Daming talker

Chapter 693: The Maintenance Association and the Loyal National Salvation Army

Qian Yiben had been communicating with his colleagues for a long time when he suddenly noticed that Gu Xiancheng's face didn't look very good. He couldn't help but feel startled. Did he steal all the limelight from Gu Jun?
He quickly shook off the others, and approached Gu Xiancheng, lowering his head and saying: "Mr. Gu! Let me take the lead in attacking Lin Tailai this time."

The others beside him also said in unison: "Yes, yes, Mr. Qian is more prepared."

Even Gu Xiancheng's younger brother Gu Yuncheng and close comrade-in-arms Gao Panlong were advising Gu Xiancheng not to fight this time.

Gu Xiancheng wanted to curse in the streets, but due to his personality and image, he had to keep it in his heart.

With reluctance in mind, Gu Xiancheng could not help but act like a senior expert and said:
"I just think that it is better to keep the specific figures in the content listed by Qian Jun vague, so as to avoid being caught and used as a handle for impeachment.

For example, making up numbers like 630 pieces of cloth and 53 roots of ginseng is too easy to verify as false.

Qian Yiben replied confidently: "But this is not made up, but the real number.

Lin Tailai did receive such bribes before crossing the river. They were delivered to the Jiuliancheng Jinglüe Shogunate by the Korean envoy Li Dexin on the afternoon of September 28th.

Everyone: "."

Old Qian, your current approach is a bit wild. You talk as if you saw it with your own eyes. How did you know about it?

Qian Yiben quickly explained: "There is a man named Cui Wukui in the Jinglüe Bakufu who is in charge of the affairs of the Joseon Kingdom.

He is a native of the capital, and my wife, Mrs. Ru, whom I married in the capital, is his cousin.

Because of this kinship, he would reveal a lot of Lin Tailai’s private matters to me.”

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and they all said, "It's up to Mr. Qian to maintain public opinion."

There were also familiar fellow villagers who said in a heavy tone: "Take care, Mr. Qian!"

This is a tacit acknowledgement that after Lin Tailai returns to the court, Qian Yiben will be retaliated against. It is unknown whether he will be exiled to Guizhou or Hainan.

Qian Yiben said passionately: "Don't worry about me, I have already ordered a coffin and put it in the front yard of my house. I will use it whenever I want!"

Everyone: "."

Gu Xiancheng saw that the situation was hopeless and felt helpless. This time, Qian Yiben took the opportunity!

The next day, Qian Yiben, an outstanding representative of the Qingliu Party, submitted a memorial, the main content of which was to impeach Lin Tailai, the Minister of Liaodong Korea, for five major crimes.

“First, he falsely pretended to be authorized by the imperial court and discussed peace with Konishi Yukinaga, the chief general of the Japanese pirates in Pyongyang, which was a deception to the imperial court.

Second, they set fire to Pyongyang and destroyed the temporary capital of a friendly country.

Third, openly extorting women from the Korean monarch and his ministers was truly appalling and undermined the dignity of the superior country.

Fourthly, under the pretext of crossing the river to fight against the Japanese, he accepted bribes from Korean officials totaling 630 bolts of cloth and 53 roots of ginseng, and influenced military and national affairs based on his personal likes and dislikes.

Fifth, he instigated the cruel officials of Korea to massacre Korean civilians, saying that he would rather kill 300 innocent people than kill them, which is against the harmony of heaven.

After reading Qian Yiben's memorial, the court officials, while admiring Qian Yiben's courage, finally felt that the atmosphere in the court had returned to normal.

As a general leading a large army, how could Lin Tailai not be impeached? How could there not be criticism of his remarks in the court?
A few days later, battle reports from Minister of Strategy Lin Tailai and Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Expedition Li Rusong were sent back to the court.

Among them, Lin Jinglüe’s battle report was mediocre, average, and unremarkable, the kind that you wouldn’t want to take a second look at after the first one.

But Li Rusong's battle report immediately made it to the court's hot search list of the day, if such a list really existed.

In the battle report, in addition to the usual battle process and results, Li Rusong also severely criticized Lin Jinglie.

There are mainly two aspects. The first is to disregard the overall situation, take risks and take the lead without considering the consequences.

The second is that he was ambitious and used his status as a general to compete with generals for the credit of breaking the city, which was unbecoming of a minister.

After Qian Yiben's impeachment, everyone in the court finally felt relieved when they saw Li Rusong's battle report.

Sure enough, it was the familiar recipe and the familiar taste. The Ming Dynasty was still the Ming Dynasty, and there was no change.

There was nothing to worry about, the court continued to play music and dance.

Emperor Wanli sent a secret letter to the Prime Minister Zhao Zhigao, asking him how to respond to Qian Yiben's impeachment and Li Rusong's battle report.

Zhao Shoufu replied: "Lin Tailai's behavior outside is improper. Although he has made great contributions, it is not convenient to remove him from office and investigate him, but he should still be reprimanded and warned to correct his behavior."

Afterwards, Emperor Wanli kept all the memorials impeaching Lin Tailai in his possession without issuing any response, which was a signal of indulgence.

