Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1008 1003 [Goryeo Affairs]

Winter passes and spring comes, and everything revives.

In the blink of an eye, it was already 1142 AD, ten years after the Ming Dynasty revived China.

The spring drought in the northwest region, which had lasted for many years, was finally alleviated this year. Although there was still a little drought, it finally rained a few times, giving people a glimmer of hope for good weather and good harvests.

The Dali Kingdom, where even the emperor hid in the palace and dared not come out, still maintained a chaotic yet stable rule.

Although it was very messy, it was so messy that no one dared to take action.

The Gao clan did not dare to attack each other because there were several other large clans. If the internal friction of the Gao clan was too serious, other large clans would take the opportunity to send troops, which was a situation that no one wanted to see.

Dali didn’t explode, but Goryeo is about to explode!

The King of Goryeo is still Wang Gou. He has been placed under house arrest twice and eliminated powerful ministers three times. He is only 33 years old.

Queen Ren.

The emperor's father-in-law Ren Yuanhou also served as prime minister.

In the present Goryeo, the aristocratic families controlled the country, suppressing the common people and military commanders. The conflict was on the verge of breaking out, and internal fighting broke out among the aristocratic families.

The father-in-law, Im Won-hou's hometown is in Jeolla Province, which is the southwestern corner of the Korean Peninsula, across the strait from Jeju Island.

Although there were ports here that did business with the Ming Dynasty, the trade volume was far behind that of the West Sea Road. Although Sino-Japanese trade also passed through Jeolla Province, it always stopped at Jeju Island.

Therefore, the Jeongan Ren family, whose base was in Jeolla Province, could only get some leftovers from maritime trade.

The Haizhou Cui family, which produced many prime ministers and queens, had family influence in the Western Sea Road where trade was extremely prosperous.

Through ten years of maritime trade development, the strength of the Cui family in Haizhou grew rapidly.

When he led his troops into Beijing to eliminate the rebellious Jin family, he was instead suppressed by the two families and can no longer move forward.

Open Beijing.

The two major clans, the Cui family of Haizhou and the Yi family of Incheon, are having a secret discussion.

Li Ziqian of the Incheon Lee family was the first powerful official killed by Wang Gou.

Even if the powerful minister falls, the family will not fall.

Moreover, the Cui and Li clans had been intermarrying for generations. The former was next to the second largest port, and the latter was next to the third largest port, and they jointly controlled the profits from the sea trade of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the largest port, it is naturally Kaizhou Port.

Kaizhou is the capital of Goryeo. The profits from the port there cannot belong to any one company, but must be shared by everyone.

"Ren Yuanhou has gone too far!" Li Zhiyuan was furious.

Cui Yunyi sighed: "Alas, he is the prime minister and the father-in-law of the emperor. Can't he arrange the officials as he pleases?"

Li Zhiyuan said: "But he went too far this time. Not only did he replace the governor of Hanyang (Seoul) with his own people, he also replaced all the officials along the Han River with the sons of aristocratic families who were attached to him!"

Cui Yunyi didn't say anything.

Li Zhiyuan said, "This time it's the Hanyang County Magistrate, next time it will be Haizhou's turn. If you don't help my Li family, when the Cui family is suppressed, who will save you then?"

Cui Yunyi said: "You, the Incheon Yi family, have been operating in Hanyang for many years. What are you afraid of if the court changes the county governor? Don't openly confront the county governor and let the officials and clerks pretend to obey you but secretly disobey you, so that the county governor can't accomplish anything. Force him to leave!"

"Just that?" Li Zhiyuan was unwilling.

Cui Yunyi asked back: "Do you dare to disobey orders openly, or send someone to kill the county governor?"

Li Zhiyuan had no answer and could only lose his temper and said, "I will make sure that the governor of Hanyang County can't stay there for even half a year!"

Although the Cui and Li families have stronger economic power, they cannot withstand the political power of Ren Yuanhou.

He was originally the father-in-law of the emperor and the prime minister, and he also brought together a group of noble families who were jealous of maritime trade to seize commercial profits from the Li family.

The Lee family had no third choice but to secretly resist or launch a coup.

