Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Goryeo, Kaizhou.

Jin Fushi asked Wen Gongren who had just returned: "What is the purpose of Ming Dynasty sending troops?"

Wen Gongren began to say the lines according to the script: "My good husband knows that Zheng Zhichang heard that his men were exiled and his women were used as official slaves. He was so angry that he wanted to lead the Ming army back to the country to make a big show. Fortunately, I have a good relationship with him. , and after some kind words and persuasion, his tone softened."

The answer was wrong, and Jin Fushi couldn't get angry yet.

Wen Gongren rambled in circles and finally said: "Although Zheng Zhichang did not say it clearly, his words revealed an important inside story. Emperor Zhu in the Ming Dynasty was kind and kind, not a militaristic king. But Prince Zhu was arbitrary. He is domineering and has the ambition to swallow up all the wasteland, and he seems to want to annex Pyongyang."

Jin Fushi was shocked: "In other words, the key to sending Ming troops out of the country with gifts is to please and convince Emperor Zhu."

"No." Wen Gongren shook his head.

"Is Emperor Zhu's decree useless?" Jin Fushi felt strange.

Wen Gongren woke up and said: "It was Prince Zhu who led the troops to conquer the Ming Dynasty. Your husband is familiar with classics and history, so he should know about Li Yuan and Li Shimin."

Jin Fushi suddenly realized: "That's it!"

Wen Gongren added: "Prince Zhu has great dignity. He has ordered troops to send troops to our country. If he withdraws soon, what will happen to Prince Zhu's face? Therefore, this matter cannot be rushed. The more he urges the Ming army to withdraw, the more likely Zhu will be." The prince will be less likely to withdraw."

"How can Prince Zhu gain face?" Jin Fushi asked.

Wen Gongren said: "If the Ming army sends troops northward from Baozhou, if it can cross the Yalu River and gain something, it will show that Prince Zhu has foresight in sending troops to Korea, and it will also have a new garrison area for the Ming army in the north of the Yalu River. By that time, Zhu will The prince has gained face, and the Ming army has gained credibility, so it will be a matter of course for them to withdraw from our country."

The more Jin Fushi thought about it, the more it made sense. He clapped his hands and praised: "A beautiful man and a great talent!"

Although Wen Gongren's words were very reasonable, Jin Fushi certainly would not believe his words.

A few days later, Cui Huan, who was on an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, was released to Kaizhou, bringing news that Xu Kangzong was about to be canonized as king.

Jin Fushi asked: "Can the emperor and the prince of Ming Dynasty get along well with each other on weekdays?"

Cui Huan replied: "When I arrived in Kaifeng in the Ming Dynasty, I was not banned. I often drank with the officials of the Sifang Pavilion, and occasionally talked with the people inside and outside the city. No one dared to say that the emperor and the prince were not on good terms, but people talked about Both of them praised Emperor Zhu for his kindness and generosity, and all the people in the world admired his kindness. When talking about Prince Zhu, they praised his heroism and bravery for ensuring the peace and happiness of all people in the world."

Jin Fushi asked again: "Did Prince Zhu really conquer the territory of the Ming Dynasty under his leadership?"

"It's absolutely true," Cui Huan said.

Jin Fushi asked again: "What do you think the Ming army's intention is here?"

Cui Huan said: "Most likely, the Ming Dynasty wanted to seize the opportunity to seize the West Road. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty envoys and military generals supported this matter. They first wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to gain credit. Other Ming Dynasty civil servants were opposed to it. When they returned from Pyongyang this time , a civil servant came from Shandong with food. This civil servant seemed to have had a quarrel with the envoy Xu Kangzong. Although I did not see it with my own eyes, after their private conversation, their faces became ugly. The civil servant who came from Shandong, and He left the Ming army camp in anger."

A series of information finally convinced Jin Fushi——

Emperor Zhu and most of the civil servants did not want to annex the Western Road, and they especially did not want to transport grain to help the hungry people of Goryeo.

