Chapter 59

Far more brilliant than any talk of holding hostages!

Not only would it fail to compel the hundred officials to serve with loyalty, but it would also bind all the civil and military officials of the entire court to the side of Great Ming.

From this moment on, once a Great Ming official entertained the thought of surrendering to the enemy.

They would not only be left with eternal infamy.

They would also bear the consequence of total financial ruin!

Neither fame nor profit.

So why the hell surrender?!

If one were to read this passage in the history books.

Even I would be afraid to clap and call it brilliant.

Pity that Zhu Youjian applied this move to himself.

Hong Hong Chengchou, having understood the crux of the matter, was the first to prostrate himself on the ground, shouting to Your Majesty

"May Your Majesty live ten thousand, ten thousand, and ten thousand years!"

Under Hong Hong Chengchou's leadership.

The hundred officials of Great Ming immediately shouted to Your Majesty.

Zhu Youjian entered the Forbidden City in the seventh year of Tianqi.

But only at this moment did Zhu Youjian clearly feel that he had truly ascended the throne and taken personal charge of the government!

Only at this moment did Zhu Youjian truly become the Son of Heaven of Great Ming!

Looking at the crowd of ministers before him, Zhu Youjian's expression grew increasingly stern.

Staring fixedly at Hong Hong Chengchou, he shouted loudly

"Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, Hong Hong Chengchou, listen to the imperial decree!"

Hong Hong Chengchou's body trembled, then he rose and said

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

Zhu Youjian shouted loudly

"Effective immediately, Hong Hong Chengchou is transferred to the position of Viceroy of Ji and Liaodong, with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, to lead Wang Pu, Regional Commander of Datong; Cao Bianjiao, Regional Commander of the Eastern Coordination; Wu Sangui, Regional Commander of Ningyuan... totaling thirteen hundred thousand troops from eight garrisons, to march out of Shanhai Pass and engage Huang Taiji in a decisive battle in Liaodong!"

Hearing this, Hong Hong Chengchou's body trembled involuntarily.

The troops of these eight garrisons.

were the entire capital of Great Ming.

Moving the eight garrisons to Liaodong.

was clearly sending a signal to the world.

Great Ming.

is coming to fight Huang Taiji to the death!

As soon as this decree from Zhu Youjian was issued, Wang Chengen immediately looked at Zhu Youjian with some tension and said

"Your Majesty, the troops of Cao Bianjou and others are currently in Shaanxi. If they are moved out of the pass, the refugees..."

Zhu Youjian snorted coldly and said

"I have my own strategy to pacify the bandits!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Hong Hong Chengchou immediately knelt solemnly on the ground and shouted loudly

"Your subject Hong Hong Chengchou, receives the decree!"

Immediately, Zhu Youjian's gaze suddenly turned to the crowd of ministers before him, and he shouted loudly

"The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works shall manufacture weapons and prepare grain and fodder from this day forward. The war preparations for Liaodong must not be delayed for a single moment! The grain and fodder required shall be transported to the capital immediately upon arrival!"

56, The entire court has gone mad!

Su Qiao could never have imagined.

That the two flaps of his small butterfly wings, intended to make Zhu Yuanzhang chop him to death quickly.

caused the great decisive battle of Song-Jin, which originally occurred in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, to be brought forward by several years.

In the original history, Hong Hong Chengchou went out of the pass and strongly advocated for stability, proposing to nibble away step by step, but the Minister of War, Chen Xinjia, and Chongzhen urged Hong Hong Chengchou to go out of the pass for a decisive battle several times, ultimately leading to a complete defeat in the Battle of Song-Jin.

When later generations looked back, Hong Hong Chengchou was not wrong, nor were Chongzhen and the Ministry of War at that time wrong.

Although the troops of the eight garrisons at that time were fierce, there was no certainty of a complete victory; at best, the win rate was fifty-fifty.

But since the Ming army had more men, Hong Hong Chengchou's best choice was to advance step by step and exhaust Huang Taiji.

And the choice made by the Ministry of War was also not wrong.

At that time, Great Ming, due to consecutive years of natural disasters.

simply could not gather enough grain and pay to exhaust Huang Taiji.

Now there is a fifty-fifty chance; if dragged out for a few years, once the grain and pay are cut off, there might not even be a twenty-eight chance left.

But this time is completely different.

At the very least, Zhu Youjian this time has prepared enough chips.

And Huang Taiji on the other side was not as well prepared as in the original history.

The scale of victory gradually began to tilt towards Great Ming.

And at this moment, the only variable in the court and the country had become Li Zicheng, who was still fighting fiercely in Shaanxi...

In the Qianqing Palace, as Zhu Youjian's decree was issued.

The court and the country completed their integration in an extremely bizarre manner.

Factional strife seemed to vanish overnight.

At this moment, there was only one major matter throughout the court and the country.

That was the decisive battle in Liaodong!

Only if they won the decisive battle in Liaodong against Huang Taiji.

Could they get their retirement funds back!

After the ministers left the Qianqing Palace and returned to their respective government offices.

All the clerks and Yamen Runners were utterly stunned.

They had all been serving in this Viceroy Yamen for most of their lives.

They had never seen their own superior officials so proactive.

Government affairs accumulated over several years were approved and issued to all prefectures and commanderies across the realm in just one morning.

On the other side, several Qian Du Yushi of the Censorate jointly submitted a memorial, urging Provincial Governors to ensure that their respective funds were actually put to use.

Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of Revenue, was acting like a madman.

His eyes bloodshot as he approved one expenditure after another.

A clerk nearby quietly walked up to Zhang Fengyi and whispered.

"My lord, how much are we taking this time?"

This had always been the management practice.

However, that clerk never expected that today's Zhang Fengyi was somewhat different from before.

Looking at the silver on the accounts, Zhang Fengyi gritted his teeth and roared in anger.

"Take nothing! Didn't I tell you? This silver is for disaster relief, for disaster relief!"

"Approve it, buy grain with it, and distribute it to the disaster victims!"

"Tell the officials in the prefectures and counties below: whoever dares to take a single coin of this silver, I, this old man, will fight them to the death!"

Only these high-ranking officials knew.

This was not the court's money!

This was their retirement fund!

Chongzhen had already spent over ten million taels.

Even if they embezzled all this silver.

They still could not cover their respective deficits.

They were clear on which side was heavier and which was lighter!

There was only one way for them to recover this silver.

That was to kill Huang Taiji!