Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 991 After the Attack
The Tatars, who were in complete chaos, had lost their last chance.

Even though Alutai's central army camp still had 2,000 Qiexue troops, and even though Azashili still had 5,000 grassland elite cavalry under his command, it was useless in the face of the well-prepared Ming army.

Long before Zhu Xiongying and Chang Mao left Daning City, they had already asked for help from the surrounding Ming troops in accordance with the instructions in Zhu Su's secret letter, and specifically instructed them in the letter to remain dormant.

In order to get here as quickly as possible, most of the Ming army's light cavalry were elite cavalry, and they had been lying in wait for three or two days to rest. Even when the Crown Prince's camp was attacked by the Tatars and was in imminent danger, they refrained from taking action.

As elite troops who had been resting for a long time, the fighting spirit of the Ming troops who came to support them had already reached its peak. At this time, the Tatars were in civil strife, and the various camps were fighting each other. The leaders of the upper echelons disagreed and the command was chaotic...

This was simply a military achievement that fell from the sky. How could the Ming army let this military achievement slip away? The various Ming troops directly set up a pocket formation, surrounded the Tatars, and tried not to let any of them escape. They recruited surrenders and rebels along the way, and killed their way towards the main camp.

The Tatar army was in trouble both internally and externally, and their fighting spirit was greatly reduced. Even though Alutai and his men wanted to break out, they were unable to break through the Ming army's encirclement. After dashing around in the encirclement for half a night, they finally fell into the hands of the Ming army.

"Report! Victory has come from the front. The night attack has been successful and the Tatar army is in chaos!"

"Report! The bandit false Khan Bayanchuri has been captured alive by Duke Chang!"

"Report! The bandit Grand Tutor Alutai was trying to break out, but has been captured by General Xu Zengshou!"

"Report! The rebel leader Azashili led his troops to resist stubbornly, but his remaining troops have been defeated by our army, and he has been captured alive by General Ye Wangye!"

"Report! Our army has won a great victory! The Tatar bandits who resisted stubbornly have been completely annihilated! Our army has captured countless people, horses and livestock!"

The good news was transmitted back to the Ming camp like snowflakes. Inside the camp, Zhu Xiongying, who was staying in the camp as a military supervisor, was always worried. It was not until he heard the news of the Ming army's great victory that he showed a look of great joy.

"When will the army return to the camp?" Zhu Xiongying asked the messenger who came to report the news.

"Your Highness, the troops are still cleaning up the battlefield. The Duke said that they will return to the camp in about three hours."

"Three hours... I understand." Zhu Xiongying nodded. It took three hours to clean up the battlefield, which shows how much they had gained in this victory.

When the army returns to the camp, there are still many things to do, including the placement of supplies, rewarding the soldiers, and mourning the fallen soldiers. These are all his responsibilities as the military supervisor.

The Ming Crown Prince quickly suppressed his emotions and began to devote himself to the logistical affairs within his jurisdiction.

By the time Chang Mao and several other guest troops from Liaodong, Xu family and others arrived, the Ming army in the main camp had already started a fire, arranged the necessary supplies, and allocated a camping area for the guest troops.

"Your Highness Xu Zengshou pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Your Highness Ye Wang pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"...

This well-organized arrangement surprised Xu Zengshou, Ye Wang and others. When they paid their respects, they couldn't help but look up to the young crown prince Zhu Xiongying.

"Generals, please stand up. In the army, I am only a supervisor. You are all the backbone of the Ming Dynasty. There is no need to be like this..."

Zhu Xiongying was extremely humble, and his attitude of respecting the wise and humble once again won him a lot of favor from these generals. After the generals paid their respects to Zhu Xiongying, a banquet was held in the Ming army. The firemen directly disposed of the cattle, sheep, and injured horses captured from the Tatars to reward the soldiers who were tired from the battle.

Chang Mao, Zhu Xiongying and others began to busy themselves with the handling of Aluta and others, as well as the consideration of matters related to requesting merits.

"Your Highness, this villain is the Tatar pseudo-Khan Bayanchur." Chang Mao pointed at Bayanchur who was brought in first and said with a smile. He was still wearing the expensive fur coat, but the fur coat had been torn into several large holes by the flames. He was wearing a lot of gold and silver objects, which were now covered with a lot of dust, and looked very embarrassed.

Two soldiers who were holding Ben Ya Shi Li threw him heavily to the ground, making a chaotic clanging sound.