Ren Yuanhou, who took over the administrative power of Hanyang and the area along the Han River, was immediately filled with pride and began to embark on the peak of his life.

Officials from several aristocratic families began to praise Ren Yuanhou and forced the king to promote him to a higher position and rank.

Their titles, official posts and promotions are as follows:

Xuan Zhong An She was appointed assistant to Tong De Gong Chen, San Da Kuang, Kai Fu Yi Tong San Si, Shou Tai Wei, Shang Zhu Guo, Ding An Gong, with a fief of 2,000 households and a real fief of 600 households. He established a government called "Shou Ning" and appointed subordinates.

The power is overwhelming!
No matter how rich the Cui and Li families are, what does it matter? Just lie down!

Even Ren Yuanhou's eldest son, Ren Kezhong, the elder brother of the Goryeo queen, became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and concurrently the Minister of War, thus holding the military power in his hands.

"Uncle, Ren Yuanhou can no longer be controlled," Cui Yunyi reminded.

Choi Hong-jae, the deputy prime minister of Goryeo, said, "His daughter is the queen, and his grandson is the crown prince. Our Choi family has made too much money from maritime trade, and those aristocratic families are extremely jealous. They have joined forces to control the court, and what can I, the deputy prime minister, do?"

Cui Yunyi suggested: "Mutiny."

Cui Hongzai shook his head repeatedly: "How can the fight between the noble families and the civil officials involve the military? This is against the rules. Once we do that, our Cui family will be the target of public criticism."

"Isn't the Cui family the target of public criticism now?" Cui Yunyi asked in return, and then said, "Ren Yuanhou is powerful in the court and the country, and he no longer takes Your Majesty seriously. If my uncle is afraid of being blamed, he can instigate the military men promoted by the Ren family to rebel! When the time comes, Ren Yuanhou will instigate a mutiny, and we will go to put it down." "Who to let rebel?" Cui Hongzai asked.

Cui Yunyi said, "Jung Joong-bu."

Zheng Zhongfu was from Haizhou, with fair skin, beautiful beard and a sturdy figure.

Because he was very handsome, Choi Hong-jae sent him to serve as a soldier in the Konghak Army (imperial guard). Because he was very good at playing football, he was highly valued by the King of Goryeo and was promoted to the position of Qianlong Duizheng (captain of the King's Guard of Honor).

At that time, Kim Bu-sik was still in power. At a New Year's Eve banquet, Kim Bu-sik's son Kim Don-jung used a candle to light Zheng Zhongfu's beard for fun.

Zheng Zhongfu became furious on the spot and beat the powerful official's son.

Although Wang Gou, the King of Goryeo, was a good friend of Zheng Zhongfu, he could only secretly send someone to help Zheng Zhongfu escape.

Zheng Zhongfu didn't even dare to return to his hometown, so he fled and hid in Ren Yuanhou's house.

After everyone joined forces to eliminate the powerful minister Kim Bu-sik, Zheng Zhongfu became friends with the king, prime minister, and deputy prime minister at the same time, and was promoted all the way to the highest position of Goryeo military men - general.

However, Zheng Zhongfu's current situation is very embarrassing.

The king was completely sidelined, the prime minister and the deputy prime minister broke up, and Zheng Zhongfu was caught in the middle and didn't know who to listen to.

At night, there is a curfew.

Cui Yunyi quietly knocked on the side door of the Zheng family. Zheng Zhongfu hurried to greet him in person and asked in surprise: "You are a dignified minister, how come you came in through the side door at night?"

Cui Yunyi said with a bitter face: "Although I am the Minister of the Court and my uncle is the Vice Prime Minister, Ren Yuanhou has great power in the court. How can I dare to come to see the general in the daytime?"

"Ugh!"

Zheng Zhongfu sighed and said, "Minister Cui, please come in quickly."

The two men came into the house and Zheng Zhongfu found a small bag of black tea.

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary black tea that even rural landlords could afford to drink was regarded as a treasure by this Goryeo general. He carefully poured out some tea leaves, brewed some water himself and said, "This is tea from the Ming Dynasty. I only got eight taels of it, and I usually don't even want to drink it."

