Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1018 1013 [We all want to run away, why does Your Majesty surrender? 】

More than 3,000 Korean civilians were captured by the Ming army during the rout.

The rest of the civilians hid in the mountains, and the Ming cavalry were too lazy to waste time trying to capture them.

More Goryeo soldiers were captured because the civilians were frightened and ran away at the first moment, while the soldiers were ordered by Zheng Zhongfu to put on armor and form a battle formation.

Now, all the soldiers handed over their weapons and knelt down on the ground obediently.

The guide rode over to the terrified laborers and said to them, "Put on your armor and take up your weapons. You will escort the captured soldiers, and those soldiers will be responsible for transporting food and fodder. Once we reach Kaesong, each of you will be rewarded with two dou of rice!"

The civilians put on their armor with trepidation, and most of them didn't know how to do it.

The guide then selected dozens of captured soldiers to teach them personally.

After a long struggle, the fully armed Goryeo civilians escorted the captured soldiers and transported food to Kaesong.

One thousand Ming Dynasty cavalrymen were divided into two groups.

As soon as the battle was over, the five hundred brave cavalrymen headed straight for Kaesong, and the remaining five hundred cavalrymen followed the captives and provisions.

On the way, they also came across the ancestral home of the Han family in Kaizhou. Li Junyi led the Ming cavalry and captured dozens of Han family members nearby.

There were also a few Han family members who were fast and escaped to Kaesong on horseback.

"The Ming army is coming! The Ming army is coming!"

A member of the Han family was the first to arrive outside the city and shouted in fear to the defenders.

This guy was let into the city by the soldiers, and soon a bunch of civil and military officials came upon hearing the news.

Li Shaoying asked: "How many Ming troops have arrived?"

The Han family son said: "I don't know. I saw many cavalrymen coming. Their armor was different from that of the Korean soldiers. I was so scared that I rode back to report the news."

Li Shaoying asked again: "Where are the general's troops?"

The Han family member shook his head: "I don't know."

Li Yifang asked: "How far is the Ming army?"

"It will probably be here soon." said the Han family member.

We have arrived. Suddenly, billowing smoke rises from the mountains west of Kaesong.

Kaesong is also known as Songakseong.

The northern part of the city is lined with mountains with many pine trees, so it is called Songaksan.

In fact, the city is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The mountains in the north, west and southeast are the steepest, and the rest of the directions are also hilly areas.

The current Kaizhou city wall was built over several decades.

After the Liao army destroyed the city, Goryeo conscripted 340,000 civilians to rebuild the outer city and the palace. It took another 20 years to build the inner city wall while reinforcing the outer city.

Surrounded by mountains and inner and outer walls, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack!

The five hundred Ming Dynasty cavalrymen who served as the vanguard rushed out of the city and dismounted to rest.

We cannot take the city by forceful attack; we must wait for the artillery to be delivered.

Li Junyi carried Zheng Zhongfu's head, rode across the moat, and shouted toward the tower: "Zheng Zhongfu's head is here, why don't you surrender quickly!"

Li Shaoying was furious: "You thief, you actually colluded with the enemy and betrayed your country, and murdered the general!"

Everyone looked at Li Yifang. The Li Junyi who was shouting outside was Li Yifang's half-brother.

Li Yifang quickly said: "This matter has nothing to do with me. I am loyal to the Great Goryeo."

Li Shaoying really didn't dare to take direct action. If he killed Li Yifang, the troops under his command would most likely rebel.

The civil officials from the rich families did not dare to speak at this time. They did not know what the warriors were thinking and were afraid that if they rashly said they would surrender, they would be hacked to death by the warriors.

Civil servants who come from humble backgrounds have more ideas.

Zheng Zhongfu promoted these poor civil servants, and they were grateful to him. Seeing their heads now was inevitable sadness. But their sadness was limited. They were happy to see the Ming Dynasty annex Goryeo and no longer be oppressed by the aristocratic families. But although they held real power, they had the least say at this moment.

Therefore, the Goryeo civil and military officials in the city were actually divided into four forces.

That is, civil servants from wealthy families and civil servants from poor families. Zheng Zhongfu is a military man, and Li Yifang is a military man!
Everyone has their own ulterior motives and it is difficult to cooperate.

