"Woo! Li Shangshu is kind to us! He helped us solve the problem of fifty thousand people!"
Officials from the Ministry of War were moved to tears.
Previously, they were still talking about Li Guozhen's kindness, and described Li Jiantai as a trash who did nothing. Now, it was a friend in need, and they discovered that Li Jiantai was really good to them.
Li Guozhen said: "What's the use of talking about this now?
We still have 250,000 people left, if we can’t make it up, our heads will be gone!”
"Bah! It's all your fault. If we didn't have to go to Baihu Division to get the money, we wouldn't have ended up like this. Li Guozhen, we will remember you!"
"That's right! You're like you, but we still want to recommend you to be our Minister of War. Go to hell!"
All the officials from the Ministry of War pointed at Li Guozhen and cursed.
"You! You are trying to burn bridges! I remember that this proposal was made by you, and I just said a few words to help you! You actually blame me!"
Li Guozhen said angrily.
Not to be outdone, the official from the Ministry of War replied: "Haha! You just said a few words to help us?
These few words of yours are going to kill us!"
"Look at Li Shangshu, he never helps others carelessly. If you don't do anything, you will be of no help. We have suffered a lot these days, all because of you!"
this……
Li Guozhen was so angry that the ministers of the Ministry of War were helped to leave the Hall of Supreme Harmony and went out of the palace to find food. Several people came to a restaurant and ordered a large table of dishes.
There were all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas, including chicken, duck, and fish. They were full of wine and rice, and only then did a few people come back to their senses.
"Oops! We must have been tricked by His Majesty!"
"Yes, a person from Baihusi who cares about money dares to be so arrogant?
We were tied there for three days, and no one really believes that this happened without His Majesty’s will!”
"I understand. Your Majesty must have done this to protect Lin Fan and not want to offend Lin Fan. At the same time, Your Majesty also wants to have means to restrict Lin Fan!"
"In this case, all this can be easily explained. His Majesty doesn't let us get money because he wants to maintain the relationship with Lin Fan!"
"Let us help him gather 300,000 soldiers, just to tell Lin Fan that His Majesty also restricts Lin Fan's military strength. In this case, we must help His Majesty!"
"His Majesty is very thoughtful. It is indeed inappropriate to break up with Lin Fan at this time. However, how are we going to raise the remaining 250,000 people!"
"Alas! If you want to raise an army of 250,000 people, you will need at least five million taels of silver. This is only enough to support one year's military expenditure!"
"The price of food is so expensive now. It is said to be too much every year. Alas! We are from the Ministry of War, and we don't have much money. Even if we scrape together, we can't raise five million taels of silver."
The officials of the Ministry of War all looked bitter.
If it were the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of War would have been well-oiled. Because the court was rich, it would invest a lot in the army. If it invested heavily, they would be able to make money.
However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, official corruption was serious and the national treasury was very poor. Naturally, they would not invest heavily in the army. As a result, they had not made any money for a year or two.
"Li Guozhen! This old guy is the prince's grand master. He is the one who makes the most money on weekdays. He has caused us such misery, so he must give us money to help us solve the problem!"
"Yes! It's Li Guozhen. If this old guy doesn't help us solve the problem, I will definitely not be able to spare him!"
"Hehe! I heard that Li Guozhen's family has a lot of money. Although he was cheated a lot by Lin Fan, it is not a problem to scrape together two to three million taels. Let's scrape together some more and it will be enough!"
The officials of the Ministry of War thought of this and prepared to take people to visit Li Guozhen's home.
These people asked Li Guozhen for money. If Li Guozhen dared not to give it, he would write a complaint to Emperor Chongzhen and make his head fall on the ground.
Lin Fan himself did not expect that just because of Sun Buer's normal operation, internal strife broke out among the officials in the capital. When he returned, the capital was almost in chaos.
Outside Fuzhou City, Lin Fan appeared with an army of hundreds of thousands.
Inside the city, Makino and Wu Siliang stood on the city gate, their eyes full of worry.
Makino is the guard of Fuzhou City. He knows the things in the city best. The food can last for three days at most. If the reinforcements from the imperial court are not available, they will never be Lin Fan's opponent.
Wu Siliang also knew very well that as a coastal city, Ninghai was close to Goguryeo and was often invaded by bandits. Therefore, there was less food in Ninghai City and the people were not very wealthy.
Once Fuzhou fell and he led his people back to Ninghai, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long, and there might even be a mutiny. Therefore, Lin Fan had to be stopped here.
When Lin Fan saw a large number of defenders above the city gate, he knew that Fuzhou City and Ning Haicheng were cooperating to defend themselves against him.
Lin Fan sent someone forward to shout.
"Soldiers in the city, listen! Open the city gate quickly to greet Emperor Wuhou, otherwise you will be killed without mercy! The one who opens the city gate will live, and the one who kills Muye and Wu Siliang will be promoted to general!"
…
The person who called out repeated these words over and over again. After hearing this, Makino and Wu Siliang had shock and fear in their eyes. This is murder and heart-wrenching!
With so many of them coming, the siege will definitely break through. When the time comes, these stubborn people who fight hard will die. However, if they surrender now and can survive, who will fight them to the end?
Moreover, if you kill the two of them, you can be promoted to general, which probably makes many people excited!
"Soldiers! Don't listen to Lin Fan's nonsense! Think about the situation in Gaiping City. The guard was killed and all the generals were killed. Do you also want to end up like this?"
Makino said coldly.
"Don't want to! We don't want to!"
All the generals, big and small, followed suit and shouted.
However, the voices of those soldiers were barely audible. They were not generals, so naturally they did not want to follow Makino and others to die.
Both Muye and Wu Siliang realized the seriousness of the matter and sent people to stand on the city gate, scolding Lin Fan for being unfaithful and unjust and not obeying His Majesty's orders.
Zhu Cijiong couldn't stand listening to these scoldings and said: "Sir, these people's words are too unpleasant. Let's just attack the city!"
Lin Fan looked at Zhu Cijiong. As the third prince of the Ming Dynasty, this boy knew clearly that Emperor Chongzhen accepted the surrender of these people and still spoke for him. It can be seen that in his heart, he was completely convinced of himself.
Lin Fan said: "Wait for a while and give the soldiers in the city a time to reflect. Then you will lead the soldiers to attack the city."
At this time, the soldiers in the city were weighing the pros and cons. After they all thought about it, Lin Fan would send troops to attack the city, and he would not encounter much resistance and could capture Fuzhou City.
By then, Ning Haicheng will be recovered naturally, and the chaos in Liaodong will be completely settled.