After Zhu Jianshen finished speaking, all the ministers who supported the Northern Expedition immediately knelt down and shouted that the emperor was wise.
Those officials who opposed the Northern Expedition also knelt down, saying that the supplies were insufficient for the expedition.
Zhu Jianshen listened to the words of the officials from Jiangnan who opposed the Northern Expedition.
Shortage of food supplies?
They probably don't want to provide any food.
It doesn't matter, since his goal wasn't the Northern Expedition anyway.
We only need to transfer a portion of the troops to Jiangbei; the grain reserves in the granaries are still sufficient.
He then spoke directly:
"An imperial edict was issued, ordering Qi Jiguang to lead his 35,000 troops from the Beijing Garrison to Fengyang Prefecture, to be under the command of Hu Zongxian, and to launch a northern expedition to the Central Plains when the opportunity arises."
After he finished speaking, the officials below who supported the Northern Expedition shouted again that the emperor was wise and that he was long-lived.
This silenced the dissenting voices of those officials.
Zhu Jianshen immediately ordered the court session to adjourn.
After the court session, Zhu Jianshen summoned Qi Jiguang, the commander of the army, to the palace.
Seeing Qi Jiguang bowing respectfully before him, Zhu Jianshen immediately told him to rise and dispense with the formalities.
Then someone brought him a chair.
A little while after Qi Jiguang respectfully sat down in the chair.
Zhu Jianshen looked at the respectful Qi Jiguang in front of him, who had been recommended by Shi Kefa.
After this period of observation, he has proven to be a loyal and capable general, someone I can entrust with certain matters.
Then Zhu Jianshen asked:
"General Qi, are you aware of this mission?"
Upon hearing Zhu Jianshen's words, Qi Jiguang immediately began to think. He was not someone who only knew military affairs but was completely ignorant of politics.
Faced with the emperor's words, Qi Jiguang cautiously replied:
"Your Majesty, the message I just received is that the court is ordering me to lead my 35,000 elite troops from the Beijing Garrison, whom I have trained, to assist Governor-General Hu Zongxian in his northern expedition against the traitor Li."
Qi Jiguang cautiously explained the task he had been given this time.
In addition, just in case, he added before it, "I just received the news, the order that the imperial court is about to issue."
After all, the official order hasn't been issued yet.
Zhu Jianshen looked at Qi Jiguang in front of him and nodded. He was indeed very cautious in his words.
Just as I've always known him, he's cautious.
If he acts cautiously when he arrives in Lianghuai, nothing serious will happen.
In response to Qi Jiguang's reply, just in case, Zhu Jianshen said to Jiguang in front of him:
"General Qi, the imperial court has indeed given you orders to go to Lianghuai to assist Duke Hu in his northern expedition against the traitor Li."
But General Qi believes that with only your 30,000-plus troops from the Beijing garrison and the current troops from Lianghuai, are you capable of launching a northern expedition against Li Zicheng?
Faced with this fatal question posed by Emperor Zhu Jianshen.
Qi Jiguang felt a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
What should I do? Should I just speak my mind?
Once I say it out loud, I will definitely face a barrage of criticism and difficulties from the public.
Zhu Jianshen noticed Qi Jiguang's predicament and said:
"To be honest, the reason I summoned you to the inner palace today is to allow you to speak freely. Rest assured, no one outside will know about our conversation today."
After Zhu Jianshen finished speaking, Qi Jiguang also steeled his heart and said:
"Your Majesty, if we only rely on the 35,000 men under my command and the current forces in Lianghuai to launch a northern expedition, we will absolutely not be able to do so."
Li Ze had hundreds of thousands of troops in the north, including a large number of Liaodong and female cavalry. Later, he incorporated a large number of Tatar tribes and gained the support of Tatar cavalry.
Furthermore, between us and Li Hongji and Qin Chenyao, there were also regional military governors like Li Hongji and Qin Chenyao, who were also subservient to Li's orders.
Qin Chenyao, especially from Shandong, was one of the most important figures. Li Zicheng's army was stationed in Shandong. When Li Zicheng's army marched south to the Huai River region last time, Qin Chenyao led his troops to follow him on Li Zicheng's orders.
In battles against Lord Hu, he was often at the forefront of the charge.
Their obedience to Li Qin was the highest among all the regional military governors.
If we launch a northern expedition, we will inevitably have to face them, and they will definitely follow the traitor Li to fight against us.
Our forces in the Huai River region consisted of the Huai River Army trained by Lord Hu and the Shanxi Army led by Yang Zhiyong.
This can be seen from Li's southward campaign. The Lianghuai Army was composed of refugees, although it was formed around the same time as the imperial army in Beijing that I led.
However, their equipment and food were far inferior to those of my Imperial Guard, which resulted in their combat effectiveness being far inferior to that of the Imperial Guard that I led.
They were good at defending cities, but in the field battles of the Northern Expedition, they were no match for Li Zicheng.
Therefore, the only forces the Northern Expedition could rely on were Yang Zhiyong's tens of thousands of Shanxi troops and Chen's more than 30,000 Beijing garrison troops.
We hope to rely on our tens of thousands of troops to launch a northern expedition and defeat Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops.
The chances of winning are extremely slim.
After Qi Jiguang finished speaking, Zhu Jianshen, who was sitting on the throne, nodded in agreement.
He's absolutely right; he's a smart man.
He clearly understood the situation and knew the huge gap between himself and Li Ze in field battles.
Now I feel much more at ease with him.
Then he said to Qi Jiguang in front of him:
"You're absolutely right, that's what I think too."
After Zhu Jianshen finished speaking, Qi Jiguang subconsciously asked:
"Then, Your Majesty."
Before Qi Jiguang could finish speaking, Zhu Jianshen waved his hand to interrupt him, saying:
"Alright, your current task is to lead your troops to Fengyang and set up camp, awaiting Duke Hu's orders."
If Li Ze were to march south, could you hold him off in Fengyang?
"Are the 30,000-plus troops of the Beijing Garrison in your possession sufficient?"
After Zhu Jianshen finished speaking, Qi Jiguang immediately and firmly said:
"Your Majesty, I can assure you that the fighting strength of the more than 30,000 Jingying troops under my command is absolutely no weaker than the elite troops under Li's command."
"If we hold the city, I dare say that even if Li Zicheng's army of 300,000 came to attack, he would find it difficult to take it."
Zhu Jianshen automatically ignored most of what Qi Jiguang told him.
He didn't quite believe the claim that the elite troops under Li Qin's command were no weaker than his own.
However, after hearing that he had promised to defend the city, he was largely relieved.
The regional military governors themselves placed him in Fengyang to strengthen the defenses north of the Yangtze River, to resist Li's southward advance, and at the same time to weaken the power of the officials in the south.
After all, although Qi Jiguang was a loyal minister, all the soldiers under his command came from Jiangnan.
Furthermore, he sent them to the Huai River region not because he truly intended for them to launch a northern expedition.
Just hold on.
After giving Qi Jiguang some other instructions, Zhu Jianshen dismissed him.
He then took out a map of Jiangbei and wrote Qi Jiguang's name on the location of Fengyang in the middle reaches of the Huai River.
Upstream of Qi Jiguang's name is Yang Zhiyong, and downstream is Hu Zongxian from Huai'an.
Each of them was responsible for a section of the Huai River defense line, and the Huai River, or the three towns north of the river, were officially formed.
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