But Prince Zhu, the envoys and generals had plans to expand the territory.

After thinking about it, Jin Fushi came up with a countermeasure. He called other ministers in the court and told them in detail what he knew about the situation.

Immediately, Jin Fushi said: "The Ming Dynasty envoy Xu Kangzong, as well as Zhe Yanzhi and other military generals, are just seeking money and meritorious service. We cannot give credit for the time being, but we can give some wealth. We can give silver bottles, furs and mountains. Shen, if you bribe them, you can ask them to help you say good things."

"Asking for wealth can satisfy them, but what about the credit they want? I'm afraid Prince Zhu just wants to gain martial arts." Ren Yuanhou asked.

Jin Fushi smiled and said: "As for martial arts, you can send envoys to the Kingdom of Jin to ask for help, and say that the Xijing faction colluded with the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty sent tens of thousands of troops stationed on the Western Road of our country, and could cross the Yalu River to attack the Jin Kingdom at any time. "

"Wonderful!"

Hong Zai clapped his hands and praised: "The two tigers of the Jin Kingdom and the Ming Kingdom are fighting, and our country of Korea can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. The Ming army won, and they just continued to fight north. Prince Zhu, the envoys, and the generals all Martial arts, and when the time comes, I will give them a lot of goods to make them retreat. If the Jin soldiers win, they will never sit back and watch the Ming army on the West Road."

Jin Xiaozhong added: "In addition to wealth, beauties should also be given as gifts. If a hero has trouble with beauty, he can choose smart women from all ethnic groups to marry the Ming envoys and military generals as concubines. After making them happy, how can they return the favor because of their in-laws? Will you start a war with me, Dagoryeo?"

"This is a great idea!" The ministers all believed that the honey trap was feasible.

Anyway, there are many branches of the big family, so there is no harm in letting the small sects choose smart and beautiful women to be concubines for the civil servants and generals of the Ming Dynasty, and blow pillows all day and night.

If the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Jin Kingdom, it would be extremely powerful. By then, these families would have contact with the Ming Dynasty officials.

If the Jedi of the Jin Kingdom fight back, then all the blame for colluding with the Ming Dynasty will be placed on those small sects as scapegoats.

The nobles of the Kaijing faction agreed on this important matter, and then waited for Xu Kangzong to come and canonize the King of Goryeo.

Just when Xu Kangzong was about to arrive, several officials from the Goryeo court jointly petitioned to reinstate the former Prime Minister Cui Hongzaiguan.

Cui Hongzai was not from the Cui family in Kaijing. His hometown was in Jishan further south. He once led the army in battle as a civilian official and won the unanimous respect of the military generals. He defeated the Jurchen soldiers besieging the city and captured 132 Jurchen vests alone. At that time, the Jin Kingdom did not have many vests.

With such a record, he was quickly convicted of going to war without authorization, and was absolved of crime only after winning the battle with the Jurchens.

Choi Hongjae felt that he was being suppressed, so he chose to cling to the powerful minister Li Ziqian. Li Ziqian also wanted to control the army and further consolidate his power. The two hit it off and worked together.

Cui Hongzai was so awesome that his power quickly expanded to the point where Li Ziqian was afraid of him, so he was falsely accused of treason and his whole family was exiled.

The king killed his grandfather Li Ziqian, and the officials who were exiled by Li Ziqian were restored to their posts one after another. Only Cui Hongzai is still in exile, and the Kaijing faction is always afraid of this guy who is both civil and military.

Today, first the Jin soldiers are raging, and then the Ming army is stationed in Pyongyang. The king was placed under house arrest, and civil unrest continued everywhere. Amid internal and external troubles in Goryeo, local nobles who were not members of the Kaijing faction began to unite with some military attachés to request the return of Cui Hongzai, who knew military skills.

Although the Kaijing faction controlled the government, they went too far. At this time, all Taoist clans across the country joined forces, and they really couldn't suppress the fierce public opinion.

