Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 624 Imjin Japanese Invasion (13) Early Ming Reaction (5.2K)

In the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the eighth day of the sixth month, the 20th year of Ritianzheng, on May 27th, as the sun in the sky was only a sliver of sunset, the gates of Beijing City were about to be locked.

But he heard a rush of horseshoes from far away in the north. The general flag of the gatekeeper was sitting on a small stall at the gate of the city, drinking wine and eating peanuts, waiting to change his defense. He heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance, and thought Which rich man spent hours outside.

As the center of Ming Dynasty, there are strict regulations on the time when the gates of Beijing are locked, and he cannot favor even a minute.

Whenever I look at the high-ranking masters and young masters begging me through the city gate, it is one of the few times when I feel that I am a big man.

Thinking that another one was going to be deflated today, he excitedly urged the soldiers below, "Close the door quickly, I'm still waiting to go back and rest."

Ding Zu, who was closing the gate, bowed his head and bowed in response twice, struggling to push the heavy city gate. At this moment, a roar came from outside the gate, "Don't close the gate, the [-]-mile army in Guangning Town urgently sends it to the Ministry of War!"

Right now, Ming Dynasty is using troops against Ningxia. Since Li Rusong was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, the situation has improved, and there has been no urgent report for some time.

"Guangning? Is it an urgent report from the south?" Hearing that there was an urgent military situation, the general flag didn't want to tease the rich kids, so he asked people to slit the city gate so that people could come in.

Anyway, the sun has not completely set now, so he is not considered a violation of the rules. Once the sun has completely set, then even if there is an emergency military situation, the visitor can only enter the city in a hanging basket.

At this time, people's concept of geography is very weak. How to read a map is a compulsory course for a general. You can't let a general flag understand where Guangning Town is.

The courier on the horse showed fatigue on his face. After entering the city, he thanked the general banner at the gate and continued to ride his horse to the military department.

At this time, the Ministry of War had already left the yamen, but Shi Xing, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War, stayed because he had just taken office and was not familiar with the work. He happened to hear the call from the messenger outside the yamen.

Not long after, an officer on duty, Wailang, presented the messenger's memorial to Shi Xing. This was written by Yang Shaoxun, the commander-in-chief of Guangning Town, and was presented to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and to him.

I saw that it said "The commander-in-chief of Guangning Town played my emperor's holy bow.

The minister heard in Guangning that 20 (Japanese) pirates sent troops to Pusan ​​at the end of March. North Korea was defeated, and the Korean peninsula had been swept away in more than a month. The (North Korean) king fled to Pyongyang. In late May, Kou broke through the defense line of Linjin River in North Korea, and Wang fled to Yizhou again.Now Kou has occupied the 3 provinces of North Korea, and Jianzhou even reported that Hamgyong Province has invaded. The situation in Kanto is very urgent. I hope the court will make a decision soon. "

The content of this memorial is only a few strokes, and judging from the handwriting, Yang Shaoxun should have written it in a hurry, all of which reflect the urgency of this memorial.

In fact, as early as a month ago, the governor of Shandong reported that Japanese pirates were rampant in North Korea.

At that time, the imperial court also wrote a message to inquire about the situation in North Korea. At that time, North Korea stated that it did not need Ming to send troops.

Since the son doesn't want Lao Tzu's help, the Ming Dynasty will naturally continue to sing and dance. After all, the Ming Dynasty is also mobilizing troops against Ningxia right now, and it is indeed difficult to draw out troops to send troops against North Korea.

However, the delivery of this report made the Ming court know for the first time the real situation facing North Korea. The king of North Korea even escaped with his companions, and he was only one foot away from entering the Central Plains!

What made Shi Xing most nervous was that in this report, the Ming court knew for the first time the real number of Japanese invaders in North Korea, 20!
Shi Xing was a veteran minister who served successively in the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli dynasties. He was upright by nature, so his official career was quite bumpy.

First, you wrote a letter to persuade Longqing wasteland, so you offended the eunuch Tengxiang and were almost beaten to death.

After Wanli succeeded to the throne, Shi Xing was finally rehabilitated, but because of a falling out with Zhang Juzheng, he had to abandon his official position and go home. It was not until Zhang Juzheng died that he returned to the center.

Shi Xing is good at public affairs and financial management, and he is very impressive in the household department.In the 19th year of Wanli, due to constant border troubles, the former Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhang Guoyan, moved to the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and soon after he became an official, Shi Xing immediately became the Minister of the Ministry of War.

