Chapter 277 Aiding Korea and Fighting the Japanese () Breach of Promise
After Ukita Hide's home was attacked, Governor Konishi was furious after hearing the news and ordered some North Koreans to be dragged out of the city and beheaded. He also conveyed the decision to Uiju, requiring the North Korean army to return the Japanese prisoners immediately, otherwise one North Korean would be beheaded in Pyongyang every day.
The people showed punishment.
Afterwards, President Konishi hurriedly rushed to visit Ukita Hideie. As expected, Hideie was furious and ordered an immediate attack on Yishu. Although President Konishi could understand Hideie's mood, he still advised: "Such a thing happened.
, I also want to launch an attack immediately, but you also know that our army is in a bad situation now, so for the sake of His Highness Taige's great cause, please be patient for the time being."
Ukita Hideie also knew that this was indeed not a good time to continue the attack, but he had to vent his anger no matter what, so he vowed to return to Hanyang and excavate the tombs of the previous kings of Korea to vent his anger.
President Konishi neither dared nor had the interest to object to this. The resentment of the Ukita Hide family was hard to eliminate anyway, and he refused any dissuasion. Naturally, it would be better to do less than to do more. Anyway, as far as President Konishi was concerned, the excavation of ancestral graves was a matter for him and the Ukita Hide family.
Just do it yourself, I, Xiaoxi, won’t get my hands dirty, so just let him go.
As a result, Ukita Hideie was really furious. Before his injuries healed, he forcibly set off to return to Hanyang, and immediately arranged to dig up the tombs of the Joseon kings and burn them in public.
Not long after, the King of Joseon, Li Wan, learned from Li Yuanyi, the Ping'an Road Observer, that the Japanese army not only killed Korean people in Pyongyang every day in exchange for prisoners, but also excavated and destroyed the tombs of the previous kings of Korea such as Seonling and Jeongneung in Wangjing.
The coffins of King Seongjong, King Jungjong of Joseon, and Queen Jeonghyun, Seongjong's concubine, were burned. Li Hao was so angry that he actually fainted to the ground this time.
After some frantic emergency treatment, the Queen and the Jin nobles came to comfort them. Li He shed tears and said: "I will not be able to face my ancestor Longyan until my death. It is all my fault that the prince attacked without authorization, causing the Japanese pirates to do such a common deed."
An act of anger." Then he shouted away everyone and cried alone.
At the same moment, Kato Kiyomasa from Hamgyong Province once again questioned Linhai Jundao: "Since you are the eldest prince of North Korea, why have you not heard from North Korea for a long time? What is the reason? Even if you are not willing to surrender, you should at least take gold and silver.
Come and beg me to release you, right? Are you a prince?"
Linhai Jun smiled bitterly and said: "I hope I am not a prince. If I were not a prince, I would not be in such a situation and be slaughtered by others."
Kato Kiyomasa said sarcastically: "After I came to Hamgyeong Province, I learned that you are notorious. Even the local people voluntarily arrested you in exchange for peace. Perhaps because of this, the North Korean royal family may have decided to abandon you."
When Linhai Jun heard this, he was extremely frightened. He was afraid that he would be killed because he had lost his value. He quickly denied it and said: "It will never be like this. If they wanted to abandon me, they should have deposed me as a commoner before, not to mention the prince and his wife."
I am a compatriot from the same mother and have deep feelings. How can you ignore me? I would like to write another letter to the crown prince, asking him to lead everyone to surrender immediately."
Kato Kiyomasa didn't want the big fish he finally caught to be meaningless in his hands, so he said: "That's fine, but if there is still no response this time, I will have to cut off your hands and feet and give them to those
In the hands of the people who have long wanted to eat your flesh and blood, I advise you to take care of yourself and not make mistakes." Linhai Jun was so frightened that he knelt down with tears streaming down his face and begged for mercy.
Guanghaijun received a letter from his brother again and could not help but remain silent. After a long time, Zheng Zhuo suggested that it would be better to secretly inquire about Linhaijun's whereabouts. If it was convenient, he could quietly carry out the rescue.
However, Lord Guanghai shook his head firmly and said, "Don't worry so much. I have already said that Lord Linhai died heroically in the battle with the Japanese pirates, and he is worthy of his ancestors."
