Daming talker

Chapter 676 Who Should I Keep an Eye on?

The distance from the capital to the Yalu River is 1,500 miles, and there is no shortage of horses, so the speed of expedited document delivery can reach up to 600 miles per day.

A few days later, the capital received a reward, and the King of Korea, Yi Sun, began to transport some of the property he brought across the river.

However, at the same time, Lee Sun directly complained to Emperor Wanli, saying that the Minister of State Affairs Lin Tailai bullied the vassal states.

Emperor Wanli sent the eunuch Chen Ju, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, to the Jinglüe Shogunate to inquire about Lin Tailai's matter.

Lin Tailai responded, "We can't just let North Korea sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

But now the Kingdom of Korea has no soldiers or food, so its king and ministers can only take out gold and silver, which can be regarded as a contribution.

If not, what else can North Korea do? "

Emperor Wanli was just asking symbolically. After Eunuch Chen got a reply from Lin Tailai, he turned around and was about to leave.

At this time, Lin Tai suddenly said, "There is one more matter. I hope the eunuch can report it to the emperor.

When I was gathering military intelligence earlier, I heard that Korea should have a huge copper mine, which should be much larger than the mines in Ming Dynasty."

Eunuch Chen: “.”

Can you, Lin Jiuyuan, be more clever? If you, Lin Jiuyuan, are willing to enter the palace after being castrated, what will these eunuchs have to do with you?

"Where is the mine?" asked Eunuch Chen.

Lin Tailai replied schemingly, "This copper mine is close to the border and is almost within reach of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, it was still under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty."

Eunuch Chen nodded. This news should allow the emperor to eat one more bowl of rice today.

However, Lin Tailai added: "Although the copper mine is very close to Liaodong, it is separated by the territory of the Jianzhou Jurchens, which is a bit of a hindrance."

Eunuch Chen didn't take this seriously. If the emperor was really interested in a super large copper mine, he would just tell those savages to get out of here.

In this way, the initial military expenditure was temporarily resolved, and then the most important and difficult issue was food and grass.

A few tens of thousands of shi of military rations would be enough to sustain the army for two or three months. The number might not seem like much on paper, and the Ming Dynasty was not short of this amount of military rations.

But the biggest problem is actually the transportation problem, as everything has to be transported thousands of miles away bit by bit.

Thinking of this, Lin Jinglie wanted to curse the king and ministers of Korea again.

This bunch of useless people cannot be relied upon at all. Once the troops are sent out, they can't even get food from the land. The Ming Dynasty has to rely on transporting everything over on its own.

The situation was not so bad in the early days in the northern areas near the Ming border, but in the middle and late stages, the further south we fought, the more difficult it became to supply military food.

Therefore, Lin Jinglüe is now more concerned about the mid- and late-stage supply issues, wondering whether it is possible to transport grain from Dezhou Warehouse and Linqing Warehouse on the canal to Denglai, and then transport it from Denglai to Korea by sea.

This is another complex systematic project. If feasible, a specialist should be sent to Shandong to take charge of it.

After the preliminary work had some clues, the Shogunate issued a recruitment order to recruit talents and staff members.

The principle is to recruit people based on their talents (crossed out), regardless of their background. At the same time, they are also required to be physically strong and able to adapt to long-term work in a different place.

At the same time, based on his own impressions, Lin Jinglüe continuously petitioned the court to recruit a group of deputy generals and above, including famous generals such as Ma Gui, Dong Yiyuan, and Dayun.

As expected, this list has attracted a lot of attention among the military officers. If the expedition goes smoothly, it will be a great achievement, and all the generals will surely be rewarded.

In the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion, a pair of middle-aged and elderly military officers looked at the list of generals and both frowned.

Because there is no one with the surname Li in this list of generals!
"That shouldn't be the case." The middle-aged military officer Li Rusong couldn't help but mutter to himself, "How could they not use a member of my family as a general?"

The Li family has been guarding Liaodong for more than 20 years. His father was dismissed at the end of last year. Today, most of the generals in Liaodong are from the Li family.

If troops are sent toward Korea, even if they have to be transferred from other border towns, the main force will definitely be the Liaodong Army, and the army's rear base will definitely be Liaodong.

So no matter from which angle you look at it, how can we not use the Li family who are familiar with the Liaodong Army?

The elderly military officer Li Chengliang looked at Haodaer hesitantly, "Are you really calling Lin Jinglie a brother? Are you trying to deceive your father? Why doesn't he use the Li family?
Or have you been slacking off in recent years and sent him fewer gold and silver gifts?"

Li Rusong replied: "This is not a matter of money at all. Brother Lin must have some considerations."

Li Chengliang looked back at the list of generals and pointed to a name and said, "Among the generals to be recruited, Ma Gui has the highest seniority and prestige.

