Li Yanqing summoned the ship king Zheng Rongtai the next morning and asked him to borrow the caravan to send troops. Zheng Rongtai immediately agreed generously, lending 400 sea ships to the Song army, adding 300 sea ships from Song army, a total of 700 sea ships of more than 3,000 stone. There were more than 10,000 boatmen and sailors alone.

At the same time, Gao Shen and Xiao Zhonggong held a second armistice negotiation. Gao Shen proposed the conditions for the ceasefire of the Song Dynasty, that is, to release all the abducted people of the Song Dynasty. Xiao Zhonggong also put forward the corresponding conditions, that is, to require the Song Dynasty to liberalize trade, and the two sides reached an agreement on a rough framework and continued to discuss the details.

In the afternoon, under the auspices of Li Yanqing, Zhizhengtang initiated military and national deliberations to discuss the signing of the armistice agreement between Song and Jin. Not only five prime ministers, but also the Privy Council and six senior officials attended the deliberations.

Gao Shen first talked about the results of the two negotiations with the Jin envoy. He said to everyone: "We propose that the Jin Dynasty release all the people of the Song Dynasty. Whether they are plundered or voluntarily heading north, they all demand to be sent back to the Song Dynasty. The other party agreed to this, but they believed that the Han people in the Liao Kingdom did not belong to the Song people and should no longer be deported."

There was a lot of discussion in the meeting hall, and Fan Zhixu asked: "There is a problem here. How can we check whether the other party has fully fulfilled the contract? Many Song slaves are hidden in the tribe, and we cannot verify it at all. The effect of this repatriation is worth discussing."

Gao Shen laughed and said, "The Regent also talked about this issue. First of all, this is not a long-term alliance treaty, but a one-year armistice agreement. This armistice agreement itself is not important, so we don't have to take it too seriously whether the Jin soldiers fulfill their contract. The key is that we must use this period of time to prepare for war, and this is the key."

Li Yanqing said slowly from the side: "I would like to add that there is actually another reason why the Jin Kingdom agreed very happily. After the Jin Kingdom captured the Central Plains, in order to build Hebei into a logistics base for the Jin soldiers to go south, he had already put back the captured Song people back, so that they could concentrate on growing grain and increase the army's grain reserves. Of course, there were still Song slaves from the Jin Kingdom, but there were indeed not many. They were Han people from the Liao Kingdom. Therefore, I don't think we have to bother too much about this matter."

Li Gang asked again: "How do your highness view the conditions for liberalizing trade?"

Li Yanqing smiled slightly, "This condition can be agreed, but we need to strictly control it ourselves. Strategic materials such as pig iron, grain, nitroso, tincture oil, and armor materials are strictly controlled and will not be allowed to flow into the Jin Kingdom. On the contrary, luxury goods such as silk, porcelain, colored silk, and rouge should be encouraged to be exported to the Jin Kingdom. As long as we control it well, what's the harm in free trade?"

Everyone nodded. At this time, the new Minister of War Zhang Shuye said: "But as far as I know, there are two sources of pig iron in the Jin Kingdom, one is Liaoyang Prefecture, and the second is from Goryeo, especially Goryeo. The pig iron is directly sold to the Jin Kingdom. If these two sources do not stop, it is actually meaningless for us to implement the pig iron embargo."

Wang Kuan, deputy envoy of the Privy Council, also said: "The Liaoyang area was once the main battlefield of the Liaojin War. The mines in Liaoyang were severely damaged. Almost all blast furnaces and mine outlets were destroyed. Many miners and smelters also died in the war, resulting in a sharp decline in the production of pig iron in Liaoyang, recovering for almost ten years, and the current output is only 20% of the highest."

"Why is it so slow to recover?" Fan Zhixu asked.

"The main reason is that the Jin Dynasty can obtain a large amount of pig iron from Goryeo at a very low price, which meets their combat readiness needs. Restoring the production of pig iron in Liaoyang not only requires huge investment, but also consumes a lot of money in mining and smelting, which is very unprofitable, so the Jin Dynasty is not enthusiastic about restoring the production of pig iron in Liaoyang."

There was a lot of discussion in the lobby again, and Li Yanqing waved his hand, "Please be quiet, everyone!"

Everyone calmed down, and Li Yanqing said: "Next, I want to talk to you about the issue of Goryeo. At present, civil strife has occurred in Goryeo, and powerful ministers are in power. King Goryeo hopes that the Song Dynasty will send troops to help Goryeo restore chaos and return to justice. I think this is a good opportunity. If we control Goryeo, we will not only cut off the important military and material sources of the Jin Kingdom, but also open the eastern channel for future attacks on the Jin Kingdom."

