September 25th, Ideological and Political Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul.
Jingfu Palace was built in the 28th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. The palace was named after the word "Jingfu" in "A gentleman has been in Jingfu for ten thousand years" in the Book of Songs.
At this moment, the 16th generation king of the Joseon Dynasty, Li Jie, was wearing a five-clawed crimson dragon robe. He held his chin and stared at two groups of ministers. Because he was haggard and skinny physically and mentally, Li Jie on the throne looked more like a king than a human king. A monkey.
According to the regulations of Daqi, the title of the king of Joseon is a vassal king at the level of a county king. According to the etiquette system, his title is lower than that of a prince, and his clothing is also different from that of a royal prince at the same level.
The king of the vassal state wore a five-clawed yellow dragon robe and stood in the same court as the Emperor of Qi. This was indeed arrogance. However, considering that the North Korean army crossed the Yalu River to attack Daqi, massacred all the way to Shenyang, and fought around Qi for half a year, this transgression is nothing at present.
What's more important is that Li Zhu is as panicked as a lost dog, and he doesn't care whether he has overstepped his bounds or not.
At this time, two of the eight Korean roads had been occupied by the Qi army. In mid-September, Emperor Wuding led his army to march out and press the border to intimidate North Korea. Before the war, the Qi army sent a message to Hwanghae Province and Gyeonggi Province, listing North Korea. After the king broke the promise and abandoned the alliance, and committed various misdeeds, the Qi Emperor threatened to pacify North Korea. Following the story of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he established prefectures and counties in the Eighth Routes of North Korea and fully incorporated them into the territory of Qi.
After receiving the memorandum, the North Korean monarchs and ministers were all extremely frightened, because in the memorandum the Supreme Emperor of Daqi stated that he would not only occupy Wangjing (Seoul), but also punish the culprits Li Ju and Li Shunyi, and avenge the massacre of the Kuandian people of Daqi.
Li Zhu knew that he was no match for the Qi army. A single division of the Qi army defeated North Korea until it was unable to fight back. What's more, the enemy's entire army was now dispatched, which was overwhelming.
In the face of a formidable enemy, North Korea's civilian and military generals immediately divided into two groups, quarreling over war and issues. The East and South parties represented by civilian officials advocated peace talks, while the Western and North parties represented by military generals expressed their desire for a decisive battle.
North Korea has a long history of party strife.
On the eve of the Imjin Japanese Rebellion, when two groups of North Korean ministers were arguing over whether Japan would invade, the original Eastern Party split into two again, forming the Southern Party and the Northern Party. The two parties have become four parties: southeast, northwest, and southeast, and the leaders of each party can finally join a table to play mahjong.
In May of the 25th year of King Seonjo's reign (1592), at the critical moment when the Japanese army was approaching Seoul, the four parties in the southeast and northwest were still arguing about who should be the commander-in-chief of the Korean army. In the subsequent battlefields, even if most of the Korean territory was lost, party disputes still did not exist at all. If there is a delay, when there is a victory in battle, everyone will rush to claim it in their name first, and when they lose, they will blame each other. They scheming for their own selfish interests but neglecting to govern the country. (Note 2)
Zhang Wan, the left counselor of the Border Bureau (Note 1), advised the king that he should send an envoy to Qi to beg for peace and implore Emperor Wuding to stop his troops and turn the war into friendship. To this end, North Korea could imitate the system of the former Ming Dynasty and pay tribute to Qi. Never betray.
The main war faction represented by Li Shunyi, the Right Counselor and General of the Royal Camp, said that Liu Zhao was actually the greatest tyrant in history with the heart of a tiger and a wolf. He could not negotiate for peace, nor could he negotiate for peace in this life. They believed that they should actively prepare for war and send envoys at the same time. Kyushu borrowed troops from the shogunate. Japan and the Kaiyuan soldiers had a bloody feud. The general who conquered the barbarians, Tokugawa Hidetada, would definitely stand up for justice and help Korea resist the violent Qi.
