Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Of course Monk Miaoqing is dead. He has been with the king all year round. When the Kaijing faction put the king under house arrest, they denounced Miaoqing as a monster monk and hacked him to death.

But Zheng Zhichang narrowly escaped because his friend Wen Gongren reported to him.

Wen Gongren came from a poor family. Because he was handsome and proficient in poetry and articles, he was recruited as his son-in-law by Cui Sisu, the former prime minister of Goryeo.

Cui Sisu is the grandson of Cui Chong, the "Haedong Confucius". This family has been the prime minister of Goryeo for six consecutive generations.

As the son-in-law of a wealthy family in Beijing, Wen Gongren had close contacts with Zheng Zhichang of the Xijing faction. Even Monk Miaoqing, a generation of evil monks, was recommended to the King of Goryeo by Wen Gongren.

The envoy sent by Jin Fushi had just left the main hall. Zheng Zhichang walked out of the side hall, knelt on the ground and cried loudly: "Your Majesty, these nobles from the capital only know how to fight for power, and they do not hesitate to collude with the Jurchens to leak military intelligence. They are so disrespectful. The king is under house arrest. Now they are even more audacious and have come to deceive the Holy Emperor of Ming Dynasty again. Please send troops to Korea to eradicate all these evil spirits!"

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Due to the defeat of the Jin Kingdom last year, there is famine everywhere this year, and Pyongyang is a land of plenty. Now that the Jin soldiers have occupied Pyongyang, how many of the Xijing nobles of Goryeo are left?"

Zheng Zhichang was unable to answer for a while. It was estimated that the entire Pyongyang area had been robbed by the Jin Kingdom.

The Kaijing faction would definitely take the opportunity to clean up the court, massacre and exile the Xijing faction officials. This is equivalent to the Kaijing faction and the Jin Kingdom joining forces to frantically cleanse the Xijing faction from the court to the local areas. Pyongyang's power has been in ruins in Korea since then.

As for Zheng Zhichang's family members, the male was exiled to a desert island and the female was an official slave.

The most talented scholar in Goryeo, who was born as a champion, was already alone and homeless.

Zhu Ming suddenly walked over and asked, "Mr. Zheng, are you willing to be Chinese?"

Zheng Zhichang seemed to understand, and asked angrily: "Does the superior kingdom of the Huanghuang Celestial Empire want to take advantage of people's danger and annex the territory of the lower kingdom?"

Ju Ming asked: "Mr. Zheng is from Pyongyang?"

"Yes." Zheng Zhichang said.

Ju Ming asked again: "Mr. Zheng, does he know who named Pyongyang?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "Ji Zi."

In the past hundred years, Confucian culture has gradually flourished in Goryeo. Goryeo began to pay attention to historical traditions and constantly encountered various ancient celebrities and powerful forces.

Jizi Korea and Goguryeo are both the objects of Goguryeo's porcelain conflict.

Sixteen years ago, Goryeo built the Jizi Tomb and Jizi Temple in Pyongyang, and the worship of Jizi reached its peak for a while.

And these buildings related to Jizi were built by the nobles of the Xijing faction. They regarded Pyongyang as the cultural center of Goryeo and regarded themselves as descendants of Jizi to show that Pyongyang was the orthodox of Goryeo, and year after year they encouraged the king to move the capital to Pyongyang.

Jin Fushi, who colluded with the Jin Kingdom and put the king under house arrest, was compiling a history book in Chinese characters: "Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms".

Later generations of Korean scholars invented history, and many of their bizarre views originated from this book.

The fundamental purpose of Jin Fushi's compilation of "Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms" was to compete with the Jizi cult of the Xijing faction. They used a semi-fictional official history book to prove that the culture of Kaiju and the south was the orthodoxy of Goryeo, and competed with the Xijing faction in Pyongyang for orthodox status.

Ultimately, the interests of the North and the South are conflicting.

Ju Ming asked: "Is Jizi from China?"

Zheng Zhichang said: "Jizi is a nobleman of the Yin and Shang Dynasties."

