Chapter 166: Zhu Ying: What? I almost became Zhu Biao's son-in-law?

"The host possesses 12 ordinary treasure chests, 5 First Rank treasure chests, and 1 Second Rank treasure chest."

The panel's prompt sounded in Zhu Ying's ear.

"A rich harvest."

Zhu Ying carried excitement, looking at so many treasure chests, his eyes instantly lighting up.

A full eighteen treasure chests!

These were all obtained by Zhu Ying killing enemies and beheading generals in this battle.

Besides beheading many Yuan army war generals.

There was also the battle result of the total number of enemies killed exceeding 11,000.

"Eighteen treasure chests."

"Don't know what good things can be opened."

Just as Zhu Ying was full of joy, preparing to start opening the treasure chests to see how his luck was this time.

"Report!"

A voice came from outside the camp tent.

"Reporting to the General, the Grand General, Prince Yan and the others have arrived."

Xiao Han's voice carried respect as he reported.

"Fine, open them next time."

Zhu Ying heard this and came back to his senses.

The excitement and anticipation of opening the treasure chests were also restrained, replaced by calmness.

He stood up immediately and walked toward the outside of the camp with large strides.

Just out of the camp tent.

What came into view were Guo Ying, Zhu Di, and Li Jinglong, surrounded by a group of personal guards.

When they saw Zhu Ying, all three were stunned.

Illuminated by the torchlight of the surrounding torches, Zhu Ying was soaked in blood, dark red blood stains almost covering Zhu Ying's entire body, and even his face was covered in blood stains, making his appearance somewhat unclear; he was truly a killing god who had killed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"General Zhu, are you alright?"

Li Jinglong was the first to come back to his senses, his face full of concern, walking up quickly, his eyes fixed on Zhu Ying, as if to confirm whether Zhu Ying was injured.

It could be seen.

Now Li Jinglong was completely an admirer of Zhu Ying; in his heart, Zhu Ying, whether it was his bravery on the battlefield or his ability to command troops, had long become a

"It's all Tatar blood; I am fine."

Zhu Ying replied with a smile, though this smile, set against the backdrop of bloodstains, appeared somewhat ferocious.

This look would definitely scare a child into crying.

Upon hearing this, Li Jinglong scanned Zhu Ying carefully again. Looking at the latter's blood-stained body, yet failing to find a single wound belonging to Zhu Ying himself, his admiration for Zhu Ying grew by a few more notches in his heart.

"General Zhu is truly brave and invincible."

Li Jinglong said with a look of deep emotion, his tone full of exclamation and praise: "Leading the army to charge at the very front, being the first to face the enemy, and yet remaining unscathed—I am truly impressed."

"Indeed impressive." Guo Ying also walked up at this moment, likewise wearing a look of admiration: "When I followed the Emperor to conquer the world in the past, I considered myself to have seen countless heroes."

"But compared to General Zhu, in my memory, no one can compare to him."

"Although I am many years older than General Zhu, today's battle has truly made me submit to General Zhu."

Hearing Guo Ying's praise.

"The Grand General is too kind."

Zhu Ying immediately replied with a smile and a cupped-fist salute, his expression humble, showing complete modesty.

Although he looked modest, Zhu Ying's blood-stained body was precisely the proof of his battle merits, which could not be hidden.

"This is not me being too kind, but the fact of the matter."

Guo Ying waved his hand, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes: "Sigh, it is a pity that General Zhu is already married; otherwise, I would really want to betroth my granddaughter to General Zhu."

"That is because this subordinate married too early." Zhu Ying replied with a laugh, a perfectly measured smile on his face, cleverly defusing this slightly awkward topic.

"However, General Zhu might not know."

"Even if General Zhu were not married, it might not have been my granddaughter's turn."

"The current Crown Prince holds General Zhu in high regard. If General Zhu had not been married, perhaps you would have truly become the Crown Prince's son-in-law." Guo Ying said with a smile again.

Once these words fell.

Zhu Ying was also stunned: "The Crown Prince's son-in-law?"

"Grand General, where did this rumor come from?"

This remark.

Clearly startled Zhu Ying.

And Zhu Di, who was on the side, was also slightly surprised, his gaze changing.

"Haha."

"This is not a rumor I spread, but it has already spread throughout the Ying Tian imperial court."

"Originally, the Crown Prince had the intention to recruit General Zhu as his son-in-law."

"But hearing that General Zhu was married in Daning, he gave up on it." Guo Ying said with a loud laugh.