Zhang Wan accused Li Shunyi of being greedy for success, opening provocations lightly, and having no sense of shame. He actually wanted to associate with the Japanese and borrowing troops was actually luring the wolf into the house. Li Shunyi retorted, criticizing Zhang Wan and others for being weak and easy to bully and ruining the country with empty talk. In order to protect their salary and official position, they did not hesitate to do anything. Traitor.
The two sides were spitting and almost starting to fight in the Ideological and Political Hall. I have to praise the North Korean ministers of civil and military affairs. A quarrel is a quarrel. It is rare for officials in the Ming Dynasty to get into trouble in the main hall and maintain the basic etiquette of civil servants and military generals. . (Note 2)
Li Jian couldn't afford to offend both forces. In desperation, he had no choice but to send two waves of envoys to Shenyang and Jiuzhou at the same time. On the one hand, he sued for peace from Qi and on the other hand, he begged for troops from the shogunate. He held peace talks and prepared for war.
As a result, the two waves of envoys sent out never returned and there was no news from them.
Just yesterday, the news that the envoy was beheaded by the Qi army as a sacrifice to the flag spread back to Seoul. The Korean monarchs and ministers were shocked. It should be noted that such things as the murder of envoys rarely happened in the pre-Ming Dynasty.
Counselor Zhang Wan on the left, holding a wat tablet, stood up first and loudly said to King Li Zhu on the throne:
"Your Majesty, a small country serving a big country should do its best to show its respect. Perhaps this is Emperor Wu Ding's test of our country, Korea,"
As soon as Zhang Wan finished speaking, he immediately received the approval of a group of civil servants behind him.
In order to make his statement more convincing, Counselor Zuo continued to add: "In the early days of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty had a misunderstanding. Taizu also beheaded our envoy. Later, we insisted on sending another envoy. This made The Ming Emperor understands our thoughts."
Li Shunyi walked out of the ranks of generals and laughed loudly: "Pedantic! Liu Zhaosun is here to destroy the Korean state this time. Even if you send ten waves of envoys to Shenyang, the result will be the same. The meat buns beat the dogs and they will never come back!"
Li Zhu hesitated again. He hesitated and looked at Li Shunyi, the general named by Emperor Wu Ding to be killed.
"Is there any information from Tsushima?"
Li Shunyi quickly replied: "Back to the king, the Japanese said that they can assist our country, but they need to return Tsushima Island to them first before Tokugawa will consider sending troops."
Li Zhu's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he immediately asked: "Then do you agree?"
Li Shunyi didn't even look at the civilian official opposite, and replied to the king: "Yes, the shogunate said that troops can be sent next month, and 10,000 iron artillerymen will be sent to Gyeonggi Province first..."
"Asshole!"
"Shameless!"
"Traitor!" Before Li Shunyi could finish speaking, all the civil servants were furious. They raised their wat boards one after another as if they were holding sharp swords and smashed them at Li Shunyi's warrior.
"How dare you agree to cede territory to Japan! You also ceded the most important island of Tsushima! You traitor!"
"Tsushima Island was taken with great pains. You can't just give it away. If you want to give it away, you can't give it away in our hands!"
"You rebellious traitor, have you already received money from the Japanese?"
A young general came out from behind Li Shunyi and shouted, interrupting the buzzing of the civil servants.
"Back then, you ceded the two northern roads to Qi, but now you don't say a word about it. Tsushima Island is just a small area, how can it compare with you! Traitors, you are the traitors!"
A person immediately stood up from the queue of civil servants and said tit for tat:
"The two impoverished lands in the north are temporarily handed over to the Qi State. It is a good idea. What we have lost is just two lands. What you have sold is the soul of North Korea!"
········
In order to coordinate the two sides and to show the sincerity of North Korea in suing for peace to the Emperor of Qi, the King of North Korea sent a second wave of envoys to the Yalu River and entered the Qi army camp.
