Chapter 59 Death of Cui Ying
Still in Gyeongbokgung Palace.
King Wang You of Goryeo is sitting on the steps, while Cui Ying is below the steps.
When Cui Ying came here before, she always wore a red official robe. It was tidied up meticulously and looked very refreshing. But Cui Ying at this moment was wearing a white prison uniform with blood stains on it, which were not his. It belongs to his disciples, students, and children.
There were shackles on his hands and feet, and he made a heavy sound when he walked.
King Wangyou of Goryeo said: "Teacher Cui, you are my teacher. I treat you well and let you run the country on my behalf, but you contact all parties and want to overthrow me. Is this how you repay me? Could it be, Is this what you Confucian scholars call loyalty to the emperor and serving the country?"
"Loyalty has great loyalty and small loyalty." Cui Ying said: "Loyalty to one person is small loyalty, and loyalty to the country is great loyalty. Originally, His Highness is the king of the country and is responsible for the country of Goryeo. Great loyalty and small loyalty belong to His Highness alone. But what did you do, Your Highness? Over the years, you have walked around the streets, hammered people's heads for no reason, and treated them as dead without knowing anyone else. As for privately entering the people and robbing people's girls. There are too many to list."
Cui Ying slowly closed her eyes and said through gritted teeth, "This is still a small matter. But what happens next is irredeemable. Goryeo is a small country, and the only way for a small country to survive is to do big things. Yuan Sheng is loyal to Yuan, If the Ming Dynasty wins, you will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. When the former king was here, he was very respectful to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. His Majesty, considering the remoteness of our country, exempted the tribute of five thousand horses and took the idea of sending goose feathers for thousands of miles. He ordered that all tributes be taken as one, and the five thousand horses became two. A piece of gold, a thousand taels of gold, turned into one tael. It was better than countless people in the previous Yuan Dynasty. But the king still gave it respectfully, because the heaven was magnanimous and the small country was humble. Mere wealth is not worth mentioning, but being on good terms with the Ming Dynasty will last forever. Since your Highness came to the throne, you have changed the previous king's policies and wavered between the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, so that's all. The Ming people entered the east of the Yalu River and had a land dispute with our country. This can be discussed. Send envoys to Beijing Defend. If you really don’t want to, what if the tiny two-city land that I didn’t own before is returned to the Celestial Empire?”
"Now the two countries are fighting each other. The soldiers from Liaodong marched straight in and came to the city. But the Korean army has not yet sent out troops, and Goryeo has lost one-eighth of it. How long can this war last? Fei Chen is not loyal. Your Highness, Your Highness is dead, and I am willing to die. But Korea cannot be like this anymore. Korea is not yours alone, it is the Korea of our ancestors. It cannot be destroyed by our hands."
When a person is about to die, his words are also good. Likewise, when a person is about to die, his words are also false.
Hypocrisy and kindness are not in conflict.
When a person is about to die, he always wants to retain some of his life's experience. At this time, he has no selfish motives. Because even if he has selfish motives, it is useless.
But everyone has an overestimation or halo effect in their view of themselves. To understand this, look no further. Just read some memoirs. In their memoirs, they all glorified their behavior.
And when they are dying, everyone wants to talk about the good things about themselves, but not the bad things about themselves. This is what is called fakeness.
Although Cui Ying was loyal to the Goryeo Dynasty and wanted to bring order out of chaos, she did not necessarily have the heart of a powerful minister. But at this time, Cui Ying just wanted to leave a glorious image in the history of the world, so some things naturally disappeared.
King Wang You of Goryeo rarely interrupted Cui Ying's words.
What does Wang Yu want to say? But don’t know what to say?
Wang Yu also wants to know when he has time, is it okay for him to bow his head to Daming now? Is it possible? But when Wang Yu thought of this idea, a huge fear seized his heart, and it seemed that it could not even beat. Wang Yu's fear is basically his torture of the weak without mercy.
Just like Cui Ying said just now. Wang Yu's favorite time is riding his horse on the street. Watch the people on the street running away like crazy. Holding the hammer, hidden in the sleeve. When passing behind the person, he suddenly struck out. Look at people dying without knowing how to die.
It's like hunting.
How does he treat the weak? He puts himself in Zhu Yuanzhang's position to see if someone offends him. He would never let his family die easily.
Therefore, he never felt that the Ming army would forgive him.