"So that's how it is."

Zhu Ying nodded in sudden realization, thinking to himself: "Brother Biao values me too much, actually having the intention to recruit me as his son-in-law. But fortunately, it didn't happen; otherwise, facing a princess would really be difficult."

"Fortunately, Zhu Ying is married; otherwise, he would have been completely tied to the Eastern Palace." Zhu Di also felt a sense of relief in his heart.

Subsequently.

Zhu Ying changed the tone and switched to another topic. He immediately asked seriously: "Grand General, I wonder how many Yuan troops were captured trapped within the Long Menzhen?"

Asking this, Zhu Ying was exceptionally earnest, his gaze fixed tightly on Guo Ying.

Upon hearing this.

Guo Ying did not hesitate either, immediately saying: "The Yuan troops who entered the Long Menzhen have basically been counted."

"Over 12,000 enemies were beheaded, and over 31,000 were captured."

"And the Long Menzhen also captured nearly 40,000 warhorses."

"And the casualties of our soldiers within the Long Menzhen were no more than a thousand, mostly wounded, with only a few killed in action."

"Such a great victory, I have never encountered in my many years in the military."

"Exchanging a thousand casualties for such a great victory, it has never happened before!"

Speaking up to here.

Guo Ying's tone was full of emotion; he shook his head slightly, as if still immersed in the shock brought by this great victory.

At first, when he heard this number, he couldn't recover for a long time, and even now, he hadn't completely calmed down.

"Grand General."

Zhu Ying raised his head, looked at Guo Ying, a smile appearing on his face, carrying a hint of anticipation: "Since the results of the battle have been achieved, this subordinate has a request."

Guo Ying smiled and immediately said generously: "General Zhu is the great hero of this victory; if you have any requests, just mention them, as long as I can do it."

"This subordinate hopes to prioritize the distribution of the captured warhorses to the Daning border army, allowing the entire Daning border army to become cavalry." Zhu Ying cupped his fists, his body leaning forward slightly, saying very solemnly.

Hearing this.

Li Jinglong and Zhu Di on the side both wore looks of surprise, the two looked at each other, their eyes full of astonishment.

They completely did not expect Zhu Ying to make this request.

All cavalry?

Even though the current Daning border army had fewer than 50,000 troops, there were still over 40,000; for all of them to be cavalry, this far exceeded the scale set by the military system.

But Guo Ying did not have any hesitation; he waved his hand, straightforwardly: "Good! General Li, this matter will be left to you to handle."

"Let the logistics army quickly select enough warhorses and equip the Daning border army."

Li Jinglong immediately bowed, his movements crisp and neat: "This subordinate accepts the order."

Clearly, Li Jinglong also had no objections.

Let alone wanting warhorses.

Even if Zhu Ying wanted absolute command of the army at this moment, he would give it.

This was absolute trust in Zhu Ying.

"General Zhu."

Guo Ying turned his head, looked at Zhu Ying, his eyes carrying a hint of worry: "Warhorses! I will give them to you, but does General Zhu have any idea if the Daning border infantry can handle them?"

"Replying to the Grand General." Zhu Ying smiled confidently and replied: "The soldiers of the Daning border army are all skilled in riding."

As early as the initial training while garrisoning Daning, Zhu Ying had listed riding skills as a skill that the soldiers of the Daning border army must master.

During the initial training.

Zhu Ying directly ordered that the infantry must also learn riding skills.

As a northern frontier region, where vast plains are located, the role that infantry can play is to besiege cities and seize land, and to defend.

And cavalry is the path for advancement; only with cavalry can one give the enemy a truly fatal blow on this vast grassland.

"It seems General Zhu had long since trained the Daning border infantry."

Seeing Zhu Ying so confident, Guo Ying also smiled, understanding instantly.

He nodded slightly, his appreciation for Zhu Ying growing by a few more notches in his eyes.

First the Long Menzhen, then the cavalry training.

Zhu Ying had really prepared a lot for the Northern Expedition.

"General Zhu, I wonder where the head of General Guili Chi is?"

Li Jinglong asked with a look of anticipation.

Upon hearing this.

Zhu Ying did not hesitate either, immediately taking out a blood-stained cloth bundle from behind his back; the blood on the bundle was still dripping continuously, very bloody.

"The head is here." Zhu Ying held the head and handed it to Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong did not have the fear of a pampered young master general; he reached out and took it without any hesitation.

