Back to the Beginning of Ming to do Charity

Chapter 118: Target

Outside Hanyang City, Ni Wenjun didn't expect the fight to be so difficult.

In his opinion, he knew everything about Hanyang, knew all the defenses, and also knew what kind of person Xu Shouhui was.

So it was impossible for him to lose, or even to fall into danger.

Xu Shouhui was a useless trash, a fool! He always felt that way, and wondered why anyone would still follow the other? Wasn't he greater, wiser, and more worthy of being followed than Xu Shouhui?

"General!" The personal guard ran in with a look of fear, looking very terrified indeed.

Ni Wenjun heard too much bad news recently, and hurriedly shouted at his personal guard: "What's wrong now? Could it be that Zhao Pusheng has found reinforcements?!"

"No, yes.." The personal guard's eyes widened, "There is a large army that is approaching the barracks."

Ni Wenjun was taken aback for a moment, his expression was fierce and also had a trace of panic that even he didn't realize: "What army? Impossible! The forces over there are now all.."

The personal guard bit his lip: "Marshal, it's not Zhao Pusheng's soldiers, nor Xu Shouhui's. They are flying the Lin character flag."

Ni Wenjun: "It's the Southern King."

He sat back down on the chair. This was his favorite chair. It was made of precious wood and could not be bought with money. It was his favorite trophy. But now he had no energy to care about this chair.

"Why did he come?"

"Impossible, even if he traveled day and night, he couldn't have been able to get this far, unless, unless.."

The personal guard: "Unless he has known the Marshal's plan a long time ago, Marshal! There is a traitor within the ranks!"

But what was the use of knowing that there was a traitor at this time? It was too late.

Ni Wenjun suddenly said: "Stop the battle and pull up the camp!"

The personal guard was dumbfounded: "Marshal! Are we going to surrender without a fight?!"

Ni Wenjun smiled and said: "That Southern King came at the right time, and now if we pull up the camp, he is bound to face Zhao Pusheng. Let's watch the fire from across the river, and enjoy the fisherman's benefit, isn't that more pleasing? If he doesn't come, I actually wouldn't have the chance to win now." (TN: to watch the fires burning across the river=to delay entering the fray until all others have been exhausted by fighting amongst themselves)

The personal guard breathed a sigh of relief and complimented: "Marshal is wise!"

Ni Wenjun was also quite proud of himself: "Not anyone can be the Marshal. Like Xu Shouhui, uselessly occupying the pit and not taking a shit. Even if he is the emperor, how many people are loyal to him? They just want to give themselves a big banner of righteousness. No matter what, I, Ni Wenjun, am not such a hypocritical person."

He was talking to himself, without any intentions of having his personal guard to understand him. After saying this, his anger was smoothed over, and he made the order to retreat and pull up camp to evacuate.

Luo Ben sat in a carriage. He was a military adviser and strategist. Most of the time, the carriage was where he ate, drank, and went to the toilet. The army would not stop when on a march, so relieving himself must be on the carriage. When the army finally stopped, he could then ask a soldier to carry it down and dump it out. But Luo Ben felt this was indecent, not to mention that there would be a smell in the carriage, so he would rather hold it back and wait for the next stop to solve it by himself.

Now Luo Ben was holding back urine, sitting in the carriage in anguish.

Marching with the army was a hard job. He had worked as a military strategist for so long but suffered every time during the marching in war expeditions. Only when he was really on the battlefield could he experience what it meant to be energetic and spirited. Even if he did not sleep for a few days, he would not feel sleepy at all.

Luo Ben was different from Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan was in the rear. If something went wrong, Lin Yuan would be able to evacuate. This was also a novel experience for Lin Yuan. Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Baisong were responsible for leading the charge in the front, and Li Congrong was responsible for stabilizing the rear and protecting Lin Yuan.

"Ni Wenjun pulled up camp." Chen Baisong sat on his horse and looked into the distance with his clairvoyance device.

Zhu Yuanzhang stopped next to Chen Baisong, frowning: "He wants us to fight Xu Shouhui."

Chen Baisong nodded: "Good idea."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "This idea is indeed good."

"Then we will fight Xu Shouhui." Chen Baisong smiled, "After occupying Hanyang City, might Ni Wenjun still have a chance to come in again?"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "Hanyang is not easy to capture, easy to defend and difficult to attack, otherwise Ni Wenjun would have already flattened Hanyang."

Chen Baisong: "It's not completely without a chance."

Luo Ben's carriage finally caught up. He was holding in urine, his face distorted from the effort. His head poked out from the window: "These two generals, can I borrow your clairvoyance device for a brief use?"

Chen Baisong said: "There's no need to look, Ni Wenjun is pulling up camp, and he will withdraw when we charge over."

Luo Ben was surprised and said: "I thought he was a fool, but he has some wit it seems."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "As he can control Xu Shouhui for so long, I imagine he is not a complete fool."

"It's a pity." Luo Ben sighed sincerely.

Zhu Yuanzhang also said: "When he pulls up camp, we will inevitably run into Zhao Pusheng. This person is bold and cautious, and he is skilled in managing his subordinates and soldiers, I fear it will be a fierce battle."

Luo Ben: "Not necessarily."

"What good strategy does Military Strategist have?" Chen Baisong turned his head and looked at Luo Ben.

Luo Ben smiled and said: "That Zhao Pusheng is careful, but the more he thinks, the more flaws he has. It will be easy to lure him into a trap."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "Where is the trap?"

