Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 798 - 657

Chapter 798: 657

Not long after, in the Vala Department’s royal tent located northwest of the grasslands.

Wrapped head to toe in warm furs, Yexian, the Great Khan of Liaoli, suddenly stood up from his pallet, "Jingtai Emperor is dead? Are you certain?"

His eyes radiated intense brilliance as he stared at the figure kneeling in front of him.

That was one of his "Night Hawks," spies cultivated for his own use.

Normally, they soared about in the shroud of the night, keeping tabs on every little movement in every direction for him.

But only when something threatened his safety and affected the rise and fall, life and death of the Vala Tribe would these "Night Hawks" barge into the royal tent during his rest and recuperation.

"Great Khan, the Jingtai Emperor of Great Jin Dynasty died at around nine-thirty (the second moment of Chen). Not only did our people arranged in the palace of Great Jin see it with their own eyes, but also many civil and military officials of Great Jin saw it. They are currently preparing for the funeral of Jingtai Emperor."

Yexian, the Great Khan of Vala, was momentarily taken aback, then he burst into hearty laughter, echoing under the open sky, as he was delighted beyond words.

However, with his laughter, more than twenty wounds across his body opened - residues of his confrontation with Jingtai Emperor a few days ago.

Yexian could feel a tremendous surge of heat ravaging his system, capable of setting him on fire at any given moment.

That was the warrior spirit of Jingtai Emperor, which Yexian found himself unable to dispel to this day.

Yexian could only rely on the furs of the immortal treasure rank he wore to avoid becoming a human torch, setting ablaze both the royal tent and its surroundings.

"So, has the Zhengtong Emperor ascended the throne yet? What is the situation with Yu Jie? Did Zhengtong Emperor keep his promise?"

The "Night Hawk" faltered a bit, then he prostrated deeply, "To answer Great Khan, as of the early hours of Chen, Li Xuan, the Marquis of Guanjun, defeated Liang Heng at Chaobai River. Zhengtong Emperor’s power has diminished, and he could only meet his end along with Jingtai Emperor.

So now, the emperor of the Jin People is the imperial grandson as set by Jingtai Emperor before his death. It’s said that before he passed away, Jingtai Emperor ordered Princess Changle Yu Hongshang to supervise the state and handle the affairs of the court, and entrusted the imperial grandson to that Marquis of Guanjun."

The Great Khan of Vala, Yexian was taken aback again, "You’re saying Liang Heng is defeated? But as of midnight yesterday, your report stated that Li Xuan could marshal at most one hundred thousand men to enter Capital City. In contrast, Liang Heng’s army ranged from 320,000 to 400,000."

That Liang Heng left a deep impression on Yexian, for he is one of the few generals from the Jin army who managed to defeat him.

"Our information is accurate."

There was a complex expression on the face of the "Night Hawk", "In this battle, Li Xuan successfully traversed Chaobai River with less than 100,000 men, shattering Liang Heng’s 370,000-strong army. It is said that in this battle, Li Xuan killed tens of thousands and captured 170,000 men, with less than a thousand casualties on his side."

Frowning, a thoughtful expression surfaced in the eyes of Yexian.

"Really? How did he do it? Did he rely on his full-firearm tactics and those firearms? I want you to find out all the details about this; I want to know everything about the full-firearm tactics."

He was frustrated. Although this scheme had managed to kill the Jingtai Emperor and incite chaos among the people of Jin, causing them significant damage, it wasn’t entirely successful.

Yu Jie, the most significant adversary to the Mongols, remained, standing as firm as a great rock in the court of Jin.

Now, an inscrutable figue had emerged: Marquis of Guanjun, Li Xuan.

Although Yexian had never directly fought this person, his several defeats had all been connected to him.

"One more thing!"

The "Night Hawk" bowed deeper, " Tuotuobuhua seems to have also learned about the government’s changes. He has sent out the royal tent’s golden arrow, summoning the troops of Datan, seemingly preparing to plunder the south while the Great Jin Dynasty is in chaos."

