Chapter 75

"Your son receives the imperial decree..."

Having spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang roared at the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eunuchs outside the hall.

"Summon all from the Ministry of War of the fifth rank and above, and all Mobile Corps Commanders and Generals of the Five Military Commissions to enter the palace!"

"Do not delay even a fraction!"

Once Zhu Yuanzhang's decree was issued, the entire Jin Ling trembled.

Within the entire court, almost every general who knew warfare was summoned into the palace by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Everyone looked around in shock, asking questions.

No one heard of such a great war in the Great Ming!

Why summon them to the palace suddenly?

When Fu Youde and others arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang had already ordered people to set up a huge sand table inside the Qianqing Palace.

And in the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang, with disheveled hair, looked at the crowd before him and shouted loudly.

"I summoned you here to simulate a great battle."

Recently, it had already spread throughout Jingcheng.

That Zhu Yuanzhang was simulating the fate of the Great Ming.

Often asking about things two hundred years in the future.

Thus, Fu Youde and others were not too surprised.

Only Fu Youde stepped forward and asked.

"May I ask Your Majesty, how many troops does our Great Ming prepare to send for this battle, where are the recruits from, when and where will the battle take place, and what is the commander's level?"

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said.

"This battle involves two forces."

"The first, led by a scholar, is surrounded by one hundred thousand Jurchens at Songshan in Liaoxi; estimate the combat power of this force as the remnants of the nine border defenses during our Hongwu era."

"The second, you should treat as Lan Yu leading the army to reinforce, with one hundred thousand combat troops and one hundred fifty thousand support troops."

Hearing this, Fu Youde was stunned.

He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some confusion and asked.

"Your Majesty, may I ask, is the force led by Lan Yu the Lan Family Army?"

If the troops Lan Yu brings are the Lan Family Army.

If they don't make those one hundred thousand Jurchens shit themselves, it can only be counted as these people having a clean bowel movement.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned tightly, shook his head, and sighed.

"Just treat them as the Damingde Sect of our Great Ming, all holding the rank of National Defender, General, or Commandery Prince, totaling two hundred and fifty thousand men."

"Trained for one month using the Lan Family Army's training methods."

The corner of Fu Youde's mouth twitched slightly.

His heart felt like ten thousand horses galloping.

Your Majesty.

You could have just said you dragged out two hundred and fifty thousand useless people.

Why specifically mention the Lan Family Army's training methods?

The Lan Family Army's training methods require at least three years to form an army.

With just one month, they have barely learned to stand in formation!

In the vast Qianqing Palace, everyone looked at each other.

Zhu Yuanzhang, somewhat angry, stared at the group of generals before him and asked displeasedly.

"Simulate it!"

"Why is everyone silent!"

Fu Youde and others stood outside the sand table, each bowing their heads in silence.

What the hell is there to simulate!

The Jurchens surround Songshan, why don't they attack?

They are just waiting for your reinforcements!

This typical tactic of besieging a point to ambush reinforcements has no tactics to speak of.

It is a contest of who is less afraid of death.

Whoever chickens out loses.

These two hundred and fifty thousand men are clearly a sentence of certain death...

Fu Youde struggled to lift his head, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Your Majesty, this, this difficulty is a bit high, how about we change the attributes of these two hundred and fifty thousand people? Enhance them?"

"No need to strengthen them into border troops; I think if we replace them with the Shandong Coastal Defense Army, this battle can be fought..."

The dukes and marquises behind immediately agreed.

"Yes, replace them with the Coastal Defense Army, and it should be fightable."

"Not just fightable! Give us two hundred and fifty thousand Coastal Defense Army troops, and we can dig up the ancestral graves of these Tatars!"

"..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at these few pieces of material before him with a solemn expression.

Replace them with the Coastal Defense Army?!

Do you really think we are playing a game here with you?!

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up a bamboo rod and struck the sand table viciously, roaring fiercely,

"Matters of life and death—how can they simply be swapped?!"

"If we could swap them, we'd just swap them for the elite troops of the Nine Frontiers, wouldn't we?!"

"Would we still need to ask you lot?!"

Fu Youde glanced at the people behind him, then raised his head, looking at Old Zhu with a bitter smile,

"Your Majesty, this battle... I'm afraid it cannot be fought..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked around, gritting his teeth as he asked,

"Then if one battle results in over thirty Princes of the Blood dead or wounded, what do you think the public sentiment and army morale of our Great Ming will be like after this battle?"

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

Fu Youde whispered from the side,

"Your Majesty, I dare not speak for how the public sentiment will be."

"But the army morale..."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared coldly at Fu Youde and asked,

"How is the army morale?"

Fu Youde spoke in a low voice,

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten? The current Northern Yuan at 0.3 is exactly like this?"

Hearing Fu Youde's words, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly remembered.

That's right!

After the Battle of Buir Lake, Lan Yu captured Di Baonu, the Northern Yuan Wu Wang, the Empress, and the Empress Dowager; counting the Commandery Princes, there were only a dozen or so Princes in total.

What is the current army morale of the Northern Yuan?

Can that even be called an army anymore?!

Thinking this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression instantly became grotesque.

Pointing at the sand table before him, he spoke in a low voice,

"Save the army..."

"We do not seek victory, but you must devise a method to save the army for us!"

"Issue the edict: from today onward, court sessions are suspended."

"Only when you think of a method to save the army will we resume court."

"We will stay here and watch you deliberate!"

Fu Youde raised his head, about to speak.

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Fu Youde with a single look, sending him back into silence.