First defeating Dodo, then defeating Ajige—the weight behind this title of Ever-Victorious General is substantial.
To stabilize the hearts of the army and the people, the Imperial Court also promoted this to the outside world.
The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, ever-victorious and invincible.
In this situation, if Zhu Ci were to suffer a defeat, it would likely shake the morale of the army.
Zhu Ci understood his meaning and couldn't help but frown, saying, "But if I cannot see it with my own eyes, how can I know the current situation of the Tartars?"
Grand Secretary Fu gave his solution: a secret trip.
In other words, Zhu Ci could go, but he could not let the subordinates know.
Because this siege would most likely be in vain.
Zhu Ci did not particularly care, but after waiting for Liu Zhaoji and the others to go down and prepare, he looked at Fu and said with a frown, "You are placing me on too high a pedestal; this is not good."
How many true Ever-Victorious Generals have there been throughout history?
True generals throughout history rely on their genuine abilities, whereas he relies on deus ex machina; once his existing knowledge is no longer enough to crush his opponent, he will likely fail.
When the time comes, the higher one stands, the harder the fall.
How could Fu not know this truth? But this was the only way, otherwise, how could he stabilize the people's hearts and attract talent?
If one were to speak truly, perhaps even Zhu Yujian's side would be more attractive than the Imperial Court.
Whether it was the Little Emperor or him, they were both too young. Even if his naval forces were not weaker than Zheng Zhilong's and his wealth was not lacking, when it came to governing a country, Zhu Yujian was far less strategic than the Little Emperor.
Yet, once a comparison is made, many people might still choose Zhu Yujian.
Especially after the Little Emperor had disregarded all opposition to appoint him as Grand Secretary, the scholars were deeply dissatisfied and were even more inclined to wait and see.
Zhu Ci sighed and said, "Forget it, let's just wait and see for now."
There was no other way; age was a significant drawback, he couldn't simply add twenty years to himself for no reason.
For now, it is best to attack the city first to test the Tartars' strength, but this time neither Liu Zhaoji nor He Gang went; instead, Zhu Ci wore ordinary armor, donned a face mask to pose as a Junior Officer, led the troops forward.
Although the soldiers were all very puzzled as to why a Junior Officer had suddenly appeared, such matters were none of their business.
Zhu Ci led his men in a tentative attack, merely testing the defensive methods of the Siege Tower.
After confirming that the rockets indeed could do nothing to the enemy, he decisively led his men in a retreat.
The Tartars did not pursue, likely because they did not want to waste their energy, or perhaps they felt that the opponent was merely a Junior Officer and not worth the chase.
After Zhu Ci returned to Xiaoxian, he took off the veil from his face and looked at Fu, asking, "Can you get some Wildfire Oil?"
Wildfire Oil?" Fu was slightly taken aback. "You want to use that?
Zhu Ci responded, "Correct. If we want to destroy their Siege Tower, Wildfire Oil is actually the most effective tool."
As he spoke, he walked to the table, grabbed a piece of paper, made a few sketches, saying, "It's not that their Siege Tower isn't actually afraid of fire, but because it's positioned against the city walls, people on the ramparts can continuously pour water down to extinguish the flames. Furthermore, because they have reinforced the interior with a layer of copper and iron, the explosive force of the rockets cannot reach the people inside, so naturally, it makes no difference to them."
Fu Huaizhang realized, "So Your Majesty wants to use Wildfire Oil to counter them."
Zhu Ci responded, "Wildfire Oil cannot be extinguished by water, so it is perfect for countering them. Combined with poisonous smoke, it can neutralize the archers inside through the birdlock gun and arrow slits."
Because of the birdlock guns and archers, their people cannot approach the city walls at all; if the archers inside were neutralized, it would likely be much easier.
Fu Huaizhang quickly simulated the situation in his mind and said, "This would indeed counter the Siege Tower, but.. forgive my bluntness, the difficulty of attacking Xuzhou does not lie entirely with the Siege Tower."