Zheng Zhuo was not really concerned about the life and death of Lord Linhai, but was worried about how he should report it to the king. Seeing that Lord Guanghai was unwilling to mention it, he advised: "Don't do this. If the king knows about this in the future, he will be furious."
, it will also put you in a dangerous situation. Such a major incident involving the life of a prince must be reported."
Lord Guanghai thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed. At the same time, Jin Gongliang also learned about Lord Linhai from his maid. He was so shocked that he immediately informed Jin Guiren about it.
Li Huan was also shocked when he heard that Lord Linhai and Lord Shunhe had been captured by the Japanese army, and quickly asked for details. Hearing that the Crown Prince had already known about this, he was furious and blamed why he didn't report it, so he immediately ordered the summons for the Crown Prince.
Jin Guiren hurriedly said: "Your Highness, Lord Linhai must be rescued! No matter whether he does well or not in Xianjing Road, he is of His Highness's blood. Even if he does not do well, it can only be dealt with by you, the king.
It’s neither the Japanese’s turn nor Gwanghae’s turn!
The capture of the prince is not only a shame for Korea, but if the captured prince cannot be rescued, it will become an even greater shame for His Highness! Moreover, Lord Linhai will also play a role in supervising the prince while he is alive.
Although Lord Linhai is not powerful enough to suppress Gwanghae, he is the eldest son after all... Your Highness, please pay close attention to one thing, that is, the Ming Dynasty will definitely have doubts about the eldest son of the Korean royal family who has not become the crown prince.
There is no doubt about it. If you don’t believe it, just look at the Ming Dynasty’s request to confer Guanghai on the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty’s rejection. This is the most conclusive evidence!
But Your Highness, if Lord Linhai dies, then Guanghai will become the eldest son, and his position as the heir apparent will be justified. In this time of turmoil, he will most likely be officially canonized by the Great Ming Dynasty. By then..."
Needless to say what happened next, Li Hao, who had always been extremely sensitive to royal power, felt that this was justified and made up his mind as quickly as possible to rescue Lord Linhai.
When Lord Gwanghae received the summons and prepared to leave with a sad face, Liu Chenglong told him to just insist that he was "always under investigation", to deal with it calmly, and not to contradict the king's wishes.
Lord Gwanghae also knew that the situation was critical, so he naturally nodded in agreement, and Zheng Zakuben also wanted to go to Uiju together. Lord Gwanghae advised: "You don't have to go with me. If we all leave for Uiju, who will be in charge of the division of dynasties?"
?Please sir, sit in charge of the branch court. I will be careful when I go and don't worry about me." Then all the ministers of the branch court paid their respects to Lord Guanghai.
Soon after, King Li Wan of Joseon summoned his ministers and asked Gwanghae what he meant by "always being visited". Gwanghae Jun replied: "I have been uneasy since I received the letter from my brother Linhae Jun.
, although it seems that the letter must have been written by my brother, there is no guarantee that it was not a lure by the Japanese pirates. Therefore, I have been constantly investigating the truth recently, hoping to find out the facts before reporting to His Highness, so as to avoid any mistakes.
"
Li Huo was noncommittal to his explanation, and just asked: "I am very surprised. You have been probing for so long, but have you gained anything? You are not worried that you will be robbed of your position as the heir, so you are deliberately watching with a cold eye, right?"
Lord Guanghai looked surprised, and then said with great sincerity: "How can Your Highness say that? Not only do I have no qualifications to be the crown prince, but I have never had any unreasonable thoughts about the crown prince's position. The emperor and the empress are here."
Your Majesty, I am announcing in public today: If Your Highness intends to let you give up the position of Crown Prince to your elder brother, I will give up the position without hesitation and will never break your promise."
Li Ao looked at him coldly, but did not answer. In fact, Guanghaejun's words seemed generous, but in fact they did not mean much. The reason was that Li Ao knew very well that although North Korea is now in danger at the national level,
, but the situation in the North Korean court is actually still under its control.
That means that if he really wants to depose Gwanghae, it would be meaningless for Gwanghae to hesitate, because he can't stop it at all - speaking of it, the only possible consequence of "hesitation" is probably death.
