Chapter 62 Celebration Banquet
Less than two days later, news came from Shi Heng that Liu Yongcheng raided the rear of Wala, and together with Shi Heng's two-sided attack, coupled with Hami's "taking advantage of the fire to loot", Wala was unable to cope for a while and could only cut off its rear to survive.
Liu Yongcheng and Shi Heng wiped out the main force of the Oirat, not only took back the population that had been taken away by the Oirat, but also captured a large number of Oirat civilians.
With Zhu Qizhen's "excellent performance" and the defeat in Yanghe, this battle can be regarded as a great victory, at least it restored the face that the Ming Dynasty had lost to the Oirat Monastery.
Although Liu Yongcheng failed to capture Yesen himself, he captured his mother Minda Shili, while Yesen's younger brother Bayan Temur was killed on the spot.
Shi Heng, who was chasing Yesen from behind, first killed the remaining troops without leaving a single one alive, and then he and Liu Yongcheng attacked Wala from both sides, trying to encircle Wala.
Although Yesen guessed that the Ming Dynasty might be following behind, he never expected that he would be attacked from behind by the Ming Dynasty and Hami people. However, things had already happened. Seeing that the situation was not good, Yesen could only break through with the elite troops around him and escape in the direction of Toghtobukha.
As for his mother, he deliberately kept Zhu Qizhen by his side. Mindashili was just an ordinary woman who did not hold any power in the tribe and was not of Borjigin's blood. There was no point for the emperor to hold such a woman hostage.
At least Zhu Qizhen himself could be reported as a head that was clearly dead. At worst, he could personally cut off Zhu Qizhen's head and give it to the princess emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
She should be more valuable to the Ming Dynasty than a woman like Mindashili.
Yesen led Zhu Qizhen and the elite troops to break through the encirclement and ran very fast. Shi Heng considered that there might be a gap in the rear and it was not easy to chase them. In addition, there were still a large number of Wala prisoners and spoils of war, such as cattle and sheep, to be taken back, so he had to call off the troops.
Zhu Qizhen naturally would not have thought that Yesen was already thinking about his own life, nor did he have the leisure to indulge in the loss of being completely abandoned. What he cared about most now was the pain caused by the wounds on his body.
Even if there were not thousands of arrows fired at once, with the help of bows and muskets, Zhu Qizhen was no longer just covered in dust and dirt. He had many wounds of varying sizes on his body. These wounds alone made him sweat profusely, leaving him no time to think about anything else.
“It hurts… it hurts so much…”
Although the defeat in the sneak attack had no direct connection with Zhu Qizhen, as the only Han Chinese in the team at that moment, the Oirat soldiers hardly concealed their disgust and hatred for him.
If it weren't for the order from the Grand Tutor Yesen to temporarily save Zhu Qizhen's life, they would have wanted to cut Zhu Qizhen into pieces on the spot.
"I think those Ming people have lost all interest in him as the emperor. Even the two soldiers who used to serve him are unwilling to stay by his side... If it weren't for him, things wouldn't have turned out like this. Why don't we just kill him..."
"Mindashili Aha was abducted by the Ming people. The Grand Tutor must be planning to exchange him for someone else."
"I heard those Ming people babble and set fire to him. It doesn't look like they still regard him as the emperor."
"His head might still be useful. After all, being alive is better than being dead. As long as he's alive, we can kill him at any time. But if he's dead, it will be difficult to bring him back to life."
"But he's been burned like this, I don't know if he can survive..."
"I think he was lucky. He was only hit twice by that copper stone. Several of our brothers even lost their lives trying to save him..."
"Humph, it would be better if he died."
In a daze, Zhu Qizhen felt a burning pain in his body, and the wound seemed to be pierced by something, constantly stirring his flesh and blood.
Zhu Qizhen didn't have the courage to open his eyes and could only wait for the pain to gradually subside.
It would be better to say that he didn't want to open his eyes at all at this moment, and would rather all this was just a dream.
He wished that everyone in the world would disappear completely.
But the reality was obviously not as expected. Someone next to him kicked him and shouted something, obviously urging Zhu Qizhen to get up quickly and set off.
Zhu Qizhen finally managed to get up despite the pain, but saw Yesen standing in front of him with a sinister smile on his face.
Unlike the gloomy situation on the Wala side, the Datong side is obviously much more cheerful.
Shi Heng redeemed himself and made great contributions, adding another achievement to Liu Yongcheng's glorious resume. It also simply washed away the humiliation of the Ming army being annihilated by the Oirat.
Zhu Yuhuan would naturally not be stingy with rewards. Platinum, silk, etc. were of course given, but the most important thing was the rewards for military merit. Considering that this battle had yielded a lot of gains and Datong now lacked a general who could take charge, Zhu Yuhuan issued an edict to confer the title of Wuqing Earl on Shi Heng and appointed him as the commander-in-chief.
Liu Yongcheng was reluctant to grant him a title, so Zhu Yuhuan promoted Liu Ju, who was still in Fujian with Wang Ji to suppress the rebellion, to be the commander-in-chief. The deputy generals and lieutenant generals who followed him in the battle, as well as the officers and soldiers who performed well, were all promoted and rewarded.
The threat from the Oirat Mongols was temporarily resolved, so Zhu Yuhuan held a banquet in the government office to celebrate. She first gave a brief summary and commendations, and then handed the celebration banquet over to the officers.
Seeing this, Liu Yongcheng also found an excuse to come out, but Zhu Yuhuan was nowhere to be seen. There was only the bright moon in the sky and the cold wind blowing.
"Master, here."
Liu Yongcheng looked up and saw Zhu Yuhuan wearing a cloak and waving at him in a pavilion not far away. There was a female official beside him, who was Lu Xiemei who had been following Zhu Yuhuan in the past few days.
Liu Yongcheng hurried over, but Zhu Yuhuan had already stood up. He said hastily, "How dare I trouble Your Majesty to stand up in person..."
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "It's rare for you and I, teacher and student, to enjoy the moon together again. Although there's no snow, it still has a unique charm."
Liu Yongcheng knew she was talking about the past when teacher and student patrolled the border together many years ago, and he couldn't help but smile knowingly. Then he said, "Your Majesty is now the supreme ruler, and I should strictly abide by my duties as a subject."
Zhu Yuhuan remained silent on this, saying, "Master's teachings have benefited me immensely. Now that it's just you and me, there's no need to be so rigid."
Liu Yongcheng responded, and then, knowing that no one was around, he said, "Your Majesty's plan is going much more smoothly than it originally did."
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