In the camp of the Ming army in the east of Bianliang City.

Lao Zhu once again received a letter from his baby's twenty-third grandson, which was the afternoon of the first day of August.

Unlike in the past, this time, even if it was still full of expectations, Lao Zhu was somewhat absent-minded when he opened the seal.

Or the war in the north.

Bet a heavy bet, the preparations that should be made have been done, whether it is 'closing' or 'besieging' in the early stage, everything is as expected, everything is going well, however, a kick in the door, it is inevitable to suffer from gains and losses.

Even if things don't work out, Lao Zhu actually made psychological preparations and the corresponding follow-up plan.

If you don't think about winning, you should lose first.

However, if the mountain is already nine thousands, if it fails to complete the primary strategic goal of this battle of Dadu and destroy the foundation of the Yuan Chamber, then ...... It's really unwilling.

】

What's more, Lao Zhu couldn't help but worry.

Most of the elites of the Ming Dynasty are betting on this battle, if there is anything missing, how can it be good?

Therefore, there is some shallow remorse.

Perhaps, it is better to be more stable.

Even if according to the "Book of Heaven", it seems that it is not bad to let Emperor Zhizheng's father and son flee north, first completely take the Central Plains, and then follow up.

Why rush?

However, I already know the results, but if I don't follow the trend, I am really unwilling.

In the confusion of thoughts, Lao Zhu first took the letter from Zhu Yuan in the package and opened it

There are two main things mentioned this time.

First, Zhu Yuan began to test coke on both sides of Yizhou and Mingzhou.

The letter first briefly expounded the coke process that had appeared since the Song Dynasty, and explained the truth as usual.

Before coke, the traditional iron smelting, even if the best fuel is used, combined with the blast, can only raise the temperature to about 1500 degrees, which happens to be the state of the iron will be melted but not melted, and the result is that the crude iron contains many impurities, and many additional processes are required to obtain the steel.

In contrast, coke made from coal can also increase the temperature to more than 2,000 degrees Celsius with measures such as air blasting.

At this temperature, not only can iron be completely melted, but also a variety of other metal elements adjacent to iron on the periodic table, so it is possible to make alloys with various physical properties such as rust resistance and high elasticity.

More importantly, using coke, artisans can build blast furnaces that are much larger than traditional iron furnaces, thereby significantly increasing steel production.

Steel production is the core indicator of a country's industrialization.

When Lao Zhu read this, he also understood that what kind of 'core indicator' this is obviously what it will say hundreds of years later.

Speaking of which, since the appearance of his own baby twenty-third grandson, whether it is the study of economics, or the recent "Chemistry" or even the coke iron-smelting process, because of Zhu Yuan's unreserved and easy-to-understand explanations, Lao Zhu feels that everything in this world is becoming more and more simple in his eyes.

It's so simple that in the past few decades, life often felt magical things, but in the present, because you can see through the essence at a glance, it is even a little boring.

It's like the letter in your hand.

Before, I asked casually here, and I answered casually over there.

The so-called papermaking, whether soaking, steaming, or mashing and rinsing, many processes are to remove impurities and extract wood fibers, which are the main materials that make up paper.

Everything is the same.

Understand the reason, even ordinary people, after a few attempts, can make their own paper.

It's that simple.

Dull.

Speaking of coke this time, after talking about the relationship between coke and steel, the twenty-third grandson of his baby turned a corner, saying that this coking was mainly for firing some glass.

Glass is fired to make something called a thermometer.

Thermometers are made to promote artificial incubation.

Artificially hatched poultry fry is to solve the problem of direct discarding and waste of fish caught in the water processed on the spot in marine fishing, and at the same time open up another industrial chain, which will not only produce a large number of meat and poultry in the future, but also solve countless jobs again.

Interlocking.

This also reminded Lao Zhu once again of the child's exposition on a series of concepts such as quantitative and qualitative changes, about the agricultural era and the industrial age, about the social division of labor and the industrial chain, and so on. In short, all these shifts, one plus the other, will also bring about a systemic productivity gain.