After reading Yang Shaoxun's memorial, Shi Xing was in doubt.After all, in Daming's mind, North Korea was considered a powerful country among the many vassal states.

Because North Korea's national strength is strong and the land is relatively barren, the expropriation and harvest are not directly proportional.At that time, King Li Chenggui of Joseon was very obedient to Daming, and Emperor Hongwu immediately used a donkey to go downhill and decided that North Korea was a country that would not be conquered.

In Shi Xing's impression, North Korea is surrounded by three thousand miles of natural danger, with 20 men in armor, and even 20 Japanese pirates on the opposite side. How could it be possible to lose Wang Jing in half a month, and was beaten in just over a month? To the point of losing 6 tracks?

Feeling that something was wrong, Shi Xing took the memorial and walked up to the messenger who was eating and asked him whether the news about North Korea in the memorial was true.

The messenger was Yang Shaoxun's personal soldier, and he knew something about it in Guangning, so he immediately revealed all the information he had heard.

Shi Xing grasped an important point in it.

It turned out that there were rumors in North Korea last year that the Japanese invaders were about to invade Ming Dynasty. At that time, it was rumored in the Liaodong capital that North Korea intended to collude with Japan to invade Ming Dynasty, and for this reason they sent people to confront North Korea.

Later, Xu Ge, who had retired, tried his best to reject all opinions, believing that North Korea could not collude with Japan, and the matter gradually subsided.

Upon hearing the news, a thought flashed through Shi Xing's mind. Could it be that North Korea deliberately colluded with the Japanese invaders to make way for the Japanese invaders to invade Daming?

After all, when the governor of Shandong reported the Japanese invasion in North Korea, the North Korean court's reply to the message was indeed somewhat ambiguous.

But this idea was quickly dispelled by another news.

It turned out that the envoy reported that "North Korea sent an envoy for help before, but was chased back by the North Korean court. The North Korean envoy was sent by the King of Joseon just after returning to China. He is now in western Liaoning. He and the North Korean envoy are still in the post. We met in the hall."

But the current situation is still unclear. After all, North Korea reported the Ming pirates not long ago, so there is no need to worry.

Therefore, he could only instruct Baoding general Ni Shangzhong to move to Tianjin after discussing with the cabinet, and at the same time strengthen the combat readiness in Jizhou, Shandong and the coast.

At the same time, the Liaodong Dusi, especially Yang Shaoxun, let him find out the real situation in North Korea as soon as possible.

Regarding the Wanli Korean War, many people have always had a common misunderstanding, especially many Ming fans who do not have deep historical knowledge. The surprise that Ming Dynasty should have responded to North Korea’s repeated requests. The whole process can be said to be slow and silent. That's why we were defeated in the early stages.

In fact, this is a stereotype of setting events with history and pushing the process with results.

The real situation is: Although Emperor Wanli has not been in court for decades, he still attaches great importance to military affairs, and any information about the war will be sent to him as soon as possible.

After hearing that the situation on the Korean peninsula was changing day by day, Daming's reaction was very cryptic, but also unusually positive.

The reason why Tong Yangzheng, the deputy general of Kuandianbao, sent people to inquire about the situation in North Korea was that they were instructed by the North Korean cabinet. They responded quickly after receiving the report from Shandong.

In history, before the North Korean envoys for help came to Beijing, Emperor Wanli responded immediately. He ordered Liaodong Dusi to send two teams of elite soldiers to support North Korea, and sent people to send 2 taels of silver as military expenses. Two silver coins will be raised again.

The reason why they did not directly send a large army to the court was because the main force of Ming Dynasty was fighting in Ningxia, and there were not enough elites to be mobilized. Secondly, North Korea, the master, did not invite Ming Dynasty to join the court.

This is also the case in this life. After receiving the report, Shi Xing knew that the situation was urgent and planned to go to the palace to see Emperor Wanli himself.

However, at the moment when he was about to leave the house, Wailang, the watchman who delivered the memorial to him before, said to him, "Two years ago, I heard reports from Jinyiwei in Fujian and Zhejiang claiming that Japan intended to invade our celestial dynasty. It's a joke, but the unfulfilled idea actually became true?"

Shi Xing also stopped when he heard Jinyiwei's report two years ago, and asked the scribe to go to the cardinal's room of the Ministry of War to find the archived information.

The clerk got the order and searched for a long time with several officials, and finally handed it to Shi Xing with two memorials and two letters inside.

