The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 341 North Korea Sends Troops
The news from Jeju was conveyed to Hanjing, Korea.

King Yi Gye of Joseon immediately summoned important court officials including Choi Dam, Namgun, Sim Jeong and Hong Gyeongju.

"The Ming Dynasty is preparing to attack the Jurchens and requires our dynasty to send 30,000 troops to cooperate!"

Everyone was very excited to hear the news.

After all, the grievances and hatred between Korea and the Jurchens have a long history.

In the first year of Yongle, the chieftain Aha of the Huligai tribe came to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court set up a guard with his tribe and inherited the name of Jianzhou, so it was named Jianzhou Guard. The name of Jianzhou Jurchen began here. Later, the distribution area of ​​the Jurchens under the jurisdiction of Jianzhou Guard expanded westward to the southeast of the future Jilin City, eastward to the Sea of ​​Japan, northward to Muling River, and southward to Tumen River.

After the establishment of Jianzhou Wei, the Korean side believed that this was the Ming Dynasty deliberately supporting the Jurchens in order to curb their development to the north. In order to resist the Jurchens' return to the Ming Dynasty, Korea closed the Qingyuan market trade, which aroused the resentment of the Jurchens.

In the fourth year of Yongle, the Jurchens "entered the Qingyuan area to plunder", but were repelled by the Korean army. Since then, the two sides have become enemies.

The contradiction between the Jurchens and Korea became increasingly prominent, and the two sides were constantly at odds, mainly because of the bitter cold in Liaodong. The Jurchens therefore relied on looting for a living.

The decline of the Joseon Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty gave the Jurchens, who were sandwiched in between, an opportunity. They had lived in the vast plains near the Liao River for generations, and trade with the Ming Dynasty allowed them to master advanced farming techniques without forgetting their old ways as a fishing and hunting people. The rapid increase in population strengthened their strength and also increased their demand for external resources.

After the Battle of Tumu, Jurchen leaders such as Dong Shan witnessed the weakness of the Ming Dynasty with their own eyes, so they immediately took the opportunity to rebel. Although the Ming court put down the rebellion, the Jurchens launched several rebellions thereafter. In the second year of Chenghua, 100,000 people were killed or captured in one year. Similarly, Korea, which was next to the Jurchens, was also harassed. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty and Korea formed a coalition force and launched three devastating attacks on the Jurchens, which almost wiped out the Jurchens.

It's the same logic. The Mongols were too strong for the Jurchens to defeat, and the Ming army was well-trained and the city was strong, so they had no choice but to rob the Koreans.

Therefore, the Jurchens plundered Korea more frequently and more fiercely, which also caused crazy revenge from Korea.

During the Chenghua Liting period, the Korean army dispatched by the Ming court, under the command of the commander-in-chief Bi Shang, crossed the Yalu River with more than 10,000 elite soldiers and attacked the banks of the Pozhu River where Jianzhou Wei was located and Wuerfu and other places.

Wherever the Korean army passed, they burned villages and destroyed settlements, killing young and strong people and capturing the old and young. After the Korean general Yu Youzhao led his troops to break through the mountain stronghold occupied by Li Manzhu and his son, they killed them indiscriminately and destroyed the city and the stronghold. Li Manzhu was shot by an arrow and was killed by Yu Youzhao, and his son Li Gunaha also died in the chaos.

It can be said that during the Chenghua Liting Campaign, the Korean soldiers killed several times more Jurchen barbarians than the Ming army. Their hatred for these Jurchen barbarians was comparable to that of the Liaodong military and civilians.

For example, Korea called the Jurchens living along the border "Fanhu" and granted official titles such as Wanhu to the tribal leaders of the Jianzhou Zuowei tribe. Moreover, since the right to trade was allocated to the "Fanhu" tribe, the "Fanhu" could gain economic benefits through trade with Korea and expand its influence.

