Guangning, Liaodong, Liaodong General’s Headquarters.

When Li Xianzhong learned that Chongzhen had passed away, he ordered the entire army to wear mourning clothes and mourn for the emperor.

On the last night of mourning, someone brought a message: "Five days ago, hundreds of Rakshasas crossed the Heilongjiang River, attacked the Mongolian herdsmen near Muhewei, and then retreated to the north of Guli River."

(Muhewei was also a garrison set up by the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong. It was first established in the Tianshun period and was located in the Mohe River Basin.)

Li Xianzhong became furious after hearing this.

He originally wanted to personally lead his troops north to pursue the Russians, but considering the journey and logistical pressures, he had to give up.

However, he had no intention of ignoring it, but instead sought out Wang Fuzhi, the governor of Liaodong, to discuss countermeasures.

After listening to the statement, Wang Fuzhi shook his head slightly.

Li Xianzhong frowned and asked, "Does Lord Wang mean there is no rush?"

Wang Fuzhi shook his head again and said, "I mean, no matter what."

Li Xianzhong widened his eyes and asked incredulously, "No matter?"

Wang Fuzhi nodded: "Yes, no matter what."

"The Liaodong Mongolian tribes and the Jurchens have already submitted to the Ming Dynasty. Aren't you afraid of discouraging them by doing this?"

Wang Fuzhi shook his head again: "It's not that we will ignore it forever, but we will ignore it temporarily."

"Why?"

"Intervening too early will not only not make them feel grateful, but will cause them to resent it."

"So when can we intervene?"

"If we wait until they have a deep hatred for Luosha before lending a helping hand, it will produce unexpected results."

Li Xianzhong thought for a moment and concluded, "You mean to send charcoal in the snow, not an umbrella after the rain?"

Wang Fuzhi grinned and said, "That's right."

The two discussed for a long time and wrote a letter to inform the court of the news and their plan.

Northwest grasslands.

Li Dingguo, the imperial commissioner guarding the three borders of Shaanxi, was inspecting the border when he received the news of Chongzhen's death.

He dropped the whip in astonishment, dismounted, knelt down and cried bitterly.

The rest of the generals also dismounted and followed suit in mourning.

The cavalryman who delivered the letter took out the mourning clothes that had been prepared in advance and came to Li Dingguo to help him put them on.

At this time, Li Dingguo was already crying.

He knew that all his achievements today were thanks to Chongzhen's grace.

After crying for a long time, Li Dingguo slowly stopped crying.

He looked around and said to a general in a low voice: "Yue Zhenbang, you send a message to the tribes on the grassland, ordering them to mourn for the late emperor for three days, then prepare tribute and go to the capital to meet the new emperor."

"Yes." Yue Zhenbang left the team with his troops and dispersed to various places on the grassland.

Three days later.

Yue Zhenbang brought back a message.

He reported to Li Dingguo: "The Khoshut tribe could not stand the harassment of the Dzungar tribe and was willing to submit to the imperial court."

Li Dingguo narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you serious?"

Yue Zhenbang nodded: "Really, I dare not speak nonsense, but..."

"But what?"

"The Western Tumed tribe was very opposed to the Khoshut tribe's submission."

Li Dingguo frowned and thought about it, then understood why the Xitumed tribe opposed it.

Geographically, the Xitumed tribe was located between the Ming Dynasty and the Khoshut tribe.

Once the Khoshut tribe surrendered to the imperial court, they had to pass through the pastures of the Western Tumed tribe when paying tribute.

Their pastures not only have abundant grass and water, but also herds of cattle and sheep.

Allowing the Khoshut tribe to pass through their pastures was tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house.

Although the Mongolians have not received much education, they understand this principle.

Li Dingguo pondered for a while and came up with an idea.

He said, "Whether or not to agree with the Khoshut's surrender is the court's business. The Xitumed tribe has no say, and neither does our say."

The confidant next to him asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Li Dingguo's expression was calm: "Write to the court and let the court decide."

That afternoon, a cavalry squad left Guyuan Town with Li Dingguo's official documents and headed for the capital.

At the same time, Li Dingguo secretly summoned Yue Zhenbang.

Yue Zhenbang clasped his hands together and said, "Your Highness the General."

Li Dingguo nodded: "I heard that your wife gave birth to a big fat boy for you."

Yue Zhenbang blushed and replied, "Thank you, sir."

Li Dingguo turned around and took out a red wooden box from the back.

Although the box was not big, it was very heavy as could be seen from the blue veins on Li Dingguo's arms.

With a bang, Li Dingguo put the box on the table.

In Yue Zhenbang's puzzled eyes, Li Dingguo pointed at the red box and said, "Congratulations, your Yue family has an heir."

Yue Zhenbang was even more puzzled: "This..."

Li Dingguo explained: "This is the share of money."

Contribution money has existed since ancient times and became a system in the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated in the "Edict to Teach the People": All people in my village should abide by the etiquette and laws, and not bully the weak... If they have any needs in marriage or funerals, they should help according to their ability.

Helping as much as one can means doing one's best to help within one's ability.

As time went by, helping out according to one’s ability turned into helping out according to one’s gift.

"Thank you, sir. I will be grateful to you..."

Yue Zhenbang exchanged some polite words, then walked to the box and reached out to take it under the gaze of Li Dingguo.

Um?

The box was very heavy, much heavier than Yue Zhenbang had imagined.

Yue Zhenbang wanted to open the box to see what was inside, but it was so heavy.

But I felt a little embarrassed in front of Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo saw his doubts and simply said, "Open it and take a look."

"Yes." Yue Zhenbang opened the box and stretched his neck to look inside.

Just one look and he shrank back in fear.

It was filled with brand new Ming Dynasty round coins, and a rough count revealed that there were nearly two thousand of them.

Considering Li Dingguo's status, ten taels of silver was not a small amount of money.

Two thousand taels of silver was simply unbelievable.

Yue Zhenbang looked up at Li Dingguo: "Sir, this... this..."

Li Dingguo lowered his voice and said, "There are 2,500 Ming Dynasty Yuanbao in here, which is 2,500 taels of silver. Fifty taels of silver are my share of the money, and the rest is the mission fee."

(In the Ming Dynasty, 16 taels per catty, 2,000 taels weighed about 128 catties, and soldiers could move it.)

Yue Zhenbang's head was filled with question marks: "Mission? What mission?"

Li Dingguo smiled faintly: "Set fire..."