It is more reassuring to employ talents who can make achievements but have many flaws.

This is roughly the situation of the fluctuations caused by the Pyongyang victory in the country.

After all, no matter what others think of Lin Tailai, they have to admit that it is not worth making any more fuss about Lin Tailai, who has countless halos, conquering a mere Pyongyang.

After all, this is the one and only Jiuyuan True Immortal throughout history, the practitioner of seven battles and seven victories in the northwest, the conqueror of the uncrowned queen of the Northern Tartars, and the undefeated winner from Suzhou to the capital.

However, the most troubled people in the country were not in the imperial court, but in Kuandian Fort on the border of Liaodong.

Tong Yangzheng, the deputy general guarding Kuandian in Liaodong Town, was almost driven crazy by the news of the great victory in Pyongyang.

This Tong Yangzheng was a genuine Ming minister and general, and had nothing to do with the more famous Tong Yangzheng of the Jurchen Later Jin in history.

The real name of Tong Yangzheng of the Later Jin Dynasty was Tong Yangzhen. Later, he changed it to Tong Yangzheng to avoid taboos. He was not the same person as Tong Yangzheng, the deputy general of Kuandian Fort in the 20th year of Wanli.

After the Korean monarch and his ministers were forced to cross the river to seek refuge, Lin Jinglue was afraid that they would become a nuisance in Jiuliancheng. After all, Jiuliancheng was the only way for the army to cross the river and transport food and grass, so he let the Korean monarch and his ministers move to Kuandian Fort in the north.

Therefore, Tong Yangzheng, the deputy general stationed at Kuandian Fort, became the chief officer in charge of guarding, no, serving the monarch and his ministers of the Korean Kingdom.

Originally, this job was easy, with good food and drink, and no trouble between them. But after the news of the great victory in Pyongyang reached them, the rulers and ministers of Korea began to get restless.

You should know that Korea had three capitals, and Pyongyang was the western capital. When the Korean king and his ministers fled, they once wanted to stay in Pyongyang temporarily.

However, the Japanese troops advanced very quickly and headed straight for Pyongyang, so the Korean monarch and his ministers had to abandon Pyongyang and continue to flee.

Ten days after the heavenly army crossed the river, Pyongyang was recovered, and the rulers and ministers of Korea began to think about moving back to Pyongyang.

As the saying goes, "Liangyuan is nice but not a place to stay for long", not to mention that the not-so-big Kuandian Fort accommodated so many "kings and ministers", and the living experience was not comfortable. And the order Tong Yangzheng received was that the king and ministers of the Joseon Kingdom were not allowed to leave Kuandian Fort.

Yun Doo-su, the Left Councillor of the Joseon court, was ordered to negotiate with Tong Yang-jeong and asked, "Why don't we move our king to Pyongyang?"

Tong Yangzheng scratched his head and explained somewhat reluctantly: "Lin Jinglue wrote a letter saying that the current war situation is still unstable and the Japanese pirates may still make a comeback, so your country's monarch and ministers should not move to Pyongyang."

Yoon Doo-su ​​added, “Even if it is not appropriate to go to Pyongyang for the time being, Uiju has become the rear area, so we can always move to Uiju and wait and see.”

Tong Yangzheng replied: "Lin Jinglue also wrote that Yizhou has become a transportation base for the army's food and supplies. It is a matter of life and death for the army. It is not appropriate to let your king and his ministers return to Yizhou."

Yin Doushou said angrily, "What kind of logic is this? Yizhou is our land, why shouldn't our king and his subjects return to Yizhou?

Besides, what does my return to Yizhou have to do with the transportation of food and supplies for the army? "

Tong Yangzheng couldn't help scratching his head again, "According to the agreement, after the food and fodder enter your country, your country will organize manpower to transport them, and our Ming Dynasty can lend us livestock.

I am afraid that after your king and his ministers arrive in Yizhou, they will try every possible means to embezzle and withhold food and supplies."

Yin Doushou was furious, "Shit! This is nonsense!"

"That's what Lin Jinglie said as well!" Tong Yangzheng quickly threw out the shield.

Yin Doushou argued: "Even if you are the governor, you can't slander our country's innocence like this!"

Tong Yangzheng curled his lips, "To be honest, isn't Lin Jinglie's worry unreasonable? With the morals of your country's yangban, can 30% of the money and grain passed through their hands be confiscated by the government?
Can you guarantee that your country's king and ministers, who have suffered heavy losses and are suffering from poverty, will not be tempted when they see the large quantities of food and supplies when they arrive in Yizhou?
To be frank, even you, Yin Yizheng, may not be able to control your own hands. "

Yin Doushou: “.”

Holy shit! How come a general from the Ming Dynasty knows so much about the internal situation of North Korea? Who betrayed the intelligence information of North Korea?

Tong Yangzheng struck while the iron was hot and said, "So your king and his ministers should follow the instructions of Lin Jinglüe and stay in Kuandian Fort for the time being."

"Open conspiracy! This is an open conspiracy!" Yin Dou Shou said excitedly.

