The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The news from Jeju was conveyed to Hanjing, Korea.

King Yi Yi of Korea immediately summoned important officials of the court, including Cui Tan, Nan Gun, Shen Zhen and Hong Jingzhou.

"The Ming Dynasty is ready to take action against the Jurchens and requires our dynasty to send 30,000 troops to cooperate!"

Everyone was very excited when they heard the news.

After all, the grievances between Korea and the Jurchens have a long history.

In the first year of Yongle, the chieftain of the Huli Gai tribe, Aha, went to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court set up a guard with his tribe and inherited the name of Jianzhou, so it was named Jianzhou Guard. The name of Jianzhou Jurchen began here. Later, the distribution area of ​​the Jurchens under the jurisdiction of Jianzhou Guard expanded to the southeast of Jilin City in the west, the Sea of ​​Japan in the east, the Muling River in the north, and the Tumen River in the south.

After the establishment of Jianzhou Guard, the Korean side believed that this was the Ming Dynasty deliberately supporting the Jurchens to curb their development to the north. In order to resist the Jurchens' return to the Ming Dynasty, Korea closed the Qingyuan market trade, which caused resentment among the Jurchens.

In the fourth year of Yongle, the Jurchens "entered Qingyuan to plunder", but were repelled by the Korean army, and the two sides became enemies since then.

The contradictions between the Jurchens and Korea became increasingly prominent, and the two sides continued to rub against each other, mainly because of the bitter cold in Liaodong, so the Jurchens relied on plundering for a living.

The decline of the Joseon Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty gave the Jurchens, who were caught in the middle, an opportunity. They lived in the vast plains near the Liaohe River for generations, and trade with the Ming Dynasty allowed them to master advanced farming techniques without forgetting their old business as a fishing and hunting nation. The rapid increase in population strengthened their strength and increased their demand for external resources.

After the Battle of Tumu, the Jurchen leaders such as Dong Shan witnessed the weakness of the Ming Dynasty, so they immediately took the opportunity to rebel. Although the Ming court put down the rebellion, the Jurchens launched several rebellions. In the second year of Chenghua, 100,000 people were killed and captured in one year. Similarly, Korea, which was next to the Jurchens, was also harassed. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty and Korea formed a coalition to launch three devastating attacks on the Jurchens, which almost killed and exterminated the Jurchens.

It was the same reason. The Mongols were too strong for the Jurchens to beat. The Ming army was well-trained and the city was strong, so they had to rob the Koreans.

Therefore, the Jurchens plundered Korea more and more, which also caused crazy revenge from Korea.

When the Ming court was in Chenghua, the Korean army dispatched by the Ming court, under the command of the commander-in-chief Bi Shang, crossed the Yalu River with more than 10,000 elite soldiers and attacked the two sides of the Pozhu River and Wuerfu, where Jianzhou Wei was located, in different directions.

Wherever the Korean army passed, they burned villages and destroyed settlements. They killed the young and strong and captured the old and young. After the Korean general Yu Youzhao led his army to break through the mountain stronghold guarded by Li Manzhu and his son, they killed them wantonly, massacred the city and destroyed the stronghold. Li Manzhu was shot by an arrow and killed by Yu Youzhao, and his son Li Gunaha also died in the chaos.

It can be said that in the battle of Chenghua Liting, the Korean army killed many times more Jurchen barbarians than the Ming army. Their hatred for these Jurchen barbarians was enough to be compared with the Liaodong army and civilians.

For example, Korea called the Jurchens in the border area "Fanhu", and specially granted the tribal leaders of the Jianzhou Zuowei to the official titles of Wanhu. Moreover, since the right to trade was allocated to the "Fanhu" tribe, the "Fanhu" could gain economic benefits and expand its power through trade with Korea.

The main target of the Joseon attack was the Jianzhou Guard. During the reign of King Sejong of Joseon, Joseon launched two expeditions against the barbarians of the Poju River, which weakened the power of the Jianzhou Guard. Because of these two expeditions, the Jianzhou Guard had to move its base. From then on until the reign of King Yeonsangun of Joseon, Joseon continued to attack the Jurchens of Jianzhou Guard.

