Thanks for the reward from Wanglai Rufeng. I have a question, do you guys have any more rewards to give
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When approaching Ganghwa Island, Ningyuan ordered the fleet to drop anchor and stay at sea, waiting for North Korea's response.
Lieutenant General Tian Heng found Ning Yuan and said anxiously, "General, this won't work. As many as 40% of our brothers are seasick and need to go ashore to rest. Why don't we take Ganghwa Island first?"
Ning Yuan shook his head and replied, "Ganghwa Island is too close to the coast of North Korea. Once we take Ganghwa Island, the whole of Seoul will know we are here. Everyone, please be patient and give Li Jun some time. If Li Jun does not respond within a day, we will take Ganghwa Island."
Although the ship had dropped anchor, it was still swaying with the ocean current. Tian Heng's face was still pale, and Aobai was even worse. He hardly even had the strength to speak.
From a distance, you can see some small islands scattered on the sea, but these islands have no docks, so it is difficult for large ships to dock.
Tian Heng retreated and said, "General, let's let those brothers who are more seasick take a small boat and go to a nearby island to rest first. It would be good if they can rest on the shore for a day."
Ning Yuan looked at his pitiful pale face and said, "Okay, take the seasick soldiers to a nearby island to rest first."
Tian Heng was afraid that Li Jun would suddenly have news and Ning Yuan would abandon them and rush to Seoul first. He said unwillingly: "General, I will not go. Please find someone else to lead the brothers to the island."
Aobai couldn't hold on any longer and said weakly, "I'll go..."
After Aobai took a small boat to the island, six people including the chief assistant Zhou Yun, the guerrilla An Congjun, Li Shi, Xu De, the lieutenant generals Tian Heng and Fang Fei, and the commander Ning Yuan started an urgent discussion on the bow of the boat.
Ning Yuan spoke first: "Mr. Zhou, please introduce the situation in North Korea to everyone."
"Yes, Marshal." Zhou Yun, the deputy commander, nodded and said, "According to the intelligence we have, there are currently 400 Qing troops stationed in Seoul, led by Melezhang Jingde'an. Although the 400 Qing troops may not be our opponents, if the Korean army is added, things will become very difficult."
Guerrilla General An Congjun asked, "Master Zhou, how many Korean troops are there around Seoul?"
"The total number of troops in Gyeonggi Province is close to 30,000. But the situation is quite complicated. Let me tell you about the factional disputes in North Korea first. This will be helpful for us after we enter North Korea."
"Speak quickly, sir."
"Okay. I'll make it short. For the past hundred years, Korea, like the Ming Dynasty, has been plagued by internal factional strife. The last Korean monarch was named Yi Hun. During his fifteen years in office, Korea was divided into the East Party and the West Party.
During Li Hun's reign, people without land were exempted from paying grain to the state. From then on, only landlords had to pay grain. In terms of foreign policy, he wavered between the Former Ming and the Jurchens. The Eastern Party gained power by supporting Li Hun's policies. He tried his best to suppress the Western Party.
In the third year of the Tianqi reign, Li Hun's nephew Li Jong saw that he was ill, so he asked his trusted ministers to suggest that Li Gui, the governor of Pingshan of the Western Party, train 500 soldiers and horses to be transferred to Seoul for "defense."
Later, with the assistance of Jin Zhu, Li Gui, Li Shi, Jin Zidian and others and Queen Inmok, he led his army to attack Qingyun Palace, launched a palace coup, tied up Li Hun, and announced the abdication of his throne.
After Yi Jong seized the throne from his uncle, the Western Party gained power. The Eastern Party was beaten to the point of being on the verge of death. However, Yi Jong's coup d'état was not accepted by the Ming court. Yuan Keli, the governor of Denglai who was in charge of controlling Korea at the time, even reported to the Ming court. He claimed, "Why would a minister usurp the throne and a nephew depose an uncle? Yi Jong's heart is not only unfaithful, but also unfaithful to China. He should be punished and punished to revive the royal power."
When the whole of North Korea learned about this, they were horrified, which also caused the dominant Western Party to further split the Luo Party and the Yuan Party.
The original party headed by Jin Lu was loyal to China and never forgot to get rid of the control of the barbarians. The Luo party headed by Jin Zidian, Jin Yu and Li Shibai leaned towards the Qing Dynasty.
With the support of the Qing Dynasty, Kim Ja-jeon now holds the high position of Prime Minister, which is equivalent to the Prime Minister. Many members of the Luo Party also hold important positions and are trying their best to undermine the Joseon King Yi Jong and attack the original party.
Currently, half of the troops in Gyeonggi Province are controlled by the pro-Qing Luo Party, and the Qing Dynasty has troops stationed in Seoul, Jeonju, and Pyongyang. Therefore, we must not take it lightly. If our army does not get support from Yi Jong, it may lead to a major change in the entire Korea, and then the entire Korea will completely turn to the Qing Dynasty. "
After listening to Zhou Yun's explanation, Tian Heng asked Ning Yuan, "General, what are you going to do?"