Cui Yunyi took the opportunity to make fun of him: "You are a general, but you only have half a catty of black tea? I will ask my servant to bring two catties some other day."

Zheng Zhongfu sighed again: "The military preparations are weak, the military expenditures are reduced, and it is not easy to buy half a pound of black tea."

This is the truth.

The Ming Dynasty’s military might was too great, and Goryeo was completely defeated.

Since they couldn't win anyway, what was the point of training troops? Goryeo kept cutting military spending, and even after the cuts, most of the money was withheld by the civil officials.

The generals had no chance to collect empty salaries and could not make any money at all, and the soldiers had to work to make a living.

As for Zheng Zhongfu, the first military official of Goryeo, he had to bow and scrape like a grandson even if he met a civil official of the third or fourth rank, let alone a prime minister. Because if a civil official could reach the third or fourth rank, he must have a big family behind him!
Cui Yunyi expressed sympathy for the current situation of the military generals, and put all the blame on Ren Yuanhou: "It is only because of the Ren family's monopoly of power that the military has become more and more difficult. He is not only suppressing the military, but also targeting our Cui family and Li family. Look at his series of titles and official positions, he is only half a step away from usurping the throne. If it weren't for your majesty's tip-off, the general would have died at the hands of the Jin family. Your majesty saved the general's life and promoted him. Can the general just watch your majesty suffer and do nothing?"

Zheng Zhongfu said: "But I am just a warrior, how can I deal with the prime minister?"

Cui Yunyi said: "During the Dragon Boat Festival this year, His Majesty will host a banquet to entertain all the ministers. I will help..."

After a secret discussion, Zheng Zhongfu personally sent Cui Yunyi out.

This warrior was no vulgar person. He came from a poor family in Haizhou and had been educated since childhood.

He knew that Cui was using him as a pawn and that he would definitely be in trouble afterwards.

Cui's plan was to use Zheng Zhongfu to kill Ren Yuanhou and his gang. But the aristocratic families could not be touched, and Zheng Zhongfu would definitely be notorious and become a thorn in the eyes of many aristocratic families.

At that time, Cui could kill Zheng Zhongfu and take control of the government.

Humph, is it so great to be from an aristocratic family?
Watching Cui Yunyi disappear into the night, Zheng Zhongfu showed a sneer on his face.

Historically, Zheng Zhongfu brazenly launched a military rebellion, killed most of the civil officials in Kaifeng, deposed and enthroned the king, and thus ushered in the era of military men!
The next day, Zheng Zhongfu called his confidants and cried that he was bullied by the civil servants again.

Military official Li Yifang slammed the table in anger, "Those turbans are not human. The military pay has already been cut to the bone, and yet they are corrupt and embezzle so that the soldiers have no food to eat. I am the leader of the Dragon Army, the personal guard of His Majesty, and when I meet a low-ranking civil servant, I greet him like a dog."

"Just make do with what you have got. How can you possibly rebel?" sighed the military official Li Gao.

Zheng Zhongfu said, "I can't help it. Jin Dunzhong's father imprisoned Your Majesty. His family committed such a great crime, and his father was eliminated, but this man can still serve as an official in the court. Why is that? Because they are from aristocratic families. Why are we from humble backgrounds born to be oppressed by aristocratic families? Jin Dunzhong burned my beard for fun, and I must avenge this great vengeance!"

Li Gao reminded: "If we kill Ren Yuanhou and Jin Dunzhong, even if we succeed, we will be liquidated by the noble families afterwards."

Zheng Zhongfu said, "Kill all the civil officials from the big families in Kaijing, leaving only those from humble families, and then promote a large number of military men to civil service positions. This way, we won't be afraid of being liquidated. After all, their ghosts can't come back to seek revenge, right?"

"Kill all the civil servants from the big families?" The military officials were horrified.

Zheng Zhongfu asked, "Don't you dare?"

Everyone was silent for a long time, and Li Yifang gritted his teeth and said, "Let's do it!"

"Done!"

Other military officials expressed their opinions one after another, saying that they had been oppressed by the powerful families for too long, and that the oppression had become increasingly severe, and they had to vent their resentment.

(End of this chapter)