1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2319
Judging from the content of the letter, it seems to be reasonable and reasonable, but it is not the first day for Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun to deal with North Koreans. Naturally, they also know that the credibility of these guys' words is not so high, and Kim Sang-heon He hadn't been out of the city during the time of the accident, and his position was unreliable, which naturally greatly reduced his credibility.

"Your Majesty, what do you think?" After asking the messenger to step down first, Tom Wang was not in a hurry to express his opinion, but first sought Li Yi's opinion.

Li Yan knew that his opinion might decide the life and death of countless people in the city, so his immediate response was also very cautious: "Master Jin is mature and prudent, sending people out of the city to deliver letters at this time must be to avoid casualties caused by your army's attack on the city. I think you can refer to Mr. Jin’s suggestion, so you might as well wait a little longer.”

Wang Tom was obviously dissatisfied with his cautious answer, and shook his head slightly: "It's not so much to avoid casualties in our army, I think it's more like a plan to slow down the troops!"

There is no real evidence to support the letter sent from the city. If writing a letter can stop the Haihan army outside the city, then the intimidation and deterrence it should have by creating such a big momentum will be completely lost. Gone.

Qian Tiandun's attitude was highly consistent with Tom Wang's: "We don't know the real situation in the city at the moment. The credibility of this letter is doubtful. For the safety of the king, we still have to enter the city as soon as possible!"

The letter did not mention the life and death of the king Li Ji, which also made Li Xuan seem to see a glimmer of hope, but Qian Tiandun's words were obviously just an excuse. If the people of Haihan really cared about Li Ji's life and death so much, how could they procrastinate for so long? It took many days to leave for Seoul.

However, Wang Tom characterized this as a tactic to delay the attack, which has already shown the attitude of the Haihan Army-they do not really trust Jin Shangxian, nor do they believe in the situation described in his letter.

Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help asking: "The two generals think that Master Jin's words are not true, but Master Cui is more credible?"

In Kim Sang-heon's letter, it was claimed that Cui Ming-gil was behind the coup, and he pushed everything to Cui Ming-gil.But he really wanted to know what basis the Haihan people made their judgments, and he thought that what Kim Sang-heon said was not credible.

Tom Wang shook his head and said, "We don't believe any of these two adults."

"Why is this?" Li Yan couldn't help being slightly startled when he heard this, thinking that he had been away from North Korea for more than a year, could there be some conflict between the imperial court and the Haihan garrison, which would make Tom Wang feel bad about these two people in North Korea? Officials with considerable influence in the court are clearly hostile.

Wang Tom asked back: "My son, when the adults in the Bing Cao Yamen are not in Seoul, who else in the court can mobilize the soldiers and horses in Seoul, or can exert influence on the garrison and let them participate in the coup?"

"It...it is true that the two adults Cui and Jin have such influence, but this does not mean that they are in charge of this matter?" Li Yi still did not want to make assumptions about the possibility that Tom Wang said.

Wang Tom nodded and said: "They have such great influence. If other people take the lead in rebelling, don't you worry that they will be hindered by them? If it were me, the first thing to do when raising troops is to take all the important ministers who might stand in the way. Kill it! This way, you don’t have to worry about someone blocking the way, and you can cut off the king’s thoughts, so that it is convenient to control the government in a short time.”

Qian Tiandun went on to say: "These two adults have stayed in the city for a month. With their influence, even if they can't run away, can't they even send out a tipper? Also, Seoul City Seal It has been a month since the city has been in the city, but there has been a steady stream of materials being sent into the city to ensure that the social order in the city is not chaotic. It should have been messed up by now."

Li Yan was silent for a long while, feeling that what Wang and Qian said was indeed somewhat reasonable, but he was still unwilling to agree with the other party's point of view: "If they want to rebel, why haven't they released any information in the official name for so many days?" News? If the father has already fallen into their hands, then the false edict of abdication would have been sent out of Seoul long ago, right?"

Wang Tom nodded and said: "This is exactly a doubt we are currently puzzled by. If the purpose of the rebellious party's coup was to overthrow His Majesty the King, it should have succeeded, but it has not been confirmed to the outside world. There must be some Something happened that we don't know about."