"The Ministry of War only has a transcript, and it is said that the original was handed over to the cabinet for collection."

Shi Xing's final memorial is exactly the situation of Zhejiang and Fujian Jinyiwei's commanders and envoys. The content in it is similar, and it all states that the Japanese monarch Toyotomi Hideyoshi seems to intend to use troops against Ming Dynasty. This matter has become well known in Japan.

He put the report aside and opened one of the transcribed letters, which was signed by a person named Su Ba.

The content of the letter was similar to the content of the memorial. It was the news that a businessman heard in Japan, saying that the king of Japan planned to use the best Japanese soldiers to invade China together with North Korea.

Obviously, what this person heard was a version in Japan. At that time, Hideyoshi and Tianxia daimyo were deceived by Soyoshi Tomo and Konishi Yukyo-chan, thinking that North Korea would become the leading party.

The second letter was a bit special, and it was special because it was too thick as a letter, and it could almost be bound into a book. It fell out the moment the memorial was opened, and Shi Xing couldn't help but pick up the letter first and read it.

I saw that it recorded the general army arrangement of the invasion, and it was clear about the names of each legion and the number of troops they brought.

On the second page, it clearly stated the reasons why Japan invaded North Korea and Ming Dynasty, and it clearly recorded the judgment that North Korea could not lead the way for Japan.

At the same time, the second page also contains a description of the Japanese king Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In a previous letter, Hideyoshi was referred to as Hirai Hideyoshi, but this letter clearly states Hideyoshi's full name and his status in Korea. Political status, and explains the situation of Japan's political structure.

After that, there are pages recording the situation of many legion daimyos, as well as the situation of their main samurai generals. There is even a record of the Japanese army's equipment in the legion, and even a subdivision map of the Japanese iron cannon.

On the last piece of paper, there is even a marching map of the Japanese army marching into North Korea.

At the end of the letter was signed by a man named "Toyami Akira".

Shi Xing keenly judged that the person who can grasp such clear information is definitely not a casual person.

Just like the previous letter from Su Ba, he was just an ordinary merchant, and it was not difficult to find out that Japan planned to invade the whole country, because such a thing could not be concealed at all.

But the second letter was too detailed, so detailed that I almost copied the entire record of the Japanese military council!
No matter how stupid the Japanese side is, it is impossible to disclose many secrets here to just anyone. Those who can get this information must be those who participated in the top military discussions.

If it was just an ordinary retainer of a daimyo, how could it be possible to obtain such detailed information covering each legion and each daimyo?
All the above unusual things made him curious about this person named "Feng Jianming".

Picking up the second memorial, the content inside was roughly the same as the first one. The commander of Zhejiang Jinyiwei said that the source of the information was a nobleman in Japan, but the specific life intelligence personnel refused to disclose.

This letter was naturally written by the Xiu family. It was written by the Xiu family in 1590. It was written by the Xiu family based on the memory of the formation of the legion in history. It is somewhat different from the actual situation today, but it is still the same for Daming. A very rich piece of information.

Seeing Shi Xing staring at the letter for a long time, the Yuanwailang also glanced at the contents of the letter, and said, "This letter also sparked discussions at the time, Mr. Zhang thought that the letter was written in too many details and must be fake. of.

And is it an ordinary person who can get such detailed information?Why did he betray the Wa country? Even if he is really different from the king of the Wa country, just state the source of the information frankly.

However, the memorial stated that the intelligence personnel were unwilling to disclose the source of the information, even if they sent someone down to inquire, they would not speak up. Therefore, Mr. Xu Ge believed that the people below made a false report, so he put it on the shelf. "

Hearing the answer from the officials below, Shi Xing yelled, "Confused! He should be punished for the crime of harming the country!"

After finishing speaking, he quickly walked out of the Yamen with Yang Shaoxun's report and this letter, intending to enter the imperial city to meet Wanli.

But after waiting at the gate of the palace for a while, the eunuch who sent the message said, "Your Majesty has already rested. If you have anything to do, please report to Lord Shang Shu tomorrow."

In fact, he didn't report to Wanli at all, but just told Zhang Jing, the eunuch next to Wanli, about Shi Xing's request to see Wanli, and Zhang Jing blocked his words with a stare.

Shi Xing tried his best to argue: "This is an urgent matter of six hundred miles east of Liaodong, please trouble your father-in-law to inform His Majesty again, the military situation is urgent, and the Japanese invaders are about to invade the territory."