This was the real reason he had entered Yexian’s royal tent, interrupting his recuperation process.

At this, the pupils of the Vala Great Khan, Yexian, slightly tightened.

He knew Tuotuobuhua’s purpose was to establish his prestige in the prairie and regain his authority as the Great Khan.

And the timing coincided with Yexian’s defeat in Niujia Fortress when he was critically injured and could not handle affairs.

The people of the Borzigin family were indeed the descendants of the gray wolves, vigilant like eagles, and hard to tame like wolves.

"Foolish!"

Yexian couldn’t help but coldly laugh, the Jin people may have suffered a heavy blow at this time.

But Yu Jie is still there, and the Jin Army that defeated him at the NiujiaFortress is still there.

After some contemplation, he threw out a golden arrow from his hand: "You send an order to ’Alachien,’ telling him to mobilize two hundred and fifty thousand warriors, and put pressure on Datong."

The "Night Hawk" was taken aback: "Great Khan, Tuotuobuhua mobilizes the Datan cavalry this time, which can reach up to four hundred thousand at most! The Daoyan Sawaii is also very close to them."

He knew that whenever Yexian led troops to the south, Tuotuobuhua’s Datan division had been extraordinarily restrained.

The Datan tribe had experienced thirteen years of recuperation, and its vitality was gradually recovering. At this point, Yexian was actually willing to lend them a helping hand?

"I have my own plans. Just go and deliver my orders," he said.

Yexian didn’t bother to explain to the ’Night Hawk’, he simply waved his sleeve.

He reasoned if he didn’t allow Alachien to suppress the soldiers of the direction of Datong and Taiyuan, Tuotuobuhua could not invade the Jin lands and force the forty thousand Shenji Camps of Marquis Guanjun, Li Xuan, out into the open.

Yexian figured this Meng Wu Khan desired to establish his prestige, right? He might as well let him measure his strength against Li Xuan.

If Tuotuobuhua won, he had plans to send him on his way to Heaven; if Tuotuobuhua lost, this descendant of the Golden Family would have to dance to his tune.

※※※※

Meanwhile, in the residence of Prince Ning in Nanchang, Jiangxi.

The thirty-ish-looking Yu Dianpei, with a squared face and large ears and a serious, austere demeanor, handed a purple-gold talisman paper to the Iron-faced Man next to him. "This is a message sent back from the capital. Take a look, Sir."

Surprisingly, the Iron-faced Man, who used to be an advisor for Liang Heng, was here.

After reading the talisman paper, a look of surprise crossed the Iron-faced Man’s eyes. "Liang Heng actually lost."

He expressed surprise that Zhengtong Emperor couldn’t succeed even when holding all the trump cards and was amazed at Li Xuan’s great victory at Chaobai River.

"Victory at Chengde Qianhu Office, victory at Chaobai River." Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei was momentarily lost. He frowned tightly, "These two achievements alone could place him in the top ten among the great generals of Jin.

Sir, the present situation is different from what you and I expected. Yu Hongshang, Yu Jie, Li Xuan are all still alive. I fear that the grand cause of Prince Xiang may not be achieved."

The most critical figure was Li Xuan. His astounding war record as the newly appointed ’County Prince of Fenyang’ caused Yu Dianpei to feel a touch of trepidation.

Even if Prince Ning’s household mobilized all their forces, they had at most seventy thousand Jingying elite forces and one hundred and ninety thousand Weisuo forces, greatly falling short of Liang Heng’s strength during the Battle of Chaobai River.

Yu Dianpei was confident that the soldiers under his command were united in spirit and were in no way comparable to the rabble Liang Heng lead.

However, he had no assurance that he would be able to defeat the County Prince of Fenyang on the battlefield.

How fortunate was the Court to have found another such a major general after Yu Jie?

The Iron-faced Man’s expression had already calmed down, "On the contrary, in my humble opinion, this is good news, and will be more beneficial to your highness."