Lin Tailai was determined to keep the small Korean court in Liaodong, and his intentions were obvious.

While he was conquering cities in Korea, he was isolating the Korean monarch and his ministers in Liaodong, preventing the small Korean court from contacting the liberated soldiers and civilians in the first place. It was obvious that he was trying to steal the show!

Tong Yangzheng pretended to be stupid and asked, "What conspiracy? How come I don't know? Please teach me, Yin Yizheng."

Yin Dou Shou was speechless. He could think about Lin Tailai's conspiracy in his mind but could not say it out loud.

As long as they say it out loud, the table will be turned over and the relationship will be completely broken, but the small North Korean court obviously does not have the ability to turn over the table at present.

In other words, they could not afford the consequences of turning the table, so the initiative to turn the table was not at all on the side of the Korean monarch and his ministers.

So Yin Dou Shou came to negotiate in anger and left in even more anger.

After sending Yin Dou Shou out of the office, Tong Yangzheng breathed a sigh of relief. This diplomatic work is really not something that ordinary people can do.

Tell lies to people and tell human lies to ghosts. You need to be not only thick-skinned but also hard-hearted.

However, after Yoon Doo-su ​​reported back to King Lee, King Lee then issued an order to Liu Chenglong, the three-province inspector and governor-general of all military affairs who returned with the army.

At least during this period of time, if the small court wants to maintain its influence in the country, it can only rely on Liu Chenglong.

When the decree was delivered to Liu Chenglong, Liu Chenglong was in Shunan seeing off Lin Jinglie who was leaving for the east.

Before Lin Tailai got on his horse, he expressed his gratitude and said, "Thank you for finding a few Koreans who can speak Chinese. Otherwise, there would not be enough interpreters to be assigned to each column."

Liu Chenglong took the newly delivered king's edict and said to Lin Jinglue humbly without opening it, "No, no, it's all my responsibility."

Lin Jinglue pointed at the edict in Liu Chenglong's hand and said, "This is an urgent edict sent by your king. Why don't you open it and read it?"

Liu Chenglong replied cautiously, "Wait until we send the governor away, and then we'll look at it carefully."

He was afraid that the king, who was in Liaodong, was in a bad mood and would say something radical. If Lin Jinglue knew about it, he would be in trouble.

"Are you afraid that I will know the contents of the decree?" Lin Tailai asked back, "Don't worry, I already know what is written in it! It doesn't matter whether you open it in front of me or not."

Liu Chenglong: “.”

Could it be that it was secretly opened and read during the delivery process? Or did Lin Jinglüe already know about it through his inner circle when the imperial court was writing the edict?
Whatever the possibility, it's too much.

Lin Jinglue said in an orderly manner: "The edict mainly contains three contents. The first is to ask about your recent work performance; the second is to express your Majesty's thoughts about the country and the people; the third is to ask you, Liu Chenglong, to prepare some money and send it to Kuandian Fort to provide for the king."

Lin Jinglie's tone was very calm, but Liu Chenglong felt sweat pouring down his back. He clearly did nothing, but why was Lin Jinglie's tone so frightening?
Liu Chenglong thought for a moment and asked, "I heard that Zheng Renhong brought his righteous army from another place to join the governor yesterday?"

Zheng Renhong was considered a backbone of the Northern Party, but he did not roam around with the small court. Instead, he organized an anti-Japanese volunteer army among the local people.

Lin Tailai replied, "It is true. Our department feels that Zheng Renhong is a useful person, so we have entrusted him to organize the Northern Loyal and Patriotic Army.

We don't need your country's official army, we only recruit loyal and righteous people from the people, and match every 100 people with 10 people from our Ming official army. Speaking of which, this interpreter is really not enough. "

Liu Chenglong said a little aggrievedly: "But I am the one appointed by the king as the commander-in-chief of all military forces. Shouldn't I be the one to organize the Loyal and Patriotic Army?"

In such troubled times, nothing you say will be of any use; having soldiers in hand is the only thing that matters.

The Lin Jinglie in front of us is the best example. If he didn't have 70,000 elite troops under his command, could he be so tough?
If Zheng Renhong is allowed to form the Loyal and Patriotic Army, wouldn't Liu Chenglong be sidelined?

And there is an even more crucial question: Does Lin Jinglie no longer believe in himself?

Lin Tailai said in surprise: "Didn't we arrange for you to organize maintenance associations in various places? Don't you think your work is not enough?
In addition to maintaining basic local government affairs, on the one hand, they cleared out the traitors who defected to the Japanese pirates, and on the other hand, they suppressed the wealthy families who had grain but refused to pay it to the Ming army.

These tasks are also very important and will be very arduous. It will be difficult for you to be the president of the maintenance association."

Liu Chenglong, the president of the North Korean National Maintenance Association, said quickly: "I can also be loyal to the governor, I can also save the country for the governor, and I can also organize militia for the governor!"

Lin Jinglüe responded: "No hurry, no hurry, wait until my campaign to the east is over before we talk about it."

(End of this chapter)