Three days later.
Xie Sanbin "sold" the Fuzhou Salt Field in Liaodong to Lianghuai merchants for a high price of 1.5 million taels of silver.
The word "sell" is put in quotation marks because it is not really sold.
But sell it for a period of time.
In other words, the salt fields were contracted to salt merchants.
When the time comes, the management rights of the salt field will return to the court.
This was a special product of a special period, and Xie Sanbin got the matter done despite impeachment and infamy.
A day later, the Lianghuai salt merchants delivered the silver to the Ministry of Revenue.
The Ministry of Revenue immediately drafted an official document and, together with the Ministry of War, submitted a petition requesting the dispatch of troops to Korea.
Sending troops to North Korea is a big deal.
This move instantly caused an uproar in the court and the capital.
Some people support it, some people oppose it.
"We must send troops to North Korea! We must root out the problem, otherwise there will be endless disasters!"
"The Jiannu have already fled to Korea. We can completely let the Koreans deal with them. If that doesn't work, we can raise an army to wipe them out!"
"The Koreans have long been the lackeys of the Jiannu. How could they fight against the Jiannu?"
"The Koreans have repeatedly sent envoys to Beijing to request to submit to our Ming Dynasty. Doesn't this prove something?"
"Even if the North Koreans are willing to deal with Jiannu, they are no match for Jiannu, otherwise they would not have lent Hamgyong Province to Jiannu to restore their country!"
"How do you know that the Koreans are no match for the Jiannu before the battle even begins?"
"We don't even need to fight to know that North Korean soldiers are vulnerable!"
When the court and the people were discussing it.
Some smart people smelled business opportunities and began to integrate caravans, preparing to make money by trafficking in food and fodder.
However, the opinions of the court and the people could not influence Chongzhen's decision.
After receiving the memorials from the Cabinet and the Ministry of War, the Imperial Household Department approved the memorials in red on the same day in accordance with Chongzhen's wishes.
When the news came out, the entire capital was shaken again.
The officials were talking about it, the people were happily watching the show, and the merchants immediately used all their connections to find ways to get their caravans involved in the transportation of food and supplies.
On April 12, the news reached Liaodong.
After pacifying Liao, in order to save grain transportation costs, ease logistical pressure, and prevent the Jiannu from returning.
The main forces of the Ping Liao army were stationed in different places.
Huang Degong led his troops to garrison in Shenyang.
Liu Zhaoji led his troops to garrison in Hetuala City.
Li Dingguo was stationed in Changdianbao and Zhenjiangbao on the west bank of the Yalu River.
Li Xianzhong was also stationed on the west bank of the Yalu River, in the Jianzhou Zuowei area north of Li Dingguo.
From time to time, the two men sent small groups of troops to Korea to harass the Jiannu and recruit their soldiers to surrender.
With the help of this strategy, they recruited a large number of Jiannu surrendered soldiers.
There were both Jurchens, Mongols and surrendered Ming troops.
The navy was also stationed in Dengzhou and Laizhou in southern Liaoning and Shandong.
After receiving the news, Huang Degong was stunned for a moment, and then burst into tears.
The people nearby were startled and immediately came forward to ask, "What's wrong, sir? Did something happen?"
"My Lord, please make your point clear before you cry!"
"My lord, my lord!"
Huang Degong stopped crying in response to the calls from the crowd.
Deputy General Weng Zhiqi asked, "Sir, what are you doing?"
Huang Degong wiped his tears with his hands and suddenly laughed out loud: "Everyone, I was so excited just now that I cried."
He touched the document in his hand and said in a deep voice, "Do you know what's in it?"
"have no idea."
"Please enlighten me, sir."
Huang Degong said leisurely: "There is an opportunity here."
"Chance?"
"Yes, it's a chance to go down in history! During the Imjin War, General Li Rusong led his troops into Korea and returned victorious, and his name went down in history! Today, the court has ordered us to go into Korea to wipe out the Jiannu, and our names can also go down in history!"
When everyone heard this, they also cheered.
"Okay, great!"
"I am willing to be the vanguard!"
"I want to be one too!"
"Don't rush, the vanguard is mine."
Huang Degong waved his hand and said, "Shut up, I will lead the troops into the court as the vanguard."
......
Huang Degong did not really want to serve as the vanguard himself, but used this method to boost morale.
After arousing everyone's desire to fight.
Huang Degong did not give the order to set off immediately, but walked to the room of Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong.
Zhu Cijiong personally opened the door and let Huang Degong into the room.
"Is there anything Governor Huang needs?" Zhu Cijiong asked.
"Something happened," Huang Degong said as he took out the imperial edict from his arms.
Zhu Cijiong was stunned after reading it: "Enter Liao to fight? This is too sudden, right? There was no sign before!"
"This is the will of the court, we can only obey it."
Zhu Cijiong said seriously: "You are the governor-general of Ping Liao, and you have the imperial edict, so you can just order the troops to go out. You don't need to consult me, and I have no objection!
Huang Degong walked to the door, opened it and looked outside for a while. After making sure that no one was there, he closed the door and whispered to Zhu Cijiong, "I am not here to discuss something with Your Highness, but I want to ask Your Highness something."
"What is it?"
"It's about His Majesty."
Zhu Cijiong stood up and walked back and forth for a few steps. He stopped and asked, "Go ahead, what do you want to ask?"
"May I ask whether Your Highness has had any correspondence with His Majesty recently?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"I want to learn about His Majesty's situation from His Highness! His Majesty has not attended court for a long time, and the situation in the capital is already turbulent. Now there is news that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is going to raise an army to defend the king. If the situation is really as the Crown Prince said, as ministers, we should go to the capital to defend the king as soon as possible."
Zhu Cijiong was silent for a moment, then replied, "Your Majesty is well."
"Does Your Highness have any evidence?"
"There are some things I cannot say, but I can assure you that your majesty is absolutely fine."
This time it was Huang Degong's turn to remain silent.
He was silent for a while and then asked: "If His Majesty is fine, then the prince's so-called loyalty to the king has become..."
"Be careful with your words!" Zhu Cijiong interrupted Huang Degong, "My father told me to stay in Liaodong and take care of myself, and not to meddle in other people's affairs."
Huang Degong was silent again.
He looked into Zhu Cijiong's eyes for a long time, and only breathed a sigh of relief after he was sure that there was nothing wrong.
To him, no one's life was more important than Chongzhen's.
Huang Degong stood up and said, "In order to fight in Korea, the court has prepared a million taels of silver, which will be delivered to Liaodong within a month at the latest, along with military supplies and fodder. The court's decree requires us to get the silver to reward the three armies and then immediately fight in Korea."
"In order not to waste time, we must immediately move our camp and join forces with Liu Zhaoji first, and then reach the Yalu River to join Li Xianzhong and Li Dingguo."
Zhu Cixiong nodded: "Okay, I'll clean it up right away."
"No," Huang Degong shook his head: "Your Highness must stay in Shenyang to ensure that there will be no problems with our military logistics."
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