Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 802 Despair
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Heavy rain was pouring down, and the royal residence was shrouded in a depressing atmosphere in the dark night. In the brightly lit reception room, Li Yu was fidgeting, looking outside the hall from time to time, anxiously waiting for Zhu Youjian.

Since Yi Jong and his followers usurped the throne and Yi Hyun died in the war, Yi Il, as the crown prince, became the new King of Joseon and was canonized by the Ming Dynasty.

However, after returning to Korea from Ming Dynasty, facing the increasingly deteriorating situation, Li Yu did not sleep well for a single day, and the pressure made him anxious.

The gentle and refined temperament of the past is long gone.

The environment can change people invisibly.

"Your Majesty, my prince is on his way back." After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Li Yan walked into the reception room holding a cup of fresh tea and walked towards Li Yu.

"Is His Royal Highness coming back soon?"

Li Yu hurriedly stood up, walked quickly towards Li Yan, and said with wide eyes.

"Your Majesty, please be patient."

Li Yan smiled and said, "When my Highness knew that the King was coming, he hurried back to Pyongyang. As you know, the firearms and weapons needed for the front line have not been delivered yet, so it is difficult to suppress the rebellion at the front line."

"It has been raining everywhere recently, and floods have occurred in many places. North Korea has experienced floods that have not been seen in decades, which has had a great impact on the encirclement and suppression."

Li Yu was silent.

He came here this time just for this matter, because the rain caused the originally very good battle situation to be affected and changed in an instant.

What Li Shen could not stand the most was that some of the Korean government troops in Gangwon Province actually fled, which made Li Shen furious when he learned about it.

In order to prepare for the two routes of Gangwon to suppress the rebellion, the Korean royal family and the royal court paid a huge price, issuing bonds, confiscating traitors, donating gold and silver and other means, and they were able to barely raise the military funds needed for the Ming Dynasty's encirclement and suppression.

But if in the end, they fail to suppress the rebellious forces in Gangwon Province and fail to inflict severe damage on the main culprit of the rebellion, Li Jong, then wouldn't all the military expenditures that they spent on selling everything they had be wasted?

"Counselor Li, under the current situation, the encirclement and suppression in Jiangyuan..." Thinking of this, Li Yu looked at Li Yan anxiously.

"Your Majesty, to be honest, I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain this."

Li Yan knew what Li Yu meant. He remembered what his own prince had told him, so he said to Li Yu, "Due to floods in many places, many official roads have been washed away and covered. There are also civil unrest in places like Hwanghae Province. Under such circumstances, even if the front-line army wants to launch an offensive, the problem is that the food and grass are insufficient, and the firearms and weapons of each unit have been greatly consumed. This battle will be difficult to fight."

Despair arose in Li Jong's heart.

Although he had thought of this situation when he came here, he still held a glimmer of hope in his heart. Now, this glimmer of hope is shattered.

If someone else had said this, Li Yu might not have believed it.

But since it was Li Yan, he had to believe it.

Zhu Youjian was canonized as the grandson of the King of Tang by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and went to the court as a royal minister. However, he did not come alone, but was accompanied by a group of civil and military followers.

According to what Li Zong had heard, this group of civil and military officials were selected by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Even the personal guards of the Tang King's grandson were chosen from the emperor's personal army.

This shows how much importance the Ming Emperor attached to Zhu Youjian, the grandson of the King of Tang.

In addition to Li Yan, those who assisted Zhu Youjian in military affairs included Gu Junen, Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing and others. Zhu Youjian had even more military generals under his command, including Liu Zongmin, Liu Tiren, He Jin, Tian Hualong, Dang Shousu, Ma Shiyao and others, all of whom were highly valued by Zhu Youjian.

In despair, Li Yu thought of the civil and military officials under Zhu Youjian. For some reason, an idea came to his mind. However, even if he wanted to realize this idea, he had to wait until he met Zhu Youjian first.

…At the same time, in the inner courtyard of Minister Wang’s residence.

"Your Highness, would you like to see the King of Joseon?"

Gu Jun'en brought the hot tea to Zhu Youjian, lowered his head slightly and said, "The King of Korea has been here for several hours. If I don't go to see him, I'm afraid..."

"No rush, just wait."

Zhu Youjian, who had changed into a refreshing robe, took the teacup nonchalantly and said, "It is he who needs help now, not me, Your Highness. Let's talk later."

When the people in the hall heard this, they looked at each other with different expressions.

"By the way, how is the training of the new soldiers in the Incheon camp going?"

Zhu Youjian recalled the discussions at the rebellion headquarters, raised his eyebrows and looked at Gu Jun'en and the others and said, "If the new soldiers sent from Liaodong, Northern Zhili, Shandong and other places are pulled out to fight now, can they withstand the baptism of the battlefield?"

"I'm afraid it won't work yet."

Song Xiance glanced around, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "According to Liu Zongmin, Liu Tiren and others, it will probably take several months for this group of more than 20,000 new soldiers to leave the Incheon camp and go to the front battlefield to participate in the encirclement and suppression."

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"It will take several more months?"

Zhu Youjian frowned and said, "How could this happen? Didn't His Majesty say that a group of people would be selected from the personal guards to rush to the Incheon camp to serve in various military positions?"

At this time, Song Xiance and the others lowered their heads.

"Why? You didn't draw any troops?"

Zhu Youjian immediately guessed something and slammed the teacup down on the table.

"Your Highness, if more people are transferred, you will not have enough manpower around you." Gu Jun'en said stiffly, "His Majesty has issued an order that your safety must be ensured."

“Insufficient is insufficient.”

Zhu Youjian waved his hand to interrupt, "Your Highness is in Seoul, and he is not going to the front line. Why do you need so many people around you?"

"The 20,000 new soldiers in the Incheon camp must be trained as soon as possible. You are aware that the war in Korea will take a long time, but it will eventually end."

"After the war is over, Korea will need a garrison. Many of the troops under the command of Lord Sun will return to their original places, and some will be transferred to the three major fleets. The main force of the Korean garrison needs to be gradually built by Your Highness."

"Why, when the war in Korea is over, the Korean garrison has not been trained yet and cannot be stationed in various places. How do you want His Majesty to look at me, and how will he look at you?"

Zhu Youjian didn't care at all about Li Yu's despair. What he cared about now was to complete all the tasks assigned by the emperor without reservation.

At present, Zhu Youjian is not only in charge of the logistical support for aiding Korea, but also shoulders the important task of establishing a garrison in Korea. It is precisely because of this that a batch of money, food and military supplies are added to the military expenditure for suppressing the rebellious forces.

In addition, the Dragon Guards stationed in Korea would share some of the military intelligence they had obtained with Zhu Youjian to ensure that Zhu Youjian could know the overall situation in Korea.

It is exactly like this. Zhu Youjian understands Sun Chengzong very well. The degree of corruption in Korea is more serious than expected. The foundation of the Lee family in Korea has been shaken because of this rebellion. This may not be what Sun Chengzong wants to see, but it is what Zhu Youjian wants to see.

(End of this chapter)