Siege Towers were indeed effective at countering their Rockets, but even if the Siege Towers were neutralized, they would still have no advantage in attacking the city.
Zhu Ci sat there frowning, pondering for a long while before asking, "The Dingyuan General Bronze Cannon.."
“Not yet.” Fu Huaizhang said with a hint of helplessness, “His Majesty requires the bases to be made of iron, so it really cannot be rushed.”
Zhu Ci was also helpless; the method he used to dismantle the Qing Army's Red-coated Cannon involved burning the carriage first to take out the gunners, so he naturally had to guard against the Tartars doing the same.
He looked up at the ceiling and asked, "The current situation is no longer about the capability of the defending general. What use do you think it is for Jirgalang to come here?"
Fu said in a low voice, "I suspect they have replaced the carriages of the Hongyi Cannon with iron ones."
Zhu Ci sat up abruptly and asked, "Is there any definite news?"
Not at the moment. The Tartars are keeping their news very tight; these are merely my guesses.
Although it was just a guess, the possibility was high.
Jirgalang came here to fight a war, not to defend a city. To defend a city alone, Dodo would have been enough; why would they need Jirgalang to come here as well?
The Qing Army itself possesses Hongyi Cannons, but modifying existing carriages is much more convenient than starting from scratch; most importantly, the Qing Army currently has more supplies than they do.
In this case, they could only shift from offense to defense.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Hurry, hurry, hurry! Why aren't my cannons ready yet! *A little cat standing on the city wall, stomping its feet in anxiety. jpg*
Next update at 6:00 AM~
Chapter 133
Zhu Ci remained calm and immediately said, "Issue orders immediately to have men construct Sloped Earth Barriers behind the battlements using a mixture of thick soil and brick earth. Also, send people outside the city to dig pits—no, using explosives would be faster. Once they are blown, remember to cover them up."
Since the opponent's heavy firepower is difficult to dismantle, other methods must be considered.
The Sloped Earth Barrier was intended to dissipate the impact of the cannonballs; it is hard to say how effective it would be, but it should have some effect.
As for the pits dug outside, they were intended to make it difficult for the Hongyi Cannon to advance once it fell in.
The Hongyi Cannon with its bronze carriage and iron frame was certainly sturdy, but its weight was also somewhat heavier than before; once it fell into a trap, it would not be easy to lift it back out.
Zhu Ci even had people dig pits and cover them with stone slabs to serve as camouflage; normal infantry and cavalry would have no problems passing over them, but the Hongyi Cannon would immediately crush the stone slabs as it was pushed over.
In addition to that, hidden air-raid shelters were being dug outside the city; one major characteristic of the Hongyi Cannon is that once it has been aimed, it is very difficult to turn it again.
As long as he waits for the enemy to set up their Hongyi Cannon, his men can emerge from the air-raid shelter with grenades and Swarm of Bees.
As for the Hundred Tigers Galloping Rocket Carriage.. its flexibility is only relative to the Red-coated Cannon. If they are discovered by the enemy while emerging from the air-raid shelter, the enemy will certainly send cavalry over immediately.
The soldiers outside the city are extremely dangerous, so it is best not to let them get close.
Fu looked at the design blueprints for the air-raid shelter; at this moment, he had no time to worry about whether His Majesty's handwriting was beautiful or not.
After a rough estimation, he said, "I'm afraid this air-raid shelter will take some time."
Zhu Ci said, "In any case, we won't be able to continue heading north in the short term, so as long as the city walls can hold out until the air-raid shelter is finished, it will be fine."
After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
He had originally intended to take Xuzhou before winter arrived, but now it seemed it wouldn't be that easy.
He sighed, Jirgalang wanted to sigh even more.
Jirgalang came here to besiege the city; Dodo's successive defeats had left him extremely dissatisfied, he had repeatedly demanded that Dodo be recalled.
Of course, the deeper reason was that Dorgon's power had grown immensely, with the Emperor being so young, almost all authority was in Dorgon's hands; as a result, his position as Regent Prince had become a mere formality.
