Shen Weijing, who had reached a two-month truce agreement on his previous mission, had returned to North Korea at this time. Originally, his mission would have ended after that armistice, but Shen Weijing had a strong ambition for fame and realized that since the war was still going on, Most likely there will be an armistice agreement in the end, so there is still room for one's sharp tongue to be used.
So he chased Zhou Yong to talk good and bad, and got another job to continue his mission to North Korea and negotiate with the Japanese army depending on the situation. And this time was different from before. Because of the credit for successfully negotiating a two-month truce last time, he also obtained the emperor's will this time. He brought the king's order flag when traveling, and his whole body started to tremble.
As soon as Li Rusong withdrew his troops back to Pyongyang, without knowing the specific situation of the Japanese army, it became very dangerous for Song Yingchang to stay in Kaicheng. Therefore, Shen Weijing immediately felt that he was alive again and was ready to make a great contribution again.
So Shen Weijing proposed to the North Korean King Li Huan that when the time was right, he could negotiate peace with the Japanese army again. But as soon as this proposal was uttered, Yi Dooshou said angrily: "General Shen, what do you mean, do you want to have a truce like last time? We in North Korea will never agree!"
Shen Weijing looked surprised and asked: "What was wrong with the last truce? In the end, it bought time for the arrival of the Ming army, so they were able to regain Pyongyang and march to Kaesong."
Zheng Che stopped Yi Dooshou and asked Shen Weijing what his plan was this time. Shen Weijing replied: "I will order the Japanese pirates to withdraw from Wangjing to their own country. If they agree, they can be given a way to survive - but this is natural This is a lie to deceive the Japanese pirates. As soon as the Japanese pirates leave Hanyang, the coalition forces will immediately annihilate them and recover the entire territory of Korea."
Li He liked this prospect, but Yi Dooshou raised a question, saying: "The Japanese pirates were deceived not long ago, do they still believe what you say now? I think it is better to give up the power of words and attack directly."
However, Shen Weijing insisted that even if he wanted to attack, there must be talks before the attack. What if the talks were successful? So Zheng Che asked to allow North Korean ministers to participate together, otherwise it would be regarded as betraying North Korea.
Shen Weijing said angrily: "North Korea's ministers always doubt me and our army. If this is the case, why do we ask the Ming Dynasty for rescue? Since the Ming Dynasty intervenes, then this war is not just a Korean war! As for the negotiations, the envoys of the superior country will be present. Of course, why do vassal countries always intervene?"
Ido Shouya said angrily: "North Korea is the subject of the war! Intervention is what Ming Dynasty did!"
This was a bit politically incorrect, or he was not clear-headed. Li Huo quickly stopped the quarrel and interrupted: "Last time, General Shen broke into the enemy camp alone to make his plan successful and was rescued by the Ming army. Therefore, I am willing to believe that Shen General.
However, General Shen please keep one thing in mind: Japanese pirates destroyed the tombs of our late kings and massacred mountains and rivers. North Korea will never negotiate peace with the Japanese pirates. We can only agree to the Japanese pirates' surrender - at least to the Ming Dynasty. In addition, General Shen was also asked to confirm the safety of the captured princes Linhaijun and Shunhejun and bring them back. "
Shen Weijing first thanked Li Huo for his trust, and then said that he had remembered all the above. Soon, Shen Weijing said goodbye and left to prepare for the mission and at the same time think about when he could go to negotiate.
At this time, Liu Chenglong suddenly came to see him and asked him: "General Shen, I heard that you are planning to choose an opportunity to order the Japanese pirates to withdraw their troops and bring back the prince, but I don't know when the general will leave?"
Shen Weijing replied: "The date is still difficult to determine. We need to consult with Song Jinglue and judge when the opportunity is based on the situation of all parties."
This was quite reliable, and Liu Chenglong couldn't fault it, so he had to warn him: "The general will still negotiate for peace, right? I hope the general can keep his promise and only talk about ordering him to withdraw from the army or ask for surrender, and to bring back the prince." , if it is a peace negotiation, I will definitely pursue it to the end."
Shen Weijing smiled and said: "I understand, but why did you not kowtow and salute when you saw the king's flag?"