"General Zhu."

Li Jinglong held the bundle tightly, his expression solemn: "We will take this head down later and preserve it with medicinal powder; this will be presented to Ying Tian along with the battle report of General Zhu's merits in this battle."

"This head is the proof of General Zhu's great merit this time."

In his words.

This was also expressing a meaning to Zhu Ying: he would not swallow a single bit of the battle merits, and all of it would be truthfully reported to Ying Tian.

"Not bad."

Guo Ying also immediately added, his expression serious: "I will personally report the statistics of the battle results here to the Emperor, to commend General Zhu's merits."

If there had been no Zhu Ying in this battle, the outcome would truly have been hard to predict.

Guo Ying and Li Jinglong were both grateful to Zhu Ying; they knew deeply that if there had been no Zhu Ying, they would really have been in a difficult spot.

"Thank you, Grand General, thank you, General Li."

Zhu Ying immediately expressed his thanks.

Battle merits were naturally what Zhu Ying wanted, the more the better.

After all, Zhu Ying was still on the warship of the Great Ming, and getting as many benefits as possible was the royal road.

"Prince Yan, do you have nothing to say?"

Li Jinglong turned his head and asked Zhu Di, who had been silent all along.

His eyes carried a hint of doubt, as if he felt somewhat puzzled by Zhu Di's silence.

From the very beginning, Zhu Di seemed not to have appeared too happy.

"General Zhu is so outstanding, and this Prince can only watch from the sidelines, unable to participate in the great battle; this Prince is actually envious in his heart!"

Zhu Di said with a bitter smile, a hint of loneliness flashing in his eyes.

At this moment.

The complexity in his heart was also revealed through this bitter smile.

In his heart, the battlefield had always been the place he yearned for; he longed to be like Zhu Ying, galloping across the battlefield, establishing battle merits, and showing himself in front of his Imperial Father; he was also not inferior to his eldest brother.

However, the status of an Imperial Prince had become his constraint.

"Prince Yan is an Imperial Prince, with a noble status."

Regarding Zhu Di's complaint, Guo Ying also said helplessly.

His voice paused.

Guo Ying sighed slightly, his eyes carrying awe: "I would not dare to let Prince Yan personally go to the battlefield; otherwise, if there were any damage, I would have no way to answer to the Emperor."

This was not a small-scale war, but the Northern Expedition of the Great Ming; the national strength of the Northern Yuan was not weak, and if Zhu Di were damaged, that would be a great crime; Guo Ying would not dare to do anything reckless.

"Grand General, this subordinate naturally knows."

Zhu Di sighed, lowered his head slightly, the loneliness in his eyes becoming even more intense.

As an Imperial Prince, he enjoyed glory and wealth, but he also lost a lot of freedom, especially the opportunity to build a career on the battlefield.

Of course.

This was only what he, Zhu Di, thought; other vassal princes might not think so.

"Grand General, Prince Yan."

Li Jinglong smiled, looked at the two, and said: "Today's day of killing, General Zhu and the soldiers of the Daning border army are already exhausted; let them have a good rest first."

"Better not to disturb them. Let's go and discuss the next strategy for the march."

Now that the great battle was over, there were many follow-up matters to deal with, and Li Jinglong was naturally not worried.

In this battle, Zhu Ying had already achieved a great result for the Great Ming!

Next, they only needed to advance steadily.

"General Zhu."

Guo Ying also turned his head and said to Zhu Ying: "You rest well first. Now that the 100,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Yuan have been routed, you can also rest well for a few days; I will arrange the remaining march properly."

"This subordinate accepts the order." Zhu Ying immediately replied, and did not refuse.

"General Zhu, rest well."

Zhu Di also smiled and expressed his concern.

Subsequently.

The three of them, under the guard of their personal guards, turned and left this military camp.

"Zhu Di, it can be seen that he is indeed very yearning for the battlefield."

Zhu Ying looked at the backs of the three leaving, muttering to himself: "No wonder he was always launching Northern Expeditions after his successful rebellion; one reason was to smooth over the trouble of not being the rightful successor, and the second was also to fulfill his own dream of being a military general."

"I wonder, with my appearance, will the future change?"

Zhu Ying thought secretly in his heart, carrying contemplation.

After being disturbed by Guo Ying and the others, Zhu Ying was indeed a bit tired, so he simply returned to his tent to rest.

The Northern Expedition army, Marquis Lan Yu's tent!

"General, the situation is like this."