The eunuch was helpless, shook his head, turned around and entered the small door again, and after a long while, he came out in a hurry and said, "Your Majesty will meet you in Dongnuan Pavilion."

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty are still very clear. With the example of Wang Zhen blocking the military situation in the civil fort change, the eunuchs of later generations have always been very cautious about the military situation.

Hearing that it was the news of the invasion of Liaodong, or that it was urgent at six hundred miles, he hurriedly woke up Wanli and asked Wanli to make a decision.

The quality of Wanli's sleep has not been very good recently, and after finally taking a rest, he was woken up by the eunuch beside him, and was about to lose his temper.But when he heard Shi Xingxing's night report from Minister of the Ministry of War, he suddenly felt that the matter was serious, so he asked himself to meet Shi Xing after washing up.

Wanli received the two memorials from Shi Xing, with a very dignified look on his face.After all, if what Yang Shaoxun said is true, then the Korean army can no longer resist the Japanese invaders, and the Japanese invaders are about to invade Daming Liaodong.

But such important news, he didn't know it before.

Suppressing his anger, he picked up the second memorial and letter, especially the contents of the letter shocked him greatly.

He slowly put the memorial and letter on the case, and after a long silence, he asked Shi Xing, "I seem to remember such a letter. At that time, Mr. Xu Ge suppressed it on the grounds that the whole article was too detailed and seemed false. Shi Xing What do you think of the authenticity of this letter?"

Shi Xing took half a step forward, cupped his hands and reported to Wanli, "It has been confirmed that Japan's entry into the DPRK has been confirmed, and it has been confirmed by multiple sources. People came to Beijing to ask for help.

Then the content of this letter has to be paid attention to. I plan to send someone to write an article in Liaodong to let them investigate the situation of the Japanese invaders. If it is roughly equivalent to this information, this letter is trustworthy. "

Shi Xing's judgment was similar to Wanli's. At this moment, he was unwilling to examine why such important information was suppressed. He said that if he didn't go to court and live in seclusion in the palace, he would have to bear half of the blame.

"Then let's do what An Shiqing wants to do. Let's figure out the specific situation first. But we have to make two-handed preparations to prevent the Japanese invaders from entering Liaodong and Shandong.

Letters were sent to the guards of the Liaodong capital, the Mongolian and Jurchen tribes, and the governor of Shandong, requesting prevention of Japanese invasion.

Now that the envoy of the king of Joseon asking for help was on his way, he sent someone to Liaodong to send 2 taels of military pay, and asked them to organize a wave of elite soldiers to enter the dynasty in the name of serving the army and condolences to the king of Korea, and tried the Japanese invaders in advance. "

Shi Xing agreed to all Wanli's arrangements. At the same time, he suggested sending someone to write a letter to Ningxia, urging Li Rusong to end the war in Ningxia as soon as possible, in case the Japanese invaded Liao.

At the same time, Wanli was invited to dispatch as many guards in Hebei as possible to defend the emperor around Kyoto, the Henan guards were transferred to agitation, and the Huguang and Jiangxi troops were transferred to Fujian and Zhejiang to prevent accidents, all of which were approved by Wanli.

Early the next morning, Wanli did not go to court as usual, but his will was conveyed to the cabinet through Shi Xing and the eunuch.

Emperor Wanli was no better than the later Tianqi and Chongzhen. His orders and cabinets generally would not be refuted. At this time, the emperor still had a strong ruling power over this center.

Therefore, when his order was issued, it was quickly spread everywhere.

Yuling was sent to Liaodong on June 6th, when the North Korean envoy to Beijing was still in Liaoxi. Without a formal request, Daming took the initiative to send an army of 13 people to "go to the other country to reward the army" and "give Crossed the Yalu River in the name of King's Consolation.

But you must know that the 2 taels of military pay that Wanli promised to give is still on the way, and the army that entered North Korea did not even give the North Korean king Li Yandai even a gift in action.

But the North Koreans didn't even dare to lose their temper. Who let themselves be defeated by the Japanese invaders, leaving Pyongan and Jeolla provinces intact?
Moreover, Daming is the father of Joseon, and the reason why Daming soldiers entered North Korea is very clear.

What?You ask where are the rewards for the army and the gifts for the king?

If there is no one on the road behind, you will ask again!How can you be such a troublesome little brother.

　There are a lot of things at the end of the year, next Monday and next Tuesday will stop updating for 2 days, depending on the situation, it may stop updating for 3 days.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)