King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

After leaving the shipyard, Zhu Tan returned to his mansion, summoned the Prince of Lu's guards, brought equipment, and prepared food.

Yanzhou is his territory, so there is no problem with this.

Apart from being seen by the Jinyiwei's spies, no one else would dare to express their opinions.

Nanjing City!
Some top restaurant.

In the secret box, Li Shanchang was looking at several ministers who had arrived.

Several high-ranking ministers included Bai Minda, the Left Vice Minister of Works, Yin Shao, the Right Vice Minister of Personnel, and Zhao Nanzhong, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate.

"I asked you all to come here today because I have something to discuss with you!"

Li Shanchang was wearing casual clothes, and his gray beard kept shaking as he spoke.

Zhao Nanzhong looked a little embarrassed, but it wasn't that he didn't want to discuss it.

And this is the emperor's territory. If there is any problem, the Jinyiwei will inform Zhu Yuanzhang in less than two hours.

"Don't worry, everyone. We've already informed them. You don't have to worry!"

Li Shanchang explained.

Several people nodded.

"Your Majesty wants to attack Goryeo now. Even though Goryeo is only a small country, the Ming Dynasty is currently short of manpower and it is not suitable to continue to consume it!"

Li Shanchang spoke with great sincerity.

Today, the Ming Dynasty has consumed huge amounts of wealth in many areas.

Mongolia and many small countries are about to start new trade, and at the beginning, they must have the support of the Ming Dynasty.

Otherwise, those merchants will not be able to invest with confidence, and if they cannot expand it, they can only do small-scale operations, so it is better not to do it.

Everyone knows it very well.

"So this battle must be fought, but not at this time!"

Li Shanchang shook his head, looking worried.

"Does the Duke mean to delay us?" Zhao Nanzhong asked uncertainly.

"Of course we have to delay it, but it doesn't have to be too long, a few days will be enough!"

Li Shanchang nodded and looked at several people.

He didn't want to argue with Zhu Yuanzhang over such a matter, but there was no way out. The favor he owed to Zhu Yuanzhang had to be repaid by him now.

"In fact, what I care about most is the issue of merit. Even if the merits of civil officials and military generals are separated, the merits of those nobles are now increasing. On the contrary, we are not living as well as before, especially Prince Lu!"

Zhao Nanzhong shook his head and sighed slightly.

The others couldn't help but nodded.

It was inevitable that the Ming Dynasty would fight the Yuan Dynasty. The military generals would take action, and naturally the credit would go to the military generals. Then it would be the civil officials who would take action. To stabilize the market, carry out construction, and do various things, they all needed the military generals.

But now things have changed.

The military generals made great contributions and they should have taken over, but now Zhu Tan has joined the team.

When doing things, it is as if someone is watching you. If others try to take advantage of you or do some small tricks, they are likely to be discovered.

"Now even our salaries have dropped by 30% compared to before!" Zhao Nanzhong couldn't help but complain.

For example, if you want to build a city wall, you need to recruit people and let the people do the work. Who pays? The government pays, and the money passes through their hands and reaches the hands of those in charge.

It could be a businessman or a foreman, who would find reasons to return some of the benefits to him.

They can have many benefits.

For example, the overseer wanted to pay the workers wages. After the construction was completed, he should have given them 100,000 taels of silver as wages. However, the overseer found an excuse to only pay 80,000 taels, and they were given 18,000 taels.

To buy materials, you need to spend money and buy them from merchants. A item that originally cost ten thousand taels may be sold for fifteen thousand taels because the merchant says it has a lot of good materials. The extra five thousand taels can also go into their pockets.

This is how the benefits come, and it is difficult for people to find fault with you.

It’s just the same with Zhu Tan’s joining.

Zhu Tan’s people are like keeping an eye on them. If the thing you want to buy is too expensive, they will go to another store and get a lower price with the same materials.

Forget about the benefits, at most you’ll get a compliment saying they did a good job.

The credit has been given, but when can it be fulfilled?

"Yes, the benefits of the war were all taken by those nobles, and we were only praised verbally!" Li Shanchang was also extremely helpless.

The reason why he was able to reach the position of Duke was not only because of his merits, but also because he and Zhu Yuanzhang were sworn brothers.

Gaining the support of these people is not only because of the weight of his words, but also because he can gain more benefits.

Just like Hu Weiyong back then.

But he is not Hu Weiyong, nor is he as stupid as Hu Weiyong. He also knows where he is and will not commit murderous acts.

This time they joined forces to try their best to delay Zhu Yuanzhang's attack on Goryeo.

For these civil officials, what they wanted was to remind Zhu Yuanzhang not to forget their role.

He wanted to tell Zhu Yuanzhang that although Prince Lu was a talented person, one person simply did not have enough energy to accomplish too many things.

They also played a very important role, and for Li Shanchang, his goal was achieved.