Just when the civil and military officials on the city wall were confused about what to do, dozens of Ming Dynasty cavalrymen came running over, escorting the Han family members they had captured nearby.

"Go over and persuade them to surrender!"

A group of Han clan members, both men and women, young and old, were forced out of the city crying.

Deputy Prime Minister Han Lai's face suddenly changed, his biological mother was there.

After letting the Han clan members cry for a while, Li Junyi started to shout again: "The Ming Dynasty has sent out 100,000 troops this time and has captured Huangzhou and Haizhou. Zheng Zhongfu's elite troops were completely wiped out. These Ming cavalrymen are just pioneers. The 100,000 Ming troops will arrive in a few days. Can you still defeat the Ming troops?"

One hundred thousand Ming troops arrived?

The Goryeo civil and military officials were horrified. They couldn't even defeat 10,000 of them, let alone 100,000.

Due to Zheng Zhongfu's rebellion, the central and local governments of Goryeo were separated, and the local armies were all controlled by the powerful families.

The Andong Protectorate was stationed in Gyeongju, and because they followed the Jin family to defend the king, they were defeated by Zheng Zhongfu's army. The remaining Annan Protectorate and Anbian Protectorate did not listen to Zheng Zhongfu's orders this time and did not send troops to resist the enemy.

There are currently only 12,000 troops in the city, and including the palace guards, there are less than 15,000, and more than half of them are temporarily conscripted peasants.

How to fight this?
Li Shaoying and Li Yifang were wary of each other and neither dared to take the initiative to express their views and provoke attacks from the other.

Fortunately, it’s almost dark, so we can put it off until tomorrow.

As a result, a group of civil and military officials, each with their own ulterior motives, were determined to defend the capital to the death.

They also assigned tasks in a similar manner: some were responsible for arranging city defense, some were responsible for arranging logistics, and some were responsible for organizing the people.

into the night.

The city suddenly caught fire, and several places were burning one after another. The arsonist was also shocked, because there was more than one force setting the fire. There was an insider who arranged the fire, a poor scholar with the spirit of Ming Dynasty, a noble civil servant who set the fire and created chaos, and Li Yifang who betrayed his country and wanted to surrender the city.

Why did the powerful civil servants set fire?

They want to take advantage of the chaos to take the King of Goryeo to the south!

There were not many Ming troops outside the city, and Kaizhou City was very large, so it was a good time to break out with the king. If they continued to delay, when the subsequent Ming troops came to besiege the city, they would not be able to escape.

"The Ming army is coming, quickly take His Majesty and escape!"

After the fire broke out in the city, a group of powerful civil servants led their slaves and rushed to Puxian Temple with swords and sticks.

The guards were all Zheng Zhongfu's confidants. When they heard the news of Zheng Zhongfu's death in the evening, they were already terrified and ready to run away at any time.

When they heard that the Ming army had entered the city and discovered that there was indeed a fire in the city, the guards guarding the king immediately fled in all directions.

"Your Majesty, please hurry up! We are here to save you!"

The leader was cabinet minister Li Zheng, who wanted to take the king to Jeonju.

To be precise, it should be the Supreme King who has been forced to abdicate by the warriors.

Wang Gou, who was under house arrest for the third time, saw a group of civil servants rushing in and cried with joy: "Did you eliminate Zheng Zhongfu? Why did I hear someone shouting Ming army just now?"

Li Zheng grabbed Wang Gou's wrist and dragged him out: "Your Majesty, the Ming army has arrived in Kaifeng, and the Ming emperor wants to annex Goryeo!"

Wang Gou was so frightened that he could not walk. He was shaking all over and asked, "What should I do?"

"The city is in chaos now, and there are not many Ming troops outside the city. Your Majesty can just break out," Li Zheng said, "Please ask your Majesty to hunt in Jeonju in the south. There are also elite troops from the Annan Protectorate there."

Wang Gou was already at a loss and subconsciously followed the group of civil servants.

The city became increasingly chaotic. The troops of Li Shaoying and Li Yifang were fighting each other on the city walls and in the streets.

There were also many officials and civilians organizing firefighting, but they scattered when they encountered the rebels.

The civil servant led the king into a small alley and took out a set of slave clothes for the king to change into. They did not dare to light torches and could only walk through the dark alleys. When they rushed to the south city and found that the fighting was fierce there, they quickly turned around and ran towards the east city.

