One man’s honey is another man’s poison. Li Jinglong was a black hole for Emperor Jianwen, but for Prince Yan he was like the fairy from a tale.
Speaking of Prince Yan receiving Hu Shanwei’s intelligence that Li Jinglong would replace Geng Bingwen, he immediately withdrew his forces and returned to Beiping to reorganize. His second son Zhu Gaoxu had been a hostage in the capital for nearly ten years. Though protected by his uncles, his nature was wild and unrestrained, brave and combative, making him feel truly stifled. Finally managing to escape back to Beiping using his father’s feigned illness as pretense, he immediately took up weapons to charge into battle alongside his father, venting his pent-up frustrations.
Just when the fighting was at its most exciting, Prince Yan ordered retreat. Zhu Gaoxu, with youthful spirit, was truly reluctant to leave, saying: “Father, give me one more chance. Let me lead troops to attack the city. I will definitely capture Zhengding and take Geng Bingwen alive.”
Prince Yan was most fond of this second son who resembled him most. Though they had not seen each other for years, father and son campaigning together in war could forge the strongest bonds of life and death, eliminating estrangement and deepening their father-son affection. Prince Yan patiently explained to Zhu Gaoxu:
“Military strategy has five defeats, and Jinglong commits them all. As a general, when government orders are not cultivated, discipline is not maintained, superiors and subordinates have different hearts, and life and death bring separated resolve—this is the first. Now the northern lands grow cold early, southern soldiers lack furs and thick clothing, exposed to frost and snow with chapped hands and feet, severe cases losing fingers, while soldiers have no surplus grain and horses no stored fodder—this is the second. Not measuring dangers and ease, penetrating deep seeking profit—this is the third. Greedy without governance, wisdom and trust insufficient, arrogance and stubbornness, lacking both benevolence and courage, unable to exercise authority and command, with the three armies easily disturbed—this is the fourth. Subordinates clamoring loudly, gongs and drums without rhythm, loving flattery and enjoying sycophants, exclusively employing petty men—this is the fifth. Jiujiang possesses all five defeats completely and can accomplish nothing. Yet while I am here, he dare not come. Now I must go aid Yongping. When he knows I have departed, he will certainly come attack the city. Returning to strike him with a fortified city ahead and our main army behind, he will certainly be captured.”
This meant military strategy had five types of defeat—having even one would lead to battlefield failure, while the genius Li Jinglong possessed all five completely.
First, the northern expedition army was a rabble without organization or discipline, and Li Jinglong had never fought battles, completely unable to command hundreds of thousands of troops. Second, October was approaching—while the south remained relatively warm in October, the north would have frost and snow, and these southern troops could not adapt to northern climate while lacking sufficient provisions, likely to freeze or starve to death. Third, Li Jinglong was brain-dead. Fourth, military discipline was chaotic—with sycophants like Li Jinglong gaining power while capable people were squeezed out. Fifth, with Geng Bingwen now defending the city and never having lost a defensive battle, they should not attack hard and risk breaking their teeth. Now with Liaodong forces attacking Yongping, once Yongping fell, Beiping would face enemies on multiple fronts, so they needed to support Yongping more urgently.
Simply put, Li Jinglong was a comprehensive, flawless, three-hundred-sixty-degree pure fool. Rather than coming to fight, he was coming to deliver his head. Not worth worrying about—their army now needed to support the strategic position of Yongping.
Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu felt his father made sense, but being young, his focus differed from his father’s: “Not fighting Geng Bingwen is fine too—that old man treated us hostages decently in the capital. Li Jinglong is too detestable, fabricating rebellion charges to reduce five prince-uncles and elder cousin to commoners, imprisoning them in Fengyang. He comes at the perfect time—I want to beat him thoroughly.”
Seeing his “clear about gratitude and grudges” second son, Prince Yan felt his son was still too young and simple, though the son’s constant thoughts of his unlucky brother who could only write medical books was quite comforting. With his mother-consort dying early, he had only Prince Zhou as a biological brother. The elder brother being like a father, their brotherhood was deep. Now with his brother imprisoned because of him, Prince Yan was deeply worried.
But worry was useless—the only path to save his brother and restore his reputation and title was successful rebellion and ascending to emperor. Otherwise, both brothers would die.
Prince Yan looked toward Fengyang’s direction and sighed deeply, patting his second son’s shoulder: “Fight well and rescue your Fifth Prince Uncle soon.”
That night, Yan forces withdrew overnight.
Three days later, Li Jinglong arrived with an imperial edict to replace Geng Bingwen. Indeed as Prince Yan predicted, Li Jinglong had risen to position through his vassal-reduction specialist skills, winning Emperor Jianwen’s favor. As they say, birds of a feather flock together—his entourage mostly consisted of flatterers who excelled not at riding horses but at flattery, among them Jinyiwei secret agents planted by Ji Gang.