Under the various means of suppression by the Ming Dynasty and Joseon, the Jurchen tribes fell into a chaotic and divided situation, but it was precisely because of the chaos that, in addition to many bandit tribes that made a living by looting, they often looted and harassed, which annoyed Joseon.

Hong Jingzhou said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Ming court ordered our dynasty to send troops to suppress the Jurchens. This is indeed a good opportunity."

"The Jurchen barbarians have been plundering and harassing our borders for a long time. Why not take this opportunity to completely wipe them out and put an end to them once and for all!"

Shen Zhen also said: "The Ming court is the suzerain state. As a vassal state, our dynasty should respond to the call of the suzerain state. This is a righteous cause."

"In addition, the East China Sea trade is ongoing. If our dynasty does not cooperate, I am afraid that the Ming court will terminate the East China Sea trade. At that time, it will be my Korea that suffers heavy losses."

The two of them spoke one after another, just to persuade Li Yi to send troops.

And the reasons are upright and irrefutable.

First, the Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state and Korea is a vassal state. It is reasonable and legal for the suzerain state to ask the vassal state to cooperate in sending troops.

Second, Korea and the Jurchens have a deep blood feud. Since the Ming court intends to completely wipe out the Jurchens, Korea is also happy to do so and cooperate with the Ming court to suppress them.

Third, Korea is conducting East China Sea trade with Ming Dynasty and earning astonishing profits from it. If Korea does not cooperate in suppressing Jurchens this time, it will suffer great losses.

Li Yi understands these reasons. He directly eliminated Zhao Guangzu and other members of the Sillin faction for the East China Sea trade. If the trade is terminated, it will become a real victim.

Nan Gun, however, has a different view.

"Since the early days of our dynasty, the power to determine the transaction price and control smuggling in transactions with Jurchens has been directly handed over to northern officials. Northern officials abused this power and used it as a means of improperly making money, which led to the weakening of tribute and official trade, and attracted the rampant private market trade. The dissatisfied Jurchens launched frequent looting and harassment!"

"In order to establish absolute royal power, Lord Yanshan reduced the authority and scale of the three departments including the "Si Xianfu". Originally, the "Si Xianfu" was responsible for the supervision of officials in our dynasty, but Lord Yanshan weakened the authority of the department. As it gained size and power, its oversight of northern officials also began to weaken."

"In addition, most of the officials of the "Si Xianfu" are "Shilin faction", but many "scholar disasters" occurred during the Yanshanjun period, causing these people to suffer huge losses. Therefore, the supervisory function of the "Si Xianfu" It is further weakened, the supervisory function is derelict, the government officials are corrupt, and officials are corrupt and bribery... these are all problems that need to be solved urgently. "

Namgun also came from a wealthy family, but he was very knowledgeable and talented, and he was quite close to the Shilin sect. He could tell at a glance that Lee's Joseon was in decline at the moment.

In the final analysis, it is still because of the weakening of royal power.

The instability of the succession to the throne led to the weakening of royal power, and the resulting autocratic power of meritorious officials and relatives, which caused the prestige of Lee's Joseon to plummet, and court corruption became an inevitable result.

Judging from the succession of the throne, only one of the kings before Yeonsangun of Joseon was the eldest son. This became one of the reasons for the decline of royal power in the Joseon Dynasty, which valued the succession of the eldest son.

After all, North Korea attaches great importance to Confucian etiquette, and the eldest son inheritance system is the core of etiquette and law. As a result, you, the Lee family, cannot abide by the eldest son inheritance system generation after generation, let alone convince your subjects.

Now the 11th King of North Korea, Li Yi, has ascended the throne again. To put it nicely, he is trying to "rectify chaos", and to put it worse, he is "scheming to usurp the throne." It is even more unpopular and disgraceful.