Everyone was in an uproar. Goryeo actually asked the Song Dynasty to send troops. Fan Zhixu asked anxiously: "Your Highness, do you have any evidence to request troops?"

Li Yanqing took out a secret edict and circulated it to everyone. Fan Zhixu slapped the table and said, "With this secret edict, we are famous for our troops!"

Gao Shen also asked: "Since Your Highness has decided to send troops, when is it more appropriate to send troops?"

Li Yanqing smiled faintly, "Justice Wang has announced the answer just now. In order to cut off the source of pig iron in the Jin Kingdom, I decided to send troops in early September."

Everyone was a little stunned. It was already late August. The Regent decided to send troops in early September. The slowest time was only half a month. Is it too late?

Gao Shen hurriedly said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid there are not enough ships."

Li Yanqing smiled and said, "I have summoned the ship king Zheng Rongtai this morning. He promised to lend all the sea ships from Mingzhou Port and Quanzhou Port to the court, a total of 420 ships, plus our own 300 sea ships, a total of more than 700 ships. I think it is enough!"

Only then did everyone realize that the Regent had already made preparations for the war and was waiting for Zhizhengtang's decision.

Zhizhengtang immediately passed the proposal to send troops to Goryeo unanimously, and also passed the draft of a ceasefire agreement with the Jin Kingdom. The arrows that attacked Goryeo were already in the string and could not turn back.

.........

On the eighth day of the September 19th, Li Yanqing appointed the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition, including dozens of generals including the Ruan brothers, and led an army of 50,000 from Dengzhou to sea and fight to the not-far-distant Goryeo.

In fact, Li Yanqing has learned about the situation in Goryeo through various channels.

Goryeo originally had more than 200,000 troops, but twenty years ago, they sent 100,000 troops to assist the Liao army and fought fiercely with the newly emerging Jurchens. As a result, the 100,000 troops were almost destroyed. Goryeo was forced to seek peace from the Jurchens, and in turn sent troops to help the Jurchens attack the Liao Kingdom. Although their land continued to expand northward, they also paid the price of heavy casualties.

In particular, nearly 100,000 Goryeo troops joined the Jin soldiers invaded the Song Dynasty, but after countless tragic defeats, all 100,000 Goryeo soldiers died in the Song Dynasty and none returned, which brought heavy blows to Goryeo, leaving Goryeo and the Bohai tribe without any troops to go out.

At this time, Goryeo's army was only 60,000, which were in the hands of Li Ziqian and Taku Junjing. The wars every year made Goryeo extremely weak. This was the weakest time of Goryeo. Li Yanqing also considered sending troops to Goryeo and opening a channel to attack the Jin Dynasty from the eastern front.

At this moment, Goryeo Emperor Wang Kai asked for help from the Song Dynasty and eliminated the powerful ministers, which made Li Yanqing find an excellent excuse to send troops.

Since the Sui Dynasty's great general Hu'er attacked Goguryeo from sea to sea, the Korean Peninsula has never suffered any attack from sea to sea. For more than a hundred years, the threats from the Goryeo Dynasty have all come from the north, so the Goryeo army is mainly stationed on the Yalu River line in the north. However, more than 20,000 people were stationed in the Koryeo capital Kaijing, and only some local militias are stationed in other places.

After a few days of sailing, the Song Dynasty fleet arrived in the Kingdom of Goryeo. At dusk, more than 700 Song Dynasty ships appeared on the sea surface at the mouth of the Chengjiang River. They went up from the Chengjiang River. About fifty miles were the capital of Goryeo Kaijing, but the Song army fleet did not directly attack Kaijing, but waited patiently for the night to fall.

At this time, some fishermen on the sea were controlled by the Song army, and the Song army fleet blocked the estuary of the Chengjiang River.

As night fell, the Song army began to land on the east side of the Yangtze River estuary. Until the first update, all 50,000 troops landed and began to line up towards Kaijing.

Kaijing is today's Kaicheng. After Wang Jian founded Goryeo, he designated this place as the capital. Kaijing is more than 40 miles in circumference, with a population of more than 200,000 and a garrison of 200,000 troops.

The Song army arrived in Kaijing at the second update. Some people outside the city were so scared that every family closed their doors. They didn't know where the army came from, but they all knew that a new coup must have happened. Many people still remembered the coup last year. The fire in the city burned for three days, and the entire palace was burned to white ground. I don't know how many people died that night.
Chapter completed!