Prince Kang is in Shengjing? And he has become the son-in-law of the Tartar fake emperor?!
As Zhao Tong finished reading the last word that he had hurriedly delivered, Li Hu, Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding, the five ministers of the cabinet, and the officials of the six ministries and nine officials all changed their expressions!
No wonder the emperor ordered Heshen to be imprisoned. Even a fool could see what the Tartar fake emperor was planning.

Jia Yucun, who was standing in the crowd, was even more frightened and sweating profusely.

What is the Imperial Prison? It is a place where you can confess your guilt even if you are innocent! Will Heshen bite him?

At this moment, he really regretted to death why he accepted the bill. If the people from the Northern Pacification Office found it, he would never be able to clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

Add to that Heshen’s slander, and he’s doomed!

Thinking of this, cold sweat flowed from Jia Yucun’s forehead to his cheeks, and he hurriedly used his sleeves to wipe the sweat beads on his forehead and face.

Suddenly, Emperor Yongxing slapped the imperial desk, which scared everyone and Jia Yucun almost knelt down.

Emperor Yongxing said word by word: “I have decided to go to war against the Jurchen Tartars!”

When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked!
Emperor Yongxing’s eyes sparkled: “This is a golden opportunity! The main force of the Jurchen Tatars led by Agui was dragged to the north of the desert by the coalition forces of Duke Xiuguo, Xie Jing and Wang Ziteng. The internal forces of the Jurchen Tatars are empty and weak. Shengjing City has only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. As long as the Liaohe defense line is broken, the army will go straight to Shengjing!”

After a pause, he said, “Back then, I was able to lead an army of 60,000 in the snow and wind to break through the Ming army’s Liaohe River defense line. I believe that the Shanhaiguan troops with more people and better weapons and equipment can also easily break through the Liaohe River defense line, sweep across the area east of the Liaohe River, break through Shengjing City, and recover the lost territory in one fell swoop!”

Li Hu was slightly stunned, and immediately remembered that the emperor was talking about the old slave who broke through the Liaohe River defense line in the first month of the second year of Tianqi, massacred more than 40 forts west of the Liaohe River, and more than 100,000 Han people in Liaodong were driven by the old slave to the east of the Liaohe River and slaughtered, and a red ice curtain formed on the Liaohe River.

There was silence.

Emperor Yongxing: “What’s wrong?” He glanced at everyone.

The cabinet members looked at each other. The emperor, the cabinet and the Ministry of War had already formulated a military strategy. First, they would eliminate the main force of the Jurchen Tatars led by Agui in the northern desert, annihilate the Russians who were in collusion with Fukangan, then sweep across the Mongolian tribes in the southern desert, and finally cooperate with the troops in Shanhaiguan to recover the lost territory in one fell swoop.

Focus on stability!

Emperor Yongxing could not help but asked, “Duke Zhenguo, you are the Minister of War, what do you think of my strategy?”

Strategy? It’s a bold idea at best.

Niu Jizong was a little embarrassed, and after a while he said carefully: “The troops have not moved yet, but the food and grass must go first. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue have been preparing for the war in Mobei. It seems a bit hasty to start a war in Liaodong at this time.”

Is this not supporting me? Emperor Yongxing was embarrassed: “The garrison at Shanhaiguan is strong and the treasury is full. We have money and food. With one order from me, more than 100,000 troops can be transferred from the capital to support Shanhaiguan.”

Li Hu’s mouth twitched. Duke Xiu led the Beijing Camp to the border. The Ruishi Camp had been expanding for more than a year, but it had never been fully staffed because it was always in the midst of war. Up to now, there were only more than 17,000 people. Counting the more than 10,000 people in the Yongwei Camp and the more than 30,000 people in Jizhou Town, where did the 100,000-strong army come from? !

Could it be that there are not enough people, so the imperial guards are here to make up for it? Do you still want the capital?

Thinking of this, Li Hu shook his head slightly.

Emperor Yongxing turned his gaze to Shi Ding again: “Marquis Zhongjing, what do you think?”

Shi Ding was silent for a moment, then replied, “Our army’s vanguard is more than 200 miles away from the Liao River, and there are Jinzhou City, Dalinghe Defense Line and Guangning City in between. In addition, winter is coming soon, and Liaodong is snowing heavily, and the weather is freezing. I think this matter needs to be considered in the long run.”

