There was still a month and a half before the Xuanjia Army set out, but Fang Yuan received good news from the capital from Jinyiwei.

Zhang Guowei, the first assistant of the cabinet, spoke up in the court, but was punished by the court staff of the prince of the prison state, and after returning to the house, he was humiliated and committed suicide by throwing himself into a well in the palace. As for Gao Jie, who committed a horrific crime, Zhu Cihong was lenient and pardoned and did not pursue it.

Fang Yuan was overjoyed when he received this news, he originally just wanted to test the imperial court this time, with his original estimate, at this critical juncture, the imperial court might severely punish the heinous Gao Jie, in order to calm the people's anger, buy people's hearts, and then fight with Fang Yuan for victory.

I never thought that this beautiful assist played by Zhu Cihong, a pig teammate, made Fang Yuan simply test the chess, and the effect achieved was simply unexpectedly brilliant, and it was easy for Fang Yuan to occupy the commanding heights of the Northern Expedition.

Fang Yuan immediately ordered the cabinet to issue an edict to the whole world, acting on behalf of Zhang Guowei, the first assistant of the cabinet who spoke up and dared to admonish, and then denounced the perverse actions of Zhu Cihong, the prince of the prison state. And sent Jinyi Wei to the people of the provinces to spread the rumors that there was a tyrant in the court, protecting the heinous Gao Jie, and forcing him to die when the dynasty was big, and the death of the Ming Dynasty was just around the corner.

For a time, whether it was the capital, or Shanxi, Shandong, and Shaanxi provinces, people were panicked.

Zhu Cunji, the king of Qin, who had reached an alliance with Fang Yuan earlier, and Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, also responded to Fang Yuan's instigation, took advantage of the situation to hang out the banner of the Qing monarch's side, counted the crimes of Zhu Cihong, the prince of the prison state, and began to mobilize troops to respond to Fang Yuan's Northern Expedition.

Fang Yuan saw that the two Ming Dynasty first put out the banner of the Qing monarch's side, and foreign aid was available; Zhu Cihong self-destructed the Great Wall, and the name of the teacher was also known; The 1,000 white phosphorus bombs made by the Changshu Arsenal overnight were also in place, and the certainty of defeating Sun Chuanting was also available.

At this point, everything is ready, and the time for the Northern Expedition is fully ripe.

After the autumn harvest in August of the 23rd year of Chongzhen, Fang Yuan officially ordered the 150,000 Xuanjia soldiers in Fengyang to divide into four routes to crusade against Sun Chuanting in Shandong.

One way is Shi Lang's sailor, starting from the Zhoushan Naval Base, attacking the Daming Naval Division base guarded by Zheng Sen - Weihaiwei, and responding to the Northern Expedition from the sea; Then a naval division was sent to the north from the Grand Canal to capture Jining Prefecture, an important town in Yanzhou Prefecture.

One route, Zhang Ying led 40,000 soldiers of the Xuanjia Army Infantry Battalion, joined forces with the Lu army in Huai'an Mansion, went north from Huai'an Mansion to Qingzhou Mansion, captured Qingzhou Mansion, and formed an encirclement of Jinan Mansion, where the Shandong Governor's Mansion was located, from the right flank;

One route, Chigutai and Zhao Quanzhong, led 40,000 Xuanjia iron cavalry and 500 drone team sergeants from Xuzhou to Yanzhou Mansion in the north, and then attacked Dongchang Mansion further north in a big detour, captured Dongchang Mansion, and formed an encirclement of Jinan Mansion from the left flank.

There is also a way, that is, the elite of the 70,000 Xuanjia Army infantry battalion led by Fang Yuan and Jing Jie, and the 5,000 special combat army directly attacked Yanzhou Mansion, the barrier in the southeast of Shandong, from Fengyang.

Fang Yuan's strategy was to capture Yanzhou Mansion, Qingzhou Mansion, and Yanzhou Mansion with a three-way army respectively, forming a pincer offensive against Jinan Mansion, and then using the sea route as a strategy to wait for an opportunity to capture Dengzhou and Laizhou Prefectures near the sea.

There is also a division that responds all the way, which is the King of Qin in Shaanxi, who sent 40,000 troops to Tongguan to monitor the movements of Zhou Yuji's department in Shanxi. If Zhou Yuji's Jin army did not move, of course the King of Qin would not dare to go out of the customs to gnaw this hard bone. If Zhou Yuji's Jin army went to support Sun Chuanting in Shandong, the king of Qin would send troops from Tongguan to attack Taiyuan, the military and political center of Shanxi.

At the time of the Northern Expedition, the local defense in the rear still could not be taken lightly.

Fang Yuan's home defense had a total of three fronts.

