Chapter 1705: We Are Going to Destroy the Northern Yuan!

On the eighth day of the sixth month in the first year of Chongzhen, early morning.

At the foot of Baideng Mountain, on the east bank of the Yu River, a roar of fury suddenly erupted from the newly erected main camp of the Ming army — the voice of Zhu Youjian, the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, whose valor surpassed the entire host.

"What is the meaning of this? How did Hutudun Khan turn into a woman? The one We captured was clearly Hutudun Khan! How did he become a woman — this is a woman, right? Has anyone checked?"

It turned out that Zhu Youjian, who had spent the entire night on the battlefield slaughtering Tartars of the Chakhar tribe, had just withdrawn his troops to camp — and the moment he returned, he discovered he had been deceived!

The Ligdan Baghatur he had finally shot from behind with a sneaky arrow had somehow turned into a fair-skinned, beautiful Mongol woman. This was truly a case of "blink and the old hen turns into a duck." Zhu Youjian was now an enlightened sovereign — how could he allow such a thing to happen? He immediately flew into a rage!

Wu Sangui, standing nearby, looked utterly aggrieved at Zhu Youjian's words — what did he mean, "the one We captured"? It was clearly this subject who captured her! And she was already a Mongol woman when captured — there was absolutely no substitution.

"Your Majesty, this slave has examined her. She is indeed a woman — full-bosomed and round-hipped, fair and tender-skinned, has borne children, and has a large lump on the back of her head, likely from striking the ground when she fell from her horse, but it is of no serious consequence."

The speaker was Liu Yingkun, and his examination had been truly meticulous — and highly professional, clearly the work of a man from the palace!

"Your Majesty, she was like this when captured," Wu Sangui hurried forward to explain, but halfway through he noticed Zhu Youjian's gaze had turned rather grim, so he hastily added, "What you captured was a female khan — she was like this when captured. At the time you were wholly absorbed in killing the enemy and did not take notice."

Zhu Youjian snorted coldly, thinking to himself: You're a smooth talker, boy, but you cannot fool Us. We know you are a treacherous minister!

Although Zhu Youjian did not believe Wu Sangui, he still realized he had captured the wrong person. Though, on reflection, it made sense — that runaway khan Ligdan Baghatur, where would he get such audacity to challenge Us to single combat?

With that thought, Zhu Youjian strode over to the bound "female khan" and looked down at her. The "female khan" knelt on the ground, head high and chest out, but her eyes were closed, as if prepared to die a martyr's death.

"Who are you? Why did you impersonate Ligdan Baghatur to do battle with Us?" Zhu Youjian opened his mouth and out came Mongol!

Of course he could speak Mongol — in his previous life there had been quite a few Mongol beauties in his harem, all sent into the palace by that filial son Zhu San, among them women of the Chakhar tribe, and Zhu Youjian had learned Mongol from them.

The Grand Princess of the Uriankhai did not know she had been ambushed by Zhu Youjian's sneaky shot, nor even that it was Wu Sangui who had captured her. So she still held genuine respect for this young Ming emperor — this Zhu Youjian was truly a warrior! The foremost warrior of the Great Ming, none other than he! Far stronger than her own runaway-khan brother.

So now, hearing Zhu Youjian question her in Mongol, she opened her eyes and looked at the Zhu Emperor. Zhu Youjian had removed his helmet but still wore his golden armor, and on the armor plates there were even several broken arrows stuck, along with bloodstains of unknown origin!

So Zhu Youjian really had fought hand-to-hand for several hours last night!

And after shooting away all his arrows, Zhu Youjian had swung his saber and cut down several armed herders of the Chakhar tribe. The reason he did this was, in truth, to surpass that unfilial son in martial valor! That unfilial son might be skilled at war, but he had never personally led the charge, donned armor, and plunged into the enemy ranks.

So Zhu Youjian was determined to be a true mounted Son of Heaven who could take the field and slay the enemy!

The Grand Princess of the Uriankhai admired warriors, and at that moment she sighed softly: "I never thought a boy-emperor like you could be so valiant. Very well — to die at your hands, I, Uriankhai, Grand Princess of the Northern Yuan, can close my eyes in peace!"

The moment Zhu Youjian heard the name "Uriankhai," he gave a bitter smile: "Oh, so you are Uriankhai, the Princess of the Central Army's Ten Thousand Households of the Chakhar tribe!"

In his previous life, Zhu Youjian had suffered at this woman's hands!

After Guiyingqia was assassinated by Fang Zikun, it was this madwoman who led the Chakhar Central Army's Ten Thousand Households to breach the Datong border wall and charge straight to the walls of Datong, catching the Great Ming completely off guard. This time you have fallen into Our grasp, Zhu Youjian laughed coldly in his heart — just watch how We deal with you!

