fanfare from Xuanfu and Gubeikou, using the soldiers and horses from the two towns of Xuanda and part of the Yulin army as the main force to attract Lin Dan Khan's main force.
Then he personally commanded the elite cavalry and the Shenji Battalion. The elite of the Taishan Battalion left the customs at Xifengkou and headed north. His current strategic goal is to first sweep away the tribes south of Chengde.
Of course, the other two groups of soldiers and horses will not really go deep into the grassland to attack. They are just two groups of feigned troops. They can just do something within three to five hundred miles outside the pass, but the bigger the momentum, the better.
As long as they can attract Lin Danhan for a short period of time or contain him for a few days, the two groups of soldiers will have completed their assigned tasks.
As long as they do not advance rashly, proceed step by step, and fight steadily, even if Lin Dan Khan's main force attacks with all his strength, it will be difficult to defeat the Ming army in a short time.
Moreover, the Ming army was only that far away from the border town. If it really didn't work, they could slowly retreat. Lin Danhan had nothing to do.
If he can really defeat Lin Dan Khan's main force, these two groups of soldiers will be able to play a greater role, and they can completely defeat the lost dog and expand the results of the victory.
This is why he brought Wang Zaijin with him. He was the most qualified and capable person in the civil and military dynasties. He was second only to Xiong Tingbi.
And only he could suppress the generals in the two towns of Xuanda and Da. After all, it was still the year of Tianqi. The military generals believed that they were inferior to the civil servants. When facing the civil servants, they themselves devalued themselves as worthless.
What's more, Wang Zaijin is a minister of the cabinet and minister of the Ministry of War. He has a natural suppressive power over those generals. None of the complicit civil servants dare to make trouble in front of a person of this status.
It is generally believed that the warlord era of military generals who were domineering and did not listen to the orders of the court was already in the last years of Chongzhen. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had already existed in name only. The fundamental reason was that the court had no generals and soldiers and could not suppress them.
It is most suitable for him to control Xuanda's troops and horses. He himself knows the military affairs well and is a person he trusts. He can accomplish many things with one stone.
After the front army led by Zhou Xingwu reached fifteen miles away, Zhu Youxiao also led the Chinese army to officially set off.
Three miles away from the military camp, there is a fork in the road, one of which is the road to the capital. Civil and military officials have been waiting here for nearly an hour.
According to the etiquette system, the emperor's chariot and military officials should have sent him to the emperor from the nine gates. Unfortunately, our Emperor Zhu did not follow the routine at all.
He arrived at the military camp one day in advance and did not even set out from the city.
The officials had no choice but to go to the military camp to see them off. In fact, many of them did not support the personal expedition, but they did not dare to say it. After all, no one wanted to be sacrificed by the emperor.
After Zhu Youxiao led the army to arrive, the civil and military officials saw the emperor in armor and knelt down on both sides of the road and shouted:
"I respectfully send His Majesty the Emperor for your personal expedition!"
"I hope your Majesty will defeat the enemy soon and return home in triumph!"
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, and the army immediately waited on the spot. He saw him galloping past and said:
"Everyone, please get back on your feet!"
"After I leave Beijing, you must not slack off in government affairs and must be careful!"
"I obey the order!"
When the officials looked at the Yulin Army with luxurious equipment, they all secretly thought it was a pity. How much money is needed to do this? What a waste!
Zhu Youxiao dismounted and walked to the four prime ministers and said:
"My expedition to the north will take less than a month to return. During this period, it's all up to the four of you to take care of my home!"
The four prime ministers bowed and replied:
“You will live up to the divine grace!”
Xu Guangqi said with tears streaming down his face:
"The battlefield is dangerous. Your Majesty must remember not to take any personal risks. If the opportunity to fight has been lost and you are no longer sure of defeating the enemy, Your Majesty must avoid its sharp edges and do not fight to the death with the enemy."
"Your Majesty is entrusted with the important task of reviving China. The Ming Dynasty cannot live without you. I hope that your Majesty will bear in mind your loyal words!"
Of course Zhu Youxiao knew what Xu Guangqi meant. If there was no certainty of victory, it would be best not to fight the enemy. Preserving strength was the most important thing. Of course, preserving oneself was the most important thing.
Zhu Youxiao replied easily:
"Sir, don't worry. I will definitely come back with a great victory over our teacher, so you don't have to worry so much."
"In the research and development of new muskets, we must fully support Bi Maokang. If the research and development encounters bottlenecks, sir, you can consult Song Yingxing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. Mr. Song has a great talent and is a fellow-minded person!"
"I will definitely remember it!"
"Capital Master, I will leave it to the four of you!"
After saying this, Zhu Youxiao got on his horse, shouted loudly, and then galloped away.
The army followed the emperor's footsteps and passed directly through the middle of the road without showing any courtesy to these civil servants, which made these popular officials gnash their teeth.
If this were the case in the past, none of these military leaders would come over and salute him respectfully?
The world is really in decline, and it's time for a salty fish to turn around, but they only dare to scold themselves in their hearts.
The emperor loves martial arts and attaches great importance to this army. If you look for trouble, doesn't it mean you are looking for death? They still know the difference clearly. You don't need to lose face. If you lose your life, you will lose everything.
All the officials kept looking at the emperor's back from a distance. When they could no longer see clearly, Wang Xiangqian informed everyone to return to the capital.
Zhu Youxiao marched several miles away, rode his horse to the top of a hill, looked at the rising sun and murmured to himself:
"This land is so beautiful. I will never let it happen like a river of blood."
Sun Yunhe on the side listened in confusion and had no idea what it meant.
Zhu Youxiao recalled the five times Huang Taiji entered the pass to rob in history. Even though they were just here to rob, their five entries not only accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
It also brought endless darkness and disaster to the people here. Everywhere they passed, they would leave no living thing and not even a blade of grass grow!
Thousands of miles of red land, this is just four small words in the book, but in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, such scenes could be seen everywhere, with countless bones and corpses lying on this land.
Although it was not as humiliating as the Jingkang Incident, the damage caused was dozens of times greater than the Jingkang Incident!
"Let's go!"
No need to think too much, Zhu Youxiao must use his actions to change, and he must change the miserable fate of the Han people.
Because he is also Han Chinese!
On February 25, the first year of the Ming Dynasty, the fifteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, after more than a hundred years since his ancestors Yongle and Zhengde, once again personally conquered Mongolia under the control of the capital.
Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, embarked on his first journey!