As he ran, Wang Gou suddenly came to his senses: "It's useless for me to leave. The prince has already ascended the throne, and he is the king. Even if I hunt in Jeonju, the Ming Dynasty will use the prince's name to order the armies of various states and counties to surrender."

Li Zheng said: "The prince is a fake king, and the local nobles are not convinced. Moreover, time is tight, how can they spare the energy to take the prince away?"

In the direction of the west city, the city gate opened and the Ming cavalry rushed in.

With the powerful combat effectiveness of the Ming army, Li Yifang's troops completely gained the upper hand, and Li Shaoying's troops even surrendered on a large scale.

"Hurry to the palace!"

The Ming army sent out more than a hundred cavalrymen, and under the leadership of Li Junyi, they rushed towards the Goryeo royal palace at the fastest speed.

A large number of Goryeo soldiers and civilians rushed to the East City. The soldiers guarding the city there had all fled, and there was no one guarding the city gate at this time.

The nobles and civil servants escorted Wang Gou and squeezed out among the crowd.

Wang Gou suddenly broke free from Li Zheng and ran in the opposite direction.

He didn't want to escape to Jeonju, he had had enough!

As soon as he ascended the throne, he was controlled by a powerful official. He failed to eliminate the powerful official and was directly placed under house arrest. He finally used the power of the powerful official to eliminate two powerful officials in a row, but another one appeared. He wanted to resist and was placed under house arrest again. He killed the powerful official again, but another one appeared. The last one was even more powerful, forcing him to abdicate and then placing him under house arrest.

The dignified King of Goryeo spent even more time under house arrest.

Even if he escaped safely to Jeonju now, he would definitely be controlled by the Li family. Li Zheng would definitely be the next powerful official.

Moreover, if the whole state was conquered by the Ming army, he, as a puppet, would have to take the blame.

He simply surrendered his country to the Ming Dynasty and moved to Luoyang to become a free man.

Wang Gou had inquired about the experiences of the last emperors of the Song, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties, and knew that the Ming dynasty had always treated the kings of fallen states well. He could live comfortably in Luoyang, no longer controlled by powerful officials, and no longer locked up in Puxianyuan and losing his freedom.

"Your Majesty, come back soon!"

A group of civil servants from powerful families shouted and chased after them.

"Where is His Majesty? Where is His Majesty?" Jin Yungui and a group of poor scholars also fled to Dongcheng with their families at this time.

These guys tried to set fire and create chaos so that the Ming army could enter the city.

As a result, the city became chaotic, which frightened them instead.

There were chaotic soldiers everywhere, and Jin Yungui was afraid of being killed without knowing why, so he led his family and poor scholars to escape from the city first.

Jin Yungui grabbed a civil servant by the collar and asked, "Where is His Majesty?"

The civil servant thought that the poor scholar was here to protect the emperor, and pointed ahead, "It's over there. His Majesty refuses to flee, go and help stop him."

"Follow me to capture His Majesty!" Jin Yungui shouted.

The scene was too chaotic and there were too many people trying to escape from the city.

Wang Gou, civil servants, and scholars walked against the flow of people, but they could not run fast at all, and were sometimes even pushed backwards.

Wang Gou eventually ran out of strength and was caught by Li Zheng's servants.

Wang Gou shouted hysterically: "I will not go to Quanzhou. If I go, I will be manipulated by the Li family. I want to surrender my country to the Ming Dynasty. I want to go to Luoyang and live a rich and idle life!"

Jin Yungui was overjoyed when he heard this, and shouted to the poor scholar around him: "Follow me to protect the emperor, protect His Majesty and surrender to the Ming Dynasty. From now on, we will be Ming people with His Majesty. Kill!"

"kill!"

A group of scholars from poor families burst out with infinite fighting power and fought with the civil servants from wealthy families and their slaves.

As the fight went on, the sound of horse hooves became closer and closer, and the Ming cavalry was approaching.

Li Zheng was afraid of being caught, so he could only yell, "Run!"

"Protect His Majesty, protect His Majesty!" Jin Yungui, who was covered in injuries, took the opportunity to rush to Wang Gou.

(End of this chapter)