Looking at the young man next to Jin Sangxian, Cui Mingji could guarantee that there was something wrong with this man.
But the other party didn't mean to hide his identity and smiled.
"I am Guo Ting, Director of the North Korea Department of the Intelligence Department of Xia State."
Cui Mingji's eyes immediately darkened when he heard the word "Xia Guo".
He finally understood something.
Originally, he was still puzzled by the behavior of Kim Sang-hyun and others.
Even if these people are dissatisfied with Li Zhu's humbleness and cowardice and are living an ignoble existence, what is the use of such resistance?
If Li Jie had not given an order, they would have lost their heads. Even if they could organize some soldiers and horses to resist, Li Jie could mobilize more troops.
Not to mention, the Qing army is still in North Korea and can provide support at any time.
It's obviously a certain death situation, so what's the point of resisting like this?
Now that he knew Guo Ting's identity, Cui Mingji suddenly realized.
It turned out that there was another force involved in North Korea that they didn't know about.
North Korea has always been paying attention to the situation in Xia Kingdom.
Of course they knew that the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to sit back and watch as the rebellion grew stronger. It not only occupied Shandong, but also expanded its territory to Jiangnan and Huaihe.
In the minds of Korean people, Ming Dynasty is heaven and the greatest power in the world.
The rise of the Jurchens had an impact on their thinking, and the emergence of the Xia Kingdom was the second injury.
Now North Korea has tasted the power of the Jurchens.
The arrival of Xia Guo, who can be like the Jurchens, obviously makes the situation more complicated and confusing.
Cui Mingji finally felt that the rebellion of Kim Sang-heon and others would probably cause disaster.
He was very anxious.
"Your Majesty, these people are the traitors of the higher country. You keep saying that you want to protect the Korean people, but in the end you surrender to these traitors?"
Kim Sang-hyun’s words are correct.
"The rebellion of the Shangguo is also the Shangguo, and it has always been the king and father of Korea. No matter how the Shangguo regime changes, Chinese orthodoxy will still continue. How can it be compared to the barbarians of Liaodong?"
Hearing his words, Cui Mingji almost wanted to vomit blood.
They are all rebels of the Ming Dynasty, so why are they still superior?
Oh, I'm sorry, that's the truth.
After all, the Qing Dynasty was a Jurchen state, which was completely different from the Han people, so it was difficult for them to be recognized by Koreans.
Although the Xia Kingdom was also a rebel of the Ming Dynasty, they were still Han Chinese at heart.
The scholar-bureaucrats in North Korea have not yet personally felt the differences of the Xia Kingdom, so they cannot be as wary and hostile to the Xia Kingdom as the scholar-officials in the Ming Dynasty were.
In their opinion, even if they defected to Xia's rebellion, they could still maintain North Korea's orthodoxy.
It's better than kowtow to the barbarians.
Seeing that words could not make sense, Li Shibai drew out his knife.
"According to His Highness's order, the traitors Jin Sangxian, Zheng Yun, Yin Huang and others are captured. If they resist, they will be killed without mercy. The rest of them must not seek death!"
Upon hearing his order, the Korean soldiers here raised their weapons one after another, ready to take action at any time.
After all, the Li family has ruled this land for more than two hundred years, and no matter what, the remaining power is still there.
After hearing Li Shibai's announcement, many people here became panicked and didn't know what to do.
At the critical moment, Guo Ting issued the order on behalf of Kim Sang-heon.
"Li Jian is no longer the king of North Korea, he is the traitor of the North Korean people. It is our duty to kill the false king and restore orthodoxy!"
At critical moments, legitimate reasons play a huge role.
The originally panicked Gyeongsang Province troops immediately straightened their backs, raised their weapons, and got into position.
For a time, the two North Korean armies were facing each other tit for tat.
Maybe in the next second, their blood will dye the snow-white earth red.
Seeing that there were so many people on the opposite side, it would be difficult to determine the winner once a fight broke out. Cui Mingji was left in decline.
"Master Lijian, although you and I have different aspirations, I have always admired your conduct. Now, since you have gone astray and do not want to repent, when we meet again, we can only be enemies."
Hearing this, Kim Sang-hyun couldn't help but feel melancholy.
"Lord Judge, I fully understand your painstaking efforts in what you have done. But North Korea always needs to stand up. The people of North Korea cannot live bent down forever. They are human beings, not lambs to be slaughtered at will."
Cui Mingji understood.
What he pursues is to maintain the dominance of the Korean royal family no matter what the circumstances.
He believed that only in this way could North Korea be preserved.
It is also acceptable to sacrifice some people for this purpose.
After all, he was a scholar-bureaucrat, and the king of Korea and the yangban were also high-ranking aristocrats.
Common people really don't count in their minds.
Originally, Kim Sang-hyun opposite him also had this idea.
But I don’t know since when, Kim Sang-heon has linked the fate of the country and the people.
In Kim Sang-heon's thinking, the people are the cornerstone of a country.
When the upper-level rulers of this country do not treat the people as human beings, exploit and persecute them arbitrarily, and force them into the hands of foreigners, then the rulers of this country have lost their orthodox status.
In fact, for thousands of years, North Korea has suffered too many such humiliations.
Any of the surrounding powers can take whatever they want from North Korea.
And not surprisingly, in the end all disasters were passed on to innocent North Korean people.
There is only one way to change this situation.
That is, through the struggle of blood and fire, the suffering Korean people can truly stand up and truly decide their own destiny.
Although this road is very difficult and will be full of blood and sacrifice. But if they can do it once and for all, Kim Sang-heon and others are willing to do it.
This is not a simple debate between orthodoxy and rebellion, but a decisive battle between two different paths.
Originally, in Cui Mingji's view, the imperial court undoubtedly had a decisive advantage.
The imperial court has the orthodoxy to control the country and has the vast majority of the army in its hands. If it fails, it can still ask the Qing army for help.
But now behind Kim Sang-hyun and others, Xia Guo appears.
He could no longer see clearly where the situation would go next.
"Master Judge, do you want to take action?"
Seeing thousands of people on the opposite side sharing the same hatred, Li Shibai couldn't help but tremble a little.
He really wanted to carry out Li Zhu's order, but looking at the fewer soldiers and horses around him, he knew that it seemed impossible to succeed.
Compared with him, Cui Mingji saw it more clearly.
Now, things can no longer be decided by a simple victory or defeat.
He shouted towards the opposite side: "Kim Sang-hyun, do you have anything else to say to the king?"
Now that the lineup was clear, he skipped the last courtesy and instead called Kim Sang-heon by his first name.
Jin Sangxian didn't care. He thought about it and asked someone to take the pen and paper.
He sat on his horse, bathed in the biting cold wind, and wrote a long article in one stroke.
"Cui Mingji, give this to Li Zhu. Tell him that this is the wish of all Koreans who are not willing to be slaves and dogs."
Cui Mingji took the article and only glanced at it. His breath froze immediately and he fell off his horse.