Li Shanchang knew very well that he could never stop Zhu Yuanzhang from attacking Goryeo and could only delay it as much as possible.

Having achieved his goal, he relaxed a lot.

Several people were toasting each other and having a very happy time together.

In the following days, Zhu Yuanzhang paid close attention to Liaodong, and soldiers kept coming to report the latest news from the border.

"Your Majesty, the Goryeo army has crossed the Yalu River and stationed troops on Wihwa Island. The vanguard of the Goryeo army has even entered the Liaodong border!"

The soldiers knelt in the middle of the hall and reported loudly the situation on the front line.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy and full of anger.

"Why, do you have anything else to say?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his voice and stared at the civil officials, especially Li Shanchang.

In the past few days, he has been paying close attention to Goryeo's developments.

As early as after the capture of Liaodong, he established the Liaodong Commandery and carried out a major change in Liaodong.

At the same time, it was stipulated that the area south of Tieling was the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the northeast of Tieling was Goryeo, and the northwest was Nuzhen.

This is already a case of him being very virtuous and generous.

Otherwise, he could have killed the remaining Yuan party, the Oirat and the Tatars, unified the entire region, and then attacked these small countries.

Why publish such words again?

But unexpectedly, the small country of Goryeo believed that the Ming Dynasty was unable to deal with them and wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty.

How could Zhu Yuanzhang tolerate this? He had good intentions and saw that you had been ruled by the Yuan Dynasty for so long, and compared to the Han people at the beginning, you were only a little better.

Everyone had lived through hard times before, and had no intention of fighting each other. Not only did Goryeo not help, but now that the Ming Dynasty was eliminating the remnants and dealing with the Oirat and Tatars, they took the opportunity to stab us in the back.

At this moment, many civil officials were sweating profusely and regretting in their hearts that they had gone too far.

They originally wanted to tell Zhu Yuanzhang the importance of the Six Ministries and the importance of civil officials, and they believed that no matter how stupid Goryeo was, it would never really attack the Ming Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, Gao Li was so daring!
"Your Majesty, I have nothing to say. Now that Goryeo's ambitions are clear, we have a legitimate reason to launch an attack. We should use military force against Goryeo!"

Li Shanchang looked calm.

This was an excuse he had already thought of, and he had said it in advance when he began to delay Zhu Yuanzhang's dispatch of troops, and now he had a reason to do so.

The ministers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After all, even the prime minister could not bear Zhu Yuanzhang's anger.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Li Shanchang for a few times and felt a little dissatisfied with this old brother.

Previously, he followed Li Shanchang's suggestion, giving the Ming Dynasty a legitimate reason to launch a war and directly dispatch troops to destroy Goryeo in one fell swoop, but he did not expect that in the following few days, those civil officials would actually suggest him to wait. This not only made him doubt that it was Li Shanchang's intention, but also made him understand that these ministers wanted him to know that they, the civil officials, also had merits.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to lead an army of 100,000. I will definitely destroy Goryeo and make this place part of the Ming Dynasty!"

Lan Yu stepped forward and said excitedly.

Military merit, military merit has finally arrived.

On the Mongolian side, although dealing with the Oirat and Tatar was also a military achievement, he had to listen to the opinions of Zhu Tan and Toghon Temur, and it would be a long war, so he had no idea about it.

After all, it's a long battle, there's no need to rush.

Now, the attack on Goryeo is a definite achievement, and it also made Zhu Yuanzhang so angry. If Goryeo could be destroyed, his achievements would definitely be increased.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Okay, Lan Yu, you will lead an army of 100,000 to destroy Goryeo this time. I heard from Prince Lu yesterday that the iron ship has been completed. Let's go and see it together!"

The ministers were also very curious. In the past, there were only wooden boats, but now Zhu Tan had made an iron boat. They wondered what it looked like.

All the ministers went with Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Father, my tenth brother has a wild imagination. I wonder what this big ship looks like!"

Zhu Biao said with a smile.

Zhu Yuanzhang also had a smile on his face at this time, he was also very curious.

When Zhu Tan wrote to him and said he wanted to build an iron ship, he thought Zhu Tan had come up with something new, but he didn't expect it to be a big surprise.

"This little bastard Lao Shi is really talented. He asked us to give him the largest warship right away. If he fails, we will lose face. Humph!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said this, snorted lightly, and pretended to be angry.

"Since we have lost face, Father is asking my tenth brother to pay?"

Zhu Biao raised his eyebrows slightly and said teasingly.

Zhu Yuanzhang blinked, coughed lightly, and said seriously: "Of course not, am I that kind of emperor?"

Zhu Biao smiled without saying anything and nodded slightly.

If we talk about the person who knows Zhu Yuanzhang best in the world, apart from Empress Ma, his biological mother, it would be him.

But he is a son, it is impossible for him to call him dad like his mother does.

Zhu Yuanzhang also felt embarrassed, he really thought so.