The main target of Joseon's attack was Jianzhouwei. During the reign of King Sejong of Joseon, Joseon launched two expeditions against the barbarians of Pojugang, which weakened Jianzhouwei's power. Because of these two expeditions, Jianzhouwei had to move its base. From then on until the reign of Yeonsangun of Joseon, Joseon continued to attack the Jurchens of Jianzhouwei.

Under the various means of suppression by the Ming Dynasty and Korea, the Jurchen tribes fell into a chaotic and divided situation. But precisely because of the chaos, in addition to many bandit tribes that made a living by looting, they also often looted and harassed, causing great annoyance to Korea.

Hong Jingzhou said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Ming court ordered our dynasty to send troops to suppress the Jurchens. This is indeed a good opportunity."

"The Jurchen barbarians have been plundering and harassing our border for a long time. We might as well take this opportunity to wipe them out once and for all!"

Shen Zhen also said: "The Ming court is the suzerain state. As a vassal state, our dynasty should respond to the call of the suzerain state. This is a righteous duty."

"In addition, the East China Sea trade is ongoing. If our dynasty does not cooperate, I am afraid that the Ming court will terminate the East China Sea trade. At that time, it will be our country that suffers heavy losses."

The two of them spoke one after another, trying to persuade Li Yi to send troops.

And the reasons are justifiable and irrefutable.

First, the Ming Dynasty was the suzerain state and Korea was a vassal state. It was reasonable and legal for the suzerain state to ask the vassal state to cooperate in sending troops.

Secondly, there was a deep-seated feud between Korea and the Jurchens. Since the Ming court intended to completely wipe out the Jurchens, Korea would be happy to do so and cooperate with the Ming court in the suppression.

Third, Korea was conducting East China Sea trade with the Ming Dynasty and earning astonishing profits from it. If it did not cooperate in the campaign against the Jurchens this time, Korea would suffer great losses.

Li Yi understood these principles very well. He eliminated Zhao Guangzu and other Sillin factions for the sake of East China Sea trade. If the trade was terminated, he would be the real victim.

Nan Gun, however, expressed a different opinion.

"From the beginning, our dynasty directly handed over the power to determine transaction prices and control smuggling in trade with the Jurchens to the northern officials. The northern officials abused this power and used it as a means of illegally making money, which led to the weakening of tribute and official trade and the rampant private market trade. The dissatisfied Jurchens launched frequent looting and harassment!"

"In order to establish absolute royal power, Yeonsangun reduced the authority and size of the three departments, including the Sixianfu. Originally, the Sixianfu was responsible for supervising officials in our dynasty, but after Yeonsangun reduced the size and power of the department, its supervision of officials in the north also began to weaken."

"In addition, most of the officials of the Sixianfu were from the Sillin faction, but during the reign of Yeonsangun, many "scholar disasters" occurred, causing these people to suffer huge losses. As a result, the supervisory function of the Sixianfu was further weakened. The supervisory function was neglected, the court was corrupt, and officials were corrupt and accepted bribes... These were all problems that needed to be solved urgently."

Nam Gun also came from an old noble family, but he was knowledgeable and talented, and was quite close to the Sillin faction. He could see at a glance that the Joseon Dynasty was on the decline.

Ultimately, it is because of the weakening of royal power.

The instability of the succession to the throne led to the weakening of the royal power, and the resulting monopoly of meritorious officials and relatives by marriage caused the prestige of the Joseon Dynasty to plummet, and corruption in the court became an inevitable result.

Judging from the succession to the throne, before Yeonsangun of Joseon, only one king was the eldest son, which became one of the reasons for the decline of royal power in the Joseon Dynasty, which attached great importance to the succession of the eldest son.

After all, Korea attaches great importance to Confucianism and etiquette, and the primogeniture system is the core of etiquette. As a result, the Lee family cannot abide by the primogeniture system from generation to generation, let alone convince the subjects. Now the 11th Joseon King Yi Gook has ascended the throne again. To put it nicely, he is "restoring order", but to put it bluntly, he is "plotting to usurp the throne", which is even more unpopular and shameful.