A scouting general said with a solemn expression: "The Northern Yuan has deployed heavy troops in several guard cities of the Yuan capital, the troop strength is not small, seemingly several times that of our army."

"Wanting to break the city head-on is almost impossible."

"Perhaps we can only wait until we join forces with the Grand General to have a plan."

The voice fell.

"Yes." Chang Mao and other Huaixi generals said with looks of difficulty; they shook their heads one after another, their faces full of worry, very solemn.

"The Yuan army's troop strength is too much, and they are also defending based on the city; wanting to break the city is too difficult."

Chang Mao sighed heavily.

Now, Marquis Lan Yu's 100,000-plus army was in a stalemate with the Yuan army, unable to advance or retreat.

If they attacked, the Yuan army's troop strength was too much, and they had city defenses.

The Yuan army that had retreated from the border cities in the past had all gathered in these guard cities of the Yuan capital.

Besides this.

If they retreated, the Yuan army would surely advance.

If the news reached Ying Tian, that would definitely be a crime of dereliction of duty.

So now Marquis Lan Yu could only remain in a stalemate here, with no other way.

"Alright."

Marquis Lan Yu waved his hand helplessly, his voice also carrying a kind of fatigue and powerlessness.

The discussion in the tent also settled down, everyone became quiet, and the atmosphere was very oppressive.

"This time, it was ultimately the imperial court's Ministry of War that miscalculated the true troop strength of the Northern Yuan."

Marquis Lan Yu said with a serious face: "Our Great Ming sent 300,000 troops, originally thinking we could defeat the Northern Yuan in one fell swoop and achieve victory, but although the Northern Yuan is declining, its national strength still exists, and the Northern Yuan imperial court can still command the various tribes of the Northern Yuan."

"Wanting to succeed in the Northern Expedition this time, first, we must solve those 100,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Yuan! Second, we must use the full strength of our 300,000 Great Ming army, and continue to mobilize more troops to fight a war of attrition with the Northern Yuan, consuming the Northern Yuan's supplies and baggage, only then can we break the Yuan."

Marquis Lan Yu said in a deep voice, thinking about the countermeasures for later.

This kind of stalemate.

This is like when Zhuge Liang was on the Northern Expedition during the Three Kingdoms period, Sima Yi avoided battle and defended the city to the death.

With Marquis Lan Yu's strategic vision, this time it was also the same.

After all.

The Northern Yuan still had cities to defend, still had enough troops to defend, and even more cavalry to support.

Wanting to win by battle, one must use absolute strength, and rely on the national strength of the Great Ming to thoroughly exhaust the Northern Yuan to death.

"The Northern Yuan's troop strength sounds indeed very large, 300,000 to 400,000, but in reality, those with true combat capability are only that many."

Chang Mao frowned and analyzed: "If there were no 100,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Yuan, perhaps there would be a chance."

"But those 100,000 iron cavalry are lying in front of the Yuan capital, and our army's troop strength is also being held back by these Northern Yuan infantry."

"Relying on the Daning and Beiping under Li Jinglong's command, and that Huizhouwei which reorganized the surrendered troops, it is simply impossible to be the opponent of these 100,000 iron cavalry."

Chang Mao said very affirmatively, his face also equally ugly.

This battle situation had completely entered a state of scorching, as if trapped in a dead end, making them unable to see the hope of defeating the Yuan army.

"100,000 Northern Yuan iron cavalry, this is the capital for the Northern Yuan to intimidate the tribes under its command; the Yuan Emperor is really anxious this time, actually giving up on intimidating those tribes and mobilizing this elite force."

Marquis Lan Yu glanced at Chang Mao and said again.

"The Northern Yuan iron cavalry is unparalleled in the world; our Great Ming cavalry is not an opponent, and our Great Ming's expeditionary army this time simply does not have so many cavalry."

"Facing this Northern Yuan iron cavalry in this battle, we will surely lose!"

Marquis Lan Yu knew clearly in his heart that the prestige of the Northern Yuan iron cavalry was by no means an empty name; wanting to defeat them, how could it be easy.

"Perhaps, we can only ask the Grand General to decide."

Chang Mao suggested, he raised his head slightly and looked at Marquis Lan Yu: "This battle situation is completely deadlocked."

"En." Marquis Lan Yu nodded; now perhaps this was all they could do, sighing slightly, his heart full of helplessness and fatigue.

Just as they were discussing this military secret, a sudden sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the camp, breaking the oppressive atmosphere in the tent.

