Daming talker

Chapter 706 "The King's Plan for Hegemony" (asking for monthly tickets!)

Of course Ju Jingren didn't want to go. He didn't even look at his current situation where he was in a life-and-death situation!

He first sold his prince status as a Korean land official and defected to the Japanese pirate Kato Kiyomasa, helping the pirates to plunder and govern.

Now that he has been captured by Ming Dynasty soldiers and is helping the Ming Dynasty by acting as a lobbyist in front of Kato Kiyomasa, his chances of survival are less than 30%!
Besides, with Kato Kiyomasa's personality, is he the kind of person who can negotiate calmly? Not to mention the "insult" of "persuading surrender"!

Your life is your own. If Kato Kiyomasa chops you to death, who can you turn to for justice? It can even be said that no one in the world will feel sorry for you!
Seeing Ju Jingren's frightened expression and silence for a long time, Lin Tailai said amiably: "What are you afraid of? As the saying goes, when two countries are at war, they do not kill the envoys.

You entered Kato Kiyomasa's camp as a diplomatic envoy, and considering his pretentious nature, he probably wouldn't kill you."

Ju Jingren: “.”

What do you mean by "don't kill the messenger"? Tian Shuai, you are just saying that. If he was really killed by Kato, Tian Shuai, you would definitely not feel sorry!

Why is my life so difficult? As a local official, I am always discriminated against and oppressed by the adults sent from Seoul.

The plan was to live with humiliation and hardship, but the brutal Japanese pirates were at the gates of the city.

In order to save his life, he had no choice but to sell the prince to a traitor in the court. As a result, he didn't live in peace for a few days before falling into the hands of Ming Dynasty soldiers again!

In troubled times, human life is worthless. Where is your way out?

Seeing that Ju Jingren was still silent, Lin Tianshuai said unhappily: "You and Kato Kiyomasa are the only ones here who have dealt with each other, so if you don't go to persuade them to surrender, who will?
Traitors like you will have their hearts dug out, their stomachs cut open, and then be hung on a wooden frame by the roadside in Pyeongan Province!
This department is considering you as still useful, so we are keeping you here for the time being, but you have to do something to atone for your sins, right? Otherwise, how can this department explain to your king and his ministers?
You must remember that this department is the only one in the world that can protect you and save your life for the time being!"

Lin Tailai never lied at all; everything he said was the truth. People who possess absolute power do not need to embellish their words.

Ju Jingren prostrated himself on the ground and pleaded through the translator: "I can serve in other areas and make greater contributions to Tianshuai!"

Lin Tailai seemed very surprised and asked: "Besides helping to negotiate with Kato Kiyomasa, what else can you do?"

Ju Jingren quickly replied, "When the bandit Kato Kiyomasa came to Hamgyong Province and wreaked havoc, the local officials of each city arrested the military and political officials of their city and surrendered to Kato Kiyomasa.

I am just one of them, but it just so happened that the two princes escaped to my place!
Of the civil and military officials our country appointed in Hamgyong Province, only one in ten managed to escape.

That’s why Kato was able to march straight in, travel hundreds of miles easily, penetrate the entire territory of Hamgyong Province, and reach the Tuman River.”

Lin Tailai said subconsciously: "Good, very good."

Ju Jingren was almost speechless. Tianshuai, your "good" is very subtle. Your ambition is not concealed, right?
Lin Tailai knew that the small Korean court’s rule over Hamgyong Province was ineffective, but he didn’t expect it to be so ineffective. This once again refreshed his understanding.

When a strange enemy army that had never been seen before suddenly appeared, people from all over the country tied up officials and surrendered. How much resentment did this have towards the small Korean court?

After thinking about it, I seem to understand it. I guess there are two reasons.

First, the discrimination and suppression against Hamgyong Province within North Korea is too severe, and the policy of restricting Hamgyong Province is the official national policy.

