Daming Yinghua

Chapter 456

Li Xun still bowed his body, but his tone became solemn and he no longer tried to conceal his humility towards Daishan.

"Great Prince, Gwanghaegun is a brave warrior who inherited the throne during the Imjin War thirty years ago. We Koreans love him, and there are many powerful civil and military officials assisting him. Although he is now exiled to Ganghwa Island, his reputation remains, and we, the generals, are willing to follow him and help him regain the throne."

Daishan touched the Dongzhu ring on his thumb and said coldly, "So, you want to borrow soldiers from our Great Jin?"

Li Xun's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he took out a sheepskin map from his chest and presented it to the arrogant Jin leader.

"Great Prince, we are not borrowing troops, but joining forces. Ganghwa Island, where our Gwanghaegun is imprisoned, faces Liaonan of the Ming Dynasty. A ship can sail north to Xuanchuan in one day. Once we reach Xuanchuan, we will be not far from Yizhou. If your warriors, from Maolianwei, where you were stationed back then, go all the way south, they will be just right for us to attack the Ming army in Yizhou and Tieshan, that is, the army of Mao Wenlong."

Daishan listened while moving his eyes on the map. At the end, he uttered a dull "hmm" and softened his tone: "If Mao Wenlong is driven back to Fenghuang City in Ming territory, and we have the Great Jin as a strong support in the north, you want to occupy the area from Yizhou to Xuanchuan and prepare for a comeback?"

Li Xun nodded: "That's right."

Daishan narrowed his eyes and stared at him, saying with a hint of sarcasm: "Haha, your master had good relations with our Jianzhou in the past, how could I not know? You should go find the Beile who has a friendship with you."

Li Xun was well prepared for Daishan's reaction.

He and his companions who spoke fluent Korean, under the planning of their boss Xu San, had already learned the details of how the deposed Korean emperor Gwanghaegun secretly communicated with the Jianzhou Tartars without the knowledge of the Ming Dynasty from the Korean and Jurchen merchants traveling to Yizhou in order to weave a flawless trap.

At this moment, Li Xun first showed a brief surprise, then he knelt down in front of Daishan's kang with a plop, and said firmly: "Grand Prince, our Gwanghaegun will no longer trust your Fourth Prince."

Daishan did not expect that this Korean slave would mention Huang Taiji so directly.

"Oh? Tell me, how did the Fourth Prince become an enemy of your Gwanghaegun?"

Li Xun said without hesitation: "Several years ago, Gwanghaegun was not afraid of being discovered by the Ming Kingdom, so he transported a lot of iron and stone from Pyeongan Province to your country. The Khan sent the Fourth Prince to receive them. We see that the Fourth Prince must be highly regarded by the Khan, so he naturally gave him a lot of our ginseng. Great Prince, ginseng is a rare ginseng, and merchants from all over the world pay a lot of money to buy it. The Fourth Prince can make a fortune from this. Unexpectedly, Gwanghaegun was suddenly imprisoned last year. Our people secretly asked the Khan to send troops to rescue him, but they returned empty-handed. It was the Fourth Prince who stopped them."

Daishan had always had the opportunity to show his talents only in military offensives. Neither he nor Manggurtai had the qualifications to interfere in his father Nurhaci's secret dealings with the King of Korea. They only vaguely knew that Huang Taiji, who was more cunning than a fox, was helping his father.

Nurhaci's behavior had already been a thorn in Daishan's heart. Now, this thorn was provoked by Li Xun, and Daishan's complex emotions of fear and dissatisfaction with his father, and jealousy and hatred towards his brother Huang Taiji, began to surge up.

There was a fierce light in his narrow eyes.

Li Xun, who was lying on the ground, raised his head, met Daishan's gaze, and said in a devilish voice: "The Great Prince has also seen that Huining is a good place. Heroes do not fight for temporary favors. Why doesn't the Great Prince retreat to advance and move all the men under his command here to recuperate for two years and accumulate military strength. Then, he can join hands with our Gwanghaegun. When Gwanghaegun becomes the king of Joseon again, he will definitely do his best to help the Great Prince become the king of Daejin."

