Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 22: The Emperor's Fury!

The Tatar Little Prince turned around and reiterated his conditions to Qiu Yue.

"General Qiu, I can withdraw my troops, but we need to borrow a path through Datong Prefecture."

Qiu Yue was puzzled: "Little Prince, why do you need to borrow a path through Datong to withdraw your troops?"

The Tatar Little Prince laughed loudly: "You want me not to invade Datong Prefecture? What you've offered isn't enough, considering I personally led 100,000 troops on this expedition."

"I need to raid some more supplies from the Ming Dynasty's other border towns to get through the winter."

Qiu Yue thought to himself, since he was the General Officer of Datong anyway, as long as the Tatar Little Prince didn't attack Datong Prefecture, he could attack wherever he pleased.

So, Qiu Yue actually agreed to the Tatar Little Prince's request.

He agreed to open the gates of Datong Prefecture at Chou time (1:00-3:00 AM) tonight, allowing the Tatar Little Prince to lead his 100,000 troops through Datong Prefecture.

At that time, the remaining twenty-four carriages would also be handed over to the Tatar Little Prince.

After discussing all the specific details, the sky was almost dawn.

Qiu Yue declined the Tatar Little Prince's invitation to a banquet and led his men back to the city.

After returning to the city, Qiu Yue didn't rest but went to the Datong Prefecture Yamen, where Ma Wensheng was staying, to wait.

As soon as Ma Wensheng woke up, Qiu Yue immediately requested an audience.

"This humble officer greets Lord Ma."

"General Qiu, how is the situation progressing?"

Ma Wensheng asked anxiously upon seeing Qiu Yue.

Qiu Yue smiled easily: "This humble officer has lived up to your expectations. The Tatar Little Prince has agreed to withdraw his troops and will not harm Datong in the slightest."

Ma Wensheng breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of tea with a smile: "That's great. With the Tatar troops withdrawing, this official can return to the capital with peace of mind."

"The reconstruction work of Datong Prefecture will be left to you and Zhang Qi."

Qiu Yue suddenly put away his smile, sighed, and said with a hint of regret.

"Lord Ma, General Zhang and I went to the Tatar Prince's camp together last night."

"General Zhang spoke disrespectfully to the Tatar Little Prince and was killed by him."

"Hmm?!"

Ma Wensheng turned his head and stared at Qiu Yue, his eyes like knives.

Under Ma Wensheng's sharp gaze, Qiu Yue couldn't help but lower his head, avoiding his gaze.

Qiu Yue felt as if he had been seen through by Ma Wensheng, and his secrets couldn't be hidden at all.

Ma Wensheng didn't erupt but spoke in a low voice.

"In that case, the military affairs of Datong Prefecture will be entirely in your hands."

"This official will set off for the capital this afternoon."

"You must not allow any mistakes to happen in Datong Prefecture, understand?"

Qiu Yue's uneasy heart finally settled down, and he said decisively: "Yes, Lord Ma."

"If Datong Prefecture is lost, this humble officer is willing to accept military law!"

"Go and get busy."

After waving Qiu Yue away, Ma Wensheng immediately began preparing to return to the capital.

The development of events was smoother than he had imagined. In just one day of arriving in Datong Prefecture, the matter had been resolved perfectly.

After returning to the capital this time, his achievement in repelling the Tatar troops and defending Datong Prefecture would be another great accomplishment.

With this achievement as a foundation, his position as Minister of War would be completely secure.

Moreover, after this, there might even be a chance to enter the Grand Secretariat to participate in important state affairs.

As long as there were achievements, he didn't want to expose the dirty tricks used to implement them.

After packing his things, Ma Wensheng left the city that afternoon to return to the capital.

Qiu Yue personally saw him off for ten miles before returning to Datong Prefecture.

From now on, he was the highest-ranking commanding officer in Datong Prefecture.

That night, under Qiu Yue's orders, the gates of Datong Prefecture were opened wide.

