HLnovel Chapter 804: Prepare for War! All the North Surrenders!
Chapter 804: Prepare for War! All the North Surrenders!
After Li Che ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to determine a new reign title to show the new dynasty's style and distinguish it from the pseudo-emperor's court.
Several important ministers known for their profound knowledge discussed the matter behind closed doors for several days and carefully selected several alternative reign titles to present to the emperor.
In view of the fact that Li Che founded the country with his great military achievements, the reign titles proposed by the ministers mostly tended to be military virtues, such as "Wuding" and "Zhenwu".
Also, because the country was currently in the midst of a divided civil war, the reign title also needed to emphasize legitimacy and the meaning of restoring order, so there were also options such as "Zhengtong" and "Guanglie".
However, after reviewing it, Li Che was not satisfied and did not adopt these suggestions.
Li Che felt that his martial arts skills were evident and there was no need to prove them with a reign title.
As for Daqing's future vision, he prefers civil governance, allowing the people to live and work in peace and contentment, and the country's strength to grow steadily.
Instead of continuing to engage in militarism and expand one's own achievements.
He would rather be called Emperor Qingwen by future generations rather than Emperor Qingwu, but of course he was most likely Emperor Qing Taizong.
As long as there aren't any unfilial descendants who change their name to Emperor Qing Chengzu in order to allow their biological father to ascend to the throne...
In the end, Li Che personally decided from many options and named the reign title Tianxing.
The implication is "God helps it prosper", emphasizing that his rule is blessed by God and aims at national revival.
It has both the meaning of destiny and the vision of a strong country, and it can be said to balance military force and civil governance.
When this reign title was announced to the public, one person in the court was ecstatic.
Wang Yongnian, this reign title was exactly proposed by him.
Wang Yongnian was just a criminal. It was a great favor for him to be able to go to court wearing a shackle and make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.
Later, he was pardoned by His Majesty and was freed from all guilt and shackles.
From that moment on, Wang Yongnian became Li Che's loyal follower.
Now that the reign title he proposed was chosen again, Wang Yongnian felt as if smoke was coming out of his ancestral graves.
Although the reign title has been determined, it cannot be changed at this moment. It is now the fourth year of Xuanwu, and we have to wait until at least this year is over.
The second thing that happened was Zhang Fan’s diplomatic mission.
As the number one envoy of Feng State, Zhang Fan's professionalism is impeccable.
He was extremely efficient and in the shortest possible time, he gathered the delegation and set out from Fengtian City heading south.
Except for Zhang Fan, the rest of the delegation were elderly people who had accompanied him on diplomatic missions to the Mohe and had experienced carrying coffins on diplomatic missions.
All of them had determined eyes, and they were ready to die.
All in all, none of them are cowardly.
As the delegation headed south, they were trying to figure out how to explain the pros and cons and persuade the other party.
However, to his surprise, the gates of every prefecture he visited were wide open, and officials came out in droves to welcome him respectfully.
Even the flags on the city walls were replaced with flags with the Chinese character "Feng" on them...
The leading official naturally knew that Li Che had ascended the throne, but he still hung up the flag with the word "Feng" on it to better express his position.
The meaning is also very clear: we are not submitting to the orthodoxy of the court, but to you, Li Che yourself.
What's worse, local officials even trembled as they presented several blood-stained packages.
Zhang Fan asked why, and the other party replied, "This is the head of a lobbyist sent by the false emperor's court. How dare they confuse right and wrong and persuade us to submit to the false traitor!"
"Our loyalty to Your Majesty is evident to all, so we have executed him to demonstrate our resolve."
The members of the delegation looked at each other in bewilderment. All the speeches and impassioned speeches they had prepared were completely useless, as if they had punched cotton with all their might.
Until they entered the city and started the banquet, the delegation was wondering whether swordsmen would suddenly come in and chop them into a bloody mist.
The result was naturally nothing happened, and they surrendered sincerely.
Feng State had been operating in the north for many years, and its military might had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Officials and civilians in the north more or less suffered from "Feng Fear".
When Li Che broke with the aristocratic families, they had no capital to remain neutral.
The main force of the Fengtian Army may not be able to attack the imperial capital directly for the time being, but it would be easy to wipe out the neighboring states and counties.
Thus, the four northern counties officially came under Li Che's rule.
The territory of the four northern counties probably covered southern Hebei, northern Shandong and a small part of eastern Shaanxi Province in later generations.
It covers most of the North China Plain, and further south it is flat land.
This move was of great strategic significance. It provided a springboard for moving south and a vast granary, completely changing the strategic situation.
Just as in history, the Song Dynasty fell into strategic passivity after losing the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
From now on, it will be a tough battle.
Li Che did not rush to send troops, but began to deploy troops.
It was rumored that Yue Yun and Wang Sanchun had returned to their country, and Yang Zhongsi alone would be left to guard the northern border.
He also ordered He Conglong to return to the country and replaced him with Wang Hu to control the four islands of Japan.
On the naval side, the Third Fleet was ordered to guard the shipping routes, while the First, Second, and Fourth Fleets were all assembled to attack the rebels from the sea.
There was no need for any mobilization. War mobilization had already begun from the day Li Che returned.
The military workshops in Fengtian and other major industrial cities were ablaze day and night, with the sounds of hammering and forging ringing incessantly.
On the assembly line, new flintlock rifles, standardized firearms, and new cotton armor were produced continuously.
The Gunpowder Department's production was increased to the limit. Barrels of granulated gunpowder and shrapnel were carefully packaged and transported to various military camps by special personnel.
The casting of larger caliber heavy siege cannons is also being accelerated.
Treasurys in various places were opened wide, and strategic materials such as grain, medicinal materials, cloth, and leather were requisitioned in large quantities. They were centrally dispatched by the Ministry of Works and shipped out of Shanhaiguan in an endless stream.
Dongping Prefecture, the former kingdom of Yan, became a large granary behind the front lines.
The Fengtian Army not only transported food and supplies, they also began to build roads.
The cement road in Feng State originally only reached Shanhaiguan, but three years ago it was extended to Yan State.
Now that the four northern counties have surrendered, it is natural to expand to further south.
When fighting a war, what matters is money and food, and what matters is logistics. Li Che is well aware of this.
At the same time, a large number of staff officers worked day and night to analyze maps and intelligence, and deduce various routes of advance and tactical plans.
The main corps also began to conduct highly targeted cooperative exercises.
It is worth mentioning that Li Che did not assign specific positions to those military heroes from the imperial capital.
Instead, he set up a military honor observation group and had them accompany him.
It’s not that Li Che turned his back on them, it’s just that their foundation is too weak.
Although they were all famous generals of the founding of the country, their strategic thinking was still old-fashioned, while the Fengtian Army had become a semi-firearms army.
Letting them use the old methods to command the Fengtian Army would be irresponsible to the frontline soldiers.
It would be better to let them see more and accumulate some experience before letting them go out to lead the army on their own.
In this way, the entire Feng State was like a strong bow that was gradually drawn to its full length, with every fiber stretched to the extreme.
As soon as Li Che gives the order, this arrow of revenge that has gathered the strength of the entire country will be shot south and pierce the heart of the pseudo-empire supported by the aristocratic families!