Zhu Houzhao was ambitious at the beginning.

Just like on June 12th, when he personally directed the troops to fight with the Tatars, they were all thunder and rainy, and finally they turned into a goalless wait for the army.

Zhu Houzhao did not eat or drink a lot. After simply treating her, she simply ate some dry food and then waited on the city tower, looking forward to the waiting and the anxiety in her heart gradually deepened.

The officials and generals had retreated outside the building to wait, and only the followers like Li Fei, Xiao Taozi and Zhang Yuan could stay by his side to wait for orders.

At a blink of an eye, noon passed, and Zhu Houzhao finally couldn't help but call Zhang Yuan over and asked, "Why is there no news yet? I can't wait any longer and don't want to stay on the city tower and bask in the sun! I want to lead troops out of the city, just wait for the Tatars to be confirmed and run away immediately."

Zhang Yuan said anxiously: "But... Your Majesty, there is no news of the Tartars until now. Is it too hasty to lead troops out of the frontier in such a hurry?"

Zhu Houzhao's attitude was extremely firm: "Then you can't wait here... I'm sending orders to the three armies to follow me to go to war, and will not return to the army until the Tatars are defeated!"

Zhang Yuan usually obeys Zhu Houzhao's advice, but this time he was abnormal, kneeling to the ground with a "thump" sound, begging:

"Your Majesty, please think twice before you act... Sending troops is a major issue that concerns the safety of our Ming Dynasty. If you can't even find the Tatars, it will be full of dangers and good fortune and bad luck, because the Tatars may have some conspiracies and tricks that suddenly came out, just like the war more than ten days ago."

Zhu Houzhao was originally determined, but after thinking about the failure on June 12, his body suddenly stiffened.

Concubine Li also came over to advise: "Yes, Your Majesty, I also think that we should wait for the military information to come first... Lord Hu and General Xu are not mediocre people. Even if the Tatars have any conspiracies, they will find out. You don't have to hurry up if your Majesty wants to lead the army in person."

Usually Zhu Houzhao was arbitrary and acted arbitrary, but she lacked his own opinion when facing difficult choices. When two close people around him tried their best to dissuade him, he suddenly realized that he was confused after going to war, which was not in line with the military book's words "knowing oneself and knowing one's enemy" and began to hesitate.

"If you continue to wait like this, I don't know when... I'll know where the Tartar camp was last time when I sent troops, but now I don't even have any news about the enemy."

Zhu Houzhao said angrily, "Look at the good things you did. Before the war started, I didn't even have basic information on the opponent. It would be useless to send my commanders to the emperor! Now I feel that I am just making a fool of you... If Mr. Shen is here, why would this be like this?"

When the emperor mentioned Shen Xi, everyone present felt strange.

Concubine Li said: "If Lord Shen is here, he will definitely be prepared in advance. However, Lord Shen should have thought of these before going to war. He specially left Lord Hu and Lord Wang to play in front of His Majesty. These people have good abilities, but they have not investigated the information in the Tartars until now, which shows..."

Although in his words, Li Fei was helping the officials and generals of Zhangjiakou Fort excuse him, she was actually mainly defending Zhang Yuan's innocence.

For others, they may not know much about the situation, but Li Fei knew very well that the information around Zhangjiakou Fort is not smooth now. A big reason is that Zhu Houzhao issued an order not to send troops after the setback. Zhang Yuan made this order so much that even the scouts repeatedly demanded that they should not be too far away from the city, which finally led to the failure of the information now.

In short, the current situation is not because the Tatars are confused about how good they are in their work, nor because Hu Lian, Wang Shouren and others are incompetent, but because the decision makers are not in military affairs and the emperor's inaction is related to the dispatch of the powerful eunuch Hu **.

...

...

The waiting continues.

Zhu Houzhao did not rest, and sat on the terrace of the city tower and looked into the distance.

The information was constantly transmitted back, but there was no information about the Tatar movements. It was not until the time passed that Zhu Houzhao summoned the officials and generals again. At this time, he could no longer bear the torture and proposed to lead his troops out of the city in person.

"His Majesty……"

Lu Wan came up and summarized it, "From the current situation, there is no sign of Tatars moving a hundred miles north of Zhangjiakou Fort... Not only are the large players, but even the camp has been abandoned for a long time. Judging from the feedback from Hu Zhongqi, the Tatars may have withdrawn their troops ten days ago!"

Zhang Yuan sneered: "Mr. Lu is really good at laughing. He withdrew his troops ten days ago? Ten days ago they were still fighting with me in the Ming Dynasty, and they were defeated by us!"

The external statement is that the Ming Dynasty won the last victory in the Tatar war, but they were well-informed people present, so they naturally knew what the truth was. They would not agree with Zhang Yuan's statement. The result of fighting more and suffering less casualties is far greater than the enemy, which is actually called a "great victory" in the eyes of many people.

Although Lu Wan came later, he knew the situation very well and did not refute Zhang Yuan's words one by one, because he knew that the good news was appointed by the emperor, and the main purpose was to boost the morale of the army. At this time, accusing Zhang Yuan was no longer a slap in the emperor's face and was of no use for the overall situation.

