Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 249 Hidden Malice

Nanjing, South Korea Government House.

The crown prince Li Qi heard some news and ran to find his father excitedly.Perhaps he had learned his lesson and remembered his father's instructions. After seeing his father practicing calligraphy in the study, he dismissed all the servants around him.

Then, he excitedly entered the door without forgetting to close the door, and said to his father: "Dad, I just heard that those two boys went to war with the Mongolian Tatars in Liaodong with only 5 troops. Now There’s a good show to watch!”

After finishing speaking, Li Qi saw that his father was still writing, as if he hadn't heard what he said. He felt a little disappointed, and became anxious and asked: "Is this news correct? Only 5 people dare to run away. , this is not seeking death! Dad’s plan is indeed brilliant!"

Of course he knew. His father had tried his best to get the boy from Liujiacun to the north to join forces with King Yan. It was indeed true. Even Duke Wei could not stop those two boys who wanted to die.

After luckily winning the Battle of Yongping, his tail was in the air. He didn't know how much he weighed, but he dared to run to Liaodong with only 5 troops!You know, the Mongolian Tatars in Liaodong have about [-] troops, and he also heard from his father that the situation in Liaodong is complicated, and there are Jurchens and Koreans involved.

In this way, he could almost conclude that the two boys would definitely suffer a big loss this time.Even if they don't die, if they lose too many soldiers and generals, the emperor will definitely punish them, which will make them feel bad.

At this time, Li Shanchang had finished writing. After putting down his brush, he looked at the few words he had written before turning to his son and said, "Your news has been delayed for a long time. It has been at least a month since they launched the Liaodong War." Yes. But the war has not yet been decided, so only a few people in the court know the news."

Upon hearing this, Li Qi quickly asked: "It has been more than a month? Has there been any result? Did those two boys suffer a big loss, or were they killed by the Mongolian Tatars?"

Li Shanchang did not answer immediately, and signaled his son to move the calligraphy he had written, and then replied: "Don't be impatient. Is fighting a matter of one sentence? If there is really a victory or defeat, it will take at least half a year." Ji, just wait patiently, sooner or later there will be news."

Li Qi was a little disappointed after hearing this.He wished that the news would come immediately, and that King Yan was injured and the boy from Liujia Village was killed, so that he could let out the evil spirit in his heart and the hatred of seizing his wife!
If he had known that Zhang Yifan could contribute to a great victory just by spending his leisurely days fishing at the beach, he probably would have never wanted to hear the news.

But at this moment, he was still excited, and even helped his father sharpen ink, and then continued to ask: "Dad, will they be defeated?"

When Li Shanchang heard this, he pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head and said: "It is definitely impossible to win, but it will be difficult to lose."

"Why?" Li Qi was a little surprised when he heard this, and immediately said unconvinced: "The Mongolian Tatars have at least 20 troops, and there are also Jurchens and Koreans who are interfering. This means that those two guys have at least 5 troops. You have to deal with a force that is four or five times more powerful, and you still can't be defeated?"

He also understood what his father meant, which meant that he might be undefeated, but then slightly inclined to suffer a little loss.

After hearing this, Li Shanchang held the brush in his hand without dropping it. Instead, he looked up at his son and said patiently: "Writing is not just about the number of troops! The firearm invented by Zhang Yifan is indeed powerful, but the number is relatively small now. Otherwise, It is possible that they won the war in Liaodong. The reason why dad said that..."

At this point, he paused and then continued to explain: "The Duke of Wei is watching over there! If the two of them had not persuaded the Duke of Wei, they would definitely not have been able to send troops based on the seniority of the Duke of Wei."

The title of the first hero in the founding of the Ming Dynasty fell on Li Shanchang.However, if we want to say who is most capable of competing for this title, it must be Xu Da.It can be seen from this that Xu Da’s qualifications are over.Not to mention, Xu Da is also the father-in-law of King Yan and a veteran in the army.

Li Qi naturally knew this and understood that his father was right, so he rolled his eyes and said, "Then we will transfer Duke Wei back?"

Without Wei Guogong watching, those two boys wouldn't be able to fly into the sky!

