Chapter 56: Casting stones to ask for directions
Ye Chen said: "Li Chenggui's troops were chasing after me. I counterattacked several times, but I couldn't get rid of them. Moreover, Li Chenggui's cavalry was divided into several groups. The pursuit was very rhythmic, one wave after another, endless. , and our troops were exhausted, especially the horses. The men could hold on, but the horses could not. At that time, I really thought I was going to die in Goryeo. However, General Ha suddenly came with his troops, and the Goryeo cavalry retreated."
"General Ha wanted to make a great contribution, so he faced off with Li Chenggui in the southwest of Pingcheng for several days and fought more than ten times. But Li Chenggui did have some skills. His cavalry fought against General Ha's troops and did not fall behind. He himself was also a capable general. Once, General Ha personally went into battle and almost defeated the Goryeo army. But as soon as Li Chenggui appeared, the Goryeo army shouted loudly and their courage doubled. In the end, we had no choice but to return without success."
Even though Ye Chen had a lot of resentment towards Li Chenggui in his heart, he had to admit at this moment that during the war, Li Chenggui was considered a hero. Compared with some famous generals of the Ming Dynasty, he was naturally inferior. However, he and Ha Ci are not together, and they cannot talk about the famous generals of the Ming Dynasty at this moment.
"Finally, I got some news. Li Chenggui is now in charge of the three armies and is based in Pingcheng. The Goryeo court's strategy seems to be centered on Pingcheng and setting up a line of defense along the Datong River. The leader of this line of defense is Li Chenggui."
He Xi took the map over, was silent for a while, and said, "Do you think Li Chenggui will switch sides?"
Ye Chen opened his eyes wide and said, "It's absolutely impossible. Li Chenggui is the pillar of the imperial court. How could he switch sides? He is probably the only person in Goryeo who can fight?"
He Xi secretly thought: "I still haven't learned my lesson. I am too naive in many things." However, He Xi also knows that human growth does not happen all at once. You need to go through some things. There are many things that I still don’t understand. He Xi said: "Okay. You go down and rest, and apply the medicine properly. Maybe after a while, it will be time to use you."
Ye Chen struggled to get up and said: "The general is rough-skinned and thick-bodied. That's nothing. This is enough." Before he could finish speaking, Ye Chen let out a "silk" sound in his mouth. It affected the wound.
After He Xi sent Ye Chen away, he immediately ordered someone from the local Goryeo family in Xicheng to send a letter to Li Chenggui.
He Xi immediately wrote a letter.
It was very straightforward to say that Goryeo was not good at all, so that Li Chenggui turned against him, and the court was full of praise.
He believed that the wealthy Goryeo clan must be hostile to the Ming Dynasty at this moment. It is different from the common people of Goryeo. The common people of Goryeo have been squeezed to the extreme at this moment, and they don't care who is in power. But the Goryeo family is a group of people at the top of Goryeo's power. Similar to the wealthy families in Wei and Jin Dynasties. They enjoy too much power.
How is it possible for them to give up when Ming Dynasty comes?
Many times, it is difficult to reach the soul without a knife.
Therefore, it would be great if this letter could reach Li Chenggui. It was just a good time to test Li Chenggui's true intentions. He did not believe that Li Chenggui was a loyal minister of Goryeo, the kind of loyal minister who could live and die.
If you can't get there, that's okay.
He also wanted to test how chaotic the Goryeo court was.
His handwritten letter was probably the beginning of a turmoil in the Goryeo court. Moreover, the rumors about this King of Korea are quite unbearable. Let’s see if he can accomplish the feat of destroying the Great Wall. As for Li Chenggui? He Xi didn't care. Live or die. It will be all right.
Goryeo is the most important.
This is a tactic of throwing stones at others.
Anyway, based on He Xi's original intention, he laid down Xicheng and built this place into a base camp. Although there was still some time before winter, He Xi didn't have that deep desire to continue eastward unless there was a great opportunity.
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Li Chenggui didn't know at this moment that He Xi was already coming towards him with a vicious plan to ask for directions.
He is currently discussing the situation at hand with his first adviser, Zheng Daochuan.