"Perhaps the rebel party is worried that it will not be recognized by your country and will cause serious consequences such as military strikes, so it has not released any news?" Li Yan raised a possibility after hearing this.

Wang Tom shook his head and said: "Since the reason of colluding with Manqing spies has been used, it should be prepared for a long time. As long as this pot is pushed on Manqing's head, it will be easy to have a reasonable explanation to the outside world. gone."

When Li Yan heard this, he said to himself that you would never believe what Jin Shangxian said no matter what, so he stopped holding his neck to continue the debate, and only asked Wang Tom to come up with an idea to deal with the current situation.Anyway, what I say will not be the final decision, so it is better to let the Haihan people cut the mess quickly and calm down the situation in Seoul as soon as possible.

Wang Tom called the messenger in again and asked him to go back and tell the person in charge in the city, and give him another two hours. If he did not show up outside the Chongli Gate by then, he would be treated as a rebellious party. Launch an offensive directly against Seoul without further warning.

Wang Tom's attitude seems to have made a little concession, but in fact he is still very tough. Since the opponent wants to disrupt the Haihan Army's action plan, he will retaliate in the same way and not let the opponent try to delay for a day The purpose of time has been fulfilled.

Time passed quickly, and when the time limit approached, Sungnye Gate opened again. This time, it was not messengers who came out, but dozens of civil and military officials who walked out of the city on foot.These officials walked to the side of the official road and stood in line, apparently responding to Wang Tom's request.

After Qian Tiandun received the report, he asked Gao Qiaonan to send two companies into the city to control Sungli Gate and the main road leading to the palace in the north of the city.

"My son, come into the city with me!" After Qian Tiandun gave the order, he turned his head and extended an invitation to Li Yan.

Li Yan thought that the situation in the city was unknown, so it would be a bit reckless to just go in like this, but seeing Qian Tiandun staring at him with a half-smile, he knew that this should be the other party's test of his courage, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, we will definitely protect your safety." Qian Tiandun simply comforted him, and asked someone to bring the horse over.

Of course, Qian Tiandun was not a reckless man. Just in case, Tom Wang and some of the navy remained outside the city.

"Your Majesty, when we meet Jin Shangxian and other officials later, try to be as indifferent as possible, and don't rush to ask questions when you arrive in the city. Listen to what these officials say, and maybe we will find more clues from them." Qian Tiandun got on the horse I warned a few more words before.

Li Yan nodded, thinking that pretending to be cold is my strength, this request is not difficult.

Surrounded by the brigade of the Haihan army, Qian Tiandun and Li Yan rode horses and slowly advanced towards Seoul.When approaching the gate of the city, Li Yan saw clearly that the group of officials waiting outside the city was indeed led by Kim Sang-heon.However, one arm of Jin Shangxian was hung around his neck with a bandage, and the bandage wrapped around his arm was still faintly bleeding, which seemed to be wounded.

When Li Yan was still ten feet away, all these officials had already knelt on the ground under the leadership of Jin Shangxian.welcome his arrival.

During the year that Li Yan was in Haihan, except for his own subordinates, basically no one would bow down to him. After all, this kind of thing is not popular in Haihan country, so at most, bowing is enough.Seeing the officials being so grand at this time made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"My lords, get up!" Li Yan remembered Qian Tiandun's previous instructions, and tried to make his tone as cold as possible.

After the officials stood up, Li Yi did not wait for Jin Shangxian to come to report the situation, but ordered to return to the palace according to Qian Tiandun's order, and let the officials enter the palace to answer at that time.

At this time, Jin Shangxian still took the initiative to come forward and said to Li Yan: "Your Highness, there are still some messy places in the palace, I'm afraid it will make His Highness feel inconvenient..."

Li Yan interrupted him impatiently: "Lord Jin, the Palace of Qinzheng has not been burned down, right? Can you still stand up to these people? If you have anything to say, let's go back and talk about it!"

Kim Sang-heon probably didn't expect that Li Yi would become much tougher after returning after a year, but he still responded respectfully.As for the injury on his arm, it seems that Li Yan didn't notice it, and of course it's more likely that he saw it and didn't pay attention.

