Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 6: No one can defend the city without 70,000 people
"Tianjin Yuegang has established a customs office, and you can collect one-twenty percent of the customs duties."

Without waiting for Wu Xiang to react.

Zhu Youjian once again threw out his trump card, "Your son will be conferred a title, and you will be in charge of the coastal defense."

"Add to that the charter, and even if your fleet could reach the Red Hair Barbarians' homeland, no one would say anything."

Wu Xiang's eyes gleamed, but then disappeared in an instant. "The capital now has less than 10,000 soldiers. Your Majesty, do you know how many red cannons Li Zicheng brought with him?"

"What if I can give you soldiers?" Zhu Youjian stood upright with his sword in hand.

That look and that spirit made Wu Xiang inexplicably think of Nurhaci, who was still the deputy governor of Jianzhou Guard. It was Nurhaci who started an army with thirteen sets of armor, unified the Jianzhou Jurchens, issued the Seven Great Grievances, and wiped out the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty in one battle!

That is the heroic demeanor that only a great leader can possess!

Wu Xiang was stunned for a moment, and was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

Staring at the map on the wall, he muttered to himself, "There are soldiers...if there are soldiers..."

Then his cloudy old eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance.

"I, your humble servant, dare to request the dispatch of 70,000 elite troops!"

"Seventy thousand?" Wang Chengen exclaimed in shock. "The Beijing troops are evenly matched."

"Your Majesty doesn't know something."

Wu Xiang dipped his tea in the water and drew the Nine Palaces on the table. "Desheng Gate needs 20,000 crossbowmen, Chaoyang Gate needs 3,000 heavy guns, and Fucheng Gate."

"Your Majesty, if you want to defend the capital, you must have 70,000 men to defend the city!"

"If Your Majesty only wishes to hold out for a while, awaiting the arrival of the reinforcements, I, this old minister, only need 30,000 elite soldiers, and we can hold out until my son arrives."

Zhu Youjian stroked the jade pendant at his waist, the only intact item in Empress Zhou's dressing box. "If I give you the full amount of 70,000."

"I guarantee it with my own life!" Wu Xiang patted his chest.

"The city is here and the people are there!"

……

Zhu Youjian left in a mighty manner under the protection of the iron cavalry. Before leaving, he took away 27,000 taels of silver, 400 dan of military rations, 17 sets of gold-plated tableware and 40 kilograms of mutton from the general's mansion.

The sun is already high in the sky.

Wu Xiang, who had not slept all night, was not tired at all at this moment. He was using a red pen to write on the "Record of Defending the City".

When he wrote about the need for three thousand cavalry to guard Zuoanmen, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, the Zhu family really deserves to rule this country!"

"Father, what are you laughing at?" Wu Sanfu, the third son of Wu Xiang, came in holding the defense map of the Beijing camp.

"You're laughing at me for being so smart."

Wu Xiang circled the Chongwen Gate with ink, "No matter how the descendants of the Zhu family squandered their wealth, every time the country was about to fall, there would always be a wise ruler and wise minister to save the country from collapse!"

"Before, there was Emperor Chengzu's campaign to quell the rebellion; in the middle, there was Emperor Yu's campaign to protect the country; and now there is Emperor Chongzhen. If they don't make a sound, they'll be a surprise. An entire thousand-household army of heavily armored cavalry appeared in the capital without even my noticing."

"And I actually tried to be the second Yu Shaobao Yan Song. How ridiculous."

"However, he thinks that he can tie down my Wu family by using the right to open the sea. He really underestimates me."

The tip of the brush suddenly stopped, and a ball of ink spread out on the rice paper.

The clanging sound of armor could be heard from the courtyard; the 3,000-man battalion of cavalry were taking turns on duty.

Wu Xiang lowered his voice and said, "Send a message to your brother. The main force of the Guanning Army will only march thirty miles a day and try to avoid the enemy's cavalry. Send another two thousand cavalry as the vanguard to seize Jizhen and be ready for orders."

"The capital"

"We want Li Zicheng to force the emperor into a desperate situation!"

"I want to see how much wealth Your Majesty has left."

"When the enemy's food supplies run out, we will launch another thundering attack. By then, we will have Liaodong's Liao military pay, maritime tariffs, and the military power of the Beijing camp."

Wu Xiang seemed to see the scene of himself being crowned king.

……

After leaving Wu Xiang's mansion, Zhu Youjian did not return to the palace.