~~~~~
After ten days of rapid march, Emperor Wu Ding and the Central Route Army arrived in Kuandian on September 25. The army camped at Laohu Mountain on the west bank of the Yalu River to rest and prepare to cross the river on the 27th. The chief officers of each regiment that entered North Korea early left their stations and went north to meet the Supreme Emperor.
On September 26, on the bank of the Yalu River, the main tent of the Qi Army's Middle Route Army at Laohu Mountain in Kuandian.
"Heavenly peach high bun, wooden fish headband, purple dress with grass and green clothes, should buy a new house in the wall, who will return from a night tour tonight."
Liu Zhaosun held a book of poems by Korean literati and read aloud to Jin Yuji.
"What obscene words and nonsense, where did your Majesty find them?"
When Kim Yu-hee heard it, she knew that this poem was a poem titled "Medical Woman" in the "Qingzhuangguanquanshu" written by Li Demo, a literati from Gyeonggi Province, North Korea. The words are extravagant and ambiguous, depicting the daily life of North Korean medical women.
"Picked off a dead person."
There were several blood-stained waist cards scattered on the table. Jin Yuji frowned, pulled out a dagger and took a look at one of them, only to see "Park Zhengyi, the Observer of Hwanghaedong" engraved on it.
"For a high-ranking official of the second rank, it is really cruel to ask your husband to kill him like a chicken."
Liu Zhaosun put down the blood-stained poetry collection, stared at Jin Yuji and said, "Do you know him?"
Jin Yuji said angrily: "Of course I recognize it. Pu Zhengyi has been causing trouble for the Yellow Sea Road for many years. He has smuggled trade with the Jurchens, colluded with counselors, preyed on the common people, and is fond of medical women and child molestation. Somehow he was sent here by Li Zhu."
Emperor Wu Ding laughed loudly: "There is no one available for Li Zhu. It seems that I can no longer kill the North Korean envoys. All the cats and dogs have been sent."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door of the big tent.
"Jin Yuji, let's go and accompany me to see Zhao Shujiao. He came to the Yalu River to plead guilty."
The second wave of peace envoys sent by King Li Zhu of North Korea to Da Qi were captured by Qi Jin and sent to the Qi army camp by the river overnight.
Also coming together was Zhao Lejiao, the commander of the Eighth Corps who underestimated the enemy and was defeated.
As soon as the emperor and empress walked out of the tent, Pei Dahu immediately led a group of guards to guard the surroundings.
After Lin Yu and Wu Xiao rushed to Gyeonggi to rob the tomb, Pei Dahu personally took charge of the security work of Emperor Wu Ding. Liu Zhaosun was quite satisfied with this old subordinate, although most of the time the Emperor did not need any guards at all (assassins were killed by Liu Zhaosun himself every now and then).
Beside the tent were several recently deceased North Korean envoys. Their heads were chopped off by Pei Dahu and hung high on the Chinese army's banner.
The Longhu flag fluttered fiercely against the cold and humid morning wind of the Yalu River. From time to time, drops of blood dripped down, and it seemed like it was raining blood all around.
Emperor Wu Ding strode towards the dragon's banner, stretched out his big hand to cover the blood falling from the sky for Jin Yuji, and shouted loudly to Zhao Shujiao who was kneeling outside the tent:
"There is no need for the commander to kneel down when the soldiers are here. Have you forgotten the old rules of Kaiyuan? Get up!"
Around the tent, groups of auxiliary soldiers were carrying artillery baggage and pulling war horses, either by boat or across a bridge, quickly crossing the Yalu River and entering Uiju, North Korea.
Zhao Shujiao, who was naked and tied with thorn sticks, slowly stood up. His body was stooped and he did not dare to look into the eyes of Emperor Wu Ding.
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand, and the guards dispersed. Only the Empress Dowager Cisheng and a few confidants were left around, including Pei Dahu, the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards, Senti, the chief instructor, Zhang Dong, the chief officer of the coir raincoat guards, and Dongfang Zhuhe, the chief priest of the palace. Francisco.