Actually, this was Li Jinglong’s first major responsibility—an excellent opportunity to establish merit and prove he was absolutely not merely theoretical. But this was his first major battle after all. Prince Yan was skilled in warfare, having fought Northern Yuan forces north of Shanhai Pass for years, using offense as defense with rich experience.
Even veteran Hongwu general Geng Bingwen leading triple the forces had retreated to Zhengding, beaten to only having defensive capability. What could he do?
Moreover, by generation, Prince Yan was still his uncle. Facing such a powerful opponent, Li Jinglong thought: What if there’s no return? Honestly, I’m a little nervous!
Seeing their patron’s discomfort, advisors immediately flattered him:
“Grand Marshal! Hearing the Grand Marshal was coming, Yan forces immediately withdrew. The Grand Marshal is like Duke Zhongshan Xu Da reborn, subduing enemies without battle! The Grand Marshal’s fame shakes all directions—Yan forces flee in terror at the mere sound, only able to escape for their lives. Look, as soon as you arrived, Yan forces ran away.”
Li Jinglong was delighted: “Is this truly so?”
The advisor presented a military report: “Intelligence just gathered by scouts—please review, Marshal.”
The military report only stated Yan forces had withdrawn, but under the advisor’s leading interpretation, Li Jinglong also believed his reputation had frightened away the Yan forces.
So Yan forces were nothing more than this.
Thus, Li Jinglong, who moments before had been anxious about potential doom, was suddenly energized as if injected with stimulants, not noticing the cold smirk at his advisor’s lips.
Since Geng Bingwen’s three hundred thousand army had suffered deaths and surrenders, leaving only one hundred thousand northern expedition troops defending Zhengding, Emperor Jianwen sent his cousin Li Jinglong to take command while supplementing with four hundred thousand troops, totaling five hundred thousand forces, requiring Li Jinglong to return victorious without fail.
Three hundred thousand against one hundred thousand hadn’t worked—surely five hundred thousand would suffice! Five people fighting one!
So the blindly confident Li Jinglong, arriving at Zhengding city, looked down somewhat on the aged-appearing Geng Bingwen. Were it not for respect due to him being Princess Jiangdu’s father-in-law and Empress Dowager Lu’s in-law, Li Jinglong would have loved to step on his face. The first battle’s failure and army morale collapse were all this old fool’s doing.
Hearing the imperial edict, old General Geng Bingwen almost instantly went white-haired. Actually, he felt he had just found his fighting rhythm and could still be salvaged, but Emperor Jianwen would not give him a chance to prove himself.
A lifetime of glory, nearly invincible in battle, now losing integrity in old age and suffering such humiliation—Geng Bingwen was both ashamed and sighing, wishing he had died on the battlefield for a clean end.
Geng Bingwen knelt saying: “Criminal subject Geng Bingwen receives the edict.”
At this moment, Geng Bingwen even envied Hongwu generals like Feng Sheng and Fu Youde whose clans had been exterminated—at least they died at their peak reputation, while he had no chance for comeback.
When Geng Bingwen left Zhengding city, he was solitary, hair and beard completely white, even his spine curved downward. A dignified founding general reduced to such state, like a stray dog—fellow warriors felt reluctant, removing their hats to see him off.
Li Jinglong observed: Oh, people’s hearts are scattered—the team will be hard to lead.
New officials lighting three fires, Li Jinglong first demoted all high-ranking officers Geng Bingwen had arranged, requiring them to charge forward and establish merit to atone for crimes, then promoted all his own people regardless of capability to high positions.
Li Jinglong felt only his own people would listen to him, allowing smooth command when directing operations later. Those old subordinates still thought fondly of defeated general Geng Bingwen—disobedient and difficult to use.
Li Jinglong was eager to establish merit, letting those questioning his abilities see his prowess. Hearing Yan forces had gone to support Yongping, leaving only the prince’s heir behind.
Reportedly, Beiping city now had only ten thousand defenders.
Prince Yan’s heir Zhu Gaochi had been a hostage in the capital for nearly ten years. Li Jinglong could be said to have watched this cousin grow up. Zhu Gaochi was a gentle-natured fat man who, due to his weight, moved inconveniently, preferring quiet to action, literature to warfare. What would he use to defend the city? Fat?
Therefore, though Li Jinglong’s position was not yet stable, he immediately ordered leading five hundred thousand northern expedition troops to strike directly at Prince Yan’s lair—Beiping.
