Chapter 74 Gyeongju Regime
Although the Goryeo Kingdom was small, it had many capitals.
Pyongyang is Xijing, Kaijing is the capital, and the Tokyo of Goryeo is Gyeongju.
Gyeongju is on the west and east coast of the Korean Peninsula, east of the Sobaek Mountains, and is far away from the core areas of Goryeo, such as Seoul, Pyongyang, and Seoul. It has a long history and is the capital of Silla. It was once called Jincheng. Later, it was renamed Gyeongju by Goryeo Taizu.
Of course, this place was selected as the gathering place for southern Goryeo forces. On the one hand, the long winter gave them time. Facing the Ming offensive. The major clans in the south felt very nervous. They made two preparations. One was to support the new king, this Wang Yao. On the one hand, he secretly communicated with Ming Dynasty and negotiated terms through Li Chenggui.
However, He Xi quickly received a reply.
That means not talking about it at all.
Yes, don't talk about it.
After all, in He Xi's view, if Goryeo was to be annexed, these aristocratic families must not be cleaned up. It was impossible for Ming Dynasty's rule to take root in Goryeo. And where are the roots of these aristocratic families? During the founding of Goryeo.
Goryeo Taizu Wang Jian. At the beginning of the founding of the country, he was just one of many wealthy families. In Goryeo, the royal family was just the leader of the powerful families in Goryeo. Through the efforts of the previous kings of Goryeo, the rule was finally consolidated and the royal family was placed above the other powerful families. However, in order to appease local forces, Goryeo established an official school, the Imperial College, but only allowed nobles to enroll. Twelve wealthy families from various places have opened private schools. But again, if you are not a noble child, it is impossible to go to school.
As a result, step by step, Goryeo became where it is now.
When the Goryeo royal family declined, these nobles became the real rulers of Goryeo.
At the Linhai Palace of Yanyachi, the newly established Goryeo court was completely silent.
Wang Yao is not very old, only in his early twenties. He never thought that he would be in this position at this time. Moreover, he was an exiled prisoner before. Now he is the King of Goryeo, and he has no time to cultivate his power. However, after all, the Wang family is also a noble and has some manpower. But these manpower can only protect their own personal safety. It can only control the area around Yanya Pond.
Imhaejeon is a palace from the Silla period, but it was rebuilt during the Goryeo period. It can also be regarded as the palace where the King of Korea stayed in Tokyo. Just rarely turned on. And Yanya Pond is even more a scenic spot. It was established after King Munmu of Silla unified the three kingdoms. Used to declare one's achievements.
And it appeared repeatedly in many subsequent historical events.
It is also the best palace that can be found in Gyeongju now.
Wang Yao was silent for a long time and said: "Everyone, I am young and short-sighted. I don't know how to deal with such a situation. Please give me some advice."
"Your Highness." A minister said loudly: "Now there is no other way but to fight to the death with the Ming thief. As I said before, the Ming thief has been planning this for a long time. He will never quit easily. Any peace talks at this time are It's useless. Only when you can fight can you make peace. Just assemble your army and prepare for war. Call on tens of millions of people in Goryeo to protect the three thousand miles of rivers and mountains. We will fight until death."
"Let the Ming thieves know that all the men in Goryeo are not dead yet, and not everyone is a thieves like Li Chenggui."
This person is no one else. He was an old acquaintance of Zheng Daochuan. Zheng Mengzhou.
Zheng Mengzhou was a master of Neo-Confucianism in Korea. His status in Goryeo was like Song Lian's status in Ming Dynasty.
He was also the teacher of King Wangyou of Goryeo. But as a teacher, he had to be strict with his students and made it impossible for Wang Yu to come to Taiwan several times. Wang Yu was still young at that time. Although I don’t like Zheng Mengzhou. But he didn't dare to kill him. Just chased things away.
He was serving abroad. But after hearing that the Ming army had invaded, he immediately summoned King Qin's army to prepare for King Qin. But not long after, the Cui Ying case occurred in Kaijing, and for a while, the world was shocked. Wang Yu didn't believe him even more. Zheng Mengzhou was not allowed to lead his army into Beijing.
Zheng Mengzhou simply let the army stay where it was. He took a servant and went to the capital alone to persuade the king to return to the right path.
It's just that the time when he walked near Kaijing with a death wish was when Li Chenggui captured Kaijing. In fact, Zheng Mengzhou was also taken in by Li Chenggui. He even cursed Li Chenggui. But Li Chenggui was also a little ashamed. He also felt that Zheng Mengchen was popular in the world and he really wanted to kill him, which would greatly damage his reputation in Goryeo.
