Chapter nine hundred and forty eight: full authority
"Woo woo..." The horn sounded late at night.
The camps within a radius of nearly ten miles were awakened by the sound of the roar. The battalions were immediately alert, and the team officials immediately gathered their troops.
Fortunately, the new army was usually very strict in training, and the sound of yelling sounded, and the battalions responded quickly, and they gathered one after another in a short while.
This is Liu Chengfeng's central army, and a horse behind him is still behind him, so they are all new army horses, one after another, and tens of thousands of civilians. At this time, they are all awakened by this inexplicable horn, and they are inevitably a little uneasy.
Soon, the battalions received orders and were all ready to face the enemy.
Although no one questioned the news, everyone already understood that the Mongolians were coming.
But here is only thirty or forty miles away from the capital, how could there be an enemy situation here?
Some people even thought by chance that this was just an emergency exercise as before, but soon everyone gave up this ridiculous idea.
The officers and soldiers of each battalion received orders and began to garrison the designated places with torches. Each department asked to load gunpowder, and even the civilians were woken up and asked them to assist in digging deep into the trenches and laying out tripping rope locks.
All of this is becoming more and more unusual.
In the central army camp, Liu Chengfeng received several reports from scouts one after another. The Mongols really launched an attack. They first pretended to attack Jinzhou and tried to capture Liaodong, but they killed a shot and rushed straight into the pass.
Originally, all units of the Ming army were stationed in the city gates and fortresses, but in the face of the Mongols' attack, many generals on the border were at a loss. The final result was that a large number of fortresses were easily captured by the Mongols, causing panic on the entire front. The low-spirited border troops actually began to flee. In the end, more and more such fleeings were added. In the end, almost every place the Mongols went, there were panic and countless deserters.
Morale is a very mysterious thought. The most important thing for a good military officer is to be able to always understand the soldiers’ thoughts and concerns, and then prescribe the right medicine to encourage their morale. However, some confused military officers cannot boost morale, but are frightened after encountering problems. The general is the courage of the soldiers. The general is frightened, and the people below are naturally moved.
After all, this is inseparable from Liu Jin's appointment of private individuals at that time. This group of military officers who were not qualified had stolen the positions. In addition, they had a gap with their subordinates shortly after taking office. Once a great enemy appeared and the army's morale was shaken, the consequences could be imagined.
More importantly, it is said that even Ji County has been captured by the Mongols. Zhu Houzhao was in charge of Ji County and gathered 30,000 troops. However, the Mongols suddenly launched an offensive. The emperor originally wanted to use Ji County to attract the Mongolian army, and then mobilized various nearby armies to encircle the Mongols.
Logically speaking, this strategy is indeed correct, but Zhu Houzhao obviously forgot that no matter how good the strategy is, it requires people with sufficient ability to implement it, so Jixian City was broken and the emperor disappeared.
Liu Chengfeng was in no mood when something big happened, but he knew that the Mongols were really coming, and now he had to cheer up and block the Mongols here, and immediately sent someone to the capital to deliver letters to prepare for the capital.
After midnight, a large number of Mongolian cavalry began to appear frequently nearby. In addition, many defeated soldiers also appeared one after another. The new army remained silent and continued to wait with breath.
An urgent report was delivered in the early morning.
Immediately afterwards, the three cabinet ministers were stunned.
The border town collapsed across the board and the emperor disappeared.
Even Jiao Fang couldn't help but be moved by this news.
Jiao Fang couldn't help but say, "Where is Your Highness of the King of Chu? Where is Your Highness of the King of Chu?"
"It is clearly stated in the memorial that at the moment, you can only look for the whereabouts of Your Majesty and defend the capital on the other side. However, His Highness's army and horses are too close to the Mongols and dare not move lightly. Once you retreat, you may encounter pursuit. So you can only set up defenses at the Border Bridge to temporarily delay the Mongols, and at the same time let the capital take precautions. Alas... How could things be so bad? Is this another Tumu Fortress? I just hope that the emperor can be safe and sound, otherwise we will all die in vain."
The person who spoke was Li Dongyang. Li Dongyang was almost slumped on the chair. He had been barely maintaining the overall situation. Liu Jin appeared on the stage, Liu Jian and others resigned, but he did not leave. It was not because of Zhan Lianzhan, the Grand Secretary, but because he knew that the more this time, the less he could not leave.
There were more and more people making trouble in the Ming Dynasty, and there were always a few people who needed to do things. Li Dongyang planned to stay and continue to do things, supporting this already decayed situation.
But now, the news coming today has hit his last bit of confidence. Can the Ming Dynasty still hold on? Now it seems that this is no different from Tumu Fort, but where is Yu Qian? Even with Yu Qian, can the Ming Dynasty still have such luck?
Li Dongyang smiled bitterly, and his smile was very bitter.