"Why is this Tatar 'Khan' dressed like this?" Ye Wang laughed. "Look at him, he is not a Khan at all, he is just a country bumpkin who came out of nowhere!"

"Hahahaha." All the Ming generals laughed. Ben Yashiri was embarrassed when he heard the laughter. He wished he could put his head into his crotch.

"Your Highness," Chang Mao asked. "How should we deal with this beast?"

Upon hearing this, Ben Ya Shi Li hurried forward and tried to crawl in front of Zhu Xiongying. However, in order to prevent him from escaping, his hands and feet had been tied tightly with thick cow tendon ropes. In his haste to crawl, he lost his balance and fell to the ground with his face.

But he no longer cared about his face and embarrassment, nor did he care about his crooked nose from the collision. Instead, he hurriedly begged Zhu Xiongying for mercy, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty! I... I had no intention of disobeying the Heavenly Dynasty. It was Alutai who forced me to do it!"

"I am willing to surrender, I am willing to surrender, I am willing to surrender, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Seeing his servile appearance, the Ming generals could not help but show even more contempt. Zhu Xiongying originally wanted to ask the Tatar Khan a question, but at this moment he was unwilling to talk to such a person. Instead, he turned to Chang Mao and said, "I am just a military supervisor. How to judge this man, the Duke should deal with him according to the rules of the court."

"When my fifth uncle captured the Northern Yuan general Nahachu, he was escorted to the capital and led by my grandfather, the Holy Heart... Can we follow this example?"

"Well, let's do it." Chang Mao nodded. Ben Ya Shi Li was already ecstatic. He struggled to kneel down and kowtowed to Chang Mao and Zhu Xiongying: "Thank you, Grandson, thank you, Grandson, for the grace of the Ming Dynasty..."

After Nahachu was captured and brought to Beijing, he was conferred the title of baron by the Ming Emperor and placed under house arrest... Now he no longer dared to ask for the restoration of his ancestors' country. As long as he could still enjoy the charming wealth and glory, he would be grateful even if he was placed under house arrest by the Ming court.

"Take him away!" Chang Mao looked at Ben Ya Shi Li's ugly appearance and waved his hand in disdain. The so-called Tatar Khan, who had caused the Ming Dynasty a lot of headaches, turned out to be such a filthy thing... Chang Mao suddenly felt that his merit of capturing the "Khan" alive had become much less valuable.

The next person to be brought up was Azashili, the former governor of Taining Guard. Azashili looked tougher than Benyashili. When he saw the many generals in the tent, he just turned pale, snorted heavily, and then knelt on the ground without saying a word.

"Azhashiri." It was the first time Zhu Xiongying had seen this man. Thinking of how he had almost lost his life to him before, he couldn't help but feel angry. So he asked him:

"My Great Ming has been very kind to you, why did you betray the court?"

Azashili turned his head slightly away, and after a while, he turned back and said in a heroic manner: "You can kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you, why bother saying more."

"...But, if you don't kill me this time, I will die for the Ming Dynasty in the future!"

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at each other in surprise. This Azashili actually knew some allusions. These words were said by Zhu Liangzu when the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang captured the enemy general Zhu Liangzu when the Ming Dynasty was still fighting for the world.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite surprised to hear this, so he released Zhu Liangzu. Zhu Liangzu did make great contributions to the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Xiongying was so angry at his words that he laughed. He said, "Azhashili, if you want to beg for your life, just beg for it. Why do you have to act so heroic?"

"I, the Ming Dynasty, have been very kind to you. Not only have I ensured that your people and herdsmen have enough food and clothing, I have also given you, Azashili, many rewards."

"And you? You are ambitious and don't know what's good for you! For your own selfish reasons, you incited your herdsmen to rebel with you!"

"Even if you capture me, do you think the imperial court will let go of the tens of thousands of herdsmen under your Taining Guard?"

Zhu Xiongying stared in anger, a young boy who was so imposing at this moment. "You disregarded the kindness of the Ming Dynasty, which is disloyalty, and disregarded the lives of the herdsmen, which is unjust."

"Disloyal and unkind bandits like you, not to mention that you have brought up my royal ancestor, even if my royal ancestor himself was here, he would definitely not tolerate you!"

"Duke, I think these rebels should be killed to warn future generations... Is that possible?" Zhu Xiongying turned to Chang Mao and said.

"Of course." Chang Mao laughed and looked at Azashili with a teasing look: "He's just a rebel, what's the point of him?"