Everyone looked at Zhao Lejiao in fear, silently waiting for the punishment from the Supreme Emperor.
Jin Yuji looked at Zhao Lingjiao with sympathy. The Empress Dowager Cisheng knew her husband's temper very well. One of the reasons for her personal expedition to North Korea was to deal with this man personally, so no one could persuade her at this time.
With a clattering sound, the Supreme Emperor reached out and pulled off the sword from Pei Dahu's body. He walked straight towards Zhao Lejiao with the sword in hand.
"Your Majesty, for the sake of..."
Jin Yuji finally couldn't help but plead to the Supreme Emperor.
Liu Zhaosun raised his knife and lowered it, cutting it in two. Under the shocked eyes of everyone, the rope behind Zhao Shujiao slowly fell off.
Liu Zhaosun took off his cloak and stepped forward to put it on Zhao Lijiao.
"How dare the sinner..."
Emperor Wu Ding gently and forcefully held down the emotional Zhao Shujiao and said without doubt:
"I'm sorry for Yuan Chonghuan and the Eighth Army. I let many people die in Japan. I can't let you down again! Victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers. Korea is not easy to fight. It's my fault that I underestimated the enemy. It's not your fault. I lost this time. I won't let you down next time. Just win it back!"
Zhao Shujiao clasped his hands in his fists and burst into tears.
"I only wish to capture North Korea as soon as possible and return to Japan to avenge Magistrate Yuan!"
Emperor Wu Ding nodded, helped Zhao Lejiao up, turned around and looked across, and said to himself:
"To this day, I have always been trying to cross the river by feeling the stones, and I have to try all means. Just like these soldiers crossing the river, they can take a boat, build a bridge, or swim across by themselves."
The Yalu River is bone-chillingly cold in September, and no one should be able to swim across it.
So this is just a metaphor.
Jin Yuji thought thoughtfully and said, "Have you found the best way to cross the river now? Will you continue to kill people at home and conquer the outside world without restraint?"
Liu Zhaosun ignored these words. He had touched all the stones in the river. He had tried all political systems from the benevolent emperor to the eternal tyrant, except for the equal separation of powers of the Western pearl of freedom.
In the end, practice proved that only totalitarianism is the most suitable for this plane.
"Let the past go. We need to look forward. I want to build a big empire for Liu Kan. He has the final say on how to manage it in the future."
At this point, I just need to say the famous sentence "I believe in the wisdom of future generations."
But what wisdom will future generations have?
Emperor Wu Ding was so militaristic that he wished he could drain the people dry and kept sending troops to all directions. God knows what the state of Qi would become after his death.
In the end, the time traveler couldn't hold back and said those words.
“One generation manages its own affairs, and we must believe in the wisdom of future generations.”
I don’t know if Zhao Shujiao understood the conversation between the emperor and the empress. He clasped his hands and said to Emperor Wu Ding:
"I don't understand this. I am a military general, and military generals are only responsible for fighting. No matter where Da Qi goes in the future, I will follow your majesty, and will do whatever it takes!"
"Well, you're much better than those keyboard warriors."
Liu Zhaosun patted Zhao Shujiao on the shoulder and encouraged him a few words.
"Cross the river!"
Pei Dahu brought the war horse, and the Supreme Emperor got on the horse and waved the whip. The brown war horse neighed, raised its four hooves, and struggled forward. The horse's hoof stepped on the pontoon, and rushed forward, leaving Jin Yuji and others far behind. In the back.
Note:
[1] Beibiansi: The official office of Lee's North Korean general in charge of central and local military affairs. It is the first-grade yamen, also known as "Beibiansi" and "Preparatory Department". It was established in the fifth year of Jeongdeok. In the early days, it was an agency responsible for national defense that handled border affairs in case of border defense. Later, its authority was greatly increased, and it took over military and state affairs, becoming the de facto center of state operations in the late Joseon Dynasty.
【2】"Research on North Korea's "Two Classes"" Park Jinkang Yanbian University 2015
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