Daming talker

Chapter 700: A Battle Report

On the western front of Korea, south of Pyeongan-do is Hwanghae-do, and further south of Hwanghae-do is Gyeonggi-do.

When Li Rusong's Corps advanced southward from Pyeongan Province, it passed directly through Hwanghae Province, but left 3,000 soldiers of Luo Shangzhi's column in Hwanghae Province.

There are several main reasons why General Li made such deployment.

The first is that Luo Shangzhi's column was an infantry column. When it moved rapidly southward, it could not keep up with the cavalry, which affected the marching speed.

The second reason was that Luo Shangzhi was injured during the attack on Pyongyang City, and staying in Hwanghae Province was a good opportunity for him to recuperate.

The third is that Hwanghae Province has become the rear area, and sufficient forces are needed to maintain stability while ensuring the smooth flow of food and fodder supply routes.

Fourth, according to the instructions of Lin Jinglüe, the northern provinces wanted to form a loyal and patriotic army and a maintenance association, which required certain support from the Ming official army.

Of course, it would not be objective to say that General Li has no selfish motives at all. He still has some small calculations.

Luo Shangzhi himself was from Zhejiang, and his subordinates were all southern soldiers, and they were not from the same faction as the Liaodong faction.

Therefore, it would be better to let the Liaodong troops do the hard work of going south to recapture the royal capital, Seoul.

At the same time, Li Rusong paid more attention to and was accustomed to the "traditional" combat mode of the border army with cavalry and heavy artillery, and did not pay enough attention to light firearms. The southern soldiers were relatively proficient in light firearms, so they were not valued too much by Li Rusong.

Lieutenant General Luo did not express any dissatisfaction and just followed the orders.

After all, the real boss of the Southern Army, Lin Jinglie, had already gone to the Eastern Front, and no one on the Western Front could suppress Li Rusong, so it was useless for him to say anything, so he might as well lie down for the time being.

However, precisely because Lin Jinglie was able to suppress Li Rusong and even directly control the Liaodong generals, the conflict between the southern and northern soldiers was much smaller than it was originally in history.

Luo Shangzhi's headquarters is temporarily stationed in Fengshan, a main north-south transportation route. It is quite easy for him to control Hwanghae Province with only 3,000 royal troops.

On this day, when Luo Shangzhi was meeting with several Korean volunteer army leaders and considering how to reorganize them into the Hwanghae Province Loyal and Patriotic Army, suddenly a personal guard led several dusty Koreans in.

Then the guard reported: "These Koreans suddenly appeared in Gushan, claiming to be carrying the battle report of Tianshuai, and looking for the Ming army to deliver it."

Gusan is located in the northeastern corner of Hwanghae Province, near the border of Pyeongan Province, Hwanghae Province, Hamgyong Province, and Gangwon Province. Although it is also in the mountainous area in the center of the peninsula, there is a road leading to the east coast.

When Luo Shangzhi heard Lin Jinglie's battle report, he would definitely take it seriously.

The General led his army across hundreds of miles of mountainous areas deep into the northeastern Hamgyong Province, temporarily cutting off direct contact with the western front. Luo Shangzhi also wanted to know the General's current situation.

The current struggle situation is complicated, and it is difficult to say whether the battle reports sent through informal channels are true or false.

It is not impossible that the enemy forged battle reports to confuse the Ming army.

Without interrogating the Koreans who had passed through the Japanese-occupied area to deliver the war report, Lieutenant General Luo took the war report and read it first.

Brigadier General Luo came from Yuyao, Zhejiang, a place with a strong imperial examination system, where literary culture flourished. Moreover, he himself was a military scholar, so he had a very good cultural foundation.

So after reading the battle report several times, Lieutenant General Luo clapped his hands in joy and said, "This battle report is true! The General has recaptured an important town again!"

The two asked together, "Why do you think so?"

Lieutenant General Luo pointed to several places in the battle report and said, "Look at the number of casualties, 299, it must be the work of the General.

There are also many criticisms of the General in the war report, which is enough to prove that the war report could not be more true.

If an outsider forged the battle report, how could it accurately match these characteristics?"

Then Lieutenant General Luo copied the battle report into two copies and sent them to the south and the north respectively.

The message to the south was naturally transmitted to Li Rusong who had already arrived in Kaesong, so that General Li could understand the latest situation on the eastern front.

At this time, General Li was resting in Kaesong and was struggling.

It was only a hundred miles away from the royal capital, Seoul, and seemed within reach.

Moreover, the Japanese soldiers now dare not stop the Ming army and have been retreating southward. It is rumored that the Japanese soldiers in the royal capital Seoul are also retreating.

It seemed that as long as they made a concerted effort, they could capture the royal capital Seoul and accomplish the feat of liberating the capital of Korea on their own.

But before setting off, Lin Jinglue gave another suggestion: "Haste makes waste. If you advance to Kaesong, you can stop and avoid disaster."

After dealing with him for so many years, General Li knew very well that Lin Jinglue's predictions were often very accurate, almost "effective if you believe in them."

