The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 413: Total collapse
"As expected, I knew these people wouldn't last long. They really are a bunch of useless trash. They retreated after such a short time. I ordered the brothers to give chase. I'm going to leave them all in this one place!"

Due to Mahmud's sudden retreat, the battlefield became one-sided.

Mahmud suffered heavy losses with each retreat, watching his troops, whom he had painstakingly recruited, fall on the front lines.

He was in great pain. These damned guys, if it weren't for the Ming army being so powerful, he would definitely have sought revenge on them.

Meanwhile, Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong had already cleaned up the battlefield.

After this battle, they had a pretty good grasp of the situation of the Chagatai Khanate.

Now that they knew about the Chagatai Khanate, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that the Chagatai Khanate was not particularly strong, with a total of only a few hundred thousand cavalrymen.

However, the Timurid Empire to their west was an even more powerful force.

This person said that the relationship between the two great empires was not good during this period, but that did not mean that the relationship would be bad in the future.

Conversely, the Timurid Empire frequently clashed with the countries to the west, so their main armies were concentrated on the western front.

If the Ming army suddenly appears on their eastern front, they will be forced to fight on two fronts, which is not a simple matter for them.

Therefore, no matter what, they must preserve the Chagatai Khanate.

This is the most difficult part of this battle.

Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong was not too concerned. Being trapped in his hands was just a matter of some advance troops. Once his main force arrived at this place, things would be much easier.

Before long, all the troops from various places had gathered together. Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong was extremely happy and first sent the news of the previous victory to Yingtian Prefecture.

Inside the Jingtian Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely pleased and burst into laughter.

"As expected of Li Bao'er, he's quite bold, daring to launch a surprise attack!"

At this moment, he looked at Zhu Xiong Ying beside him and said with a smile.

"I've heard about what happened to you. Bao'er said that you deserve the credit this time. If it weren't for the weapons you invented, as well as the compass and telescope, this battle would not have been so easy for them!"

At the same time, they turned their gaze towards Zhu Xiong Ying's direction, never expecting that Zhu Xiong Ying could still influence the border battles even in the capital.

However, they were very curious about what Zhu Yuanzhang had mentioned, and they didn't know what those things were for, or how they could play such a significant role on the battlefield.

At this moment, among the crowd, there was one whose eyes were filled with anger—Zhu Yunwen.

During this period, Zhu Yunwen dared not make the slightest move, for fear of being caught red-handed.

Those powerful families did not benefit from the previous rebellion of Marquis Chen Yong of Linjiang. On the contrary, their actions were targeted and suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang, which resulted in extremely heavy losses for them.

However, the person targeting them was, after all, the emperor. Moreover, they had struck first, so they didn't know how to plead for mercy. They could only reluctantly hand over a large portion of their family's wealth to Zhu Yuanzhang, which finally appeased his anger. But even after the Embroidered Uniform Guard withdrew, the Eastern Depot remained.

Zhu Yuanzhang is Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Xiong Ying is Zhu Xiong Ying. Although Zhu Yuanzhang forgave them for this matter, it does not mean that Zhu Xiong Ying agreed to it.

Zhu Xiong Ying immediately took action and targeted these powerful families.

These powerful families were extremely frustrated. They had just recovered from Zhu Yuanzhang's targeting, but now they were being targeted by Zhu Xiong Ying.

Many families even left Yingtian Prefecture, knowing full well that with Zhu Xiong Ying in Yingtian Prefecture, they could not accomplish anything significant.

As for Zhu Yunwen, seeing the vast difference in strength between him and Zhu Xiong Ying, it would be quite difficult for him to compete for that position.

Watching so many people leave this place, Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth in hatred. These were all his forces, and now they had all left.

At this moment, he was even more furious at Zhu Xiong Ying's contributions.

No wonder Zhu Xiong Ying went to the home of Cao Guo Gong Li Wen Zhong first; it must have been for these reasons. If that's the case, Cao Guo Gong Li Wen Zhong probably supports Zhu Xiong Ying now.

Thinking of this, he felt a little scared. It seemed that all the generals who could really speak for the court were on Zhu Xiong Ying's side.

Although a few military generals defected to him, their forces were too weak to be of much use.

It seems I still need to win over a few generals in the army, but upon closer inspection, it appears that most of the generals are related to Zhu Xiong Ying, and I really don't know where to begin.

After returning, he told Huang Zicheng, Lian Zining, and others about the news.

Upon hearing this, these people frowned slightly. At this moment, Huang Zicheng spoke up.

"And they're just some martial arts practitioners. They might be of some use now, but once the world is at peace, these guys will be completely useless!"

"Your Highness, there is absolutely no need for you to win them over. They are of little use. Moreover, Zhu Xiong Ying has a natural advantage in this matter, and it is not easy to compare with him. In that case, why not win over those scholars instead!"

"Most of those scholars come from humble backgrounds, making them easier to win over. Moreover, once they become officials, all the officials in the court will be from Your Highness's faction!"

"Even if Zhu Xiong Ying controls the military, it won't work without the approval of those court officials!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen sighed. He felt that this matter was extremely difficult. After all, many scholars were now siding with Zhu Xiong Ying. If it were the old imperial examination system, there wouldn't be much of a problem, but the current imperial examination system had long been modified by Zhu Xiong Ying.

They used exactly the same things as Zhu Xiong Ying.

It was precisely because Zhu Xiong Ying re-edited the teaching materials that they learned something different. Many people admired Zhu Xiong Ying, but he disdained what Zhu Xiong Ying taught.

Scholars like them are extremely noble and should study the Four Books and Five Classics. Only the words of these sages can govern the world.

What kind of people did Zhu Xiong Ying teach? They were all second-rate individuals.

(End of this chapter)