Jizi led the Shang Dynasty immigrants to establish the country in Pyongyang, and was recognized by the Emperor of Zhou. This historical view not only agreed with the people of Korea, but was also repeatedly promoted by the Xijing faction to prove that Pyongyang was the origin of Korea and was the most important basis for them to persuade the king to move the capital.

Ju Ming asked again: "Does Mr. Zheng know the four counties of Han Dynasty?"

"I know." After Zheng Zhichang finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh.

Pyongyang belonged to North Korea County, Lelang County of the Han Dynasty, and Kaizhou, the capital of Goryeo at this time, also fell under the jurisdiction of Lelang County.

Ju Ming said: "In the past, Goguryeo was just a state ruled by China. But the current Goguryeo Kingdom was built by stealing soil from a barbarian chieftain in Goguryeo. As a scholar from Pyongyang, why do you want to be loyal to a barbarian chieftain? Descendants? Maybe your ancestor is the queen of Jizi, the queen of the powerful families of the four counties of Han Dynasty."

Zheng Zhichang's mood was extremely complicated.

On the one hand, he worshiped Jizi as much as the scholars in Pyongyang, and regarded himself as a descendant of Jizi. He was proud of having Han blood and cultural heritage, and even used this to despise the scholars in the south.

On the other hand, he has developed a local consciousness and believes that he belongs to the Korean ethnic group and is essentially different from the Ming Dynasty.

He did not agree with the Ming Dynasty's annexation of Korea, but he could not refute his Chinese blood.

Once he refuted it, he lost the fundamental point.

Seeing Zheng Zhichang's silence, Ju Ming sneered and said: "Only barbarian chiefs would let their children intermarry with each other after the founding of the country. Brothers marry sisters, sisters marry younger brothers, and nephews take in aunts. How dare you still marry such a Goryeo royal family? Be loyal to it?”

Zheng Zhichang's face was filled with shame. This kind of shameful thing had been criticized in Goryeo, but now it was actually mentioned by the Ming Dynasty Prince.

Zheng Zhichang argued: "Our Majesty also disagrees with this. Although His Majesty was forced to marry two aunts, he divorced them immediately after clearing out the traitors."

"He abolished his two aunts and concubines because his grandfather was in power," Zhu Ming asked. "If my grandfather had not exercised power, but instead assisted him loyally, even if the King of Goryeo was unwilling to marry his elders, in that case he would have abolished the two Aunt’s concubine?”

Zheng Zhichang wanted to deny it, but he couldn't say it at all, because as long as it would help consolidate the king's power, the King of Goryeo would definitely be willing to have children with his two aunts.

Ju Ming said: "Mr. Zheng, you can imagine that Goryeo was restored to the land of China, and the rich and common people were transformed into kings. They wore Han clothes and read Han books. What a grand scene it would be? Scholars not only You can go to Kaifeng to take the imperial examination, and you may even become the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty."

Zheng Zhichang began to imagine that scene.

Ju Ming suddenly said: "Mr. Zheng, do you want to join the cabinet and worship the prime minister in the Ming Dynasty?"

After saying these words, Zheng Zhichang suddenly became short of breath.

Is an official from a small country like me qualified to be the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty?

Ju Ming was persuasive: "Your Excellency is a descendant of the Yan and Huang Dynasties, and was born in the top 100, and is the most talented person in Goryeo. If you have established meritorious services for the Ming Dynasty, why can't you become a minister in the Ming Dynasty? Maybe a few hundred years later, Pyongyang will not only have Jizi Temple, but also Build your temple. Together with Jizi, you can be worshiped by the people of Pyongyang in future generations."

Zheng Zhichang wanted to scold Prince Zhu angrily and say that he was not a traitor seeking glory, but the words came to his throat and he swallowed them back.

He even began to convince himself that he was a descendant of Jizi, a descendant of Yan and Huang, and what he read and learned about calligraphy was also Chinese culture. The King of Goryeo was only a descendant of a barbarian chief, and he did not know the etiquette of intermarriage between close relatives. How could he steal the country?

"When will the water of the Datong River run out? Don't cry and add green waves every year," Zhu Ming recited Zheng Zhichang's work. "These two lines are so well written. Only the descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties can write such beautiful poems."