Daishan completely understood what this Korean slave meant.

He couldn't help but be tempted by such conditions.

My father favors Huang Taiji and Yuetuo. Fine, just let the two yellow flags, plus the favored Plain White Flag and Bordered Red Flag, go to Kaiyuan Tieling, Shenyang and Liaoyang to fight the Ming army. If worst comes to worst, there are still Manggurtai's Plain Blue Flag and Amin's Bordered Blue Flag. Why should Daishan's Plain Red Flag warriors and bondservants go and die?

Anyway, they can eat food in Huining, get the benefits of the remaining forces of Gwanghaegun, and don't have to rely on robbing the towns of Ming to keep the bannermen alive. Dai Shan gestured to Li Xun: "You can stand up, you don't have to kneel to talk."

Li Xun stood up and said earnestly, "The Great Bellemo is worried that there will not be enough food and clothes to wear. We, the old subordinates of Gwanghaegun, have our own way to bypass the governors and send food and money here."

Daishan accepted it all and said in a muffled voice, "Of course. After all, the produce from the farmland in Huining is to be transported west to Hetuala. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to the Khan."

Then he fell into deep thought again: "There is one thing. Perhaps in a while, the Khan will send troops to attack several important military towns of the Ming Kingdom. Our flag cannot be completely without troops."

Li Xun rolled his eyes and asked inquiringly, "Huining is not a strategic place. If the Ming army really wants to come from North Hamgyong Province, our King of Joseon will definitely not refuse. The Grand Prince can say that he wants to guard the granary. This is one thing. Secondly, we can send some good musket players to teach the Grand Prince's warriors. Then, the Grand Prince can send some people to go to the Khan with our musketeers. The Khan will definitely be happy, and the other princes will have nothing to say."

The Koreans were also good at using firearms, Daishan had heard his father Nurhaci say this many times. During the Wanli period, the Ming army assisted Korea in the war against the Japanese invaders. Nurhaci, who had not yet rebelled against the Ming and established his own government, took the initiative to propose to the Ming court that he would lead a team of Jianzhou Jurchens to Korea. In fact, in addition to plundering along the way, he also wanted to see the artillery and musket skills of the Ming and Korean armies.

"Well, your musketeers, come over here quickly."

……

Outside Xifengkou, the snow melted, and tiny sprouts of grass emerged from under the ground.

At dusk, the evening clouds cover the sky for thousands of miles.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the mother and her daughter are riding on horseback.

Ma Xianglin stood with his sleeves behind his back, his body as steady as a pine tree, but his eyes followed his wife and daughter who were riding the horses.

Zheng Haizhu's voice rang in his ears: "After Prince Xin returned to Beijing last year, he kept nagging that he wanted to come to Daning again to learn skills from Master Zhang."

Ma Xianglin curled his lips and said, "Then let's wait until he is renamed the King of Ning. Both of us can teach him."

Zheng Haizhu discerned Ma Xianglin's tone, which was not sharp, gentle and even contained a hint of kindness from an elder to a younger person.

Ever since Zhu Youjian rescued Zhang Fengyi and her daughter from the Russian Cossack cavalry, Ma Xianglin was no longer so disgusted with the idea of ​​Zhu Youjian becoming his son-in-law.

But being a subject is different from being a father-in-law.

It was true that Ma Xianglin had a liking for Zhu Youjian at first, but it was also true that he was worried about the consequences of marrying into the royal family.

"Azhu, in a few years, if I really become the father-in-law of Prince Xin, won't there be this or that imperial censor in the court saying that the prince's relatives are raising troops outside the Great Wall and are a disaster?"

Zheng Haizhu said calmly, "Yes, of course. There is no shortage of such chatterboxes who claim to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic in every dynasty. As for what will happen in the future, when the time comes, we will have ways to deal with it with our abilities. For now, let's fight this big battle against the Jian Nu first."

(End of this chapter)