Second, North Korea has its own national conditions. Under the "Yangban", everyone is an ant. Only the direct members of the "Yangban" of more than a thousand families are truly considered human beings, and their title is hereditary. The others are just cattle and horses who will never be able to make a name for themselves.

Under these two factors, how loyal can the common people of Hamgyong Province be to the small court of North Korea? That is why when a powerful enemy is approaching, they compete to become traitors to the court.

This is probably what it means when the ruler regards his subjects as dirt and mustard seeds, and the subjects regard the ruler as an enemy.

After Ju Jingren briefly introduced the situation, he continued, "I can persuade these people to surrender, so that they can leave the Japanese pirates and join Tianshuai!"

After saying this, Ju Jingren secretly raised the corner of his eyes and observed Lin Tianshuai's expression.

As a pure fence-sitter who keeps jumping back and forth, if you don't want to die in troubled times, "observing people's words and expressions and assessing the situation" is the basic skill.

Ju Jingren has keenly discovered that Lin Tianshuai is very different from others.

Although he had never come into contact with ministers of the Celestial Empire before, he had heard some of the situations because of the frequent exchanges between envoys of Korea and the Ming Dynasty.

Those ministers of the Celestial Empire, whether in the capital or on diplomatic missions to Korea, were almost completely uninterested in or indifferent to the internal affairs of Korea. They only cared about diplomatic etiquette.

However, Lin Tianshuai was very interested in North Korea's internal affairs. He often had in-depth discussions with North Koreans about North Korea's internal situation and never hesitated to express the idea of ​​direct interference and forced intervention.

For example, just now Lin Tianshuai talked about the issue of the king's eldest illegitimate son, Imhaegun, and clearly expressed his opposition to the king's appointment of his second son, Gwanghaegun, as the crown prince.

With the knowledge of the local official Ju Jingren, he suspected that Lin Tianshuai wanted to take the opportunity to establish his own army in Korea.

Otherwise, why would they forcibly send the King of Korea and the small court across the river for "house arrest" and then start thinking about Imhaegun, the eldest son of the illegitimate son who was not favored by the king?

This is obviously a trick of supporting a puppet first and then replacing it when the time is right. Ju Jingren has also read several history books!

Therefore, Ju Jingren believed that if he could help "pacify" various places in Hamgyong Province, it would surely attract the attention of Lin Tianshuai, which would be much more useful than "persuading Kato Kiyomasa to surrender."

After all, Hamgyong Province is one of the two provinces adjacent to the Ming Dynasty. If Lin Tianshuai has the idea of ​​"dividing the land", Hamgyong Province is also a place that needs to be controlled first.

As expected, Lin Tianshuai's expression changed, and he asked expectantly, "For example?"

Ju Jingren quickly assured, "For example, the commander of Jingcheng is Ju Shibi, who is from the same clan as me. I will definitely be able to convince him to surrender to Tianshuai!"

Gyeongseong is located further north of Jizhou and is also a major city in Hamgyong Province. The word "Gyeong" in the name Hamgyong Province comes from Gyeongseong.

When Kato Kiyomasa first arrived in Hamgyong Province, this local tyrant named Gu Shipil also surrendered to Kato Kiyomasa.

Ju Jingren felt that the fact that they had captured Jingcheng, the second largest city in Hamgyong Province, without bloodshed should be able to impress Lin Tianshuai.

But Lin Tailai laughed a few times and said disapprovingly: "Wait until I annihilate Kato, wherever the heavenly soldiers go, everyone will surrender.

And they have no choice but to surrender to me, just like you, so why do you need to go to the trouble of lobbying? "

Ju Jingren: “.”

Tian Shuai’s words made so much sense that I was speechless. In the face of absolute strength, there was no need for any unnecessary pretense.

So Lin Tailai said impatiently: "So you should go to Jizhou and persuade Kato Kiyomasa to surrender!
In addition, when you are in Jizhou City, you can look for opportunities to contact those Korean soldiers who have surrendered to the Japanese pirates and persuade them to turn against them!
If you can help break the city, you will be doing a great service to our Ming Dynasty soldiers!"

