Zuo Menggeng's completely hands-off approach gave everyone in North Korea unlimited room for imagination.
They understand very well the benefits of supporting a new king.
In the original Injo, they were important participants anyway, and they also had great power in the court by virtue of their merits.
Especially Kim Sang-heon and Shen Ji-won, before Injo came to power, they were just ordinary scholars.
As a result, they all reached the pinnacle of scholars and held high positions of authority.
Now that the Xia Kingdom has no interest in who will be the new king of North Korea, this is their opportunity to take advantage of it.
Shen Qiyuan couldn't wait and spoke first.
"Haiping Jun Li Ji is the queen of Rencheng Jun, and has experienced many hardships. He should be able to understand the sufferings of the world and become a wise master."
Before he finished speaking, Hong Yihan quickly objected.
"Qingchangjun has no bad record and is a loyal man. He is the best choice for the new king."
In an instant, the people in North Korea who were originally united were immediately divided into two groups.
Although it was Hong Yihan who raised objections to Shen Jiyuan, everyone knew that he represented the opinions of Kim Sang-heon.
Kim Sang-heon and Shen Ji-yuan are both members of the Western People's Party, but it is obvious that their interests are not consistent.
Shen Yan spoke for his uncle.
"The false king Li Jie was rebellious and unpopular, and Lord Inseong was harming him. Only with Lord Haipyeong as king can we correct the chaos and restore orthodoxy."
Inseongjun Li Gong was the eighth son of Seonjo.
In the first year of Chongzhen, the rebellion of Liu Douli and Liu Xiaoli, nephews of Lord Gwanghae's wife, occurred. Li Gong was also accused of colluding with them, so he was exiled to Zhendao.
Li Zhu pretended to be benevolent and righteous, and finally pretended to obey the opinions of the ministers and Queen Renmu, and executed him.
Li Gong learned the news and chose to commit suicide. His wife and children were exiled to Jeju Island and are now in the hands of Xia Jun.
It seems that Shen Qi had planned it a long time ago and had carefully considered it.
But it is a pity that in the struggle for interests, no matter how good the rhetoric is, it cannot impress Kim Sang-heon and his family.
"In fact, it is not the case. North Korea has experienced many disasters, and the people are in dire straits. In a crisis, stability is the first priority. Lord Qingchang has a steady temperament, a simple man, and is a good ruler who is restoring the national economy and people's livelihood."
The dispute between the two sides was very fierce and neither could convince the other.
Zuo Mengeng saw this scene and just wanted to sneer.
It is worthy of being a country of father and son like Ming Dynasty, even the tradition of party struggle is exactly the same.
It is clear that the overall situation is uncertain and the future is uncertain. When they should be united and do their best, these Korean civil servants actually embarked on the path of division for the sake of their own interests.
With such people existing, where is the hope for new life in North Korea?
If it weren't for the Ming father who always looked after it, the later Qing father would look down upon it. Such a country would have been destroyed countless times.
Seeing the two groups of people going head-to-head, refusing to give in to each other, Zuo Mengeng knew that his plan was more and more likely to succeed.
Does he really not care who becomes the king of Korea?
Obviously not.
North Korea is the first step and starting point for China's external expansion. Without laying this foundation, China will have no hope of looking across the ocean.
How could he not care about such an important place?
But politics requires a talent for acting.
Even if I think deeply in my heart, I can't show it on the surface.
He pretended not to care, allowing Xia Guo to completely stand on the moral high ground. From now on, no one can criticize Xia Guo's actions.
However, if you stay completely out of the matter, you will have no way to interfere in North Korea's affairs and exert influence on Xia Kingdom.
The best thing to do is to leave the problem to the North Koreans themselves and cause them to fight among themselves.
Only when the snipe and the clam fight can the fisherman profit.
Sure enough, Xia Guo's withdrawal caused the two factions that were originally united to split apart and become hostile to each other.
If you study carefully, the candidates recommended by Shen Jiyuan and Kim Sangxian are traceable.
Renchengjun and his family were persecuted by Li Zhu, and their lives were extremely miserable. They were also suspected of treason.
However, Shen Qiyuan was very keen on treason.
Not only did he participate in Injo's rebellion, but originally because he was dissatisfied with Li Zhu's surrender to the Qing Dynasty, he began to make painstaking plans to overthrow Li Zhu.
In the end, the incident was exposed and Lingchi was executed.
Obviously, for Shen Qiyuan's family, Renchengjun's family, who were dissatisfied with the original government and had no foundation, were the best candidates for the country's master.
But for Kim Sang-heon and his family, the honest and baseless King of Gyeongchang, Lee Gon, is easier to control, making it easier for them to control the government.
Kim Sang-heon's faction originally had the most high-ranking officials in the DPRK. If the person they support becomes the new king of North Korea, they will completely control the government and the opposition and do whatever they want.
No matter how righteous the two gangs say on the surface, in fact, they are all naked interests behind the scenes.
Zuo Mengeng ignored their dispute and turned his attention to the battle in Beihan Mountain.
Without Xia Guo in the middle, the dispute between the two factions became more intense. But overall, the voice of Kim Sang-heon's faction was louder.
After all, Shen Qiyuan has been idle for a long time, and his influence in the court is far from comparable to that of Kim Sang-heon.
This made Shen Qiyuan quite depressed and racked his brains to find a solution.
In the distance, artillery roared on the Beihan Mountain, and the shouts of killing continued. The Xia army's attacks became stronger and stronger, and they had successively broken through the two lines of defense of the defenders.
All these things can be seen from a distance.
He understood that if he could not take the initiative before returning to Hanyang, he would surely lose his status in the court in the future.
But where is the key to breaking the situation?
Fu Xinyuan came from a distance, his steps hurried, as if he was in a hurry.
Shen Qiyuan instinctively greeted him.
"Secretary Fu, something big happened?"
Only then did Fu Xinyuan see Shen Qiyuan standing by the road.
"It turned out to be Mr. Suizhi. News came from Ganghwa Island that the body of Hucao Shenpan Jin Shangrong was found. According to the inquiries from the people below, when the Qing army conquered Ganghwa Island, Jin Shenpan would rather die than surrender and commit suicide. It is true that It's admirable. Jin Sanshu has been inquiring about his brother's whereabouts, and I want to inform him about this so that he can hold a funeral for Jin Sanshu."
Upon hearing the news of Jin Shangrong's death, Shen Qiyuan nodded, feeling equally sad.
In the midst of Bingzi's chaos, there were really too many loyal people in North Korea who chose to sacrifice their lives for the country.
But after Fu Xinyuan left, an idea flashed in Shen Qiyuan's mind, and he suddenly realized something.
He couldn't help but quicken his pace, and after returning to his residence, he summoned all his troops.
"Jin Shenpan's funeral will inevitably involve Jin Panshu's energy. This is a God-given opportunity that must not be missed."
He looked at his nephew Shen Yan and started to make arrangements.
"You return to Jeju Island immediately and pick up Mr. Haiping. By then the rice will be cooked and we will be done."
When everyone heard this, they all marveled at Shen Qiyuan's ingenious plan, and they all felt that this method had a good chance of winning.