When Li Shanchang heard this, his eyes widened and he said, "You're going to transfer me back when you say you're going to transfer me back? Who do you think I am?"

Having said this, he looked outside the door, then lowered his voice and shouted: "Don't say such words in the future!"

"Don't worry, Dad, when I first came in, I sent my servants away." Li Qi saw it and quickly explained, "Since Wei Guogong is here, what if those two boys not only were not defeated, but also made contributions?" what to do?"

Listening to his son chattering about things in the north, Li Shanchang put the brush back into the pen holder, then sat on the Taishi chair and motioned to his son to bring him the tea on the table.

After he got the tea, Li Shanchang looked at his son and said: "The war in Yunnan is going well. With the abilities of Fu Youde and Mu Ying, 20 troops, and the people's support strategy deployed in advance, I believe that this year's victory will definitely come from Yunnan." . So what if we win the battle in Liaodong? Compared with Yunnan, even if the emperor favors his son and son-in-law, there will be no reward."

Having said this, he paused, curled his lips slightly, and said with a sneer: "Otherwise, even the emperor would not be able to reward Yunnan soldiers, unless they want to keep the rewards and punishments unclear!"

As Li Shanchang spoke, he was certain in his heart that now that the Meng Yuan Dynasty had only been expelled but not destroyed, if Zhu Yuanzhang had rewarded Liaodong more and rewarded less Yunnan soldiers because the war in Yunnan and the war in Liaodong were obviously not on the same level, it would have affected his prestige. It will definitely be a very significant blow.With his wisdom, he definitely couldn't do it, even if he wanted to favor the Zhu family.

Li Qi understood clearly that with Zhuyu from the Yunnan war front, even if King Yan and that boy won the battle in Liaodong, there would be no trouble.

After understanding this, he felt a little happy.But he was not limited to that, so he wanted to say more.

However, before he could speak, Li Shanchang saw it and said before him: "If you think about the defeat of Liaodong and let the Mongols kill that kid, it is not realistic. Although there are many Tatars in Liaodong , but with Nanaha’s ability to defeat this defeated enemy, I’m afraid it’s impossible. Unless a miracle happens!”

Having said this, he paused, took a sip of tea, and then seeing his son looking very unhappy, he continued: "But don't worry, with the few troops under King Yan, even if the firearms are sharp, However, due to the small number and the consumption of ammunition, it is very difficult to achieve a great victory. The most likely outcome is that it is just a small fight, and it is impossible to achieve much. Unless the emperor starts to mobilize to the north Only with a large number of troops can we achieve a great victory!"

Li Qi was still unhappy after hearing this. This was far from what he expected.

Li Shanchang naturally saw it, and to be honest, he wasn't happy either.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, the only person in the Ming Dynasty who could make Li Shanchang suffer a big loss but not come back with revenge was the boy from Liujiacun!
Originally, I thought he was just a country orphan, and it was not a matter of a word to deal with him.Unexpectedly, he would fall victim to this boy repeatedly.This made him unable to sleep well for many days, and his chest hurt when he thought about it.However, sometimes, he had to admit that this boy from Liujiacun was really capable and could do anything.He was envious of just his ability to make money.

Last month, he had to select a group of students from that kid. To be honest, he wanted his son to study there.As long as you learn that kid's skills, you will be able to make money in a good way.

However, in the end, he couldn't lose face, so he could only secretly hint to the younger members of his clan who were more distantly related to learn from it.

Hey, if only that boy was his son, even if he wasn't his legitimate son, as long as he was of his own blood, he wouldn't let himself always be worried about him, and there would always be a thorn in his heart.

While he was thinking about it, he heard his son Li Qi say with some annoyance: "Then can't we do something? Anyway, it's just like this, it's really hard to calm down!"

Li Shanchang didn't say that he was holding back in his heart, because he was also uncomfortable.

After thinking for a while, he raised his head and said to his son: "In this case, you go and praise them both..."

"Again?" Li Qi became dissatisfied upon hearing this.