Li Jinglong ordered the army to break camp and depart. Immediately officers objected: “Marshal, though our army numbers are great, rear supply transportation is slow with insufficient food. In Zhengding we can still obtain local supplies, but once the army marches to Beiping with shortages, how can soldiers fight when they cannot eat their fill?”
This made sense. Zhengding was court territory—even if supplies arrived slowly, they could requisition local provisions to barely eat their fill. But once in the north, that was Yan territory—where would they find food?
Soldiers not eating their fill would lead to retreat at best, mutiny at worst. People needed to eat.
Many agreed, wanting Li Jinglong to wait for supplies before attacking Beiping.
But Li Jinglong, eager for merit, said: “What you can think of, Prince Yan can also think of—that’s why Prince Yan dares brazenly take his main army to support Yongping without worrying about our attacking his lair Beiping.”
“Military strategy lies in surprising enemies and attacking when unprepared. Since Prince Yan thinks we dare not move, we will move, will attack Beiping. Though food is insufficient, Beiping has abundant stored grain. Once we capture Beiping, we’ll have food.”
“Our army numbers five hundred thousand while Beiping has only ten thousand defenders—this battle is certain victory.”
Li Jinglong’s words had some logic, especially the final sentence—five hundred thousand against ten thousand, equivalent to fifty people fighting one. The numerical disparity was too great.
Readers, consider this: even Ip Man could only fight ten at once. Were Beiping’s ten thousand defenders ten thousand Donnie Yens? This defied science.
The general who had objected earlier maintained his skeptical attitude: “Those ten thousand are defenders, and Beiping was the capital of the previous Yuan Dynasty—its walls are built even taller and more solid than Nanjing’s walls. Prince Yan has been reinforcing walls these years, making the city impregnable, easy to defend and hard to attack. Our five hundred thousand may not necessarily take Beiping in one stroke.”
Hmm, this also seemed reasonable.
During this deadlock, Li Jinglong’s advisor pointed at the questioning general and cursed: “Bah! You turtle hiding its head! Three hundred thousand troops beaten toothless by one hundred thousand Yan forces—you’ve been scared witless by Prince Yan, not daring to attack one city with five hundred thousand troops!”
The general raged: “Bah! If I’m a turtle, you’re a soft-shell! War isn’t moving your mouth—people die! What use is capturing Beiping? Just makes battle reports look better. Yan’s main forces are at Yongping—as long as Yan forces aren’t destroyed, losing their lair means Prince Yan just finds another place to rebuild. Have the guts to fight Prince Yan at Yongping!”
This slapped Li Jinglong’s face, because Li Jinglong indeed thought exactly this way. Though Yan forces were small, they were skilled fighters. Even Geng Bingwen had failed—he was somewhat intimidated. So knowing Yan main forces were at Yongping, he dared not confront them directly.
Beiping was different—defenses were weak. What use was Prince Yan’s heir, a big fat white guy? Five hundred thousand troops were like a python that could strangle Beiping to death.
Once Beiping was captured, it would be the first great victory since the northern expedition began! The court and Emperor Jianwen desperately needed a great victory to boost morale.
So Li Jinglong slapped the table and rose: “The entire army breaks camp immediately, marching toward Beiping without error. Any who delay—”
Li Jinglong’s gaze turned cold: “Those defying military orders die!”
As soon as Li Jinglong gave orders, Jinyiwei secret agents immediately sent military intelligence by carrier pigeon to Beiping.
Li Jinglong clearly lacked understanding of Beiping. He only knew Beiping had Prince Yan’s heir, that big white fatty, but overlooked another hidden figure in Beiping—Princess Yan.
Princess Yan Lady Xu, eldest legitimate daughter of Xu Da, the Ming Dynasty’s first founding hero. Beiping city had originally been captured by her father Xu Da, and now she had become this city’s mistress, deeply beloved by Yan territory people.
Lady Xu was a tiger daughter from a military family. Reportedly, she had practiced martial arts since childhood, raised by Xu Da as a boy, and loved reading, being resourceful and wise—”virtuous and quiet from youth, fond of reading, called a female scholar.”
Princess Yan married Prince Yan at fourteen. Now the Prince Yan mansion had three sons and four daughters, all born to Princess Yan. With Prince Yan campaigning, Beiping was actually defended jointly by Princess Yan and the prince’s heir.
Prince Yan’s mansion received news of Li Jinglong’s attack. From intelligence, Princess Yan learned the five hundred thousand northern expedition army lacked provisions and immediately ordered “strengthening walls and clearing fields”—moving autumn grain into the city early, relocating suburban people and livestock into the city, burning houses, leaving Li Jinglong not a blade of grass, tile, or grain of food.
Then Princess Yan used emergency military orders to recall Mu Chun, who was defending Shanhai Pass against Northern Yuan invasion.
