Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Updated: 2012-11-04

On May 35th in the [-]th year of Kangxi, after he escaped from Gyeongju, the court king Li Xuan, who received a report and was successful, led the harem and some ministers back halfway to Qingju, the right-handed government of Chungcheong.Li Xuan and his party, who were exhausted from the long journey, simply accepted the pilgrimage of the officials below Qingzhou Mu, and then fell into a deep sleep after eating some local snacks.

Unexpectedly, Cao Zhenglang Cui Yingzhi, who was accompanying him, tricked him into opening the north gate of Qingzhou City in the name of following the order to go north. Cui Yingzhi's elder brother Cui Yingzhi, who was already waiting at the gate, and eighty soldiers under Cui Xian, the soldier of Qingzhou Marquis Cui Xian, took the opportunity to swarm in. , first killed and dispersed the city gate guards, and then made a loud noise all the way, and went straight to Li Xuan's palace.

At present, there are more than a thousand guards around Li Xuan, including Yixingwei, Longxiangwei, Hubenwei, Zhongzuowei, Jinweiying, Neijinwei, Yulinwei, Huweiting, etc., their strength far exceeds that of the rebels.However, when these imperial guards heard the news and attacked to quell the chaos, they were stopped by Cui Yingzhi, who was at the forefront of the chaos.Cui Yingzhi asked them if they wanted to stay with their families in Seoul, and if they knew their tragic situation under the iron heel of the Qing army.After being taught a lesson by Cui Yingzhi's righteous and stern words, these soldiers who were also ruined broke down and turned against each other while crying bitterly.As a result, the rebellious army, which doubled in number, surrounded the palace overnight, hunting and killing the accompanying ministers who agreed with the peace talks, as well as the local officials who were skilled in collecting money. Qingzhou was filled with a terrifying atmosphere of the end of the world.

After daybreak, Li Yun was forced by the momentum of the rebel army and sent a servant to spread the word that he was willing to pass on the throne to his eldest son Li Yun, who was only nine years old, and abdicate himself as the Supreme King.Just when most of the rebels thought that this could be the end, Cui Yingzhi stepped forward again, pointing out that Li Yun was just Li Yun's puppet, and that in the future Li Yun might use his identity as the Supreme King to cleanse the army that rebelled today.

The soldiers who had just awakened from a dream were in panic all day long, not knowing how to end the matter. At this time, Cui Yingzhi threw out a long-planned plan to support Li Xuan's cousin, Yiyuan Jun Li Xuan, as the king. , Then surrendered to Ming Zheng, used Ming Zheng's power to rebel against the Qing army, and seize everything that North Korea had lost.

Of course, the rebels did not show interest in Cui Yingzhi's long-term plan, but they were confused by Cui Yingzhi's description of Conglong's achievements in supporting foreign vassals to succeed the Datong.At that moment, they defeated the small resistance in the palace, captured Li Yun and his son, killed Zhang Xipin, who was in power for a while, and forced Li Yun to send an imperial edict to succeed Yiyuan Lord.

The news of the turmoil in Cheongju spread to Seoul immediately, and the important officials of North Korea who led the administration under Liu Shangyun were shocked.Many North Korean ministers advocated sending troops to suppress the rebel army immediately, and they were afraid of hurting the lives of Li Xuan and his son. When they were in a difficult situation, they heard that Li Xuan gave way to Li Xuan, which immediately aroused internal fighting among the officials.