However, Liu Chenglong refused. Instead, he said: "If it is used to kill enemy invaders, I must salute you. Please forgive me for not agreeing at this time."
Shen Weijing suddenly darkened his face and snorted softly: "Liu Chenglong, are you eager to die? Refusing to salute when you see the king's order flag is a grave sin and cannot be redeemed by death." However, Liu Chenglong insisted, Turn around and leave.
As a result, early the next morning, Wu Weizhong arrested Liu Chenglong on Song Yingchang's order and questioned him about the crime of disrespecting the king's flag. Liu Chenglong was captured and brought before Song Yingchang. Song Yingchang said coldly: "The king's order flag is like the emperor personally giving orders. Even the barbarians will kneel down and salute when they see it, but you resist and disobey. What is the intention of this move? Is it to commit rebellion?" "
Liu Chenglong replied: "Jingtai Rongzhen, I..."
"In front of the king's flag, you should call yourself a minister or a foreign minister." Song Yingchang interrupted coldly.
Liu Chenglong was silent for a moment and said: "Yes, how can a foreign minister not know the sign of respect, but how can a foreign minister kneel down to the king's order that contains the prohibition of fighting the enemy?"
Song Yingchang narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "It is indeed extraordinary, but etiquette is more important than human kindness... I will give you another chance. Please kneel down and bow down. I will be more lenient this time."
However, Liu Chenglong remained silent, and Song Yingchang didn't say anything more, so he ordered Wu Weizhong to engage Liu Chenglong in military law and give him a hundred punishments.
Wu Weizhong was stunned, thinking that Song Yingchang did not understand the difference between the imperial staff and the army, and quickly persuaded him that there was no way to survive if he was punished with a hundred staff. Unexpectedly, Song Yingchang did not reply, but glared at him fiercely. Wu Weizhong had no choice but to order the execution.
Just when he was about to execute the execution, Lord Guanghai led Zheng Zhuo, Li Dexin, Li Hengfu and others to stop him. Song Yingchang bowed his hands slightly and said in greeting: "I wonder what your purpose is for Lord Guanghai to come to the army?" Not only did he not call him " Prince", and he emphasized the word "in the army" very seriously.
Surprisingly, Lord Gwanghae and the others were very smart. They did not answer at first, but let him take the lead, leading the ministers of the DPRK to immediately kneel three times and kowtow nine times to the king's flag, and then asked Song Yingchang to forgive Liu Chenglong.
Lord Guanghai said: "The fault does not lie with Liu Chenglong. It was the foreign minister who ordered Liu Chenglong not to have anything to do with the enemy's peace treaty. Please forgive me."
Song Yingchang glanced at Liu Chenglong and said calmly: "In that case, please ask Lord Guanghai to give the capital inspection envoy another order to kneel down and worship."
Guang Haijun's lips twitched, but he still had to ask Liu Chenglong to observe etiquette, and his colleagues also gave advice. Liu Chenglong had no choice but to feel the persuasion of the crown prince and his colleagues, so he knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to the king's flag. With tears streaming down his face, he shouted: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
Seeing this, Song Yingchang fell silent for a moment, waved his hand and said: "Now that the matter is over, let's leave it like this this time. There are still important matters in the headquarters. Lord Guanghai, please come back." He simply dismissed the Korean ministers.
Afterwards, Li Huo asked Lord Guanghai why he acted like this. Guanghai replied that it was to save Liu Chenglong. Li Huo patted the table gently and said, "I am asking you about kneeling in front of the king's flag. I think I Don't you turn a blind eye because you don't know this method? In the end, they are all despised. It is understandable that a minister should be aggrieved on behalf of the widow. What is the difference between the prince stepping forward and the widow being despised?
I have said that you just need to live, you don't need to come forward to do anything, let alone embarrass North Korea! The blood feud of the people will be avenged by others! "After that, he waved his sleeves and left.
After this incident, the relationship between the Ming reinforcements and North Korea became obviously tense. However, Song Yingchang found this opportunity and simply withdrew to Pyongyang and gave up Kaicheng directly. This was good news. North Korea suddenly felt as if someone had taken off their pants. They felt cold and unsafe. Regardless of dissuasion, Li Hao quickly moved the dynasty back to Pyongyang, causing all the North Korean officials to complain and sigh.
