The Primordial World, the Mortal Realm, Tumu Fortress.
After a night of slaughter, the Ming Kingdom's army of five hundred thousand had been annihilated, and its emperor, Zhu Qizhen, had been captured.
When his men reported that they had captured Zhu Qizhen, Esens froze for a moment. They had captured the Ming emperor? Then his feelings grew complicated. Was he happy? Yes. Capturing the enemy's leader was certainly something to celebrate, but... wasn't this far too easy?
Where were all those elite practitioners of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism who had served the Ming Kingdom back then? Had they sent only those few useless fools?
He had rushed into war without preparing anything, refused to let his army rest, marched at full speed, and even changed routes at the last minute, without paying closer attention to the surrounding terrain or the enemy's movements. He was truly an idiot!
Esens could not even fathom how his opponent had conducted this campaign.
Then, guided by his men, he rode toward the place where they had captured Zhu Qizhen. A short while later, Esens arrived before him and looked down at this emperor clad in battle armor, whose legs kept trembling. With his fair skin and frail scholar's appearance, he did not even dare raise his head to meet Esens's eyes.
"Ming emperor, I'll give you this-you do look like a scholar. Why not govern your country properly and be a cultured ruler? Why insist on imitating martial emperors and leading troops into battle?" Holding his riding crop, Esens leaned forward slightly and questioned Zhu Qizhen.
"G-Grand Preceptor. I was wrong. I should never have raised an army. Please release me. Once I return, I'll send you more rewards. Great Ming and the Northern Desert will remain good brothers, just as before. We can