Upon seeing Li Qin's decree, Qi Anyao immediately stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, we have now received Li Qin's decree, and he has agreed to dispatch 30,000 troops southward."
We should immediately issue orders to the militias throughout Henan who have received our message, instructing them to assemble in Ruzhou.
"At that time, we will use Li Qin's influence to make all the rebel armies fully acknowledge Your Majesty's leadership."
"Good, good, I will send someone to contact Zhang Bingwu, He Yilong and more than a dozen other rebel armies to attack Dong Zhonglou in Nanyang together."
Li Hongji slammed his hand on the table next to him, stood up, and addressed the crowd in front of him.
Subsequently, countless messengers left Luoyang and traveled to various parts of Henan to contact the peasant army leaders there.
Li Hongji also got up and led his army of over 100,000 men, preparing to head to Ruzhou, the agreed-upon location.
The 20,000 newly trained Liaodong troops in the capital, led by Liaodong veterans, also left the capital.
Li Qin also selected a trusted general named Liu Shengwu from among his own generals to lead the army.
Meanwhile, Li Xuanshang in Taiyuan, after receiving Li Qin's order, also ordered Wanyan Gun to lead 10,000 Jurchen cavalry south.
To support the 20,000-strong army that marched south from the capital.
Li Qin stared thoughtfully at the direction the 20,000-strong army had left.
If Li Hongji had truly eliminated Dong Zhonglou and integrated so many peasant armies in Henan...
He decided not to leave his 30,000 troops, but to station them in Henan to keep a close watch on Li Hongji and keep a close watch on him.
If Li Hongji fails and Henan falls into chaos again, it will be a good opportunity for him to train his 20,000 newly recruited troops before withdrawing them.
When things are almost over, they might still be able to play a role when I launch my southern campaign against the Huai River region.
No matter what, I won't lose out.
Just as Li Qin returned to his residence and was preparing to continue handling various government affairs,
Suddenly, a letter from Zhou Wentong of Jizhou, delivered by express courier, arrived right in front of him.
After reading it, Li Qin's expression immediately froze.
It was clearly written above that, according to reports from some grassland herders he had bribed, the Tatar Khan had gathered 200,000 Tatar cavalrymen and was preparing to march south.
After seeing the shocking news above, Li Qin...
He immediately got up and summoned everyone in the military intelligence room to discuss matters.
After everyone had arrived, Li Qin took out the intelligence report sent by Zhou Wentong and said:
"When the Tatar Khan heard about the great changes in our area, he thought there was an opportunity to take advantage of it. He gathered thousands of tribes, large and small, and an army of nearly 200,000 people to prepare to march south."
Upon hearing Li Qin's news, everyone present showed expressions of shock.
Then Gu Deyuan immediately stepped forward and said to Li Qin:
"If the Tatars really organize an army of 200,000 to march south, then..."
We must now strengthen the Great Wall defenses.
At the same time, troops from Shandong and Zhili provinces were also mobilized to provide support.
"Yes, Your Excellency, we must now send troops north to the Great Wall and at the same time recruit local militias to assist us."
Another aide stepped forward and spoke to Li Qin.
Then one by one, the aides stepped forward and offered their advice to Li Qin.
Most of the orders were for Li Qin to reinforce the Great Wall's defenses.
Some even demanded a delay in their southward advance into the Huai River region, focusing all their efforts on resisting the Tatars' southward advance.
Of course, some people also suggested that the Tatars went south for wealth.
Their top priority now is to quickly take control of Lianghuai.
Therefore, they could have given the Tatars some wealth, or even signed a contract with them, promising to give them some wealth every year, to keep them in check.
Once the south is pacified, we can head north to deal with these Tatars.
In any case, most people's suggestions were primarily defensive, with negotiation as a secondary option.
There was virtually no proactive action taken.
After listening to their various suggestions, Li Qin simply waved his hand, telling them to shut up.
He then got up and made his own decision.
He was to lead the capital's army north to defend against the Tatars who were about to invade from the south.
First, test the waters with the Tatars to assess their strength and weaknesses before making a further decision.
With Li Qin's order issued, the army outside the capital immediately began to assemble and then marched toward the Great Wall defense line in the north.
On the grassland.
The Tatar Khan, Lingdan Batur, looked at his assembled followers with a broad smile.
Because he had never before summoned so many tribes and people.
Then, with a smile on his face, he addressed the many tribal chiefs before him:
"Everyone is finally here. The Southern Dynasty has undergone a great upheaval. A former governor of Liaodong named Li Qin has rebelled."
They even marched into the capital and took control of the Southern Dynasty; you've probably all heard about that, right?
The leaders of the many tribes who had just gathered also nodded in agreement.
However, some tribal leaders showed expressions of shock.
There was no other way; they were nomadic on the grasslands every day, fighting for territory, and the grasslands were sparsely populated.
In this era where much information is passed down orally, many small, remote tribes suffer from extremely delayed access to information.
Sometimes, if something major happened in the Great Wu south of the Great Wall, many of their distant tribes would only learn about it a year or even several years later through other tribes or smuggling merchants from the Southern Dynasties.
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