As a result, the Ming army's defense line completely shrunk to the north of the Imjin River. However, although the North Koreans also withdrew northward, there were still various North Korean armed forces around Hanyang. For example, Li Ke led 3,000 troops to station in Paju, Quan Li led 3,000 troops to station in Xingzhou, Gao Yanbo and Li Shiyan led 1,000 troops to station in the mountains of Yangzhou, and there were many groups of monk soldiers and volunteers wandering around Gyeonggi Province as guerrillas.
Ukita Hideie was overjoyed when he learned that the Ming army had completely withdrawn, and immediately ordered Kato Kiyomasa to lead an army of three thousand to wipe out all the monk soldiers and rebels. When North Korea heard the news, they sent troops to rescue one after another. The Fukushima Masanori tribe of the Japanese Fifth Army also led troops to assist Kato Kiyomasa.
In early February, Kato Kiyomasa's troops found nearly 2,000 monk soldiers and rebels in the west of Hanyang, and he immediately launched an attack. The Japanese iron artillery team formed a formation and fired continuously, but the coalition forces were defeated. The Japanese Nabeshima Naoshige led a thousand troops to outflank the coalition forces from behind, cutting off the return of the coalition forces, and pressed forward step by step. The coalition forces counterattacked the Japanese troops without hesitation, determined to fight to the death, but Kato Kiyomasa did not want it and ordered the entire army to attack.
In this battle, Kato Kiyomasa personally beheaded dozens of people. The Japanese army slaughtered them wildly, and the entire coalition army was wiped out. No one survived. The remaining North Korean reinforcements were swept away by 5,000 troops led by Fukushima Masanori. The Japanese army relied on their superior numbers and combat power to defeat all North Korean troops and retreated to the city. Fukushima Masanori is the leader of the seven guns of Kanue, and his unit's combat power is even better than that of Kato Kiyomasa. Quanli, Li Xie and others are completely invincible.
Kato's army and Fukushima's army patrolled Gyeonggi and joined forces to sweep all roads. The area around Hanyang became slightly clearer. However, Wei Zheng, a disciple of Master Xiujing, led two thousand monk soldiers to capture Shuiluoshan, ten miles northeast of Hanyang. At the same time, another group of 600 monk soldiers captured it. Ercunyi was occasionally harassed by rebels in various places.
Although Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were victorious in consecutive battles, they were exhausted. In order to continue to consolidate Gyeonggi, Ukita Hideie prepared to capture Koshu.
In Hanyang City, Ukita Hideie summoned Kuroda Kanbei, Ishida Mitsunari, Otani Yoshitsugi, Masuda Nagamori, Kato Mitsutai, Maeno Nagayasu, Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa, Fukushima Masanori, Kobayakawa Takakage and others to discuss the matter. Ukita Hideie asked Kuroda Kanbei for his opinion on the capture of Koshu.
Military advisor Kuroda defended: "The mountain city of Xingzhou was built on Deyang Mountain, adjacent to the Han River, surrounded by water on three sides and leaning on a slope on one side. It is an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place. Xingzhou has a panoramic view of the dangerous passes north of Hanyang, and It can deter Hanyang to the south, guard the throat of the north and south, and is connected to the Imjin River.
If the Ming army advances south again, Xingzhou will be an important stronghold and will be used for the accumulation of grain and grass supplies. However, if our army captures Xingzhou, it can consolidate the capital and build defense lines, which will help monitor the movements of the Ming army and wait for opportunities to advance north. Fight back. In view of the above circumstances, I support the General-in-Chief’s decision. "
His son Kuroda Nagamasa immediately echoed: "That's right. Although our army's losses in the Battle of Byokudokwan were not small, the Ming army seemed to have suffered a setback and did not dare to advance lightly at the moment. The monk soldiers and rebels in Gyeonggi Province were also defeated by Kato and The two princes of Fukushima have been wiped out. Therefore, our army should take this opportunity to gradually launch a counterattack, first capture the key areas of Xingzhou and advance northward, and then wait for an opportunity to annihilate the Ming army and capture the Joseon royal family alive!"
Kobayakawa Takakage also added: "In the battle of Toishi Hyeon Byokudokwan, both our army and the Ming army suffered losses, but the Ming army's thousands of troops were able to compete with several times our army under extreme circumstances. It's so powerful that I've never seen it before.