Emperor Yongxing’s expression turned even uglier, and he suddenly turned his gaze to Li Hu: “Li Hu, do you think so too?!”

Shit, Niu Jizong and Shi Ding are both honorific titles, why do they call me by my name?! Li Hu exhaled and replied, “We can first take Jinzhou City and the Daling River defense line and force the Tartar pseudo-emperor to hand over Prince Kang.” What is the point of letting the third brother come back? Come back to make things difficult for me?! Emperor Yongxing’s face darkened and he said coldly, “We’ve already fought, what else is there to talk about?”

Everyone was shocked. This showed that they didn’t want to leave any chance for King Kang to survive!
Emperor Yongxing suddenly came to his senses and realized that he had spoken rashly. He paused and said to the Prime Minister, “Draft an edict for the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan according to Duke Lu’s opinion.”

Li Hu was stunned for a moment and almost cursed out loud, he can’t just pass the blame on like this!
The Prime Minister hesitated for a moment and said, “There are hundreds of thousands of troops gathered at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain. The logistical pressure is already not small. If Liaodong starts another war.”

Emperor Yongxing interrupted him directly: “I have read the archives of the Ministry of Revenue. The farmland reclaimed in Guihua City, Suiyuan City, the foot of Daqing Mountain, and the six towns of Yinshan Mountain has achieved a good harvest this year. With so many cattle and sheep, even if the court does not provide food and grass, it can sustain for more than half a year.

Besides, the imperial court has already stockpiled more than 500,000 shi of grain and a large amount of military equipment in Guihua and Suiyuan. By the way, there is also a large amount of grain stored in Hetao, which is enough to support the grain supply of the coalition forces of Xiuguogong, Xie Jing and Wang Ziteng. “

What else could the Prime Minister say but to answer, “Yes.”

Li Hu sighed in his heart, thinking that the son was really like a man who sold his father’s land without any regret. The Yongchang Emperor had accumulated property for several years, and he just blew it away.

Emperor Yongxing smiled again: “If you win this battle, I will reward you handsomely!”

The Prime Minister took the lead in answering, “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang: “Oh, by the way, I only ordered Heshen to be imprisoned in the imperial prison, and did not torture him.” After saying that, he glanced at Li Hu.

This glance immediately broke Li Hu’s defense. Fuck, do you suspect that I have an affair with the Jurchen Tartars?
Zhao Tong continued, “The Northern Pacification Prison is not just an underground prison, there is also a small courtyard where officials awaiting trial are detained. According to the rules, Heshen must be imprisoned.”

After saying this, he glanced at Li Hu and then continued, “However, He Shen is an envoy recognized by the court anyway, so we will lock him up in the yard and discuss his crime after the Liaodong war is over.”

Everyone understood that the emperor was showing mercy to Li Hu.

Li Hu raised his eyebrows. Was he judging others by his own standards?
Jia Yucun breathed a sigh of relief and silently chanted “Amitabha” in his heart. He thought of the bill of exchange again. This kind of bill of exchange had a stub at Li’s Bank and could not be exchanged. So he would take a loss and go to the black market to exchange the bill of exchange for someone else.

Emperor Yongxing: “Everyone, go down and do your work.”

Everyone answered in unison: “Yes.”

When the footsteps faded away, Emperor Yongxing said to Zhao Tong, “Send a secret decree to the general of Shanhaiguan. Tell him that if he can take down the Liaohe defense line, I will grant him the title of first-class duke.”

Zhao Tong shuddered: “Your Majesty.”

Emperor Yongxing raised his hand and said: “The main force of the Jurchen Tatars is almost all concentrated on the Daling River line. Taking down the Daling River defense line means destroying the main force of the Jurchen Tatars west of the Liao River. If we miss this opportunity, it will be gone.”

Zhao Tong was silent for a moment, then said cautiously, “How about transferring some cavalry from Jizhou Town?”

Emperor Yongxing thought for a moment and said: “Okay, transfer all the cavalry in Jizhou Town to the general of Shanhaiguan.”

Zhao Tong: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang stood up, walked to the window and looked at the sky outside, muttering to himself: “After we take down the Liaohe River defense line, let’s see who dares to question me.” (End of this chapter)