Chapter 114

"It is...!"

In the Zhengtong era, at Yanghe Fortress in Xuanfu.

Just as Zhu Qizhen was about to issue an order.

Wang Zhen, who was outside the carriage, ran in with a face full of excitement.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived at Yanghe; we will soon unite with the garrison troops of Yanghe!"

Zhu Qizhen's brows tightened.

"Go summon the general of the Yanghe garrison to reward him, and prepare to return the army!"

Hearing this, Wang Zhen was stunned, looking at Zhu Qizhen with some confusion and asking.

"Your Majesty, we are not fighting..."

Before the words had finished.

Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen immediately heard the shouts of shock from the Ming army soldiers outside.

"Your Majesty, Yanghe is lost!"

Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen was stunned.

Immediately disregarding everything else, he stepped down from the carriage on his own.

Shortly after, he saw the Ming army corpses scattered all over the ground beneath Yanghe Fortress.

This was the first time Zhu Qizhen, only twenty years old, had seen such a bloody scene.

Moreover, it was the height of summer, and the entire city of Yanghe was already filled with flies; as Zhu Qizhen walked over with trembling legs, the flies on the surrounding corpses were startled into flight in an instant.

Clearly, this battlefield was not as fun as Zhu Qizhen had imagined.

The corners of Zhu Qizhen's mouth trembled slightly twice.

He gave incoherent orders.

"Retreat, retreat! Return the army now!"

Wang Zhen looked at the young emperor before him and, with a hint of frustration at his lack of steel, advised.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, calm down; if all the ministers in the court learn that you are returning to the capital upon seeing a ground full of corpses, how will all the civil and military officials view Your Majesty!"

Looking at Wang Zhen before him, and then at the corpses on the ground, even if Zhu Qizhen was as foolish as he was, he finally understood.

He kicked Wang Zhen straight in the chest.

"Damn your grandmother! Do you really think I am a fool?! Summon Fan Zhong, Zhang Fu, and Kuang Ye, and prepare to return the army!"

Hearing this, the soldiers of the vanguard camp in the distance were immediately delighted and shouted loudly.

"Yes!"

Inside the carriage.

Zhang Fu, Fan Zhong, and Kuang Ye looked at the pale-faced young emperor.

The three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This young master finally knows fear!

Knowing fear is good!

It is better than being captured by the Tatars!

Zhang Fu, Fan Zhong, and Kuang Ye immediately drafted the shortest route for the return march: withdrawing from Yanghe to Tianzhen, and then passing through Xuanfu to return to Juyong Pass.

The two hundred thousand Ming army troops departed from Yanghe and immediately withdrew to Tianzhen at the fastest speed.

However, Zhu Qizhen's return journey was obviously not as smooth as imagined.

Just as the Ming army had just withdrawn to Tianzhen.

The Oirat cavalry, which had originally rushed out of the Great Wall via Datong, suddenly broke through the pass at Yanghe and entered again.

Even though Zhu Qizhen had issued the order to withdraw the army half a month earlier than in the original history.

They were still caught up by the Oirats in the Tianzhen area, just as in history.

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Great-Grandfather, Ancestral Grandfather, something is wrong! Why were they able to catch up with us first!"

Upon seeing this message from Zhu Qizhen.

Both Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang felt a "thump" in their hearts.

Zhu Qizhen had not marched according to history.

Yet the Oirats still latched on.

What does this indicate?

Almost simultaneously, a word floated into the minds of Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"An insider!"

Within the Ming army, there must absolutely be an insider for Esen!

The Oirat cavalry, which had suddenly returned, clearly caught the Ming army off guard.

Since last night, the Ming army had vaguely shown signs of disintegration.

Emperor Yingzong Rui:

"Great-Grandfather, Ancestral Grandfather, speak! Just now, Esen almost charged right up to me!"

"Your son does not wish to be taken north to herd sheep!"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, father and son, sent messages almost simultaneously.

Emperor Taizu Gao / Emperor Chengzu Wen:

"Shut up!"

Emperor Chengzu Wen:

"Need time to think of a plan, don't we? I'll find people to come to the palace to discuss!"

Taizu Gao Emperor:

"We'll go find Fu Youde and the others now. You, boy, even if you must die, you must die in the main camp!"

"You are the Emperor, the Son of Heaven! If even you lose your composure, what should the soldiers below do?! Wait to die?!"

After Zhu Yuanzhang scolded him roundly from head to toe.

Zhu Qizhen finally managed to calm down.

And the Ming army pitched their main camp right there on the spot.

On the other side, Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang each began to act.

During the Yongle era.

Zhu Di, dressed in light gray hemp robes, stood with hands on hips before the sand table.

Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaosui, along with Duke of Ying Zhang Fu and a host of other military generals, were all summoned by Zhu Di into the palace.

"I've told you the situation. What to do next? Come up with a plan."

"Prince of Han!"

Zhu Gaoxu, standing alone nearby, was startled by Zhu Di's shout.

"No, Father, is there anything left to discuss? Retreat quickly!"

"The fortresses of Xuan and Da are all lost. The military camp has been infiltrated like a sieve. How can we fight this war?"

Zhu Di, with a gloomy face, looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said,

"If I could retreat, would I still need to find you?!"

In the end, it was Zhu Gaochi who looked at the sand table before him and said,

"Father, your son dares to speak: if the war has reached this point..."

"... then forget about these soldiers. The foundation of the state is paramount. The urgent task now is to rescue the Emperor immediately."

"Soldiers can be trained again; generals can be recruited again. But if the Emperor is lost, it will shake the very bones of the nation and the people!"

Zhu Di, with a gloomy face, stared at the sand table and gritted his teeth, speaking in a low voice,

"Is there no way to save the entire army?!"

Two hundred thousand soldiers of the Capital Camp.

This was the entire fortune Zhu Di had accumulated over a lifetime!

Now, Zhu Qizhen still had a chance to flee.

But once he fled,

this small fortune he left for his descendants,

would be utterly squandered!