Further, when a country's productivity in all aspects has been improved, even if it fails to achieve the fundamental change from the agricultural age to the industrial age, the national strength will be crushing compared with the surrounding areas.

Lao Zhu is looking forward to this.

There is also this glass, Lao Zhu is also curious.

However, it was probably the child's 'commonplace' again, and he didn't bother to say a few words.

There's no hurry, you can always see it.

Then came the second thing, Zhu Yuan planned to do a population census within the jurisdiction of the Yinghai Division, mainly fishermen on the southeast coast, and gave a complete plan, and also explained that this could provide a model for the population statistics of the whole country after the unification of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Lao Zhu has no reason to disapprove.

After reading the letter, Lao Zhu found the plan on demographics, and a sample of the household registration book on good paper, and flipped through it. Although he is not used to the word 'hukou' and thinks that it is more pleasant to call it 'huyou', but, thinking about it again, 'hukou', with 'hu' and 'kou', seems to be more reasonable.

That's it.

Then he flipped through some other things sent this time, and Lao Zhu was satisfied.

I wanted to reply immediately, but I thought about it, but I stood up and came to the sand table placed in the middle of the big tent.

I can write a reply at any time, and now I am most concerned about the war in the north.

According to the flying pigeon biography sent by the front line yesterday, the armies should have launched an attack on Dadu early this morning, Lao Zhu only hopes that the killer weapon that blew up the city wall can be really useful, and it will be vigorous, otherwise, in case of a bitter battle, this is not last year's Pingjiang, the more it drags on, the more variables there will be.

Thinking so, Lao Zhu's gaze moved away from Dadu and turned to the surroundings.

Whether it is Li Siqi in Guanzhong, Wang Baobao in Shanxi, or Nahachu in the northeast, there are more than 100,000 troops. No matter what the actual situation is, de jure, this is the family background of the Yuan court.

Li Siqi and Wang Baobao have been contained, and Naha of Liaodong is out, which is his former defeat.

In the year of crossing the river, Lao Zhu captured Nahachu, who was still only ten thousand households in the Yuan court, in Taiping.

When he chose to release the other party, Lao Zhu's idea was very simple, go to the army to fight and plot, and try to attract the people who may be enveloped to the greatest extent. Just like Han Gaozu back then, even if he defeated his biggest enemy Xiang Yu, Liu Bang did not purge the Xiang family, but gave high-ranking officials Houlu. It was this kind of tenderness towards the enemy that allowed Liu Bang to achieve unification in just seven years and establish the Han Dynasty, which lasted for 400 years.

Lao Zhu didn't expect that his former subordinates were defeated, and now they have been divided into one side.

Lao Zhu believes that Naha will most likely not be involved in the war in the Central Plains, and the relevant records in the "Book of Heaven" only allow the other party to surrender and submit after twenty years.

If this time things come to pass, it should be earlier.

However, things are not absolute.

In case the battle of Dadu drags on for too long, it is difficult to guarantee that Naha will not have the idea of taking advantage of the fire to rob.

In this case, the 5,000 people of the Zhangcun Daoist Department can hold Yuguan?

There is also Juyong Pass in the northwest of the capital.

The grassland tribes outside the pass, although they are relatively scattered, but if they get together, they can easily gather more than 100,000 troops, if they also enter the Guanqin King, just these two aspects will bring a lot of pressure to the Ming army, and even the variable of the reversal level.

After repeated deliberation, Lao Zhu quickly decided that it was necessary to further intensify the 'shut-off' of the key passes in the north, and that the two key passes should have more than 10,000 soldiers guarding the town, and some other key roads should also send additional troops.

After making up his mind, Lao Zhu was about to call the courtiers to convene the remaining generals to discuss in detail, when there was a sudden report outside the account.

With a promise, Hanlin waited for Qin Yubo to come in hurriedly with a carrier pigeon: "Your Majesty, pass the book on the front line." ”

Lao Zhu chuckled in his heart.

Under normal circumstances, the attack on Dadu was launched early this morning, and the carrier pigeon flew back from the front line, at least it would take two or three hours, and it should still be in the morning when it was released, and it could not be anything good for a short time.

Could it be that things have changed temporarily, and Xu Da has postponed the siege?

