Chapter 549: The Prelude to the Great Liaodong War

Seeing the envious, jealous looks from the Liaodong generals, Zhu Youxiao could roughly guess what they were thinking.

After all, unlike soldiers elsewhere, Liaodong was a war zone, not yet peaceful. It wasn't an exaggeration to say they fought nearly every day.

These men were all risking their lives for the court, garrisoning a bitter, cold land. Under such circumstances, it was only natural that they felt somewhat disgruntled when the court gave good equipment to others and not to them.

He understood that well enough, but that wasn't how things were done. He needed armies to intimidate the petty schemers around him. Besides neighboring states, the Great Ming also needed troops to suppress unrest at home — after all, the things he had done could easily provoke backlash, and without a sufficiently powerful imperial personal army to keep order, it wouldn't do.

Pouring every resource into Liaodong was a very unwise choice. In the original course of history, that was exactly what the Great Ming had done, and the result was that imperial authority lost all its dignity, and the dynasty eventually fell.

Now that he had such power and such an army, one could say he was nearly fearless.

As for Liaodong — after this campaign was over, it would likely be peaceful for a long time, and the army's equipment could be replaced gradually. Once he had the money, he would replace everything; military reform also needed to be carried out in a stable environment.

Slowly withdrawing his gaze, Zhu Youxiao said, "Tell them they don't need to wait here any longer. Everyone, enter the city."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Chao acknowledged and turned to relay the order.

The Emperor might not need to see them, but they could not fail to come and receive him.

Soon there was movement, and the people outside began heading back. Standing out there in the bitter cold was indeed rather uncomfortable.

After entering Shanhai Pass, one could clearly feel the atmosphere of war here. The soldiers' faces were all stern, carrying a killing intent — though more than anything, they were excited.

Many people were looking forward to this battle — whether the imperial personal army or the Liaodong troops, all were waiting for this victory.

In their view, this battle was already somewhat overdue, and this time was a fine opportunity to earn merit.

After all, the Emperor's rewards last time had been generous, and they hoped that if they won this time, they could gain even more benefits for themselves.

After entering Shanhai Pass, Zhu Youxiao immediately summoned Xiong Tingbi and the Liaodong commanders.

He spoke some words of comfort, some words of encouragement, and then handed out a few rewards. Of course, they were not much — mainly meant as motivation.

Then Zhu Youxiao left them to their own devices.

For this Liaodong campaign, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to interfere.

Even regarding the Mongols, Zhu Youxiao only sent people to make contact after arriving in Liaodong. To put it bluntly, by the time the fighting started here, they might not even be able to arrive in time — he had no intention of letting them join the battle.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted was an irresistible, crushing advance.

As for those Mongols, they no longer mattered. If they wanted to join the battle, they couldn't be allowed to pick up easy gains — the credit could not be shared with them; if they were willing to help the Jianzhou barbarians, that was fine too.

But at this moment, no fool would likely stick their head out.

Zhu Youxiao halted at Shanhai Pass, but the main army did not stop and continued marching forward — one force headed straight for Shenyang city, another portion went to Jianning Guard, and yet another column was on the western flank.

This time the plan was to divide into three routes, with the central route carrying the main assault.

The force at Shenyang city would directly attack Hetu Ala, aiming to knock Hong Taiji down in a single battle.

The eastern army advanced along the Yalu River, fighting their way forward all the way, heading straight for the Jianzhou barbarians' lair.

The western route was mainly for coordination, while also keeping watch against Mongol troublemaking.

The armies set out quickly, each heading for its own battlefield.

The commander of the eastern route was Lu Xiangsheng, the commander of the central route was Sun Chuanting, and as for the western route — naturally, that was Xiong Tingbi.

Xiong Tingbi had held the line here for so many years, so of course he had to be given a chance. Although he was not the main attacker this time, his share of the credit would certainly not be small.

After this battle was over, the position of Minister of War would be Xiong Tingbi's. It wasn't just Zhu Youxiao who thought so — the entire court and country thought so.

Under such circumstances, no one was willing to offend Xiong Tingbi; everyone was very courteous to him. Having worked in Liaodong for so many years, everyone knew he was the Emperor's confidant — otherwise, he could never have lasted this long.

Moreover, Xiong Tingbi's contribution here might seem like nothing to others, but Zhu Youxiao valued it greatly.

War clouds gathered thick over Liaodong, and the surrounding regions were also extremely tense.

In Daning city, the first to feel this atmosphere of war.

Many Great Ming merchants and retainers of noble houses all swarmed in — in their view, this battle was a chance to pick up easy gains. The army fought at the front while they reaped benefits at the rear, with the Imperial Household Department's people being the most numerous.

Daning city had already become a semi-frontline, and the Mongols in the city were panicking, having no idea what was happening. They knew the Great Ming was going to war, but they didn't know whether the fighting would reach here.

In the past few years of trading at Daning, many high-ranking Mongols had earned fortunes — after all, wool that used to be worthless had now become a very important trade commodity.