The Tatar Little Prince led his troops through Datong Prefecture, indeed without committing any offenses.

However, among the accompanying troops, there were thirty-four carriages loaded to the brim.

A day later, the Tatar Little Prince arrived at the city of Xuanfu.

The General Officer of Xuanfu was greatly horrified, wondering how the Tatar Little Prince had managed to arrive at the city of Xuanfu so silently.

The General Officer of Xuanfu, Zhang Da, led his subordinates in a desperate defense!

However, because Zhang Qi had previously led 30,000 Xuanfu garrison soldiers to support Datong Prefecture, Xuanfu was short of troops.

In just one night, Xuanfu was defeated!

After entering the pass, the Tatar Little Prince looted and massacred the defenseless people of the Ming Dynasty.

Everywhere was filled with fire and ruins, everywhere were severed limbs, and the people fled their homes in droves.

The entire Xuanfu was nearly deserted, and the people lived in misery!

After looting, the Tatar troops changed direction, their target pointing directly at the capital of the Ming Dynasty!

...

Forbidden City.

Imperial Study.

A secret letter from the West Depot was handed to Zhu You樘.

Zhu You樘 read the letter with a gloomy face.

The letter described in detail how Qiu Yue had bribed the Tatar Little Prince, opened the city gates, and allowed the Tatar troops to pass through Datong and head to Xuanfu.

After the Tatar troops broke through Xuanfu and created a series of human tragedies in Xuanfu, they had now turned their guns around.

One hundred thousand troops were heading straight for the capital!

"Damn it!"

"They all deserve to die!"

Zhu You樘 slammed the secret letter on the table in anger and vented his rage at Mu Bin and Huai En in front of him!

"My Minister of War secretly ran to Datong Prefecture from under my nose, and I knew nothing about it!"

"One hundred thousand Tatar troops arrived at Datong Prefecture, and I didn't know anything about it either!"

"Now that the Tatar troops have passed Datong Prefecture and Xuanfu and are heading towards the capital, I finally know!"

"Mu Bin! What's the use of me letting you control the Embroidered Uniform Guard?!"

"Is this how you collect intelligence and monitor the world for me?!"

Unable to contain his anger, Zhu You樘 grabbed the stone inkstone on the table and threw it at Mu Bin.

Mu Bin didn't dare to dodge and gritted his teeth to endure the blow.

The inkstone hit his forehead, and blood immediately flowed.

At the same time, the ink from the inkstone was also splashed all over his face.

Mu Bin's face was red and black, looking extremely embarrassed.

But even so, he didn't dare to wipe it off with his hands.

He knelt on the ground, trembling all over, his heart filled with extreme fear.

"This humble officer has seriously failed in his duty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

With such a serious intelligence accident occurring in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Mu Bin had no doubt that Zhu You樘 would order the extermination of his three generations in a fit of anger.

"And you, Huai En!"

"Is the East Depot just a bunch of useless freeloaders?!"

"You didn't receive any news about such a serious matter!"

"Are you waiting for the Tatar troops to reach my capital and make me a laughingstock of the world before the East Depot can hand over the intelligence to me?!"

Zhu You樘 picked up the pen holder on his hand and smashed it at Huai En.

Huai En knelt on the ground, shaking like a sieve, his face as white as a sheet.

"This old servant knows his mistake! It's this old servant's poor supervision!"

"This old servant knows his mistake! Please have mercy, Your Majesty!"

Huai En also felt boundless fear.

None of them could withstand Zhu You樘's anger.

"And that group of dogs in the Grand Secretariat, concealing military information and failing to report it, deserve to be killed!"

"Qiu Yue dared to bribe the Tatar troops and let them into the pass, I will exterminate his nine generations!"

"Ma Wensheng left the capital without authorization and promoted Qiu Yue to be a general, he also deserves to be killed!"

"They all deserve to be killed! All these people deserve to be killed!"

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