Among them, Zuo Yizheng Cui Xiding, Zuo Zancheng Shenyu, Sheren Xu You and others advocated that this rebellious order was ordered by Li Yun against his will under the coercion of the rebel army, and should not be accepted; while You Yizheng Li Ru, Li Cao sentenced Li She, Mao Jiusi, the soldier Cao Shenjuan, believed that the Qing army had just retreated and the country was dilapidated. At this time, we should not kill each other. Therefore, he advocated pushing the boat along the river and letting Li Ye succeed to the throne, so as to stabilize the turbulent hearts of the Korean people; , but was attacked by both sides unanimously, so angry that he let go; some people proposed to arrest Yiyuan Lord immediately and exchange hostages with Qingzhou rebels, but this suggestion was quickly rejected by important ministers. When Li Xuan was captured, the rebels could definitely push another person to succeed him. On the other hand, Li Xuan had a good son-in-law. After the Qing army just ravaged the peninsula, North Korea never wanted to attract another strong enemy.

Just when all parties insisted on their own opinions and could not persuade each other, it was reported suddenly that the rebel army in Qingzhou took Li Yun and his son hostage and marched towards Seoul.Now the princes in Seoul couldn't sit still, so they hurriedly summoned and ordered the Seoul troops to attack and intercept.

However, the defenders of Seoul suffered a devastating blow when the Qing army entered the invaders. At this time, the reorganization had not yet been completed, and the nearly [-]-man army barely managed was no match for the rebellious army that was still fully organized.In this way, on May [-]th, the two armies encountered each other at Banwol-myeon, Suwon-gun, Gyeonggi-do.The two sides just fired guns at each other for a while, and the officers and soldiers left the three wounded at one time, and dispersed in a hurry, and even joined the rebellion on the spot, so the momentum of the rebellion became bigger and bigger.

Seeing that the momentum of the rebel soldiers seemed unstoppable, the second squad in Seoul sent people to threaten the rebel army, saying that if they continued to march, they would attack the rebel army's family members in Seoul, and finally temporarily frightened the daring soldiers .However, stabilizing the opponent for the time being cannot solve the most critical problem, so after thinking about it, including the political leader Liu Shangyun, they all tend to accept the opinions of the rebels and embrace Li Ye as the new king of Joseon.

So far, apart from the disappointment of Li Xuan and his son, it should be said that it will be a comedy ending.However, some courtiers loyal to Li Xuan were unwilling to accept this ending, so they used their little brains.

On the ninth day of June, when the unprepared Li Yan was proclaimed king in the Deokchang Palace by the North Korean officials, he had already withdrawn to the country, and only one or two Zuo Ling stayed in Yiju, the town of Yiju, to supervise the Korean tribute. The Qing army made a comeback .While invading southward, the Qing army sternly denounced North Korea's re-establishment of the monarch as a rebel, and announced that it would not recognize Li Yu's status.Some Korean local officials who were loyal to Li Xuan also organized King Qin's rescue troops to follow the Qing army all the way to Seoul.

The re-invasion of the Qing army caused the North Korean side to almost collapse. At this time, Cui Yingzhi, who was afraid of Li Yun’s restoration, strangled Li Yun’s father and son in the Li Palace, but Li Yun’s three-year-old son Li Chang was rescued by the eunuch, and fled to the Han River. north.Cui Yingzhi, who killed Li Xuan's father and son, knew that he had offended the public, so he ordered Qingzhou soldiers to engulf Li Xuan and a group of Korean officials to flee south, and at the same time sent a letter to Jeju urgently, asking Ming Zheng to send troops.

On June [-], the Qing army marched into Seoul again without any hindrance, and then under the order of Kangxi, Li Chang was canonized as King of Korea.

However, after the news of the Qing government's support for Li Jing spread to the south, officials in southern Korea who regarded Li Jing as a puppet of the Qing court declared their allegiance to Li Jing one after another.At this time, under the arrangement of Cui Yingzhi and others, Li Yu, who had fled to Quanzhou, issued an edict requiring all North Korean officers and soldiers to fight against the invading Qing army.As a result, a small North Korea has a situation of one country and two masters, and the confrontation between the North and the South.