The defense of the Western Front is also the most important defensive front, involving the territory of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Fengyang, and the main enemy is, of course, Li Zicheng of Huguang and Henan.

According to his previous thoughts, Fang Yuan relied on the 50,000 people of Li Yan's department in Wuchang Mansion, and the 40,000 people of Gan Hui's department who moved north to Fengyang to garrison. In the name of Zhu Cihuan, Fang Yuan entrusted the two of them with the sword of Shang Fang, and had the right to make decisions on the spot, cut first and then play.

The defense of the southern front involved the two provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, and the main enemies to guard against were King Gui and King Jingjiang in Guangxi, as well as King Mu's Mansion in Yunnan.

After Fang Yuan ruled the world, the policy of retaining only two vassal kings was well known to passers-by. King Gui, King Jingjiang, and even King Mu of Yunnan are all targets to be deposed in the future. Whether these three parties will take the opportunity to make trouble, Fang Yuan is very difficult to predict.

Originally, there was a fierce general Zhang Ying who stayed in Guangdong, and Fang Yuan put a hundred hearts. Now that Zhang Ying has been transferred to the battlefield of the Northern Expedition, the fourth Qin Zhan, and the Guangdong general soldier Najib can cope with it, so there is no big certainty.

After consulting with Jing Jie, he decided to transfer Feng Ting, the general soldier of Fujian, to lead his troops south to Guangdong to strengthen Guangdong's defense. With Feng Ting and Najib garrisoned, it is estimated that King Gui, King Jingjiang, and even the people in King Mu's Mansion will not be able to make any big waves.

As for Fujian Province, because there were no neighboring hostile forces, Fang Yuan only arranged for Chen Yonghua, a fellow governor of Taiwan, to serve as the wartime governor of Fujian to stabilize the situation in Fujian during the Northern Expedition.

The defense of the middle line involves the two provinces of Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and there is no clear enemy, and what needs to be guarded against is the undercurrent of the hidden front.

Fang Yuan left Hu Qi's 3,000 brocade guards in Nanzhili, as well as the 20,000 soldiers and horses of Zheng Zhibao, the general soldier of Nanzhili, who had just passed the loyalty test.

During the Northern Expedition, all the government affairs in Jiangnan were handed over to Princess Kunxing and Zhu Cihuan. Zhu Cihuan was responsible for the military and political stability under the jurisdiction of Nanjing, while the stability of the Yangtze River Delta Special Economic Zone, as well as Zhenjiang and Changzhou, was all undertaken by the regent palace led by the princess.

Fang Yuan even arranged a strong assistant for the two, that is, Xi Benzhen, the governor of the special economic zone. With the rumors and eyeliner of these businessmen, as long as there is an undercurrent surging in the background, they will inevitably be the first to get the news.

As for Zhejiang, it had just experienced the rebellion in Malin, and Fang Yuan did not take it lightly. was reappointed as a commander of the Xuanjia Army Infantry Battalion, and Wei Yi should be appointed as the chief soldier of Zhejiang, and then reassigned Lu Ziyue, who wanted to be promoted before, as the governor of Zhejiang. The previous governor of Zhejiang, Zhang Bingzhen, was transferred to the governor of Guangdong.

The defense of the rear provinces was already well arranged.

Before setting out, Fang Yuan held a simple pledge meeting. Because Fang originally built tanks and white phosphorus bombs, the silver was spent like flowing water. Now that the silver is tight, and the silver must be saved to reward the army, this time the oath meeting, in line with the principle of frugality, has no extravagance and waste.

At the oath meeting, Fang Yuan brought out 500,000 taels of silver to be used as silver for the army, and according to the hierarchy system, each sergeant could receive an average of three taels of silver.

He even promised the whole army that this Northern Expedition was a decisive battle in one battle, and the soldiers who went out on the expedition would inevitably suffer casualties. If he can return triumphantly, each sergeant who goes out will be rewarded with five taels of silver and five acres of fertile land. If they die on the battlefield, each person shall pay a pension of 10 taels and 10 acres of fertile land, which shall be inherited by parents and children. Moreover, the sons and daughters of the war dead can also enter Jiangnan University for free as the widows of martyrs, and will be given priority in the future assignment of jobs.

In other words, if you can survive the victory of the Great War, no matter how big or small the meritorious service is, you will be rewarded richly; Even if he died on the battlefield, the pension of ten acres of fertile land and the treatment of the widows of martyrs can also ensure that the family has no worries about food and clothing.

This time it can be regarded as completely dispelling the worries of the soldiers of the whole army, and their goal is only one, to win the battlefield, and then glorify their ancestors!

The officers and men of the three armies were full of morale and fighting spirit to go to the battlefield of the Northern Expedition.