Lu Wan said: "It is precisely because of the defeat of the Tatars that it is possible to withdraw troops in a hurry. Otherwise, how can we explain that there are no signs of Tatar soldiers and horses within a hundred miles? Not only that, even the Tatar scouts are missing now, as if there have never been any Tatars outside Zhangjiakou."

Zhu Houzhao frowned and looked at Lu Wan, and asked, "Lu Qing family, what you said is true? I...hehe, although the troops were victorious that day, did not report that the Tatars continued to increase their troops in the direction of Xuanfu, and were they ready to fight to the death with our Ming Dynasty?"

Lu Wan first glanced at Zhang Yuan who was staring at him, and bowed again: "Since the last war, the number of scouts sent to the north to spy on intelligence in the city has dropped sharply. Weichen heard that they were only operating more than ten miles around the city. Where did the information on the Tatars' increase in troops come from? Who reported that the Tatars were powerful... It was simply unsure."

When Zhang Yuan heard this, he knew that Lu Wan was targeting him. His voice suddenly increased to eight degrees and asked: "Mr. Lu, what do you mean? Our family reported to Your Majesty, and it is also based on the military report. Are you saying this? "

At this moment, Zhang Yuan naturally thought of pushing the responsibility to Wang Shouren.

But Wang Shouren is not a fool, thinking: "I have found out that the Tatar military situation has changed in the past few days. The other party may have withdrawn their troops long ago, but it is not possible that they can't find out in advance because they cannot send scouts. Now Eunuch Zhang's intention is obviously to let me be a scapegoat."

Wang Shouren bowed and said, "Your Majesty, since the end of the previous war, I have known very little military information. As for how the war report of the Tatars gathered came, I have no idea."

"you!"

Zhang Yuan did not expect that Wang Shouren would turn against him at the critical moment and was furious, "Mr. Wang, you are shirking responsibility!"

"Enough!"

Just as several ministers and eunuchs were shirking responsibility and attacking each other, Zhu Houzhao could no longer help but shouted.

After the emperor spoke, the scene became quiet again.

Zhu Houzhao looked angry: "Look at you, you are all my strong men, and they are important officials of the Ming Dynasty. They blame each other for military information. You think I am a foolish monarch and will be deceived by you, right?"

Even though many people didn't say it, they were thinking, wasn't it?

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Since the Tartars were not found within a 100-mile range, expand the investigation network to 200-mile, disperse all the cavalry, and sweep them out completely. I don't believe that the Tartars would rush to retreat after the last war... Since it was said before that the Tatar Khan had come here, there was no reason to withdraw easily!"

There was a silence in the audience, and everyone had their own plans. Obviously, Zhu Houzhao's military order could only temporarily alleviate the quarrel.

Wang Shouren asked: "Your Majesty immediately issued an order to order all the cavalry inside and outside the city to conduct an investigation of the information in a net. However, in order to prevent the Tatars from being treacherous, it is recommended to use a hundred people as a small team. Once the Tatars are found to mainly withdraw and report the news, they should not fight hard! And... if the distance is too far, the information may take more than one day to be fully transmitted!"

"I don't have so much time to wait!"

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, "It's only tonight that I won't thoroughly investigate the Tatar situation today. I won't go back to rest, and the soldiers of the three armies are not allowed to remove their armor. They must be ready to start a war at any time! The Tatars have always been extremely cunning, so I don't believe they can fly this time!"

...

...

The Ming Dynasty expanded the scope of searching for the traces of Tatar soldiers in the area north of Zhangjiakou Fort.

First, it is fifty miles, then one hundred miles, and then two hundred miles. As the exploration distance becomes larger, the manpower and material resources required to be consumed increase exponentially, and the time consumed also increases in geometric multiples.

Until dark, news came everywhere, but at most it was only found the former site of the camp where the Tatar soldiers had been stationed or traces of the Tatar tribe's activities. More and more news showed that the Tatars had withdrawn at least five days ago.

Zhu Houzhao did not avoid ministers and generals. As time went by, his face gradually became dark and gradually began to remain silent.

The person who was delivering the news was no longer passed by Zhang Yuan, but reported directly to Zhu Houzhao. The ministers next to him could finally understand what was going on. Every time Zhang Yuan asked the messengers questions, Zhu Houzhao sat there, as if he was already angry, but he never vented it.

"... Since there is news in the west, send more people to the west!"

Finally, after it was completely dark, there was news that the Tatar soldiers were found in the northwest of Zhangjiakou Fort, but in the end, it was only the direction of the Tatars withdrawing troops, rather than the camp where the Tatar soldiers were stationed.

Zhang Yuan finally saw some hope and quickly ordered someone to do it, but in fact, he didn't need to give orders. He would naturally arrange people in front of him to follow the clues.

After the messenger left, Zhang Yuan said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, look... the Tartars are in the northwest."

Zhu Houzhao scolded him angrily: "Let's talk about it when you find out!"