Li Xuan turned around and saw that Qian Tiandun nodded slightly in affirmation to himself, and immediately relaxed a little.He didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of powerful officials like Jin Shangxian before, and he always spoke politely, not as bluntly as before.

But Li Yan knew in his heart that this attitude just now was not entirely out of the request of the Haihan people.His situation today is very different from what it was before he went abroad. If the king has been killed unfortunately, then he will be the one who will take over the power soon, so naturally he has to show the majesty of an emperor.If you treat ministers as cautiously as before, it will only deform the relationship between monarch and ministers in the future.

When Li Yan entered Sungnye Gate, he immediately felt a different atmosphere.He has lived in Seoul for more than 20 years, and he has never seen such a quiet time in Seoul.Except for a small number of soldiers who set up checkpoints at the intersections on the street, there were basically no ordinary people.

Although it can be roughly guessed that this is a necessary measure to control the law and order in the city, it still makes Li Yan feel very uncomfortable, and just wants to go back to the place he is most familiar with quickly.However, apart from the soldiers of his own country, he could always see the familiar figures of Haihan soldiers in his field of vision, which made him feel a little more relaxed.

The damage to the buildings in the city was much better than what Li Yan had expected, but occasionally a house was burnt to ruins. It seems that the level of armed conflict in the city should not be too intense.

The situation of the palace seemed to be better than the outside, but Li Yan really didn't have a good look at the imperial guards who were still guarding near the palace.There was a coup in the city, the king's whereabouts were unknown, but these imperial guards stood here as if nothing happened. It was obvious that they either seriously dereliction of duty, or participated in the rebellion. No matter what the situation was, it was unacceptable to Li Yan. accept.

He secretly made a decision in his heart that after the situation calmed down, he would punish all the members of the imperial guards as crimes. Even if they did not directly participate in the rebellion, they would at least be sentenced to exile, so as to relieve the hatred in their hearts.

Li Yan did not go back to his residence, but went directly to the Hall of Qinzheng where the government usually discusses politics.The situation here seems to be quite normal, and it is not as messy as what Jin Shangxian said. Li Yan even began to suspect that Jin Shangxian was deliberately fabricating reasons to persuade him not to return to the palace so that he could have time to deal with certain issues in the palace. some people or things.

But at this time, there is no way to take care of these details first. Li Yan must now try to understand the current situation, and of course the most important thing is the whereabouts of King Li Zhen.

After entering the Hall of Qinzheng, Li Yan was sensible enough to ask Qian Tiandun to give him a seat first, and then he sat in the seat where he used to listen to the government in the hall, instead of taking the empty throne in the middle of the hall.

Li Yan looked at the officials standing below, the number was much smaller than before, and he saw many familiar faces.And most of these people present are officials from Jin Shangxian's faction. It can be seen that the fighting in the city is not simple, far from as peaceful as the scene just seen, and many people may never appear in this place. In the hall.

"Then who can tell me where is the whereabouts of the father?" Li Yan stabilized his mood, and then asked the officials in the palace a question that he was most concerned about.

After a moment of silence, Jin Shangxian took a step forward with his head down, and replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty the King was assassinated by a Manchu spies pretending to be a servant in the palace. Although the imperial doctor tried his best to rescue him, he couldn't do it. He has passed away for many days. Please return to your Highness." Sorry!"

Although Li Yan had long been psychologically prepared for such a result, when he heard Jin Shangxian say it, he still couldn't help but feel darkened and felt a big blow. He was so sad for a while that he couldn't speak at all.

Seeing this, Qian Tiandun, who was sitting not far from him, asked Jin Shangxian, "Lord Jin, by what method was the king assassinated? Where are the remains?"

Jin Shangxian said: "Assassins infiltrated the imperial study room and assassinated the king with a sharp weapon, and then set fire to the imperial study room. The remains have been collected and buried, and I have ordered people to quietly bury them in the north of Gyeongbokgung Palace for the time being." On the mountain, lest the rebellious party make a fuss about the king's bones. Now that His Highness has returned, after the situation subsides, I will ask His Highness to organize a formal funeral for the king again."

Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "It seems that the assassin didn't intend to get out of his body, he dared to light a fire after killing someone... He made such a big battle, then I think you should catch the assassin Bar?"

(End of this chapter)