Moreover, since Yi Yeong was not yet an adult and could not rule the country himself, the government was controlled by the old nobles, and the family of his mother, Queen Jeonghyeon Yoon, the "Popyeong Yoon" family, gave the orders.

The backer of the northern officials is this "Poping Yin family"!
As soon as Nan Gun said this, Li Yi's face became gloomy.

Is it not enough for these old nobles to control the government, are they also trying to completely eradicate dissidents?
He subconsciously looked at Cui Tan, the newly promoted powerful official.

Cui Dam had previously experienced an assassination attempt in the capital of the Ming Dynasty and hurried back to Korea the next day.

Fortunately, I later learned that the Marquis of Zhongshan in the Ming Dynasty had not been assassinated, and I finally felt relieved.

In addition, because of the profits from the East China Sea trade, Cui Dam became the most powerful official in Korea. He also took this opportunity to cultivate a large number of followers in the court.

"Sending troops is inevitable."

Cui Tan spoke first and set the tone.

North Korea will definitely send troops!
All of Cui Tan's power and status came from his title as Marquis of Zhongshan in the Ming Dynasty. Now that Marquis Zhongshan is personally leading his army to suppress the Jurchens, how could Cui Tan dare not cooperate?

"But it's simply impossible to have an army of 30,000. 10,000 elite soldiers will be enough!"

First solve the problem of sending troops and set a standard.

After hearing this, Shen Zhen, Nan Gun and Hong Jingzhou all nodded.

Cui Tan then looked at Nan Gun and said with a smile: "But what Doctor Nan said just now is also true. The feud between our dynasty and the Jurchens, after all, started because of the corruption of officials in the north!"

"Why don't the court take this opportunity to reform? I propose to recommend Doctor Nan as the Grand Censor, Doctor Shen as the Grand Censor, and Doctor Hong as the Grand Scholar of the Hongwen Academy. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Nan Gun was appointed as the Grand Censor and was in charge of the supervisory agency.

This Censorate used to be the center of the Shilin faction!
At the beginning, Cho Gwang-jo and other members of the Sillin faction used the Three Departments of Speech (the Censorate, the Constitutional Court, and the Hongmungwan) as their base to expand their influence and compete with the nobility faction centered around the Uijeongbu.

Are the old noble forces now eager to extend their hands into the Three Divisions?

However, Li Yi had to agree because Cui Dam was the most powerful official in Korea and he also controlled the East China Sea trade!

Li Yi would not, nor did he dare to, refute his opinions, otherwise he would be completely sidelined.

Shen Zhen, Nan Gun and Hong Jingzhou looked at Cui Tan in surprise. Was he trying to show goodwill?

However, they were promoted and gained real power, so there was no reason for them to disagree.

So the three of them immediately stood up, thanked the king for the reward, and then left.

Only Cui Tan stayed.

Li Yi looked at him angrily and accused him: "Cui Qingjia, why do you act like this?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Cui Tan bowed and explained, "I will never forget your kindness, and I will never sell official positions or form cliques for personal gain!"

"These three people are representatives of the old noble forces, and the Three Departments are filled with a large number of scholars. If they are promoted to the heads of the Three Departments, the scholars will definitely not respect them. So..."

After listening to Cui Tan's plan, Li Yi was overjoyed and went to bed contentedly.

After Cui Dam left the palace, he sat alone in the carriage.

As the most powerful minister, all the power behind him comes from Marquis Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty, so everything must be based on the will of Marquis Zhongshan!

Of course, it is also reasonable to eliminate political opponents while taking advantage of the situation.

For example, Nangun, who is both civil and military, can be sent to the north to reorganize military affairs after being appointed as the Grand Censor, and at the same time assist the Ming Dynasty in suppressing the Jurchens!

As for Shen Zhen, he was just an opportunist. Cui Tan had plenty of ways to get rid of him, and Hong Jingzhou would also have it relatively easy.

When he thought of this, Cui Tan couldn't help but sigh.

Lord Tang, Lord Tang, I, Cui Tan, have tried my best this time!

(End of this chapter)