Chapter 71

Wang Pu, the Regional Commander of Datong, was the first to sense that the situation had turned unfavorable, just as in history.

Wang Pu's troops immediately began preparing boats again to start their retreat westward.

And just as Wang Pu was the first domino to fall, the second to retreat west was Li Fuming, the Regional Commander of Shanxi.

However, this time, both Wang Pu and Li Fuming were fighting with their backs to the water.

The Ming army had also prepared a large number of boats in advance.

Therefore, a vast amount of baggage and supplies was not abandoned.

Nor did a particularly severe rout occur on the westward retreat.

On Huang Taiji's side, having committed his entire force, the Eight Banners soldiers, who possessed very few naval troops to begin with, simply threw all their boats onto the docks and mounted their horses to join the battle.

Watching friendly forces withdraw one after another behind him.

Even though Cao Bianjiao had the heart to kill the enemy, he could only heave long sighs.

Finally, under Bai Guangen's strong persuasion.

Cao Bianjiao could only return his troops in a sullen mood.

Watching the Ming army gradually retreat in disarray, the Eight Banners army, which had originally been somewhat apprehensive, immediately became excited.

"I thought these Han people had been pumped up with chicken blood, but aren't they still the same as before?"

"These people are truly like mud that cannot be plastered onto a wall; such fine armor is a pity."

"Your Majesty, hurry and cross the river; even my bannermen are lacking armor!"

"..."

Meanwhile, in the Songshan camp on the other side.

Hong Hong Chengchou, who had been thoroughly stunned by Huang Taiji, looked in shock at the memorials sent back by the various Regional Commanders.

He immediately hid in the central command tent and, just as in the original history, sent an urgent memorial to the court.

The wheel of history, with its powerful inertia, slapped the civil and military officials of the Great Ming hard.

Liaoxi is in dire emergency! Songshan is in dire emergency! Guanning is in dire emergency!

68, the imperial clan mobilizes!

Memorials from Songshan poured into Jingcheng like snowflakes.

Breaking the rare calm of the Chongzhen reign.

The state machinery, which Zhu Youjian, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Su Qiao had painstakingly patched together, now faced a situation of imminent collapse once again.

What Zhu Youjian did not know was.

The current situation in Songshan.

Was already far better than Songshan's fate in the original history.

In the original history, Songshan had lost all its baggage and supplies and grain, and the city only fell after Huang Taiji besieged it until the people inside began eating each other.

But Songshan at this moment had not only retained almost all its grain and supplies but also more than half of its firearms.

The entire Songshan was now thoroughly armed to the teeth.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, held Hong Chengchou's memorial and clasped his hands, saying,

"Your Majesty, Songshan is in dire emergency; all thirteen hundred thousand troops are trapped in Songshan. If the troops in Songshan are not rescued, the state may face the danger of collapse!"

Zhu Youjian, expressionless, coldly stared at the crowd of ministers before him who had already turned into chaos.

The state collapsing?

Is this merely a matter of the state collapsing?!

With even a slight mishap, the Great Ming would be handed over right here!

The Great Ming at present has neither troops capable of fighting nor generals capable of fighting.

Generals of the old, middle, and young generations are all in Songshan.

If Songshan falls, Zhu Youjian could truly step away from the keyboard with both hands.

The civil and military officials, who had originally hoped for a great victory in Liaodong to quickly retrieve their silver.

Had now fallen into a situation bordering on despair.

Duke of Ying Zhang Zhiji, looking excitedly at Zhu Youjian, said,

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to urgently mobilize troops from all over the realm to relieve the siege of Songshan."

"If Songshan is lost, our silver, and the Great Ming itself, will truly be in imminent peril!"

Zhu Youjian stared fiercely at the ministers below who were scrambling in panic and said numbly in a low voice,

"Have all of you forgotten that outside this Jingcheng, the Great Ming still has a hundred thousand troops?"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiji was stunned.

He raised his head with a look of confusion.

"A hundred thousand troops? Does Your Majesty mean... the various Princes?!"

Upon these words.

The entire court of civil and military officials nearly had their jaws drop.

They knew that Zhu Youjian had locked up all the imperial clan members outside Jingcheng and organized them into the Yulin Guard.

But they never thought Zhu Youjian would actually let these feudal princes go to the battlefield.

At most, they would just squeeze these princes, and when they could no longer endure, force them to spit out the silver from their respective Wang Fu, which would perfectly cover the losses suffered by the entire court after being slaughtered.

Before the entire court of civil and military officials could react.

Zhu Youjian's expression suddenly changed, and he said sternly,

"Wang Chengen!"

"This servant is here!"

"Issue an edict to Grand General Lan at once. The Yulin Guard shall leave the pass immediately, rush to reinforce Songshan, and relieve the siege of Songshan without fail."

"Defeat the enemy in Liaodong, and reclaim our Zhu family's Jiangshan!"

Wang Chengen remained kneeling and said in a clear voice,

"This servant accepts the edict!"

Then Wang Chengen strode out of the Hall of Supreme Clarity with great, rapid steps.

And at this moment, the entire court of civil and military officials finally came back to their senses.

Zhang Zhiji looked at Zhu Youjian with heartfelt sincerity and said,

"Your Majesty, warfare is a matter of life and death — it cannot be treated as child's play."

"These various Princes have long resided in their fiefdoms, and have only drilled for less than a month — and now they are to go into battle to kill the enemy… sigh."

Zhang Zhiji hesitated, wanting to say more but holding back.

He couldn't just come out and say these "imperial scions of noble lineage" were useless, could he?

Watching Zhang Zhiji hem and haw, the current Grand Secretary Wen Tiren shoved Zhang Zhiji aside, squeezed his way in front of Zhu Youjian, and said loudly,

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of state — it cannot be treated as child's play. Songshan already has a force of one hundred and thirty thousand besieged."

"Now sending these one hundred thousand members of the Shiwan Sect to Songshan — isn't that just adding chaos for the court?"

Wen Tiren's unspoken meaning was made very clear.

These one hundred and thirty thousand men are our last coffin savings.

They were already waiting for someone to come rescue them.

And now we're sending another one hundred thousand men over.

Next time won't we have to rescue over two hundred thousand?!

Isn't this purely making things worse?!

Looking at the assembled ministers before him,

a cold smile suddenly appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

"Do all of you ministers look down on the people of my Zhu family this much?"

Once these words were spoken,

the entire court of civil and military officials instantly dropped to their knees.

Who would dare look down on the Zhu family?

Even if every single civil and military official in the court thought so,

not one of them would truly dare say it out loud!