Luo Ben thought for a while and explained: "Why don't we take down the flag? When Ni Wenjun withdraws, he must think that we are Ni Wenjun's reinforcements. When that time comes, he will also retreat and return to the city to think about the countermeasures."

Chen Baisong understood: "Military Strategist wants to take advantage of him returning to the city to attack the city?"

When they returned to the city, they would definitely open the city gates. So long as they seized the opportunity, they could rush through the gates before it closed. Once the gates could no longer be closed, Hanyang City would be the trap.

But this was simple to say, and too difficult to do.

Chen Baisong: "There are too few horses with such speed."

There were only forty horses at most, and it was impossible for forty cavalry soldiers to complete the mission. He was afraid that they would have been pierced by random arrows before they even got close.

Luo Ben chuckled: "Just set up an ambush on the side. When Ni Wenjun retreats, Zhao Pusheng may take advantage of the victory to pursue him. This is the best way. While the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole lays in wait behind. But Zhao Pusheng might not follow in pursuit and we will be able to take Hanyang City straight away. Whether he will or not, he will hesitate. The time he hesitates will be our chance to act."

Now Chen Baisong and Zhu Yuanzhang both understood. Luo Ben had thought of everything he could think of.

While they were working hard in the front, Lin Yuan was doing nothing in the rear. He didn't know what it was like for the emperor to personally lead an expedition, but he could probably guess that the emperor could not really go onto the battlefield. At most, he likely sat in the back to uplift the military's spirit, and then? What did they do when there was no battle? They could at least listen to the battle reports while there was a battle.

Sitting next to Lin Yuan, Li Congrong also had an expression of skepticism about life. The scouts had already been sent out, and they would not miss any disturbances around them.

Li Congrong drank a sip of water and said to Lin Yuan, "The lady surnamed Ma, she seems to be not young anymore, I wonder if Guo Zixing found her a marriage partner?"

Lin Yuan was looking at the reports from officials from various places, and he asked, "Why? You already have a lion in your family, and you still want to take a concubine?"

Li Congrong coughed out the water. He wiped the table top quickly, and chuckled dryly: "I dare not, I finally married her with such difficulty."

Lin Yuan: "How does it feel to be married?"

Li Congrong immediately revealed a blissful smile: "She is educated and well-balanced, natural and unrestrained.."

Lin Yuan looked at him strangely, Li Congrong actually managed to use the right idiom?

Li Congrong proudly said: "She taught me."

Very good, he learned how to show PDA.

Li Congrong said: "She is actually very sloppy. She often forgets things. Even the jewelry I bought for her she often forgets to wear. She also doesn't remember what I like to eat, but she is very..I don't know how to say it. When she looks at me, I feel like her eyes are particularly beautiful."

Lin Yuan understood again.

The look in the eyes of a lover could not be concealed.

Especially from their beloved.

Lin Yuan congratulated him: "May the lovers live to a ripe old age in conjugal bliss."

Li Congrong smiled stupidly: "Thank you for your good words."

Lin Yuan looked at Li Congrong and felt that if people could live life like Li Congrong, their happiness index would definitely rise sharply. Li Congrong lived life happily no matter when he was poor before or when he was rich now. He could always find something to feel contented about.

Not like him.

It had been a very long time since Lin Yuan had experienced happiness, joy, etc.

There were no ups and downs in his mood.

Even his family members, he had not seen for a long time.

He had limited time and had too many things to deal with. Because of his identity, he couldn't get close to anyone or regard anyone as a confidant. Lin Yuan felt that he had become a true solitary person.

The people did not dare to show a trace of dissatisfaction in front of him.

When he arrived at his position, it appeared grand and glorious, but in fact, there was not even a person he could chat with.

No wonder so many emperors favored eunuchs. The eunuchs lacked a part of themselves and could not be actual officials. Unlike officials, they had to rely on the emperor's power, therefore the emperor could treat them more casually. The Ming Dynasty even established the Eastern Depot. In the beginning, the Eastern Depot actually had no real power. (TN: Dongchang=secret police agency run by eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty)

However, the emperor felt that the Eastern Depot was easy to use, and the more it was used, the easier it became, and the power of the Eastern Depot became greater and greater. Afterwards, it even spiraled out of control and eunuchs could control the emperor's power.

Lin Yuan never thought about maintaining the eunuch system.

He was not prepared to have any harem.

No one could guarantee that they would not make mistakes for the rest of their lives, let alone that their children and grandchildren would also become powerful and effective rulers.

He actually made a decision a long time ago.

When he took that seat, he would establish a cabinet system.

The cabinet system first appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Strictly speaking, if the cabinet members at that time were more ruthless and more powerful, it might be possible to change the social composition from a feudal monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.

Sometimes the times change quickly.

Lin Yuan did not have a mobile phone when he was a child, only a pager. The mobile phone came when he was in elementary school, and then the smart phone in high school.

Then the tablet, and increasingly thinner and thinner laptops.

When he went to university, QR code, mobile payment, and cloud big data came.

Before these appeared, who would believe that technology could enter thousands of households so quickly?

That high-definition TVs with LCD screens would replace old-fashioned TVs so quickly?

If possible, he hoped to see a constitutional monarchy in his lifetime.

If not, he hoped to establish a perfect cabinet system during his lifetime.

In this way, when it was time for him to die, there was no need to worry that his unfilial descendants would ruin the empire that he had managed to create.

AN: Chen Baisong: Descendants? Will it be me giving birth or you?