Mu Chun thought Princess Yan wanted his help defending the city, but Princess Yan clapped her hands saying: “Daughter-in-law, bring Ji’er to General Mu.”
Princess Heir Lady Zhang led a one-year-old boy from behind the screen. The boy had apparently just learned to walk, waddling like a little fat duck in a manner resembling his portly father.
Prince Yan’s heir Zhu Gaochi loved quiet and had a steady temperament. Being somewhat overweight and not good at fighting, yet being Prince Yan’s heir who would inherit the family business, he was responsible for remaining in Beiping, commanding the rear.
Zhu Gaochi’s princess-heir Lady Zhang was also one who had stood out during Hu Shanwei’s “marrying commoners, selecting from the fields” program. Lady Zhang’s father was merely a small banner officer from Yongcheng, Henan—an eighth-rank minor military official. During selection, Lady Zhang became famous for picking up a fire poker to kill a venomous snake. Hu Shanwei greatly appreciated this snake-killing girl’s decisiveness, feeling her personality complemented the somewhat gentle Prince Yan heir well—one active, one quiet. When Emperor Gaozhu was “assigning” wives to his grandsons, she mentioned this briefly. Emperor Gaozhu still trusted Hu Shanwei’s judgment and ultimately granted Lady Zhang in marriage to Prince Yan’s heir.
This little fatty was Prince Yan mansion’s currently only grandchild, Zhu Zhanji, born to the heir and Princess Zhang. Like Mu Chun’s daughter A’Lei, both were born in the spring of February in the thirty-first year of Hongwu. Seeing the toddling Zhu Zhanji, Mu Chun immediately thought of his precious daughter, his gaze softening.
Princess Yan and Princess-heir, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, bowed deeply to Mu Chun: “With Beiping now in crisis, uncertain of each dawn, even if we barely hold this time, future wars will surely be constant. I decide to entrust Prince Yan mansion’s legitimate son and grandson to General Mu. I beg General Mu to take the sea route from Haijin (present-day Tianjin) to central China, then secretly send him to Yunnan for protection. When the pacification campaign succeeds in future, Prince Yan mansion will send people to bring Ji’er back.”
In their eyes, Mu Chun was simply a treasure of a man. The entire Feng Sheng family, Ji Gang, the Chang family’s last grandson Chang Jizu, and countless old noble families seeking to escape Emperor Gaozhu’s clan exterminations all chose to hide in Yunnan, all hidden well without a single incident.
Mu Chun: Great, my Yunnan is becoming a refugee camp—why does everyone want to hide in Yunnan?
But this little fatty was a hot potato, not easy to accept. Just as Mu Chun was about to refuse, Princess Zhang gently pushed the little fatty, saying: “Mother taught you many times—what do you call General Mu? Get it right and I’ll give you candy.”
The little fatty was naturally intelligent and spoke early. Hearing about candy, he immediately ran over to hug Mu Chun’s leg: “Godfather.”
Hearing this, Mu Chun nearly wept on the spot: Since becoming a father, he had not yet heard his own daughter call him father once, but now this little fatty called him godfather—rounding up, it was like being called father.
Princess Yan and Princess Zhang had precisely hit Mu Chun’s weakness!
Mu Chun could not refuse, picking up the little fatty: “Both of you rest assured—in Yunnan, there’s no one I cannot hide.”
With no more worries, Princess Yan immediately changed expression. The loving reluctance she had shown while seeing off her eldest grandson completely vanished, replaced by murderous intent. She gently stretched her arms, saying: “Armor me—I will meet this Li Jinglong.”
Princess Zhang and side-princess Lady Guo together fastened armor on their mother-in-law. Lady Guo was indeed Second Miss Guo from Marquis Wuding’s mansion—of distinguished birth, and if not for Emperor Gaozhu’s insistence on “marrying commoners, selecting from the fields,” she would have qualified as Crown Prince Grandson’s consort.
However, after Emperor Jianwen’s rise, he distanced the Guo family. The Guo family, one of the five remaining noble houses left by Emperor Gaozhu, simply threw themselves into Prince Yan’s embrace. Though Lady Guo held side-consort rank in Prince Yan’s mansion, her status and treatment were nearly equal to the principal wife, and Princess Zhang treated her with great respect, calling her sister.
Lady Zhang came from a minor military officer family, while Lady Guo was a tiger daughter from a general’s house, very familiar with weapons and armor. The two cooperated seamlessly, quickly fastening armor piece by piece on their mother-in-law. Moreover, both also donned soft armor, dressed as men, shouldered bows and arrows, took up swords and spears, flanking their mother-in-law left and right as they ascended the city wall with practiced ease—clearly they often did this. Taking up weapons to protect their homeland was also their mission.