Ning Yuan said: "If we can get support from Li Jong, things will be easier. We can just cooperate with the outside forces and take Seoul at lightning speed to eliminate the Manchu forces and the pro-Qing Luo Party. If we can't get support from Korea, we can only attack by force."
When it comes to a violent attack, everyone's expression becomes solemn. This time, the 10,000-strong army is heading to Korea, and the manpower is not large to begin with. About 40% of the soldiers are seasick, and they need to go ashore and rest for a few days at least before they can recover.
With only five or six thousand troops left far away from the rear, how easy would it be to capture North Korea by force
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Uijeongbu in Seoul.
"Get out of here!" Li Jilian, the commander of the five military camps, pushed away the guards who came to block him and ran quickly to the office of the Prime Minister Jin Zidian.
When the officials in the Council of Ministers saw this, they were inexplicably surprised and began to discuss the matter in private.
Lee Ji-ryong, the commander of the Five Military Camps, was a high-ranking official of the second rank. He rushed into the Uijeongbu in such a panic to find Kim Ji-jeon. Something must have happened, and it must be related to the open and secret struggles between the Yuan Party and the Luo Party.
I’m afraid that another political storm is about to come!
The atmosphere in the Council of State suddenly became tense, and for a moment it felt as if a dark cloud was gathering. The middle and lower-level officials were like frightened rabbits, and they walked on tiptoe.
Jin named himself Chengzhi and was nicknamed Luoxi. He was sixty years old at the time.
During these decades, he has experienced a series of coups, party struggles, and even intervened in the harem struggles in North Korea. Under the tempering of a series of life-and-death political struggles, Kim Ji-jeon has long become gloomy and experienced.
He had just received a secret letter from Zhao Zhaoyi in the harem, saying that Li Zong was preparing to write to Dorgon, requesting the release of Crown Prince Li Xi, and asked him to find a way to stop it as soon as possible.
Zhao Zhaoyi was born a palace maid and was as beautiful as a flower. She had been the most favored concubine in the harem over the years and was promoted from Shuyuan, Zhaoyuan, Zhaorong, Shuyi to Zhaoyi. Now Li Jong was preparing to confer her the title of a noble lady of the first rank.
She was also very good at getting pregnant and gave birth to two sons and one daughter for Lee Jong over the years, namely, Chongseongun Lee Seong, Leseongun Lee Seong and Princess Hyomyeong.
Chongshan Jun Li Cheng and Leshan Jun Li Yu were not eligible to inherit the throne because they were born out of wedlock and were still young.
But Zhao Zhaoyi, who was loved by everyone, was unwilling to accept this. She was at odds with Crown Prince Li Xi's concubine Jiang, and often framed Concubine Jiang in front of Li Jong. Once Crown Prince Li Xi returned to the throne, Jiang would never let her go.
Therefore, Zhao Zhaoyi has been looking for support from foreign ministers. Now Jin Zidian is in control of the government, and he knows that it is extremely disadvantageous for him to continue to hold power if the eldest prince succeeds to the throne. Chongshan Prince Li Cheng is only five years old now, and it would be most beneficial for him if he succeeds to the throne.
So the two hit it off and each got what they wanted. After receiving the news from Zhao Zhaoyi, Jin Zidian immediately began to think about how to prevent Li Xi from returning to the country.
He was alone in the yamen thinking about this question when suddenly someone slammed the door of the yamen.
Jin Zidian was startled by the sudden knock on the door and could not help but fly into a rage: "Who! How can this be so unreasonable? Who is so rude!"
"Your Excellency, it's me, Li Jilong. Your Excellency, please open the door. I have something urgent to report."
Hearing Li Jilian's impatient voice, Jin Zidian was secretly shocked. The matter that could make Li Jilian, the commander of the Five Military Camps, so anxious must be of great importance.
Jin Zidian hurriedly opened the door, and Li Jilong rushed in. He slammed the door shut again, and then said in a hurry: "Prime Minister, something is wrong. I just reported that a large fleet has arrived off the coast of Ganghwa Island. Judging from the flags, it should be the fleet of the Qin State in the south. The exact number of troops is still unknown, but it will not be less than 10,000."
"Qin? Qin is coming to my Korea..." Jin Zidian was extremely shocked. He realized the danger of this matter halfway through his words and felt a chill rising to his head.
He was pro-Qing. Qin and the Qing were mortal enemies. The sudden appearance of the Qin navy near the coast of Korea would inevitably lead to major changes in Korea, which would be an extremely dangerous thing for him.
"Master Prime Minister, please make a decision quickly. What should we do?"
"Quick, go back and control the five military camps immediately and seal off the capital. I will send someone to notify the Qing envoy... Go quickly!"
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ps: I went shirtless and voted for the monthly ticket myself, but was still stabbed in the ass by Yin Xiong. Brothers, we must stab back. If you have monthly tickets, please vote for them. I urgently need monthly tickets! I am begging for monthly tickets at the top of my lungs!
.(To be continued..)
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