In fact, even if the officials, army, and people in southern Korea all supported Li Ye, the small imperial court of Hunan (North Korea called Chungcheong and Jeolla as Hunan) might not be able to resist for long in the face of the cavalry of the Qing court.But there are always surprises. After receiving the news of the turmoil in North Korea, the Seogwipo Governor's Office immediately sent the report back to Yingtian.According to Zheng Kezang's order to keep the Qing army in North Korea and not allow North Korea to become the Qing army's grain and tribute transportation base, the Fourth Division of the Longxiang Army, which returned to Jeju to rest and complete the reorganization, received the third letter of appeal from the court king Li Xuan. Afterwards, it was carried by the Beiyang Fleet, and the whole division attacked.First, they made an emergency landing outside Ganghwa Bay, North Korea's Ganghwa Mansion, and left behind Quan Zhian. Then, using Ganghwa Island as a base, the three brigades under their command landed from Jemulpo and went straight to Seoul. Links between Pyongyang.

The Qing army thought that the road was cut off by the North Korean soldiers and civilians who were finally killed by Li Xuan, so they sent 500 men to ride over to suppress it. As a result, they encountered ten times as many Zheng troops.The flag soldiers who fled back to Seoul exaggerated the strength of the Zheng army, frightened the defenders with only a thousand soldiers and fled with the young Li Jing, and finally fled back to Pyongyang.

The news of the appearance of the Zheng Army Brigade in North Korea spread to Kangxi's ears step by step, and Kangxi couldn't help frowning as he faced the map of North Korea.Although Kangxi made a windfall when he attacked Seoul last time, North Korea is a small country with few people and limited national power. In addition, it is full of private pockets. What really fell into Kangxi's hands was only four to five million taels of silver, including leather goods, Ginseng, a commodity that needs to be liquidated, is actually not enough for Kangxi to start another big war.

Kangxi, who was trapped by financial resources, had no intention of opening another battlefield in North Korea, but North Korea's status was really important. Not only could it directly threaten the land of Longxing in Liaodong, but it could also deter Qilu and Tianjin across the sea, so he would fight even if he didn't want to.Therefore, after some careful consideration, Kangxi had to mobilize nearly ten thousand forbidden brigades and eight banners stationed in Liaodong to enter North Korea.

But in this way, Kangxi's premeditated plot to turn North Korea into a milking farm for the Qing court was completely bankrupt. Not only could the Qing army fail to obtain much-needed rice from North Korea, but it also had to continuously put precious grains into the Korean battlefield, so as to As for, later generations summed up their experience and approved an attributive "the gain outweighs the loss".

Zheng Kezang ordered aid to North Korea, although it was because of self-interested reasons, but it was the only life-saving straw for the split royal court in southern North Korea.Therefore, in order to further grasp the straw, Li Yu, who had just returned to Seoul, could not wait to send Cui Yingzhi to Zheng Jun's barracks to comfort him as soon as he moved into Deokchang Palace.

"In order to save North Korea, Emperor Shenzong wiped out 800 million internal treasury silver and more than [-] elite frontier troops, so that he connived at the rise of Jiannu. It dragged down the war in the Central Plains." As soon as he came up, Tian Chao, the general staff of the Fourth Division of the Longxiang Army, directly rejected the delusion of the North Koreans. "That's why it's not enough just to have Jeju. It's better for Master Cui to show some sincerity."

Cui Yingzhi, who has already been promoted to court, rubbed his temples in distress: "Master Shangguo, North Korea is now dilapidated, and it is really unable to support too much. Please also look at the relationship between the king and King Xia as Weng's son-in-law. Be tolerant a little bit."

"We don't ask much." Tian Chao demanded unmoved. "The military rations and salaries of the Long Xiang army in the court shall be paid by the court." Cui Yingzhi nodded, and then Tian Chao continued. "In addition, the gunpowder and bullets used, the lost weapons, horses, and the care of the soldiers must be supported by North Korea." It is also right to ask people to work hard, so Cui Yingzhi bit the bullet and nodded. "Reopen the four ports of Jemulpo, Mokpo, Yeosu, and Jinhae"