These two ideas kept fighting in his mind, and after a whole day, Li Rusong still couldn't make a decision.

At this time, Lieutenant General Luo sent the latest battle report. General Li was greatly stimulated when he saw that Lin Jinglue had successfully killed more than 10,000 enemies under such difficult conditions, recovered the area where the Korean Empire was prosperous, and completely blocked Kato Kiyomasa's retreat.

"Leave Kaesong tomorrow and continue south with dry food. You will be the vanguard!" Li Rusong ordered the fierce general Cha Dashou.

The battle reports were sent north along a well-established route, passing through Pyeongan Province, Liaodong Town and other places, and all the way to the capital.

It was already late November, and the winter in the capital was colder than in most previous years, and many ministers fell ill.

When some people are sick, not many people pay attention to them except their relatives and friends.

When some people fall ill, they become the center of attention, such as the Minister of Personnel Wang Shizhen.

Wang Tianguan has been ill since the beginning of winter and has been bedridden for more than half a month.

Everyone felt that Wang Tianguan’s days were numbered, not only in terms of his physical life, but also his political life.

Even if Wang Tianguan's body is still alive, if he is ill for a long time and unable to perform his duties normally, he must submit a letter of resignation according to convention.

Otherwise, he would be criticized by the public and impeached more fiercely for being greedy for power and influencing state affairs.

In this political environment, if Wang Tianguan was bedridden for a long time, he would most likely not be able to continue his position as the Minister of Personnel.

Unless the emperor particularly appreciates a woman, even if she is bedridden for years, she will be repeatedly forced to stay by the emperor.

Not to mention, Wang Tianguan himself is in poor health. People who are familiar with Wang Tianguan know that Wang Tianguan has been very weak since six or seven years ago.

In the past two years, probably because of the stimulation of his appointment as the Minister of Personnel, he has had a "last glimmer of life".

When the last potential is exhausted, the physical condition will be very difficult to predict.

No matter how you look at it, the Minister of Personnel is likely to be replaced, which may be the second most important personnel change in the court after the replacement of the Prime Minister.

Therefore, many officials are privately calculating and discussing who will be the next Heavenly Official.

By the middle of the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty's civil service politics had become very mature, and there were corresponding rules for the selection of almost every senior position.

As long as there are no variables like the emperor or Lin Tailai, people who are familiar with the rules of officialdom can often guess the general range in advance.

For example, the candidate for the Minister of Personnel is often the one with the longest seniority among the other ministers, who is the candidate with the highest priority. The current Wang Tianguan was able to take the position thanks to his two conditions: he was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing and the Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in Nanjing.

But if we take a closer look at the current ministers of various ministries, people who are familiar with the rules will find that the selection of a new minister of the Ministry of Personnel may be difficult this time.

The Minister of Revenue Yu Shenxing and the Minister of Punishment Chen Yubei were both Jinshi in the second year of Longqing. They are not yet fifty years old this year. How can they become the Minister of Personnel with such qualifications?

The Minister of Rites was concurrently held by Li Chun, a senior official in the cabinet, so it was even less likely that he would be the Minister of Personnel.

Although Ye Mengxiong, the Minister of War, was an old Jinshi in the Jiajing Dynasty, he previously served as a governor in a local area and had only been in the court for one year. This qualification was completely unable to convince the public.

As a result, everyone discovered that the Minister of Works, Zhong Zhenji, seemed to have better qualifications than the other ministers. After all, Minister Zhong was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing, which meant he had enough experience.

However, everyone found it strange and a bit unbelievable that the Minister of Works, who was at the end of the six ministries, was directly promoted to the Minister of Personnel.

Another official position that requires certain qualifications to compete for the position of Heavenly Official is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. However, the current Left Vice Minister Liu Yukui is only forty years old, and it is ridiculous for him to be the Minister of Personnel at this age.

Another way to recruit people is to select the Shangshu of Nanjing to be the Minister of Personnel.

But this choice made the officials in the capital feel embarrassed. Wang Tianguan was selected from Nanjing. If the next person was also selected from Nanjing, wouldn’t it mean that there was no one in the capital?

So the officials calculated and discussed for a long time, and found that if they followed the rules, there might be no suitable candidate who was popular among the people to serve as the next Minister of Personnel.

At this time, another voice emerged, suggesting that an exception could be made to transfer the Left Censor-in-Chief Sun Pi Yang to the position of Minister of Personnel.

Under normal rules, the Chief Censor cannot be promoted to the position of Heavenly Official, in order to avoid the suspicion of abusing the power of supervision to seize the throne, except in some extremely special circumstances.

This time many people thought that special matters should be handled specially. After all, Sun Pi Yang was the most senior Jinshi in the court, and there were no other suitable candidates.

Moreover, Sun Pi Yang had just been promoted from the position of Minister of Justice to Left Censor-in-Chief two months ago, and had not yet warmed up to the position of Chief Censor.

Against this background, when the news of the great victory in Hamheung Prefecture reached the capital, it did not cause much sensation, as if everyone took it for granted.

