Chapter 457 - Urgent Feeling (1/2)
Although Zhu Junyang was rarely influenced by his heart devil now, he was quite upset by all of this so naturally his aggressiveness shot up. Now that he had been given the title of Zhenbei General, he had the responsibility of defending the northern borders. With his soldiers behind him, he slaughtered like a raging god on the battlefield. The invading Tartars had been beaten until they cried for their parents. It was an utter defeat for them.
The so-called Tartars was actually just a name used to describe the fierce nomadic tribes that roamed in the north. These tribes lived on horseback and had a lot of cavalry. They were relentless in battle and used guerilla warfare tactics as their movement speed was quite high. This was a headache to the Great Ming generals and soldiers in charge of defending the northern borders.
The stationed general in the north was very disappointed when Royal Prince Yang arrived to bring reinforcements as the prince had both a youthful and devilishly handsome appearance. The general believed that the prince was a silver-spooned member of the imperial family and was merely at the border to gain some glory. He didn’t have any expectations for this youth. However, the other person soon proved him wrong. Royal Prince Yang gave a decisive victory to the Great Ming Empire and did so by only using his own men.
Whether it was the private soldiers under Royal Prince Yang’s command or the elite Jinwei soldiers, they were all staunch and experienced soldiers on the battlefield. Royal Prince Yang’s private soldiers were especially tough as they were often tormented by their master in private to spar with him. Every soldier had undergone extreme training and was extraordinarily valiant.
This time, the prince had brought along around a thousand cavalry units to the north with him and the vast majority belonged to Imperial Prince Jing’s private troops. Everyone in the capital knew that, in the younger generation, Royal Prince Yang was the wealthiest as he had brought over a dozen ships full of novel items from the western hemisphere. In the capital, he sold finely wrought clocks, delicate jewels and dazzling enamelware at sky-high prices.
Beyond that, if they only counted the amount of money he made during winter by selling vegetables and fruits out of season, he still had a large fortune in money. With plenty of money on hand, did he have to worry about equipping his private troops? Every private soldier under his command not only had a fine Mongolian steed, but even their armor and weapons were also the finest available on the market. The elite soldiers from the Jinwei troops had always thought that the emperor was their ‘true father’ as they were always supplied with good equipment compared to the other armies. However, when they compared themselves to the private troops under Royal Prince Yang’s command, they looked like a wretched bunch…
Under the command of their master, the private troops under Royal Prince Yang took the lead as they sped into battle. They swept everything away. As for the elite Jinwei soldiers, they could only follow behind and take the job of cleaning up the aftermath. As for the troops that were originally stationed here, they really had nothing left to do.
Royal Prince Yang had a belly full of rage within him and he let it all out on the battlefield. He viciously attacked the Tartars with no mercy. On their first battle, he immediately slaughtered the Tartar’s most skilled warrior at a moment’s notice and used the man’s head as a grisly flag on the battlefield. His private soldiers charged their tall and sturdy horses into the fear-stricken Tartar ranks. It was as if a bunch of savage tigers had been unleashed and they weren’t going to be restrained!
Morale was very important during war! On the Great Ming Empire’s side, they had already gained the upper hand on the first battle by their show of strength and easily extinguished the fires of eagerness within the Tartars. Following that battle, everything else continued on the Great Ming’s advantage. Zhu Junyang not only seized a total victory but also broke the unspoken rule to ‘not chase a retreating enemy’. He continuously forced the Tartars to retreat further and further along.
Following that, the Great Ming army continuously attacked the Tartars and obtained victory after victory! Furthermore, they even managed to win back all of the cities that they had lost prior to the establishment of the Great Ming Dynasty. The Tartars had been beaten back to the prairie grasslands and sent envoys again and again to ask for peace.
At first, Zhu Junyang refused to accept their terms for peace and only preoccupied himself with beating them back farther and farther. By the time the leader of the Tartars was about to despair, the prince finally received one of the envoys and stopped fighting. The resulting negotiations were not something that was within Zhu Junyang’s given authority, so that was handed off to someone else.
By then, snow had already started to fall in large flakes in the north. Zhu Junyang wrapped himself in a cloak made of weasel fur and watched as the snow lazily drifted throughout the air. He felt as if he could see an image of that small and skinny figure, running around the snow like a happy little fairy.
Winter in the capital was much colder than it was in Tanggu Town. He wasn’t sure if that little lass was currently hiding in a room with a heated floor or heated wall, or whether she was coming up with another crazy idea to sell her unique pastries.
While he was at the border, Zhu Junyang continued to think about Yu Xiaocao. The northern hunters in the area had quite a selection of valuable furs and the prince made it his mission to get as many quality specimens as possible. There was the lustrous and colorful scarlet-red fox fur that was good at keeping a person warm. He bought it! Then there was soft and delicate ferret fur with a pure color. He also bought it! As for weasel fur, silver fox fur, sable fur...all good specimens had one outcome: buy, buy, buy!
Other than good quality furs, the north also specialized in producing valuable medicinal ingredients. From what happened with Head Steward Liu, he knew that his little lass was able to make medicines of astounding efficacy. With better quality ingredients on hand, she would be able to make even better medicines. Hundred-year ginseng, thousand-year reishi mushroom, and hundred-year Chinese knotweed? He bought them all! With money, one could be willful!
His days passed like this while he waited for the envoy in charge of negotiating the treaty to get there. Finally, the envoy arrived and he had also brought the emperor’s imperial decree to withdraw the troops and head back to the capital. Zhu Junyang had long set his heart on heading home, so he braved the snows with the troops to go back. He didn't care whether it was day or night as he traveled as he was only preoccupied with speed. Despite the soldiers complaining non-stop about this breakneck speed, they arrived back in the capital about a dozen days earlier than expected.
As he got closer and closer to his little lass, Zhu Junyang started to feel a bit homesick. Was his little lass doing well? Did she miss him like he missed her? Had she been eating properly? Had she grown any taller? He had never simultaneously experienced feeling both nervous and excited before.
As the leader of the victorious army, he had to go into the Imperial Palace to ‘report’. He resisted his urge to see the little lass and entered the throne room somewhat resentfully. He was afraid that Xiaocao might worry too much, so he sent Head Steward Liu Fusheng out to report on what had happened to him.