A few days later, Yuan Chonghuan stared at the letter in his hand, feeling that something was amiss.
"What exactly does Fan Wencheng mean by this?"
He stroked his chin, his eyes full of confusion.
"He's been a ally of the Jurchens for almost ten years, why did he suddenly change his mind and start tipping me off?"
"Could there be a trap here?"
When the Jurchens swept through Liaodong, Fan Wencheng was only twenty years old. As soon as he saw the city fall, he surrendered on the spot.
It can be said that they have no morals whatsoever.
After that, while he didn't exactly rise to prominence on the Jurchen side, he was certainly highly valued.
Such a person suddenly sent a letter, revealing the Jurchens' military plans in detail.
It's no wonder that Yuan Chonghuan was suspicious.
But soon, Yuan Chonghuan smiled dismissively.
"Whether the Jurchens truly intend to besiege the city and attack its reinforcements, or they are merely creating a diversion and their real aim is to launch a full-scale attack on this city."
"As long as I defend this city well, I have nothing to fear from the Jurchens!"
At this point, Yuan Chonghuan gave another cold laugh.
"I actually hope that the Jurchens are planning to besiege the city and then attack the reinforcements!"
"Hmph, I'd like to see if Li Ruolian will still be so composed when she asks me for help!"
It turns out that Yuan Chonghuan was still holding a grudge about what happened last year.
When Li Ruolian led his troops out of the pass to rescue Ningyuan last time, he advanced slowly.
Although in hindsight, Li Ruolian's actions were perfectly reasonable, it actually revealed that Yuan Chonghuan's judgment was flawed.
The true purpose of the Jurchens was not discovered.
How could Yuan Chonghuan not harbor the slightest resentment?
"Once Li Ruolian is truly surrounded, I will lead troops to rescue him, and then we'll see what he has to say!"
Yuan Chonghuan burst into laughter at the thought of Li Ruolian thanking him repeatedly.
"Haha, someone, take this letter back to the capital."
At Yuan Chonghuan's command, the letter was delivered to Zhu Youjian by express courier within two days.
Upon reading the letter, Zhu Youjian expressed almost the exact same sentiment.
"What exactly does this 'Jiannu' mean?"
He held Fan Wencheng's letter and started spinning around in place.
"Could this Fan Wencheng be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty who is lurking among the Jurchens?"
"If that's true, that would be wonderful!"
Zhu Youjian couldn't help but get excited.
"I have been eager to pacify the Jurchens as soon as possible."
"If there were truly such a loyal minister among the Jurchens, that would be wonderful!"
He gestured wildly, not even noticing the repetition in his speech.
Wang Chengen saw this and felt that something was amiss.
"Logically speaking, if Fan Wencheng were truly such a loyal and courageous minister, Master Gao would definitely have mentioned it."
"But how come I've never heard of this before? It seems there's something wrong here."
But seeing that the emperor was still in high spirits, he couldn't directly object.
So he said cautiously:
"Your Majesty, shouldn't you tell Master Gao about this wonderful news and let him be happy too?"
Zhu Youjian was about to nod after hearing this, but then he suddenly remembered something.
"No, every time I asked Master Gao for good news in the past, something always went wrong in the end."
"This proves that I was fooled. Will it be the same this time?"
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but stare at the letter again.
After observing for a long time, Zhu Youjian, though unable to discern the problem, still tentatively said:
"I suddenly feel that there seems to be something wrong with this letter."
Seeing this, Wang Chengen breathed a sigh of relief: His Majesty has finally learned his lesson.
He knelt down and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise; this servant also thinks so."
"Your Majesty, why don't you first summon your ministers, discuss the matter with them, and then make a decision?"
Zhu Youjian shook his head.
"Hmph, those ministers might not be as reliable as Fan Wencheng!"
"Consult them? Ha!"
"Go and summon Li Ruolian and Qin Liangyu. I'd like to discuss this with them."
Wang Chengen nodded in agreement.
Before long, he brought the two of them before the emperor.
Before the two men could kneel, Zhu Youjian told them to rise and dispense with the formalities, then handed them the letter.
After they finished reading, Zhu Youjian asked anxiously:
"Generals, what are your thoughts?"
Although Li Ruolian was also knowledgeable in military strategy, he was still young and afraid of saying the wrong thing and delaying important military and national affairs, so he did not speak but looked at Qin Liangyu.
Seeing this, Qin Liangyu had no choice but to speak up alone.
"Your Majesty, I think this is a good opportunity."
Zhu Youjian was somewhat puzzled.
"What opportunity?"
Qin Liangyu began to explain.
"Your Majesty, no matter what the Jurchens' plans are or where they are focusing their main force, they will definitely send troops westward this time."
"You can have General Li openly lead the Beijing garrison eastward to show the enemy weakness."
"Then I led my White-Spear Soldiers and secretly followed behind."
"Whatever the Jurchens' original plan was, they will definitely attack once they see an opportunity on General Li's side."
"At that time..."
Zhu Youjian had already understood.
He clapped his hands suddenly: "Then you can lead your troops out and catch the Jurchens off guard!"
Qin Liangyu nodded.
"That's right!"
"Moreover, I remember that His Majesty wants to reorganize the Beijing Garrison, and this is a great opportunity."
“You can spread the word that the Jurchens are about to launch a major invasion, and you are blinded by the fact that the Beijing garrison has just won a great victory.”
"The plan is to let the Beijing garrison fight against the Jurchens on its own."
“Those people in the Beijing garrison must know that they are no match for the Jurchens, so they must be begging and pleading to get out.”
"In this way, you can clear out many empty slots without lifting a finger."
Zhu Youjian was overjoyed and said to Qin Liangyu:
"I never expected General Qin to have such a scheme in mind?"
"Alright, alright, we'll do it that way!"
Before long, news spread that the Jurchens were about to attack the Ming Dynasty again.
The civil and military officials were somewhat dissatisfied.
"Have these Jurchens gone mad? They just suffered a loss not long ago, and now they're coming to their deaths again!"
"They are no match for the Beijing Garrison!"
But back in the capital, the situation was already dire.
"Oh no, is His Majesty smart or stupid?"
A group of military generals gathered together.
"That so-called great victory last time, it's one thing that those civil officials didn't know the truth, but how did His Majesty believe it?"
"If we were to face the main force of the Jurchens alone, we certainly wouldn't be able to come back alive!"
"What should we do?"
Some people even got up angrily.
"No, I will go to the palace right now to see His Majesty and ask him to rescind his order!"
But someone quickly stopped him.
"What do you want to say to His Majesty if you go to the palace at this time?"
"Are you suggesting that our previous announcement of a great victory was all a hoax?"
"This is a crime of deceiving the emperor, punishable by death!"
Do you really think His Majesty wouldn't dare to kill someone?
Upon hearing this, the others immediately felt a chill run down their spines, remembering Wei Zhongxian, who had just been turned into human sashimi not long ago.
"Then... what should we do?"
Someone asked, trembling.
The room fell silent instantly.
After a moment, someone finally spoke.
"Sigh, what else can I do? I'll just have to find a way to desert!"
"Losing our status as officers and soldiers is better than going to our deaths!"
"Each of you should investigate the vacancies in your own army and then report them to the Ministry of War."
"As long as the young emperor knows that our seemingly tens of thousands of troops are actually only a few thousand, he probably won't let us die in vain anymore."
The others hesitated.
This act of embezzling quotas is not only a serious crime, but also a means for them to make money.
Once exposed, not only will they be punished, but it also means losing a source of income.
But after hesitating for a long time, they finally nodded.
"That's all we can do now."
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