"Well done, I am very satisfied with the plan prepared by the general staff!"
Xu Bin continued.
"As for His Majesty's decision to march in person, the staff's opinion is that it would be best for His Majesty to accompany the army along the canal to the north!"
"First, the canal is an inland river after all, and the water flow is gentle enough, which can ensure the safety of the Holy Driver to the greatest extent!"
"Secondly, His Majesty is heading north along the canal, and he just happens to inspect some places to promote the majesty of our Ming Dynasty!"
Zhu Hongyu nodded with satisfaction and said.
"Well, I can watch it too!"
Xu Bin resigned and went out, while Zhu Hongyu was busy with other things.
He began to work on arranging the specific affairs of the DPRK and China after the imperial commander's personal expedition.
For example, arrange for the queen to supervise the country, arrange for the cabinet to be responsible for handling memorials, and if there is a major issue, send a horse to the army for him to make a decision...
…
On March 20th, the first year of the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the sky was clear and the air was clear!
In the morning, the golden sun shines on the earth, dyeing the inside and outside of Nanjing golden.
The soldiers of the imperial guards put on their armors and carried their muskets. They stood at one post every ten steps and one post every five steps, covering the streets leading from the imperial city to the outside of the city.
Countless people spontaneously appeared in Nanjing City, stood on both sides of the streets, and cast their concerned eyes in the direction of the imperial city.
At this moment, a burst of neat footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance.
The iron boots trampled on the stone road, making a clanging sound!
At the corner of the street, a bright red light appeared.
tread!
Tread!
Tap tap tap!
Countless footsteps trampled the ground together, and the Ming army appeared in front of the people of Nanjing in a neat array.
The dazzling armor, the upright posture, and the flashing bayonet all reveal huge pressure!
The dragon flags are flying high in the array!
The red flag is embroidered with gold thread with a dragon with fangs and claws, and the flag is hunting in the wind, highlighting Zhu Hongyu's identity.
Everyone knew that the emperor was coming.
"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
"..."
The sound of congratulations almost echoed throughout Nanjing.
I don’t know how many passionate men feel pride stirring in their hearts.
Almost everyone knows that during the Ming Dynasty’s Northern Expedition, the emperor wanted to personally lead the expedition!
All of this shows that Ming Dynasty has no intention of partiality!
Many people have a vague sense of national pride brewing in their hearts!
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious, long live your Majesty!"
"Northern Expedition! Northern Expedition!"
"..."
The shouts and shouts continued one after another.
Zhu Hongyu arrived outside Nanjing amidst the cheers of the crowd and boarded his own royal boat.
The elites of the Ming army also began to board the ship according to different formations!
Massive amounts of military supplies were also carried by civilians onto transport ships.
Accompanied by a blast of horns, the flags flying on Zhu Hongyu's ship changed, and the ships pulled up their anchors and sails, left the pier, and headed eastward along the river.
On this day, the Yangtze River outside Nanjing was almost filled with countless large and small ships.
On this day, there was only one article in the entire Daming Daily!
That was the Ming Dynasty’s Northern Expedition proclamation!
Along with the proclamation, the news spread throughout the world that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty led his army to the Northern Expedition.
…
A large number of Ming army ships covered the entire Yangtze River!
The white sail shadow almost covered the sky, and the giant ships exuded powerful pressure.
The densely packed black muzzles on the side of the ship are even more chilling.
Zhu Hongyu stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the spectacular scene in front of him, with the same passion surging in his heart.
Northern Expedition!
In Zhu Hongyu's opinion, there is no word more touching than this word.
When the Ming army's fleet reached Zhenjiang Prefecture, they split up, and part of them went down the river, preparing to enter the sea and head towards Tianjin by sea.
The other part is turning into the Grand Canal and preparing to go north along the Grand Canal!
…
"Report!"
"Urgent report!"
"Eight hundred miles urgent!"
"..."
After the beginning of spring, the temperature in Beijing also rises rapidly. The ice and snow accumulated in winter melts, and the water volume of Tonghui River increases significantly.
Even the water level of the capital's moat has risen a lot!
Oboi was inspecting the moat of the capital, thinking about taking action on the moat and building a defense system.
At this moment, a group of cavalry came running from a distance, shouting "800 miles to hurry up."
Obai ordered his men to call the cavalry in front of him and asked.
"What exactly is going on?"
"What happened?"
The sentry knight knelt down in front of Obai and spoke.
"Shaobao, the news coming from the south is urgent. The Ming thieves have officially launched their Northern Expedition!"
"One part of the main force of the Ming thieves went north along the canal, and the other part went to the sea to attack Tianjin. The world was shocked!"
After hearing this, Obai said with a dark face.
"Send the order and let Tianjin and Baoding be ready to engage the enemy at any time!"
"War is coming!"
Obai's face became serious, and he turned around and returned to the capital, preparing to start arranging defense arrangements.
…
Zhu Hongyu led his army northward along the canal. Wherever he passed along the way, he watched the wind and sent messages to decide.
One after another, prefectures and counties rushed to submit their petitions to Zhu Hongyu, and local officials and representatives of the gentry flocked to seek an audience.
Zhu Hongyu felt that his Northern Expedition was not so much about fighting as it was about inspecting the area.
Shocked by the might of the Ming Dynasty's military, the state capitals along the way allocated large amounts of money, food and supplies to the army, and a large amount of wine, meat and delicacies were sent to the army.
There are even people who want to give Zhu Hongyu a woman!
Zhu Hongyu did not refuse. He selected a few that had deep family backgrounds, had a great influence on the local area, or had extremely outstanding looks and figures, which made him excited, and he accepted them.
Of course, no one would dare to send it to Zhu Hongyu unless he had a strong family background or outstanding appearance and figure.
However, now that they were in the army, Zhu Hongyu did not want them immediately after taking them in. Instead, he ordered them to be sent to Nanjing for resettlement.
After the imperial court sent troops to the north, many wealthy families and wealthy merchants in the north began to purchase various bonds of the Ming Dynasty in large quantities in order to show their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, after many aristocratic families purchased Ming Dynasty bonds, they burned the bond certificates in public places and burned them to the ground.
They also said that the money was donated to the imperial court, so that the imperial court could use it to launch the Northern Expedition to recover the lost territory, or to provide relief to the victims of the disaster, and they did not need to pay it back.
The meaning is very clear: spend money to buy peace!
In Zhu Hongyu's view, the behavior of this group of people seemed to be telling him, since you have taken our women and our money, you can't blame us for being a captive, right?
To be honest, they were really frightened by what happened to the Kong family in Qufu!
Those are the descendants of saints, and they will be exterminated if they say they will exterminate their clans!
Who can not be afraid!
If the landowners and gentry in the south only suspected that the Ming Dynasty did this, then the landowners and gentry in the north can be 100% sure that the Ming Dynasty was responsible for the extermination of the Confucius family.