Is it possible that Lin Jinglue wants to use Ma Gui as the commander of the entire army, so he does not want to use my Li family to avoid affecting Ma Gui's prestige? "

Li Rusong, who knew Lin Tailai better, thought for a moment and said, "There is another possibility. Lin Jiuyuan does not want to appoint a commander to lead the entire army."

Li Chengliang seemed to have heard a fairy tale, and said in surprise: "If there is no commander, who will lead the troops to the front line? Who will directly command the troops?"

In Li Chengliang's understanding, civil officials, whether they were called governors-general or generals, were all in charge of the rear areas.

The one who leads and commands the army on the front line, and even goes into battle to kill the enemy, is still a commander-in-chief or something like that.

For example, in this military expedition, the governor should stay in Liaodong in the rear, while the generals will be responsible for leading the troops into Korea to fight.

So if the army is dispatched without a general like "Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs", wouldn't that be a joke?
Even in novels and storybooks, there is a character called the Grand Marshal of the Army.

Li Rusong smiled bitterly and said, "What father said is common sense, but have you ever seen a civil official who was the first to break into a city? Lin Jiuyuan is the unreasonable one.

So I guess that this time Lin Jinglie will not stay in the rear of Liaodong, but will personally lead the troops into Korea.

If this is the case, then what is the need to appoint a general to oversee military affairs?
Lin Jinglue is more than capable of shouldering all these related duties, and having another general in charge of the entire army is completely redundant."

Li Chengliang: “.”

Am I too old and completely unable to keep up with the times?
After thinking for a while, Li Chengliang asked again: "If our Li family wants to be the governor-general, can we compete with him?"

Li Rusong answered honestly: "It's difficult! Unless the emperor fully supports it, but now the emperor must trust Lin Jiuyuan."

Li Chengliang sighed, "If we, the Li family, are absent from the Liaodong expedition, wouldn't we become a laughing stock?
But it is really hard to guess what Lin Jinglie is thinking. You can go visit Lin Jinglie and ask him directly what he thinks. "

On this dark and windy night, Li Rusong sneaked into the Lin residence and saw that an internal meeting of the Renewal Society seemed to be taking place, so he sat in the hallway waiting.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Tailai appeared, and Li Rusong went straight to the point and said, "Today, I saw the Jinglüe Shogunate recruiting generals, why are my family members missing?"

Lin Tailai said helplessly, "I don't know who should be appointed as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong between your father and you.

So I simply don't use it, so as not to hurt the relationship between your father and you."

Li Rusong said without thinking: "Old man is already this old, of course. Don't change the subject, why?" Lin Tailai thought for a long time, and then said: "Because you have a very good relationship with Nurhaci, the chieftain of Jianzhou Jurchens."

Li Rusong never expected that this was the reason why Lin Tailai did not use the Li family. From what he heard, Lin Tailai also wanted to deal with the Jianzhou Jurchens?
He had known for a long time that Lin Tailai seemed to have always disliked the Jianzhou Jurchens, and last time he had inexplicably beaten up the Jianzhou Jurchen envoys.

But unexpectedly, Lin Tailai still regarded the Jianzhou Jurchens as a thorn in his side, and even when he was about to send troops to fight the Japanese pirates, he did not forget to deal with the Jianzhou Jurchens.

"Why is this?" Li Rusong asked.

He really couldn't understand this kind of hatred. He was sure that the Jianzhou Jurchens had never offended Lin Tailai.

Lin Tailai replied: "In the past two years, Nurhaci has unified the Jianzhou Jurchens and now has 17 Niulu and 5,000 elite soldiers under his command.

In the Hu land outside the Great Wall, this is considered a considerable force. Can we turn a blind eye to the threat to our Ming border areas?"

Li Rusong defended himself by saying, "Nurhaci has always been respectful and obedient, and the court has also given him many rewards."

Lin Tailai said disdainfully: "What do you mean by being obedient to the court? Are you being obedient to your Li family?

Even if he appears to be submissive on the surface, it is only to gain the indulgence of your Li family so that he can continue to annex the Jurchen tribes, strengthen his own strength, and then become independent!

I know that your Li family sees him as a thug to control the Hu Di, but he is also using your Li family. When the tail becomes too big to be removed, it will be too late to regret it! "

"How can it be so serious?" Li Rusong insisted, "Brother, you are exaggerating."

Not to mention the Li family father and son, even if anyone today were to ask, they would not think the problem was that serious.

If it weren't for the special relationship between the Li family and Nurhaci, and the fact that the Li family still had great value in united front work, Lin Tailai would never have said these words.

Then Lin Tailai said: "When the Japanese invaded Korea, Nurhaci, who was adjacent to Korea, petitioned to "conquer and kill the Japanese invaders to serve the dynasty".

