Seeing Zhu Youxiao's delay in responding, Wang Zaijin reminded him again:
"Your Majesty, this matter cannot be delayed and a decision should be made quickly."
Zhu Youxiao also raised his head and ended his thinking.
He said to the three cabinet ministers:
"Don't you think this matter is a little strange and a coincidence?"
"Not long ago I ordered Li Zhicai and Zhang Shize to collect taxes in the south, and a rebellion broke out in Fujian immediately."
"Moreover, the outbreak occurred in more than a dozen prefectures and counties at the same time, as if it had been planned."
"And the pirate Deng Maoqi also appeared in Funing Prefecture at the same time."
At first I thought it was nothing, but just like before, some reckless people rebelled and caused chaos.
But after the emperor's deliberation, it seemed that things were really not that simple.
"Does Your Majesty think that the civil unrest in Fujian is the result of some people secretly planning to go against the imperial court?"
Xu Guangqi asked tentatively.
At this time, Zhu Youxiao was just guessing and had no actual evidence, so he did not directly answer Xu Guangqi's questions.
"This matter must be investigated carefully to know the real reason behind it. At the moment, the top priority is to quell the civil unrest."
"What Grand Sima just said, I think it is true. The south is our food production area for the Ming Dynasty. It is an important logistical support. There must be no problems."
"It's just that I don't think it's appropriate to mobilize the troops from the three provincial guards to fight in Fujian."
"I still have some understanding of the combat effectiveness of the current guard army. Today's guard army households have been reduced to farmers who only know how to farm. How can they go to the battlefield to fight?"
"The garrison troops in the north and southwest are not ready for use, let alone the garrison troops in the south?"
Wang has been the Minister of War in Jin for so long, how could he not know this?
Otherwise, he would not have written directly in his memorial that all the guardsmen from the three provinces had entered Fujian, and he would have had no choice.
Although the South was not at the point where it had no available troops, there was indeed no army that could really reassure the court.
Although the guardhouse is rotten and has low combat effectiveness, it is still better than nothing, right?
As for the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the Nanjing military camp, Wang Zaijin did not dare to mobilize them at all. This was the emperor's army, and he did not dare to cross the line and intervene.
Seeing that the emperor was not at ease with the guards, Wang Zaijin followed the trend and asked immediately:
"What is your Majesty's intention?"
After Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment, he decided to send the Yulin Army out to fight in Fujian.
There are a total of 60,000 to 70,000 troops in Nanjing and Yangzhou. If we mobilize 10,000 to 20,000 troops, and with the support of the local guards, I believe we will be successful immediately.
He immediately asked Xu Guangqi to draw up an order, with Li Zhilong, the chief military officer of the Yangzhou military garrison, as the main general, and to mobilize 10,000 soldiers and horses from the Yangzhou military camp.
As well as the Nanjing garrison with 5,000 soldiers and horses, the civilians in Fujian rebelled.
Then hang the seal of the Pingtei General to control all the officers and soldiers of the guard station in Fujian, so as to emphasize the power of affairs.
He also appointed Zhang Shize, who held multiple positions, as deputy general and supervisor of the army, and accompanied Li Zhilong to fight in Fujian.
Cui Chengxiu, the Minister of War in Nanjing, was the chief logistics officer, ensuring the supply of food, medicine, weapons and other materials for the combat troops.
The imperial edict was drafted quickly, and Wang Zaijin was very efficient in his work. He quickly sent the emperor's imperial edict and the troop deployment order from the Ministry of War to Yangzhou and Nanjing.
Now that we know that the outbreak of civil unrest in Fujian is not easy, we naturally have to send factory guards to investigate.
It's a pity that there are only a few capable and trustworthy spy leaders around him, and the manpower seems to be a bit stretched.
Wei Zhongxian and Xu Xianchun, as the bosses, cannot leave his side for too long.
There are also many things for Yang Huan to do in the north. The capital has not been cleaned up yet. People like Zhu Chunchen still need to be on guard. They cannot be transferred to the south either.
After thinking about it, only one person can use it.
He had no choice but to issue another edict to recall Sun Yunhe from Liaoyang.
He should also start to be on guard against those Jiangnan officials in Beijing.
If they can gather strength to resist in the south, they may not be able to in the north.
It's just that he really couldn't imagine how these officials in Beijing would attack if they wanted to.
………
………
"Okay, the matter in Fujian has been successfully completed. Now we have to wait for the news from outside the customs. As long as Yang Hong can drive those Mongols, the matter will be half done."
Civil unrest broke out in Fujian, and officials of all sizes in the imperial court were in a state of nervousness, but only Chen Liangxun and others were extremely excited.
"Don't be too optimistic. The emperor has a lot of troops in his hands. A few days ago, I secretly checked the number of Yulin troops registered in the Ministry of War."
"There are still 130,000 elite troops in the military camp. Our military strength is far behind."
Zeng Jing, the military officer, said worriedly.
Upon hearing the news, the officials present looked sad.
Yes, no matter how good the plan is, what can we do? There is an absolute gap in strength now.
The combat effectiveness of the Yulin Army has been witnessed by all in several wars. It is definitely not inferior to the combat effectiveness of the frontier army. This is a big problem.
"We have come this far, so what are you afraid of? The bridge is naturally straight from the bow of the ship, and the emperor is not always surrounded by a large army."
"Although the emperor is shrewd, he is too suspicious. During the last northern expedition, he separated military power from political power."
"My own expedition of thousands of miles is full of dangers, so I dare not bring too many troops."
"This shows that he also lacks trust in the six cabinet ministers he appointed."
"We can use this to our advantage."
"I bet that if he really goes out to Beijing to fight in person, the number of people will be between 30,000 and 50,000, not less or more."
After he finished speaking, he showed a confident smile. After listening to his analysis, all the officials suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of trust.
Although Chen Liangxun did not have a high official position, he did not have much fame.
But now he seems to have become the backbone of this rebel group. After all, he is the only one with the boldest courage and the most ideas.
But their careful plan had an intelligence error.
The four major battalions of the Yulin Army currently present do not have what they call hundreds of thousands of elites.
Due to the frequent deployment of troops into the Royal Forest Army and the reasons for being sent abroad, the current number of troops in the four major battalions is only 70,000 to 80,000.
Including the auxiliary barracks, the number was only 120,000. Zeng Jing obviously did not know the military structure of the Yulin Army, and mistakenly thought that all the registered soldiers were regular soldiers of the four major battalions.
"What should King Guang do? Ever since I saw him that day, he has been avoiding me and doesn't want to see me at all."
Sun Liang no longer had the confidence he had a few days ago. Now that the date is approaching, the day after tomorrow will be the day when King Guang will leave Beijing and join the feudal clan.
But the major event that he vowed to take care of was nowhere to be seen. How could he not be anxious?