"Uriankhai," Zhu Youjian still wore the bearing of a hero on his face as he smiled, "your man Guiyingqia was slain by Us, and you too were captured alive by Us. If you refuse to accept it, shall we have another contest?"

Uriankhai knew she was no match for Zhu Youjian, but she would not show weakness either, and merely gave a cold laugh: "Since you could slay Guiyingqia in battle, I certainly cannot defeat you. Kill me if you will, or hack me to pieces — do as you please!"

Zhu Youjian smiled: "You are a stubborn-tongued woman, but We will neither kill you nor hack you to pieces. The one We intend to deal with is your brother Ligdan Baghatur! He is the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan, and We are the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming. Our two houses have fought for over two hundred and eighty years — reckoning from Zhu Yuanzhang's joining the Red Turbans — and it is time for a final reckoning!

Last night he already lost one battle, yet he still has not fled, and remains encamped on Baideng Mountain. He truly is a khan destined to lose his nation! When he should not flee, he runs faster than a rabbit; when he should flee, he refuses to run.

We shall rest for one day, and tomorrow We march forth to attack Baideng Mountain, slay your brother, and extinguish the legitimate line of the Northern Yuan Great Khan!"

Hearing Zhu Youjian speak thus, Uriankhai's heart trembled. She had assumed Zhu Youjian still wanted to win over the Chakhar tribe to jointly resist the Jurchens, so all her talk of killing and hacking was bravado — in her heart she had been perfectly confident. She had not expected Zhu Youjian to be clamoring to extinguish the legitimate line of the Northern Yuan!

And what was her brother Ligdan Baghatur thinking? Why did he not flee last night? The Ming army had gone berserk, and yet he did not run — was he waiting to be beaten?

But the Grand Princess Uriankhai was still somewhat unwilling to accept it, and through gritted teeth she asked: "Emperor Zhu, the Jianzhou Jurchens are also thinking of destroying our Great Yuan so they can swallow up the Mongols. Are you not afraid that once the Jurchens swallow the Mongols they will grow even stronger, and in the end seize the realm of your Great Ming?"

"Not afraid!" How could Zhu Youjian possibly fear the Jianzhou slaves?

He had that unfilial son to back him up, and the filial Zhu San, and the Fourth and Fifth — every one of them so formidable — and he had also discovered that he himself had become formidable too. What was there to fear from the Jianzhou slaves?

Zhu Youjian laughed heartily: "We are no rat like Ligdan Baghatur. We are the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming — how could We fear the Jianzhou slaves!"

Uriankhai was still somewhat defiant, and snorted: "My brother Ligdan Baghatur is not so easily defeated!"

Zhu Youjian smiled: "Uriankhai, tomorrow We shall let you witness how the celestial troops of the Great Ming defeat the remnants of the Northern Yuan!"

Having said this, Zhu Youjian turned to Liu Yingkun: "Arrange a clean tent for the Grand Princess Uriankhai, guard her carefully, and allow no mishap."

After having Liu Yingkun take the Grand Princess Uriankhai away, Zhu Youjian had his armor removed, then sat down inside his own tent and summoned his subordinate generals for a council of war.

Yesterday's battle had been a complete victory with rich spoils — the heads turned in alone numbered in the thousands, the prisoners taken also numbered in the thousands, and in addition more than twenty thousand cavalry of the Chakhar auxiliary tribes had fled out through the Datong border wall, while many Han commoners who had been carried off by the Chakhar tribe had escaped.

So the generals who came to report all wore expressions of delight — although tens of thousands of the Chakhar tribe still squatted foolishly on Baideng Mountain, the overall situation was already decided!

In the Battle of Datong, Ligdan Baghatur had already suffered a crushing defeat!

After hearing his subordinates report their merits one by one, Zhu Youjian waved his hand with a smile: "Rewards — all shall receive generous rewards! The army before the tent does not count first merits, but victory in battle still brings rewards. We shall consider both merit and toil, and bestow rewards as appropriate. As for the Datong garrison troops, once the heads have been tallied and verified, silver shall be issued immediately!"

He paused. "Rest for one day today, tally the merits, and distribute the reward silver. Tomorrow we march on Baideng Mountain!"

"Your Majesty," Man Gui cautioned, "although Baideng Mountain is not particularly steep, it is still high ground, and the Chakhar tribe has been fortifying it for some days. I fear it will not be easy to assault."

"We have a plan," Zhu Youjian smiled. "Pass the order to all units: build shield carts! We shall learn from the Jianzhou slaves this once, and push shield carts to assault Baideng Mountain!"

(End of Chapter)