As a result, Choe Hongjae, the most proficient civil servant in the Goryeo Kingdom in the past 100 years, returned to the court.

"With the two countries Ming and Jin outside, and Cui Hongzai inside, the situation is getting worse." The nobles in the capital lamented one after another.

Cui Weiqing, the admonisher, said with a smile: "Let him be the servant of the sect and the secretary of the Ministry of War. Once this person takes office, he will definitely clean up the army and must recruit troops for training. He wants to train the troops, but we don't provide him with food, so he can only get food by himself." "

Jin Fuyi immediately understood the plan: "Now the whole country is short of food, and civil unrest continues. As long as Cui Hongzai dares to reach out for food, he can be impeached for being greedy and corrupt. When this person was in exile, his family property was confiscated by Li Ziqian, and now he is doing it again Officials must be corrupt. And they are eager to get back their family assets, so they take food from the hungry people!"

Although Cui Hongzai was not an honest official, he was at least an official who could do things. On his way back to Beijing after his exile, he was dismissed from office due to corruption.

Xu Kangzong finally arrived, and Zhe Yanzhi led 500 elite troops to escort him.

Most of these Ming army officers and soldiers were from Shandong bandits. The imperial court selected the best from the best to form troops. This year the army was reorganized into a field army.

All of them were wearing newly made medium-sized armor, and all of them were tall and tall. They walked towards the gate of Kaizhou City. The Goryeo civil and military officials responsible for welcoming them were frightened.

The two sides exchanged some words, and Xu Kangzong reminded: "Here is the canonization edict. The King of Goryeo should fast and bathe, and must not forget the etiquette and offend the gods."

Jin Fushi quickly said: "I have made arrangements."

Entering the city, a banquet was held in honor of the guests. The Minister of Korea prepared a singing girl and danced into his arms to persuade her to drink wine.

Xu Kangzong said: "While the King of Goryeo is fasting and bathing, as a canonized envoy, I cannot get close to women."

"Angels are true ministers of etiquette!" Jin Fushi praised.

That night, Xiao Zong, a noble from the capital, brought his daughter. In addition to Xu Kangzong and Zhe Yanzhi, there were also seven or eight accompanying civil and military officials.

Everyone speculated that it was forbidden to have sex with women during the fast, but the visitor took out the birth date and betrothed the daughter of the family to a Ming Dynasty official as a concubine. After the fasting period, it is not too late to consummate the marriage.

When they got together in private, Zhe Yanzhi sighed: "A daughter of a rich family, being a concubine to an envoy like this, is it shameful for the kings and ministers of Goryeo?"

"They've always been like this." Zheng Zhichang said sarcastically.

Zheng Zhichang's family members, who had been exiled and enslaved, were now free. Several men died during the exile, and all the female family members were defiled. Now he hates the Minister of Korea even more to his core.

Xu Kangzong said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has issued an order. When encountering a bribe in Goryeo, any woman regardless of wealth can accept it, but it must be reported to the court truthfully to avoid being impeached in the future. Also, the gift can be accepted in full, and everything is the same. Don’t do it for the gift giver!”

"Prince Shengming!" Everyone praised sincerely.

During the canonization ceremony, the King of Goryeo, Wang Gou, was so haggard that he was at the mercy of others like a zombie.

He didn't even dare to complain to the Ming Dynasty envoy. If he complained during the day, he would die of illness at night!

He has rich experience of being under house arrest and knows that he should endure it first and secretly accumulate the power of "loyalty to the emperor" before launching a counterattack.

The civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty made a lot of money in Kaizhou and returned to Pyongyang with a group of beauties.

After repeated urging, the Goryeo court agreed to raise 20,000 dan of military rations and transport them to Pyongyang within this month.

As soon as the grain was shipped, Li Cheng, who was stationed in Baozhou, sent a message saying that there were more and more Jin soldiers on the other side of the Yalu River.

Jin Fushi looked at the north and muttered: "Let's have a fight as soon as possible. Whoever wins can win. If we don't fight, it will be wasted in vain."