"General."

A messenger soldier quickly entered the tent, bowed, and held up a military order with both hands: "The Grand General has sent an emergency military order."

"Present it." Marquis Lan Yu immediately waved his hand, his face changing slightly.

Looking at it this way, something must have happened, which is why there would be emergency military intelligence.

A sense of ominous foreboding surged in Marquis Lan Yu's heart.

The messenger soldier stepped forward and presented it respectfully.

Marquis Lan Yu quickly took it and looked, opening the military order.

The moment he saw it, the whole person was stunned, looking at the military order in his hand in a daze, as if unable to recover.

His eyes widened, full of shock and disbelief, as if he had seen something incredible.

After a while.

"What order does the Grand General have?" Chang Mao immediately asked with concern, his eyes full of worry: "Did they encounter the Northern Yuan iron cavalry?"

"The Northern Yuan iron cavalry has been routed!"

Marquis Lan Yu gripped the military order, his face complex.

This line.

This voice even carried a kind of shock, and complexity.

"General, you didn't say it wrong, did you?"

Chang Mao couldn't help but speak out, his tone full of astonishment: "That is 100,000 Northern Yuan iron cavalry, the most elite army of the Northern Yuan."

"Li Jinglong only has less than 150,000 troops under his command, and infantry occupies the majority; facing them head-on, it is simply impossible to be the opponent of the Northern Yuan iron cavalry."

"This time, the Northern Yuan deployed iron cavalry at its royal pasture, there is simply no danger, no mountain range to rely on."

"Infantry facing cavalry, they will surely lose."

"How can this be possible to rout the Northern Yuan iron cavalry?"

When saying this.

Chang Mao's face was full of shock and doubt.

Clearly, although this news was good news, it sounded so hard to believe.

Not only Chang Mao, but the group of generals in the tent were all looking at each other, unable to believe it.

Seeing this.

"Zhu Ying set up the Long Menzhen, which specializes in restraining cavalry attacks in the past, carefully deployed the formation with 100,000 troops, lured nearly 50,000 Northern Yuan cavalry into the formation, and greatly consumed the strength of the Northern Yuan iron cavalry."

Marquis Lan Yu calmed down and began to tell, his expression complex.

Hearing this.

The generals frowned one after another, their faces full of confusion, but none of them spoke, continuing to listen.

"Afterwards, Zhu Ying personally led 30,000 Daning cavalry and 10,000 Beiping cavalry to face the remaining Northern Yuan cavalry."

Marquis Lan Yu continued, his tone unconsciously carrying a hint of admiration.

"With just this little troop strength, he dared to take the initiative to attack?"

"And face the Northern Yuan iron cavalry?" Chang Mao frowned; hearing Zhu Ying, he felt unhappy in his heart.

"Although the troop strength was more than 10,000 less than the Northern Yuan, Zhu Ying led the army to charge the Northern Yuan cavalry head-on, personally beheaded the Northern Yuan Grand General Guili Chi, severely damaged the Northern Yuan cavalry, and finally won the battle."

When Marquis Lan Yu said this, his voice also revealed a bit of indescribable feeling.

For a time.

The tent fell into a deathly silence.

This battle result.

Too shocking.

"How could it be?"

"How on earth did he do it?"

Chang Mao's expression was even more complex.

"Now, the name of the Northern Yuan cavalry being the best in the world has already changed hands."

"The best cavalry in the world is now the Great Ming iron cavalry."

"The biggest crisis of this battle has already been solved by Zhu Ying."

"The 100,000 Northern Yuan iron cavalry have been routed."

Marquis Lan Yu's expression was complex, his gaze slowly swept across the generals in the tent, and he said loudly.

After finishing speaking.

Marquis Lan Yu had a kind of unspeakable bitterness in his heart; but speaking of bitterness, he didn't know where to start.

Towards Zhu Ying, he was naturally very hostile, even regarding him as an enemy, regarding him as an opponent.

But as a battle general in the military, seeing such a shocking battle result with his own eyes, Marquis Lan Yu's heart was also hard to calm down.

100,000 Northern Yuan iron cavalry!

The most elite existence of the Northern Yuan!

It was the Northern Yuan elite force that Marquis Lan Yu thought was simply impossible to defeat, and it was actually routed by Zhu Ying in such an almost impossible way.

This fact left Marquis Lan Yu speechless, and even more, it plunged him into a kind of self-doubt.

(End of Chapter)