"Your Majesty, I don't dare. I definitely have no such idea!"
Mao Wenlong's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He kowtowed quickly and defended himself: "Your Majesty, they made a mistake. I admit this.
But after all, they contributed to the Ming Dynasty. They harassed the Jiannu behind enemy lines and contained the Jiannu. They were unable to attack the Guanning defense line in a large scale;
Over the years, we have been alone overseas, lying about our soldiers, concealing military achievements, running private horse markets, taxing merchant ships, etc. In addition to satisfying our selfish desires, part of the reason for these is because there are tens of thousands of people in Dongjiang Town.
This place is isolated overseas. The island is extremely desolate. They are short of food and clothing. I reported it, but the court rarely allocates food and grass and has no other countermeasures. They must survive..."
"Okay, I admit and understand what you said, but they committed abusive lynchings and raped women... How should you explain these crimes?"
"this……"
"If it weren't for the fact that they had made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, I would have killed them long ago. Would they still be here today?
I didn't kill them immediately not because I was afraid that your Dongjiang Army would mutiny, but because I didn't want to watch the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty kill each other!
You should be lucky that you did not defect to the slaves when I first came to the throne. Last year, the joint forces of the slaves performed well when they attacked North Korea. Otherwise, you would have become one of those corpses miles away. "
Mao Wenlong was silent. He recognized what the emperor said.
Even when the emperor first came to the throne, the Ming Dynasty was already in ruins, so he took refuge in the slaves. The slaves had two or thirty thousand more of them, which at best caused some more casualties to the Ming Dynasty.
It is basically impossible to break through the Guanning Defense Line, let alone Shanhaiguan.
This is also one of the main reasons why he has not surrendered despite being isolated overseas during these years, despite repeated lobbying by Jiannu and despite being promised high officials and generous salaries.
But this is not the time to think about that.
Although he accepted these people as his adopted sons and grandsons in order to control the Dongjiang Army, how can humans be ruthless even if they are not grass and trees?
After all these years, he still has some feelings, and these people really control Pi Dao for him, and he can't live alone.
After thinking for a while, Mao Wenlong gritted his teeth and whispered: "Your Majesty, if they are willing to hand over their illegal gains over the years and then live in anonymity, I wonder if your Majesty can let them go!"
Without waiting for Chongzhen to speak, Mao Wenlong continued: "I am willing to use one person to ask Your Majesty to spare him!"
Everyone in the lobby was stunned when they heard Mao Wenlong talking about replacing him with someone else.
Now that Huang Taiji has been caught, who else deserves such a big favor?
Yuan Keli's eyes flashed and he immediately said: "Mao Wenlong, is this person you are talking about Li Wang, the Zhaoxian Crown Prince of the North Korean royal family?"
"You can't escape the eyes of Yuan Ge!"
Mao Wenlong's answer undoubtedly admitted that Yuan Keli's guess was correct.
Chongzhen's eyes were full of surprise, and he never expected that it would be Prince Zhaoxian.
Li Ruolian's expression turned gloomy. They, the Jinyi Guards, almost turned Korea upside down but failed to find Prince Zhaoxian. Unexpectedly, they were taken away by Mao Wenlong.
Nowadays, except for Crown Prince Zhaoxian, the rest of the North Korean royal family either died in battle, were killed by the slave-building coalition, or were assassinated by Jin Yiwei.
Without the members of the North Korean royal family, North Korea would be a country without a master, accessible to everyone.
The Ming Dynasty besieged and killed the slave-building coalition and included North Korea into the Ming Dynasty's territory. This was morally and righteously tenable, and no one could find fault with it.
The reason why it cannot be occupied by force involves the origin of Korea and the promise of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.
After the North Korean Taizu Li Chenggui replaced the Goryeo regime, he sent an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to inform him of his succession. Although the Ming Taizu was not ashamed of Li Chenggui's improper victory in the country, he had no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Goryeo.
It just means that as long as Goryeo surrenders, continues to pay tribute, and does not violate the border, Ming Dynasty will never go to war.
Then, among the two country names reported by Li Chenggui, Hening and North Korea, he chose North Korea, so Li Chenggui was ordered to change the country name.
Since the founding of Korea, Ming Dynasty has never taken the initiative to send troops to invade Korea.
Crown Prince Zhaoxian was the eldest son. He was named Crown Prince in the fifth year of the Apocalypse. Now that the King of Joseon has died in battle, he is the king's first heir.
If Prince Zhaoxian goes out to hold a big event now, Ming Dynasty not only cannot send people to assassinate him, but also sends people to protect him.
Because as soon as he died, everyone knew that this was done by the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty wanted to incorporate North Korea into the Ming Dynasty's territory, which was a slap in the face of Taizu.
This is why Chongzhen and others sent people to attack and kill the people of the Korean royal family from the beginning.
But now Prince Zhaoxian is actually hidden by Mao Wenlong. If Mao Wenlong breaks the net and releases Prince Zhaoxian, it will be detrimental to the entire situation and will be recorded in history books.
Now Mao Wenlong used this to threaten the emperor, which made Li Ruolian extremely aggrieved and immediately knelt down: "Your Majesty, I am not doing my job well, please punish me!"
Chongzhen did not respond, staring at Mao Wenlong coldly: "Mao Wenlong, do you know what you are doing? Do you know the consequences?"
"I know!"
Mao Wenlong's heart tightened: "From now on, I will have no hope of advancing in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom. I may be squeezed out and suppressed. In the future, my faults will be magnified infinitely and I will be cut off!"
"Knowing that you still do this?"
"Your Majesty, if Prince Zhaoxian hadn't taken the initiative to find me, I might have been able to just watch them being liquidated. But since there is a chance, I am willing to take a chance.
They have called me my adoptive father and grandfather for so many years. They have made great contributions to my being today..."
Chongzhen was silent, feeling a little complicated.
I thought that a hero like Mao Wenlong would do whatever it took to achieve his own goals, but his current actions made him look at him differently.
Moreover, if he were to describe what the Dongjiang Army did, it would be like being an angel and a devil at the same time, oppressing and exploiting the people, but giving tens of thousands of people a way to survive.
The merits and demerits in this cannot be determined by a simple sentence of right and wrong, black and white, right and wrong.
"Mao Wenlong, you have many adopted sons and grandsons, and I cannot let them all go. This is not only to frighten your adopted sons and grandsons and other generals, but also to block the mouths of the censors and officials;
For the rest of the people, although they can escape the death penalty, they cannot escape the living crime. I can give them a chance. The Ming Dynasty is going to fight against Fusang. They turn over all their illegal gains and then join the war with the army.
After occupying Fusang, if they can survive, I will forget the blame and let them live incognito.
If he died, that would be the end of it!
You go back and discuss it with them. You all should give me an answer before the army sets off! "
"There is no need to think about it. I thank Your Majesty for your grace on their behalf. Life or death depends on their fate!"
Mao Wenlong agreed without any hesitation.
Although they are his adopted sons and grandsons, they are still soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, although they are a bit bastard.
Wrapped in horse leather, this is the best destination for soldiers. Even if they die in battle, they will have no regrets.
But he believed that the Ming Dynasty's campaign in Fusang was mainly based on firearms and supplemented by close combat. With these people's experience behind enemy lines for so many years, they have a good chance of survival.
"Since you agreed, then hand over the person!"