Most importantly, as Dorgon's power grew, he, as the Regent Prince, had clearly become an obstacle to him.
Continuing like this, he could only request to withdraw from the regency to save himself.
Jirgalang was naturally unwilling to accept this; Dodo and Dorgon were brothers, their fates were inextricably linked.
Dorgon had always been in charge of the overall command, while Dodo served as the frontline commander.
Jirgalang had come this time because he had heard that the new Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was also here; it was this same new Emperor who had defeated Dodo many times in the past.
If he could capture the Little Emperor in one fell swoop, he could naturally snatch something back from Dorgon.
It was just that they hadn't expected the Little Emperor on the opposite side to be so difficult to deal with. Even with their Red-coated Cannons, they couldn't capture a single Xiaoxian, the opponent even managed to secretly dig underground tunnels, launching a surprise raid and escaping just as they were attacking the city.
By the time they chased them to the air-raid shelter, all that awaited them was a massive amount of toxic smoke and gunpowder inside.
The two armies had been at a stalemate for over a month, with the falling of the first snow, both sides showed signs of wanting to cease hostilities.
Zhu Ci sat by the fire, watching the heavy snow fall as he said, "I never imagined it could snow in the south before."
Fu rarely heard him mention the past; he would only say a few words occasionally when the two of them were alone together.
He asked with a rare hint of curiosity, "Has Your Majesty never seen snow before?"
Zhu Ci explained, "It's not that I haven't seen it, but I haven't seen it in the south; it's quite warm south of the Yellow River."
Fu looked at the drifting snowflakes and said, "The cycle of heaven is truly wonderful; I once read in a book that in the Henan area during the Tang Dynasty, there were even wild elephants and rhinoceroses."
Right, we had them back then as well," Zhu Ci said. "This current period is known as the Little Ice Age.
Fu was also clearly very interested in this. Rarely free from the pressure to study and practice calligraphy, Zhu Ci was also in high spirits during the conversation.
As they were talking, Huang Chunyao's memorial was sent over once again, he asked only one question: When will His Majesty return!
Huang Chunyao also felt like he was seeing a ghost. It was one thing for the Emperor not to return, but even the Grand Secretary had bolted halfway through and wouldn't come back. What was he doing? Was he throwing everything onto him?
Do you all remember that the Censorate is merely a supervisory department?
Zhu Ci looked at Huang Chunyao's accusations and also felt a bit embarrassed. Currently, Xuzhou could not be taken, while things were going smoothly for Li Zicheng, he was also in a stalemate at Tongguan.
Although Haoge was a bit foolish and wanted to imitate the Han people by attempting some sort of triple abdication to give up the throne, he did possess military command capabilities. He had no real conflicts with Ajige, the two coordinated well together.
Zhu Ci sighed and said, "Forget it. There is no use in me staying here. Let's head back."
Fu immediately said, "Does Your Majesty still wish to pass through Huaian?"
Zhu Ci was stunned. "Eh? Aren't we going back to Huaian?"
Fu Huaizhang said, "Your Majesty should return to Nanjing."
Zhu Ci smacked his lips; in truth, he had no feelings for Nanjing, he didn't even want to return there when he thought about those miserable days he had endured back then.
However, Nanjing holds its symbolic significance; moreover, the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is still there, the Imperial Ancestral Temple is there too, so he must go to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.
In addition to that, there are two major festivals, the Winter Solstice and the New Year. He needs to perform rituals to report to Heaven and Earth. After the New Year, the era name must be changed, all matters must be conducted in a formal setting.
Unless he intended to make Huaian his capital and build an imperial palace here, he certainly would not engage in such a wasteful and costly endeavor.
Then let's go back.
Zhu Ci nodded in agreement, Fu said softly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the Imperial Palace has been renovated."
Except for the buildings in the Imperial Palace, almost everything else had been replaced by Fu, ensuring that the Imperial Palace Zhu Ci returned to would look somewhat different from before.