Instead, he continued to rush towards Xuanwu Gate with his cavalry.

Outside Xuanwu Gate is the training ground for the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty, the Beijing Camp.

At its peak, the vast parade grounds held three battalions of 200,000 soldiers! But now...

Zhu Youjian stopped his horse at the Xuanwu Gate, looking at the mottled plaque "The Key to the Divine Capital" on the city wall.

The gold lacquer inscribed by Emperor Chengzu has long since peeled off, revealing dense wormholes in the rotten wood, which looks very much like this crumbling country.

"Open the city gate!" Wang Chengen's shrill voice pierced the morning mist.

The iron gate winch made a teeth-grinding creaking sound, and the heavy wooden door was opened.

Three thousand cavalrymen escorted the emperor out in a line.

A faint stench of decay mingled with the spring breeze, the smell of festering wounds mixed with old mildew.

There were only a few flags flying on the desolate and lonely training ground.

Only the exquisite and heavy wooden walls still tell of the past glory of the Beijing Camp.

At the gate of the parade ground, Li Guozhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng, was kneeling to welcome them with more than ten thousand soldiers.

This hereditary noble was trembling all over at this moment, and there was a dark water stain on the front of his official uniform.

On the crooked military flag behind him, the two characters "Shen Ji" had been eaten away by holes, looking like a broken spider web.

When Li Guozhen saw Zhu Youjian appear, he immediately shouted.

"Your Highness, Li Guozhen, respectfully welcomes the Emperor!"

Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden loud noise of a wooden frame falling down from deep in the training ground, raising a cloud of yellow dust.

The three thousand cavalrymen formed a crescent formation in a short moment, protecting Zhu Youjian in the middle.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to report!" Li Guozhen was terrified and hurriedly explained, "It might be... the artillery of the Shenji Battalion fell down. I was just practicing their artillery fire."

When Zhu Youjian heard this reason, he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

The artillery that Li Guozhen mentioned was not a cannon, but a fixed projectile device similar to a catapult.

The Shenji Camp has actually fallen to the point of playing with catapults, and this is the only organized army. No wonder Wu Xiang felt more uncomfortable when he heard that he was asked to defend the city than to die.

But this cannot be blamed on Li Guozhen, after all, a good cook cannot cook without rice.

Riding out from the cavalry, Zhu Youjian didn't care about the loud noise, but asked directly.

"I asked you to select a thousand combat-ready soldiers. How are you doing, my dear?"

Li Guozhen quickly responded, "The Beijing Camp currently has 5,700 combat soldiers, 200 of whom can use two crossbows, 90 are skilled in using fire muskets, 400 can carry heavy armor and run five miles with spare strength, and 370 of the defeated soldiers in the Yongwei Camp are unharmed."

Taking into account those who had no obvious wounds among the defeated troops, it seems that Li Guozhen really did his best.

Zhu Youjian nodded and said, "Take me to see it."

Li Guozhen bowed repeatedly and stood on both sides of the gate with a dozen thousand households.

He waited until Zhu Youjian entered before following, walking behind the emperor to show him the way.

The thousand combat-ready soldiers Li Guozhen mentioned have been assembled.

Standing scattered in a corner of the huge training ground,
Some of them carried matchlock rifles made in the Wanli period on their shoulders, some wore chain mail from the Hongzhi period, and Zhu Youjian even saw people wearing paper armor.

According to Li Guozhen, they were the remnants of the Yongwei Camp who fought to the death with Zhou Yuji at Ningwu Pass.

Hearing the familiar name, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but sigh.

Zhou Yuji was considered the last capable general in the capital at the end of the Ming Dynasty. If he had not died, there would have been no need for Zhu Youjian to promote Wu Xiang.

Even if this seemingly shrewd Li Guozhen was a little more capable, he would not have gone to talk to Wu Xiang about defending the city.

Seeing Zhu Youjian coming, thousands of soldiers knelt on the ground in scattered positions, some shouting "Long live the emperor", some shouting "Your Majesty", and some shouting "Your Majesty".

Some people even asked him for rewards in public.

Zhu Youjian frowned when he saw this.

Can the entry really transform these defeated soldiers?
Li Guozhen also saw Zhu Youjian's furrowed brow, and he kept scolding the scattered soldiers, but he could not calm the situation down.

Zhu Youjian had no choice but to raise his right hand.

The black-armored cavalrymen immediately shouted in unison.

"quiet!"

The sound shook the sky and murderous aura was everywhere.

(End of this chapter)