And Cui Ying's words hit home the pain in his heart. Wang Yu murmured: "Kill him, kill him. If he says a word, I will cut him into pieces."
After hearing this, the attendants immediately took action and chopped Cui Ying to death with a flurry of swords.
And Cui Ying's death is not the end. But a beginning.
Cui Ying's death made Wang Yu no longer have any trust in the aristocratic family and the old officials in the court. He promoted his retainers to take over the country. It is undeniable that there are some talents among Wang Yu's attendants. But overall, it has not reached the stage where it can take over the entire country.
Even if you have talent, you still need experience.
Not to mention, the noble families of Goryeo are all over Goryeo, including those in Kaijing. It's just a representative of them. Not all of them. The ministers who fled from Kaijing immediately exerted their influence after arriving in their hometowns. Let Kai Jing's order become a piece of waste paper.
It was originally circulated privately in Kaijing. The rumor that Wang Yu was not the son of the late king Wang Qi became an open secret known to almost everyone in Goryeo within a few days. It is said that Wang You, the king of Goryeo, should be named Xin. He is the son of Xin Yu, the demon monk of the previous dynasty.
This also represents the preparation of the next wave of offensive from the aristocratic family.
The Kaijing Rebellion put Li Chenggui in a place of suspicion.
After the causes and consequences of the Kaijing Rebellion spread, almost everyone believed that Li Chenggui was a member of Cui Ying's party. And with Wang Yu's killing methods, the Li family will be liquidated sooner or later.
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"Return to the army." He said: "Kaijing is only a few hundred miles away from Pingcheng. Now in Kaijing, people are in panic. A single strike from the general's Qingqi will definitely disintegrate. From now on, we will lay a foundation for eternity."
Li Chenggui was silent for a while and said, "Mr. Zheng, do you know about the opening of the capital in Xicheng?"
Zheng Daochuan was silent for a while and said, "I probably don't know."
Li Chenggui said, "Then when will they know?"
Zheng Daochuan said: "I have ordered the news to be blocked. Within a few days, there should be no problem. But after winter, I am afraid it will not be concealed. Therefore, general, seize the time. This opportunity must not be missed before it comes again."
Li Chenggui looked up to the sky and sighed. Said: "How could I not have thought about what you said, not only thought about it, but also thought about it repeatedly. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood one thing. The opportunity has been lost. When Ming Dynasty intervened in the chaos of Goryeo, The chance is gone.”
"In the small country of Goryeo, only big things can happen. This is indeed a wise saying. It can be said that it explains the fundamental strategy of Goryeo. But Mr. Zheng, you are still a little obsessed."
Zheng Daozhuan had already guessed some of Li Chenggui's thoughts. Said: "What do you mean, general?"
Li Chenggui said: "Go to Xicheng and tell him about the opening of the capital. He said that the tyrant of the small country has rebelled against his relatives and left his relatives. The minister asked the Celestial Dynasty to enter Goryeo to quell the rebellion and take charge of the overall situation."
Zheng Daozhuan's heart moved and he realized that Li Chenggui had a wonderful idea.
If the Ming Dynasty really wanted to destroy Goryeo. Li Chenggui turned over and became a minister of the Ming Dynasty from now on, saving his family from destruction and even becoming a meritorious minister.
If the Ming Dynasty just wanted to teach Goryeo a lesson, then Li Chenggui would switch over and control Goryeo on behalf of the Ming Dynasty in the future, and he might not even be able to replace the Wang family.
No matter what the Ming Dynasty thought about Goryeo, Li Chenggui would be favored if he surrendered with hundreds of thousands of people. And because of Wang Yu's actions, Li Chenggui used the excuse of borrowing troops to quell the rebellion, which can be regarded as a good idea for Goryeo. Account.
Compared with Zheng Daozhuan's strategy of taking the risk of attacking Beijing, capturing Wang Yu, and then negotiating with Ming Dynasty, the victory was more stable. No matter what the outcome, the entire Li family can be saved. It is not as good as Zheng Daochuan's approach. Haedong will win the world, but his reputation will be ruined if he fails. Descendants are cut off.
Zheng Daochuan said: "Please rest assured, general, I will definitely bring the message to you."
However, there was a trace of melancholy in Zheng Daozhuan's heart. After all, Goryeo was his homeland, and now he had to fill the ground for the demise of Goryeo. Even Zheng Daozhuan, who had no feelings for the Goryeo Dynasty for a long time, also felt a little sad.