But the Korean monarchs and ministers firmly refused. They would rather wait for the Ming army than for the nearby Hu soldiers to rescue them. "

Li Rusong didn't understand why Lin Tailai brought this up, "Doesn't this just show that Nurhaci is willing to contribute to the country?"

Lin Tailai sneered and said, "Nurhaci was just saying it on purpose, he would never confront the Japanese soldiers for the sake of Korea.

Now he has a chance to truly contribute to the country. Do you think he is willing to work hard?"

Then Lin Tailai took out a military report and said to Li Rusong: "I received military intelligence a few days ago. After the Second Japanese Army Corps captured Hamgyong Province, the commander Kato Kiyomasa led another 8,000 Japanese soldiers from Korea across the Tumen River to attack the Jurchen tribes in Haixi.

I have already given orders to Nurhaci of the neighboring Jianzhou Jurchens, ordering him to send troops.

Either we look for Kato Kiyomasa and attack him from behind; or we cut off the retreat route to Duman River and trap Kato Kiyomasa to death in the Jurchen land.

Li Rusong imagined the situation in the Northeast and nodded repeatedly, saying, "That's exactly what should be done."

At this time, the territory of Jianzhou Jurchen was a bit like a triangle, with the pointed corner facing downward, sandwiched between Haixi Jurchen in the north, the Kingdom of Korea in the east, and Liaodong Regional Military Commission in the west.

Lin Tailai added: "Regarding these two plans, Nurhaci can make a decision based on the actual military situation, and there is no need to force him to do either.

What's more, Nurhaci has 5,000 elite cavalry and is fully capable of carrying out the orders I give.

So, I didn't make it difficult for him, did I? My instructions were completely reasonable, right? "

Li Rusong nodded again and said, "I didn't make things difficult for anyone. These are indeed very reasonable military orders."

"Then you, the Li family, don't be anxious. Just wait and see what surprises Nurhaci will bring us." Lin Tailai said finally.

Half a month later, Lin Jinglie called Li Rusong to the shogunate again and asked Li Rusong to read the latest military report.

Kato Kiyomasa's troops defeated Bujantai, the chief of the Ula tribe of the Haixi Jurchens, and killed 900 people.

But within a few days, Kato Kiyomasa's troops were subjected to a frenzied siege and pursuit by the coalition forces of the Haixi Jurchen tribes who shared the same hatred for the enemy. After being defeated, they broke out in a panic and fled back to Korea across the Tuman River.

However, Li Rusong read the military report over and over again, but did not see Nurhaci and the Jianzhou Jurchens.

Lin Tailai sneered: "Nurhaci neither outflanked Kato Masaaki nor blocked the retreat route to Dumanjiang.

Probably in order to preserve their strength, they kept doing nothing and just watched from the sidelines.

If he had been more proactive and followed instructions, Kato Masaaki would not have been able to escape back to Korea so easily.

Do you still think that the Jianzhou Jurchens are obedient dogs?
Is Nurhaci's original intention to strengthen himself or to defend the border for Ming Dynasty?"

Li Rusong remained silent, holding the military newspaper tightly in his hand, almost turning it into pieces.

Lin Tailai said confidently: "I dare to make a bet with you. Nurhaci will definitely send troops to Haixi Nuzhi next, and first erode those tribes that have been severely weakened by Kato Masaaki's attack."

Why is Lin Tailai so confident in making the bet? Because that is what Nurhaci did in history.

The Liaodong Army fought to the death in the Kingdom of Korea, while Nurhaci of the Jianzhou Jurchens made a fortune quietly in the rear and gradually annexed the Haixi Jurchen tribes.

The Ming Dynasty, Japan and Korea fought fiercely, and the final winner was the Jianzhou Jurchens.

In this time and space, Lin Tailai became the Minister of Strategy. If he did not keep an eye on the Jianzhou Jurchens, it would be a real shame for the time traveler.

Li Rusong raised his head and said, "I won't bet with you that Nurhaci will definitely do that."

Lin Tailai asked again: "What do you think now?"

Li Rusong could see that Lin Tailai was not joking when he went to such great lengths, and was obviously trying to force the Li family to choose between the two options.

Either protect a dog that starts to act on its own, or lose Lin Tailai, a friend who has become a general and a prime minister.

So Li Rusong thought twice and said, "It was my father who raised Nurhaci, not me."

The subtext is probably that I am not familiar with him.

Lin Tailai immediately promised: "Since you are so conscious, I will request to recruit you as the general of Liaodong."

Li Rusong's mind began to work frantically. How should he explain to his father when he got home why the General of Liaodong, whom he had always hoped to reinstate, was taken down by his son.

Then he heard Lin Tailai whisper, "Perhaps after some time, the emperor will also want to exterminate Jianzhou. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Li Rusong: "."

(End of this chapter)