Therefore, in the future, our army cannot easily start a war with the Ming army, especially a decisive battle. But now that Xingzhou is not in the hands of the Ming army, I also agree to capture Xingzhou. "
Ishida Mitsunari then added: "The entire Ming army is now north of the Imjin River, and there are only a few thousand Korean troops stationed in Xingzhou City, so it is not difficult to capture Xingzhou. In addition, I heard that Xingzhou guard Quanli's family was prominent. He comes from a famous family, has many military exploits, and is popular among North Korean officers and soldiers. If our army can kill this man in this battle, it will also deter North Korea.
However, as His Highness Kanbei said, Xingzhou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is necessary to mobilize superior forces to capture it in one fell swoop. In addition, it is also necessary to deploy some elites to key roads to prevent the Ming army from rescuing. "
Perhaps because this battle was not against the Ming army, President Konishi also wanted to avenge his past humiliation, and took the initiative to ask for orders from Ukita Hideya: "I am deeply ashamed of the First Division's defeat in Pyongyang. For this reason, the First Division We are always preparing for war and training our troops, waiting to revive our martial name. Please be sure to allow the first squadron to be the vanguard in the battle to capture Xingzhou, please!"
Hideie asked if the First Army had been rested, and Governor Konishi replied that the morale of the First Army had been restored, and he was asked to serve as the vanguard again - in fact, the implication was that the morale had been restored, but the strength... still needed to be supplemented, General-in-Chief Should I mention it to His Highness Taige?
Kato Kiyomasa laughed loudly when he heard this and said: "Hey, Konishi, why did you and Ishida become more confident immediately when you said that only North Korean troops were stationed? Sure enough, they only bully the weak. If you really want to avenge your shame, you should ask to be responsible for attacking Pyongyang. Pioneers are.
Besides, I see that you are quite thin, which is really ugly. Ah, it’s no wonder that you almost lost your life in Pyongyang... However, if you can’t even defeat the North Korean army in Xingzhou this time, then you won’t be able to live anymore in this world. I advise you to take a rest. as well. "
Konishi Yukinaga was angry and immediately retorted: "Oh, it seems that Kato-kun has something you haven't told everyone. Well, if you don't tell me, I will tell you.
I failed to defeat the Ming army, but you were defeated by a mere Ming Dynasty servant army and Korean rebel army in Hamgyong Province. I heard that in order to survive, you only wore civilian clothes and fled. I didn’t know that the biting cold wind in Hamgyong Province was Didn't the freeze kill your lifeblood?
Oh, and also, you deliberately failed to attend the Hanyang military meeting, and you turned a deaf ear to the withdrawal order. I think you are completely contemptuous of the general, but you don’t know that contempt of the general is contempt for His Highness Taige..."
It's okay to despise Ukita Hideie. When he heard "Contempt His Highness Taikaku", Kato Kiyomasa immediately said angrily: "Nonsense! Don't think I don't know. Before the military meeting was held, it was clearly you and Ishida Mitsunari who seized the messenger who notified me. , will the General-in-Chief blame me for this? I will also report to His Highness Taige and behead you and Ishida Mitsunari! You should seize the time to pray for blessings."
This time, Ishida Mitsunari stood up angrily and cursed: "Kato! During the military meeting, you were so impudent and slandered your comrades without any evidence! During the war, you actually wanted to provoke civil strife. Don’t think that His Highness Tai Ge will protect you regardless of the overall situation!”
Ukita Hideie saw that the three of them were at war with each other. He didn't know what kind of trouble would be caused if the quarrel continued, so he had to shout loudly: "Everyone sit down! Whoever provokes internal fighting again will be punished by military law!"
I have made a decision about the battle of Koshu. Konishi will lead the first formation, Ishida will lead the second formation, Kuroda will lead the third formation, I will personally lead the fourth formation, Yoshikawa Hiroie will lead the fifth formation, and Kobayakawa Takakage will lead the sixth formation. The entire army is sent out with 30,000 troops, and we must conquer Xingzhou in one fell swoop! "
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Dr. Xu Jiahui", "Cao Mianzi" and "GJC0516" for their monthly support, thank you!
