Wang Chengen's face instantly darkened.
"Huh? What did you just say?"
He approached Li Ruolian and stared at him coldly.
"My hearing isn't very good, so I didn't hear it clearly."
"Why don't you say it again?"
Li Ruolian remained expressionless and shook her head, saying:
"If you didn't hear me clearly, then I'll say it again."
"Your subject cannot obey the imperial edict!"
Wang Chengen was furious.
"Are you perhaps holding a grudge? Do you feel that His Majesty failed to protect your status as the top martial arts champion, which is why you are unwilling to obey orders?"
"You really are..."
He raised his finger, pointed it at Li Ruolian's nose, and was about to start cursing.
However, Li Ruolian interrupted him.
“Eunuch Wang, His Majesty’s initial decision to appoint me as the top martial arts scholar was already an act of divine grace.”
"Even if His Majesty was later dissuaded by civil officials, it was not His Majesty's original intention."
"I, Li Ruolian, am grateful beyond measure, how could I possibly hold a grudge against Your Majesty?"
"On the contrary, I would be doing this by not accepting the decree, lest I fail to fulfill the trust placed in me and thus tarnish Your Majesty's wisdom!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen finally calmed down.
"Heh, I didn't expect that you, a mere warrior, would be educated."
"You compare yourself to Zhuge Liang, do you perhaps think that His Majesty is like Liu Shan of the Later Han Dynasty?"
Li Ruolian quickly shook her head.
"Your Majesty is a young and accomplished ruler, far superior to Liu Shan."
"only……"
After hesitating for a while, Li Ruolian repeated her thoughts to Wang Chengen.
Then, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect, he requested:
"Please, Eunuch Wang, convey these words to His Majesty and ask him to rescind his decree!"
"This attack on Liaodong was indeed launched with utmost speed!"
Wang Chengen chuckled.
"Okay, since you're telling me the truth, I won't hide it from you either."
He looked around and saw that no one was coming near.
Then he leaned close to Li Ruolian's ear and whispered:
"The plan to send troops this time was proposed by His Majesty after consulting with Master Gao."
So you can rest assured!
"As long as we follow His Majesty's orders, we will surely achieve a great victory!"
"When you return to the capital in triumph, you will regain your title as the top martial arts champion and His Majesty's appreciation for you."
"The imperial court also won a great victory."
"It's a win-win situation, so don't overthink it!"
Li Ruolian frowned deeply.
"Which Master Gao? Could it be the Master Gao who presented medicine to His Majesty?"
"I heard he's a member of the Donglin Party, how come he's involved in war?"
Wang Chengen was so angry upon hearing this that he almost lost his temper.
"Well, those Donglin Party members are only so-so at doing things, but they're top-notch at stealing credit."
"Master Gao's feelings towards the Donglin Party are... cough cough."
He was halfway through his sentence when he realized that he shouldn't talk about these things carelessly.
Even with Li Ruolian, it's not allowed.
So he quickly stopped talking.
"In short, Master Gao was not a member of the Donglin Party, and he was knowledgeable in astronomy and geography."
"If we're talking about our Great Ming Dynasty, who can be called Zhuge Kongming? It must be Master Gao."
Li Ruolian finally nodded.
"In that case, I'll accept the order!"
A look of surprise appeared in Wang Chengen's eyes.
"Okay, if you had agreed to these things earlier, I wouldn't have had to say so much earlier!"
"Here you go. This is the tiger tally His Majesty gave you. Tomorrow, go to the Ministry of War to collect the other half of the tiger tally, and then quickly lead your troops north."
"Remember, proceed cautiously and steadily, advancing along the fortress."
"If things go wrong, retreat immediately!"
Li Ruolian outwardly accepted the order, but inwardly she sighed.
"Judging from Eunuch Wang's words, that so-called Master Gao must be the person His Majesty trusts the most."
“If I stubbornly refuse to obey, His Majesty will surely send someone else to lead the troops.”
"In that case, I might as well go instead."
The next day, Li Ruolian led his troops out.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty still had a million soldiers on its books.
But in reality, most of them no longer exist.
Even the most elite nine border regions have more than half of their positions vacant.
Therefore, the troops that Li Ruolian brought out of the capital this time, nominally numbering 20,000, actually numbered only 4,000 to 5,000.
Moreover, most of them are elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.
Zhou Yanru stood on the city wall, watching the "army" set off, and a cold smile crept across his face.
"Hmph, the young emperor is indeed still young. I was just using a little trick to provoke him."
"He fell for the trap!"
It turns out that a few days ago, when he led the Donglin Party to stop Zhu Youjian from selecting the top military scholar, it wasn't actually for the sake of ancestral rules.
Instead, they deliberately wanted to see the emperor make a fool of himself.
"The young emperor's rebellious nature indeed led him to entrust Li Ruolian with an important task!"
"But how easy is it to deal with the Jurchens beyond the Great Wall?"
"After Li Ruolian's defeat, not only will he be finished, but the young emperor's prestige will also be completely swept away."
"Even if the young emperor doesn't want to rely on my Donglin Party anymore, that won't work!"
Upon thinking of this, Zhou Yanru burst into laughter.
As for the lives of the thousands of soldiers under Li Ruolian's command, and the thousands of families behind them.
Zhou Yanru completely disregarded the safety of the Ming Dynasty's borders.
Beside Zhou Yanru were other ministers who had come to see him off.
Hearing Zhou Yanru laugh, they couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Scholar Zhou, what are you laughing at?"
Zhou Yanru stroked his beard.
"I am naturally laughing heartily at the impending victory of my Great Ming Dynasty."
The civil officials around him smiled ingratiatingly, just in time.
"That's right, this time the heavenly army will surely achieve great success and rebuild the slave system."
"Our Great Ming Dynasty is invincible under heaven!"
They themselves didn't believe these words, and Zhou Yanru certainly didn't either.
But he laughed even harder.
"Yes, our Great Ming Dynasty is indeed invincible."
"Come with me, and we'll get in touch with all the ministers and have the congratulatory message for the victory written in advance."
"So that it won't be too late when the time comes."
This wasn't just a simple case of bad luck; it was also a way to make Zhu Youjian even more humiliated after the defeat.
After all, the more boastful you are before a fight, the more embarrassed you'll be after a defeat.
The Donglin Party members among the ministers exchanged glances and immediately understood what their leader meant.
"That's right, let's start writing!"
Not long after, Zhu Youjian heard about this and a smug smile appeared on his face.
"Heh heh, it seems these Donglin Party members are afraid of me too!"
"The army has not yet won a victory, and they are already praising me."
"Someone, I want to tell Master Gao this good news!"
At his command, several eunuchs quickly ran over and led the emperor away.
As Gao Qingyun's circle of people gradually grew, the place he used to live in became too small.
So Zhu Youjian simply waved his hand and moved Gao Qingyun and the students to the island in the middle of Taiye Pond.
Then send reliable people, namely deaf-mute eunuchs, to guard the path to the island.
This will prevent those with ulterior motives from spying on Gao Qingyun's existence.
When Zhu Youjian arrived on the island, he happened to see Gao Qingyun already standing on the podium in the newly built school.
He quickly walked over and stood at the door to listen.
When the students saw the emperor arrive, they all stood up to greet him.
But Zhu Youjian waved his hand at them, telling them not to speak.
Although Gao Qingyun heard footsteps approaching, he didn't take it seriously.
They assumed it was just the deaf-mute eunuchs coming again.
He turned around and smiled, as if to say hello.
Then he cleared his throat a few times.
"Ahem, the Little Sunflower Classroom... oh no, it's the first day of classes at our Dahe Village Elementary School."
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