Li Chenggui said worriedly: "There are now 150,000 troops from various places in Pingcheng, but I inspected them one by one, and they are all a mob. Many of them are slaves who have just been recruited from the fields, and they are simply unfit to fight. More importantly, It's grain and grass. The people in Kaijing said that all the grain and grass have been transported here. But I saw that the shortage is at least 30%. The rest is old rice. The soldiers are not good, and the grain and grass are not good, and in this situation, the king is still giving orders Recruiting troops. He doesn’t know at all that soldiers are not large but good, and the only ones that can be seen now are tens of thousands of my old troops. Under this situation, it is unlikely that the Ming army will attack this year, but the situation next year will be unimaginable. "
Li Chenggui didn't say it out loud, but the hint was obvious.
Not to mention the gap in national power between Ming Dynasty and Goryeo. The gap between the two monarchs alone is too big. One started from scratch and established the huge Ming Dynasty. One is a young child. An emperor who was as skilled as a soldier and capable of fighting in thousands of years was only inferior to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was not convinced by this ranking. It's just that you can't argue with the good guys of later generations, because the other person doesn't understand what war is at all, so how can it be considered a war?
I just think the more people, the better.
Zheng Daozhuan pondered and said: "In the current situation, the only way to survive is to negotiate peace with the Ming army. And that won't work if the king reigns for just one day. Now there are rumors inside and outside the capital that the king is not the son of the late king."
When a wise person speaks, there is no need to speak too clearly.
Zheng Daochuan said this, and Li Chenggui immediately understood the meaning. His face was a little complicated and he said, "Has it reached this point?"
To what extent? Some people are planning to replace Goryeo with a king.
This is not one person's idea, after all, the situation in front of us is obvious. Ming Dynasty has sent troops, but it is not the harassment of thousands of people before. Many nobles in Goryeo had lost confidence in defeating the Ming army. Of course, they are not Li Chenggui. I can't understand so many details on the battlefield, but I can't make a mistake in judging the overall situation.
When the King of Goryeo violated the expectations of all the Goryeo nobles and killed him, he was killed.
Now that the King of Goryeo is not the son of the previous king, this rumor is a precursor. It doesn't matter whether King Wangyou of Goryeo is the son of the late King Wangqi. The important thing is that they cannot tolerate Wang Yu leading Goryeo into the abyss.
In fact, Li Chenggui's ability to replace Goryeo and establish North Korea was also related to this trend. Historically, Li Chenggui never fought with the Ming Dynasty. After Goryeo withdrew its troops, the Ming Dynasty did not know about it. Therefore, Li Chenggui was able to calmly return to the army and use the army in his hands to establish victory in one fell swoop. Then support the puppet, and finally become the king.
Now the situation is different.
Although Li Chenggui defeated a Ming army attack, in Li Chenggui's view, it was not considered a victory at all.
What is the purpose of Ha Cibuhua's invasion of Korea? Covering Goryeo's reinforcements to Xicheng and isolating Xicheng meant that the Ming army could attack Xicheng without interference from the outside world.
Has this strategic goal been achieved?
Naturally it was achieved.
During the Ming Dynasty's siege of Xicheng, there were no reinforcements from the southeast.
It's just that the Koreans themselves called it a victory to boost their morale.
Zheng Chuandao said: "Maybe it's not that far, but someone intends to pass this news to me. The profound meaning of this, sir------"
Li Chenggui said: "So, someone wants to invite me to join the game?"
Zheng Chuandao said: "Exactly, half of the troops of the imperial court are in the hands of your Excellency. Your Excellency plays an important role in Goryeo. Nothing can be done without Your Excellency's nod. Therefore, he has this idea, so he naturally wants to say hello to Your Excellency." .”
Li Chenggui was confused for a moment.
It's not that he doesn't understand the thoughts of those people, it's just that most of his thoughts are on fighting the Ming Dynasty, and now he suddenly turns to the flies and dogs in the capital. He thinks some people are so cute that they are stupid. Yes, he also feels that the current king will bring all the people together. Gao Li was dragged into the abyss.
Killing a hundred times is not enough.
But they didn't seem to think about it, would killing Wang Yu be useful?
When the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to attack Goryeo and set up the East-conquering General Palace, Goryeo was already in the abyss. The difference between killing Wang You and not killing him was not big. The vitality of Goryeo lies in victory on the battlefield, not in a coup.
"What do you think I should do?" Li Chenggui said confused.