After all, many walled cities around the capital have not yet been cleaned, and if there are generals from the die-hard Yuan room who raid the army outside, although they are not afraid, it is also troublesome.

Thinking so, Lao Zhu took the carrier pigeon, quickly removed the bamboo pipe on the pigeon's leg, and tried to calm himself down before breaking the bamboo pipe and pulling out the text message.

Hanlin was waiting for Qin Yubo to bow down cautiously and wait beside him, bowing his head and being speechless. As a courtier beside Lao Zhu, he knew a lot of secrets, and the carrier pigeon flew at this time, and he also had a premonition that something might have happened.

At this time, you can behave carefully.

Until His Majesty the Emperor was silent for a while, Qin Yubo couldn't hold back in the end, and glanced up, only to see the lord's strange expression of disbelief as if he had seen a ghost.

Qin Yubo's subtle movements interrupted Lao Zhu's stunnedness.

Tightly squeezing the text message in his hand that was only a few crosses written with a pencil, Lao Zhu raised his head and glanced at Qin Yubo, the corners of his mouth twitched, and then twitched, and finally couldn't help grinning, grinning into a smile that couldn't be concealed no matter how much patience could not be concealed.

This......

How can it be!

According to the letter, less than a quarter of an hour after the start of the battle, the defenders of the northern part of the capital were shocked by a hot air balloon that accidentally broke the cable and flew past. Chang Yuchun, the deputy general of the conquest, took the opportunity to press the whole army.

In the following hour, the Ming army not only broke through the capital, but even successfully besieged the imperial city of the Yuan court.

When Xu Da wrote the letter, the Ming army also found Fan Chang, a straight scholar of Hanlin who was ordered to send an envoy, according to Fan Chang, the father and son of Emperor Zhizheng were all in the imperial city.

I'm that heavenly grandpa!

Unexpectedly...... That's it?!

Gunpowder didn't work.

I just suffered from gains and losses.

I'm going to spare my troops to support the north!

What the hell!

With an army of 200,000 and a small imperial city, it is impossible for Emperor Zhizheng's father and son to escape again?

Thinking of this, grinning Lao Zhu tried to calm down again.

can't be happy too early, you must hurry up and reply to Xu Da.

There is nothing to be happy about winning Dadu, and we must not forget the primary strategic goal this time.

Well.

Overarching Strategic Objective.

This is the word proposed by the twenty-third grandson of his own treasure.

And the hot air balloon, which was also the idea that the kid came up with.

When he heard about Gubeikou before, Lao Zhu asked Tu Xiao to build a hot air balloon, because he understood the truth, it was boring, so he instinctively didn't expect too much, and only thought about giving Yuan Jun some psychological pressure. Unexpectedly, it was just this hot air balloon or a hot air balloon that accidentally floated away...... broke the capital of the Yuan court.

Aren't you dreaming?

Great work.

Great work!

Reward!

Thinking about what the kid has done in the past six months, Lao Zhu feels that after the war, if he doesn't reward him generously, it really can't be justified.

Well......

This is my own child.

In this case, when he returns to Jinling, this identity should also be clarified, so that he can recognize his ancestors and return to his ancestors.

Let the seniority go.

After thinking about it for a long time, Lao Zhu felt his heart beating faster, and he had some tinnitus, so he quickly exhaled deeply and calmed himself down again.

After returning to the book, Lao Zhu wrote a reply and said to Qin Yubo: "Uncle Yu, you spread the news later, the army has broken through the capital, tonight, hmm...... Let the cook give it to the whole army, make a good meal, and let it go! ”

Qin Yubo had been paying attention to Lao Zhu's expression, and he had changed from his previous apprehension to expectation, but he still didn't expect it to be such good news, so he immediately knelt down and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty." ”

Lao Zhu smiled and waved his hand: "Get up, this ...... Quickly find out the map of the capital, and I will consider it. ”

Qin Yubo hurriedly got up and hurriedly went to the cabinet on the side of the big tent to look for the map of the capital.

Northern Front.