Zheng Zhichang felt uneasy, as if a fire was burning in his heart. He said in a hoarse voice: "Xiao Chen... Xiao Chen still needs to think about it again."

Ju Ming said: "I will order Mr. Zheng's family to be sent to Korea. As long as Mr. Zheng makes great achievements, I guarantee that he will be able to become the prime minister in the Ming Dynasty within ten years!"

Zheng Zhichang was also one of the best talents in the entire history of the peninsula.

As long as he comes forward to serve the Ming Dynasty, he will definitely be able to win over many wealthy families in Pyongyang and countless middle- and low-level scholars. These guys have local influence, coupled with the military strength of the Ming Dynasty, there is no need to mobilize troops to annex and encroach on Goryeo.

The cabinet has seven members and can even be increased to nine.

When the time comes, let Zheng Zhichang join the cabinet. Why not become a paper-paste cabinet boss? In this way, the promise can be fulfilled and the hearts of Korean scholars can be won.

Zheng Zhichang is still hesitating, or in other words, still trying to figure out his own strategy.

Ju Ming smiled and said, "I'll give you three days to think about it."

It didn't take three days. Zheng Zhichang went back to Sifangguan to think hard all night, and came to see Prince Zhu the next day.

By agreeing to Prince Zhu's request, he would have a bright future and save his family. He would not have to worry about his family and career.

That month, Zhu Guoxiang sent an envoy to Goryeo to canonize the king.

Zheng Zhichang was appointed as deputy envoy, and also obtained the official position of You Shaoqing of Honglu Temple.

The Korean envoy was shocked, but the envoy was closely monitored and could not send the news back privately.

Traveling to Shandong, Zhao Li took the soldiers and horses of Dengrai Mansion and took a boat with the envoys to go straight to Pyongyang instead of rushing to Beijing immediately. Li Cheng's troops stationed in Hebei also received orders to cross the sea by boat and immediately went to Baozhou City in Goryeo to garrison.

Seeing that the Ming Dynasty envoys and troops actually landed at Nanpu Port at the mouth of the Datong River, Cui Huan, the Koryo envoy, asked in shock: "Aren't you going to open the capital?"

Xu Kangzong, who served as the envoy, smiled and replied: "Since Goryeo has surrendered, Ming Dynasty will send troops to help. To prevent the Jin people from going south again, Ming Dynasty plans to station troops in Baozhou and Pyongyang to ensure the future security of Goryeo."

Cui Huan was dumbfounded. He asked Ming Dynasty to send troops to rescue him, but he was just talking. The real purpose was just to ask Ming Dynasty to confer kingship.

It was just a polite word, but did Ming really take it seriously?

Xu Kangzong then added: "Of course, the Ming court will pay for the military pay for the Ming garrison. But the food for the Ming garrison must be provided by Korea. After all, military rations cannot be transported all the way from Shandong."

Do you still have to provide food and grass to the Ming army?

Cui Huan felt that Emperor Zhu was crazy, and quickly asked: "How many troops does Ming intend to send?"

Xu Kangzong said: "Not many, just 20,000 people."

Cui Huan said in a panic: "There are only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the whole country of Goryeo. How can we support 20,000 Ming troops?"

Xu Kangzong said: "Therefore, Your Majesty is merciful and only allows Goryeo to provide military rations, so that the money and wages will not trouble the Goryeo monarchs and ministers."

"Just giving food is not enough!" Cui Huan cried.

Xu Kangzong frowned and asked, "Didn't you ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops? Now that the Ming Dynasty has actually sent troops, why are you pushing back? Could it be that you are secretly colluding with the Jin people and are you a spy hiding in Korea?"

Cui Huan looked at Nanpu Port, and the sea breeze made him feel dazed.

(I recommend Da Luoluo's "Traveling Through Han Xiandi: Prime Minister, I Really Don't Know My Magic Skills", which will be on the shelves tomorrow. There seem to be many excellent novels on the Three Kingdoms theme in the past few years, but this one is also quite unfair.)