"What exactly is the emperor trying to do?"
Wu Xiang huddled in his chair, looking at the imperial edict delivered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, his face full of helplessness.
"A few months ago, the imperial court issued a secret edict to us, saying that we should be at peace for a few years and not provoke any border conflicts."
"Should the imperial court spend a few years training those old Shaanxi men before going to fight the Jurchens?"
"How come the emperor has changed his mind again after only a few months?"
Although Zhu Youjian was not yet twenty years old.
But after all he's accomplished in the year since he ascended the throne, the civil and military officials in the court no longer dare to underestimate him.
Therefore, the way people secretly addressed Zhu Youjian had evolved from "Little Emperor" to "Emperor Laozi".
Hearing Wu Xiang's complaints, his generals also sighed.
"Who can argue with that?"
"Sigh, that emperor just keeps changing his mind every day!"
Someone whispered:
"My lord, do you think we should follow the imperial decree to send troops, or should we continue to contend with the court?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Xiang glared at the man who spoke and said, "You little brat, do you want to die?"
"The emperor said in the edict that if we don't send troops, the Beijing garrison will be the first to attack our Shanhaiguan Pass."
"Now that things have come to this, how can we continue this tug-of-war?"
Upon hearing this, the man could only nod.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was not at its zenith, but at least as stable as Mount Tai.
Even if they were incredibly audacious, would they dare to disobey the imperial edict and send troops?
The people below won't listen to them either.
It's guaranteed that before the Beijing garrison actually starts attacking Shanhaiguan, those Guan Ning cavalry will have already bound them and handed them over to the imperial court.
"Sigh, it seems we have no choice but to send troops!"
"But if we attack the Jurchens now, I'm afraid the outcome will be disastrous!"
Many people bowed their heads and sighed.
Although the Ming Dynasty had fought the Jurchens twice in the past year, it had gained the upper hand in both battles.
The last time, he even killed Huang Taiji with a single shot.
But these people had already suffered too much at the hands of the Jurchens.
They had already formed a preconceived notion that the Jurchens were invincible.
They all thought that the court's two previous minor victories were just due to good luck.
If we were to launch a large-scale military campaign to fight the Jurchens now, we would certainly suffer more defeats than victories.
Wu Xiang's eyes gleamed as he listened to his subordinate's words.
"Although we must send troops, it doesn't necessarily mean we have to suffer defeat."
Upon hearing his words, those people immediately asked, "General, what makes you say that?"
Wu Xiang first looked around to make sure no outsiders were approaching.
Only then did he dare to speak:
"Gentlemen, I have heard that the morale of the Beijing garrison is quite high in this decisive battle against the Jurchens."
"It is said that the people are yearning for war."
"Since their morale is high, their marching speed must be extremely fast, so we can find an excuse to stay behind."
After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Although they lacked courage, they were all seasoned generals.
These people knew that it wouldn't be easy to get the army to speed up its advance, but it would be too easy to find an excuse to slow it down.
"The General is right!"
Immediately, someone nodded in agreement.
"Let's deliberately slow down and see how things go. If the court is dissatisfied and insists on forcing us to speed up, then we'll act accordingly."
"Even if the imperial court wants to hold us accountable... we'll accept it! It's better than dying out there!"
Some people laughed loudly, "Maybe before we even get there, those old Shaanxi soldiers in the Beijing garrison will have already been utterly defeated by the Jurchens!"
"The imperial court will need us to maintain appearances then, so how could they dare to punish us?"
They hadn't heard the saying "power grows out of the barrel of a gun," but subconsciously, they understood the principle.
Seeing that they all agreed with his idea, Wu Xiang said, "Okay, let's do it this way!"
He walked out of his general's residence and ordered all cavalry units to prepare to follow the imperial army eastward.
But at the same time, on the other side, the soldiers were instructed not to rush into battle, but to repair their horse tack and weapons.