Besides that, there were all sorts of other goods that the Great Ming would buy; unlike before, when the Great Ming would suppress prices. Now it didn't matter — if you brought it, they'd buy it.

Moreover, the Great Ming sold a great many things as well — iron pots were no longer anything rare. The Great Ming's steel industry was now extremely developed, and this product had low technical content, yet it was only here that it could still fetch a good price.

In a large mansion in the western part of Daning city, a group of people had gathered.

At the head was naturally Wukeshan of the Khorchin tribe, surrounded by the other Khorchin chieftains.

These people were extremely anxious, and the one among them who could make decisions was naturally Wukeshan.

Ever since Daning city had been established, Wukeshan had been stationed here. His power had grown day by day over these years, largely due to what he had done in Daning.

At home, his father held the seat, and his younger brothers lacked the ability to compete with him, so Wukeshan was the universally recognized next heir of the Khorchin.

The reason his position was so secure, besides his own ability, was another factor: he had many sons.

In his lifetime Wukeshan had fathered more than twenty sons, twenty of whom had survived, and over ten were now grown adults, scattered across every part of the tribe handling all sorts of business. At Daning, four of his sons had come with him.

Sweeping his gaze over everyone, Wukeshan said, "I know what you want to ask, but right now I don't have a clear picture of the situation either."

"I've already sent someone to invite Prefect Zhang. Once he arrives, everything will become clear." Wukeshan said with great confidence.

Though he spoke with confidence, in his heart he had no real assurance. Still, he wasn't too worried — because he had met the Great Ming's Emperor back then, and the two sides had already made promises to each other.

He estimated that with so many Great Ming troops coming this time, they must be planning to attack the Jianzhou barbarians — after all, the time was ripe. The Jianzhou barbarians were already at the end of their strength; this was the best moment to strike.

In recent years, Hong Taiji had attempted to break out westward or southward, but had never succeeded.

To the south, that old fox Xiong Tingbi had held firm the entire time, never giving him an opening.

As for the east — Joseon was not something Hong Taiji could touch either. The moment he touched Joseon, Jianning Guard would send out troops, putting him in a pincer between two enemies.

As for attacking west into the Mongols, there was basically no great hope there either — Hong Taiji couldn't win that fight.

Over the past two years, Hong Taiji's days had grown harder and harder, and he had sent people to contact Wukeshan countless times, since the two sides still had an alliance.

Wukeshan's aunt Jheje was even Hong Taiji's principal consort — yet even so, Wukeshan had not chosen Hong Taiji. The reason was simple: he had no choice.

Last time he had stabbed Hong Taiji in the back, and their relationship had dropped to the freezing point. Although the envoys sent over were silver-tongued, saying that once the Great Ming dealt with the Jianzhou barbarians it would deal with the Mongols, the Mongols didn't really believe it.

After all, the Mongols and the Great Ming had faced off for over two hundred years, and the Great Ming had never managed to finish off the Mongols — the grasslands remained the grasslands.

On top of that, after years of doing business with the Great Ming, the Mongols had earned a hefty profit, and no one was willing to fall out with the Great Ming.

By comparison, the Great Ming was far more trustworthy than the Jianzhou barbarians. Back then, the reason the Mongols had allied with the Jianzhou barbarians was naturally because they had been forced into it.

Moreover, the Great Ming had another ally in the five tribes of Inner Khalkha, who supported the Great Ming steadfastly.

In the original course of history, when Shenyang fell, the five tribes of Inner Khalkha had actually come to its rescue. It was just that by the time they arrived, both Guangning and Shenyang had already been lost—they had come too late. Then Inner Khalkha fought a battle, was defeated, and proved lacking in fighting strength.

But their hearts were in the right place. Wukeshan had no confidence that he could persuade the five tribes of Inner Khalkha. They shared a mortal enmity with Hong Taiji, and in the original history they had fought to the very end, even begging Ligdan Khan for aid.

Ligdan Khan did not come, watching from the sidelines as the tigers fought, showing none of the bearing expected of a Mongol Great Khan. After Inner Khalkha was defeated, Ligdan Khan even took the opportunity to swallow up the two tribes that had fled.

The current situation was very good, but Wukeshan also worried that after the Great Ming won, they might change their attitude. That would not do, so he needed to settle this matter first.

After meeting with Prefect Zhang, Wukeshan planned to send someone to Shanhai Pass to see the Great Ming's Emperor, and he even prepared to go himself.

Submitting as a vassal was certain, and accepting investiture was certain as well. The terms could be negotiated, but there was one matter that could not be discussed—that concerning his own younger sister.

The Great Ming's Emperor absolutely had to give his sister a consort rank. Only then could he rest assured; otherwise, he truly could not feel at ease.

So if the Great Ming Emperor married his sister and then turned his back, that was basically impossible—the Great Ming was very particular about keeping its word.

Wukeshan had a very deep impression of that Emperor of the Great Ming. That fellow was extremely assertive.

The crowd glanced at Wukeshan, still deeply worried in their hearts.