Moreover, Li Yi was underage and could not personally govern, so the old Xun forces controlled the government, and his mother, Queen Zhenxian Yin's natal family, the "Poping Yin family", gave orders.

The backstage of the northern officials is this "Poping Yin family"!

As soon as Nangun said these words, Li Yi's face became gloomy.

It is not enough for these old forces to control the government. Do they also want to completely eradicate dissidents?

He subconsciously looked at Cui Tan, the newly promoted official.

Cui Tan had previously experienced an assassination in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and hurried back to North Korea the next day.

Fortunately, I later learned that the Marquis Zhongshan of the Ming Dynasty had not been assassinated, so I finally felt relieved.

In addition, because of the profits from the East China Sea trade, Cui Tan became the most powerful official in North Korea. He also took this opportunity to cultivate a large number of party members in the court.

"Sending troops is inevitable."

Cui Tan was the first to speak and set a tone.

North Korea will definitely send troops!

All of Cui Tan's power and position came from the Zhongshan Marquis of the Ming Dynasty. Now that Zhongshan Marquis personally led the army to suppress the Jurchens, how dare Cui Tan not cooperate.

"But this is simply impossible with an army of 30,000. Ten thousand elite soldiers are enough!"

First solve the problem of sending troops and set a standard.

After hearing this, Shen Zhen, Nang Gun and Hong Jingzhou all nodded.

Then Cui Tan looked at Nan Gun and said with a smile: "But what Dr. Nan just said is right. In the final analysis, the grudge between our court and the Jurchens started because of the corruption of northern officials!"

"It is better for the imperial court to take this opportunity to carry out reforms. I would like to recommend Dr. Nan to be the Chief Secretary Xian, Dr. Shen to be the Chief Counselor, and Dr. Hong to be the Grand Scholar of Hongwenguan. I wonder what your Majesty thinks?"

Nangun served as Chief Secretary Xian and took charge of the supervisory authority.

This Si Xian Mansion used to be the centerpiece of the Shilin Sect!

At the beginning, Zhao Guangzu and other Shilin factions used the three departments of public opinion (Si Jian Yuan, Si Xian Fu, and Hong Wen Guan) as their bases to expand their power and compete with the Xun old faction centered on the government.

Are the old forces now eager to get their hands into the Third Division?

However, Li Yi had to agree, because Cui Tan was the most powerful official in North Korea and controlled the East China Sea trade behind his back!

Li Yi would not refute his opinions, nor would he dare to refute them, otherwise he would be completely ignored.

Shen Zhen, Nan Gun and Hong Jingzhou looked at Cui Tan in surprise. Is this a deliberate show of affection?

However, they can be regarded as taking advantage of the situation to gain real power, so there is no reason to disagree.

So the three of them immediately stood up to thank the king for the reward, and then left each other.

Only Cui Tan stayed.

Li Yi looked at him angrily and accused: "Cui Qing family, why do you act like this?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Cui Tan bowed and explained: "I dare not forget Your Majesty's kindness, let alone sell my official position and become a member of a party for personal gain!"

"These three people are all representatives of the old forces, and the Third Division is filled with a large number of scholarly scholars. If they are promoted to the rank of officers of the Third Division, the scholarly scholars will never respect them, so..."

After hearing Cui Tan's plan, Li Yi was immediately elated, and then went to bed with satisfaction.

After Cui Tan left the palace, he sat alone in the carriage.

As the most powerful minister, all the power behind him comes from Zhongshan Marquis of the Ming Dynasty, so everything must be subject to the will of Zhongshan Marquis!

Of course, it is also very reasonable to take advantage of the situation and eliminate political opponents.

For example, Nangun, who was both civil and military, could be sent to the north to organize military affairs after he became the chief minister, and by the way assisted the Ming Dynasty in suppressing the Jurchens!

As for Shen Zhen being nothing more than a speculator, Cui Tan has plenty of ways to get rid of him, and Hong Jingzhou is relatively relaxed.

Cui Tan couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this.

Tang Hou, Tang Hou, I, Cui Tan, tried my best this time!