Faced with such trust and importance, Ju Jingren almost wanted to cry. Just saying that if he went to "persuade" Kato Kiyomasa to surrender, his survival rate would be no more than 30%.

If we add the task of contacting and lobbying North Korean soldiers to act as traitors, the chance of survival will probably be less than 10%!
No! There is always a way out, we must find a way to survive!

Ju Jingren racked his brains and said, "Marshal Tian may not know the truth. The situation is not that simple. I wonder if Marshal Tian has heard of the volunteer soldiers in North Hamgyong Province?" Lin Tailai said indifferently, "Those volunteer soldiers are useless to me. I don't care about them."

Ju Jingren was afraid that Lin Tianshuai would not be interested in this, so he quickly said: "At the beginning, there were no righteous soldiers in Hamgyong Province. Even if the Japanese pirates occupied the entire territory, no one gathered troops to resist.

However, since the news of the Ming Dynasty's large-scale crossing of the river spread, several groups of volunteer soldiers suddenly emerged in North Hamgyong Province.

From this we can see that these volunteers are not exactly the same as those in the south. They are all speculators who follow the wind!

Tianshuai, you won't believe that these volunteers from North Hamgyong Province are really loyal to the king, right?
The biggest leader of the righteous army is Zheng Wenfu, who was originally a sixth-rank official in North Hamgyong Province, with about two to three thousand men under his command.

"Wait!" Lin Tailai suddenly interrupted Ju Jingren and asked in confusion, "Why did you only nominate a mere sixth-rank official as the leader?"

Ju Jingren explained with a little embarrassment: "Most of the officials in Hamgyong Province were betrayed by the common people to the Japanese pirates, and then captured or killed.

Among the officials who escaped, Zheng Wenfu, who was a sixth-rank official, was the highest-ranking one. "

Then he continued, "In my opinion, these righteous soldiers who took advantage of the arrival of the Heavenly Soldiers to bluff and start a rebellion are all ambitious speculators.

Their real purpose was to seek credit and reward from the king in order to achieve success.

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Now, under the pressure of Tianshuai's army, all the Japanese soldiers in Kato Kiyomasa were forced to withdraw from other places and gather in Jizhou.

As far as I know, the volunteer soldiers in North Hamgyong Province have become very active recently. Taking advantage of the Japanese pirates' withdrawal from other places, they are inciting the local garrisons who surrendered to the Japanese pirates to rebel.

He is trying to take advantage of the heaven's work for himself and use the recovery of lost territory as his own achievement!"

"Then what?" Lin Tailai asked back calmly.

Ju Jingren said with great sorrow: "The idea of ​​the North Hamgyong Province Righteous Soldiers is to ask for rewards from the king, and they have no intention of submitting to the Heavenly Marshal!

If they managed to recapture other places first, Tianshuai would probably not be able to take action against the righteous army due to moral reasons.

If this situation occurs, it will be a huge obstacle to Tianshuai's ambition to rule Hamgyong Province!"

Lin Tianshuai: “???”

Aspiring to be king and hegemon? What kind of lewd words are coming out of your mouth, a traitor to the court?
And who told you that I am embarrassed to attack the so-called righteous soldiers? As long as I am willing, the righteous soldiers can also become rebels!
Also, how do you know that Marshal Ben Tian has ideas about Hamgyong Province?

Although Ju Jingren was still kneeling, he gradually straightened his back and spoke passionately:
“Although Tianshuai and Kato are confronting each other here, we cannot ignore the overall situation of Hamgyong Province. I am willing to make some plans for Tianshuai now!
First of all, spread rumors immediately and widely, saying that the Japanese pirates in Hamgyong Province had been annihilated, and after the officials of the Joseon Dynasty returned, they would thoroughly settle accounts with the traitors who had defected to the Japanese pirates!
Only by promptly switching sides to the Ming Dynasty's Lin Tianshuai can he obtain protection and avoid being liquidated by the Li Dynasty!