Is it anything surprising that a man like Lin Tailai was the first to capture the gate and kill ten thousand enemies?
This is not the first or second time. Any miracle will become just like that after seeing it too many times.

However, in the eyes of those who are interested, they can still find materials for the robbery from the battle reports.

In Huitong Hall, Yin Zhuoran, the North Korean special envoy for assistance, finished reading the latest war report, put it aside, and continued to worry about his situation.

Logically speaking, compared to the displaced Korean monarchs and ministers, Yin Zhengshi, who was stranded in the Ming capital by accident, lived a much more comfortable life.

Now dozens of Korean kings and ministers are still crowded in Kuandian Fort, while Envoy Yin Zheng can live in a two-courtyard apartment in Huitong Hall.

But after a long time, the money in the bag will not be enough, and living in the capital is not cheap.

Although the Ming court provided food and accommodation, entertainment and many other expenses still had to be paid for out of pocket. For example, Huitongguan was very close to Jiaofangsi Hutong.

Moreover, Yin Zhengshi also followed the example of Ming court officials and took a concubine from a local family in the capital, which also cost money.

At this time, Yin Zhuoran was sighing, when suddenly an ambassador from Huitongguan came to inform him that Zhao Nanxing, the director of the Ministry of Rites' Department of Guests, was coming to visit.

Envoy Yin Zheng was not surprised by this. After all, the Ministry of Rites' Directorate of Guests was the office responsible for dealing with envoys like him.

And Mr. Zhao and he have met frequently recently, and they are quite familiar with each other.

I just don’t know what’s going on today. Do I need to improve the food and beverage allowance?
After greeting Envoy Yin, Zhao asked, "Have you read the latest battle report from Hamheung?"

Yin Zhuoran replied respectfully, "I have just read it and was just about to write a letter to express my gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor."

Zhao Zhushi said again: "The palace of your country's Taizu was burned down in Hamheung Prefecture. Don't you feel any grief and indignation?"

Yin Zhuoran couldn't help but think of a sentence he had just learned in the Ming Dynasty - the emperor is not anxious, but the eunuchs are.

To be honest, if you don't have enough strength, what's the point of being angry? It's better to pretend you didn't see it, so as not to make yourself look bad.

Zhao Zhushi reminded him, "It is also clearly written in the war report that it was the governor Lin Tailai who was careless and watched your country's Taizu's palace being burned down.

As a minister and special envoy of North Korea, you should have something to say about this, right? Many of our colleagues will speak out for your country's plight.

If you don't speak up yourself, who else in the court will speak up for you?"

As the saying goes, one can understand the elegant meaning of a song by listening to it. Yin Zhengshi understood immediately that they wanted to use him as a pawn.

But he still had doubts: "With something like this, it is impossible to overthrow the Nine Yuan True Immortal, right?"

After two diplomatic missions to the Ming Dynasty and this time a stay of half a year, Yin Zhuoran has already gained a certain understanding of the structure of the Ming Dynasty court.

Zhao Zhushi said vaguely: "I don't expect to overthrow Jiuyuan Zhenxian by this, I just have other intentions."

Even a fool knows that this matter cannot shake Lin Tailai. They just want to use it as leverage to force Lin's party to back down.

As for how big the loot is, it depends on how loudly Yin Zhuoran, the imperial envoy, cries.

Yin Zheng couldn't come out to cry, and it was difficult for others to stand up and help speak out and expand public opinion.

Yin Zhuoran sighed deeply and said, "You should know that Jiuyuan Zhenxian killed two of our envoys in Jiulian City!"

He dared to use Lin Tailai's battle report to make trouble. I am also an envoy. Is this life enough to compensate for this?

Manager Zhao patiently advised, "Don't worry, your Excellency. Lin Tailai can't do anything to you.

The reason he was able to kill the envoys before was, firstly, that he held the imperial sword and the royal flag; secondly, that he was a general in a foreign country and had a certain degree of autonomy.

When he returns to the capital, he will return the Imperial Sword and the Royal Flag. How can this be disadvantageous to you?"

Even Mr. Zhao himself didn't quite believe what he said, but he still tried his best to fool the other party.

"By the time Lin Tailai returns to the capital, I'm afraid you will have already returned to your country!" Director Zhao added to comfort him.

Yin Zhuoran stroked the battle report and said hesitantly: "Jiuyuan Zhenxian is the minister of the Heavenly Dynasty that I am most familiar with. Now he is fighting for the restoration of the country. He is a great benefactor of our country. How can I slander him casually?"

Zhao Zhushi emphasized: "He did watch your country's Taizu's palace being burned down, and this is not slander."

Yin Zhengshi said directly, "I mean, it costs more."

Manager Zhao took out a few silver bills from his sleeve and placed them on the table without saying a word.

Yin Zhengshi picked up the bill of exchange and put it away carefully.

Zhao Zhushi did not stop Yin Zhengshi's actions. He believed that Yin Zhengshi would not dare to take money and not do his job.

(End of this chapter)