The capital city was broken too quickly, triggering a chain reaction, and the army was defeated like a mountain, and the Yuan soldiers who retreated into the imperial city to defend only supported it for a day and a half.

On the afternoon of the second day of the first lunar month, repeated persuasion to surrender was ineffective, and the Ming army blew up the imperial city.

The gunpowder that was supposed to work in the outer city was finally used.

When the Ming army invaded the imperial city, the Yuan prince Aiyu Zhili Da Wax led the troops to try to break out of the siege to the north, and happened to bump into the headquarters of Chang Yuchun.

The imperial city was broken, and Emperor Zhizheng also wanted to die for the country.

It didn't work out.

lit a fire, was afraid of the heat, and ran out.

Going to swallow the medicine, it's too bitter.

wanted to hang the beam, but only forced a few concubines to hang on the beam, and he didn't go up at all.

The emperor, who had reigned for 35 years and had no ambition because he had been indulging in pleasure for a long time, was greedy for life and failed to maintain the last dignity of an empire like his son.

With the surrender of Emperor Zhizheng, at the sixth hour of the second day of August in the first year of Hongwu, the Great Yuan Dynasty, which once created the largest empire in this land, collapsed.

After taking the Emperor Zheng and the Yuan Dynasty clan, Xu Da once again flew the pigeon to ask his lord for instructions, and took the initiative to release a group of captured Yuan ministers, the purpose was very simple, so that these people could spread the news that the capital city was broken to the Emperor Zheng as soon as possible.

If the Ming army released the news by itself, it would most likely be regarded as a suspicious tactic.

Subsequently, Xu Da sealed the imperial palace and most of the Yuan Dynasty treasury, and at the same time sent His Majesty the Emperor's righteous son He Wenhui to escort Emperor Zheng and other important ministers of the Yuan Dynasty to Bianliang.

At the same time, the clean-up of the perimeter of the capital began.

Knowing that the Ming army had completely broken through the capital in just two days, the surrounding walled cities knew that they were powerless to resist and surrendered to the wind.

Among them, the largest surrender army was Yuan Cheng, who confronted Li Wenzhong in Cangzhou, and the prime minister also quickly commanded a total of 30,000 horses.

Knowing that the capital was broken and all his family members were captured, he quickly understood that the general trend had gone. In the face of the surrender of the Ming army, he wanted to flee west and defect to Timur, who had a good relationship, but was stopped by Chang Yuchun, who was decisive and led the cavalry south.

The front is Chang Yuchun, the rear is Li Wenzhong, it is not possible to go north, there is no hope to go south, the road to the west is actually very far, to the east, you can't jump into the sea? In addition, less than 10,000 of the 30,000 people belonged to their own descendants, and the army was discouraged, had no fighting spirit, and was quickly forced to surrender.

The 30,000 men of the Department were also solved, and there was no possibility of interfering with the Ming army's variables in the pass.

Hebei is established, and Lao Zhu gradually gave birth to another idea.

Intend to follow the trend again and go further.

Target: Wang Baobao.

According to the record of "Book from Heaven", Wang Baobao really brought a lot of losses to his family later, and even made Daming have to return to the defensive for a time. Compared with Nahachu and Li Siqi, this is another variable that must be eliminated.

After discussing with Xu Da, Lao Zhu planned to make another bet.

Fate often meets the spring to lead 30,000 cavalry troops, out of Juyong Pass, from outside the pass around into Shanxi, first take Datong, and then enter Yanmen, from north to south to cut off the back road.

Ordered Tang He to lead 50,000 troops and march west to Daizhou as a supplement.

Fu Youde, who was ordered to defend Tongguan, divided his troops with 20,000 troops, entered the pass and joined Feng Sheng's 30,000 army, and attacked Taiyuan from the south road.

The 130,000 army, like the Battle of Dadu, is still the primary strategic goal this time, Wang Baobao.

Thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one general is hard to find.

According to the record of "Book of Heaven", the defeat of a Wang Baobao, except for the humerus that may continue the qi veins of the Yuan Court, other Li Siqi, Naha and others are not enough.

Moreover, this time, even if it can't be fully utilized, it will not hinder the whole.

The die is cast!