This one is even worse.
At this time, Zuo Yizheng Yi Dooshou said: "Your Majesty the Crown Prince and Lord Linhai are brothers from the same mother and father. The love of brothers has always been deep, and the subjects all commented on it in this way. Compared with other people, I must have heard that my brother was imprisoned and humiliated by Japanese pirates.
The Crown Prince is the one who is most saddened, and he will definitely try his best to find out about Linhai Lord's safety, so please don't worry about this, Your Highness."
Zheng Che also said: "That's right, Your Highness, the Crown Prince's first investigation can be regarded as a cautious approach, which is a good thing. If you act recklessly and fall into the enemy's conspiracy, the consequences will be disastrous."
Li Hao didn't say much to them, but just asked Guanghaijun if he had confirmed that Linhaijun had been arrested?
Lord Guanghai replied: "Yes, I have received clear information before setting off. My brother has indeed been captured by Japanese pirates."
Li Huo immediately began to sigh, saying with emotion that the capture of a prince was like the capture of a king, and the meaning was roughly the same. Such an incident was really a shame for the royal family. In order to save the situation, the army should be sent immediately to rescue Lord Linhai.
However, when Li Hengfu, the military judge, heard this, he quickly reported: "Your Highness, please think twice. Now the imperial court has no troops to send to Hamgyong Province to rescue Linhaijun. The official army and the rebel army are mainly concentrated in the south to deal with the Japanese pirates, stationed in
The number of guards in Yizhou is only a few thousand, and the Ming army is not only smaller in number, but also... cannot be mobilized.
All in all, the current strength of the imperial court is not enough to defeat the enemies of Hamgyeong Province for the time being. If the Uiju army is sent out, it will be difficult to protect the safety of His Highness."
Li Hao was helpless for a moment, but then he thought, since Fengwu didn't have the ability, could he redeem it with money? From this, he thought that he could use the silver gifted by Ming Dynasty last time to exchange it with Kato Kiyomasa.
This made Yi Dooshou's eyelids twitch when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, you must not do it. There are only more than 5,000 taels of silver gifted by the Ming Dynasty. This silver has already been used to help Yizhou's soldiers and people survive the cold winter."
The final preparations are made. Although the money is not much, it affects the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians and must not be misappropriated."
Li Hao was furious and asked: "This won't work, that won't work either, so how can I save Lord Linhai?"
Seeing that the matter had reached this stage, Zheng Che simply reported: "For the sake of the world, it is better to give up rescuing Lord Linhai."
Li He stared at him intently and said slowly: "In your opinion, do you want me to die without saving you? Humph, I know that you and others usually hate Linhai, but Linhai is my eldest son, and his existence is not only related to me.
The survival of the bloodline is more related to how the Ming Dynasty views Korean etiquette and teachings, how can it be abandoned at will!"
Who knew that Zheng Che had his own explanation? He cupped his hands and said: "Please don't misunderstand, Your Highness, I am not trying to put Lord Linhai to death, but I am making this suggestion so that Lord Linhai can survive.
Your Highness is well aware of your country. You should know that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty was captured by Yi Di more than a hundred years ago, and Yi Di also tried to use the emperor to coerce Ming Dynasty. But what was the result? Ming Dynasty did not obey Yi Di, but established a new emperor on the throne. Yi Di was exhausted over time.
Nothing was gained. Seeing this, he realized that the captured emperor was of no use and could only be released in the end.
Your Highness, do you think the situation in the Ming Dynasty back then was just like Korea today? If the imperial court persists in its stance, over time, Lord Linhai will be released as useless. Wouldn't this be the best of both worlds?"
This was a very political statement, because Li Ao's respect for the Ming Dynasty has now reached its peak. Using what has happened in the Ming Dynasty as an analogy to the present, no matter how reluctant Li Ao is, at least he can't directly refute it.
Yes, so Idoshou quickly agreed.
However, they still underestimated the Korean king. Li He thought for a while and then asked: "How did you know that the Japanese pirates would be released because they were useless near the sea? You take the Ming Dynasty as an example, but you don't know that the Ming Emperor was released because of the strong national power of the Ming Dynasty.