"It's better to go to the palace immediately and discuss with the empress dowager. At this time, the empress dowager will only be able to come forward." Yang Tinghe stood up and couldn't help but sigh.
The three of them entered the palace and after they arrived at Kunning Palace, they told the truth to Empress Dowager Zhang, which was different from what they expected. They thought that even if Empress Dowager Zhang was not scared to faint, they would at least cry. Yang Tinghe even thought of many words of comfort, but he underestimated Empress Dowager Zhang.
Empress Dowager Zhang did pull her face down, and the fear on her face flashed.
She was very worried. She was worried about her son and the country, but she did not show it.
Or, she was the most painful thing. She lost her husband and now she seems to have the fate of losing her son again. The pain in her heart can be said to be endless, but she still cannot let outsiders see the pain in her heart.
She knew that the situation had completely deteriorated. If she showed this, if she could not stand up and give her ministers and military and civilian expectations, everything would be over in the Ming Dynasty. How could the national dynasty be ruined in the hands of her son?
Her eyes were like a pool of stagnant water, without any emotion. She pondered for a moment and asked, "Where is Liu Chengfeng, the King of Chu?"
"Reporting to the Empress, the King of Chu stationed his troops in Jieqiao. After hearing this, he immediately sent someone to report to the court and led 100,000 new troops to set up defenses at Jieqiao, intending to delay the Mongols."
"Is that?" Empress Dowager Zhang sighed and said, "He did this to take risks to prepare the capital, so now the time is limited, and the defense of the capital needs to be deployed, so there must be no more mistakes. Also, try your best to find out the news from the emperor. If the emperor falls into the hands of the Mongolians..." Empress Dowager Zhang paused here and said with a calm expression: "Then let Liu Chengfeng and the Mongolians negotiate as much as possible. As long as the conditions are not harsh and I can accept it, then it is okay to rescue the emperor. But if the Mongolian lion speaks loudly and wants the Ming Dynasty to redeem the country, then the Mongolians will have delusions. Therefore, the most important thing is to fight against the Mongolians. As long as they can win, there is no need to be afraid of the Mongolians threatening anything."
When she said this, as a mother, her whole heart was almost broken, but she still said this. In fact, she knew that these ministers wanted to hear the most when they came to find her.
The emperor was missing, and it was probably because he fell into the hands of the Mongolians. If the Mongolians used the emperor as a threat, then the Ming army would tie their hands and feet to fight and fight, so what would they use to expel foreign enemies? Therefore, Empress Dowager Zhang said this specifically, so that everyone would not have any scruples. If the Ming Dynasty lost the emperor, another one could be established, but once the capital was destroyed by the Mongols, the country would be lost and the country would be overthrown.
The three cabinet ministers hurriedly said: "The Queen Mother is wise."
"Saintly Ming?" Empress Dowager Zhang smiled, with a little bitter smile, and said, "What is the saintly Ming of the Ai family? The Ai family is not a qualified mother. She only hopes to be a qualified empress dowager. The Ai family doesn't understand the matter of war, and the Ai family will not care about it. Please give all of these to the King of Chu. What about you, help him well, try your best to rescue your emperor, drive away the Mongols, and go down!"
"Empress, I have something to report." At this time, Yang Tinghe couldn't help saying: "In fact, if the emperor falls into the hands of the Mongolians, it is not impossible to rescue him. I heard that the Mongolian Khan has a close relationship with His Highness of the King of Chu. If the King of Chu comes forward, there may be room for recovery."
Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and said, "Yang Qing doesn't understand women too much. There are two kinds of women in this world. One is willing to do anything for a man, and the other is that he hopes that all men in the world will go through fire and water for her. The Mongolian Khan you mentioned, even if he has an old relationship with the King of Chu? She will not be the first woman. If she is that kind of woman, how could she lead troops to invade? This woman is ambitious. She first unified Mongolia, and then she was impatient to fight against me, Ming Dynasty, and such a person will not be bound by old love. You are too presumptuous. But it's better to give it a try. Let's give him a decree to Liu Chengfeng, let him take the opportunity to fight or be harmonious. The Ai family gives him full power, so he will make his own decision."
Yang Tinghe smiled bitterly: "The Queen Mother is wise."
Empress Dowager Zhang pursed her lips, her eyes were blank, and she sighed: "There is another thing. All Liu Jin's followers and relatives were taken down by Yousi. This Liu Jin is the root of disaster. He harmed the emperor. The Ai family can do the only way to execute these people to avenge the emperor. These people should be executed!"
After she finished speaking, she felt that she was about to burst into tears after she stayed here, so she stood up and her figure was already a little hunched. She had too many warm memories in her first half of her life, but who would have thought that the second half of her life would be so miserable, one bad news after another made her breathless and unable to cry.
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Chapter 2 is here. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe to (this site) and give me rewards. Your support is my greatest motivation.)