"Hey, he even compared himself to Zhu Liangzu... Didn't he know that Zhu Liangzu's family was also expelled by His Majesty and the Fifth Prince because of rebellion?"

"Rather than leaving such a disaster behind, it is better to get rid of it as soon as possible. Come on..."

Several soldiers rushed in and were about to take Azashili to be executed. Azashili panicked and could no longer hold back his heroic appearance. He simply threw down his hat and started to curse:
"You little brat, how dare you kill me!"

"I am the King of Liao of the Yuan Dynasty. How noble I am! How dare you put me on the same level as bandits!"

"I surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty did not make me a king. Where is the gratitude? Where is the gratitude?..."

The voice gradually faded away until it could no longer be heard. After a while, a soldier brought in a head on a wooden tray and said, "Your Highness, Duke, the thief Azashiri has been executed."

"Humph, you greedy fool, you also want to be crowned king? Pah!" Chang Mao looked at Azashili's head and sneered, then waved his hand: "Send it away, send this head to all the tribes on the grassland, and teach those grassland chiefs to see the consequences of betraying our Ming Dynasty!"

"Go to my political and educational department and find a few soldiers to accompany the soldiers who are going to hand over the head." Zhu Xiongying still did not forget his great cause of promoting the legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty. "Let the herdsmen of all tribes understand that people like Azashili, who are so ambitious, want to use the blood and tears of the herdsmen to achieve their own wealth and glory."

"So that they can understand who brought them the good life they have now."

The soldiers took the order and retreated. In the tent, Xu Zengshou said curiously, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is very thoughtful. He can think of such a subtle detail."

"It's just my duty as a military supervisor. Uncle Xu, thank you for your praise." Zhu Xiongying said. Xu Zengshou and he were also related, so he was more friendly when facing Xu Zengshou.

Xu Zengshou nodded. He knew that the Daning Military Commission was trying out a new military system, and at this time he was obviously more curious about the role of the military supervisor under the new military system. Ye Wang and other Ming army generals from other military commissions were also very interested in Zhu Xiongying's duties as the military supervisor of the crown prince.

However, at this time, there was still an important figure among the captives who had not been dealt with, so everyone temporarily suppressed their curiosity.

"Your Highness, everyone, this is the Tatar Grand Master Alutai who I captured." Xu Zengshou stood up and introduced to everyone. Unlike Azashili's pretentious heroism, Alutai had a dejected look on his face, sighing and trying to hold his knees firm, but the Ming army soldier slapped his scabbard hard, so he could only kneel down reluctantly.

"Arutai." Chang Mao knew that this man was the soul of the Tatars, and the so-called Khan Bayanchur was actually just a puppet. Therefore, there was a hint of pride in his words: "You Tatars have lost to me this time, are you convinced?"

Alutai's face froze, and then he slowly raised his eyelids. He said in fluent Chinese: "I have some doubts in my heart, and I would like to ask for your advice... I wonder if you, the people of the Ming Dynasty, can help me solve my doubts?"

Chang Mao turned around and saw Zhu Xiongying and the others nodded, so he said to Alutai, "You ask."

"How did you incite my entire army to such a state of chaos? Chahan, Guilichi and others alone should not have caused such a big chaos."

"If our army had not been in disarray, how could we have been defeated..."

At this point, Aluta showed an unwilling look.

Chang Mao uttered a "huh" and then glanced at Zhu Xiongying. Zhu Xiongying said to Alutai, "Alutai, you are the think tank of the Tatars. When the time comes, you don't even know how you were defeated?"

"I just don't know how you incited rebellion in my army? How did you bribe so many of my Tatar soldiers..."

"Hehe." Zhu Xiongying shook his head, and there was a bit more contempt in his eyes as he looked at Aluta.

"Bribe? Why should we bribe your soldiers? As the Grand Master of the Tatars, you only know how to fight for power and profit. Have you ever cared about the lives of the herdsmen and soldiers under your command?"

"Until now, you still think that the Ming Dynasty has bribed them with huge benefits... How ridiculous! As their leader, you don't even care about what they want."

"You didn't lose to the rebellion, nor did you even lose to the Ming Dynasty... You failed because you lost to your own ambitions and your arrogance."

"We lost to the glorious will of the people on the grassland!"

"You're still unwilling to accept this? Do you think that with your intelligence, you shouldn't end up like this?"

"I tell you, people like you will be punished even if you go against the Ming Dynasty a hundred times or a thousand times!"

"You will only end up being defeated by the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)