Lin Tianshuai of the Ming Dynasty is the only savior of those who rebel against the Ming Dynasty and the only sun in the sky of Hamgyong Province!
Afterwards, I will rush to Jingcheng as fast as possible to persuade Ju Shibi of the same clan to set an example of switching to Tianshuai!

Afterwards, a chain effect was formed in various places in the northern part of Hamgyong Province, like a snowball!

This will definitely help Tianshuai completely control the entire Hamgyong Province at the lowest cost!"

Lin Tailai began to encourage them, saying, "These ideas are very good!"

Then he added, "So when do you plan to enter Jizhou to persuade Kato Kiyomasa to surrender? It's too late today, but I think tomorrow will be fine."

Ju Jingren: “.”

After all the effort you put into fooling people, Tianshuai, can you please forget about that damn mission of persuading them to surrender?
However, Lin Tailai looked at the map of Hamgyong Province for a few times, gestured, and asked again: "Are you familiar with Jiashan County?"

This question was so abrupt that the confused Ju Jingren almost couldn't react.

As we all know, most of Hamgyong Province is plateaus and mountains, so most of the prefectures and counties are distributed along the east coast, and this coastline is also the core area of ​​Hamgyong Province.

However, two administrative regions were also set up in the inland plateaus and mountains, and Jiashan County was one of them.

But in the eyes of most people, Gapsan County is the most remote and poor place. If Hamgyong Province was regarded as a remote area by the Joseon Dynasty, then Gapsan was the remotest of the remote areas.

Ju Jingren really didn't understand why Lin Tianshuai, who was in Jizhou, was so concerned about Jiashan, which was located deep in the mountains and forests. Could it be that Jizhou was the coastal prefecture closest to Jiashan?

Moreover, there is an official road in Jizhou that leads to Jiashan County. This is also the only official road from Jiashan, a county town deep in the plateau, to the best coastal area.

"Are you familiar with Jiashan?" Lin Tailai looked at Ju Jingren who was in a daze and asked again.

Ju Jingren came back to his senses, quickly opened his eyes and told the truth, "I know this villain very well!"

As long as I am not forced to persuade Kato Kiyomasa to surrender, it will be fine even if I am sent to Koyama in the deep mountains and forests!

Lin Tailai frowned and looked at Ju Jingren, and finally decided to believe it once: "Then you should be mentally prepared, I may send you to Jiashan."

"Yes! Yes!" Ju Jingren quickly agreed.

Lin Tailai added: "There is no rush to go to Jiashan. Go and persuade Kato Kiyomasa to surrender tomorrow."

Ju Jingren: “.”

So, in the end there is no choice, right?
Am I going to become a stepping stone and victim of Lin Tianshuai's ambition to dominate the world?

"Go down!" Lin Tailai waved to Ju Jingren and looked at the map again.

Jiashan County has no other advantages except that it is very rich in copper mines, and there is more than one copper mine!
Copper was extremely scarce in the Ming Dynasty's economic system and seriously hindered the development of the commodity economy!
The largest copper mine in the world that Lin Tailai had talked about when he deceived the emperor was located in the area of ​​​​present-day Jiashan County.

This is one of the reasons why Lin Tailai was so interested in Hamgyong Province that he even went on a long expedition himself.

Since you've boasted in front of the emperor, you have to at least produce some real results.

However, the specific location of that "world's largest copper mine" is further north than Jiashan City, very close to the Yalu River and Changbai Mountain, and it is still a mountain village.

Lin Tailai wondered whether he could use the Yalu River to transport the copper ore after it was developed.

Once you reach the mouth of the Yalu River, you can take the land route to Liaodong or take the sea route to Tianjin and Shandong.

No matter how remote the location is, it is more convenient to mine and transport than the Yunnan copper mine, right? And the journey to the capital is also closer than that to Yunnan, right?

(End of this chapter)