So I let it go secretly.
Zheng Mengzhou returned to the south of Goryeo. Braving the wind and snow. He traveled a thousand or two thousand miles from various places in winter, and suffered as much hardship as Lan Yu from Peking to Goryeo. Because of his connections and fame, the small court of Goryeo existed today.
It's just that he made great contributions in establishing the imperial court. But among the imperial court, they were in the minority.
Without him, he is a staunch fighter.
No matter from his perspective or from the current situation. He also judged that after the beginning of spring, the Ming army would definitely attack. We must prepare for war and fight to the end to drive the famous thieves out of Goryeo.
But the representatives of the major families in Goryeo wanted to negotiate peace.
The Zheng family is not a small family. But although Zheng Mengzhou was a famous Goryeo scholar. But he still can't be the master of the Zheng family. It is also impossible to influence other big families. However, when Jin Hexi refused, the Lord and the faction became silent for a while.
Zheng Mengzhou's impassioned remarks echoed in Linhai Palace. But none of the ministers objected.
Wang Yao looked at the other ministers, but the other ministers looked away. Afraid to take responsibility. Wang Yao said: "Okay, today, I will worship Mr. Zheng as the servant of the Zhongshu family and the third doctor. He will also lead the Central Academy and be in charge of the world's troops."
"All war and peace matters will be handled by Mr. Zheng."
Goryeo still used the official system of the Tang Dynasty, but merged Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province, and called it Zhongshu Menxia. Like the Tang Dynasty, the Zhongshu Order was a fictitious one. Shizhong is the highest official of the two provinces. As for the Central Council, it is just the Privy Council with a different name.
Dr. Sankuang was a first-rank official of Goryeo.
In other words, Wang Yao worshiped Zheng Mengzhou as his prime minister and handed over all military and political power to Zheng Mengzhou.
In fact, this is also the solution that Wang Yao has been thinking about for a long time. The entire small court of Goryeo was a court united by various aristocratic families. Wang Yao's decrees did not leave the Linhai Palace. All he could do was support a certain minister. The monarchs and ministers join forces to see if they can suppress the power of the powerful clans in various places.
This minister's ability cannot be too weak.
After much deliberation, Zheng Mengzhou was the only one who was suitable.
Other ministers have clans behind them. Zheng Mengchen also has it. But Zheng Mengzhou's greatest asset is not the clan behind him, but the disciples who are now spread all over Goryeo. If you unite with a certain big family, you are likely to be replaced. But when working with Zheng Mengzhou, such risks are minimal.
As for Zheng Mengzhou, he is a Confucian official, and Confucian officials do not know how to fight. This is no longer a consideration.
First of all, there is no need for Zheng Mengzhou to go to the battlefield in person. Secondly, only after the current Goryeo small court is united as a whole can war be fought. And this task. Only Zheng Mengzhou can do it.
At any other time, Zheng Mengchen would have declined, but now more than half of winter has passed. Soon the spring will come and the flowers will bloom. What comes with the spring flowers is probably the Ming Dynasty's cavalry. This situation did not allow him to be in a hurry.
Zheng Mengzhou was immediately ordered. Immediately began to lay out war and defense strategies.
Zheng Mengzhou's strategy of war and defense. Very simple. Just a defender, resisting steadily from the south of Kaijing. You can give up in the front, but there is a cut-off line for retreat. Zheng Mengzhou said loudly: "I invite the king to come to Jinzhou to show that he will defend it. Jinzhou is strong and blocks Gyeongsang Province. As long as Jinzhou is defended, the imperial court will use Gyeongsang Province as the foundation and order If the loyal people rise up later and the imperial army resists, it will take a long time, and the thieves will surely retreat."
In fact, no one knows whether the Ming army can retreat. But the natural danger of the Korean Peninsula is actually to the east of the Yalu River. Because this area has high mountains and deep water, it is a real natural danger. But beyond this area, we reach the plains of the west coast. Although there are many rivers. But none of them can be called natural hazards.
Without natural danger, Zheng Mengzhou did not understand that it would be impossible to fight against the Ming Dynasty. After much deliberation, it was Jinzhou.
Jinju is located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, almost stuck on the central line, with the sea on one side and mountains on the other. To the west is the West Coast Plain, and to the northeast is Gyeongsang Province. It is also where Gyeongju is located.
Zheng Mongzhou only wanted to keep the territory of Goryeo.
No matter how determined Zheng Mengzhou is. He also has to face reality.