If Zhu Tan fails, he will be asked to pay money and rebuild a new warship. If he wants to continue making iron ships, he will have to pay for it himself. He will not approve it.

He has more than one warship. The Qingjiang Governor also has some smaller warships. He plans to build this batch and send them to the sea to deal with the Japanese pirates.

Zhu Tan came up and took away the largest ship without paying a penny. It was such a loss.

Zhu Biao did not argue with Zhu Yuanzhang. He took the memorial and read it. His old father was still the emperor. If he got angry with Zhu Yuanzhang, it would still be his fault.

Just like what my tenth brother said before, you were angry and beat me up, and I couldn’t fight back, but I still had to call you dad when I was angry. It’s so unfair.

He is not stupid, why would he suffer such a loss?

Zhu Yuanzhang was hesitant to speak and had no choice but to review the memorials.

Wafer Island!
Li Chenggui led tens of thousands of troops with a worried look on his face.

He had led his troops on the march for several days, and during this period he encountered Ming troops, but not many of them.

However, the Ming army seemed to retreat directly when they saw them and did not fight with them at all.

During this period he also captured several Ming soldiers and wanted to ask them why this happened, but they were so arrogant that they would not hang them even if he tortured them.

He felt that there was something wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

I always feel that these Ming troops are just watching where he goes.

"The Liaodong border is just ahead, let's get things in order!"

Lee Seong-gye felt uneasy and finally decided to stop and not attack in a hurry.

He always felt that if he attacked, he would regret it!

Afterwards, he asked his subordinates to pass the message back, intending to wait for Cao Min to bring his men and attack Liaodong together, so that the chances of victory would be greater.

……

Xijing Pyongyang!

"Ridiculous! The enemy is at the gates, but you don't fight? And you still have the nerve to ask for food and fodder?"

Wang Yu looked at the soldier angrily and threw the wine jar away in anger.

The soldier was trembling with fear and sweating profusely, but there was nothing he could do. He was just responsible for delivering the message, so what say could he have?

"Your Majesty, please be patient!"

Cui Ying suddenly spoke and asked the soldier to retreat first.

Wang Yu looked at Cui Ying with some confusion.

"Your Majesty, we are running low on food and grass, so we can only supply Cao Min. Lee Seong-gye only has enough food and grass for one day, so he will naturally ask for it. Your Majesty, tell General Lee to enter Liaodong, and he will naturally have food and grass!"

Cui Ying said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu's eyes lit up and he immediately asked the soldier to come back and take the letter.

The soldiers rode at full speed, not daring to delay for even a moment, and in just one day, they arrived at Wihua Island.

"What? That's what the king said?"

Lee Seong-gye looked at the soldier in shock.

"Yes, yes!"

The soldier nodded, panting in response.

Li Chenggui's face gradually darkened, and he kicked over the table in front of him with anger.

Oh shit!

As the attack approached, not only did they not give any feedback on his general's proposal, they also stopped supplying food and forced him to attack Liaodong.

"I'll beat you up!"

Lee Seong-gye was extremely angry. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had never heard of such a thing before.

Even if someone said that there was a shortage of food and grass, or that they could break through the Liaodong border and seize food, he would consider it encouragement.

"Wang Yu is a fool, and Cui Ying doesn't know how to fight. No, if we continue like this, it will be fine if we win, but if we lose, I will definitely die!"

Li Chenggui walked back and forth in the tent alone, whispering constantly, thinking about how to solve his own fatal disaster!
He knew very well that even if he conquered Liaodong this time, when the Ming Dynasty sent troops, he would no longer be a match and would definitely die.

After all, he was the main general, and Wang Yu was the king of Goryeo. When Wang Yu surrendered and put the blame on him, what could he do? He would have no choice but to die.

"No, I will definitely die this way!" Li Chenggui's face was solemn, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

rebel!

As soon as the thought came to his mind, his heart began to beat violently and his face gradually turned red.

Now he has a large army, as many as 60,000 to 70,000 people. This time, Goryeo sent an army of 100,000, which can be said to be all the wealth in the family, and he only took 60% of it.

He only needs to find a reason, saying that he was instigated by treacherous ministers, to purge the emperor's side, suppress Wang Yu while the chaos is going on, and then support a puppet to submit to the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't he be fine?

Not only that, he could also enjoy greater power and the entire Goryeo was under his control.

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and walked out of the tent quickly!
Lee Seong-gye quickly contacted his confidants, found an excuse to disperse in the army, and discussed with his confidants who to seek help from.

Finally the candidate was selected.

Toghon Temur, the last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, survived because of Zhu Tan, became Zhu Tan's follower, and returned to Mongolia.

Li Chenggui felt that he would most likely succeed in finding Zhu Tan. After all, Toghon Temur, who was of such status, could return to Mongolia and had Zhu Tan's support, so why couldn't he!

(End of this chapter)