After two more hours, it was the second day of the day. The information about "The Tartars in the Northwest" was still only at its original state.

But at this moment, an eye-catching news came.

"Your Majesty, there is a huge report from Yansui for thousands of miles!" The messenger almost rushed over, his voice saying a rough and thick, and he was out of breath, without the solemnity of the Saint-Times.

"Who are you? Get out!"

Zhang Yuan looked down at someone who rushed straight to the city, and immediately stopped talking.

Because everyone gathered together, Zhu Houzhao stood in the crowd, frowned slightly, and waved her hand and said, "Let him come up."

Then the man entered the city tower very recklessly and climbed up the stairs, and soon appeared in front of Zhu Houzhao. The man was about forty years old, covered in dust and covered in armor, but he was a veteran. Zhu Houzhao asked immediately, "Why did you say urgently?"

The person who came said, "Your Majesty, the villain Zhang Laowu is the messenger of Yansui. He has been reported urgently from the Weicheng City of Yulin. The prince of the Trilateral General reported that the Ministry of War Chen Shangshu's troops have arrived on the northern grassland of Yansui Town recently. There are no less than tens of thousands of Tatar soldiers and horses in the rear, and are rushing to Yansui. The decisive battle is imminent!"

This person was Zhang Laowu, who was brought back from Quanzhou by Shen Xi and has been a grassroots officer in Yansui.

Zhang Laowu's words amaze everyone present. Everyone had only one intuitive idea at this time: "Oh no, this is a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

When Zhang Laowu took down the message tube on his back and was about to submit it to Zhu Houzhao, Zhang Yuan jumped out and intercepted the message tube with his own hands.

Zhang Yuan shouted angrily: "You bold and arrogant thing. Not only do you dare to speak nonsense in front of His Majesty and deceive the Holy Listen, but you also want to take the opportunity to assassinate Your Majesty! The person comes, take down the assassin!"

With Zhang Yuan's order, a guard rushed to the second floor immediately. Just as he was about to take action, Zhu Houzhao shouted loudly: "Stop!"

The whole audience was silent.

Everyone present could see that Zhang Yuan clearly wanted to hold down the news of Yansui Messenger and wait for an opportunity to continue to deceive Zhu Houzhao's eyes and ears, but even if he could see, no one dared to come out to blame him in person. The only person present who could punish Zhang Yuan was the emperor himself.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "I've checked it out. If there is no problem, I'll send it to me."

Xiao Guozi lowered his head and stepped forward, taking the letter tube that Zhang Yuan had originally held and held it in his hand. He seemed to be afraid of something wrong, so he walked to the stairs of the city tower first, opened the letter tube under the protection of the guards, and confirmed that the letter was fine. He returned with the letter and submitted it to Zhu Houzhao.

Xiao Tiaozi said, "Your Majesty, it is the memorial of the Governor of the Three Countries, and it is confirmed."

Zhu Houzhao first glared at Zhang Yuan fiercely, then grabbed Wang Qiong's memorial in his hand and opened it. While watching, his face turned sharply.

Everyone present could feel the depressing atmosphere. Most people were wondering how to end this incompetent dispatch, but it seemed to be an unsolvable situation. Not only did the emperor not send troops to rescue Chen Xi as promised, but instead drew troops from Xuanfu to rescue Chen Xi. Even the cavalry with the strongest mobility would take more than ten days to march without sleep, and there was no possibility of rushing for assistance.

Zhu Houzhao quickly finished reading the memorial, without explaining what the memorial was. He looked around the people present and asked, "You have no news about Mr. Chen's troops until now?"

Zhang Yuan knew that he was inevitably blamed by Zhu Houzhao, and said immediately: "Your Majesty, it's all for the cunning Tartars, which made the people in the army think that they were going to use Xuanfu as the main battlefield. Who knew that Shangshu Chen... could really complete the combat plan formulated before the war?"

Originally, the biggest person in charge of this matter was Zhu Houzhao, but as the emperor, of course, he would not admit that this matter was related to him. Zhu Houzhao slapped the table and roared:

"If Yansui hadn't submitted the memorial, I still don't know that the Tartars were just using a small number of troops to restrain Xuanda, and the imperial court was in the narrow gate! Less than 10,000 people would harass me, asking me for reinforcements every day, and constantly exaggerating that the Tartars' soldiers were hard to stop... What's the use of me supporting you?"

In a rage, Zhu Houzhao ignored his demeanor at all, and was full of anger but didn't know how to vent, because the things in front of him were too striking and too absurd and unruly. The Tatars deceived him around just by relying on some scattered soldiers and braved him, and won a battle under his nose. After the Tatars withdrew their troops, he was still unknown, and even mobilized people from all over the place to fight a decisive battle.

"His Majesty calms down."

Zhang Yuan knelt down first, and the other civil officials and generals hurriedly knelt down.

Now it is finally time to share the responsibility, and the next step is to be questioned. Although everyone is lamenting this, they are also worried about their own experience. Even if they don’t have much to do, they will think that the emperor will vent his anger on many people because of this.
To be continued...