They also complained to the Ministry of War that their supplies were insufficient and that they needed to replenish their supplies before they could actually set off.
After doing all this, Wu Xiang finally managed a smile.
"Haha, in this way, no matter whether the imperial court wins or loses this time, we will not suffer any losses."
As he thought about this, the smile on his face grew wider and wider, until finally he simply threw his head back and laughed out loud.
But he had barely chuckled a few times when a soldier came running over.
"General, please come with me to the city gate immediately! Something terrible has happened!"
Wu Xiang was laughing loudly when he heard this and wanted to ask for clarification, but he ended up choking and coughing for a long time.
Then he finally asked, "Don't lie about military intelligence, what major incident could possibly happen at this time?"
The soldier apologized and said, "General, I wouldn't dare to say such a thing."
"They are indeed the vanguard of the Beijing garrison, and they have already reached outside Shanhaiguan Pass, clamoring to cross the pass."
"We dare not make the decision on our own; we can only ask you to come over."
Upon hearing this, Wu Xiang's first reaction was disbelief.
"You must be mistaken. The imperial court just held a rally a few days ago."
"It's only been a few days, how could the Beijing garrison have gotten so far to Shanhaiguan!"
But seeing the soldier's serious expression, he began to believe him.
He hurried toward the city gate, his mind filled with surprise.
"The Beijing garrison actually ran so fast!"
"Could the legends be true? Is the morale of the Beijing garrison really so high that people are yearning for war?"
"These Shaanxi folks are really something..."
Wu Xiang first shook his head, then secretly rejoiced.
"That's good, the faster they advance, the safer we will be."
When he arrived at the city gate, he ordered the gate to be opened.
He himself stood behind the city gate with a smile on his face.
As soon as the door opened, he went straight to greet them.
"Oh my, isn't this General Li? We meet again."
It turned out that Li Ruolian really did act as the vanguard, leading his troops to set off first and arriving at Shanhaiguan first.
When Li Ruolian saw Wu Xiang, she didn't stand on ceremony.
"So it was Lord Wu in person!"
He cupped his hands in greeting to Wu Xiang, and then said, "Lord Wu, I don't have time to chat with you. Please open the other door quickly so we can pass through directly."
"As for the city gates here, don't close them yet."
"I just received a message saying that the main force is only a dozen miles away and should be here soon."
Upon hearing this, Wu Xiang's eyes widened suddenly.
"General Li, you're not lying to me, are you?"
He already sensed something was wrong with Li Ruolian's vanguard marching so fast.
But it's still somewhat understandable.
The Beijing garrison had a total of over 70,000 troops, from which several thousand elite soldiers were selected and made to travel day and night.
That does indeed allow for such incredible speed.
But to say that tens of thousands of people can run this fast...
Wu Xiang shook his head and said, "General Li, Shanhaiguan is, after all, the gateway to the capital, and this matter is of great importance."
"I can't go along with your nonsense!"
Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian immediately understood Wu Xiang's meaning, realizing that he did not believe her statement.
So he waved his hand, signaling the vanguard to continue their march.
He then dismounted and came to Wu Xiang's side.
"General Wu, since you don't trust me, I'll stay here and wait with you for the main force."
"If the main force doesn't come, then you can hold me accountable directly."
Since Li Ruolian had already gone this far, Wu Xiang had no choice but to keep the city gates open.
But he still didn't quite believe it.
Wu Xiang's eyes darted around, and he secretly gave an order: "Aren't there some people in our Shanhaiguan area who still want to go with the Beijing garrison to fight the Jurchens?"
"Call those people over here and let them all come and see."
"Heh, once they see that what the Beijing garrison says is just bullshit, completely unreliable."
"Then I won't have to worry about them being disobedient anymore."
Among the Guan Ning cavalry were many Liaodong people who had a blood feud with the Jurchens.
Deep down, he didn't really accept the arrangements Wu Xiang had made.
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