The Yi and Di are hard to match.
There is a saying in the art of war: a sad army will win. The Yi Di were worried about the revenge of the whole country of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to constant negotiations, they found that the Ming Dynasty was already accumulating strength to prepare for a counterattack, so they had no choice but to release the emperor. How is this situation the same as today?
I dare to say that if you follow your plan, Linhai will definitely die! Therefore, you should take out the gift of silver and exchange it for Linhai. This is a safe strategy."
The logic didn't make sense, so we had to talk about the situation. Idoshou continued to express his objections and said: "How can your highness let tens of thousands of soldiers freeze to death in the cold winter for an incompetent prince?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zheng Che also advised Li Huan to be of great concern to the people, and Li Hengfu, the military judge, also advised: "North Korea already has a prince, so we should give priority to protecting the safety of His Highness and the prince. There is no need to
This is a very significant sum of money spent for Lord Linhai."
Li He laughed and said with a hint of sarcasm: "So that's it! The prince can be saved, but Lord Linhai cannot be saved. All the ministers are leaning towards the prince, prince, you should also be extremely pleased with the direction of the people."
After hearing this, Lord Guanghai actually smiled and replied: "Your Highness loves Linhai so much that even the soldiers can't save my brother even if I have two pieces of silver. I have a method that will definitely work: I ask your Majesty to order that I go to the enemy camp to exchange for my brother. Erchen
I cannot bear to sit back and watch His Highness suffer the pain of losing his eldest son, and I would like to ask the king to make a decision, redeem his brother with his brother, rescue his brother, and canonize the crown prince again."
When the officials heard this, they were all panicked and spoke out to stop him.
Yi Dooshou advised: "How can I say such disrespectful and disrespectful words! As the crown prince, how can I risk being easily involved in the enemy's formation? What if someone breaks the promise?"
, the country and the country will also be overturned because of this.”
Zheng Che also said: "If the prince is captured, the division of the dynasty will not be guaranteed, the people will be panicked, and the official army and the rebel army will be defeated."
Li Hengfu, the military judge, also advised: "If the prince goes down to serve as a hostage, that would be an indication of his incompetence. It is better to let him accompany him - in short, do not do such a rash thing."
The officials asked the King of Korea not to agree to the exchange of the crown prince. Seeing the officials protecting the crown prince, Li Huan had mixed feelings in his heart, but he also knew that the matter could not be done forcefully, so he had no choice but to give up.
Until late at night, Li Huo was depressed and said to the chief minister: "I am very curious. If during the day I had said that I was willing to be a hostage in exchange for Linhai, I wonder if the officials would have tried their best to stop it? I think not for sure."
The chief minister consoled him: "How could His Highness say such outrageous words? Your Highness is the king of a country, and the king is holding hostage. How could the ministers not stop him? No matter how stubborn the officials are, they still know that the Lord is insulting his ministers.
The truth of death."
Li He smiled bitterly and said: "King? Who is the king? Can a man still be considered a king? The ministers are alienated and cannot even save their own children. He is really an incompetent king."
The chief minister suggested: "Your Highness, how about entrusting the rescue of Lord Linhai to Shen Weijing, who is about to return? From his negotiations with the enemy, it can be seen that this man has extraordinary abilities, and as an envoy of the Ming Dynasty,
, with a noble status, maybe just the power of words can save Lord Linhai."
Li Huan was overjoyed: "That's right, what you said is absolutely true! How could I forget that Shen Weijing is here? This man is proficient in strategy, courageous, and has the support of the Ming Dynasty. He will definitely be able to rescue Linhai. Once this happens, Linhai's safety will be in danger."
Now I can rest assured and have no worries."
He was overjoyed but also indignant: "But I still can't forgive Gwanghae. I really can't bear it! Yi Dooshou and Zheng Che led the ministers to favor Gwanghae in everything. If they continue like this, sooner or later I will be forced to take the throne."
Seeing Li Huo like this, the chief minister burst into tears because Li Huan was unfair, but Li Huo was already deep in thought, thinking about how to deal with it.
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PS: Fifty Weixu. Also, I read the wrong time just now, so this chapter was posted an hour late...
