Hong Chengchou walked out of the palace in a daze.
He still had three imperial edicts given to him by Li Qin in his hands.
These were the imperial edicts ordering him to attack the Fujian region, which had not yet submitted to the emperor, and the edicts appointing him as the Governor-General of Fujian and the Prince of Fujian.
At this moment, he desperately wanted to throw the imperial edict in his hand to the ground.
But he knew that if he actually did that, he would be accused of disrespect.
However, after he returned to his camp, his general in charge of military logistics immediately came up and said:
"Your Highness, someone from the imperial court just came and said that our military supplies and provisions will now be provided on a daily basis."
Moreover, the supply will last for a maximum of two months.
Our food and military supplies will then be provided by local governments along the way.
"Your Highness, shall we return to the Northwest?"
After hearing what the general said, Hong Chengchou's expression grew increasingly grim.
Li Qin was truly ruthless; he changed the supply of grain and military provisions to a daily ration.
This means that if any supply line is cut off, his army will go hungry.
Hong Chengchou looked up and down, but did not answer the officer.
Instead, he returned to his own tent.
Because he is very clear about the current situation.
He led tens of thousands of troops, whose families were all in the Northwest. He brought them out of the pass to Jiangnan.
Now that news of the incident in the Northwest has reached them, they have long wanted to return there.
If I were to announce now that I can't return to the Northwest and instead have to go to Fujian, I would be in trouble.
The army he now commands is very likely to scatter in disarray.
By then, he won't even have this last bargaining chip left.
Let's drag this out for as long as possible.
But shortly after he sat down, a soldier came to him and said:
"Your Highness, the Tatars, the Tatar cavalry have surrounded our camp."
And then a eunuch arrived, saying he was there to deliver an imperial edict to the soldiers.
"Issue an imperial decree?"
Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou stood up from his chair.
The Imperial Palace of Jinling.
Li Qin looked at the imperial edict in his hand, which was an edict conferring the title of Prince of Pingxi upon Zu Zhilong.
In any case, their influence in the Northwest has already become public knowledge.
Let's just directly bestow the title of Prince of Pingxi upon Zu Zhilong.
Firstly, it was to facilitate the pacification and stabilization of the Northwest more quickly.
At the same time, it was also to completely win over Zuzhilong to their side.
If he causes any more trouble for me in the Northwest, I'll be in for a while longer.
In addition to the imperial edict conferring titles upon Zu Zhilong, there were also imperial edicts conferring titles upon Zhou Wentong and others.
They were all sent to the Northwest by fast horses.
At the same time, they were told that they must completely stabilize the Northwest.
As long as we control the Northwest, the Central Plains and Sichuan will have to obediently submit to us.
After sending the order to the Northwest, Li Qin then picked up the intelligence about Hong Chengchou's Northwest army.
He had always kept a close watch on the armies of these feudal lords.
After news of the incident in the Northwest reached Jiangnan, Li Qin received intelligence about Hong Chengchou's army.
These troops from the Northwest immediately began demanding to return to the Northwest.
They kept putting pressure on them from above, eventually getting Hong Chengchou to submit several memorials to the emperor.
In the end, he personally suppressed it.
This is exactly the effect he wanted.
He didn't want these troops from the Northwest to know that the Northwest was already under his and Zu Zhilong's control.
How am I supposed to control them?
Even if he himself sent Hong Chengchou to lead them to Fujian and actually took over Fujian.
It simply created another separatist warlord.
Now he has control over the families of these soldiers, making them afraid to oppose him.
Even if Hong Chengchou really did lead them to conquer Fujian.
Once I issue the decree to dismiss Hong Chengchou, not many of these people will resist.
Li Qin had also considered completely incorporating them into his own ranks.
However, the Fujian region is a place that must be fought.
I will usually send them myself.
After all, it's a difficult place to attack, and I can't send my own loyal troops there. It would be a waste to send non-loyal troops there either.
We can only send you, the surrendered soldiers who have been incorporated into the army.
Among the surrendered soldiers, there were also those with seniority.
For example, when did you start the rebellion and join His Majesty?
I joined Your Majesty in the uprising in the north, while others joined Your Majesty in the uprising in the Huai River region.
Can the two have the same levels?
This kind of work, which is obviously extremely demanding and doesn't offer much reward, is naturally assigned to the newly surrendered soldiers who lack experience.
It will still be you guys going then.
It would be better to just have Hong Chengchou, a man from Fujian, take you there directly.
This way, there's no need for the adjustment period after the military is incorporated.
Then he can send his own army to follow them and monitor them.
Li Qin then wrote another imperial edict and ordered someone to deliver it to Hong Chengchou's military camp.
In reality, these were just words of reassurance to the soldiers in the army.
It's simply that Zu Zhilong has already submitted a petition.
The people he killed before were all those who betrayed the court and intended to rebel.
The Northwest is very peaceful now, and everyone's family is safe.
They could be allowed to write letters to their families to inquire about their well-being.
The reason for changing Hong Chengchou's provisions and military supplies to daily rations was to better control them.
The two-month grace period was intended to allow the army to have time to contact their families in the Northwest.
Anyway, he had already inquired in his previous letters to the Northwest that the families of the army were well protected.
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