"Oh?" Prince Ning Yu Dianpei immediately looked attentively, eager to hear more.

The Iron-faced Man proceeded to explain point by point. "Your Highness, I believe that the Jingtai Emperor’s decision to make the imperial grandson, Yu Youlong, his successor, and to entrust the Princess with the governance of the empire was a major blunder. The imperial grandson is still an infant; it would bring doubt upon the empire due to the young age of the ruler. Furthermore, there is still doubt about the heir’s bloodline. The decision for the Princess to govern the state is unprecedented. How could it make civil and military officials, and the world’s royal relatives feel at ease? You only need to spread a few rumors, and it would make royal relatives and the court uneasy."

Prince Ning Yu Dianpei could not help but hum, the gleam in his eyes showing promise. "Master’s words do make sense!"

The Iron-faced Man continued, "And then there are the sons of the Zhengtong Emperor; they will inevitably feel discontent. Especially Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen has occupied the position of the crown prince for decades. At present, all the inspected and governors of the western and Henan regions are literati from the Hanlin Academy, old teachers from Prince Yi’s former days. And it is conceivable that after the failed restoration of Zhengtong, Prince Yi must plan an escape. Those court officials still loyal to Zhengtong and the Empress Dowager, if they do not want to be branded as traitors and risk the entire family suffering calamity, they will definitely lean towards him. At that time, even if Prince Yi does not have the intention to rebel, he will have no choice but to raise an army against Jin."

Next is the son of Prince Xiang, Yu Qiyong. Since he has already escaped from the capital, Prince Xiang’s mansion will undoubtedly raise an army! Prince Xiang Yu Zhanshan has long been plotting for the throne, he has gathered a following during his decades in the local areas. Relying on his reputation as the Xian Emperor, the court without doubt trusts him and almost never questions his military preparations in the Xiang Manor. Their power is even above ours, and raising an army of three hundred thousand is not a problem, with the strategic Xiangyang city as their base."

Prince Ning, Yu Dianpei, had regained his confidence. He strolled with his hands behind his back towards the front of the hall, looking at the drizzling rain outside the door: "These are just the internal threats, Jin also has external enemies: Mong Wu in the north, Tu Division in Yunnan, and the Timur Empire in the west."

"Indeed, as per the master’s words, the situation of Great Jin is so dire that even I, the king, feel goosebumps. Then does master have any strategies for me to win amid this chaos?"

The Iron-faced Man saluted with his hands before him, "Your highness can learn from the story of the Great Ancestor. Hoard grain, build high walls, and delay declaring yourself king!"

"Hoard grain, build high walls, delay declaring myself king?" Prince Ning Yu Dianpei murmured to himself, "So what should I do specifically?"

"Specifically, don’t raise the rebel flag, continue to exploit the surrounding prefectures and counties, and appropriate their wealth and resources for your own use, to train your soldiers. The court’s immediate attention is focused on Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen and son of Prince Xiang, Yu Qiyong. They temporarily have no time to pay heed to Prince Ning’s mansion."

The Iron-faced Man saluted again: "Next, your highness will only need to usurp the granaries of Huguang at the same time, occupy the financial base of south Zhili. What worries could there be about not achieving great goals? At that time, you can follow the battle tactics of the King of Zhongshan and launch a northern expedition! Also—"

The Iron-faced Man then spread out a map, revealing it to Prince Ning Yu Dianpei. "I also attach great importance to the ’rune flintlock rifled gun’ and ’breechloader cannons’ used by Shenji Camp. Before the southern expedition, I specifically measured and drew a detailed map of this type of rifle."

Yu Dianpei was invigorated: "I will have the craftsmen replicate these rifles right away!"

But the Iron-faced Man burst out laughing: "Replicating it isn’t the difficult part. The problem is no matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out how to reduce the cost of this rifle to six hundred patterned silver, let alone make them at a price of two thousand."

—If this cost cannot be reduced, they will never be able to equip it in large quantities and there will be no way to imitate Li Xuan’s whole-firearm tactics.