His father always said he would be praised and killed, but in the end he was praised, but where was he killed?People keep getting better and better!
When Li Shanchang heard his son's rhetorical question, of course he understood why his son said that, so he patiently explained: "I have just said that there is no big victory in Liaodong, but what about Yunnan? With the abilities of Fu Youde and Mu Ying , led an army of 20, and had already won the first battle, and had opened the passage into Yunnan and Guizhou, and the recovery of Yunnan was almost a certainty. With this comparison, the higher we praise Liaodong, the more likely we are to look back to others The impression will be worse!"

Having said this, he paused and said: "Of course, this approach will definitely not cause any actual harm to the two of them. It will only be a bad impression in other people's minds. At most, it is just an impression. Bigger shit. But it’s just a show off! It’s just an impression, do you think it’s worth doing? It’s up to you!”

After Li Qi heard this, although he was a little reluctant, he still gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Do it, of course you have to do it. As long as more people are disgusted with him, I will feel comfortable!"

Li Shanchang had already expected that his son would agree, so he gave him an idea on how to do it.

As a result, as news spread about the war in the capital and Liaodong, there were many comments circulating in the streets.

"I heard that King Yan and the Prince Consort also launched a war in Liaodong. Liaodong may soon be included in our Ming Dynasty territory."

"But, I heard that Liaodong is not the focus of this year's war! The emperor has mobilized 20 horses from the north for the war in Yunnan. This year's great victory is to recover Yunnan, right?"

"Yes, I heard that there are only [-] or [-] imperial officers and soldiers in Liaodong. Although they won a battle before, the Tatars have at least [-] troops. How can they fight?"

"Yes, if these 20 troops from Yunnan are transferred to Liaodong, I believe they can win a big victory, and it is not impossible to take over Liaodong. But now, let's look at Yunnan!"

"Do you underestimate King Yan and the Prince Consort? They are the youngest and most capable rising stars in our Ming Dynasty. In the future, our Ming Dynasty will still look to young people!"

"You can't say that. The leaders of the army in Yunnan are all in their prime of life. Although King Yan and the Prince Consort are capable, they are still lacking compared to our famous founding generals of the Ming Dynasty."

"That's right, our famous founding generals of the Ming Dynasty were all killed by mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could King Yan and the Prince Consort win? It was just the battle at the end of last year, in which more than 3 Tatar troops were wiped out. That’s all, he can’t compare to other famous founding generals!”

"..."

As long as the war in this year was mentioned, the general topics were mostly like this, and eventually escalated into quarrels.

Which one is more powerful, the rising star or the founding general?

For most people, of course the founding general is more powerful.However, there are only a small number of people who are messing around there. It must be said that the combination of King Yan and the Prince Consort in the North is the rising star of the Ming Dynasty. The youth is better than the blue. The waves in the Yangtze River push the waves in front and beat the waves in front to death on the beach...

All these things caused the public opinion in the capital to fall into the debate between the veterans and the rising stars, and most people were on the side of the veterans and were very disgusted with the aggressive arguments of King Yan and the Prince Consort.

This kind of public opinion was naturally picked up by the censor who heard about the incident.

Although some censors couldn't stand the arrogance of such a rising star, they didn't want to offend King Yan, let alone the wealthy prince-in-law, so they pretended not to hear it.However, there are still some censors who think they are clean and upright, and they are very uncomfortable with this kind of public opinion.

After an investigation, they submitted a memorial to Emperor Hongwu, impeaching the atmosphere in the capital, saying that some sycophants of King Yan and the Prince Consort were making false claims, ignored the facts, and boasted that the contributions of King Yan and Prince Consort were greater than those of the founding generals. King Yan and the Prince Consort are guilty of injustice and will encourage the trend of flattery. The source must be traced and the lawlessness strictly investigated.

Zhu Yuanzhang was actually happy with this trend, but on the surface, he had to compromise. Just like when he wanted to invite people into the palace for entertainment, he was blocked by the censor, who forced him to admit his mistake.

As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Jin Yiwei to investigate and found that the argument that King Yan and the eldest son-in-law were more powerful at first turned out to be from the people of the Korean government.

You know, the prince-consort originally competed with the Korean government for Princess Lin'an.Logically speaking, even if you didn't mind, you wouldn't praise it so much, right?
Who is Zhu Yuanzhang!He immediately sensed the malice hidden behind this matter.

(End of this chapter)