Chapter 723

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair

Imperial Study.

No sooner had Li San left than Niu Ben arrived.

Upon returning to the temporary palace, he had sent someone to inform Niu Ben to come here.

Upon reaching the Imperial Study, Niu Ben bowed and then smiled. He said, “Your Majesty, when I arrived, I saw Zhu Sansi’s younger brother, Zhu Wuliu, and others escorting a group of Westerners to the prefectural office, saying they were spies…”

Niu Ben recounted the cause and effect to him, smiling as he spoke.

“Hahaha, this is quite interesting.” Regarding this matter, Xiao Ming merely chuckled, not even considering punishing Zhu Wuliu and the others to appease these Dutchmen.

On the contrary, he wanted to commend them. Their vigilance was good. He was too lazy to engage in activities that involved fawning on outsiders and being cruel to his own people.

The two chatted and laughed briefly, then Xiao Ming brought up the main topic. He had called Niu Ben this time for the matter of the Golden Tent Khanate.

For him, this unfriendly northern neighbor was always a grave concern. As long as it remained, he could not be at peace.

Although he needed to recuperate now and temporarily did not want to fight the barbarians, war never shifted according to individual will.

The barbarians would not give him time to gather his strength. In fact, the barbarians had also seen his weakness, and thus had been very active during this period.

They had been continuously seeking breakthroughs along the Great Wall line, hoping to bypass the numerous passes and directly invade the Great Yu Empire.

“You must also be aware of the barbarian situation. The barbarians are constantly provoking trouble at the border, which worries me greatly. The Great Yu Empire is currently in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt, and what it needs is a stable environment. If the barbarian cavalry penetrates deep into the Great Yu Empire’s territory, it will be a disaster for the Great Yu Empire,” Xiao Ming said loudly.

Niu Ben’s gaze was deep. He said, “I understand. The barbarian cavalry comes and goes like the wind. If they plunder within the Great Yu Empire’s territory, we will be helpless.”

After a pause, he continued, “I have also read the generals’ battle reports. According to them, this year, more barbarian cattle and sheep have frozen to death than in previous years. After five or six consecutive years, the barbarians have already experienced famine, and many of their people have starved to death. Therefore, this year’s barbarian cavalry is even more aggressive than before. This war is probably unavoidable.”

Xiao Ming’s expression was solemn. The current barbarians were no longer merely nomadic people. After acquiring cannons, he believed that the current barbarians were even more powerful than the Tatars of the late Ming Dynasty.

Having controlled the Silk Road for these years, the barbarians were much richer than the Tatars. Coupled with the barbarians already possessing cannons, if the barbarian army attacked, it would definitely not be an easy war.

“Even so, we must keep the enemy outside the nation’s gates. The Great Yu Empire cannot endure any more turmoil. I do not want these reforms, which have just begun, to be destroyed by the barbarians,” Xiao Ming’s tone was resolute.

Niu Ben said in a deep voice, “Does Your Majesty mean for us to take the offensive as a defense?”

“Hmm, exactly. From Haigucheng in Goryeo, one can directly reach the Changbai Mountain area. This is the most densely populated area of the barbarians. If we take Haigucheng and build it into a fortress, the barbarians will be caught between a rock and a hard place.”

“But Haigucheng is a city in Goryeo. Does Your Majesty intend to fight Goryeo at the same time? Moreover, Japan now occupies general Goryeo territory. Our doing this might cause Japan to continue southward, and then we would be facing Japanese musketeers,” Niu Ben said worriedly.

“Goryeo has already started a war with us!” Xiao Ming led Niu Ben to the map. “Now, Goryeo has sent out its navy, disguised as Japanese pirates, to attack coastal fishing villages. How can I tolerate him? Days ago, Wang Xuan already took intelligence to Dengzhou. Upon receiving the intelligence, Yue Yun will immediately lead the navy to destroy the Goryeo navy. By then, let’s see how arrogant Goryeo can be.” Xiao Ming said through clenched teeth.

Niu Ben was only responsible for the army; he did not understand the navy and had no authority to command it. Hearing this, he said, “Your Majesty is wise. Attacking Goryeo at this time is akin to ‘besieging Wei to rescue Zhao.’ If we attack Goryeo, the barbarians will surely not stand idly by. This way, we can make the barbarians fight us on Goryeo territory.”

Xiao Ming nodded. That was precisely what he meant. Japan attacking Goryeo, the barbarians might still turn a blind eye, but if the Great Yu Empire attacked Goryeo, the barbarians would surely fight to the death.

Thus, he successfully brought the war to Goryeo’s territory.

“This is my idea. So now, we must occupy Haigucheng. Haigucheng is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has a road on one side. As long as we take Haigucheng, we can turn this city into an impenetrable fortress. This way, we can advance or retreat as we please. The sea belongs to us.”

Niu Ben’s face showed a hint of excitement. He was actually unwilling to passively defend within the passes. Now, he was very happy to take the initiative to attack.

“Your Majesty, since that is the case, I will return and assemble an elite force to march to Dengzhou and assist Yue Yun in capturing Haigucheng,” Niu Ben said.

“And Juehua Island.”

Xiao Ming reminded him. The Juehua Island plan had already been proposed. This was a small island at sea relative to Haigucheng. It was once the garrison of Mao Wenlong during the Ming Dynasty and also extended deep into barbarian territory.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Niu Ben’s gaze was firm. After waiting for so many years, they were finally going to actively deal with the barbarians, although the purpose this time was merely to alleviate pressure on the passes.

…

Shengdu, the location of the Golden Tent Khanate.

Compared to last year, the situation in Shengdu this year was even worse. In the cold winter, cattle and sheep frozen to death were everywhere among the tribesmen.

Now, the entire Shengdu was enveloped in the panic of hunger. Many people had already starved to death these days.

“Father Khan, not only have the cattle and sheep on the grasslands frozen to death, but the grain of the tribesmen farming in Changbai Mountain has also frozen to death. If this continues, all our tribesmen in the Golden Tent Khanate will starve to death. This cold and harsh land in the north is no longer suitable for our people to survive. We must move south to find warm pastures for them.”

Beishan knelt on the ground. Before him was a fierce-looking middle-aged man, who was Dolgor, the Great Khan of the barbarians.

Wuzhugu was also nervous. His four brothers were with them. The six of them were all of Dolgor’s sons.

Wuzhugu surprisingly did not object to Beishan this time. His tribe also suffered heavy losses this winter. He said, “Beishan is right. We must move south now. The Great Yu Empire clearly wants to trap us to die in this harsh land.”

Dolgor’s gaze swept over his six sons. He had fought battles his entire life, expanding the territory of the Golden Tent Khanate by a third. Now, he also could not bear this humiliation.

So he slowly nodded.

…

Dengzhou, the navy was in a state of frenzy.

They had been training soldiers for a thousand days, for use in a single moment. They had not been of much help in the northern war, but now they finally had room to demonstrate their capabilities.

After three days of preparation, Yue Yun boarded the Emperor warship. Looking at the forty-eight warships assembled in the military port, a surge of heroic pride suddenly rose in Yue Yun’s heart. This time, it was their navy’s turn to shine.